Differential effects of three vocational counseling treatments.

Abstract

Three counseling treatments were compared in terms of the differential effects as employed in a college counseling center with clientele seeking vocational counseling assistance. The three treatments included two selfadministering counseling modes, Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS), a modification of the SDS entitled Individual Vocational Planning (IVP), and traditional vocational counseling. College student volunteers seeking vocational counseling were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment or control groups. Pretest and posttest scores were obtained on frequency and variety of vocational information seeking, satisfaction with treatment, and other measures. In addition, the differential costs of providing the treatments were examined. Results indicated that all treatments were about equally effective as measured and that college users appeared equally satisfied with them. Cost analysis indicated that the traditional counseling treatment cost 6 times more per subject than the SDS and 4 times more than the IVP. Low delivery cost and comparable effectiveness provide evidence for the self-administrable treatment modes as additional alternatives to traditional vocational counseling methods.

The Self‐Directed Search as a Stand‐Alone Intervention With College Students

“…Unlike the findings of Krivatsy and Magoon (), we found that completion of the SDS was not associated with a significantly greater degree of subsequent career exploration. Our inability to detect small treatment effects may account for this difference.…”

“…First, we evaluated whether we could confirm the previous findings that the SDS promotes an increase in the number of career alternatives being considered, an increase in career exploration, and a decrease in the perceived need for counseling. Consistent with the earlier findings (Krivatsy & Magoon, ; Mau et al, ; McGowan, ; Zener & Schnuelle, ), we hypothesized that compared with those receiving no intervention, students who completed the SDS would subsequently report a greater increase in the number of career alternatives they were considering, a greater increase in the amount of career exploration being conducted, and a decreased likelihood of having sought career counseling after the intervention. An increase in career alternatives being considered would be expected because the SDS is designed to promote a consideration of many careers or majors that are congruent with one's personality, and an increase in exploration would be expected because the recommended next steps in the ancillary materials that accompany the SDS include researching careers and majors of interest.…”

The Self-Directed Search: A Family of Self-Guided Career Interventions

“…This large scale experiment and other studies suggest that the SDS: &dquo;(a) increases the number of career options an individual is considering, (b) increases satisfaction with a vocational aspiration, and (c) increases self-understanding&dquo; (Holland, Fritzsche, et al, 1994, p. 53). Several studies found, surprisingly, that the effects of the SDS on career outcomes were equivalent to those achieved with a counselor (Krivatsy & Magoon, 1976). Fretz and Leong (1982) confirm the results of earlier studies by Power, Holland, Daiger, and Takai (1979) and and found that self-guiding interventions were most effective with high identity, low indecision clients and that following intervention, clients generally found one additional option that they would not have otherwise considered.…”

Effects of Career Interventions on Vocational Cognitive Complexity

“…Previous research has consistently indicated that VCS (e.g., Cooper, 1976;Slaney & Dickson, 1985) and SDS (Krivatsy & Magoon, 1976;Takai & Holland, 1979;Talbot & Birk, 1979) are effective in stimulating a greater number of vocational options. SIGI + also significantly increased oc;-cupational options for students compared to the control group.…”