Three test construction strategies are described and illustrated in the development of the Verb Interest Test (VIT), an inventory that assesses vocational interests using verbs. Verbs might be a promising alternative to the descriptions of occupational activities used in most vocational interest inventories because they are context-independent,…

A cross-cultural counseling model has five stages: emergence of career and vocational problems, help-seeking and use of career services, evaluation of problems, career interventions and outcomes. The model addresses recognition and removal of cultural barriers to help-seeking and culturally appropriate methods of diagnosis, assessment, and…

Examines recent developments in multicultural and career assessment. Discusses the necessary foundational skills for culturally competent assessment and presents a process model for culturally appropriate career assessment of ethnically diverse individuals. Addresses considerations for the development of culturally competent assessment…

Cross-cultural issues in personality and career assessment include ethnocentrism; the concept of culture; whether personality is culturally constructed; and linguistic, conceptual, scale, and normative equivalencies of assessment instruments across cultures. Research should include broader cultural pools, and counseling must take a cross-cultural…

Reviews literature on (1) cultural validity of career assessment instruments with racial and ethnic minorities; (2) extent to which culture-specific variables influence career assessment; and (3) construction and validation of culture-specific measures. Finds more research on cultural validity than specificity and notes the need for more study of…

Defines women of color as African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latina American, or Native American. Critiques the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model and suggests a four-step process for career assessment of women of color that includes evaluation of cultural, gender, self-efficacy, and traditional career assessment variables. (SK)

Building on social constructivism, culturally affirming career assessment should take a unificationist perspective, which does not assume the validity of tests across cultural contexts. Generalizability and item response theory are better suited than classical test theory to the unificationist perspective. (SK)

Career counseling with the intellectually gifted requires awareness of general concerns regarding this population as well as specific issues that may affect gifted males, females, and minorities. Use of career assessment instruments requires attention to their appropriateness for the gifted as well as gender and cultural bias. (Contains 65…

Workplace and work force changes will change the focus of career assessments to clusters of interests, skills, and values because clients will repeatedly seek employment in clusters rather than specific job titles. Career assessments will begin earlier and end later in life. (SK)

Concerns about using interest inventories with men and women are whether they do have different interests and how these differences are interpreted. With ethnic groups, interpretation must take place within a cultural context and is dependent on counselor knowledge of culture. (SK)