Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Myron Pope

Abstract

Thousands of service persons and veterans may be leaving military service annually without required skills and not receiving timely career counseling and interventions needed to aid in their career transitions. Knowledge about service persons' career adaptability, confidence, and readiness could enhance the actions of all stakeholders to address the challenges that accompany career transitions and may aid in identifying needed counseling and interventions. Using a survey containing the Career Transitions Inventory and the Career Futures Inventory-Revised, perspectives were obtained from service persons (N = 264) while attending Transition Assistance Program workshops. Two research questions for the study examined associations between individuals' career adaptability and 2 transition variables: confidence and readiness. Statistical testing was accomplished using Pearson correlation coefficient, t test, and 1-way analysis of variance. Correlations of transition confidence and overall career adaptability scores indicated a low negative correlation (r (262) = -0.4299, p < .01), and correlations of transition readiness and overall career adaptability scores indicated a low positive correlation (r (262) = 0.3988, p < .01). In addition, significant differences were noted when examining survey results based on demographic variables such as race, education, marital status, highest pay-grade achieved, and years of service. This study contributes to social change by demonstrating techniques for assessing personal traits. Implications are discussed for using self-reported data for counseling and interventions for individuals, which could enhance their career transition experiences.

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