Date of Award:

5-1975

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Arts (MA)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Michael Bertoch

Committee

Michael Bertoch

Abstract

The specific objective of this research was to determine if the MACE (Mobile Assisted Career Exploration) Program has had an effect on the realistic occupational decision-making ability of students after a period of 3 years.

Subjects were 12th grade students at Dixie High School. The experimental group was composed of 40 students (15 males and 25 females) who had been involved in project MACE in the ninth grade. The control group was composed of 32 students (15 males and 17 females) who had moved into the boundaries of Dixie High School since the loth grade and who had, therefore, not been involved in the MACE Program.

Both groups were administered the SVIB (Strong Vocational Interest Blanks) to determine their highest interests. Grades for both semesters of the 11th grade and the first semester of the 12th grade were collected as an indicator of each student's strongest aptitudes. A questionnaire was administered wherein the student was required to 1) select an occupation that he was planning to enter; 2) report whether he thought his interest and aptitudes agreed with his job choice (the SVIB and grades were used as instruments to verify if a student's interests and aptitudes did in fact agree with his job choice); 3) report the degree of certainty he felt about his job choice; 4) select the type of training that would be required to qualify for his job choice; 5) report a specific institution where such training could be acquired; 6) report those persons and/ or influencing factors which had lead up to his job selection; and 7) report at which grade level he had decided on his present job choice.

Seven null hypotheses were formulated stating differences would not be found between the control and experimental groups on the criteria measured by the aforementioned measuring instruments.

Results of the study indicate that in fact no difference was found between the experimental and control groups in the following areas tested.

  1. Correct identification of personal interests with job choice.
  2. Correct identification of personal aptitudes with job choice.
  3. Degree of certainty about job choice.
  4. Selection of the categories mobile van, parents and personal interests as being of assistance in making a job choice.
  5. Selection of the ninth and 10th grades as the time periods when job choice was made.
  6. Selection of an appropriate type of education or training for the student's job choice.
  7. Selection of a specific and appropriate institution at which the student had made plans to obtain the training or education for his job choice.

On the criteria measured, the MACE Program had no apparent longitudinal effect on the occupational decision-making ability (as defined in this study) of the students tested. Several limitations of the study should be considered in this conclusion: 1) sample size was small and limited to a rural, all-white population; 2) other measures may detect advantageous effects of the program. However, it is recommended that a program such as MACE be part of a total K-12 career development program rather than a one grade level experience.

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