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This article reviews the methods, major findings, and conclusions of the Fouad et al. review of research on women's work and career development over the last 25 years. Following that, the paper addresses the question posed by Fouad et al. "Why arent we there yet"?, providing several examples of approaches to the development of separate theories of women's career development. The article concludes with counseling, training and societal implications.

Objective: This study examines the prevalence of self-reported driving while intoxicated (DWI) among drivers aged 65 and older. Method: This cross-sectional study was based on baseline data from the AAA Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study, a multisite prospective cohort study of 2,990 older adult drivers. Alcohol-related variables from the baseline questionnaire were examined in relation to demographics, health status, and driving behaviors. A logistic regression model assessed variables associated with DWI. Results: Of the 2,990 participants, 72.7% reported consuming alcohol, 15.0% reported high-risk drinking, and 3.3% reported DWI. High-risk drinking (OR = 12.01) and risky driving behaviors (OR = 13.34) were significantly associated with at least occasional DWI. Avoidance of hazardous driving conditions (OR = 0.71) and higher level of comfort during challenging driving scenarios (OR = 0.65) were less likely to be associated with DWI. Conclusion: A large number of older adults engage in high-risk drinking and DWI. Public health education and DWI-related interventions should include older adults.

Background: There are approximately 42 million licensed drivers aged 65 years or older in the United States, who face unique age-related risks while driving. While physical activity affects several chronic conditions thought to be associated with motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), it is unclear if increased physical activity leads to fewer MVCs. This study explores whether self-reported vigorous and moderate physical activity is associated with MVCs in the previous year. Methods: Using cross-sectional data from the LongROAD study, a large multisite prospective cohort study of 2990 older adult drivers, we examined variables related to physical activity and performed a multivariate regression analysis to examine the association of physical activity health behaviors with self-reported MVCs. Results: Overall, 41.2% of participants reported vigorous and 69.6% of participants reported moderate exercise at least once per week. Eleven percent of participants reported at least 1 MVC in the previous year. Neither vigorous nor moderate physical activity was significantly associated with self-reported MVCs in the previous year. Select variables that were significantly associated with self-reported MVC included self-reported unsafe driving practices (odds ratio [OR] 1.55, confidence interval [CI] 1.05-2.29), and fall in the past 12 months (OR 1.46, CI 1.14-1.85). Conclusions: We were unable to detect a significant association between self-reported physical activity and MVCs in the past year among this group of older drivers. Use of objective measures of activity may better clarify this relationship.

Despite social cognitive and cultural barriers, women continue to consider and declare science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. Research suggests that both self-efficacy and interest are necessary to approach a career goal; however, women in STEM report lower interest and confidence compared to their male counterparts. Using integrative career profiles of 448 potential and declared STEM majors, we investigated Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional thresholds of self-efficacy and interest among women and men using the career and personality assessments integrative online system. Results indicated gender as a moderator for the Realistic threshold, where women have a lower threshold for approaching and declaring a STEM major compared with men. Women in this sample showed similar levels of Investigative self-efficacy and interests compared with men. This study adds to prior literature investigating people–thing orientations among men and women in STEM. These results may be utilized in broadening female participation in STEM and alleviating underrepresentation.

Perceptions of the relevance of race in everyday situations may matter for intergroup relations. Extending previous research, this work examines Blacks’ and Whites’ perceptions of race relevance in positive versus negative everyday situations affecting Black or White individuals. It also examines whether Black and White participants expect more intergroup disagreement regarding those perceptions than actually exists (i.e., interracial pluralistic ignorance). In Study 1, White participants saw significantly more race relevance in negative situations affecting Black (rather than White) individuals, whereas positive events seemed only marginally more race relevant when they featured Blacks. Study 2 replicated this pattern among White and Black participants. Furthermore, Study 2 uncovered interracial pluralistic ignorance: both Black and White participants expected to agree with their racial ingroup more than their racial outgroup, even though both groups reported similar race relevance perceptions. Participants’ own race relevance ratings and symbolic racist attitudes moderated the degree of expected disagreement.

This study aims to evaluate the factor structure of Career Decision Self-Efficacy scale-short form in a sample of Italian high school adolescents. confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the degree to which a one-factor structure and a five-factor structure provided the best fit. In view of available research the five-factor structure was expected to provide the best fit. Moreover, factorial invariance in males and females was tested. It was expected to be invariant across groups. As expected the five-factor structure showed a better fit than the one-factor model and the factorial invariance resulted invariant across boys and girls.

