Development of a Brief Measure of Career Development Influences Based on the Systems Theory Framework

Abstract

This paper documents the initial development and validation of a brief quantitative measure of career development influences based on the Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development (McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon, 1997, 1999, 2006). Initial exploratory factor analyses of pilot study data revealed a six-factor structure based on 20 of the 28 influences. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis procedure using structural equation model (SEM) revealed a fundamentally stable factor structure across the two different populations tested, although some further modifications were made to the scale. The final 19-item scale identified five correlated factors, of which three were within the framework's individual system, one was within the social system, and one was within the environmental-societal system. In the final section of the paper, the theoretical implications of this factorial structure and the importance of the influence of world of work knowledge factor are addressed. The utility of the career development influences scale as a brief measure to contextualise more targeted measures in large-scale quantitative career development studies is discussed.