The Structure of Students' Perceptions of Impactful, Helpful Events in Career Exploration Classes

Abstract

We assessed perceptions of helpful events reported by college students enrolled in career exploration classes. Perceptions were collected through written, narrative self-reports, which were coded using an adapted classification scheme of therapeutic impact (Elliott, 1986). Factor analysis of codings indicated that three dimensions (Affective Factors, Identifying and Coping with Problems, Insight Gained) could describe the helpful events reported by the participants and indicated the usefulness of the scheme to assess impact of career class interventions. Affective Factors was the best predictor of change in vocational identity, but neither participant sex nor level of pretreatment vocational identity were related to perceptions of helpfulness, nor did sex predict changes in vocational identity. Implications for use of perceptual assessment schemes in career exploration classes are offered.