vocational personality traits in counselor education and school psychology students

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1 vocational personality traits in counselor education and school psychology students Received 1/22/1 Revised /26/1 Accepted /29/1 DOI: 1.12/joec.1221 Yi Ding, Kathleen Salyers, Susan Kozelka, and John Laux We assessed the vocational personality of 1 graduate students in school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology programs using Holland s (1997) theory of personality and career choice. The correlational findings confirmed the importance of vocational personality traits in relation to the academic performance of graduate students. Among the Self-Directed Search Revised vocational personality types, the Investigative type emerged as a consistent predictor of performance on all sections of the Graduate Record Examination. The participants from 3 graduate programs predominantly identified Social as their primary vocational personality type, with variability in the secondary and tertiary code positions. The student group with the highest degree of congruence, defined as the degree of fit between one s personality and the environment, had the highest graduate grade point average, indicating the relationship between the degree of congruence and achievement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Keywords: mental health professions, vocational personality, congruence One of the challenges for counseling and education-related psychology programs has been predicting how individual differences affect the academic and vocational performance of graduate students. Many researchers have evaluated the role of cognitive differences as predictors of graduate student success (e.g., Ackerman & Heggestad, 1997; Busato, Prins, Elshout, & Hamaker, 2), but few have examined vocational personality differences, such as interests and values, as predictors or correlates of graduate student success. We find this paucity odd considering that vocational personality types, such as those proposed by Holland (198, 1997), appear integral to understanding the career fitness and consequent achievement of graduate students trained for a specific profession. Indeed, an extensive literature review revealed only one study (Toomey, Levinson, & Morrison, 28) that focused on the vocational personality of mental health-related professionals U.S. school psychologists. The findings by Toomey et al. (28) suggested that U.S. school psychologists are predominantly Social (S) types in Holland s typology, and that their second and third code Yi Ding and Susan Kozelka, Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York; Kathleen Salyers and John Laux, Department of School Psychology, Higher Education, and Counselor Education, The University of Toledo. This project was partially supported by an internal grant from Fordham University to Yi Ding. The authors thank the graduate students in participating programs, Megan Killelea for her contribution during data entry, and Agnes DeRaad for editorial support. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yi Ding, Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, 113 West 6th Street, Lowenstein Room 18, New York, NY 123 ( yding@fordham.edu). 21 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved. 18 journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2

2 types are Enterprising (E) and Investigative (I), which are interchangeable. Toomey et al. s (28) finding concurs with the fact that U.S. school psychology is a helping profession that requires frequent contact with students and other relevant personnel. The subdominant position of two other personality types Enterprising and Investigative could also be perceived as congruent with U.S. school psychologists being required to persuade and influence others to investigate, adopt, and use effective strategies and to be guided by science-based practices. Therefore, based on Toomey et al., it can be inferred that specific mental health professions, such as school psychology, school counseling, and clinical mental health counseling, might require specific general and vocational personality traits for their adherents to be satisfied and successful in each profession s study and practice. Thus, individuals choice to enter the professions of counseling or school psychology might demonstrate some similarity and variability in their vocational personalities. This inference is consistent with Holland s (198) theory of vocational personalities and work environments. Holland reported that people seek out environments that fit their personalities and used the term congruence to describe the degree of fit between an individual s personality and the environment (Walsh & Savickas, 2). Furthermore, the greater the congruence between the personality and the environment, the greater the experience of satisfaction and achievement (Walsh & Savickas, 2). Congruence is associated with job and academic satisfaction, academic achievement, supervisors positive evaluations, work productivity, and well-being (Spokane, Meir, & Catalano, 2). Few studies have examined congruence scores in relation to graduate student academic performance across professions. This study involved graduate students pursuing advanced certificates or degrees in school counseling, mental health counseling, or school psychology programs. All of these students were engaged in fieldwork hours in related work environments as part of mandatory course work requirements. Thus, the graduate specializations in which they chose to pursue advanced degrees were approximate substitutes for their work environments. As such, this study is the first empirical test and comparative study of vocational personality traits of graduate students in school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology programs in a U.S. university. Because the three professions we examined require slightly different professional skills, we hypothesized that some similarity and unique variability of Holland s (1997) six vocational personality types would be identified among the three groups of students. Second, according to Holland s (198) theory of vocational personalities and work environments, there might be a relation between congruence and achievement. More specifically, we hypothesized that Holland s vocational personality types would be correlated with the academic achievement of students in the three graduate programs and that certain Self- Directed Search Revised (SDS-R; Holland, 199) vocational personality types would explain the unique variance of the academic achievement of these graduate students. Method Participants We recruited prospective participants by distributing fliers and sending s through the academic department personnel of three graduate programs at a midwestern U.S. university. A total of 1 graduate students (76 women and 28 men) from school journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2 19

