Article A Psychometric Evaluation of Schein’s (1985) Career Orientations Inventory

Since its introduction, Schein’s Career Orientations Inventory (COI) has been widely used to assess and advise individuals who are making both initial and specialty career choices. Employed by both practitioners and researchers, the COI was designed to identify the person’s ‘‘career anchors,’ ’ also known as their career identities. Individuals are expected to have the highest job satisfaction and performance when their job specialization matches their career anchors. However, little published research has evaluated the psychometric properties of the COI. To address this gap, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis, calculated the subscale reliabilities, and correlated the career anchors with Holland’s career interests to examine its convergent and discriminant validities. In this article, we report on the psychometric properties of the COI based on our sample of 165 midcareer college graduates and make several suggestions on the use and interpretation of the COI. Keywords careers, career anchors, career orientations, career specialty choices, psychometric evaluation Vocational research helps to enhance individuals ’ understanding of their educational and career options and may lead to better career planning and eventually a more personally meaningful life (Flum & Blustein, 2000). A number of theories elucidating the psychological processes underlying individuals ’ career decision making have been developed, and these theories have contributed immensely to the field of vocational psychology and career counseling (Kidd, 2006). Traditionally, research in this area has focused heavily on studying the initial career choices of high school and college students, and there are many career scales developed to assess young adults ’ readiness to make decisions (Betz & Borgen, 2000), or to classify them into various career interests (Betz