CareerVillage Articles

Research Roundup: Measuring Career Readiness

This is the latest edition of CareerVillage.org’s Research Roundup: recapping the latest academic research from the field of Career Development.

Directly measuring career development is much more common outside of the United States than it is inside. Part of that gap appears to be a lack of awareness among US-based educators about what measurement tools are available. We’re reviewing career development assessment tools this year and highlighting a few as we go. Here are two of the leading research-driven career development measurement scales:

  • Measure “Career Adaptability” with just 12 Questions: Career Adaptability is one of the most influential career development frameworks of the past two decades, but measuring it has historically required a relatively long survey. This study introduces “Career Adapt-Abilities Scale Short Form” (or “CAAS-SF” for short), a 12-question form of the survey that appears to do a great job at predicting employment outcomes and quality of life. 1
  • “Career Engagement” predicts career outcomes, and can be measured in 9 questions: This study outlines how to measure career engagement, the degree to which an individual is proactively developing career behaviors. The study found that career engagement scores on a 9-question survey predicted a smoother transition from university-to-work, higher self-efficacy and sense of agency, and sustained success in career environments. 2

Want to go even deeper? Here’s extra credit reading for those looking to get immersed:

  • Does career research have a jingle-jangle problem? Key terms used in career development research papers often lack cohesion (what is referred to as the jingle-jangle fallacy). Some terms are used to describe different things, and other terms are synonyms for the same thing. This linguistic fragmentation makes it especially difficult to disambiguate new research. This paper published in the Journal of Career Development attempts to define and distinguish all of those disparate terms. 3

1. Career Adapt-Abilities Scale Short Form (CAAS-SF): Construction and Validation (C Maggiori, J Rossier, M Savickas – Journal of Career Assessment, 2017)

2. The Career Engagement Scale: Development and Validation of a Measure of Proactive Career Behaviors (A Hirschi, PA Freund, A Herrmann – Journal of Career Assessment, 2013)

3. Career Preparedness among Adolescents: A Review of Key Components and Directions for Future Research (J Marciniak, C.S. Johnston, R Steiner, A Hirschi – Journal of Career Development, 2020)