3 counseling (n = 3) and mental health counseling (n = 37) programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and a school psychology (n = 32) program approved by the National Association of School Psychologists agreed to participate. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire that included questions about their age, academic programs, hours spent studying per week, and status as a full- or part-time student. Additionally, the students provided permission for us to access their Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, undergraduate grade point average (GPA), and their graduate GPA. The full sample s mean age was years (SD = 8., range = 21 to 6). The mean study time was hours per week (SD = 11.11, range = 3 to 6). Measure The SDS-R (Holland, 199) was used in this study. According to Holland (198), most people in the United States can be classified into one of six dominant types: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), or Conventional (C). A threeletter code is formed by choosing the three types that most characterize the individual or his or her work school environment. The SDS-R operationally defines Holland s typology and is a self-administered and self-scored measure that is based on Holland s theory of personality and vocational choice. The Activities subscale asks participants to indicate their likes/dislikes regarding career-related activities, and the Competencies subscale measures abilities in career-related skills. The Occupations subscale measures feelings about a variety of occupations, whereas on the Self-Estimates subscale, participants are asked to estimate their skills and abilities in specific vocational areas. The results are used to determine a three-letter code that identifies the personality type of the respondents based on their three highest summary scores in the six areas (Gottfredson & Holland, 1996). Each response per personality-type section constitutes one point (a total of points for each section), yielding a ranking system of personality type. Results Demographics of Graduate Students in Three Training Programs The demographic characteristics of graduate student participants in the school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology programs at a midwestern U.S. university are presented in Table 1. To compare between-group mean differences, we conducted an analysis of variance (ANOVA) using IBM SS Statistics 22 software. Mental health counseling students had the highest mean age in years (M = 33.1, SD = 1.), followed by school counseling students (M = 27.86, SD = 6.96). School psychology students were, on average, the youngest (M = 26.63, SD =.7) and also reported spending the most hours studying per week (M = 2.66, SD = 7.9). The between-group difference was significant for the measure of age, F(2, 1) = 6.7, p =.2. School psychology students scored the highest on all sections of the GRE (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical), with average scores of 8.71 (SD 16 journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2

4 Table 1 Demographics and Analysis of Variance for Graduate Students in Three Majors Item and Group Age (in years) Study time (hours per week) GRE Verbal GRE Quantitative GRE Analytical Undergraduate GPA Graduate GPA n M SD F p.2** *.69.*** Note. = school counseling; = mental health counseling; = school psychology; GRE = Graduate Record Examination; GPA = grade point average. *p <.. **p <.1. ***p <.1. = 88.31),.8 (SD = 92.23), and.1 (SD =.6), respectively. The betweengroup difference was only significant for GRE Analytical, F(2, 9) = 3.88, p =.2. SDS-R As shown in Table 2, the majority of school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology students produced a primary Social personality type. For the firstposition letter, 97.1% of school counseling students, 89.19% of mental health counseling students, and 68.7% of school psychology students ranked Social as the highest summary journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2 161

