Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Background Psychology students are often told that obtaining a graduate degree is necessary for meaningful employment, due to the field’s history of prioritizing graduate school (Appleby, 2018). Underemployment is a battle that many psychology undergraduates face (Burning Glass Institute, 2024). This can be discouraging, and students are often unaware of postgraduate options alternative to grad school (Halonen, 2013). Eugene is an online tool created to show undergraduate psychology majors their career options. Students select from a psychology list on the Eugene website, which produces the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) they have gained in those courses alongside a list of potential jobs informing them which jobs they may be qualified for immediately after graduating, and jobs that require additional education. The goal is to provide students with a better understanding of where and how their earned KSAs can be applied post-graduation. However, Eugene is relatively new; therefore, the proposed study aims to evaluate Eugene’s ease of navigation, novelty, and utility of output. Methods This study will evaluate Eugene’s ability to meet the intended objectives by utilizing a survey and focus groups. In addition to collecting demographic information, this study will measure how students plan to use the site for career searching, potential benefits, if participants find it useful, and whether they would rely on it for future use. Participants will complete an online survey immediately following their initial use. The survey will also include an option to consent to participate in a follow-up focus group occurring within one week after completing the survey. Focus group participants will again use Eugene in a lab setting, then answer open-ended questions in order to further evaluate the effectiveness and ease of use of Eugene and its output. Expected Results & Implications It is expected that respondents will find the tool most useful if they intend to go straight into the workforce. Some additional anticipated concerns include users being overwhelmed with the amount of information presented, skipping over some of the information, having difficulty navigating the resource, and misinterpreting the numbers shown on the KSA output page. Findings will be used to guide future site updates and implementation of Eugene into classroom and Psychology Department programming. The results of the proposed study are expected to increase the relevance and utility of the Eugene website and allow Psychology undergraduate students to more efficiently use the website to guide their career path.
Date
11-9-2024
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Included in
Assessing the Utility of a Career Exploration Platform for Psychology Students
Background Psychology students are often told that obtaining a graduate degree is necessary for meaningful employment, due to the field’s history of prioritizing graduate school (Appleby, 2018). Underemployment is a battle that many psychology undergraduates face (Burning Glass Institute, 2024). This can be discouraging, and students are often unaware of postgraduate options alternative to grad school (Halonen, 2013). Eugene is an online tool created to show undergraduate psychology majors their career options. Students select from a psychology list on the Eugene website, which produces the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) they have gained in those courses alongside a list of potential jobs informing them which jobs they may be qualified for immediately after graduating, and jobs that require additional education. The goal is to provide students with a better understanding of where and how their earned KSAs can be applied post-graduation. However, Eugene is relatively new; therefore, the proposed study aims to evaluate Eugene’s ease of navigation, novelty, and utility of output. Methods This study will evaluate Eugene’s ability to meet the intended objectives by utilizing a survey and focus groups. In addition to collecting demographic information, this study will measure how students plan to use the site for career searching, potential benefits, if participants find it useful, and whether they would rely on it for future use. Participants will complete an online survey immediately following their initial use. The survey will also include an option to consent to participate in a follow-up focus group occurring within one week after completing the survey. Focus group participants will again use Eugene in a lab setting, then answer open-ended questions in order to further evaluate the effectiveness and ease of use of Eugene and its output. Expected Results & Implications It is expected that respondents will find the tool most useful if they intend to go straight into the workforce. Some additional anticipated concerns include users being overwhelmed with the amount of information presented, skipping over some of the information, having difficulty navigating the resource, and misinterpreting the numbers shown on the KSA output page. Findings will be used to guide future site updates and implementation of Eugene into classroom and Psychology Department programming. The results of the proposed study are expected to increase the relevance and utility of the Eugene website and allow Psychology undergraduate students to more efficiently use the website to guide their career path.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology