Career planning validity of self-estimates and test estimates of work-relevant abilities.

Discussion and Implications

The wide range of work-relevant abilities, the fact that many of those abilities are not easily assessed by tests, the research cited in the Rationale section, and the research reported here all support supplementing test estimates of ability with self-estimates when abilities are used in a comprehensive search for career options. Research results also suggest that, when self-estimates of abilities are available, test estimates may have little of practical significance to contribute to career planning for the many. Of course, test estimates can have a role in counseling individuals with certain types of career-related concerns (e.g., see Prediger, 1999b, for a case study).

In a review of research on self-assessment, more generally considered, Osberg and Shrauger (1990) noted that a "consistent trend among leading assessment theorists has been the call for greater use of self-assessment data" (p. 97). They believed the research indicates that "greater use of a person's own self-knowledge would contribute significant new data to the field of psychological assessment" (p. 97). Regarding ability self-estimates, Goldman (1972) and Prediger (1999b) discussed the psychometric inadequacies of ability tests when used for career planning. In an article titled "Tests and Counseling: The Marriage That Failed," Goldman (1972) noted that "The main contribution of tests in counseling is not making predictions but facilitating the clarification of self-concept" (p. 219). Of course, ability self-estimates are self-concepts. Healy (1990) advocated the use of self-estimates, but he noted that "Appraisals continue to cast counselors as experts and rely on traits for connecting clients and career options.... [This] prompts dependence on tests and inventories" (p. 216).

Counselors who wish to use ability self-estimates in career exploration and planning may want to draw on one of the instruments cited in the Rationale section. All are available via paper-and-pencil assessments and computer. Of course, counselors can also develop their own paper-and-pencil assessments. In either case, it would appear to be important to obtain self-estimates that are informed by experience and by feedback from others. Also, the self-estimates need to be linked to career options.

With respect to IWRA, scores on Holland's (1997) six types are linked to career options via the empirically based World-of-Work Map (WWM), an extension of Holland's hexagon. The recently updated WWM, its 26 career clusters (with examples of typical occupations), and a table for converting scores for Holland's types into "map regions" were provided by Prediger (2002). A brief case study illustrates how the WWM can be used in career planning. (Copies of the WWM, its career clusters, and the table are available from the author.) When time is available, counselors can obtain counselee reactions to their self-estimates and discuss their bases. As a result, self-concepts may be clarified (recall Super's Dictum).

The wide range of work-relevant abilities and limitations of the research reported here certainly appear to warrant further research comparing the career planning validity of self-estimates and test estimates. The limitations include the use of an early form of IWRA. The current form (ACT, 1999, 2001) supplements each of the ability descriptions with examples of activities likely to have been experienced directly or vicariously by persons completing IWRA. Also, only 15 of the many work-relevant abilities were addressed by the study and those cited in the Rationale section. Self-estimates were available for only nine of them, and test estimates were available for only six. Validity studies that include a wider range of ability estimates and different assessment instruments could provide a new perspective on abilities relevant to career counseling "for the many," the context of this study.

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Dale J. Prediger, Iowa City, Iowa. This article was written before the author retired as a vocational research psychologist from ACT, Inc. (ACT). The author thanks Kyle Swaney, an ACT Research Division staff member, for his review of a draft of this article. The study involved a secondary analysis of a database in ACT files. An unpublished study involved analyses of other variables in the database. Results were briefly reported by ACT (2001). Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dale J. Prediger, 444 Mullin Avenue, Iowa City, IA 52246 (e-mail: prediger@inav.net).

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