Background: Discussions about driving cessation are difficult. “Advance driving directives” (ADDs), like advance directives for end-of-life care, would allow drivers to designate someone to help make driving decisions for them in the future. It is not known if older drivers support the concept of ADDs. Design and methods: Cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of English-speaking drivers (55+ years) at 2 independent living facilities and 2 community centers who completed anonymous surveys. Results: Of 168 participants, 80% were female; the median age was 76.5 years (range = 56-93 years). Most (74%) drove daily or almost daily, and 7% reported a crash in the past year. Few had spoken with someone about driving safety (5%) or their wishes when driving skills decline (21%). Of the few who had discussed this topic, 83% had spoken with a family member; only 17% had spoken with a health care provider. However, participants were open to driving discussions, and 54% said they would be willing to complete an ADD if recommended. Of these, 79% said it was “likely” or “very likely” they would comply with the directive in the future. Most (73%) supported mandatory, age-based retesting; the median recommended testing age suggested was 80 years. More participants thought the driver (71%), a family member (61%), or a physician (59%) should determine license revocation for an unsafe driver, rather than the department of motor vehicles (32%). Conclusions: Many older drivers may be open to discussing their driving plans with physicians and family members. ADDs may facilitate these discussions in the present and help define driving-related wishes in the future.

Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are labeled unfeminine, a costly social label that may discourage female students from pursuing these fields. Challenges to this stereotype include feminine STEM role models, but their counterstereotypic-yet-feminine success may actually be demotivating, particularly to young girls. Study 1 showed that feminine STEM role models reduced middle school girls’ current math interest, self-rated ability, and success expectations relative to gender-neutral STEM role models and depressed future plans to study math among STEM-disidentified girls. These results did not extend to feminine role models displaying general (not STEM-specific) school success, indicating that feminine cues were not driving negative outcomes. Study 2 suggested that feminine STEM role models’ combination of femininity and success seemed particularly unattainable to STEM-disidentified girls. The results call for a better understanding of feminine STEM figures aimed at motivating young girls.

The present article describes the potential utility of item response theory (IRT) and adaptive testing for scale evaluation and for web-based career assessment. The article describes the principles of both IRT and adaptive testing and then illustrates these with reference to data analyses and simulation studies of the Career Confidence Inventory (CCI). The kinds of information provided by IRT are shown to give a more precise look at scale quality across the trait continuum and also to permit the use of adaptive testing, where the items administered are tailored to the individual being tested. Such tailoring can significantly reduce testing time while maintaining high quality of measurement. This efficiency is especially useful when multiscale inventories and/or a large number of scales are to be administered. Readers are encouraged to consider using these advances in career assessment.

Career assessment has advanced on several fronts, enabling a CAPA integrative online system for exploring college majors with unprecedented precision and utility. The key inventories in the system are the CAPA Confidence Inventory (CCI), with its 6 general and 27 specific scales, and the CAPA Interest Inventory, with its 6 general and 35 specific scales. Results for these inventories are displayed online when they are completed, enhanced with extensive interpretive materials. With regression models, college major clusters with best fit are displayed based on high scores on the specific confidence and interest scores. Several studies of the inventories and the CAPA assessment system with several thousand college students have demonstrated their validity and utility.

The psychometric properties of Super’s Work Values Inventory—Revised (SWVI-R) were examined in a sample of 213 African American college students. Results indicated that the 12-values scales were as reliable and as valid in a sample of African Americans as has been demonstrated within a predominantly White college student sample. Values of coefficient α were similar to those found in White and normative samples, with a median α of .82 herein and medians of .82 and .84 in the normative and White college student samples. A three-factor higher order structure of the SWVI-R was found herein; the three factors were named secure work environment, motivation, and style of engagement. African Americans reported higher mean values scores than did White students but their rank ordering of values was very similar—lifestyle, work environment, and supervision were most highly valued, and creativity was the least valued. Values scores were significantly and consistently correlated with ethnic identity achievement.

