The Use of the Career Decision Scale in Career Assessment

Abstract

The history, development, and empirical foundations of the Career Decision Scale (CDS; Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, 1976; 1987) are reviewed and summarized. The major research findings using the instrument are examined, along with its various uses in program planning, practice with special populations, and theory. Issues related to the instrument's use with women and men are briefly discussed, as are the cross-cultural applications of the measure. Finally, the controversy regarding the factor structure of the scale is reviewed.

Increasing Career Self‐Efficacy for Women: Evaluating a Group Intervention

“…The Career Decision Scale (CDS; Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, 1987) was used as a screening measure of educational and vocational indecision. The CDS is considered the most heuristic decisional status inventory and has been used in a variety of settings and large number of studies.…”

Influence of Gender and Academic Risk Behavior on Career Decision Making and Occupational Choice in Early Adolescence

“…This decision was made to identify specific problems that adolescents might encounter as they begin to engage in career decision-making activities, rather than to identify an individual's decision-making type (profile) or stage of development in the career decision-making process. Identification of specific problems, such as those represented by the four CDS factors, is potentially useful in the application of results for career counselors and counseling interventions (Osipow & Winer, 1996). Vondracek et al (1990) explained that the four-factor solution of the CDS excluded several scale items (Items 10, 13, and 14).…”

The Structure of the Career Beliefs Inventory on a Sample of Italian High School Students

“…The last item is open-ended, asking the individual to identify any other areas that are rendering decisionmaking difficult. Osipow and Winer (1996) noted that the CDS had been used often to measure outcomes in career counseling; it has also been used to predict success among different groups.…”