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II'I‘I’1'I'I‘ ‘ 1 2'2'2'211'2 1212111' ’121‘ M 131;; "I III ’ 1’2‘” ' 1.111 512g: 1 :11 :1 . FILM: " 1-111'1'“. ”' :2 2. ‘f'I'I'I 'I‘I W1. ‘ -"' 1 "I1_I I: 1129311.: ‘1. 111112. 2'122.2-1 ' . 1533'“ .III I‘M‘n' 1111'; 41111111111; "...’I! III). 11315141311! “I: .:11 741111;. .1'1111 ‘2 This is to certify that the dissertation entitled A JOB CLUB IN HONG KONG FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT: A STUDY OF THE PROCESS AND OUTCOME OF A CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH IN PLACEMENT presented by Man-on Leung has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Special Education flaw; 4W4 Major professor Dr. Donald Burke Date 19 May 1986 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0- 12771 MSU A RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to LJBRARJES remove this checkout from .asllzgngln. your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. A JOB CLUB IN HONG KONG FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT: A STUDY OF THE PROCESS AND OUTCOME OF A CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH IN PLACEMENT BY Man-on Leung A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education 1986 ABSTRACT A JOB CLUB IN HONG KONG FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT: A STUDY OF THE PROCESS AND OUTCOME OF A CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH IN PLACEMENT BY Man-on Leung The problem of unemployment among persons with visual impairment in Hong Kong is an important social concern. Research findings revealed that, in 1983, among persons with legal blindness aged 18 to 60 in the local community, 66.19% of them were unemployed, in contrast to the unemployment rate of ca. 3% in the general work force. In the last decade, the Job Club method, which is a model of supervised self-placement conducted in a struc- tured group format, has demonstrated effectiveness in placing persons who were job handicapped in the United States. This research project was an attempt to apply this innovative technique to the local situation and study its effectiveness in a descriptive and exploratory context. Over a 4-month period, data were collected on 12 participants with visual impairment as regards 8 demogra- phic characteristics (sex, age, educational attainment, vocational training, degree of vision, time of onset of visual impairment, Public Assistance, and Disability Allow- ance), and 8 job-search intensity variables (attendance percentage, open recommendations obtained, job leads obtained, letters sent out, application forms filled out, telephone contacts, people-I-know contacts, and interviews.) They were used as separate sets of independent variables to correlate with 3 job-search outcomes (job offer, placement, and employment). utilizing multiple regression techniques. Participants' reaction to Job Club was also tapped by a Job Club Feature Scale. After four months 33.3% of the participants ob- tained 8 job offers, 5 placements, and maintained 4 employ- ments. Regression analyses on selected demographic varia- bles showed that age, vocational training, and educational attainment jointly explained satisfactorily the variations in job-search outcomes (e.g. with placements: R-.86, with p=.Ol). Examined individually, age and educational attain- ment were found to have negative relationships with opportu- nities in getting jobs. Within the multiple regression context, application forms filled out was the only job- search activity varaible that was significantly correlated with all three outcome variables at a .05 level. Results of the Job Club Feature Scale reflected that participants were satisfied with the services they received. However, they expressed little confidence in the usefulness of soliciting family support, and using relatives and friends as source of informal job leads. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my cordial gratitude and appreciation to those special ones who gave me support all through my doctoral studies and those who made the comple- tion of this research project possible: The Guidance Committee -- i * * * Dr. Donald Burke, Chairperson Dr. William Frey Dr. Rochelle Habeck Dr. Michael Moore The Hong Kong Society for the Blind * * Mr. K.L. Stumpf, Director Mrs. Grace Chan, Deputy Director (This research project was financially and administratively supported by the Hong Kong Society for the Blind.) Miss Vivien Lee, Job Club Coordinator 8 The Job Club participants Doris 4- my colleague, friend, and wife 8 Baby Grace -- who brought joy and vitality to our family. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES O O O O O O O O O O O O C 0 iii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . l Unemployment and persons with disabilities . 1 Employment services in Bong Kong. . . . . 3 Employment situation in Hong Kong for persons with visual impairment . . . . . . . 7 Job Club. . . . . . . ' Purpose of the study. . . Research questions . . . Operational definitions. . E; II. LITERATURE REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Placement techniques. . . . . . . . . 17 Selective placement . . . . . . . . 17 Client-centered placement . . . . . . 22 Jab Club. O O O O O O O O O O O O 28 III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . 32 Context of the study. . . . . . . . . 32 Target population. . . . . . . . . . 33 Research method . . . . . . . . . . 35 Measures. . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Demographic data . . . . . . . . . 37 Job-search activities . . . . . . 39 Job offer/placement/employment outcome. . 41 Job Club Features Scale. . . . . . . 42 Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Training of staff. . . . . . . . . 45 Recruitment of participants . . . . . 46 The resultant sample. . . . . . . . 47 The Job Club program. . . . . . . . 49 Data analysis . . . . . . . . . . 60 Descriptive statistics . . . . . . . 61 Multiple regression . . . . . . . . 61 iii IV.' traumas . . V. SUMMARY, APPENDICES Appendix A. B. C. Summary of Job offers Placements job-search activities. Employments. . . . . . . . . Job offers Placements Employment Job offers Placements Employment and demographic variables and demographic variables and demographic variables and job—search activities and job-search activities and job-search activities Job Club features. . . . . . . Summary of major findings . . Job-search activities . . Demography . . . . . . Multiple regression findings Job Club Feature Scale . . Summary of Discussion Placement outcomes . . Supervised self-placement selective placement . Participants' reaction . Implications for practice Conclusions DISCUSSION 8 CONCLUSIONS . . . the study. . .. 00009]... :3 0.: Letter from the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department. . Good news to job seekers . . . . Demographic data sheet . . . . . Job Club membership agreement. . . Daily outline of Job Club activities Job leads log . . . . . . . . Asking help from friends and relatives over the telephone . . . . . . Request for interview through the telephone iv 102 104 106 110 110 111 114 116 119 125 126 127 I. J. K. L. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Follow—up interview . After-interview checklist Multiple regression statistics Job-search activities of Job Club members (in absolute numbers). 128 130 133 139 140 Table 1. 10. LIST OF TABLES Methods used and skills taught in six self-directed placement models. . . . Demographic characteristics of Job Club members . . . . . . . . . . . Job-search activities of Job Club members (in daily average). . . . . . . . Summary statistics of job-search activities of members . . . . . . . . . . Demographic variables of employed and unemployed members . . . . . . . Job Club Feature Scale (JCFS) summary ratings (on a 4-point scale) pertaining to skills and strategies . . . . . . JCFS summary ratings (on a 4-point scale) pertaining to supplies and equipment. . _JCFS summary ratings (on a 4-point scale) pertaining to financial incentives JCFS summary ratings (on a 4-point scale) pertaining to intangible services. . . Members' preference of placement methods . . vi 25 50 68 69 75 82 83 84 85 86 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Unemployment and Perons with Disabilities Work is very much valued in our contemporary culture. The occupation of an individual has become an integral component of his/her identity. Gainful employment constitutes a source of social and financial benefits, privileges, satisfaction, and a sense of personal worth. Conversely, unemployment has been closely related to social problems such as , high crime rate (Johnson, 1964: Wilson, 1970), mental illness (Hollingshead and Redlich, 1958), eviction and family desertion (Wickenden, 1965), alcoholism (Johnson, 1964), and elevated level of aggression (Nietzel, Winett, MacDonald, and Davidson, 1977). Among persons with disabilities, the endeavour to secure a job can be an overwhelmingly challenging task. They are at a significant disadvantage in the labor market be- cause, as Conte (1982) pointed out, many of these persons have (a) few specific or marketable job skills, (b) poor work histories caused by long periods of unemployment or frequent job changes, and (c) no long-term job benefits such as health insurance, retirement pension, and other fringe benefits. 0n the other hand, many persons with disabilities possessing demonstrated work skills are not given opportuni- ties to work because of social factors, such as attitudinal or environmental barriers. Fortunately, there has been an increasing aware- ness among the general public as well as policy makers of this underutilization of human resources, and strategies for intervention are being sought by concerned parties. There is, of course, no easy solution to this pro- blem. Placement is not just a simple matching of labor supply and demand, but a complex and multifaceted process.f and outcome. It must be recognized that the provision of vocational training or retraining is‘a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for placement success. In the placement process, a complex array of variables is involved: the abilities and disabilities of the job seeker, the attitude of the employers towards persons with disabilities and incentives for hiring them, the scope and intensity of protective legislation as regards the rein- forcement of employing such persons, the situation of the local labor market, the level of disability benefits as a disincentive to work, and so forth. This explains why simply to build up work skills for individuals with disabi- lities is not a guarantee for the occurence of placement. Employment Services in Hong Kong Development of government rehabilitation programs in Bong Kong began in the early 1950's. Since then services for citizens with various disabilities gradually expanded and grew (Chan and Tsang, 1980). In the last decade, the 1976 Government Green Paper entitled The Further Development of Rehabilitation Service in Hong_§ong and the 1977 White Paper on Integrating the disabled into the Community: A United Effort, which set forth a ten-year service develop- ment plan under annual review, were undoubtedly the most significant milestones of government commitments to the development and expansion of rehabilitation services in Hong Kong. In the day-to-day planning and operation, various government departments work closely with subvented voluntary agencies, which play a major role in the provision of reha— bilitation services. Among the multitude of services to persons with disabilities, the provision for assisting them to secure open employment is of course crucial to the achievement of the goal of total integration. Before July 1980, the Job Placement Unit of the Social welfare Department was responsible for providing assistance in job finding for persons with disabilities in Hong Kong. In July 1980, the Selective Placement Service of the Labour Department was established, taking over from the Job Placement Unit employment services for persons with visual impairment, hearing impairment, and physical disabi- lity. The Service also took over responsibility for the placement of mentally impaired and ex-mentally ill indivi- duals in July 1984 (Rehabilitation Development Coordination Committee, 1985). In a seminar on "The Employment of Disabled Persons“ organized by the Rehabilitation Division of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service on 10 November 1985, Mr. F.K. Kwok, Acting Commissioner of Rehabilitation revealed that as at end of 1984, a total number of 4,399 disabled joo seekers have registered with the Selective Placement Service and 2,689 placements were achieved. Kwok (1985) also stated that while the Government was exerting effort to enhance the employment Opportunities of disabled persons, it was at the moment not the intent of the Government to introduce manda- tory legislation, such as quota-levy systems, or antidis- crimination regulations. The reasons were given as follows: 1. These mandatory legislations indirectly turned placement service into a welfare provision, which was against the spirit of appropriate utilization of human resources. 2. There would be enormous administrative and operational difficulties which would inhibit the laws from being carried out with satisfactory results. (9.5 [English translation from Chinese original by the researcher]). In order to enhance the employment of individuals with disabilities, the following services were also made available in Hong Kong (Employment Subcommittee of the Reha- bilitation Development Coordinating Committee, 1983): Vocational Assessment The Technical Education and Industrial Training Department operates an Assessment Centre at the Kwun Tong Skills Centre for the Disabled where assessment and recom- mendations are made as regards the clients' vocational training and/or employment arrangements. The maximum dura- tion of the assessment is 8 weeks. Aids to Employment Today's technological development has greatly increased the employability of persons with disabilities since a wide range of electronic and mechanical aids have enabled these persons to overcome many of their handicapping conditions in the work environments. In Hong Kong, in the employment of a person with disabilities, both the employer and the employee are eligible for a reimbursement from the 'Employaid Scheme“ for the costs incurred in the purchase of aids, adaptation of machinery, and the modification of premises. The 'Employaid' is funded by the Community Chest and administered by the Bong Kong Society for Rehabilitation. Also, the Technical Aids and Resource Centre of the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department is available for technical advice and the loaning of equipment. Travelling Assistance The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation runs a Rehabus Service for persons with disabilities. Although this service mainly caters for persons with physical handicap, applicants with other categories of disabilities are also eligible, depending on the degree of disablity and the purpose of use. Normally, priority is given to employment, training or education purposes. Social Security In Hong Kong, currently two major social security schemes are catering to persons with disabilities in their financial needs: Public Assistance Scheme, which is means- tested, and Special Needs Allowance Scheme, which is non- means-tested. As at February 1986, an eligible person could receive up to HK$ 510.- (1 US$ = 7.8 HK$) of Public Assist- ance and HK$ 510.