The History of Interest Inventories and Career Assessments in Career Counseling

Abstract

Interest inventories and career assessments continue to be used to support practitioners as they work to uncover client interests, abilities, skills, motivations, values, and other personal factors that help individuals self-define and construct their career. The skilled use of career inventories and assessments remains a minimum competency of career service providers' ability to successfully partner with their clients. A history of the evolution of assessment from 1914 through 1974 and considerations for the future of assessment are highlighted to provide historical perspective to inform practitioners as they serve the diverse needs of complex client populations.

Early 20th‐Century Career Counseling for Women: Contemporary Practice and Research Implications

“…The following decades showed an increase in interest inventory development. However, these inventories were often meant for the guidance of high school boys and men, with more select research focusing on girls and women (Cawley, 1947; Harrington & Long, 2013). Inventories would remain gender stratified until 1974 when the Strong‐Campbell Interest Inventory (Campbell, 1974) did not include separate gendered booklets (Harrington & Long, 2013).…”

“…Contemporary theories account for gender socialization, role stress, self‐efficacy, and barriers to women's career development (Farmer, 2006). Legislation passed in the 1970s, such as Title IX, called for the removal of gender bias in career measurements and inventories (Harrington & Long, 2013). However, recent research indicates that career inventories may still contain gender bias (Einarsdóttir & Rounds, 2009).…”

“…Additionally, counselors should incorporate feminist research principles, such as getting participant feedback and input on research processes, procedures, and questions (Farmer, 2006). Finally, research should continue to explore gender bias in current assessment tools, the utility of new assessment tools, and the appropriate use of these tools with all women (Harrington & Long, 2013).…”

Adding Career Biographies and Career Narratives to Career Interest Inventories

“…Furthermore, an increasing number of diverse clients are seeking career services, including the use of career interest assessments (Harrington & Long, ; McMahon & Watson, ; Stebleton, ). Narratives are one resource for working within the tenets of postmodernism and can be useful when working with diverse clients who are experiencing career development concerns (Harrington & Long, ; Stebleton, ). Narrative career counseling interventions provide clients with insight to consider how their career development plans fit their personal lifestyle, meaning making, and values (Del Corso & Rehfuss, ; Gibson, ).…”

Conceito e relevância dos interesses profissionais no desenvolvimento de carreira: estudo teórico

“…Assim, considera-se importante disponibilizar uma revisão do conceito de interesses para aqueles que se preocupam com pesquisa e/ou avaliação desse construto psicológico. O início dos estudos sobre interesses profi ssionais data da primeira metade do século XX (p.ex., Fryer, 1931) e foram realizados principalmente com a fi nalidade de construir inventários, tais como o Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) em 1928 e o Kuder Preference Record--Vocational em 1938 (Harrington & Long, 2013;Mattiazzi, 1977). Embora vários autores tenham buscado, ao longo dos anos, conceituar interesses profi ssionais e explicar seu processo de desenvolvimento, os trabalhos foram desenvolvidos desarticuladamente e focalizados em dados empíricos, de forma que não deixaram transparecer a evolução do conceito (Leitão & Miguel, 2001;Savickas, 1999).…”