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The influences of stage of leaving school on vocational maturity and realism of vocational choice
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 7, 29-39 (1975)
The Influences of Stage of Leaving School on Vocational Maturity and Realism of Vocational Choice1 GEOFFREY I. KELSO The Johns Hopkins University Cross-sectionaldata were provided by 1484 male high school pupils drawn from gradessevento twelve. AI1 subjectscompleted either the Otis Intermediate Test or the Otis Higher Test, Crites’ Vocational Development Inventory (VDI), and the author’s Student Survey. Major findings were that: (1) subjects’ anticipated stage of leaving school was significantly related to realism of vocational choice-those boys who expectedto leave school prior to grade twelve showed higher levels of realism than those going on, in spite of the fact that they tended to be lower in both maturity of vocational choice attitudes (VCA) and intelligence; (2) IQ exercised a complicated mediatory effect on both VCA and realism; and (3) in general,both VCA and realism were linearly related to grade. Taken together, these findings indicated the need to distinguish carefully between VCA and realism as aspects of vocational development. Implications for further research in vocational developmentare discussed. A particularly notable feature of previous research in career development has been the dearth of studies explicitly designed to examine irregularities in the vocational choice process. Prompted by the pioneer work of Ginzberg and Super with its heavy emphasis on the continuity and irreversibility of vocational development, many researchers have directed their attention to such problems as the identification, ordering, and timing of stages in career development, and the delineation of various developmental concomitants of vocational decision making in childhood and adolescence. For the most part, though, these studies have relied heavily on samples of males pursuing an extended education in the U.S.A. and, in general, appear to reflect the belief that individuals have a great deal of time during which to discover their “vocational selves.” In the light of this, it is interesting to note that Crites, in his efforts to develop an objective measure of vocational maturity, has obtained results ‘Requests for reprints should be sent to Geoffrey I. Kelso, Department of Social Relations, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., 21218. The author is grateful to Keith F. Taylor, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. 29 Copyright @ 1975 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
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GEOFFREY I. KELSO
which suggestthat stagesin the maturation of vocational attitudes seemto be “primarily associatedwith the transitional points in the educational systemelementary vs junior high school vs senior high school” (Crites, 1965, p. 1). Osipow, too, has suggested that there is some justification for regarding vocational development as being open to situational influences in the light of the fact that: Studentsseemto makedecisionsat timesthat areimposedon themby the structure of the educational system. It is interesting to speculate on the effects of vocational development under the English system of secondary education, in which choice points are imposed at different age levels (Osipow, 1973, p. 163).
Moreover, results of a little known New Zealand study conducted by Keeling (1962) revealed that boys reach the realistic stage of vocational choice at the approximate age of 14. Keeling attributes these findings to the structure of the New Zealand educational system,which, with compulsory attendance until the age of 15 yr, requires children to make an early assessmentof their vocational opportunities and aspirations. All of this leads us to consider more carefully whether classical occupational choice theory caters adequately for those individuals who may be constrained to leave school before vocational development has run its full course. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to investigate this problem: to examine the extent to which the pattern of vocational development in a sample of Australian secondary school boys was related to the proximity of their departure from school. It was felt that this objective would be achieved best through the use of vocational development concepts which have been reported widely in the literature, and which are theoretically meaningful. Both vocational maturity (see Bartlett, 1971; Jordaan, 1972), and vocational choice realism (see Crites, 1969) would appear to have this status. Accordingly, special measuresof these variables were employed in the belief that together they would prove to be sensitive indicators of the course of adolescentvocational development. METHOD Subjects. The subjects were 1484 boys drawn from grades seven to twelve of three State high schools located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. Administrative difficulties and problems of economy meant that it was not practicable to Secure a sample fully representative of the Melbourne secondary school population. All three schools used in the study were located
LEAVING
SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL
MATURITY
31
in suburbs of approximately the same socioeconomic status @ES) according to data provided by Jones (1967) in his detailed study of the social ranking of Melbourne suburbs. In general these were middle class districts, typical of substantial parts of the Melbourne metropolitan area. Procedure. Data were collected from the participating schools over a 4-wk period. Thirty-five separatetesting sessionswere conducted, eachlasting approximately 2 hr. The size of the groups ranged between 25 and 130. Three instruments were administered to all subjects: 1. Form AB or Form CD of the Otis Intermediate Test; or Form A, B, or C of the Otis Higher Test. 2. Crites’ Vocational Development Inventory (VDI). 