Vocational Assessment Training in Terminal Master's-Level Counseling Psychology Programs: A Follow-Up to a Previous Study

Abstract

To gather information about the vocational assessment training offered in terminal master's-level counseling psychology programs, 36 such programs were surveyed. Based on 29 returned questionnaires (81%), it was found that (1) most terminal master's programs did not offer discrete required/elective coursework in vocational assessment, (2) where vocational assessment instruction was offered, the Strong Interest Inventory was most frequently mentioned as being taught across programs, and (3) most training directors/assessment instructors (70%) viewed vocational assessment skills as being of moderate to no importance for the master's-level counseling psychology practitioner. These results are compared with results from an identical survey carried out on doctoral-level counseling psychology programs (Watkins, Campbell, & Manus, 1990), and some discussion of differences and similarities between the survey findings is provided.