Employability and career beliefs inventory: a brief version for unemployed persons

Abstract

Background Considering that beliefs may be assessed and changed, inventories measuring employability and career beliefs may be of utmost importance for career interventions. Objective This study introduces the psychometric properties of a brief version of the Employability and Career Beliefs Inventory (ECBI) in a sample of unemployed persons. Methods and results Altogether, 2023 unemployed persons aged from 18 to 66 years old and living in Southern Portugal participated in an online survey. The ECBI’s original internal structure was tested and did not fit the data. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were implemented, and a three-factor solution was retained. The three factors discriminate three types of beliefs named growth, pessimism, and flexibility. Measurement invariance models identified scalar equivalence across gender and educational degree, and metric invariance across age. All items fit the graded response model’s parameters. The growth and flexibility subscales were less effective in the assessment of low latent trait levels, whereas the opposite was observed with the pessimism subscale. Internal consistency is good yet discrimination between factors is questionable. Correlations to career decision-making self-efficacy evidence validity based on the relations to other constructs. Conclusion Despite the limitations, the brief version of the ECBI proposed in this study is ready for further use and development among unemployed persons.