- of Disability Allowance which is under the Special Needs Allowance Scheme (Hong Kong 1986). It is yet to be evaluated to what extent social security benefits constitute disincentives for persons with disabilities to receiving vocational training and seeking open employment. Employment Situation in Hong Kong for Persons with Visual Impairment While the education level among persons with visual impairment is gradually improving in Hong Kong, their current employment situation is still far from satis- factory. According to the Central Registry of the Disabled, there are in Hong Kong 86,726 persons with various disabilities registered as of February, 1986 (Statistical Reports, 1986). This figure represents 1.58% of the whole population of 5.5 million. Among them, 12,656 are visually impaired. Presumably this is an underrepresentation as there is no obligation of registering a disability in Hong kong. Also, this low percentage of registration may reflect the deep-rooted Chinese attitude towards the receiving of social security services and benefits as equated with pover- ty, disgrace, and a lack of family concern. Utilizing the international average of 8% of persons with disabilities in a general population, the total number of such persons in Bong Kong is estimated at 450,000 (Pang, 1984). The Coordinating Committee on the Blind under the Rehabilitation Division of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service conducted a large-scale survey on "The Adult Education Needs of the Visually Disabled“ in Hong Kong in October, 1983. Although the primary objective of the survey was to identify the potential group of individuals with visual impairment who would benefit from adult education programs, the scope of this study made it a valuable document in providing empirical data on the demographics of this population in Hong kong. Within the sampling frame of 2,135 cases between the age of 18 and 60 provided by the Blind Registry of the Social Welfare Department, a propor- tionate stratified random sample of 491 was drawn, using age and Social Welfare Department District as the stratifying criteria. According to the findings of this survey, the main demographic characteristics of persons with visual disabili- ty in Hong Kong can be discerned as follows: 1. Among the legally blind of ages 18 to 60 in Hong Kong, 36.66% were totally blind, 13.06% had light perception, the other 50.28% were low visioned or partially sighted. 2. Only 3.05% of the visually impaired population of ages 18 to 60 had an education beyond high school level. 22.61% had a secondary edcucation, 37.88% had only a primary education and 36.25% had either no school or just kindergarten. 3. A majority of the respondents (73.52%) did not consider themselves having any marketable work skills at all. While 17.11% had some manufacturing or clerical skills, only 1.02% considered themselves professionals. 4. At the time of the survey, 66.19% of the respondents were unemployed. A positive correlation between education level and employment has been found. In sum, “low education level, unskillfulness, and/or unemployment, as found by this survey, marked the general social-economic condition of the visually disabled population currently of ages 18 to 60 in Hong Kong“ (Coordinating Committee on the Blind, 1983, p.50) In Hong Kong, the high unemployment rate among persons with visual impairment, which has been as high as 66.19%, is indeed alarming when contrasted with the unem— ployment rate of the general work force, which rarely ex- ceeded 3.5%, and was 3.1% during the period of November 1985 to January 1986 as shown in the Quarterly Report on General Household Survey (1986). Job Club Many persons with disabilities actively looking for jobs actually possess demonstrated skills required for competitive employment. However, very often their efforts are turned into a demoralizing experience of disappointment and frustration because, as the researcher has observed when working with trainees and clients who are visually impaired, their job search activities are very often disorganized, 10 sporadic, and often ill-directed. The Job Club (Azrin and Besalel, 1980) is a recent innovative technique that aims at assisting job seekers in finding employment. Developed by Nathan Azrin, a behavioral psychologist, and his associates in the early 70's, the Job Club employs a proactive, intensive, systematic and consis- tent approach to job finding, based on behavioral, learning, and motivational principles. As stated by Azrin and Besalel (1980), “the goal of the Job Club method of counseling is to obtain a job of the highest feasible quality within the shortest feasible time period for all participating job seekers" (p.1). To achieve this goal, Azrin and his associates applied principles of behavioral psychology to the conventional job seeking procedures. The result of this application is a highly structured group approach to self-placement. Two main principles utilized in the Job Club method are operant conditioning postulated by Skinner (1953) and social learning theories posited by Bandura (1969). According to the two psychologists, behaviors are learned rather than being innate abilities or predispositions. Learning results from such mechanism as modeling and prac- tice. In order for behaviors to be learned, they must be reinforced to be repeated. Often it is necessary to rein- force approximation of a desired behavior in order to shape the behavior gradually towards the target. 11 In the Job Club, the target behaviors are effective job seeking skills and actual job search activities. The quality and quantity of these behaviors will, to a great extent, determine the outcome of the job search. In the daily sessions, effective job-seeking behaviors are modeled by counselors, by other advanced job seekers, or through the use of standardized scripts and samples. The participants are engaged in actual job search activities. Appropriate behaviors are positively reinforced by the counselor, other group members, and through partici- pants' own records of progress. On the other hand, as the budget allows, appropriate financial support is also pro- vided in the form of free stationery, clerical services, refreshments, or special allowances. These will further facilitate the participants' job search activities, and increase the frequency of these activities, thus boosting the chances of being employed. At the operational level, the Job Club typically meets in an office setting which provides areas for group meeting and individual work space. Supplies and facilities needed for effective job-search are readily available. The Job Club meets every day, preferably in the morning, for half day sessions. It is designed to be open-ended, with a new group of about 10 to 12 members starting every two weeks, depending on client flow. The new group is then gradually integrated into the established group. All 12 instruction, practices, and job-search activities, other than interviews, are actually carried out within the Job Club. The Job Club is fast paced and work oriented, conducted in a supervised group format. It emphasizes out- come (successful placement) rather than process (vocational counseling and testing). A basic conviction is that every person is employable if the right job is identified, and that people are usually capable of performing a variety of jobs (Azrin and Besalel, 1980). This method has been empirically validated as a successful job-seeking program by a series of experimental studies conduted by Azrin and his associates (Azrin, Flores, and Kaplan, 1975: Azrin and Philip, 1979: Azrin, Besalel, Wisotzek, McMorrow, and Bechtel, 1982). The success rates of the experimental groups have been as high as 90% or more and were consistently found to be superior to the control groups. Purpose of the Study The present study endeavoured to investigate into the applicability of the Job Club method to job seekers in Hong Kong who were visually disabled. An attempt was also made to explore relationships between job placement success, if any, of the participants and selected demographic varia- bles as well as with pertinent job search activities. 13 Consistent with the behavioral philosophy of em- phasizing outcome rather than process, this study sought to measure the effectiveness of Job Club by outcome measure, namely, job offers, placements obtained, and employment sustained at the end of a 4-month period. Utilizing the available data, exploration would be made to study the possible correlation between placement outcomes (namely, job offers, placements, and employment) and eight demographic variables (sex, age, education, voca- tional training, degree of vision, time of onset of visual . impairment, and whether they received Public Assistance and Disability Allowance), and eight variables pertaining to the intensity of job search and participation in Job Club (attendance percentage, open recommendations obtained, job leads obtained, letters sent out, application forms filled out, telephone contacts with potential employers, people-I— know contacts as informal job leads, and interviews ob- tained). Research Questions The main questions addressed by this study are listed as follows: 1. Could the Job Club Method, which has been found to be highly successful in the United States, be effective in aiding job seekers in Hong Kong who were visually impaired to be successful in obtaining a job within the 14 shortest feasible time? 2. Was there any correlation between placement outcomes and the eight demographic variables taken collectively and individually? 3. Was there any correlation between placement outcomes and the eight job-search related variables taken collectively and individually? 4. What was the attitude of the participants towards this innovative self-placement method after taking part in this program? Operational Definitions In this study, relevant terms are operationally defined as follows: Visual impairment This study adopted the legal definition of visual impairment as endorsed by the Central Registry of the Disabled in June, 1985 (”Revised admission criteria“, 1985): Blind or partially sighted (in the better eye with correcting lenses): 1. Blind - Central visual acuity of 3/60 or less in the better eye with correcting glasses or central visual acuity of more than 3/60 if there is a field defect in which the peripheral field has contracted to such an extent that the 15 widest diameter of the field subtends an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees. 2. Low visioned - Those registered blind but have varying degree of residual vision ranging from perception of light to the maximum degree of vision permissible within the existing limit applicable to blind registration. 3. Partially sighted - (a) Visual acuity of over 3/60 but below 6/60 with full field: or (b) visual acuity of 6/24 with moderate constriction of the field and opacities in the media; or (c) visual acuity of 6/18 or more if there is a gross field defect. Job Club The Job Club is a client-centered, group approach to placement. Participants treat job-search itself as a full-time undertaking. They meet daily on weekdays in an office setting to actually carry out their job search activities under the supervision of a Job Club Coordinator, who teaches and models job seeking skills, monitors progress, secures job leads, and ascertains the availability of clerical and financial support as agreed upon, and provides encouragement and positive reinforcement. The participants assume main responsibility of 16 their own placement. Intensive participation and high atten- dance is essential. The Job Club provides all the feasible support and resources, and thus facilitates to a significant extent the job search activities of participants by reliev- ing them from technical and financial burdens and worries. Job Offer A job offer is defined as the event in which, after a job interview, an employer formally offers the opening to the interviewee as the outcome of the interview. Placement A placement is defined as the occurence in which an employer and an applicant have agreed upon the terms and conditions of the hiring, and the applicant actually started work. Employment Employment is defined as keeping a position for at least one month after the occurence of placement. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW Placement Techniques As stated by Vandergoot (1984), there are Current— ly two predominant models of placement in the rehabilitation field: Selective placement and client-centered placement. Selective Placement As Salomone (1971) pointed out, selective place- ment is a procedure originated by the New York State Employ- ment Service in 1933 and is defined as ”the process of matching the physical, mental and emotional capacities of a disabled person to the demands of a suitable job' (Pinner and Altman, 1966, p.71). It is a counselor-centered place- ment technique that emphasizes the assessment of capabili- ties, needs, and relevant characteristics of clients and the matching of these to a compatible job (Vandergoot, 1984). In the process, "the counselor acts as a resource person, agent and advocate in obtaining job leads, making the employer contacts, and even accompanying the client to the interview” (Geist and Calzaretta, 1982, p.14). In Michigan, a selective placement system was developed over a five-to-six year period, starting in ca. 17 18 1969 in the Michigan Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, as described by Molinaro (1977). The "Michigan Model“ of selec- tive placement included the following components: 1. The Account System - Defined by Molinaro as ”a process by which a vocational rehabilitation counselor develops a sustained and reciprocal relationship with an employer having 100 or more employees" (p.123). A counselor is accountable to the development of one to several ac- counts. 2. Skill Bank - Skills of employment-ready clients are' identified and kept on record. 3. Job Bank - Counselors first identify a pool of job openings, and then call for applicants. They will review the job orders, match them with appropriate clients, preinterview the clients at the agency office, and then refer them to the employers. 4. Job-seeking Skills Clinic - One placement specialist is assigned to run regular job-seeking skills programs (held weekly) at the placement office for clients identified as deficient in skills related to job searching. 5. Staff Development and Liaison - At appropriate intervals, job placement in-service program for counselor representatives from various district offices are arranged. In such programs, which last about 13 weeks, clients and employers are also involved. On-site analysis, role playing, and videotaping are all used. 19 The liaison role requires that a placement specia- list serves as a liaison person to two other district offices to share information. 6. Labor Market Analysis - Placement specialists also conduct labor market analysis to provide objective informa- tion for development of the program. 7. Sheltered-shop Placement - Clients who are not yet ready for competitive employment are placed into sheltered work setting, in which job skills training is also provided. An underlying concept in this selective placement model is employer services. The basic belief is that the better the employer is served, the better the counselor will be able to serve the clients. Employer services in this model include: 1. Worker compensation assistance 2. Second injury certification. 3. Affirmative Action consultation and implementation. 4. Awareness training (of rehabilitation services and needs). 