This study was designed to compare a new inventory measuring concepts of the ‘‘healthy personality’’ with the most widely used inventory of the Big Five personality traits, the NEO personality inventory—Revised (NEO-PI-R). Using adjectives as the stimulus materials, Borgen and Betz (2008) developed a 17-scale inventory called the Healthy personality inventory (HPI), where the 17 dimensions of personality were organized into five broader personality styles. Overall, the results of this study suggest strong correspondences of HPI productivity styles with Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness (NEO) conscientiousness, HPI interpersonal styles with NEO Extraversion, and HPI intrapersonal styles with NEO Neuroticism. The NEO Openness and Agreeableness dimensions mapped less clearly on the NEO. The relationships of these findings to the wealth of previous data on the correlates of Big Five personality traits are discussed, as are the advantages of using a personality inventory with more positively oriented concepts and scale names. The authors suggest that a personality inventory based on positive psychology may facilitate the growing area of research on the relationships of personality to career variables.

The present study compared the effectiveness of two online career exploration systems in increasing the career decision self-efficacy and decidedness of 960 students enrolled in a program for undecided freshmen students at a large public university. Results indicated that both systems led to significant increases in career decision self-efficacy and college major decidedness in these students. The CAPA system, based on an integration of Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and traditional trait factor theory, led to proportionately greater increases in Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale scores in comparison to FOCUS for the total group and for women. The systems were comparably effective with African American, Asian American, and White students.

This article extends recent work on the relationship between personality and career self-efficacy by examining relationships across two new inventories with scales for identifying human strengths. The Healthy Personality Inventory (HPI) has 17 content scales tapping an array of positive personality measures. The CAPA Confidence Inventory (CCI) has 6 broad, 27 basic, and 6 engagement styles measures of career self-efficacy. In a sample of college students, hypothesized correlations between personality and self-efficacy were generally confirmed. A number of unexpected relationships also were found, such as the HPI Creative scale predicting social and enterprising confidence. These inventories show promise for continued research, theory development, and assessment practice.

This article discusses what the author views as exemplary work illustrating important directions in research on the applications of Bandura's self-efficacy theory to career theory, assessment, and counseling. The author begins with research on measuring career self-efficacy, following which research testing the postulated behavioral consequences of career self-efficacy expectations is discussed. Notable studies of the learning experiences postulated to lead to the development of strong expectations of efficacy are reviewed. Studies of the possible relationships of efficacy expectations to parallel measures of vocational interests are included. Finally, exemplary studies applying the theory to the career development of diverse groups, studies of interventions designed to increase career self-efficacy, and new research attempting to integrate self-efficacy theory with personality constructs are included. The article is not intended as a comprehensive review of this research but rather to provide highlights of some of the excellent work being done in this area.

This study indicates that the social self-efficacy of 203 Chinese and Taiwanese international students was significantly higher when they were asked to consider their interactions among fellow native language speakers than when they were asked to imagine themselves interacting in English-speaking settings. And in fact, the social self-efficacy of these students in native language settings was as high as the highest levels of social self-efficacy found in African American students in a previous sample of college students. Other findings show that social self-efficacy in the English setting was significantly and positively related to English proficiency, length of residence in the United States, and unconditional self-regard and was negatively related to acculturation stress. Regression analyses indicate that social self-efficacy in English settings and unconditional self-regard were related to acculturation stress, accounting for 38% of the variance in stress. Implications for the adjustment and counseling of international students studying in the United States are discussed.

Between 1980 and 1993, only 19% of medical school graduates chose faculty appointments with research responsibilities. Women and minorities represent only a small fraction of these, despite their growing numbers. The authors' goal is to study the effects of human agency, particularly self-efficacy, on the career development of physician researchers, especially women and people of color; therefore, we developed a reliable and valid inventory for assessing clinical research self-efficacy in a population of physicians training for clinical research careers. Scale items were pooled from expert knowledge, relevant literature, and existing inventories to create a 92-item Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory that was factor analyzed and refined to include 88 items. Although instruments have been developed to successfully assess research self-efficacy, this is the first instrument designed to assess self-efficacy in the clinical research domain using a population of academic physicians.

