Measuring Career Maturity in Context: Validating a Competence-Focused Inventory among Ghanaian Adolescents (Published)
This study validates a competence-focused Career Maturity Inventory (CMI-G) developed for Ghanaian senior high students. The instrument measures six classroom-relevant competencies—self-assessment, world-of-work knowledge, résumé and letters, interviewing, job-search rules, and career planning—reflecting the skills emphasized in Ghana’s guidance curriculum. Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses and bifactor-ESEM modeling, the study tested content validity, reliability (ω, ωh, H), measurement invariance (gender, school type), and convergent and sensitivity-to-change validity against adjacent constructs of career adaptability and decision self-efficacy. Results indicate a hierarchical structure with a dominant general career maturity factor, scalar invariance across groups, and strong responsiveness to competence-based instruction. The validated CMI-G offers a psychometrically robust and contextually relevant tool for diagnosing students’ career competencies and for integrating evidence-based guidance within Ghana’s Senior High School system.
Keywords: Bifactor-ESEM Modeling, Career Maturity, Ghanaian senior high schools, competence-based education, psychometric validation
Gender and Career Maturity in Ghanaian Senior Secondary Schools: Differential Effects of Career Exploration Skills Training (Published)
The study examined whether a structured programme in career exploration skills produced different post-intervention outcomes for male and female senior secondary students in Cape Coast, Ghana. Using the original quasi-experimental dataset, gender-disaggregated post-test analyses compared experimental and control groups on five competence-based career maturity subscales: knowledge of the world of work, résumé writing, application letters, interviewing, and rules for success. Female experimental students outperformed female controls on three subscales (application letters, résumé writing, rules for success), while male experimental students showed gains notably in world-of-work knowledge and interviewing. No significant gender differences were observed within the experimental group at post-test, whereas two subscales differed by gender in the control group. These findings suggest gender-specific response patterns coupled with overall gender equity in treatment effects. Implications for targeted, gender-sensitive delivery are discussed.
Keywords: Bifactor-ESEM Modeling, Career Maturity, Ghanaian senior high schools, competence-based education, psychometric validation