3. The Student Survey. The Otis Intermediate Test and the Otis Higher Test. These are the widely used Australian forms of the group intelligence tests first prepared by A. S. Otis. As converted Otis raw scoresyield IQ ranges rather than a single figure, an arbitrary decision was made to take the midpoint of the IQ range as a subject’s IQ. In this way data analysis was facilitated. The Vocational Development Inventory (VDI). This is the 50 item inventory designed by John Crites “to elicit the attitudinal or dispositional responsetendencies in vocational maturity which are nonintellective in nature, but which may mediate both choice behaviors and choice aptitudes” (Crites, 1965, p. 7). A person takes the inventory merely by indicating whether he agrees(“True”) or disagrees(“False”) with each of 50 statementsconcerning vocational behavior. With seven exceptions only, all items are scored“False” for the more vocationally mature response. Crites derived the items for his scale from a consideration of five behavioral dimensions: (1) Involvement in the choice process,(2) Orientation toward work, (3) Independence in decision-making, (4) Preference for vocational choice factors, and (5) Conceptions of the choice process.Crites (1963) has calculated internal consistency estimates in the .70’s, the average coefficient being .74. The VDI is now the Vocational Attitude Test of the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) (Crites, 1973). Becausethere are now several measuresof vocational maturity, each concentrating on rather different aspects of the construct, in the present study the VDI is referred to as a measureof the maturity of vocational choice attitudes (VCA). Standard instructions for the completion of the inventory are provided and these were used unaltered in the present investigation. Prior to proceeding, however, the subjects were asked to provide information about their vocational preferencesand the reasonsfor their choices. The face page of the VDI answer sheet contained three questions. The first was simply “What job
32
GEOFFREY
I. KELSO
do you plan to enter?” Subjects were told that if they felt unable to respond to this question they should then attempt the next which stated: “If you have no occupational choice, list below some jobs you have considered when thinking about your future and put a J alongside the job you prefer at the moment.” In this way it was possible to accommodate those subjects who were more tentative about their preferences as well as those who felt more certain. Finally, subjects were asked to provide a short statement concerning the reason for their choice. The Student Survey. This was a short questionnaire, the primary purpose of which was to obtain data to be used in the assessmentof vocational choice realism. Subjects were asked to provide details of the following: 1. School subjectsthey liked best and those they liked least. 2. School subjects in which they achieved good results and those in which they performed poorly. 3. Hobbies and interests. 4. Self-estimateson 12 abilities, skills, and personal qualities. Subjects rated themselves on 7-point scales for mechanical ability, scientific ability, artistic ability, teaching ability, manual skills, mathematical ability, musical ability, friendliness, managerialskills, and office skills. These scales were identical to those used by Holland (1970) in his Self Directed Search(SDS). 5. Use of leisure time. Subjectswere asked: “If quite unexpectedly you were to receive a day’s holiday how would you spend it?” A similar question was employed successfullyby Chown (1958) in her study of the role of personality factors in the formation of occupational choice. In addition, subjectswererequired to estimatethe stageat which they expected to complete their education, i.e., before form six (grade twelve), at form six, or after tertiary study. Realism ratings. A simple rating procedure was used to assesschoice realism, but in order to increase the reliability of the technique, three independent assessmentswere obtained for each subject. The investigator and two graduate students in occupational psychology acted as judges. Using the data provided in the Student Survey together with IQ scores, each judge endeavored to estimate how well the interests, abilities, etc., of each subject matched those known to be associatedwith the preferred occupation. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (1965) and the Careers Guide for Victoria (1970) were used as sources of information about job characteristics and requirements. In order to familiarize the judges with the rating procedure, a number of preliminary practice sessionswere conducted using trial data.
33
LEAVING SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL MATURITY TABLE 1 Correlations Between Judges Ratings of Realism, and Between Each Set of Judgments and Total Realism Judge
Judge 2 Judge 3 Total realism
1
2
3
.82* .82* .94*
x2* .94*
.93*
*p < .Ol.
Ratings were made on a 5-point scale. A rating of 1 was used to represent an unrealistic choice involving grossoverestimation of abilities, skills, etc., whereasa rating of 5 indicated a choice based on extreme underestimation. Appropriate or “realistic” choices received a rating of 3. Later, the three realism ratings for each subject were added to provide overall assessments ranging from 3 to 15. An adding rather than an averaging procedure was employed to avoid rounding-off errors. In order to determine interrater reliability, Pearsonr’s were calculated for the relationship between the three sets of ratings, and for each set with the total realism scores. The results, summarizedin Table 1, reveal a highly significant level of consensusbetween judges. RESULTS Stage. Means (and standard deviations) for vocational choice attitudes (VCA), Realism, IQ, and Age for each of the three stages of leaving are indicated in Table 2. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted on these scores using the FORTRAN program “MAN@,” which provides both multivariate and univariate tests of significance; the multivariate test being based on Wilks’ lambda and Rao’s approximate F test. MANQJVA was also used for all subsequentfactorial analyses. For the data in Table 2, the multivariate test for the stage of leaving effect (Stage) proved to be highly significant (F (8,2952) = 96.30, p < .OOl). Furthermore, the results of the univariate F tests show that all four criteria contributed to the multivariate finding @ < .OOl). A particularly interesting feature of the data in Table 2 is the direction of scoresfor VCA and Realism. While VCA tended to be higher for those subjectsintending to stay longer at school, the trend for Realism was in the opposite direction.