The present study investigates the hypothesis that the big five personality factors could exert two kinds of effects on career self-efficacy: (a) generalized or nonspecific effects and (b) domain-specific, content-correspondence effects. The hypothesis is examined using relationships of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to 24 distinct domains of career-related self-efficacy—confidence for the six Holland themes, 17 basic dimensions of vocational activity represented by the Expanded Skills Confidence Inventory, and career decision self-efficacy. Findings suggest generalized effects for conscientiousness and extraversion in that both correlated positively with a broad range of self-efficacy domains, while neuroticism displayed significant negative relationships with nearly all forms of career self-efficacy. Content correspondence was shown in significant correlations of openness to experience with self-efficacy for creative and intellectual pursuits. Findings are evaluated in light of recent empirical and theoretical developments relating to the integration of trait and social-cognitive perspectives.

The present study, based on a sample of 220 African American college students, sought to examine the utility of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSE) for African Americans. Values of coefficient alpha indicated reliability similar to that found in predominantly White samples. A four-factor structure best represented the data, with a large first factor emphasizing information gathering and decision making. However, the factor structure could also be interpreted relative to time orientation, from most immediate tasks (“choose a major") to those further away temporally (“choosing a career," “interviewing for a job," and “changing jobs if needed"). The students studied herein reported higher levels of career decision self-efficacy than found in previous samples, but cautions in interpreting this finding are suggested. Overall, more research on both measuring career decision self-efficacy and providing career decision interventions within African American samples is recommended.

This article begins by reviewing the scientific origins of research on career self-efficacy, highlighting its original development as a means of understanding the career development of women and discussing its development through the years into what is now, along with its extension as social cognitive career theory, a widely applicable major approach to the understanding and facilitation of the career development process. Concerns about current research efforts are discussed. The first is the tendency of researchers to overlook the fact that the concept of self-efficacy must be linked to a specific behavioral domain to have meaning. As a corollary, measures of self-efficacy expectations must be developed with careful and exact specification of the behavioral domain in question. Detailed suggestions are provided for the construction of such measures. A second major concern is the lack of familiarity of many researchers with the theory that underlies this work, in particular, Bandura’s theory and its elaborations. The article praises the extensive research attention given to these exceedingly useful theories (self-efficacy and social cognitive) and suggests that more careful attention to the theoretical underpinnings and issues of conceptualization and measurement would be beneficial.

This article begins with a rationale for and review of parallel measures of self-efficacy (confidence) and interests for basic dimensions of vocational activity. Recent development of and research on the Expanded Skills Confidence Inventory, Campbell Interest and Skills Survey, Kuder Skills Assessment, and Inventory of Work-Relevant Abilities are described and reviewed. Research on the incremental predictive validity of these measures for understanding and for counseling uses is discussed. Numerous suggestions for further research and for career assessment are provided.

This study examined the relationships of vocational interests and self-efficacy expectations, or confidence, to personality, as measured by the Personal Styles scales of the Strong Interest Inventory. The study also examined the extent to which confidence and personality measures contributed incrementally to the prediction of occupational group membership. In a sample of 1,103 adults employed in 21 occupations representing the complete Holland hexagon, confidence–personality relationships were very similar to interest–personality relationships found in previous research. Discriminant analyses indicated that both personality and confidence contributed incrementally to the prediction of occupational group membership, although the most powerful single predictor set was 14 basic confidence dimensions (e.g., science, public speaking, and writing) extracted through principal components analysis. There were substantial differences across the 21 occupations in their predictability and in the extent to which they were differentiated by personality variables versus confidence dimensions. Implications for further work on the intersections of vocational interests, confidence, and personality are discussed.

These studies report the development and psychometric evaluation of a version of the Expanded Skills Inventory designed for use with high school students. The resulting inventory contains 14 eight-item scales measuring self-efficacy with respect to dimensions of vocational behavior comparable in specificity to the Basic Interest dimensions of the Strong Interest Inventory. The self-efficacy, or confidence, measures were internally consistent and were related to the appropriate Holland confidence theme and to parallel measures of vocational interest. Patterns of gender and ethnic group differences were generally consistent with previous research findings.

The present reaction responds to the three research-related core articles in the Scientific Forum of the May 2005 issue of The Counseling Psychologist. I agree that too few of our studies are based on theories or models. Using the nomological network, I suggest how research ideas can more readily be depicted to allow model and theory testing. I comment on some aspects of structural equation modeling and note the usefulness of analyzing how we can improve our use of this increasingly popular method. Finally, I note the striking findings of institutional mobility, both upward and downward, in research productivity and suggest that in-depth analysis of a few of the most dramatic moves might help to explain these findings.