5 Table 2 Three-Letter Codes, Descriptive Statistics, and Analysis of Variance for Self-Directed Search Revised Variable Realistic First letter Second letter Third letter Investigative First letter Second letter Third letter Artistic First letter Second letter Third letter Social First letter Second letter Third letter Enterprising First letter Second letter Third letter Conventional First letter Second letter Third letter School Counseling (N = 3) Mental Health Counseling (N = 37) School Psychology (N = 32) n % M SD n % M SD n % M SD F p Note. Some participants had two equal-weighted letters for one of the three-letter codes, such as SEI (Social, Enterprising, Investigative) or SAI (Social, Artistic, Investigative). Therefore, Enterprising and Artistic were counted simultaneously for that participant as the second-position letter. In turn, the total number of choices of Holland s six letters might exceed the N. For the school psychology group, there were missing items; thus, the total number of choices of Holland s six letters might be smaller than the N. Boldface indicates highest value within the three-letter group

6 score. For the second-position letter, school counseling and mental health counseling students reported Enterprising or Artistic more than any other secondary personality type; more than one fourth (28.7%) of school counseling students reported the Enterprising type, whereas one third (32.3%) of mental health counseling students reported the Enterprising type. One fourth (2.71%) of school psychology students reported Artistic as their secondary personality type. Mental health counseling students also reported a high number of Artistic responses (32.3%) for the second position letter. School counseling and mental health counseling students chose Enterprising as their most common tertiary type (8.7% and 3.2%, respectively), whereas 3.38% of school psychology students chose Investigative for their tertiary personality type. In the SDS-R, the Realistic personality type describes people who work with their bodies, tools, and machines, and who are practically, physically, and mechanically inclined. The three groups of students all rated this personality type the lowest. Investigative individuals work with theory and information in an analytical, intellectual, and scientific fashion. School psychology students scored significantly higher in this type (M = 27.2, SD = 8.6). Artistic individuals are nonconformist, original, independent, and creative thinkers. Mental health counseling students had the highest scores in the Artistic personality type (M = 2.6, SD = 11.37). Social individuals are considered helpers in cooperative/noncompetitive environments and often work best in jobs involving supporting, helping, and healing. School counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology students all ranked the Social personality type higher than any other type, and the means for all three groups were in the above-average range in comparison to the norms. The between-group differences were nonsignificant for this type. Enterprising individuals enjoy competitive environments, gaining status, leading others, and selling. Mental health counseling students had the highest Enterprising scores (M = 26.9, SD = 9.1). Conventional individuals are precise, pay attention to detail, and like to work with data. School psychology students had the highest Conventional scores (M = 23.32, SD = 1.79). Congruence and Academic Performance There are several mathematical formulas available to calculate congruence (Brown & Gore, 199; Camp & Chartrand, 1992). Following a Monte Carlo testing of 1 congruence formulas, Brown and Gore (199) offered a relatively easy-to-calculate congruence (c) formula. Congruence is expressed mathematically as c = 3(x) + 2(x) + (x). The value of x is based on the letters proximity to one another on Holland s hexagon. For example, a person code of Social and an environment code of Social results in a perfect match, and the match results in three points. An SE or SA match is worth two points, and SI are worth one point each, and SR is worth zero points. The range of scores is to 18. A score of means that each of the person s three letters is directly opposite from the environment s letter. Conversely, a score of 18 means an exact match between the person and the environment. According to Holland (199), the three-letter codes for school psychologists, school counselors, and clinical mental health counselors, respectively, are SEI, SAE, and SIA. journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2 163