34
GEOFFREY I. KELSO TABLE 2 Means (and Standard Deviations) for VCA, Realism, IQ, and Age (in Months) for Each Anticipated Stage of Leaving School Stage of leaving
VCA Realism
IQ Age
1. Before grade 12 N=283
2. At grade 12 N= 398
33.65 (5 S2) 8.96 (2.55) 106.22 (11.43) 181.69 (17.06)
33.37 (5.36) 8.06 (2.93) 109.13 (11.61) 176.74 (20.41)
3. After tertiary N=801 35.68 (4.95) 7.94 (2.43) 116.35 (10.88) 181.71 (22.69)
Because IQ correlated positively with both VCA and Realism, the present problem was reanalyzed using analysis of covariance to control for its effects. Stage again proved to be a significant factor (F(4,2954)= 127.79, p < .OOl). Furthermore, both VCA (F(2,1478) = 7.33, p < .OOl) and Realism (F(2,1478) = 266.73, p < .OOl) continued to contribute significantly to the multivariate result. An important feature of these findings concerns the magnitude of the F values obtained for VCA and Realism before and after the application of analysis of covariance. A comparison of these results reveals that for VCA the introduction of covariance control produced an F value which, although still significant, was much lower than that achieved under analysis of variance (F = 33.13 versus F = 7.33), while for Realism, a substantially higher value was provided (F = 16.62 versus F= 266.73). These results suggest that the influence of IQ, when confounded with VCA, was to amplify differences from stage to stage, whereas for Realism, it would seem to have dampened them down. Stage X grade. The findings reported so far clearly demonstrated the significance of Stage of Leaving as a single influence on vocational development. The analysis was then extended to an examination of the joint effects of Stage and Grade on VCA and Realism. Table 3 contains means (and standard deviations) of all relevant variables for each of the three stages of leaving for grades 7 to 12. A 3 X 6 factorial analysis of variance (Stage X Grade) conducted on these data revealed a significant Stage effect (F (8,2924) = 88.12, p < .OOl),a significant Grade effect (F (20,485O) = 249.67, p < .OOl), and a significant Stage X Grade effect (F (36,548O) = 1.93,~ < .OOl). For the main effects all criteria contributed significantly to the result (p < .OOl). However, only VCA (p < .02) and IQ (p < .007) contributed significantly to the interaction finding. As can be seen in Table 3, the relative magnitude of VCA and Realism
LEAVING
SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL TABLE
3.5
MATURITY
3
Means (and Standard Deviations) for VCA, Realism, IQ, and Age (in Months) for each Anticipated Stage of Leaving. Grades I to 12 Grade
Stage I (before grade 12)
VCA Realism
IQ Age
Stage 2 (at grade 12)
8
N=31
N=36
IQ Age
VCA Realism
IQ Age
9 N=l3
10 N=
80
11
12
N=57
30.19 (4.61) 8.19 (2.52) 104.08 (12.35)
30.18 (4.81) 1.91 (2.48)
33.58 (5.15)
35.05 (4.41)
35.84 (5.82)
.-
8.59 (2.41)
9.56 (2.51)
9.12 (2.49)
-
99.12 (9.61)
101.92 (11.15)
111.83 (9.41)
-
154.41 (6.94)
165.50 (5.08)
178.75 (I .20)
110.06 (9:56) 188.83 (6.63)
203.39 (8.12)
-
N=83 VCA Realism
Stage 3 (tertiary)
7
N=109
29.66 (5.33) 7.94 (2.83) 107.39 (10.12)
32.84 (4.59) 7.31 (3.01) 105.52 (11.25)
153.01 (5.14)
164.62 (4.99)
N= 137 33.36 (4.95) 7.25 (2.37) 113.77 (10.54) 152.02 (5.56)
N=148 33.52 (4.58) 7.32 (2.68) 112.81 (12.61) 164.28 (5.30)
N=61
N=51
N=62
N=26
34.21 (4.90)
34.49 (4.97)
35.53 (5.13)
37.92 (3.25)
7.98 (2.95)
8.95 (2.14)
109.05 (11.78)
8.14 (2.64) 109.93 (10.91)
113.58 (11.33)
9.46 (3.17) 117.65 (10.45)
171.16 (5.29)
181.19 (6.20)
202.95 (7.16)
215.54 (9.24)
N=116 35.45 (4.14) 8.36 (2.80) 116.30 (12.09) 174.54 (5.68)
N=141 31.03 (4.30) 8.14 (2.52) 111.84 (9.71) 188.39 (11.00)
N=140
N=119
37.34 (4.29)
31.11 (4.98)
8.34 (2.02) 118.22 (8.68)
8.39 (1.75) 119.77 (9.59)
199.48 (8.42)
215.75 (10.52)
Stage is substantially in line with the trend indicated in Table 2: with only two exceptions, at each grade level the highest VCA mean was provided by those intending to go on to tertiary study, the lowest by those leaving before grade 12; while for Realism the reverse was largely true. The significant interaction finding shows that the magnitude of VCA was influenced by Grade and Stage acting together cumulatively. As with earlier analyses, the effects of IQ were examined through the application of analysis of covariance to the same factorial model. Again, for
each
36
GEOFFREY LKELSO
significant main effects were obtained for both Stage (F(4,2926) = 119.25, Grade (F(10,2926) = 23.54, p < .OOl). A significant StageX Grade interaction was also found but at a much lower level of significance than that obtained prior to control (F(18,2926) = 1.63, p < *OS). Univariate F tests showed that both VCA and Realism made significant contributions to the multivariate results for main effects (p < .OOl), but only VCA contributed significantly to the interaction @ < .03).