5. Selective placement. 6. Maintenance (follow-up). 7. Troubled employee assistance. (p.125) While Molinaro provided very useful information on this selective placement model, no evaluation of its effectiveness was provided in the paper. As the government placement service for 20 individuals in Bong Kong with disabilities is in essence based on the model of the selective placement service as provided in the United Kingdom, it is useful to study the British model in some detail. The United Kingdom is a country in which a quota- 1evy system is in force for the protection of the right to work for individuals with disabilities. According to Carnes (1979), the one professional in U.K. most comparable to the rehabilitation counselor in the United States is the Disablement Resettlement Officer (DRO). The DRO is an experienced employment advisor who is especially selected within the Manpower Services (formerly called Department of Employment). This person receives 10 weeks of specialized training at the National Training Cen- tre, Leeds, England. After assuming duty as DRO, the offi- cer will receive another five weeks of staff development training. The trainings are very practical and emphasize interviewing, recording, job analysis skills, client apprai- sal, and resources in placement. Considerable time is also spent on the development of marketing and presentation tech- niquee. One of the main duties of DROs is to keep in touch with local employers and to enlist their support on behalf of the disabled. They are informed of all job openings notified to their agency by employers, and then they refer their clients to suitable openings. 21 In the United Kingdom (but not in Hong Kong), persons with blindness receive some special attention. ”Blind Persons Resettlement Officers (BPRO) carry case loads of blind clients and coordinate their work with Blind Per- sons Training Officers (BPTO), who do the actual placing when machinery operation is involved“ (Carnes, 1979, p.26). In this connection, a mimeograph issued by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) on Rehabilitation Training and Employment of the Blind (1971) further describes: ' The BPROs are, as necessary, assisted by, and work in cooperation with technically qualified BPTOs who are responsible for the provision of any necessary training on the job, advising on technical questions which arise and assisting in the induction of blind persons into jobs, often spending the first four or five days of the employment helping the blind worker to master a parti- cular process, find his way about the factory and over the route between home and place of employment. Placing in the commercial and professional fields is mainly in the hands of the RNIB Employment Officers. There is, of course, constant liaison between these officers and the BPROs and a large number of blind persons are placed in both the industrial and commer- cial fields as results of this cooperation. It should be noted at this point that the general 22 trend in placing is towards open employment and away from sheltered employment in workshops for the blind. (p.3). Client-Centered Placement Salomone (1971) argued against selective placement and proposed client—centered placement as an alternative: Another job placement approach, termed client-centered placement, is viewed as a more effective job-finding technique and a more satisfying approach for clients....[This approach] requires the client to assume the major responsibility for securing job leads, for contacting employers, and for performing the neces- sary follow-up activities where employment applications have been left with personnel men. Therefore, it is likely that the client may experience feelings of self- satisfaction and confidence when he obtains his job...(pp.266-267) A counselor utilizing the client-centered approach is responsible for teaching job-seeking skills and provides reinforcement as well as resources and support. Wesolowski (1981) provided an excellent comparative review on this relatively new approach in placement services. He identi— fied six self-directed placement techniques and compared them in terms of methods used, skills taught, costs, and client benefits. The six techniques are: 23 1. Job Seeking78kills (JSS) program was developed at the Minneapolis Rehabilitation Center (Anderson, 1968). The central idea of the JSS program is to teach clients to obtain their own employment, thereby fostering independence in the clients. Anderson (1968) reported that during the one year of the program's implementation, JSS placed 90% of the 75 clients served, the majority of these within two weeks of their discharge from the rehabilitation center, whereas before the inception of the program in May 1967, the agency's average placement rate ranged from 20% to 30%. However, Wesolowski commented that ”the JSS model puts the client in the passive role of a student being taught the best tactics for job hunting“ (1981, p. 81). 2. Job Seekers Aids program was developed by Ugland (1977) to assist clients in locating employers more effec- tively and thus increasing the chances of employer contacts. These aids include: (a) lists of all known companies with an industry in a specific geographic area, (b) street maps with numbered pins locating companies on the industry list, with public transportation route indicated, (c) a job seeker's guide consisting of reference cards which contain employer contact schedules and necessary information for such con- tacts, and (d) a feedback system through recording the results of each employer contact. 3. Job Club in essence is a combination of all traditional job seeking strategies, conducted in a 24 supervised, structured group format in which pertinent assistance and positive reinforcement are provided. This technique designed by Azrin and his associates (Azrin and Besalel, 1980) will be presented in more detail in the next section. 4. Job ObtainingyBehavior Strategies (JOBS) is a combination of the Job Club approach and the use of video- tape feedback. A 60.5% placement rate was achieved 29 days after the program started (Wesolowski, 1980). 5. Self-Instruction Packegeg are self-contained, self- instructional series of units designed by Keith (1976a, 1976b) and Keith, Engelkes, and Winborn (1977) to teach rehabilitation clients the most effective way of job hun— ting. This approach, which requires a reading level of grade six or above, showed some promise of self-instructional material for rehabilitation clients capable of using them. 6. Job Interview Skills Training is pinpointed as of high importance since the job interview is the most salient element of the job search. Research on employment interviews indicate that interview decisions are typically formulated in the first few minutes of the interview (Springbett, 1958), and are strongly associated with evidence of sociabi- lity or positive social behavior and vocational motivation (Ulrich and Trumbo, 1965). Numerous studies substantiating this belief have been conducted in the past two decades (e.g. Keil and Barbee, 1973: Venardos and Harris, 1973: 25 Pinto, 1979: Hall, Sheldon-Wildgen, and Sherman, 1980). Table 1 contains a summary of the six techniques in terms of methods and skills taught in the respective programs (Wesolowski, 1981). Table 1 The Methods Used and Skills Taught in Six Self—Directed Placement Models Job Self— Job Seek- Job Job JOBS instruc- inter- Skills Seeker Club tion view (358) Aids (ESPA) Train- ing Methods Used: Instruction x ---- ---- x --- x ........... Modeling x ---- ---- x --- x ........... Role-playing x ---- ---- x --- x ----------- Supervised ---- —--- x -—- x ........... practice Videotape ---- ---- ——_ x ........... feedback Skills Taught: Finding leads ----- ——-- x ——- x ........... Contacting ----- -—-- x --— x ........... employers Answering x ----- --—- x --- x ........... problem questions Interview x ----- ---- x -—— x ........... skills Fill out x ----- ---- x --— x ........... applica— tion Compose ----- —--— x --- x ——————————— resume Use of ----- ---— x --- x ........... trans- portation Note. Adapted fromngelf-directed Job Placement in Rehabi- litation" by M. Wesolowski, 1981, Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 25, p.86. 26 From the didactic point of view, it is apparently valid that client-centered placement makes job searching a learning experience and fosters self-sufficiency as well as a sense of accomplishment, whereas counselor-centered place- ment has the drawback of reinforcing dependence and passivi- ty. Advocates of client-centered placement maintain that teaching clients in job seeking is more efficient than counselor-directed selective placement, in that the counse- lor, though still responsible for monitoring progress, is relieved from the time-consuming tasks of looking for open— ings for all clients, making all employer contacts, and follow up on all applications (McClure, 1972: Salomone, 1971). Some other writers also note that a program in job seeking training result in providing clients with valuable, lasting skills, which will facilitate clients to find an- other job should the first one turned out to be dissatis- factory or should they want to change job after some time (Anderson, 1968: Lake 1975). However, as discussed earlier in Chapter I, place- ment is a complex and multi-faceted process and outcome. Persons with disabilities are by no means a homogeneous group. Among them, their personalities are just as diversi— fied as in the general population. They differ vastly in the nature and degree of abilities and disabilities, level of employment readiness, transferrable skills, job seeking skills, as well as social skills. Therefore, it is only 27 logical that some people may find the client-centered method of great help to their personal growth, whereas others who are more passive may prefer a job to be arranged and ob- tained for them. There is also a multitude of environmental varia- bles that affect the outcome of vocational rehabilitation services, such as: the level of social security income as disincentive to work, criteria for determining disability, extent of labor market discrimination against the disabled, and force of antidiscrimination policies and legislations (Noble, 1982). Incentives as well as disincentives in rehabilita- tion programs have caused considerable concern among rehabi- litation professionals in the United States as well as in many of the northwestern European countries (Noble, 1982). Danovitz also contended that 'a person receiving Social Security Insurance and/or Supplementary Security Income may choose to avoid or prematurely terminate a vocational reha- bilitation program in order to maintain their current level of economic or 'social security" (1980, p.2). Some analysis on the hiring process itself may further shed light on the search for effective placement techniques. Jones and Azrin (1973) conceptualized the hiring process as a social reinforcement process in which skill- irrelevant factors played a substantial role. This accounts 28 at least in part the findings of various studies on job seeking activities which revealed that between 50% to 75% of workers found their jobs through informal channels afforded by self-referral, direct applications or family and friends. The figures hold for factory workers (Adams and Aronson, 1957: Parnes, 1954: Reynolds, 1951: Wilcock and Franke, 1963) and recent college graduates (Jones and Azrin, 1973), as well as professionals and managers (Brown, 1967; Granovetter, 1974). The same studies indicate that want- ads yield no more than 10% of the jobs, private employment agencies less than 5%, and the state employment service about 12% to 14%. These facts and figures substantiate the contention that placement is more than the simple matching of a set of client characteristics to an assumed available roster of openings. Rather, it is a multifaceted problem that involves the preparation and readiness of the indivi- dual, the environment, the intervening agency and its per- sonnel, and the complex interaction among these factors. 229.2142 Nathan Azrin and his associates began in ca. 1973 their research on effective job seeking strategies for job- handicapped persons such as school drop-outs, persons with disabilities, ex-convicts, welfare recipients, ex-mental patients, and all those who desired work but were confronted with difficulties in finding competitive employment. Their 29 program, the Job Club method, has proved to yield remarkable results, as the placement rates of Job Club participants have been as high as 90% versus 30% to 60% of control groups in a number of experimental studies involving the general population of job seekers, the job handicapped, including the disabled (Azrin, Flores, and Kaplan, 1975: Azrin and Philip, 1979: Azrin, Besalel, Wisotzek, McMorrow, and Bechtel, 1982). The effectiveness of Job Club with welfare recipients was relatively moderate (62% versus 33% of con- trol group) but is still to be regarded as of practical significance, taking into consideration the impact of finan— cial disincentives of social security income on the motiva— tion of this particular group to work (Azrin, Philip, Thienes-Hontos, and Besalel, 1980). An unemployed person may have to face the task of job seeking with limited knowledge, poor skills, and high anxiety. Battling alone, experiencing rejection after rejection, this person may eventually give up in such an aversive, non-reinforcing process, concluding that job hunting is nothing but frustrating, lonely, demoralizing , and financially burdensome. Rather than looking upon job search as a solitary, humiliating endeavour, the Job Club is conducted in a group format, in which practical skills and strategies such as constructing an informative and attractive resume, rehears- ing interviews, capitalizing on informal job leads are 30 taught and actually carried out in group setting and under supervision of the counselor. Also, peer support, conti- nuous positive reinforcement and constant encouragement are provided. All the job search activities are carefully planned and managed for and with the participants (National Institute of Handicapped Research [NIHR], 1982). The Job Club combines the most effective tradi- tional job search strategies with behavioral principles to form a highly structured, standardized program (NIHR, 1982). Though favorable results have been obtained, readers are cautioned against overly optimistic expectations as the Job Club is a program that requires intensive efforts and high continued attendance on the part of the participants (Azrin and Philip, 1979). In 1980, Gray reported favorable results of an “Older Worker - Retiree Job Club“. The program involved a half-day training workshop and ongoing meetings (twice a week) for older individuals (50 and over) who sought employ- ment assistance at a local Older Worker - Retiree Employment Service. Over a six-month span a total of 48 participants received either Job Club or normally available employment services (control condition). The study found that after twelve weeks 74% of the Job Club and 22% of the control group were employed. The Job Club placement rate was signi- ficantly higher than the control after 4 weeks (39% versus 4%), and by 8 weeks the average Job Club participant had 31 earned significantly higher weekly income ($203 versus $20). In addition, findings also indicated that Job Club partici- pants became better job seekers and felt more people were helping them find work. So far few studies on the efficacy of Job Club for job seekers with visual impairment have been reported. The Oregon Commission for the Blind implemented a ”Career Club" for the Blind in ca. 1981 (Dickson and MacDonell, 1982). In the program, 12 out of 23 of the participants found employ- ment (length of time was not reported). Nevertheless, this program is to be viewed as a variation from the prototype Job Club because substantial time was spent on talks given by guest speakers and field trips. As can be seen from this review, techniques for assisting persons with disabilities in securing open employment have been sought by researchers and administra- tors in the past few decades. As an alternative to the more traditional counselor-centered approach (selective place- ment), various client-centered techniques have been deve- loped. Among them, the Job Club method has proved to be an effective technique as judged by a series of extensive experimental studies. It would be of interest and practical significance to study the effectiveness of this innovative technique for job seekers in Hong Kong with visual impair- ment. CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Context of the Study As discussed in Chapter I, the general socio- economic situation of persons with visual impairment in Hong Kong aged 18 to 60 as shown in a survey, in which a propor- tionate stratified random sample of 491 subjects was used, was not very favorable. Specifically, 74.13% of the respon- dents had only primary or less education, 73.52% considered themselves having no marketable work skills, and 66.19% were unemployed (Coordinating Committee on the Blind, 1983). In order to improve the situation, the government as well as the voluntary agencies concerned have been making efforts to enhance the education, rehabilitation, vocational training and employment of these persons. The Hong Kong Society for the Blind is the main agency providing a wide range of services to persons in Hong Kong with visual impairment. The researcher initiated this research project in the capacity of Principal of the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind operated by this agency. To test the efficacy of the Job Club method in the placement of job seekers in Hong Kong with visual impair- ment , a research project was planned in mid 1985. 32 St; 33 In August 1985, a proposal was submitted to the head administration of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind for the implementation of a 4-to-6 month project. Following the approval of the proposal, a funding of HK$40,416.00 was allocated by the Hong Kong Society for the Blind for this pilot project and actual preparation work started in mid September 1985. The Target Population This research project aimed at assisting any persons in Hong Kong with visual impairment who were seeking open employment to obtain a job in the shortest feasible time commensurate with their capabilities and interest . As of mid 1985, ca. 150 clients with visual impairment were registered with the Selective Placement Service (Chan, per- sonal communication, 11 June 1985). This figure provided a fairly good estimate of those persons actively seeking em- ployment in the open job market. Nevertheless, as this project was the first one of this nature conducted in Hong Kong, it was difficult to estimate the number of persons interested in joining this project as it was not easy to anticipate the reaction of the target population to this innovative approach which required intensive efforts on the part of the job seekers. In the discussion of research methodology for studies on visual impairment, the heterogeneity of the 34 population is an extremely important issue. As Warren (1977) pointed out, the population of persons with visual impairment is relatively small and vastly heterogeneous. In any research, random sampling is very much desired so that, insofar as possible, the sample selected for participation will be representative of the population with respect to any characteristic that might affect the outcome of the re- search. However, with the population of visually impaired, it is often not feasible to use random subject selection procedures because of the limited pool of potential sub- jects. Thus, Warren (1977) suggested that in addition to the careful consideration of the research design and statistical analysis methods, very detailed descriptions of the environ- ment and demographic characteristics should be provided so as to allow readers to evaluate the study more objectively and to make the best use of the research results. This certainly also applies to the population of the visually impaired in Hong Kong. As found in the pre— viously cited survey conducted by the Coordinating Committee on the Blind, the number of persons with visual impairment in Hong Kong constituted a relatively small group within the general population. Also, the same study pointed out that “polling the disabled population of Hong Kong is often susceptible to very high non-response rates" (Coordinating Committee on the Blind, 1983, p.10). Therefore it was anti- cipated that it would be difficult to set up an experiment 35 for which a large number of subjects would be required for meaningful statistical analysis. This study intended, there- fore, to answer the pertinent research questions through the use of descriptive and correlational statistics techniques. This model was selected in view of the local situation and target population characteristics. This, in fact, is consistent with Kidder's conten- tion that if a researcher cannot randomly assign people or groups to treatment conditions, he or she loses the ability to control what happens to whom. However, the researcher can still observe what happens , when, and to whom (Kidder, 1981) Research Method This study was defined as a descriptive and exploratory research that described the process and outcome of a pilot project carried out in Hong Kong to assist job seekers with visual impairment to secure gainful employment, and explore the correlations between placement/employment success and pertinent participant characteristics as well as variables indicating job-search intensity. The Job Club in Hong Kong for Persons with Visual Impairment was based on the model of the prototype Job Club as delineated by Azrin and Besalel (1980). As far as pos- sible, the prototype model was adhered to, with modifica- tions necessitated by the nature and needs of visual 36 impairment. For instance, job leads were read to the members instead of requiring them to read for themselves. Electronic reading aids for persons with visual impairment were availa- ble in the Job Club, and most of the instruction material were also provided in braille. Data on selected demographic variables and records of the job search activities indicating participa- tion intensity were collected, described, and correlated with three placement outcomes: (a) number of job offers, which reflected the employers' reaction to the Job Club members' applications and performance in the interviews: (b) number of placements, which is an indicator of the members' acceptance of the terms and conditions of the hiring; and (c) number of employment, which reveals the employment stability of those employed. At the occurence of placement or at the close of the project, participants were also surveyed on their atti- tude towards their participation in the Job Club. For this purpose, a Likert-type scale was constructed to tap the attitude of the participants towards the main features of the Job Club. As this study was chiefly descriptive and explora- tory in nature, the data analyses were mainly in the forms of univariate (marginal tabulations) and bivariate (cross tabulations) analyses. In addition, multivariate analyses were also conducted utilizing the techniques of mutliple 37 regression. Separate regression analyses were performed to examine the directions and strength of the relationships between (a) job offer/placement/ employment outcome, (each used as a dependent variable in a separate regression run) and selected demographic variables, and in the same fashion, (b) job offer/placement/employment outcome and specified job—search activities that indicated participation inten- sity. Measures Demographic Data Eight demographic variables were selected and obtained during the intake procedure to form basis for describing the sample and to correlate with job offer/ placement/employment outcome. These include: 1. Sex - The sex distribution of participants was studied to see whether gender was a significant factor of participation in this innovative project that required in- tensive effort, and whether this variable was correlated with employment. 2. Age - An analysis of the chronological age of participants at the time of the study was conducted to determine: (a) the main age group of persons with visual impairment in need of assistance in finding jobs; and (b) whether age was a significant factor in determining recepti- vity to a self-helf approach in addition to seeking help 38 help from government placement services. 3. Education - The education attainment of participants expressed in number of years was studied to identify useful information on the academic background of these persons and on whether those who received more education were more likely to be employed. 4. Vocational Training - An analysis was conducted to see if those who received training in a specific occupation got a job more easily, and if the job they obtained was relevant to their training. 5. Degree of Vision - In accordance with the definition of visual impairment as given in Chapter I, participants were divided into three main groups: Totally Blind, Low Visioned, and Partially Sighted. Observation was made to see if there were relationships between the degree of visual impairment employment. 6. Time of Onset of Visual Impairment - The time point at which a person experienced impairment in vision is an important factor in the social and psychological adjustment and development because those who are blind before ca. five years of age do not retain a workable visual imagery (Lowenfeld, 1981). In this study, the term "congenital" referred to visual impairment which occurred before five years of age and “adventitious", after five years of age. Time of onset was considered in relationship to employment. 7. Public Assistance - Whether a participant was 39 receiving Public Assistance was an indicator of the finan- cial situation of the participants and studied in relationship to being employed. 8. Disability Allowance - Whether a participant was receiving Disability Allowance indicated that a person was legally blind or not, and/or that if he/she has registered with the Social Welfare Department. This factor was studied in relationship to being employed. Job-Search Activities Eight variables which were useful as indicators of the intensity of participants' job search and commitment to Job Club were identified among the Job Club components. These included: 1. Attendance Percentage - Azrin, Flores, and Kaplan (1975) found a strong relationship between the proportion of Job Club sessions attended and the number of days unemployed after joining the program (r = -0.8). That is, those clients who attended regularly found jobs more quickly than those who attended irregularly. In this study, participants' attendance percentage were correlated with job offer/ placement/employment outcome to test if such relationship also existed for this particular group. 2. Open Recommendations Obtained - Participants were encouraged to obtain as many as possible letters of open recommendations from persons with authority or creditability 40 because it was contended that being able to provide a poten- tial employer with more favorable information was always better than providing too little. At the same time, this was also an indicator of participants' willingness to follow the directives of Job Club and to reach out for assistance. 3. Job Leads Obtained (daily average) - The number of job leads obtained by participants each day would reflect the persons' eagerness to try on any job leads that looked promising. On the other hand, it might also reflect whether a job type being sought was scarce or abundant. 4. Letters Sent Out (daily average) - The average number of letters that a participant sent out each day would be a fairly accurate indicator of this person's determination to capitalize on every available chance to reach out for a potential employer. 5. Application Forms Filled Out (daily average) - In Hong Kong, applying for government positions requires only filling out specific forms. In the private sector, it is not usual that applicants are asked to fill out an applica- tion at an interview if it is arranged through a prior application in writing. Thus this variable was an indicator of the number of jobs available in the government or very large private firms sought by the participants, or that they were applying for a job that was not pre-arranged through writing. 6. Telephone Contacts (daily average) - The use of 41 telephone is very much emphasized in the Job Club method because it is efficient in terms of time spent and immediacy of response, no matter whether it is positive or negative. Participants could make literally tens of phone calls if he/she so wished. 7. People-I-Know Contacts - Numerous studies have shown that as high as 50 to 75 percent of employments were accom— plished through informal channels (e.g. Adams and Aronson, 1957: Jones and Azrin, 1974; Granovetter, 1974). Contacting friends and relatives, or even former employers were found to be effective ways to obtain informal job leads. 