Situational judgment test of basic employability competences development: validation of a psychoeducative instrument for socioeducative intervention
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7179/PSRI_2021.37.02Keywords:
employability, basic employability skills, key employability skills, situational test, social pedagogyAbstract
Basic employability competences, also known as key competences, are essential in accessing, retaining and advancing in employment, and are especially relevant in promoting the employment of disadvantaged young people. This study describes the development of a copyleft psychoeducational instrument based on the model posited by Arnau et al. (2014) that Social Pedagogy professionals can use to evaluate the basic employability competences in adolescents and young people aged 12 to 18: The Situational Test of Basic Employability Competences Development (DCBE). A total of 29 problem situations were designed and included within five stories related to the daily life of any adolescent. A total of 102 adolescents and young people were interviewed and asked how they would react to these problem situations. The responses were subjected to a content analysis in order to select the most frequent responses indicative of different levels of competence development. Ten experts then assigned the problem situations to one of the eight competences proposed by Arnau et al. (2014), before assigning scores of 0 to 5 to the different responses based on the level of development indicated by the responses, with high levels of agreement. Following a pilot study on a group of 47 young people to verify the variability of the responses, the test was administered to 1,011 young people at six training centres. A factor analysis of the responses yielded a unifactorial structure of 23 items, with high values for model fit and reliability. The results obtained support the content, ecological and construct validity of the DCBE test, which was well accepted by both students and teachers for its attractiveness and usefulness. The test makes it possible to begin preparing students for employment in the early stages prior to post-compulsory training. Its copyleft nature means it can be widely used by Social Pedagogy professionals.
Downloads
References
Abas, M. C., & Imam, O. A. (2016). Graduates' Competence on Employability Skills and Job Performance. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 5(2), 119-125.
Alonso Bello, E.; Santana Vega, L.E., & Feliciano García, L. (2018). Trayectorias de empleabilidad de los jóvenes que abandonan el sistema de protección. Educación Siglo XXI, 36(3), 485-504. https://doi.org/10.6018/j/350101
Arnau-Sabatés, L., Marzo, M. T., Jariot, M., & Sala-Roca, J. (2014). Learning basic employability competence: a challenge for the active labour insertion of adolescents in residential care in their transition to adulthood. European Journal of Social Work, 17(2), 252-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2013.802227
Blalock, L. B., Strieter, L., & Hughes, L. (2006). The SCANS Skills and Competencies Checklist: An assessment tool for youth work readiness programs. Journal of Youth Development, 1(1), 89-99.
Breen, R. (2005). Explaining cross-national variation in youth unemployment market and institutional factors. European sociological review, 21(2), 125-134. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jci008
Bridgstock, R. (2009). The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: Enhancing graduate employability through career management skills. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(1), 31-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360802444347
Cabrera, Lanzo, N., López López, M.C., & Portillo Vidiella, M.C. (2015). La percepción de los empleadores acerca de las competencias de los graduados y su evaluación. Una aproximación a distintos sectores profesionales. En Londoño Orozco, Guillermo and Cano García, Elena: Formación y evaluación por competencias en educación superior. (185-213). https://doi.org/10.19052/9789588844992
Cimatti, B. (2016). Definition, development, assessment of soft skills and their role for the quality of organizations and enterprises. International Journal for quality research, 10(1). https://doi.org.10.18421/IJQR10.01-05
Cinque, M. (2016). “Lost in translation”. Soft skills development in European countries. Tuning Journal for Higher Education, 3(2), 389-427. http://dx.doi.org/10.18543/tjhe-3(2)-2016pp389-427
Clarke, M. (2016). Addressing the soft skills crisis. Strategic HR Review, 15(3), 137-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-03-2016-0026
Crisp, R., & Powell, R. (2016). Young people and UK labour market policy: A critique of ‘employability’ as a tool for understanding youth unemployment. Urban Studies, 54(8), 1784-1807. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098016637567
Curtis, D., & McKenzie, P. (2001). Employability skills for Australian industry: Literature review and framework development. Report to: Business Council of Australia; Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Science and Training, Canberra. http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/40939.