p < .OOl), and
DISCUSSION The results make it clear that the temporal relationship between anticipated stage of leaving and realism of vocational choice is particularly significant. In line with expectations, those boys who believed that they would be leaving school before twelfth grade showed higher levels of realism than those going on, in spite of the fact that they tended to have lessmature vocational attitudes and to be lower in intelligence. The fact that these subjects showed a level of realism in grade 9 equal to that for all subjectsin grade 12, is especially noteworthy, and would seemto be a direct reflection of the close proximity of their entry to the world of work-a situational press for more urgent selfexamination in the light of job requirements. For those who intended to persevereat high school with a view to moving on to tertiary study, there was not this pressingneed for accurate self-assessment. This argument gains strong support from the findings obtained in New Zealand by Keeling (1962) that boys of low scholastic ability, who were likely to leave school early, were the first to reach the realistic stage of vocational choice. In New Zealand the official minimum school leaving age is 15 yr and a large proportion of children leave school at this point. The fact that Keeling found the stage of realism to occur at approximately age 14 probably indicates that many boys had to make a more realistic appraisal of themselves, their aspirations, and vocational opportunities at about that time. The present differential relationship of vocational choice attitudes and vocational choice realism to stage of leaving was not unexpected in view of the fact that the VDI and the measureof choice realism were designedto tap rather different aspects of vocational behavior. As already noted, the VDI purports to embrace five different attitudinal dimensions which are largely conative and forward-looking in nature (Crites, 1965, p. 4). On the other hand, realism as it was assessedin the present study, was more dependent upon the subjects’ cognitive appraisal of their immediate situation, and thus appears to be closely related to what Super (1955) has described as the “wisdom of vocational choice.” Becauseso much of this “wisdom” has been seen by vocational development theorists to stem from the interaction of the individual with reality factors in his environment, it seemedreasonable to
LEAVING SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL
MATURITY
37
anticipate that expected stage of leaving school would be more closely related to the appropriateness of vocational choice than to the sophistication of attitudes towards vocational choice. However, although Crites designedthe VDI to assessthe nonintellective aspectsof vocational maturity, a number of recent studies have shown it also has a substantial intellective component (e.g., Asbury, 1968; Cover, 1968; Dutt, 1968; Hoyt, 1962; Maynard, 1970; Tamminen & Miller, 1968). That VDI scorestended to increasewith IQ (i.e., VDI scoreswere highest for those intending to pursue tertiary education, and lowest for those leaving prior to grade 12) was, therefore, not unexpected. A further important feature of these results concerns the extent to which they show intelligence to be a critical mediating variable in vocational development. Whereasthe differences in vocational choice attitudes between the three stagesof leaving were heightened by the influence of IQ; it serveda moderating role when confounded with realism. While these findings give general support to the view that intelligence is an important determinant of occupational outcomes (see Jordaan, 1972) they suggestthat it may have rather different effects on various aspectsof vocational development. Apart from demonstrating the significance of stage of leaving for vocational development, the findings of the present study lend considerable credenceto the view that vocational development, as reflected in the maturity of vocational choice attitudes and vocational choice realism, is a positive function of grade (see Table 3). As such, they are largely in accordancewith the formulations of Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, and Herma (1951) and Super (1953, 1957) both of whom emphasizethe linearity of the vocational development process. Although only a few investigators to date have focused their attention on factors likely to be associatedwith atypical or discontinuous patterns of vocational development (e.g., Lo Cascio, 1964, 1967; Super, 1967), the present findings for expected stage of leaving seem to indicate that such an approach would prove productive. Exploration of other factors such as SES and parental work history might reasonably be expected to contribute significantly to a more precise understanding of the nature of vocational development. REFERENCES Asbury, F. A. Vocational development of rural disadvantaged eighthgrade boys. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 1968, 17, 109-113. Bartlett, W. E. Vocational maturity: its past, present, and future development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1971, 1, 217-229. Gzreers Guide for Victoria. Prepared by the Youth Employment Section of the Commonwealth Employment Service, Department of Labour and National Service, Victoria, 2nd Ed. Melb., Dept. of Labour and National Service, 1970.
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Chown, S. M. The formation of occupational choice among grammar school pupils. Occupational Psychology, 1958, 32, 171-182. Cover, J. A. The relationship of alienation from society and selected variables to vocational maturity in male high school seniors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon, 1968. Crites, J. 0. The internal consistency and stability of the Attitude Test of the Vocational Development Inventory. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Personnel and Guidance Association, San Francisco, April 1963. Crites, J. 0. Measurement of vocational maturity in adolescence: I. Attitude Test of the Vocational Development Inventory. PsychoZogicaZMonographs, 1965 (a), 79 (2, Whole No. 595). Crites, J. 0. Vocational psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969. Crites, J. 0. Theory and research handbook for the Career Maturity Inventory. CTB/McCraw-Hill: Monterey, Calif., 1973. Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Bureau of Employment Security. United States. 3rd Ed. U.S.G.P., 1965. 3 Vols. Dutt, K. Report of preliminary results on vocational readiness of eighth and ninth grade vocational technical students. Unpublished manuscript, Easton, Pennsylvania, 1968. Cited by Crites, J. 0. 7?re maturity of vocational attitudes in adolescence. Iowa City: The University of Iowa, 1965 (b). p. 54. Ginzberg, E., Ginsburg, S. W., Axelrad, S., & Herma, J. L. Occupational Choice. New York: Columbia University Press, 1951. Holland, J. L. The self-directed search. Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1970. Hoyt, K. B. Specialty oriented student research program. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Printing Service, 1962. Jones, F. L. A social ranking of Melbourne suburbs. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 1967, 3, 93-110. Jordaan, J. P. Vocational maturity. The construct, its measurement, and its validity. XVZZth International Congress of Applied Psychology. Proceedings, Vol. 1. Brussels, Editest, 1972. Pp. 417-458. Keeling, B. Peer groups, fantasy and realism in vocational choice. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Canterbury University, 1962. Cited by C. V. Baldock, Vocational choice and opportunity. Christchurch, N.Z.: University of Canterbury, 1971. P. 18. Lo Cascio, R. Delayed and impaired vocational development: A neglected aspect of vocational development theory. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1964, 42, 885-887. Lo Cascio, R. Continuity and discontinuity in vocational development theory. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1967,46, 32-36. Maynard, P. E. Assessing the vocational maturity of inner-city youths. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1970. Osipow, S. H. Theories of career development. 2nd Edition. New York: AppletonCenturyCrofts, 1973. Super, D. E. A theory of vocational development. American Psychologist, 1953, 8, 185-190. Super, D. E. The dimensions and measurement of vocational maturity. Teachers CoZlege Record, 1955, 57, 151-163. Super, D. E. The psychology of careers. New York: Harper and Row, 1957.
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39
Super, D. E., Kowalski, R. S., and Gotkin, E. H. Floundering and trial after high school. Cooperative Research Project No. 1393. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1967. Tamminen, A. W. & Miller, G. D. Guidance programs and their impact on students. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Education, 1968. Received: September 4, 1974.
