College preparation is an important topic in the educational attainment of high school students. Much of the research on college planning focuses on the importance and timing of preparing for postsecondary education; however, little research has explored the steps students actually take while preparing for college. The current study utilized the…

The purposes of this study are to (1) examine the factorial validity of Schein's career anchors orientation inventory (COI), comparing the original eight-factor model with an alternative nine-factor model, (2) examine the cross-cultural invariance of the COI and its factor structure across two countries, (3) investigate whether core…

Career goal feedback provides information about career goal suitability, adequacy of goal progress, and whether changes are needed to reach the goals. Feedback comes from external (e.g., parents, peers) and internal sources (e.g., self-reflection), and plays an important role in the career development of young people. As there is no existing…

Two studies were conducted to validate the Chinese version of the Career Decision-Making Profiles (CDMP) questionnaire, a multidimensional measure of the way individuals make career decisions. Results of Study 1 showed that after dropping 1 item from the original CDMP scale, the 11-factor structure was supported among Chinese college students (N =…

Individuals with disabilities face persistent challenges in gaining meaningful employment. One of the barriers to successful employment is a lack of employability skills. The purpose of this study was to identify employability skills that employers value as being important and to examine whether employers have different expectations for…

The present study sought to develop and validate an instrument to measure work volition, defined as the perceived capacity to make occupational choices despite constraints, among college students. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted with a large and diverse sample of college students, finding a reliable scale with two factors,…

The Mathematical Resilience Scale measures students' attitudes toward studying mathematics, using three correlated factors: Value, Struggle, and Growth. The Mathematical Resilience Scale was developed and validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across three samples. Results provide a new approach to gauge the likelihood of…

The Student Counselling Needs Scale (SCNS) was administered to 867 participants recruited from high schools in Kenya. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis yielding five factors: human relationships, career development, self development, social values, and learning skills were assessed. The findings highlighted the importance of…

This article examines available measures of perceived teacher support and presents findings from two studies exploring the psychometric properties of the Teacher Support Scale (TSS). In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis suggested a hierarchical structure with four first-order factors (Invested, Positive Regard, Expectations, and Accessible…

This paper documents the initial development and validation of a brief quantitative measure of career development influences based on the Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development (McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon, 1997, 1999, 2006). Initial exploratory factor analyses of pilot study data revealed a six-factor structure based on…

This article describes the development and psychometric assessment of a multidimensional, domain-specific Career Locus of Control Scale (CLOC) designed for use with adolescent school pupils engaged in the career development and decision-making process. A 47-item version was administered to 743 school pupils, age 15 or 16 years evenly split between…

This article reports on the development and initial validation of an inventory--Cognitions and Beliefs About Technology and Science (CABATS). Out of a literature search and content analysis, eight categories of cognitions or beliefs were developed. In Study 1, those eight components of were assessed with a confirmatory factor analysis of item…

A procedure is described for increasing the reliability of tests after they have been given and for developing shorter but more reliable tests. Eight tests administered to 200 graduate students studying educational research are analyzed. The analysis considers the original tests, the items loading on the first factor of the test, and the items…

Examines attitudes about careers and gender roles for 156 college students from the United States, 621 from Japan, and 157 from Slovenia. A factor analysis indicates that career values form different factors within each country and gender. In all three countries, women are less traditional in gender role attitudes than men. (SLD)