8. Interviews Obtained (daily average) - The job interview is one of the most crucial step in the process of hiring. A specific objective of Job Club is to aim for each participant to make at least ten contacts in each session in the hope of producing two interviews per day, preferably in the afternoon of the same day. The Job Club in Hong Kong for persons with visual impairment also followed this general aim. Job Offer/Placement/Employment Outcome Data on the job offers, placement and employment outcome of participants were collected for a period of four months. As defined in Chapter I, a job offer is the event in which, after a job interview, an employer has been satisfied 42 with the applicant and formally offers the opening to the interviewee. A placement is an occurence in which an employer and an applicant have both agreed upon the terms and condi- tions of a hiring. Employment is defined as a worker's keeping a position for at least one month after the occurence of placement. During the 4-month period, the number of place- ments and employments that participants achieved were accumulated. Job Club Feature Scale A Likert-type scale was constructed to tap the reaction of the participants either at the occurence of a placement or, for those not yet employed, at the end of the 4-month period. This scale included the main features of the Job Club. Since no instrument of similar nature was available, face validity of this scale was established by the researcher to the best of his judgement. To estimate the internal consistency of the scale, an average item-total correlation was performed and the reliability coefficient obtained was .37. Members were requested to express their attitudes toward each item in terms of several degrees of helpfulness 43 or unhelpfulness towards their job-search activities: 1 = absolutely not helpful, 2 a not helpful, 3 a helpful, and 4 = extremely helpful. These features were: (1) Items pertaining to skills and strategies: (Lettered as in the original scale, Appendix J.) a. A letter soliciting family support c. Job interest identification and expansion d. Assistance in contructing an attractive resume e. Supply of sample application letters 9. Keeping of a job leads log h. Obtaining open letters of recommendation i. Use of yellow pages/directories j. Relatives and friends as source of job leads k. Interview rehearsals 1. Discussion on timing in revealing blindness m. Charting of daily progress n. Systematic daily schedule/time management (2) Items pertaining to supplies and equipment: f. Four major local newspapers q. A convenient work area r. Use of four direct telephone lines t. Use of office machines and/or typing service (3) Items pertaining to financial incentives: 3. Transportation to and from Job Club t. Travel allowance for attending interviews u. Free mailing 44 v. Free photocopying x. Lunch allowance and refreshments (4) Items pertaining to intangible services b. Family support 0. Counselor support 9. Group support In addition, two questions were also asked to tap the reaction or attitude of the participants toward Job Club at placement or end of project: (1) Will you recommend a friend who is visually impaired and currently looking for a job to join the Job Club? (Yes/No). (2) In your opinion, which is the best way for assisting a visually impaired person to get a job? Please give order of preference ('1' being the first choice): A. Job Club. B. Selective Placement Service. C. An authoritative or influential personality who is concerned about the well being of the blind will arrange a placement for me. 45 Prodedures Training of Staff In September 1985, the researcher began to seek a person who could serve as the Job Club Counselor in this pilot project. As a matter of fact, the success of the whole program would be dependent on this person. Because of financial constraints, it was not be feasible to recruit a placement specialist to take charge of this program. Mean- while, the researcher contended that a crucial quality to be looked for in this person was his/her ability to keep up the enthusiasm of the participants in this long and sometimes very trying process of job search. Moreover, very high academic qualifications were not an essential attribute as pre-service training and briefing on the philosophy and procedures of Job Club would be provided by the researcher. With these factors in mind, it was concluded that the relevant requirements for this post were: (a) a minimum of high school graduate standard, (b) fluent in both Chinese and English, (c) receptive to new ideas and willing to take initiative, (d) familiar with local job market situation, (e) familiar with office procedures, and (f) familiar with and/or genuinely interested in working with visually impaired persons. After some consultation with persons concerned, the secretary of the Vocational Training Centre was found to be the ideal person for this post and thus was requested to 46 serve part-time as Job Club Counselor (the job title was "Program Coordinator" in this project). In the months of September and October 1985, week- ly training and briefing sessions were conducted by the researcher to familiarize the counselor with the background information, the philosophy, and the basic procedures of Job Club. The principles and procedures of behavior modification were also discussed. The Social Worker of the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind, who herself was blind, was also invited to join in these sessions to provide sugges- tions from a blind person's perspectives in the planning process. A full-time clerical assistant was recruited to help with office work involved in the project. Since this person would need to assist with production of braille material for the use of the project, a former graduate of the Office Studies Course of the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind, who was also totally blind, was employed for this project. Recruitment of Participants Following the approval of the proposal, recruit- ment of participants commenced in October 1985. The channels for publicity utilized included: 1. A circular (see Appendix B) was sent out to schools for the blind, agencies for/of the blind, social workers 47 involved in working with clients with visual impairment, and the Selective Placement Service of the Labour Department, notifying these parties that a job seeking skills training project would be available to job seekers who were visually impaired in November 1985. 2. Radio broadcast announcements were made in the weekly program "The Disabled's Corner“ on Radio-Television Hong Kong. 3. More than fifty phone calls were made by the Social Worker of the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind to persons who were blind whom she knew to be currently unemployed. 4. Word-of-mouth information. Persons interested in this project were requested to phone the researcher or his secretary at the number of the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind in Pokfulam. Enquirers were given details about the Job Club project and personal information on those who would enroll was recorded. By the end of October 1985, the recruitment campaign concluded with 17 persons with visual impairment enrolled in the program. The Resultant Sample Since no random sampling procedures were applied in the recruitment process, the sample of job seekers with 48 visual impairment used in this study comprised an acciden- tal, or nonrandom sample. Thus great care was taken to analyse and describe the sample in detail and generalization of the research findings to the population of visually disabled job seekers in Hong Kong who are visually disabled was not intended. Among the 17 enrollees, two did not turn up, and one found employment on her own before the project began. Fourteen participants actually took part in the program. Of these 14 persons, 12 were male and two were female. Their ages ranged from 20 to 41, with a mean of 26.2 and a median of 25 (standard deviation - 5.74).. Seven of them were totally blind, two had low vision, and five were partially sighted. As for the time of onset of blindness, six were congenital (that is, experienced visual impairment before the age of five), and eight had adventitious onset. Educa- tion attainment, as calculated in years, ranged from six to 17 years, with a mean of 11.14 years, and a median of 11 years (standard deviation - 2.39). Eleven of them had under- gone some formal vocational training, while three had none. Two participants were at the start of the project Public Assistance recipients, while the other 12 were not. On the other hand, 12 participants were recipients of Disabilty Allowance, and only two were not. Of these 14 enrollees, two withdrew one and three weeks respectively after the programs started. They were not 49 included in the subsequent analyses. A summary of the demographic data of participants is presented in Table 2. On examining these demographic characteristics, it can be seen that those who came to this innovative project were those relatively young with a comparatively high level of education background, had some specific work skills ac- quired through formal vocational training, and were predo- minantly male. About half of them were totally blind, and half had residual vision at various degrees. About half had experienced their visual impairment congenitally, and half adventitiously. However, this group might not have a compel- ling motivation to acquire a job as quickly as possible since only 14.3% of them were Public Assistance recipients. The Job Club Program The Job Club for Persons with Visual Impairment was located in the Reading Room of the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind in Pokfulam on Hong Kong Island. Since the centre is under the jurisdiction of the Technical Educa- tion and Industrial Training Department, formal approval from this department was obtained for the use of the premise (Appendix A). Prior to the official start of the Job club, an intake session was held on November 4, 1985 for the partici- pants. In the session, the philosophy and procedures of the Job Club method were explained to the participants. Each 50 Table 2 Demographic Characteristics of Job Club Participants Educat- Vocat- * ** Pub- Disab- Mem- Sex Age ion in ional Vision Onset lic ility ber years Train- Asst. Allow. 1ng 1 M 20 9 Y P.S. A N Y 2 M 22 14 N P.S. A N N 3 M 25 11 Y T.B. A N Y 4 M 34 9 Y T.B. C Y Y 5 F 20 11 Y P.S. A N N 6 M 26 11 Y L.V. c. N y 7 M 23 12 N T.B. C N Y 8 M 22 11 N P.S. C N Y 9 M 24 11 'y T.B. A N Y 10 M 28 6 Y T.B. A N Y 11 M 30 13 Y P.S. C N Y 22 ..... €---3§-----}2 ....... z ...... 291:. ..... <3 ..... as ..... 3-....- t 13 M 27 17 T.B. C N Y 14’ M 41 10 Y T.B. C Y Y * T.B. - Totally Blind ** A = Adventitious L.V. - Low Visioned C a Congenital P.S. - Partially Sighted # Withdrew 51 participant was requested to fill out a demographic data sheet (Appendix C) by himself/herself or with the assistance of the staff. They were informed that the Job Club would begin with 8 persons and the others would join after three to four weeks, depending on the client flow. Order of prio- rity to start the program was determined by random assign- ments. On 6 November 1985 the Job Club started with 8 participants (hereafter also called 'members”). Job Club sessions were scheduled for Mondays through Fridays, except on public holidays, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Right at the start of the program, an agreement (Appendix D) was signed between the counselor and each of the members. The purpose of this agreement was to explicitly spell out the nature and available services of the Job Club, the rights and duties of the counselor and the members so that the counselor and the participants were clear about what to expect from each other. The counselor encouraged everyone to participate, but at the same time stressed that no one should sign the agreement unless he/she intended to attend the Job Club each day and actually carry out the required activities. Otherwise, it would be only a waste of time and energy for either party, or for both. Each day when the members returned to the Job Club, they worked in cooperation with and under the supervi- sion of the counselor in accordance with a daily schedule 52 planned for them almost in the form of lesson plans (see Appendix E for details of the schedules). The Job Club was comprised of 4 main components: the members, the counselor, the tangible services, and the intangible services. Each one is delineated as follows: A. The Members - Persons with visual impairment active- ly seeking for jobs were the fundamental reasons for which this Job Club existed. In order to benefit from the Job Club method, the individual had to be willing to cooperate with the Job Club staff. To achieve placement success, intensive effort and high continued attendance were essential. As specified in the membership agreement, members were expected to (a) treat job-search as a full-time commitment, (b) attend Job Club sessions regularly and actively, (c) keep records of the job-search activities, (d) cooperate with other members by sharing ideas and job leads, and (e) keep in touch with the Job Club after getting a job and help other members by providing information on further job openings. 3. The Counselor - The counselor was the key person in the Job Club. Typically, "the Job Club style of counseling is characterized by an adherence to standardized procedures: a directive manner; an emphasis on using positive statements and constant encouragement: an approach to learning by small steps at a time, following highly structured training 53 procedures; and an emphasis on final outcome” (Azrin and Besalel, 1980, p.8). In the Job club sessions, the counse- lor complimented the clients on their accomplishments and provides encouragement. She spoke to each of the members frequently and yet briefly. She supervised the job-seeking activities, gave assistance when required, and modeled proper behaviors when necessary. In this method of placing clients, the counselor is relieved of the responsibility of direct contacts with employers, which can be extremely time-consuming. However, he/she is not free from the moral obligation of assisting the clients in the most effective ways of acquiring a job and supervising them in the actual carrying out of these activities. Thus this arrangement can be viewed as a sharing of the responsibility among the clients, the counse- lor, and the placement agency. Specific to the present program, in which most participants needed assistance in the access to printed material, a large portion of the counselor's time was spent on reading want-ads or other materials to the members or filling out forms for them. This was a distinct but inevi- table departure from the prototype Job Club spirit, which aimed at fostering independence in the clients by requiring them to conduct all job-search activities by themselves as feasible. 54 C. The Tangible Services - Tangible services are those services of which the effects are more directly observable. In this Job Club, the tangible services included those per- taining to the provision of facilities and supplies, to the teaching of job-seeking skills, and to the provision of financial incentives. Facilities and supplies. Supplies and facilities that were necessary for the carrying out of job-search activities and office equip- ment that facilitated the process were available in the Job Club. These included: 1. A convenient work area for better concentration and efficiency as contrasted with members' own home environment. 2. Use of IBM Selectric III typewriters. 3. Use of electronic visual aids, such as Optacon and VersaBraille. 4. Use of cassettee recorders. 5. Four direct telephone lines for the use of members in contacting potential employers. 6. Four different local newspapers as a main source of job leads. 7. Typing service as required. Job-seekingskills improvement. One of the most important objectives of the program was to provide the participants with valuable, 55 lasting job-seeking skills which would be useful for life. Services involved in the teaching of these skills comprised: 1. Time-management - Teaching members in time manage— ment through the demonstration and practice of effective organization of the everyday job-search activities for some duration of time. 2. Family support - Assisting members to solicit family support as it would be an important factor in the morale of the members. 3. Job interest identification and expansion - Assistance was provided through individual and group discussion for members to realize the importance of job interest identification and expansion. This stemmed from one of the basic convictions of Job Club that every individual is capable of doing several types of jobs. Participants willing to expand their target openings would open themselves to more job leads. 4. Construction of resume - Members were assisted in the construction of a concise, attractive resume in which their skills were explicitly specified and highlighted. 5. Job leads log - Members were taught and required to keep a job leads log in order to keep track of all their job-hunting activities for later reference as well as for the purpose of self-reinforcement (see Appendix F). 6. Scripts and checklists - Members were required to practice and eventually conduct various contacts using 56 standard scripts, such as a script for calling friends and relatives for informal leads (Appendix G), a script for requesting interview appointments on the phone (Appendix H), and an after-interview checklist as a self-improvement and self-reinforcement device (Appendix I). 