The Influences of Stage of Leaving School on Vocational Maturity and Realism of Vocational Choice1 GEOFFREY I. KELSO The Johns Hopkins University Cross-sectionaldata were provided by 1484 male high school pupils drawn from gradessevento twelve. AI1 subjectscompleted either the Otis Intermediate Test or the Otis Higher Test, Crites’ Vocational Development Inventory (VDI), and the author’s Student Survey. Major findings were that: (1) subjects’ anticipated stage of leaving school was significantly related to realism of vocational choice-those boys who expectedto leave school prior to grade twelve showed higher levels of realism than those going on, in spite of the fact that they tended to be lower in both maturity of vocational choice attitudes (VCA) and intelligence; (2) IQ exercised a complicated mediatory effect on both VCA and realism; and (3) in general,both VCA and realism were linearly related to grade. Taken together, these findings indicated the need to distinguish carefully between VCA and realism as aspects of vocational development. Implications for further research in vocational developmentare discussed. A particularly notable feature of previous research in career development has been the dearth of studies explicitly designed to examine irregularities in the vocational choice process. Prompted by the pioneer work of Ginzberg and Super with its heavy emphasis on the continuity and irreversibility of vocational development, many researchers have directed their attention to such problems as the identification, ordering, and timing of stages in career development, and the delineation of various developmental concomitants of vocational decision making in childhood and adolescence. For the most part, though, these studies have relied heavily on samples of males pursuing an extended education in the U.S.A. and, in general, appear to reflect the belief that individuals have a great deal of time during which to discover their “vocational selves.” In the light of this, it is interesting to note that Crites, in his efforts to develop an objective measure of vocational maturity, has obtained results ‘Requests for reprints should be sent to Geoffrey I. Kelso, Department of Social Relations, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., 21218. The author is grateful to Keith F. Taylor, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. 29 Copyright @ 1975 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
30
GEOFFREY I. KELSO
which suggestthat stagesin the maturation of vocational attitudes seemto be “primarily associatedwith the transitional points in the educational systemelementary vs junior high school vs senior high school” (Crites, 1965, p. 1). Osipow, too, has suggested that there is some justification for regarding vocational development as being open to situational influences in the light of the fact that: Studentsseemto makedecisionsat timesthat areimposedon themby the structure of the educational system. It is interesting to speculate on the effects of vocational development under the English system of secondary education, in which choice points are imposed at different age levels (Osipow, 1973, p. 163).
Moreover, results of a little known New Zealand study conducted by Keeling (1962) revealed that boys reach the realistic stage of vocational choice at the approximate age of 14. Keeling attributes these findings to the structure of the New Zealand educational system,which, with compulsory attendance until the age of 15 yr, requires children to make an early assessmentof their vocational opportunities and aspirations. All of this leads us to consider more carefully whether classical occupational choice theory caters adequately for those individuals who may be constrained to leave school before vocational development has run its full course. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to investigate this problem: to examine the extent to which the pattern of vocational development in a sample of Australian secondary school boys was related to the proximity of their departure from school. It was felt that this objective would be achieved best through the use of vocational development concepts which have been reported widely in the literature, and which are theoretically meaningful. Both vocational maturity (see Bartlett, 1971; Jordaan, 1972), and vocational choice realism (see Crites, 1969) would appear to have this status. Accordingly, special measuresof these variables were employed in the belief that together they would prove to be sensitive indicators of the course of adolescentvocational development. METHOD Subjects. The subjects were 1484 boys drawn from grades seven to twelve of three State high schools located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. Administrative difficulties and problems of economy meant that it was not practicable to Secure a sample fully representative of the Melbourne secondary school population. All three schools used in the study were located
LEAVING
SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL
MATURITY
31
in suburbs of approximately the same socioeconomic status @ES) according to data provided by Jones (1967) in his detailed study of the social ranking of Melbourne suburbs. In general these were middle class districts, typical of substantial parts of the Melbourne metropolitan area. Procedure. Data were collected from the participating schools over a 4-wk period. Thirty-five separatetesting sessionswere conducted, eachlasting approximately 2 hr. The size of the groups ranged between 25 and 130. Three instruments were administered to all subjects: 1. Form AB or Form CD of the Otis Intermediate Test; or Form A, B, or C of the Otis Higher Test. 2. Crites’ Vocational Development Inventory (VDI). 