Dreger, C., López-Bazo, E., Ramos, R., Royuela, V., & Suriñach, J. (2015). Wage and income inequality in the European Union. Policy Department. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cros/system/files/05-2014-wage_and_income_inequality_in_the_eu_0.pdf
Eurostat (2020). Unemployement statistics. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics
Fleiss, J. L. (1981) Statistical methods for rates and proportions. 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley) pp. 38–46.
Frías-Navarro, D., & Pascual Soler, M. (2012). Exploratory factor Analysis (EFA) in consumer behavior and marketing research. Suma Psicológica, 19(1), 47-58. Disponible en: http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0121-43812012000100004
Gibb, S. (2014). Soft skills assessment: theory development and the research agenda. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 33(4), 455-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2013.867546
Griffiths, D. A., Inman, M., Rojas, H., & Williams, K. (2018). Transitioning student identity and sense of place: future possibilities for assessment and development of student employability skills. Studies in Higher Education, 43(5), 891-913.
Gulikers, J. T., Baartman, L., & Biemans, H. J.(2010). Facilitating evaluations of innovative, competence-based assessments: Creating understanding and involving multiple stakeholders. Evaluation and Program Planning, 33(2), 120-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2009.07.002
Jariot, M.; Sala, J., Arnau, L. & Marzo, M. (2021). Validación del modelo teórico del Test Situacional de Desarrollo de las Competencias Básicas de Empleabilidad: la perspectiva de los trabajadores. Revista de Pedagogía Social, 37, XXX.
Kvavilashvili, L., & Ellis, J. (2004). Ecological validity and the real-life/laboratory controversy in memory research: A critical and historical review. History & Philosophy of Psychology, 6, 59–80. Disponible en: https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2299/1971/103125.pdf?
Lievens, F., Peeters, H., & Schollaert, E. (2008). Situational judgment tests: A review of recent research. Personnel Review, 37(4), 426-441. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480810877598
Lo Presti, A. (2009). Snakes and ladders: Stressing the role of meta-competencies for post-modern careers. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 9(2), 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-009-9157-0
Lo Presti, A. L., & Pluviano, S. (2016). Looking for a route in turbulent waters Employability as a compass for career success. Organizational Psychology Review, 6(2), 192-211. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386615589398
Lotito, F. (2015). Test Psicológicos y Entrevistas: Usos y Aplicaciones Claves En El Proceso De Selección E Integración De Personas a Las Empresas (Psychological Tests and Interviews: Key Uses and Applications in the Selection and Integration of Companies). RAN-Revista Academia & Negocios, 1(2).
Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Ferrando, P. (2007). FACTOR: A computer program to fit the exploratory factor analysis model. University Rovira y Virgili. Disponible en: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03192753.pdf
Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Ferrando, P. (2011). Manual of the program FACTOR v. 8.02. Disponible en: https://psico.fcep.urv.es/utilitats/factor/Manual-of-the-FactorProgram.pdf
MacCann, C., & Roberts, R. D. (2008). New paradigms for assesing emotional intelligence: theory and data. Emotion, 8(4), 540–551. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012746
McQuaid, R. W. (2006). Job search success and employability in local labor markets. The Annals of Regional Science, 40(2), 407-421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-006-0065-7
McQuaid, R. W., & Lindsay, C. (2005). The concept of employability. Urban Studies, 42(2), 197–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-006-0065-7
Moreno Mínguez, A. (2015). La empleabilidad de los jóvenes en España. Explicando el elevado desempleo juvenil durante la recesión económica. Revista Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales, 11(3), 3-20. https://doi.org/10.18004/riics.2015.julio.3-20
Muhamad, S. (2012). Graduate employability and transferable skills: A review. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(6), 882-885. Disponible en: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suriyani_Muhamad/publication/287021703_Graduate_employability_and_transferable_skills_A_review/links/5da8703492851caa1babd804/Graduate-employability-and-transferable-skills-A-review.pdf
Nickson, D., Warhurst, C., Commander, J., Hurrell, S. A., & Cullen, A. M. (2012). Soft skills and employability: Evidence from UK retail. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 33(1), 65-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831x11427589
Nisha, S. M., & Rajasekaran, V. (2018). Employability skills: A review. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 12(1), 29-37. Disponible en. http://search.proquest.com/openview/1f9f5ad8e5798a6b992e4c1bee830cbb/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2029989&casa_token=0GFchuXN-2gAAAAA:pkjjLEAu-RD1CNJ10XkoDJTVjnjZ90KmLE4gqWIheZebJKGfq_YJw8j4lZkuzxps_j6kIMXLrJ4
Olea, M. A. (2001). El trabajo como bien escaso. Revista del Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración, 33, 17-32.