The present study, based on three samples of college students totaling 1,832 participants, resulted in the conclusion that a 5-level response continuum for the short form of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSE)1 proved at least as reliable and valid as the 10-level continua used in normative studies. Values of coefficient alpha ranged from .78 to .87 for the 5-level continuum, in contrast to .69 to .83 for the 10-level continuum. Criterion-related validity correlations with career indecision and vocational identity were comparable for the two response continua. Validity with respect to the scales of the Career Decision Profile was examined, as was construct validity with respect to measures of hope, goal stability, and positive and negative affect. Overall, the study suggests the psychometric quality of the CDSE when 5-level response continua are used and adds to knowledge of the nomological network of the construct.1

This study examined the test-retest reliability and the concurrent validity of the 17-scale Expanded Skills Confidence Inventory in samples of 321 and 175 college students. Retest values over a 3-week interval ranged from .77 to .89, with a median of .85. Using Brown and Gore’s C-index, evidence for the concurrent validity of confidence score patterns relative to college major choice was found. Specifically, the values of C describing the congruence of the three-letter Holland code derived from the 17 confidence scores with the Holland code of college major choice were significantly higher than the theoretical mean and were comparable in size to values found in samples of employed adults. Higher congruence scores were found among students majoring in enterprising and secondarily, investigative areas.

The basic confidence scales of the Expanded Skills Confidence Inventory were evaluated using 715 college students. The scales were correlated as predicted with confidence for Holland's six vocational themes and with the basic interest scales of the Strong Interest Inventory. Discriminant analyses using educational aspirations and major and career preferences job families as dependent variables indicated that using both interests and confidence measures led to additional predictive power over either one alone. The more specific sets of scales accounted for the most variance. Data supported the hypothesis of more frequent occurrence of score patterns of higher interest but lower confidence relative to gender-nonstereotypic domains (e.g., mechanical for women and helping for men), thus suggesting the utility of efficacy theory-based interventions to broaden the range of career options. It is hoped that these findings will facilitate the use of parallel measures of interests and self-efficacy in research and career counseling.

The contributions of the Power/Rothausen model to midcareer development are reviewed and related to other relevant concepts regarding this career stage. Needs for expansion of the model and explication of its counseling implications are also discussed.

Three inventories of self-efficacy or confidence with respect to the six Holland themes were compared in samples of European American and African American college students. Results indicated that the reliabilities of all subscales were sufficiently high for use in research and that all subscales were as reliable for African Americans as for European Americans. There were significant gender differences in confidence levels but few race differences. A multitrait-multimethod analysis indicated differential degrees of convergent and discriminant validity and the presence of method variance across the scales examined herein.

This address was presented at the 2001 Conference of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco. In this address, Professor Betz discusses how her experiences as a young girl interested in math and science both illustrate and led to the empirical and theoretical contributions she has made to the career development of women. The concepts of the null educational environment, Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, Holland’s theory of vocational personalities, and role models for women are among those integral to Betz’s own career development as well as to her research and writing. The importance of the concepts for other underrepresented groups, such as racial/ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic status individuals, is also mentioned herein.

This article describes how interests and self-efficacy constructs contribute to a better understanding of career behaviors and goals. Specifically, the Strong Interest Inventory and the Skills Confidence Inventory instruments are reviewed and research is presented to illustrate their combined theoretical utility. Examples of how collectively to apply these tools in career assessment are presented. Finally, areas for future research are proposed.

The primary purposes of this study were to assess the possible relationship of sports participation during high school to body self-objectification, instrumentality and locus of control, and to explore the possibility that different sports might be differentially related to psychological variables according to the perceived stereotypical masculinity or femininity of the sport. Two studies were reported herein. In the first, using 195 male and female students, we examined perceptions of sports according to emphasis on physical appearance and perceived masculinity/femininity. These findings were used in Study 2, which included 437 college women, to describe sports participation along dimensions of both extent of participation and the nature of the sports in which the individual participated. Extent of participation in physical fitness activity was also assessed. Participation in sports and/or physical activity was associated with higher scores on the body shame subscale of McKinley and Hyde's (1996) Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, which indicates greater internalization of cultural standards of female beauty. Body shame was also related to participation in more “feminine” sports (those focusing more on female appearance). Physical activity was also consistently related to both instrumentality and locus of control. Further research is needed to understand the relationship of sports and physical exercise activities to body self-objectification and other indicators of psychological functioning among women.