3. The Student Survey. The Otis Intermediate Test and the Otis Higher Test. These are the widely used Australian forms of the group intelligence tests first prepared by A. S. Otis. As converted Otis raw scoresyield IQ ranges rather than a single figure, an arbitrary decision was made to take the midpoint of the IQ range as a subject’s IQ. In this way data analysis was facilitated. The Vocational Development Inventory (VDI). This is the 50 item inventory designed by John Crites “to elicit the attitudinal or dispositional responsetendencies in vocational maturity which are nonintellective in nature, but which may mediate both choice behaviors and choice aptitudes” (Crites, 1965, p. 7). A person takes the inventory merely by indicating whether he agrees(“True”) or disagrees(“False”) with each of 50 statementsconcerning vocational behavior. With seven exceptions only, all items are scored“False” for the more vocationally mature response. Crites derived the items for his scale from a consideration of five behavioral dimensions: (1) Involvement in the choice process,(2) Orientation toward work, (3) Independence in decision-making, (4) Preference for vocational choice factors, and (5) Conceptions of the choice process.Crites (1963) has calculated internal consistency estimates in the .70’s, the average coefficient being .74. The VDI is now the Vocational Attitude Test of the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) (Crites, 1973). Becausethere are now several measuresof vocational maturity, each concentrating on rather different aspects of the construct, in the present study the VDI is referred to as a measureof the maturity of vocational choice attitudes (VCA). Standard instructions for the completion of the inventory are provided and these were used unaltered in the present investigation. Prior to proceeding, however, the subjects were asked to provide information about their vocational preferencesand the reasonsfor their choices. The face page of the VDI answer sheet contained three questions. The first was simply “What job
32
GEOFFREY
I. KELSO
do you plan to enter?” Subjects were told that if they felt unable to respond to this question they should then attempt the next which stated: “If you have no occupational choice, list below some jobs you have considered when thinking about your future and put a J alongside the job you prefer at the moment.” In this way it was possible to accommodate those subjects who were more tentative about their preferences as well as those who felt more certain. Finally, subjects were asked to provide a short statement concerning the reason for their choice. The Student Survey. This was a short questionnaire, the primary purpose of which was to obtain data to be used in the assessmentof vocational choice realism. Subjects were asked to provide details of the following: 1. School subjectsthey liked best and those they liked least. 2. School subjects in which they achieved good results and those in which they performed poorly. 3. Hobbies and interests. 4. Self-estimateson 12 abilities, skills, and personal qualities. Subjects rated themselves on 7-point scales for mechanical ability, scientific ability, artistic ability, teaching ability, manual skills, mathematical ability, musical ability, friendliness, managerialskills, and office skills. These scales were identical to those used by Holland (1970) in his Self Directed Search(SDS). 5. Use of leisure time. Subjectswere asked: “If quite unexpectedly you were to receive a day’s holiday how would you spend it?” A similar question was employed successfullyby Chown (1958) in her study of the role of personality factors in the formation of occupational choice. In addition, subjectswererequired to estimatethe stageat which they expected to complete their education, i.e., before form six (grade twelve), at form six, or after tertiary study. Realism ratings. A simple rating procedure was used to assesschoice realism, but in order to increase the reliability of the technique, three independent assessmentswere obtained for each subject. The investigator and two graduate students in occupational psychology acted as judges. Using the data provided in the Student Survey together with IQ scores, each judge endeavored to estimate how well the interests, abilities, etc., of each subject matched those known to be associatedwith the preferred occupation. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (1965) and the Careers Guide for Victoria (1970) were used as sources of information about job characteristics and requirements. In order to familiarize the judges with the rating procedure, a number of preliminary practice sessionswere conducted using trial data.
33
LEAVING SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL MATURITY TABLE 1 Correlations Between Judges Ratings of Realism, and Between Each Set of Judgments and Total Realism Judge
Judge 2 Judge 3 Total realism
1
2
3
.82* .82* .94*
x2* .94*
.93*
*p < .Ol.
Ratings were made on a 5-point scale. A rating of 1 was used to represent an unrealistic choice involving grossoverestimation of abilities, skills, etc., whereasa rating of 5 indicated a choice based on extreme underestimation. Appropriate or “realistic” choices received a rating of 3. Later, the three realism ratings for each subject were added to provide overall assessments ranging from 3 to 15. An adding rather than an averaging procedure was employed to avoid rounding-off errors. In order to determine interrater reliability, Pearsonr’s were calculated for the relationship between the three sets of ratings, and for each set with the total realism scores. The results, summarizedin Table 1, reveal a highly significant level of consensusbetween judges. RESULTS Stage. Means (and standard deviations) for vocational choice attitudes (VCA), Realism, IQ, and Age for each of the three stages of leaving are indicated in Table 2. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted on these scores using the FORTRAN program “MAN@,” which provides both multivariate and univariate tests of significance; the multivariate test being based on Wilks’ lambda and Rao’s approximate F test. MANQJVA was also used for all subsequentfactorial analyses. For the data in Table 2, the multivariate test for the stage of leaving effect (Stage) proved to be highly significant (F (8,2952) = 96.30, p < .OOl). Furthermore, the results of the univariate F tests show that all four criteria contributed to the multivariate finding @ < .OOl). A particularly interesting feature of the data in Table 2 is the direction of scoresfor VCA and Realism. While VCA tended to be higher for those subjectsintending to stay longer at school, the trend for Realism was in the opposite direction.