7 Using Brown and Gore s (199) congruence formula, we calculated the congruence score for each participant and then we used IBM SS Statistics 22 software to obtain descriptive statistics. The school counseling students produced their highest congruence score (M = 13.69, SD = 2.31), followed by the mental health counseling students (M = 12.19, SD = 2.) and the school psychology students (M = 11.8, SD = 3.9). To compare between-group mean differences, we conducted a one-way ANOVA to determine if there were significant differences in congruence between these three groups. The ANOVA was significant, F(2, 99) =.17, p =.18. To further examine the mean difference between every two groups, we selected the Bonferroni post hoc test comparison, because it is highly flexible and can be used with different types of statistical tests. The Bonferroni post hoc test comparison indicated that the mean congruence score for the school counseling students (M = 13.69, SD = 2.31) was higher than the mean congruence score for the school psychology students (M = 11.8, SD = 3.9) at a statistically significant level (p =.26). However, the mental health counseling students mean score (M = 12.19, SD = 2.) did not statistically differ from either of the other student groups mean scores (p =.8 for school counseling mental health counseling comparison, p = 1. for mental health counseling school psychology comparison). We conducted a second one-way ANOVA to determine if these groups of students differed in their graduate GPAs. The ANOVA was significant, F(2, 9) = 8.92, p =.. The Bonferroni post hoc test comparison indicated that the mean graduate GPA for the school counseling students (M = 3.9, SD =.11) was significantly higher than the mean graduate GPA score for the school psychology students (M = 3.7, SD =.26), p =.. The mean graduate GPA for the mental health counseling students (M = 3.9, SD =.16) was significantly higher than it was for the school psychology students, p =.8. The findings supported the notion that the group with a higher congruence score had a higher graduate GPA. However, the mental health counseling students mean graduate GPA did not significantly differ from the school counseling students graduate GPA, p = 1.. Correlations Between Personality Traits and Academic Performance To examine the relationships between personality traits and academic performance, we conducted partial correlation analyses (with age controlled). Correlations between personality types of the SDS-R and academic performance were examined. Investigative (r =.32) and Conventional (r =.3) types were positively correlated with GRE Verbal. Realistic (r =.22) and Investigative (r =.1) types were positively correlated with GRE Quantitative. The Investigative (r =.23) type was positively correlated with GRE Analytical. In short, the Investigative personality type appeared to be the most consistent correlate of GRE performance. None of the SDS-R types were significantly correlated with undergraduate or graduate GPAs. Personality Predictors of Academic Performance We collected information regarding the participants age and average weekly study time. Participants age showed significant between-group differences. To control the 16 journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2

8 effect of age, we conducted hierarchical regressions to determine to what extent the SDS-R types explained variability in measures indicating academic achievement. When GRE measures were the dependent variables, students age as a control variable was entered in the equation as Step 1 because graduate students in the three groups significantly differed in chronological age. Students scores on the SDS-R were entered in the equation as Step 2. A similar procedure was conducted for both graduate GPA and undergraduate GPA as dependent variables. We tested the assumption of normality. According to Tabachnick and Fidell (21), the absolute values of skewness indices for these measures were not extreme, indicating no severe violation of normality assumptions. When we examined GRE measures, four personality types of the SDS-R, including Realistic (β =.23), Investigative (β =.1), Artistic (β =.33), and Conventional (β =.23), contributed unique variance to GRE Verbal (see Table 3). However, only age (β =.27) and the Investigative (β =.1) type of the SDS-R accounted for the unique variance in GRE Quantitative. Students obtained lower scores in GRE Quantitative as they progressed in age. Similarly, age (β =.2) and Realistic (β =.31) and Investigative (β =.26) personality types accounted for the unique variance in GRE Analytical. Progression in age did not improve scores in GRE Analytical. Another set of analyses examined the SDS-R measures in relation to undergraduate GPA and graduate GPA. Age (β =.21) and Social personality type (β =.2) of the SDS-R accounted for the unique variance in undergraduate GPA. However, none of the independent variables explained the unique variance in graduate GPA. Discussion In terms of the six vocational personality types captured by the SDS-R, there was a tendency for the three groups to report the highest scores in the Social personality type (first code position), concurring with the findings of Toomey et al. (28). Such findings were expected considering the nature of school psychology, school counseling, and mental health counseling as similar helping professions and the professionals frequent contact with clients by offering assessment, counseling, and consultative services. In comparison with the school counseling and mental health counseling groups (97.1% and 89.19%, respectively), the school psychology group (68.7%) had a relatively lower percentage of Social types as the first code position. This may be a result of the unique characteristics of the independent sample involved in the present study. The school psychology participants were relatively younger and had yet to be largely involved in practice that could enhance their social skills. Likewise, the vocational personality type of the counseling students was also dominated by Enterprising characteristics (second or third code position). It is expected that school and mental health counselors might frequently offer treatment suggestions and persuade and influence others by using research- and evidence-based practice; thus, Enterprising characteristics might be particularly important. In the present study, school counseling and mental health counseling students were relatively older, and many of them were working outside of school while attending graduate school. Thus, they might already play an influential journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2 16