7. Interview rehearsals - "Learning by doing" is a basic principle of the Job Club method. Every job search activity was learned and carried out in vivo except for the learning of interview skills. Since interview is the most critical step in the whole hiring process, intensive train- ing was given in this area. Through role play and discus- sion, members were familiarized with the usual interview procedures, manners, behaviors, and how to anticipate and handle difficult questions. Emphasis was placed on seeing an interview as an opportunity to meet with a potential employer and impress him/her. Even when the interview turned out to be unsuccessful, the occasion should be capitalized in the view of its leading to some other job leads. Success- ful or not, an interview was in itself a valuable learning experience. Also, it was regarded as an excellent opportu- nity to educate the public on the ability and performance of individuals who happened to be visually impaired. 8. Timing in revealing visual impairment — In-depth discussions were conducted to enable members to realize that the initial application letter or telephone contact was not the appropriate time to reveal one's visual impairment. 57 the appropriate time to reveal one's visual impairment. Members were advised to leave this topic untouched till they met with the interviewer face to face. Only then were they able to explain to the interviewers what a person with blindness could or could not do, clarify doubts, alleviate worries, and demonstrate to the interviewers their capabili- ties and skills. Members who did not believe in this ap- proach were allowed to experiment on explicitly stating about their blindness in the application letters or initial phone calls. Almost invariably, they got rejections or no reply. 9. Discussion of visual impairment - Emphasis was placed on participants' ability to discuss their visual condition with an interviewer in a realistic and objective manner. Members were told that, in an interview, even if an interviewer was so "sensitive" as not to mention the topic of visual impairment, the members should take the initiative to start a discussion. The rationale behind this is that an interview is usually limited to a time frame of 15 to 20 minutes. Within this time, an interviewer needs to gather as much information about the applicant as possible. At the end of the interview, if the topic of blindness has been left unresolved, it implies that the interviewer, though being ”considerate", has doubts about what and how a worker with blindness can perform in the interviewer's busi- ness. This is, undoubtedly, unfavorable for the interviewee 58 10. Abilities and Disabilities - Members were taught to prepare to express themselves in interviews in which they need to do their best to emphasize their abilities and deemphasize their disabilities. Financial incentives. For an unemployed person, expenditure involved in most job-hunting activities, such as postage for numerous applciation letters, or travel expenses for attending inter- views, can be exceedingly burdensome. This may further deter the unemployed person from pursuing every possible opening, which in turn decreases the chances of finding jobs. In the Job Club, part of these expenditures were subsidized by project funds so that members could be partially alleviated from financial worries and set out for as many employment contacts as possible. These provisions included: 1. Transportation service - Members were picked up from convenient collecting points to the Job Club. 2. Free photocopying - Members were able to produce high quality copies of their resumes and credentials free of charge. 3. Free mailing - All postage expenses were paid by the Job Club. Thus members could sent out as many application letters as they wished, and more letters sent out simply 59 meant more interviews obtained. 4. Travel allowance - Members were reimbursed all tra- vel expenses incurred in attending interviews. Members, therefore, were more willing to go to as many interviews as they could obtain. 5. Free Ophthalmic exams and care - Members who were not clear about their own vision conditions were encouraged to visit the General Eye and Low Vision Clinic of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind. The costs were borne by the Job Club. Subsequently, members were able to discuss their functional conditions with potential employers in more concrete terms. 6. Lunch allowance and refreshments - On the request of the participants, and as a token of appreciation for their sustained efforts, a lunch allowance of HK$4- per day was paid for each day's attendance. Also, tea and snacks were provided during the break time. D. The Intangible Services - Intangible services refer to those services or benefits which are less directly obser- vable. These services can be discerned as: l. The availability of the counselor - Job seeking can be a long and tedious process. In the Job Club, a suppor- tive person was always there to provide professional assis- tance, up-to-date job market information, encouragement, praise, and positive reinforcement. Also, members were taught various job-seeking skills which would be useful in 60 later job changes. 2. Group support - The Job Club consisted of a group of peers in a similar situation and aimed at the same goal. There were different personalities and backgrounds that made the Job Club sessions interesting and stimulating. Very often peer remarks proved to be more effective and convin- cing than counseling given by the counselor. In the Job Club, the loneliness and frustration, so common to unem— ployed persons struggling alone at home, was alleviated in the group atmosphere. Low-spirited members were cheered up. by other members' reporting on their positive experience, and every one was assured of their hopes when they saw other members starting to work. 3. Improvement in lifestyle - Members were encouraged to improve their grooming habits as it was quite common for persons with visual impairment to underestimate the import- ance of being presentable. Members were also constantly reminded of the implications of being well organized in their daily activities. Data Analysis As discussed, this study was descriptive and exploratory in nature, aiming at investigating a dynamic and efficient way to assist persons with visual impairment in equipping themselves with effective job seeking skills and to secure open employment in Hong Kong, where protective 61 to secure open employment in Hong Kong, where protective legislation for the promotion of employment opportunity for persons with disabilities is nonexistent. Analysis of data consisted of two main phases: descriptive statistics, and multivariate correlations. Descriptive Statistics All information on the demography, job-search activities, job offers, placements, employments, and scores on the Job Club features Scale were summarized, presented, and discussed. These were mainly in the forms of marginal tabulations and cross tabulations. Multiple Regression While univariate analyses and descriptions are straightforward, multivariate correlational analysis tech- niques need to be discussed in some detail. Multiple linear regression examines the relationship between one dependent variable and two or more independent variables (also called predictor variables). In this study, multiple regression was used to explore and establish relationships between pertinent varia- bles. Multiple regression is one of the most widely used statistical techniques in educational and social research. Borg and Gall (1983) stated: Multiple regression can be used to analyze data from causal-comparative, correlational, or experimental 62 categorical data. Also, multiple regression provides estimates both of the magnitude and statistical significance of the relationship between variables. We can define multiple regression as a multivariate technique for determining the correlation between a criterion variable and some combination of two or more predictor variables. (p.596) Kerlinger and Pedhazur (1973) also contended that multiple regression is a method of analyzing the collective and separate contribution of two or more independent variables to the variation of a dependent variable. Another reason for the popularity of multivariate techniques is that correlations and causations are usually complex phenomena in which variables cannot and should not be studied in isolation. This is, of course, particularly true in social researches. In this analysis, the dependent variables in va- rious separate regression runs were: job offers, placements, and employments. It was noted that for the dependent varia- ble 'employmentf, discriminant analysis could also be per- formed. It is a regression analysis that is more powerful and more appropriate for the study of dichotomous variables (e.g. employed versus not employed). However, to maintain consistency with the definition of "employment” used in this study, which theoretically could assume a value of 0 to 3, 63 “employment“ was handled as a continuous variable (discrete), rather than a categorical variable. The three dependent variables were separately correlated with the same sets of independent variables: the 8 demographic characteristics (sex, age, educational attain- ment, vocational training, degree of vision, time of onset of visual impairment, Public Assistance, and Disability allowance), and the 8 job-search and participation intensity indicators (attendance percentage, open recommendations obtained, job leads obtained (daily average (d.a.l), appli- cation letters sent out (d.a.), application forms filled out (d.a.), telephone contacts (d.a.), people-I—know contacts (d.a.), and interviews obtained (d.a.). Six preliminary regression runs, therefore, were conducted: 1. Job offers with all 8 demographic variables. 2. Placements with all 8 demographic variables. 3. Employments with all 8 demographic variables. 4. Job offers with all 8 job-search activities. 5. Placements with all 8 job-search activities. 6. Employments with all 8 job-search activities. Since a general aim of multiple regression is to explain the dependent variable with as few independent va- riables as possible, the next step was to select a few independent variables that showed heavier influence on the dependent variable for second runs of the regression. 64 Three criteria were used in the selection of independent variables to be included in the second regres- sion runs for the improvement of the prediction results in this study. For demographic variables, the criteria were: (a) high positive or negative standardized regression coefficient values [beta]; (b) low probability of chance [p]; and (c) high correlation with the dependent variable [t]. As for the job-search activities variables, the same criteria applied, except that negative beta and r values were disregarded. After independent variables of interest were selected, another six runs of regression analyses were per- formed to obtain pertinent statistics. Since the primary interest of these analyses was not in the obtaining of prediction equations, the main focus dwelt on the multiple coefficient of determination (R2). This coefficient is interpreted directly as the proportion of the variance in the dependent variable which is accounted for by the combination of a set of two or more predictor variables. Also, the influence and relative importance of each independent variable on the dependent variable can be examined by scrutinizing the standardized regression coefficient (beta) as well as the significance of the individual regression coefficients. The actual analyses was performed utilizing a 65 statistical software called StatPac (Statistical Analysis Package), the design of which was based on the concepts and procedures of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). A Hewlett-Packard (HP) Vectra computer, which is compatible with an IBM PC/AT, was used in the statistical analysis process. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS Summary of Job-search Activities Over the four-month period, 14 persons who were visually impaired participated in the program. Two of them dropped out after one week and three weeks respectively, and were not included in the present analysis. Both of the drop- outs were male, and both were congenitally totally blind. One was aged 27, had a university degree and a certificate in education. He seemed to have little confidence that Job Club could assist him in finding a job and was not actively engaged in job search activities. He explained that the reason for his withdrawal was his half-time commitment with the Hong Kong Association of the Blind which kept him very much engaged. The other person was aged 41, had 10 years of education plus formal vocational training. He was also very pessimistic about Job Club and about himself. He was fre- quently absent without acceptable reasons and showed to be extremely inert in the Job Club. His constant negative comments in the Job Club sessions whenever he was present were judged by the counselor and the researcher to bear serious adverse effect to the progress of the other members. After a long discussion between the researcher and this 66 67 member, he decided to withdraw from the program. From November 1985 to February 1986, 12 members actively engaged in job-search activities under the supervi- sion of the Job Club Counselor. Eight items of these acti- vities, which were specified in this study as indicators of the intensity of their job search efforts and commitment to the concept and methods of the Job Club, were carefully recorded and examined. Descriptive statistics of these Job Club related activities, namely, attendance percentage, open recommendations obtained, job leads obtained, letters sent out, application forms filled out, telephone calls, people- I-know contacts, and interviews obtained, achieved by these 12 persons as a group are summarized and presented in Table 3 in daily averages. Statistics of these activities in absolute numbers is presented in Appendix L. Since the members varied in the length of partici- pation in the Job Club, objective comparability of the intensity of efforts was achieved by comparing the daily average of the respective activities. That is, the daily average of an activity of each member was calculated, and then descriptive statistics were obtained on these daily averages. In the following sections, main summary descrip- tive statistics of individual items of job-search activities carried out by the Job Club members as whole group as well 68 o o an.o ao.¢ as.” o~.o sc.n no.m o ”a.am «a c o G~.o ma.a o~.o ma.o a..e ¢~.~ a pa.~o as a a AH.S m«.o mn.~ o m~.a no.« a «a.ma car. a H as.o am.c n~.c m~.o -.~ eons a no.mn a a a so." GH.o cm." vo.o .~.~ «a.» H a«.oo a o o a na.c mo.o. an." «H.° mu.~ Ho.v a um.ma a o o o pa.o .c.o nn.c ms.o an.~ ~..n a ”n.4o G a a . ca.o .m.o am.o av.° .m..n AG.G o mn.oo m o o -.o HH.° mm.a o no." vo.n a «p.5a . o a nm.a .¢.o as.~ o~.a "a.“ uv.¢ G “p.ma n o a ao.o av.” m~.o «c.o ~41~ an.v n me.4~ ~ a « mo.~ o..o as." o. an.n mo.u a so.ua a g anus usage nxua> _neumux «you» manna. scum canoe. uaaqu omanuq sun 1:8 538 nude 8 8n ‘ .935 48. A33 L3 48 .88.. A .388 u,.