34
GEOFFREY I. KELSO TABLE 2 Means (and Standard Deviations) for VCA, Realism, IQ, and Age (in Months) for Each Anticipated Stage of Leaving School Stage of leaving
VCA Realism
IQ Age
1. Before grade 12 N=283
2. At grade 12 N= 398
33.65 (5 S2) 8.96 (2.55) 106.22 (11.43) 181.69 (17.06)
33.37 (5.36) 8.06 (2.93) 109.13 (11.61) 176.74 (20.41)
3. After tertiary N=801 35.68 (4.95) 7.94 (2.43) 116.35 (10.88) 181.71 (22.69)
Because IQ correlated positively with both VCA and Realism, the present problem was reanalyzed using analysis of covariance to control for its effects. Stage again proved to be a significant factor (F(4,2954)= 127.79, p < .OOl). Furthermore, both VCA (F(2,1478) = 7.33, p < .OOl) and Realism (F(2,1478) = 266.73, p < .OOl) continued to contribute significantly to the multivariate result. An important feature of these findings concerns the magnitude of the F values obtained for VCA and Realism before and after the application of analysis of covariance. A comparison of these results reveals that for VCA the introduction of covariance control produced an F value which, although still significant, was much lower than that achieved under analysis of variance (F = 33.13 versus F = 7.33), while for Realism, a substantially higher value was provided (F = 16.62 versus F= 266.73). These results suggest that the influence of IQ, when confounded with VCA, was to amplify differences from stage to stage, whereas for Realism, it would seem to have dampened them down. Stage X grade. The findings reported so far clearly demonstrated the significance of Stage of Leaving as a single influence on vocational development. The analysis was then extended to an examination of the joint effects of Stage and Grade on VCA and Realism. Table 3 contains means (and standard deviations) of all relevant variables for each of the three stages of leaving for grades 7 to 12. A 3 X 6 factorial analysis of variance (Stage X Grade) conducted on these data revealed a significant Stage effect (F (8,2924) = 88.12, p < .OOl),a significant Grade effect (F (20,485O) = 249.67, p < .OOl), and a significant Stage X Grade effect (F (36,548O) = 1.93,~ < .OOl). For the main effects all criteria contributed significantly to the result (p < .OOl). However, only VCA (p < .02) and IQ (p < .007) contributed significantly to the interaction finding. As can be seen in Table 3, the relative magnitude of VCA and Realism
LEAVING
SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL TABLE
3.5
MATURITY
3
Means (and Standard Deviations) for VCA, Realism, IQ, and Age (in Months) for each Anticipated Stage of Leaving. Grades I to 12 Grade
Stage I (before grade 12)
VCA Realism
IQ Age
Stage 2 (at grade 12)
8
N=31
N=36
IQ Age
VCA Realism
IQ Age
9 N=l3
10 N=
80
11
12
N=57
30.19 (4.61) 8.19 (2.52) 104.08 (12.35)
30.18 (4.81) 1.91 (2.48)
33.58 (5.15)
35.05 (4.41)
35.84 (5.82)
.-
8.59 (2.41)
9.56 (2.51)
9.12 (2.49)
-
99.12 (9.61)
101.92 (11.15)
111.83 (9.41)
-
154.41 (6.94)
165.50 (5.08)
178.75 (I .20)
110.06 (9:56) 188.83 (6.63)
203.39 (8.12)
-
N=83 VCA Realism
Stage 3 (tertiary)
7
N=109
29.66 (5.33) 7.94 (2.83) 107.39 (10.12)
32.84 (4.59) 7.31 (3.01) 105.52 (11.25)
153.01 (5.14)
164.62 (4.99)
N= 137 33.36 (4.95) 7.25 (2.37) 113.77 (10.54) 152.02 (5.56)
N=148 33.52 (4.58) 7.32 (2.68) 112.81 (12.61) 164.28 (5.30)
N=61
N=51
N=62
N=26
34.21 (4.90)
34.49 (4.97)
35.53 (5.13)
37.92 (3.25)
7.98 (2.95)
8.95 (2.14)
109.05 (11.78)
8.14 (2.64) 109.93 (10.91)
113.58 (11.33)
9.46 (3.17) 117.65 (10.45)
171.16 (5.29)
181.19 (6.20)
202.95 (7.16)
215.54 (9.24)
N=116 35.45 (4.14) 8.36 (2.80) 116.30 (12.09) 174.54 (5.68)
N=141 31.03 (4.30) 8.14 (2.52) 111.84 (9.71) 188.39 (11.00)
N=140
N=119
37.34 (4.29)
31.11 (4.98)
8.34 (2.02) 118.22 (8.68)
8.39 (1.75) 119.77 (9.59)
199.48 (8.42)
215.75 (10.52)
Stage is substantially in line with the trend indicated in Table 2: with only two exceptions, at each grade level the highest VCA mean was provided by those intending to go on to tertiary study, the lowest by those leaving before grade 12; while for Realism the reverse was largely true. The significant interaction finding shows that the magnitude of VCA was influenced by Grade and Stage acting together cumulatively. As with earlier analyses, the effects of IQ were examined through the application of analysis of covariance to the same factorial model. Again, for
each
36
GEOFFREY LKELSO
significant main effects were obtained for both Stage (F(4,2926) = 119.25, Grade (F(10,2926) = 23.54, p < .OOl). A significant StageX Grade interaction was also found but at a much lower level of significance than that obtained prior to control (F(18,2926) = 1.63, p < *OS). Univariate F tests showed that both VCA and Realism made significant contributions to the multivariate results for main effects (p < .OOl), but only VCA contributed significantly to the interaction @ < .03).
