Development of the Campus and Career Resource Inventory

The need for departmental evaluation has been documented as important for institutional evaluations and resulted in APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, Version 2.0 (American Psychological Association [APA], 2013). Well-known websites including O*NET OnLine and CareerOneStop, books such as the APA’s Graduate Study in Psychology, and resources specific to campus such as a Career Center have not been evaluated in conjunction with psychology students specifically. In our study, we intend to close this gap and identify effective career-related resources available to undergraduate psychology students as well as assess how important these resources are to students’ career paths across the nation at four different universities. The Career and Campus Resource Inventory measured students’ knowledge of psychology-specific resources through a survey of open-ended and close-ended questions. We concluded that students primarily rely on faculty to get accurate information on their careers. Interestingly, student clubs and organizations were rated as one of the lowest in importance to advancing student career paths. Additionally, all seven resources were reported as average in helping students advance their career paths. This research is the first step to providing students with accurate and informative resources regarding career paths with a bachelor’s degree in psychology