“ Ego >3 he «has: 98 8». no «Susan: 6381.8 n.2uana 69 as for those employed versus not employed are presented (see Table 4). The purpose of the comparison between those employed and not employed members was strictly to gain some insight into the problem rather than comparing the two “groups” in the sense of an experimentation. Table 4 Summary_Statistics of Job-Search Activities of Members (Employed versus Not Employed) Employed Not Combined Employed (n24) - (n88) (N812) Attendance ‘E : 83.80 85.18 84.72 percentage SD : 6.25' 11.65 10.19 Open recom- E : 0.5 1.63 1.25 memdations SD : 0.5 1.87 1.64 Job leads E : 4.35 4.26 4.29 (daily average) SD : 2.47 1.51 1.88 Application E : 2.17 2.32 2.27 letters (d.a.) SD : 1.49 0.25 1.02 Application E : 0.16 0.08 0.11 forms (d.a.) SD : 0.2 0.05 0.13 Telephone calls E : 1.63 1.18 1.33 (d.a.) SD : 1.33 1.14 1.22 People-I-know E : 0.36 0.4 0.39 contacts (d.a.) SD : 0.08 0.46 0.38 Interviews E : 1.01 0.35 0.57 obtained (d.a.) SD : 1.11 0.31 0.75 70 1. Attendance percentage - The mean attendance percen- tage of those who obtained employment was slightly lower than those not yet employed (83.8% versus 85.18%). However, the variation (reported here in standard deviations (SDI) among those employed was also lower than those not employed (6.25 versus 11.65), showing more homogeneous participation of the group of members who got jobs. 2. Open recommendations obtained - Altogether the 12 members obtained only 15 open letters of recommendation during the 4-month period, which ranged from 0 to 6, with a mean of 1.25 (SDal.64). This might reflect that they did not make much effort to ask for assistance from authorita- tive or influential personalities. In this respect, no difference between the two groups was observed. 3. Job leads - From 4 major local daily newspapers, yellow pages, telephone directories and other available sources, a total of 2,139 job leads were obtained. That yielded a mean of 178 leads per participant. The mean number of job leads obtained by the members in each Job Club session was 4.29, ranging from 1.09 to 6.85 (SD = 1.88). Those members who got jobs did not obtain many more leads in each session than those not employed (mean: 4.35 versus 4.26). The variation among those employed was also higher (2.47 versus 1.51). 4. Application letters sent out - Utilizing the available job leads, 1,165 application letters were sent 71 out. On the average, each partcipant sent out 2.27 letters per day. This ranged from a low of 0.25 to a maximum of 3.85 application letters per day (SD = 1.02). On the average, members who were not employed sent out more letters each session than those who were employed, and variation among them was also smaller. 5. Application forms filled out - With the government and private agencies, only 40 application forms were filled out. Each day, a mean of 0.11 application was filled out by the members. It ranged from 0 to 0.49, with SD = 0.13. Employed members have filled out more application forms than members not employed . 6. Telephone contacts - Although the use of telephone contacts has been emphasized by the Job Club as a very efficient way to contact potential employers because it saved time and energy, only 637 phone calls to potential employers were made. That is, a mean of 1.33 phone call was made by the members in each Job Club session (median = 0.59), ranging from 0.15 to 3.54 calls per day (SD = 1.22). Employed members made more phone calls than those not em- ployed (mean: 1.63 versus 1.18: median: 1.46 versus 0.55). 7. People-I-Know contacts - A total of 211 contacts by phone or through other means were made to reach out for friends and/or relatives for assistance in locating possible openings. In other words, a mean of 0.39 such contact was made each day by the participants to solicit informal job 72 leads. The variation was small as it ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 (SD - 0.387. In this respect, employed members also appeared to have made more efforts than those not employed (median: 0.36 versus 0.14; mean: 0.36 versus 0.4: SD: 0.08 versus 0.46). 8. Interviews obtained - 231 interviews were offered to the members as a result of their job-search efforts. A mean of 0.57 interviews per day was obtained by each member. The range was from 0.09 to 2.85, with a fairly large variation (SD - 0.75). With this variable, employed members also obtained more interviews than those not employed (mean: 1.01 versus 0.35: median: 0.54 versus 0.25). However, variation among the employed was also higher (SD: 1.11 versus 0.31). As a result of these job-search and related activities, 8 job offers were made to 4 of the members, which in turn resulted in 5 placements and 4 employments which were still maintained at the close of the study. Job Offers A job offer was defined as the event in which, after a job interview, an employer formally offered the opening to the interviewee as a result of the interview. Within the four months, a total of 8 job offers were made to 4 of the members. Among these 8 offers, 6 73 were made to the 2 partially sighted members, and the re— maining two were offered to 2 members who were both totally blind. Three of them were male and one female. Their age ranged from 20 to 28, with an average of 23. All four were adventitiouly visually impaired. On the average, they had 9 years of education, and all had undertaken a formal voca- tional training program. In comparison, those members who did not get job offers were not necessarily more severely visually impaired: 3 totally blind, 2 low visioned, and 3 partially sighted. Nervertheless, in terms of the time of onset of visual impairment, 6 of them were congenitally visually impaired, whereas 2 had adventitious onset. They were somewhat older (ranged from 22 to 34, average a 25.88) and had a slightly higher education attainment (ranged from 9 to 13 years, average a 11.5). Five of them had undergone vocational training and three had not. Placements As defined in Chapter I, a placement is the occurence in which an employer and an applicant have agreed upon the terms and conditions of a hiring. Five placements were materialized by the 4 members described above. 74 A difference between job offers and placement was deliberately pinpointed in order to accentuate the fact that there were jobs from which to choose. : Employments The four members who secured employments were sustaining their jobs at the close of the study. The ave- rage starting monthly salary they received was HK$1,520-, with a range from HK$180- to HK$2,500-. The member whose starting salary was HK$180- worked with the Hong Kong Association of the Blind in a “Self-help Workshop” project. The average daily income was HK$8-, plus travel and lunch allowance. This member was adventitiously totally blind, and had one arm moderately paralyzed. When he started in the Job Club, he aspired to find jobs in electrical fitting or plumbing, which were his occupations before his becoming blind at the age of 18 in 1975 because of optic atrophy. After attending the Job Club sessions and discussions with the counselor, he agreed that it was not realistic for him to return to his former job and he might need to consider other arrangements. This place- ment and sustained employment was thus considered a positive outcome for this member. For the three remaining employed members, the average starting monthly salary was HK$1,966.67, which was judged to be reasonable for high school or junior high 75 school leavers in Hong Kong. A descriptive summary of the demographic variables of those employed in comparison with those not employed is presented in Table 5. Table 5 Demographic Variables of Employed and Not Employed Members Employed Not employed Sex: Male 3 7 Female 1 1 Age (average) 23 26 Education in years 9 12 (average) Vocational training: Yes 4 5 No 0 3 Degree of vision Totally blind 2 3 Low visioned 0 2 Partially sighted 2 3 Time of onset of impairment Congenital Adventitious Public Assistance: Yes No Disability Allowance: Yes No Hi» #0 DO HQ QH Nat 76 Job Offers and Demographic Variables The number of jobs offered to the Job Club members was a good indicator of the reaction of the employers to- wards the applications of the Job Club members. In this section and the following sections, multiple regression analyses results are presented and briefly discussed (refer to Appendix K for detailed statistics). As planned, job offer (the dependent variable) was correlated with the set of 8 demographic characteristics (the independent variables). Then, a reduced number of demographic variables was selected for a second regression run, aiming at the improvement of correlation and regression coefficient va- lues. Criteria of selection were, as specified in the Data Analysis section, high standardized regression coefficient [beta], high Pearson product—moment correlation coefficient [r], and low probability of chance [p]. The same procedures applied also to the subsequent multiple regression analyses using placements and employments as dependent variables. The 8 demographic variables jointly achieved a multiple correlation coefficient (R) of 0.906, and a multiple determination coefficient (R2) of 0.821, meaning that about 82% of the variation in the job offers among the participants could be accounted for by a combination of these 8 demographic variables. However, it should be noted that the probability of chance (p) is very high (p=0.35). After examining the results of the first 77 regression run (see Table K-l in Appendix K), three varia- bles, namely, age (betas-0.75, F-l.83, p=0.27, ra-0.487), vocational training (beta20.62, F=1.55, p=0.30, r=0.327), and education in years (betas-0.41, F-1.38, p-0.33, r-0.264) were selected for a second regression run. As shown in Table K-2, the three variables jointly accounted for 59% of the variation in job offers (R2-0.59), with a much lower probability of chance occurence (p=0.06). There was a relatively high negative correlation between job offers obtained and age (betas-0.74, F-8.97, p-0.02), and a moderate correlation between job offers and vocational training (beta=0.51, Fa3.89, p=0.08). Placements and Demographic Variables The 8 demographic variables in combination yielded a high correlation with placement (R-0.912, R2=O.832), but again, with a high probability of chance occurence (p = 0.33). By examining the regression results (see Table K-3 in Appendix K), 3 variables were selected for a second run of multiple regression: age (betas-0.67, F-l.56, p-O.3, r= -0.4l3), education in years (betas-0.40, Fsl.42, p-0.32, r= -0.538), and vocational training(beta=0.40, F=O.69, p=0.53, r-0.376). In Table K-4 (Appendix K), it is shown that impro- vements have been achieved by correlating these three variables with placement: age (betas-.70, Fal3.08, p=.01), education in years (beta-~0.54, Fa7.60, p=0.24), and voca- 78 tional training (beta=0.43, F=4.48, p=0.07). The three va- riables together achieved a relatively high multiple corre- lation coefficient of 0.862 and a multiple determination coefficient of 0.743, with a F-ratio of 7.709 and a probabi- lity of chance occurence of 0.01. Employment and Demographic Variables With employment the 8 demographic variables yield- ed a moderate relationship (R=0.874, R2=0.764, F=l.213, p=0.482). Again, three variables were selected for further analysis: age (betas-0.4, 9:0.39, p-o.ss, r=-0.342), educa- tion in years (beta=—0.49, F=l.48, p%0.31, r=-0.565), and vocational training (beta=0.35, F=0.38, p-0.58, r20.408) (see Table K-5, Appendix K). A second run of regression analysis yielded substantial improvement in the magnitude of correlation, as shown in Table K-6 (appendix K): age (beta=- 0.64, F=9.33, p=0.02), education in years (betas -0.55, F=6.89, p80.03), and vocational training (beta=0.44, F=3.96, p=0.08). Although the time of onset of visual impairment did not achieve a high level of significance in the multiple regression context, it is worth noting that it had a high simple correlation with employment (r=.7l). In fact, all 4 members who got jobs within the 4-month period were adventitiously visually impaired. 79 Job Offers and Job-Search Activities In the analysis of job-search activities in relation to job offers, it was found that the 8 job-search related variables jointly have yielded fairly satisfactory regression results, whereas no two or three variables in combination achieved reasonable improvements in further regression runs. The same was found to be true with place- ment and employment. It was decided, therefore, that no second regression run results will be reported. The 8 job-search activity variables together yielded a multiple correlation coefficient of 0.989 and a multiple determination coefficient of 0.977, with an F-ratio of 16.138 and a probability of 0.026, showing that 97.7% of the variation in the job offers obtained of the participants could be accounted for by these 8 job-search related varia- bles with a fairly low probability of chance occurence (see Table K-7, Appendix K). To gain insight into the relative importance of each independent variable, the individual beta weights and their respective significance were also examined. Among the eight job search related variables, Application forms filled out was the only one found to have a positive correlation with job offers as well as a positive regression coefficient that was significant at a .01 level (betaal.42, P361.38, 930.01: r=.7). 80 Placement and Job-Search Activities The 8 job-search related variables combined yielded a multiple regression coefficient of 0.971 and a multiple determination coefficient of 0.942, with an F—ratio of 6.068 and a probability of 0.86. Individual variable with positive r value and a beta value that was significant at a .05 level was again application forms filled out (beta=0.93, F=10.25, p=0.05: r=.12. See Table K-8, Apendix K). Employment and Job-Search activities Multiple regression analysis of employment corre- lated with the 8 job-search related variables showed that the 8 predictor variables together were able to account for 91% of the variation in the employment outcome of the Job Club participants (R2=0.913, R=O.956, F=3.933, p=0.l44), although the probability of chance occurence was quite high (see Table K-9, Appendix K). An examination of individual variables showed that the daily average of application forms filled out again was found to have postive r and a positive beta value significant at a .05 level (betaal.36, F=l4.79, p-0.03: r-.3). 81 Job Club Features Members were requested to give answers to a Job Club Feature Scale (Appendix J) at the occurence of a placement or, if not employed, at the end of the project, to express their attitude towards the various features of Job Club using a 4-point scale rating (1 = absolutely not helpful, 2 = not helpful, 3 a helpful, 4 = very helpful). The results of the responses are summarized and presented Tables 6 through 9. Table 6 shows that members generally found the skills and strategies taught in the Job Club helpful in their job search. The only obvious exceptions were family support letters and relatives and friends as informal job leads, which over half of the members considered not helpful. Not much difference is observed in the attitide between members who have already obtained employments and those who have not. Nevertheless, out of the twelve items pertaining to skills and strategies taught in Job Club, in seven items received slightly higher mean ratings from mem- bers who did not get jobs. This shows a generally favorable response from participants towards the services they re- ceived. 