p < .OOl), and
DISCUSSION The results make it clear that the temporal relationship between anticipated stage of leaving and realism of vocational choice is particularly significant. In line with expectations, those boys who believed that they would be leaving school before twelfth grade showed higher levels of realism than those going on, in spite of the fact that they tended to have lessmature vocational attitudes and to be lower in intelligence. The fact that these subjects showed a level of realism in grade 9 equal to that for all subjectsin grade 12, is especially noteworthy, and would seemto be a direct reflection of the close proximity of their entry to the world of work-a situational press for more urgent selfexamination in the light of job requirements. For those who intended to persevereat high school with a view to moving on to tertiary study, there was not this pressingneed for accurate self-assessment. This argument gains strong support from the findings obtained in New Zealand by Keeling (1962) that boys of low scholastic ability, who were likely to leave school early, were the first to reach the realistic stage of vocational choice. In New Zealand the official minimum school leaving age is 15 yr and a large proportion of children leave school at this point. The fact that Keeling found the stage of realism to occur at approximately age 14 probably indicates that many boys had to make a more realistic appraisal of themselves, their aspirations, and vocational opportunities at about that time. The present differential relationship of vocational choice attitudes and vocational choice realism to stage of leaving was not unexpected in view of the fact that the VDI and the measureof choice realism were designedto tap rather different aspects of vocational behavior. As already noted, the VDI purports to embrace five different attitudinal dimensions which are largely conative and forward-looking in nature (Crites, 1965, p. 4). On the other hand, realism as it was assessedin the present study, was more dependent upon the subjects’ cognitive appraisal of their immediate situation, and thus appears to be closely related to what Super (1955) has described as the “wisdom of vocational choice.” Becauseso much of this “wisdom” has been seen by vocational development theorists to stem from the interaction of the individual with reality factors in his environment, it seemedreasonable to
LEAVING SCHOOL AND VOCATIONAL
MATURITY
37
anticipate that expected stage of leaving school would be more closely related to the appropriateness of vocational choice than to the sophistication of attitudes towards vocational choice. However, although Crites designedthe VDI to assessthe nonintellective aspectsof vocational maturity, a number of recent studies have shown it also has a substantial intellective component (e.g., Asbury, 1968; Cover, 1968; Dutt, 1968; Hoyt, 1962; Maynard, 1970; Tamminen & Miller, 1968). That VDI scorestended to increasewith IQ (i.e., VDI scoreswere highest for those intending to pursue tertiary education, and lowest for those leaving prior to grade 12) was, therefore, not unexpected. A further important feature of these results concerns the extent to which they show intelligence to be a critical mediating variable in vocational development. Whereasthe differences in vocational choice attitudes between the three stagesof leaving were heightened by the influence of IQ; it serveda moderating role when confounded with realism. While these findings give general support to the view that intelligence is an important determinant of occupational outcomes (see Jordaan, 1972) they suggestthat it may have rather different effects on various aspectsof vocational development. Apart from demonstrating the significance of stage of leaving for vocational development, the findings of the present study lend considerable credenceto the view that vocational development, as reflected in the maturity of vocational choice attitudes and vocational choice realism, is a positive function of grade (see Table 3). As such, they are largely in accordancewith the formulations of Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, and Herma (1951) and Super (1953, 1957) both of whom emphasizethe linearity of the vocational development process. Although only a few investigators to date have focused their attention on factors likely to be associatedwith atypical or discontinuous patterns of vocational development (e.g., Lo Cascio, 1964, 1967; Super, 1967), the present findings for expected stage of leaving seem to indicate that such an approach would prove productive. Exploration of other factors such as SES and parental work history might reasonably be expected to contribute significantly to a more precise understanding of the nature of vocational development. REFERENCES Asbury, F. A. Vocational development of rural disadvantaged eighthgrade boys. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 1968, 17, 109-113. Bartlett, W. E. Vocational maturity: its past, present, and future development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1971, 1, 217-229. Gzreers Guide for Victoria. Prepared by the Youth Employment Section of the Commonwealth Employment Service, Department of Labour and National Service, Victoria, 2nd Ed. Melb., Dept. of Labour and National Service, 1970.
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GEOFFREY I. KELSO
Chown, S. M. The formation of occupational choice among grammar school pupils. Occupational Psychology, 1958, 32, 171-182. Cover, J. A. The relationship of alienation from society and selected variables to vocational maturity in male high school seniors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon, 1968. Crites, J. 0. The internal consistency and stability of the Attitude Test of the Vocational Development Inventory. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Personnel and Guidance Association, San Francisco, April 1963. Crites, J. 0. Measurement of vocational maturity in adolescence: I. Attitude Test of the Vocational Development Inventory. PsychoZogicaZMonographs, 1965 (a), 79 (2, Whole No. 595). Crites, J. 0. Vocational psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969. Crites, J. 0. Theory and research handbook for the Career Maturity Inventory. CTB/McCraw-Hill: Monterey, Calif., 1973. Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Bureau of Employment Security. United States. 3rd Ed. U.S.G.P., 1965. 3 Vols. Dutt, K. Report of preliminary results on vocational readiness of eighth and ninth grade vocational technical students. Unpublished manuscript, Easton, Pennsylvania, 1968. Cited by Crites, J. 0. 7?re maturity of vocational attitudes in adolescence. Iowa City: The University of Iowa, 1965 (b). p. 54. Ginzberg, E., Ginsburg, S. W., Axelrad, S., & Herma, J. L. Occupational Choice. New York: Columbia University Press, 1951. Holland, J. L. The self-directed search. Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1970. Hoyt, K. B. Specialty oriented student research program. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Printing Service, 1962. Jones, F. L. A social ranking of Melbourne suburbs. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 1967, 3, 93-110. Jordaan, J. P. Vocational maturity. The construct, its measurement, and its validity. XVZZth International Congress of Applied Psychology. Proceedings, Vol. 1. Brussels, Editest, 1972. Pp. 417-458. Keeling, B. Peer groups, fantasy and realism in vocational choice. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Canterbury University, 1962. Cited by C. V. Baldock, Vocational choice and opportunity. Christchurch, N.Z.: University of Canterbury, 1971. P. 18. Lo Cascio, R. Delayed and impaired vocational development: A neglected aspect of vocational development theory. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1964, 42, 885-887. Lo Cascio, R. Continuity and discontinuity in vocational development theory. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1967,46, 32-36. Maynard, P. E. Assessing the vocational maturity of inner-city youths. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1970. Osipow, S. H. Theories of career development. 2nd Edition. New York: AppletonCenturyCrofts, 1973. Super, D. E. A theory of vocational development. American Psychologist, 1953, 8, 185-190. Super, D. E. The dimensions and measurement of vocational maturity. Teachers CoZlege Record, 1955, 57, 151-163. Super, D. E. The psychology of careers. New York: Harper and Row, 1957.
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39
Super, D. E., Kowalski, R. S., and Gotkin, E. H. Floundering and trial after high school. Cooperative Research Project No. 1393. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1967. Tamminen, A. W. & Miller, G. D. Guidance programs and their impact on students. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Education, 1968. Received: September 4, 1974.