The present study examined the reliability and validity of three measures of investigative (science) self-efficacy, a measure of self- efficacy with respect to scientific/technical fields (STF), and mathematics self-efficacy. Also, it addressed the question of whether or not these measures were psychometrically sound and normatively comparable with African Americans and European Americans. Among other findings, all measures were found to be reliable in both racial groups, and all but the STF were found to be related to each other as well as to a criterion of consideration of majors and careers in the sciences. Although validity was comparable for African Americans and European Americans as groups, there was some tendency for relationships of self-efficacy to science relatedness of choices to be strongest among African American women. There were significant gender differences in math and science self-efficacy (in favor of males), but no significant race differences. The STF, used originally with students who had already tentatively selected majors in science and engineering, yielded nearly bimodal score ranges in these unselected samples (both African Americans and European Americans), suggesting its use may be inappropriate with unselected samples of college students. Recommendations for use of these measures in both further research and to evaluate the effectiveness of efficacy-based interventions are reported.

This article reviews what is believed to be one of the most important trends in vocational research and career assessment, that is, that body of work integrating vocational interest measurement with the concepts of self-efficacy and personal styles. Beginning with a review of Bandura's self-efficacy theory, recent work in which parallel measures of interests and self-efficacy (or confidence) are used to improve the prediction of vocational choice behavior and the comprehensiveness of career assessment and counseling is examined. Following this, the use of measures of personal styles, such as those on the Strong Interest Inventory, along with vocational interests in vocational research and counseling are reviewed. Implications of both of these trends for future research and for career counseling are discussed.

This article reviews the basic postulates of self-efficacy theory and describes its applications to the study of career choice and development. Following a discussion of issues involved in the measurement of perceived self-efficacy with respect to domains of career behavior, measurement of and research on occupational self-efficacy, mathematics self-efficacy, self-efficacy with respect to basic domains of activity, and career decision self-efficacy are reviewed. The relationship of self-efficacy to vocational interests and the particular relevance of the theory to the career development of women and members of racial/ethnic minority groups are also discussed.

The present study involved the development and psychometric evaluation of the Scale of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy (PSSE), a measure of self-efficacy expectations with respect to a range of social behaviors. A high degree of internal consistency reliability was found for the PSSE in a development sample of 354 undergraduate students (90 males and 264 females), with coefficient alpha = .94. Test-retest reliability over a 3-week interval was r = .82 (r = .86 for males and r = .80 for females). Data from correlational analyses supported the construct and discriminant validity of the scale in that social self-efficacy was strongly related to both Social Confidence and Enterprising Confidence (from the Skills Confidence Inventory) but was substantially unrelated to confidence in the other four (Holland) confidence scales. Social self-efficacy was also strongly related to shyness, which has been found to seriously hinder career development processes in young adults. Directions for further career research and assessment are discussed.

This study provides evidence concerning the construct validity of the Task-Specific Self-Efficacy Scale (TSOSS) and the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI), both measures of self-efficacy with respect to basic domains of vocational behavior. Relationships between similarly named scales, that is, TSOSS-Verbal/interpersonal with SCI-Social, TSOSS-Quantitative with SCI-Investigative, TSOSS- Physical with SCI-Realistic, and TSOSS-Aesthetic with SCI-Artistic, were high, ranging from r = .50 to .80. Negligible relationships of self- efficacy to measured ability and significant relationships of self- efficacy with respect to Verbal/interpersonal and Social dimensions to career indecision were also reported and discussed.

The present study investigated the test-retest reliability and construct validity of the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI; Betz, Borgen, & Harmon, 1996), a measure of self-efficacy expectations with respect to the six Holland (1985a) themes. In a sample of 113 college students, 67 men and 46 women, test-retest reliability over a 3-week interval ranged from .83 (Realistic confidence) to .87 (Social confidence). In a sample of 345 students, 164 men and 181 women, evidence for the construct validity of the SCI was found. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggested a fair fit of the data to the six-factor structure of Holland's theory.

This article reviews the applicability of self-efficacy theory to the career assessment of women. The article begins by summarizing Bandura's self-efficacy theory, including its particular relevance to women's career development. Next, the domains of occupational, scientific—technical, and mathematics self-efficacy are reviewed, followed by those represented by Holland's RIASEC model and Rooney and Osipow's (1992; Osipow, Temple, & Rooney, 1993) Task-Specific Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (TSOSS). The article concludes with a review of work on the relationship of self-efficacy to vocational interests and on counseling implications of self-efficacy theory.

