WHY PSYCHOMETRICS DON’T ALWAYS ‘WORK’ IN CAREER GUIDANCE... AND HOW TO MAKE THEM ‘WORK’ BETTER! ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Friday 8 November Chintha Dissanayake, PhD Chartered Occupational Psychologist Chintha is an HCPC registered British Psychological Society (UK) chartered psychologist specialising in talent assessment & development nationally and internationally. And the Career-Launchpad is a bespoke career coaching programme developed specifically for young people.

PROGRAMME 11:30 – 12:30 ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Friday 8 November Introduction Student Survey results Why Psychometrics do not always work in Career Guidance An alternate approach Case study Discussion

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! INTRODUCTION Department for Education (DfE) … definition of ‘Career Guidance’ ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. A loose definition with the premise is that: a) not all students need the same level of guidance b) Schools will best understand individual student needs Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: Ofsted Findings – report September 2013 Individualised careers guidance to students (n=12) Teachers & other specialists discussing careers in assemblies etc. General direction of students towards websites and Prospectuses (n=48) OXFORD-PSYCHOMETRICS survey of student forum Nov

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! INTRODUCTION Oxford Psychometrics Survey – November 2013 (n=62 mean age range 16-21) So, what works and what does not work? Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no:

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! INTRODUCTION Inventory type tools Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: “If you already know what you want to do, the computer profiler will confirm this for you. But if you are unsure, then it can only confuse you further” (Steve, aged 16) Nearly all focus groups found the workbooks with collections of careers related quizzes or word searches unhelpful

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! W HY P SYCHOMETRICS DO NOT ALWAYS WORK IN C AREER G UIDANCE Psychometrics ‘ the science of measuring mental capacities and processes ’. Source: Oxford Dictionary Career interest inventories & Values questionnaires Personality Indicators Capability tests Roy Child investigates Psychometric Tests and how to choose & Access the Right Ones. Career Matters, October 2013, Issue 12.Page 30

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! W HY P SYCHOMETRICS DO NOT ALWAYS WORK IN C AREER G UIDANCE Psychometrics

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! Department for Education (DfE) … definition of ‘Career Guidance’ ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no:

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! A Two Dimensional Model of Readiness for Career Decision – Making ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: Capability Complexity Sampson et al (2000) Using readiness assessment to improve career services: A cognitive information processing approach. The Career Development Quarterly, 49, 146 – 174.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! A Two Dimensional Model of Readiness for Career Decision – Making ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: Capability Complexity Sampson et al (2000) Using readiness assessment to improve career services: A cognitive information processing approach. The Career Development Quarterly, 49, 146 – 174.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! A Two Dimensional Model of Readiness for Career Decision – Making ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: Capability Complexity Sampson et al (2000) Using readiness assessment to improve career services: A cognitive information processing approach. The Career Development Quarterly, 49, 146 – 174.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! A Two Dimensional Model of Readiness for Career Decision – Making ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: Capability Complexity Career Identity

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! Screening process – using Career Identity ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: level 1 Vague level 2 Conflicted level 3 Clarified level 4 Supported level 5 Integrated Readiness for Career Commitment High Career/Occupational Identity maturity low Explore - Commit Cycle (Adapted from work of Malanchuk etal 2010 )

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! Screening process – using Career Identity ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: Occupational Goal, or the most striking occupation that was recognized in the young person’s screening interview responses regarding their futures, will generally serve as the starting point for determining Occupational Identity

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! IntegratedSupportedClarifiedConflictedVague (Unresolved)Vague (no real idea) Thought about how his /her Occupational Goal including how it would impact his or her life in the future. a clear goal that is developed more thoroughly than just having a consistent goal. An Occupational Goal mentioned across different questions during the interview. which indicates that s/he exhibits a strong and coherent sense of what s/he wants to do in the future. mentions multiple occupational goals that are clearly opposing. no strong interest in any one particular Occupational Goal shows active planning and effort to reach strongly endorsed occupational goals either have a deeper desire to reach the goal, or are engaged in activities to reach it, but not both. endorses a clear Occupational Goal, but may not be thinking about it as realistically as they could be. Their future occupational self does not appear to be a salient aspect of the Conflicted youths’ identities, because their goals required are mutually exclusive or antagonistic life- styles. Although undecided about specific career goals: they are thinking about their future career options and w actively doing things (such as going to college or exploring potential careers) that could help them in their future careers. These people might report studying hard.. no clear notion of an occupational goal, although one might have been mentioned once in the answers. In addition to not having any clear or consistent goal, they showed no activity that could be related to their future career exhibits an understanding of what the occupation might mean for their future lives. The most defining aspect is that there is a “missing piece” ie; a) strategies may not reflect understanding of chosen occupation. b) may know what they want to do with their lives but not demonstrate they know how to turn that dream into reality. More of a dream than a future reality. Furthermore, they were not doing anything to reach that goal Conflicting participants endorsed at least two occupational goals that were in direct opposition with one another. (Adapted from work of Malanchuk etal 2010 )

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER ! ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no:

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! “ I discovered things about myself that I didn't know and felt comforted in knowing what I can really achieve “ Emma (age 19) … AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK BETTER !

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 8 November 2013 Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon Why Psychometrics don’t always ‘work’ in Career Guidance... and how to make them ‘work’ better! T HANK Y OU ! ‘Individual students are signposted to different career guidance activities at the relevant stage of their development and decision-making’. Source: ‘Going in the right direction?’ Careers guidance in schools from September Published Ofsted Report, September Reference no: