Developing American Indian Norms for the Kuder Career Search.

An attempt was made to address the normative issues involved in using the Kuder Career Search with a Northern Plains Indian population. Normative data was collected on the Kuder Career Search for American Indians from 76 American Indians from the Northern Plains region, ranging in age from 14 to 51. The instrument considers the moderating variables, including acculturation and gender, and an initial consideration of concurrent validity. Within this sample, there were only minor differences in Kuder Activity Preference Scale scores based on acculturation or gender. Men scored higher on Mechanical activities and women scored higher on Office Detail activities, supporting earlier literature on gender differences. Level of acculturation was also related to differences in Mechanics scale. An initial inquiry into concurrent validity suggests only minimal support for the Career Clusters' ability to identify participants' self-described occupational interests. Follow-up tests of concurrent validity are warranted, as are continued assessments of the normative properties of this measure for ethnic minority populations. (Contains 4 tables and 12 references.) (Author/JDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 00 00 Kuder Career Starch 1 Developing American Indian Norms for the Kuder Career Search Cindy L. Juntunen, Jacqueline S. Gray, Kara B. Wettersten University of North Dakota Department of Counseling Donald G. Zytowski National Career Assessment Services, Inc. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION 'Cr CENTER (ERIC) 1.0 0 This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. 0 Points of view or opinions stated in this docie . ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position Or policy. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 2 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). " _ RPM° r.111:Al M/AILARI F Kuder Career Search 2 Abstract This manuscript represents an initial attempt to address the normative issues involved in using the Kuder Career Search with a Northern Plains American Indian population. The study included three components: a report of the normative data collected on the Kuder Career Search for American Indians; an analysis of moderating variables, including acculturation (as measured by the Northern Plains Bicultural Index) and gender; and an initial consideration of concurrent validity. Within this sample, there were only a few minor differences in Kuder Activity Preference Scale scores based on acculturation or gender. Supporting earlier literature on gender differences, men scored higher on Mechanical activities and women scored higher on Office Detail activities. These differences were also reflected in the Kuder Career Clusters, where women had a lower score on the Mechanical Career Cluster, and men's least-preferred Career Cluster was Business Detail. Level of acculturation was also related to differences in the Mechanics scale, with individuals in the Marginalized category scoring highest on that scale and individuals with a European American identification scoring lowest. An initial inquiry into concurrent validity suggests only minimal support for the Career Clusters' ability to identify participants' self-described occupational interests. Follow-up tests of concurrent validity are warranted, as are continued assessments of the normative properties of the Kuder Career Search for ethnic minority populations.This manuscript represents an initial attempt to address the normative issues involved in using the Kuder Career Search with a Northern Plains American Indian population. The study included three components: a report of the normative data collected on the Kuder Career Search for American Indians; an analysis of moderating variables, including acculturation (as measured by the Northern Plains Bicultural Index) and gender; and an initial consideration of concurrent validity. Within this sample, there were only a few minor differences in Kuder Activity Preference Scale scores based on acculturation or gender. Supporting earlier literature on gender differences, men scored higher on Mechanical activities and women scored higher on Office Detail activities. These differences were also reflected in the Kuder Career Clusters, where women had a lower score on the Mechanical Career Cluster, and men's least-preferred Career Cluster was Business Detail. Level of acculturation was also related to differences in the Mechanics scale, with individuals in the Marginalized category scoring highest on that scale and individuals with a European American identification scoring lowest. An initial inquiry into concurrent validity suggests only minimal support for the Career Clusters' ability to identify participants' self-described occupational interests. Follow-up tests of concurrent validity are warranted, as are continued assessments of the normative properties of the Kuder Career Search for ethnic minority populations.