This article begins with a brief overview of the theories underlying the development of the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSE; Taylor & Betz, 1983), specifically Bandura's self-efficacy (1977, 1986) theory and Crites's career maturity theory (1978). Research on the correlates and consequences of career decision- making self-efficacy is reviewed, especially that showing the strong relationships of career self-efficacy to career indecision and other indices of problems in career decision-making. This article also reviews the uses of the CDMSE in the design and evaluation of educational and counseling interventions designed to increase perceptions of self-efficacy in relationship to the process of career decision-making.

This study describes the development and evaluation of a short form of the widely used Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSE; Taylor & Betz, 1983). The psychometric characteristics and relationship to the Career Decision Scale (CDS; Osipow, 1987) and the Vocational Identity Scale (Holland, Johnston, & Asama, 1993) were examined in a sample of 180 college students. The potential utility of a more efficient short form of the scale for use in career counseling interventions will be discussed.

This study involved the examination of relationships among behavior-domain-specific measures of career self-efficacy and measures of generalized self-efficacy and global self-esteem. Correlations of domain-specific measures were higher with generalized self-efficacy than with global self-esteem and were higher, in some cases significantly so, for male than for female students. The domains most strongly correlated with generalized self-efficacy were career decision-making self-efficacy in both sexes and several of the Holland (1973, 1985) theme self-efficacy measures in men.

The Short Form of the Task-Specific Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (TSOSS; Osipow, Temple, & Rooney, 1993) and a measure of self-efficacy with respect to 20 occupational titles (Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale [OSES; Betz & Hackett, 1981]) were administered to 111 male and 159 female college students. Results indicated significant gender and order of administration effects for both task- specific and occupational self-efficacy, with higher scores found among males and when the OSES, versus the TSOSS, was administered first. Relationships between task-specific and occupational self-efficacy were moderate in size, and TSOSS factor score intercorrelations were significantly stronger in females than males.

This study investigated the validity of the Fear of Commitment Scale as an indicator of vocational indecisiveness in three samples (a total of 593 college students). Results indicated that fear of commitment was strongly correlated both with other indices of career decisional problems and progress and with measures of psychological maladjustment. Mean FOCS scores increased monotonically with number of college major changes. The construct validity and potential utility of the Fear of Commitment Scale are discussed.

This study investigated the effects of immediate knowledge of results and adaptive testing on per formance on a computer-administered test of verbal ability. Examinees were administered either a 50- item conventional test or an adaptive test of verbal ability; half the subjects in each group received im mediate knowledge of results (KR) concerning the correctness/incorrectness of each item response, while the other half did not. Subjects within high- and low-ability subgroups were assigned randomly to one of the four resulting experimental condi tions. The dependent variable was maximum likeli hood ability estimates derived from item response patterns. Results indicated that for the high-ability group, mean test scores under KR conditions were significantly higher than were those under no-KR conditions on both the conventional and adaptive tests. Within the low-ability group, mean test scores were higher under KR conditions than under no- KR conditions, but the difference was statistically significant only within the conventional testing strategy. Low-ability examinees achieved higher average test scores on the adaptive test than on the conventional test, while high-ability examinees per formed equally well on the adaptive and conven tional tests.

This report presents a summary of the conclusions and recommendations of the Research Group at the Third National Conference for Counseling Psychology. The report is organized into five topics, as were discussed during the conference. These topics are (a) definition and image, (b) methodological diversity in counseling research, (c) multi- and cross-cultural issues, (d) the connection of research to practice, and (e) research training. Fifteen general recommendations are offered to the specialty regarding research in counseling psychology.

It is argued that a null educational environment (Freeman, 1979) that ignores individuals is inherently discriminatory against women because external societal environments are different for men and women with respect to the amount of encouragement they receive for nontraditional career aspirations and achievements. This argument is supported by references to the literature and by describing the effects of a null environment on the career development of the author. Implications for counseling include (a) advocating a more directive approach with women to combat both a differentiating socialization history and a null environment and (b) generalizing this approach to the goal of helping all clients develop their individual potential in the face of societal pressures contrary to individual self-actualization.