9 Table 3 Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for Self-Directed Search Revised (SDS-R) on Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Grade Point Average (Gpa) Measures Variable Step 1 Age Step 2 SDS-R measures Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional *p <.; **p <.1; ***p <.1. β.13.23*.1***.33** * GRE Verbal GRE Quantitative GRE Analytical Undergraduate GPA Graduate GPA R 2 DR 2 β R 2 DR 2 β R 2 DR 2 β R 2 DR 2 β R **.27**.2.1*** *.18**.2*.31*.26* * * * DR

10 role in their work environments, which concurs with the Enterprising characteristics. However, contrary to the findings of Toomey et al. (28), the Enterprising characteristics were not found to be as dominant among the school psychology participants. This may be because the school psychology students were relatively young and attended graduate school right after they received their undergraduate degrees. Thus, they might have yet to develop skills and styles to influence others persuasively. A large number of students in mental health counseling reported the Artistic vocational personality as their secondary personality type, which reflects counseling skills, such as being creative and open about ideas and treatments to accommodate individual differences. This trend was also reported by Toomey et al. (28). The vocational personality of the school psychology students was also dominated by Investigative characteristics (third code position), reflecting the fact that many school psychology training programs endorse the scientist-practitioner model, which emphasizes professional practice that integrates science with professional skills (Huber, 27). Overall, except for the dominant Social types across all three groups, there was diverse variability of vocational personality characteristics represented in the second and third code positions. Although all three training programs share similarities as helping professions, different aspects of jobs as school/mental health counselors or school psychologists require skills that are reflective of different personality types, such as being conventional while processing paperwork and writing reports and being artistic (e.g., creative and nonconventional) while encountering unique family situations. We calculated a congruence score for each group using the formula c = 3(x) + 2(x) + (x) (Brown & Gore, 199; Camp & Chartrand, 1992). The student group with the highest degree of congruence, school counseling, also had the highest graduate GPA. Conversely, the group with the lowest congruence, school psychology, also had the lowest GPA. This fits the theory that there is a relationship between congruence and achievement. In terms of correlational findings, the Investigative and Conventional types were positively correlated with GRE Verbal. GRE Verbal largely examines the ability to analyze and evaluate written materials and synthesize information obtained from them; thus, Investigative characteristics, such as being intellectual and rational, might be critical for higher performance in GRE Verbal. We postulated that Conventional characteristics, such as being conscientious, careful, and orderly, might contribute to higher performance in tasks that required verbal reasoning. The Realistic and Investigative types were positively correlated with GRE Quantitative. Because quantitative reasoning requires skills such as being practical, analytical, and rational, it is not surprising to find strong correlations between the Realistic and Investigative types and GRE Quantitative. Investigative types of individuals often possess characteristics such as being analytical, rational, critical, and introspective. As such, it makes sense that the Investigative type was positively correlated with GRE Analytical. Other findings identified a number of variables that accounted for the unique variance in academic performance, including GRE scores and GPAs. Investigative characteristics measured by the SDS-R appeared to consistently account for the unique journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2 167

