TPC Journal V8, Issue 1 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 1 67 A dependent samples t-test (paired samples) was utilized in order to assess potential significance within the ProQOL subscale pre- and post-assessment results. For the Burnout subscale, we found no statistical significance: t (23) = .767, p < .51. For the Secondary Traumatic Stress subscale, we found no statistical significance: t (23) = .283, p < .78. Finally, for the Compassion Satisfaction subscale, we again found no statistical significance: t (23) = -1.598, p < .124. Effect sizes were calculated and analyzed using Cohen’s d, and it was found that Burnout ( d = .17), Secondary Traumatic Stress ( d = .07), and Compassion Satisfaction ( d = .32) all had small effect sizes between pre- and post-assessment. Discussion In this investigation, career assessment variables of work values, occupational engagement, and professional quality of life of participants in a career counseling course were examined and potential statistical significance between participant scores pre- and post-course was assessed. Regarding work values, participants initially stated having Balance ( M = 2.96, SD = .204), Support ( M = 3.00, SD = .000), and Helping ( M = 3.00, SD = .000) as their most important work-related values, which is aligned with the career choice of becoming a counselor (Consoli & Williams, 1999). Further, the three lowest ranked values, Power ( M = 1.35, SD = .476), Competition ( M = 1.21, SD = .415), and Risk-Taking ( M = 1.42, SD = .583), could be viewed as areas of low value within a helping-related field (Consoli & Williams, 1999). In the WVI post-test assessment, however, the value of Balance fell from the top three values and was replaced with Honesty ( M = 3.00, SD = .000). Overall, the findings suggest there was no statistically significant difference between the top three valued traits and the lowest three valued traits at pre- and post-analysis. Furthermore, taking a deeper look at the assessment, the Environment category had no participants scoring its traits as either highly valued or lowly valued, which was dissimilar to a former investigation utilizing the WVI that found counselors valued the Environment, but it was dependent upon counseling track (Busacca, Beebe, & Toman, 2010). Thus, our participants may not have been interested in or valued their work environment as compared to their work activities or core work values areas. Furthermore, because our participants were CITs rather than practicing counselors, they might not yet value their “work” environment, as they have yet to experience it outside of a training-supported venue. Busacca and colleagues (2010) also found that counselors valued their coworkers highly, something that was not highly valued in our investigation, again possibly because our sample was still in a novice stage of their counseling career endeavor and have fewer work experiences in counseling settings. Relative to occupational engagement, we found that participants were moderately engaged (participant scores at pre- [ M = 23.79] and post-assessment [ M = 25.79]) during their career course throughout the semester, and showed a statistically significant increase in scores from pre- to post- assessment: t (23) = -2.519, p < .019. Thus, participants slightly increased their engagement throughout the semester. These results were interesting in that students in the career counseling course appeared to become more engaged from pre- to post-assessment. The participants may have increased their engagement because of their participation in the course, partaking in the constructivist-based course experiences, and possibly from gaining more knowledge on counseling and career counseling specifically. As such, students would be well served by counselor education programs making occupationally engaging activities part of their curriculum as well as following an experiential, constructivist format. These activities could include job shadows, volunteering, informational interviews, conference presentations, and student-led course discussions, in order to facilitate a more engaging experience. Further, increasing engagement in a career course could help mitigate the effects of CITs devaluing career topic(s) as well as their incompetence and/or perceived incompetence in the subject matter (Bjornsen et al., 2018; Lara et al., 2011).