Olmos-Rueda, P., & Mas-Torelló, O. (2017). Perspectiva de tutores y de empresas sobre el desarrollo de las competencias básicas de empleabilidad en el marco de los programas de formación profesional básica. Educar, 53(2), 261-284. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/educar.870
Organización Internacional del Trabajo (2014). Competencias para el empleo. Mejorar la empleabilidad de los jóvenes: La importancia de las competencias clave. Recuperado en http://www.ilo.org/skills/pubs/WCMS_371815/lang--es/index.htm
Riebe, L., & Jackson, D. (2014). The use of rubrics in benchmarking and assessing employability skills. Journal of Management Education, 38(3), 319-344.
Rosenberg, S., Heimler, R., & Morote, E. S. (2012). Basic employability skills: a triangular design approach. Education+ Training. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911211198869
Rothwell, A., Herbert, I., & Rothwell, F. (2008). Self-perceived employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students. Journal of vocational behavior,73(1), 1-12.
Sala-Roca, J., Arnau, L., Jariot, M., Marzo, T., Urrea, A. & Ortega, D. (2020). Test Situacional de Desarrollo de Competencias Básicas de Empleabilidad (DCBE). Versión revisada de J. Sala-Roca, L. Arnau, M. Jariot, T. Marzo. The Big Eight Test. DDD. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/213070
Sorrel, M. A., Olea, J., Abad, F. J., de la Torre, J., Aguado, D., & Lievens, F. (2016). Validity and Reliability of Situational Judgement Test Scores A New Approach Based on Cognitive Diagnosis Models. Organizational Research Methods, 19(3), 506-532. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428116630065
Webster, E. S., Paton, L. W., ES Crampton, P., & Tiffin, P. A. (2020). Situational judgement test validity for selection: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14201
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright and right to archive
The published version of the articles can be self-archived by their authors in open access institutional and thematic repositories. However, Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria must authorize partial or global reutilisation on new papers or publications.
Published papers must be cited including the title of the journal Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria, issue, pages and year of publication
Ethical responsibilities
Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria does not accept any material that has been previously published in other documents or publications. Authors are responsible for obtaining the required permissions for partial or global reproduction any material from other publications, and to correctly quote its origin.
Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria is obliged to detect and report fraudulent practices.
Only those who have intellectually contribute to the development of the paper must appear as authors.
The journal expects authors to declare any commercial partnership that might entail a conflict of interest with respect to the submitted article.
Authors must mention in the article, preferably in the “methodology” section, that the procedures used during the samplings and controls have been made after getting informed consent.
The journal will not use any received contribution in a way other than the goals described in these guidelines.
Copyright Notice
© Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria. Papers published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are property of Pedagogia Social. Revista Interuniversitaria, being required to cite the source in any partial or total reproduction.
Unless otherwise stated, all content of this electronic journal is distributed under "Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial 3.0 Spain" (CC-by-nc) license for use and distribution. The informative version and the legal text of this license is available here. This has to be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