11 variances in GRE Verbal, GRE Quantitative, and GRE Analytical scores. According to Holland (1997), investigative individuals like to study and solve mathematics or science problems, are good at understanding and problem solving of science and mathematics problems, and enjoy analytical or intellectual activity and learning. All of the skills reflective of investigative characteristics are related to the GRE exam as an aptitude measure of prospective graduate students. Many investigative individuals choose science-related occupations. Most school and counseling psychologists consider themselves to be scientist-practitioners (Lambert, 1993), and many counselor educators consider themselves to be scholar-practitioners. Thus, it is not surprising that Investigative characteristics had strong predictive values for the three groups performance on the GRE exam. Realistic characteristics accounted for the unique variance in GRE Verbal and GRE Analytical. According to Holland (1997), Realistic individuals value nature and common sense, are practical and reliable, can be selfreliant, and often work in fields that require hands-on skills. Realistic individuals often find preferred occupations in science- or technology-related fields, and relevant skills reflective of Realistic characteristics might be critical for performance in GRE Verbal and GRE Analytical. Many school psychology or counselor education programs use scientist-practitioner or practitioner-scholar training models; thus, Realistic characteristics, such as being practical, might be particularly important for individuals entering such professions. Artistic characteristics, such as being creative in music or writing and being expressive and original, accounted for the unique variances in GRE Verbal. Conventional characteristics, such as being orderly, systematic, and able to follow a set plan, also accounted for the unique variance in GRE Verbal. School psychologists and school counselors often provide systematic and comprehensive evaluation and treatment to diverse groups of clients. It is not surprising that Conventional characteristics, such as being careful, conforming, and methodical, might be helpful for the professions of school psychologists or counselors. Social characteristics explained the unique variance in undergraduate GPA, which was consistent with descriptive findings from the SDS-R in the three groups. Similar to previous findings, Social emerged as a dominant vocational personality type of these graduate students in school psychology, school counseling, and mental health counseling. As prospective professionals in these three helping professions, students social traits might serve as a fundamental vocational quality, and related undergraduate courses might require students to be able to apprehend individual differences, value service to others, have empathy, and enjoy working with others. Another plausible explanation could be the trend that undergraduate instructors in counseling or psychology programs also value noncognitive factors, such as class participation, group collaboration, and attendance, which might contribute to the importance of social traits (Ackerman, Bowen, Beier, & Kanfer, 21). None of the personality measures became significant predictors of graduate GPA. We hypothesized that there might have been a ceiling effect for graduate GPA in this particular sample. It is possible that many instructors of graduate courses in counselor education and school psychology use criterion-referenced assessment to determine final grades for a specific course. In other words, graduate students are compared to a set of criteria rather than to the performance of counterparts in a class. Thus, it is not uncom- 168 journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2

12 mon for the majority of graduate students in a class to obtain superior grades, and our descriptive data regarding graduate GPA among the three groups verified this observation. When there is a very narrow range of variability in graduate GPA, vocational personality measures might lose their sensitivity to differentiate minor individual differences. Limitations and Conclusions This study had three limitations. First, our participants were limited to 1 graduate students majoring in school counseling, mental health counseling, or school psychology at a midwestern university in the United States. The findings in this study have limited generalizability for similar graduate students across the United States. Although personality traits of graduate students in these three programs also could be indicators for practitioners in these professions, future studies could extend similar examination to practicing school counselors, mental health counselors, and school psychologists and explore cross-cultural similarity of general and vocational personality traits. The second limitation lies in the ceiling effect of graduate GPAs. Because of a rather narrow range of graduate GPAs across all graduate student participants, vocational personality measures appeared to lose their sensitivity for differentiating graduate GPA. Such an argument concurred with an earlier argument that the measures of cognitive ability might lose their predictive power at the level of higher education, which might be attributed to the restricted range of intelligence scores of students in higher education (Ackerman et al., 21; Furnham, Chamorro-Premuzic, & McDougall, 23). Future researchers might consider finding an alternative measure to evaluate students performance in graduate school. Third, school psychology and school counseling programs historically have considerably more female students than male students; thus, we did not explore gender difference in the present study because of the relatively small number of participants (76 women and 28 men). Future researchers might explore gender and other demographic variables while examining vocational personality in relation to academic achievement. In conclusion, our findings have both theoretical and practical implications. First, this study confirms the importance of the vocational personality traits of graduate students in school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology programs. Second, the Investigative characteristics of the SDS-R consistently explained the unique variance in all domains of the GRE. Third, disregarding the Social characteristics as their first-position vocational personality type among the three groups, there was variability of personality types represented in the second and third code positions. The students with the highest degree of congruence also had the highest graduate GPA, suggesting the relation between congruence and achievement. This study is the first empirical and comparative investigation of vocational personality in graduate students in school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology training programs. This study s findings add to the growing support for teaming personality and preference assessments with aptitude assessments to consult and guide mental health graduate students educational and vocational planning. Replication of the findings is needed in larger samples of subjects across institutions. The implications of the findings are multifaceted. First, prospective students should be encouraged to consider whether their cognitive and personality characteristics lay the foundations to work in a journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2 169

