Predictive Validity of Measured Vocational Interests with Black and White College Men

Abstract

Despite widespread concern about the validity of standardized tests with culturally different groups limited research results are available to clarify this issue. While previous research has focused on differential validity for tests of academic aptitude, this study examines validity of measured vocational interests with blacks and whites. Validity of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) for predicting career choices at the end of college was studied with able black and white men who were winners of National Achievement and National Merit Scholarships in 1966. Blacks and whites moving in different career paths were differentiated before college in similar and meaningful ways by the interest dimensions. Multiple discriminant function weights were determined for two-thirds of the samples of whites, with cross-validation hit-rates determined for the remaining whites and all of the blacks. Membership in career groups was predicted at least as well for these able blacks as it was for the whites.

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