13 mental health profession that requires a high level of interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. Second, advisory and career counseling personnel might be able to provide improved guidance and consultation to current and prospective students by considering personality and vocational characteristics, coupled with traditional cognitive-related indicators, such as GRE and GPA. Finally, it is worth noting that cognitive-related indicators may lose differential utilities when the students have already surpassed a certain level of cognitive-related criteria (e.g., a minimal GRE cutoff score). In other words, when advanced students are similarly successful on their grade records, the noncognitive factors may play an increasingly important role in explaining the differences in the students performance and motivation to choose and/or stay in one profession. This study highlights the value of examining noncognitive factors when consulting with and advising advanced students who might consider entering mental health professions. References Ackerman, P. L., Bowen, K. R., Beier, M. E., & Kanfer, R. (21). Determinants of individual differences and gender differences in knowledge. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, doi:1.137/ Ackerman, P. L., & Heggestad, E. D. (1997). Intelligence, personality, and interests: Evidence for overlapping traits. Psychological Bulletin, 121, doi:1.137/ Brown, S. D., & Gore, P. A., Jr. (199). An evaluation of interest congruence indices: Distribution characteristics and measurement properties. Journal of Vocational Behavior,, Busato, V. V., Prins, F. J., Elshout, J. J., & Hamaker, C. (2). Intellectual ability, learning style, personality, achievement motivation, and academic success of psychology students in higher education. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, doi:1.116/s (99)23-6 Camp, C. C., & Chartrand, J. M. (1992). A comparison and evaluation of interest congruence indices. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1, Furnham, A., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & McDougall, F. (23). Personality, cognitive ability, and beliefs about intelligence as predictors of academic performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 1, doi:1.116/j.lindif Gottfredson, G. D., & Holland, J. L. (1996). Dictionary of Holland occupational codes (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J. L. (198). Manual for the Vocational Preference Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J. L. (199). The Self-Directed Search: Professional Manual-Form R. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Huber, D. R. (27). Is the scientist-practitioner model viable for school psychology practice? American Behavioral Scientist,, doi:1.1177/ Lambert, N. M. (1993). Historical perspective on school psychology as a scientist-practitioner specialization in school psychology. Journal of School Psychology, 31, doi:1.116/22-(93)927-g Spokane, A. R., Meir, E. I., & Catalano, M. (2). Person environment congruence and Holland s theory: A review and reconsideration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 7, Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (21). Using multivariate statistics (th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Toomey, K. D., Levinson, E. M., & Morrison, T. J. (28). The vocational personality of school psychologists in the United States. School Psychology International, 29, doi:1.1177/ Walsh, W. B., & Savickas, M. L. (2). Handbook of vocational psychology: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. 17 journal of employment counseling December 21 Volume 2