82 Table 6 Job Club Feature Scale (JCFS) Summary Ratings (on a 4-point scale) Pertaining to Skills and Strategies Employed Not Combined Employed (n24) (na8) (N=12) a. Family support E : 2.5 2.13 2.25 letter SD : 0.5 0.78 0.72 c. Job interest E : 2.75 2.86 2.83 expansion SD : 0.43 0.33 0.37 d. Contructing 'E : 3.0 3.25 3.17 resume SD : 0.71 0.43 0.55 e. Sample appli- E : 3.5 3.38 3.42 cation SD : 0.5 0.48 0.49 9. Job leads log E : 2.75 3.25 3.08 SD : 0.43 0.83 0.76 h. Open letters of E : 2.5 3.13 2.92 recommendation SD : 0.5 0.33 0.49 i. Yellow Pages/ E : 2.75 2.5 2.58 directories SD : 0.43 0.5 0.49 j. Relatives and 'E : 2.5 2.25 2.33 friends as SD : 0.5 0.66 0.62 informal leads k. Interview E : 2.75 2.75 2.75 rehearsal SD : 0.43 0.66 0.59 1. Timing in reveal- E : 3.0 2.63 2.75 ing visual SD : 0 0.7 0.6 impairment m. Progress chart E : 2.75 3.12 3.0 SD : 0.43 0.33 0.41 n. Time management E : 3.0 3.38 3.25 SD : 0 0.7 0.6 Table 7 JCFS Summary Ratings (on a 4-point scale) of Items pertaining to Sgpplies and Equipment 83 f. Local newspapers q. Convenient work area r. Direct phone , lines w. Office machines/ typing service Employed Not Combined Employed (n=4) (n88) (N=12) E : 3.0 3.38 3.25 SD : 0.71 0.48 0.6 E : 3.0 3.38 3.25 SD : 0 0.7 0.6 E : 3.5 3.25 3.33 SD : 0.5 0.43 0.47 E : 3.0 3.13 3.08 SD : 0 0.78 0.64 As shown in Table 7, members found the supplies and equipment provided by the Job Club useful. In particu- lar, the availability of four direct phone lines was consi- dered helpful or extremely helpful by all of the members. It is interesting to note that, in general, members who did not get jobs had higher ratings than those who did, showing a favorable attitiude of participants towards the services they received in Job Club even though suitable employments were not yet found. 84 Table 8 JCFS Summarnyatings (on a 4-point scale) of Items Pertaining to Financial Incentives Employed Not Combined Employed (n=4) (n=8) (N=12) 3. Transportation ‘E : 2.75 3.13 .3.0 t. Travel allowance E' : 3.25 3.5 3.42 for interviews SD : 0.83 0.5 0.64 u. Free mailing ‘E : 3.0 3.63 3.42 SD : 0 0.48 0.49 v. Free photocopying ‘E : 3.5 3.75 3.67 SD : 0.5 0.43 0.47 x. Lunch allowance/ E : 3.0 3.38 3.25 refreshments SD : 0 0.48 0.43 Table 8 shows that members found all the provi- sions of Job Club aiming at assisting them in the financial aspects helpful or extrememly helpful. Members alleviated from part of their financial worries appeared to be more willing to capitalize on every possible opportunity that looked promising. Again, even members who did not succeed in securing a job in the program showed very favorable attitude towards the services of Job club. 85 Table 9 JCFS Summary Ratings (on a 4-point scale) of Items Pertaining to Intangible Services Employed Not Combined Employed (n=4) (n=8) (N=12) b. Family support ‘E : 3.0 2.5 2.67 SD : 0.7 0.87 0.85 o. Counselor support E : 3.0 3.38 3.25 SD : 0 0.48 0.6 p. Group support E : 2.75 3.0 2.92 SD : 0.43 0.71 0.64 Members expressed that they found the assistance and support of the counselor helpful or extremely helpful (Table 9). Group support was also found to be generally helpful. More than 40% of the members posited that family support did not mean much for them. This is consistent with the earlier finding that 66% of the members did not find the letter issued by the Job Club to their families soliciting their support useful, nor did they consider contacts with relatives and friends as informal job leads helpful in their job search. In particular, members not employed showed less reliance on family support. Two supplementary questions were asked at the end of the scale. The first question asked if the participants would recommend Job Club to a friend who was visually impaired and 86 currently seeking a job. Eleven out of twelve (91.67%)of the members answered yes. Surprisingly, the member who answered no was one who got a job. The second question asked the participants to give the order of preference for three job placement methods for persons with disabilities: Job Club, Selective Placement service, and an authoritative person who would make arrange- ments for the person with visual impairment to be placed in a position. Results showed that slightly more than half of the participants chose Job Club for their first choice. The Selective Placement Service was the least chosen. It is noteworthy that many of the members expressed very often their hope that some authoritative personality at the top level might use their influence to help them secure a job. This was reflected by the choice they made -- nearly 60% of them chose this “ideal short-cut” as their first or second preference (see Table 10). Table 10 Members' Preferences of Placement Methods 1st 2nd 3rd choice choice choice A. Job Club ' n= 7 5 0 = (58.3) (41.7) (0.0) B. Selective Placement l 4 7 (8.3) (33.3) (58.3) C. Authoritative person 4 3 5 (33.3) (25.0) (41.7) 87 Summary of Major Findings Job-Search Activities From an examination of the descriptive statistics of Job Club members' job-search activities, it was observed that little difference existed in two of the job-search related variables between those employed and not employed members, namely: open recommendations obtained (mean: 0.5 versus 1.63), and daily average of job leads obtained (mean: 4.35 versus 4.26: median: 4.72 versus 4.42). The not em- ployed members were superior in their attendance percentage (mean: 85.18% versus 83.80%), and sent out slightly more application letters in each Job Club session (mean: 2.32 versus 2.17). On the other hand, employed members each day filled out more application forms (mean: 0.16 versus 0.08), made more phone calls to potential employers (mean: 1.63 versus 1.18), made more people-I-know contacts (median: 0.36 versus 0.14: mean: 0.36 versus 0.4), and obtained more interviews (mean: 1.01 versus 0.35; median: 0.54 versus 0.25). 229222291 It was observed in this study that, on the ave- rage, job seekers with visual impairment who came and joined the Job Club were relatively young (average age: 24.92), with relatively high education attainment (mean = 10.75 years). Among them, 83.3% were male and 16.7 were female. 88 Seventy-five percent had undergone formal vocational train— ing, while 25% had none. Forty-one point seven percent were totally blind, 16.7% were low visioned, and 41.6% partially sighted. Half of them were congenitally visually impaired (before the age of ca. five), and the other half experienced their visual impairment adventitiously. Only one was a Pub- lic Assistance recipient, and the majority (83.3%) were Disability Allowance recipients. In comparison, members who got jobs were those relatively younger (mean age: 23 versus 25.9). They re- ceived less education than those not employed (mean: 9 years versus 11.5 years). All of them were adventitiously visually impaired and had received formal vocational training. Multiple Regression Findingg All three dependent variables (job offers, placements, and employments) were found to have high correlation with the set of 8 demographic variables in their respective regression runs, although the probabilities of chance occurence were also high (e.g., for employment, p=0.48). After selected variables had been entered for further regression analyses, substantial improvements in the strength of correlation were achieved. Age, vocational training, and education in years jointly explained 59% of the variation in job offers (F=3.829, p=0.057), 74% of the variation in placement (F=7.709, p=0.01), and 70.5% of the 89 variation in employment (F=6.39l, p=0.016). In examining the individual standardized regression coefficients (betas), older age and more education were found to bear adverse effect on all three placement outcome variables (significant at .05 level). Although vocational training and time of onset of visual impairment were not statistically significant in the multiple regression context, it was noted that the 4 members who got jobs had received formal vocational training, and all were adventitiously visually impaired. Job-search related variables, as a set, explained the three dependent variables fairly satisfactorily. They were able to account for 98% of the variation in job offers (R2=0.977, R-0.989, F-l6.l38, p=0.026), 94% of the variation in placement (R2=0.942, R=0.97l, F-6.068, p=0.086), and 91% of the variation in employment (R2-0.9l3, R=O.956, F=3.933, p=0.l44). It must be cautioned, of course, that most of these variables were inter-correlated, thus partly influ- encing the values of the multiple correlation coefficients. Taken individually, application forms filled out was the only variable that had positive correlation with the three dependent variables and had positive beta weights that were significant at a .05 level. 90 Job Club Feature Scale In general, participants found most of the Job Club features useful or extremely useful to their job search. Items found "absolutely not helpful“ or ”not help- ful' by 40% or more of the members included: family support letter (66.7%), yellow pages/directories (41.7%), relatives and friends as informal job leads (58.3%), and family sup- port (41.7%). 91.67% of the members claimed that they would recommend Job Club to a friend who was visually impaired and currently looking for a job. In reply to the question on the order of preferen- ce for three differnce placement methods, Job Club was ranked first, with "authoritative person“ second, and Selective Placement third. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS Summary of the Study The Job Club method of assisting persons who are job-handicapped in obtaining competitive employment has experienced considerable success in the past decade in the United States. This client-centered, structured group ap- proach to placement has aroused much interest in the rehabi- litation field and has been widely adopted in various reha- bilitation agencies. In essence, this technique is a synthe- sis of conventional job search strategies and principles of behavioral psychology which involve social learning, motiva- tion, and maintenance of desired behaviors. In a Job Club, a person seeking employment will learn about effective job finding tactics, and actually carry them out in a real life situation. The job-search efforts are sustained by positive reinforcement and encoura- gement provided by the Job Club Counselor, by the peers, and by his/her own progress record-keeping. Supplies, equipment and allowances are available to alleviate financial preoccu- pations and facilitate the job-search process. Treating job- seeking as a full-time commitment, a job seeker will be more efficient in getting a job in a shorter period of time. 91 92 In Hong Kong, the search for an effective place- ment technique to assist persons with disabilities to secure open employment is an important issue that is in line with the government policy and efforts of integrating citizens who are disabled into the mainstream of the community. The employment situation of persons in Hong Kong with visual impairment is far from satisfactory. Research findings showed that, in 1983, among persons who were legal- ly blind aged 18 to 60, 66.19% were unemployed. The present study, sponsored by the Hong Kong Society for the Blind, attempted to apply the Job Club model in Hong Kong as a pilot project to test its effectiveness for job seekers in the local situation who were visually impaired Though about 150 individuals with visual disabili- ty have registered with the government selective placement service (waiting for employment) at the time of this re- search, only 17 persons enrolled in the Job Club Project after a recruitment campaign utilizing various publicity channels that lasted a month. Over a period of four months, 12 job seekers who were visually impaired actually participated in the Job Club Project. Empirical data were collected on eight of their demographic characteristics (sex, age, educational attain- ment, vocational training, degree of vision, time of onset 93 of visual impairment, Public Assistance, and Disability Allowance), and 8 job-search related variables that were indicators of members' participation intensity and commit- ment to the Job Club method (attendance percentage, open recommendations obtained, job leads obtained [daily average (d.a.)], application letters sent out [d.a.], application forms filled out [d.a.], telephone calls to potential employers.[d.a.], people-I-know contacts [d.a.], and inter- views obtained [d.a.]). In addition to an analytic description of partici- pants' demography and job-search activities, multiple re- gression techniques were utilized to explore relationships between placement outcomes (job offers, placements , and employments) and the demographic variables as well the job- search related variables. At the occurence of placement or, for those not employed at the end of the project, a Job Club Feature Scale was used to solicit feedback from the participants. The study found that those who participated in this innovative method of self-placement were predominantly male (83.33%). They were relatively highly educated (median= 11 years) and 75% had received vocational training. Half of them were totally blind, and half had various degrees of residual vision or were partially sighted. Half were visual- ly impaired congenitally, and half adventitiously. Most of the participants were Disability Allowance recipients but 94 not Public Assistance recipients. Over the 4-month period, the efforts of the members and the counselor yielded the following results: -Open recommendations obtained 15 -Job leads obtained 2,136 -Applicaton letters sent out 1,165 -Application forms filled out 40 -Te1ephone contacts 637 -People-I-know contacts 211 -Interviews obtained 231 -Job offers 8 ~Placements 5 -Employments 4 Regression analyses of placement outcome variables with demographic and job-search related variables showed that, within the multiple regression context, placement outcomes were found to be negatively correlated with age and educational attainment, and positively correlated with voca- tional training. As for the job-search related variables, the daily average of application forms filled out was found to be highly correlated with all three placement outcomes. ’ The Job Club Feature Scale results showed that members were very positive about the tangible and intangible services provided by the Job Club, and expressed that they found most of the Job Club features helpful or extremely 95 helpful. The items that received less favorable ratings were: family support letter, yellow pages/directories, rela- tives and friends as source of informal job leads, and family support. The majority of the members (91.67%) expressed that they would recommend Job Club to a friend who was visually impaired and currently looking for a job. If members were to give their preference among three placement methods (Job Club, Selective Placement Ser- vice, and an "authoritative person” who would arrange place— ments for them), Job Club received the first ranking, with ”authoritative person” second, and selective placement third. At the end of the project, 33.3% of the partici- pants found employment, and were employed at the conclusion of the study. Discussion Placement Outcomes Summary statistics showed that, comparatively, members who got jobs exerted more efforts by filling out more application forms, made more telephone contacts with potential employers, and obtained more interviews. While it is not meaningful to scrutinize the absolute values of the figures, it is worth noting that the three variables invol- ved a more assertive stance than other variables. A little 96 elaboration is in order here. The researcher contends that the four job-search variables found to have more influence on placement success were activities that involved more initiative on the part of the members as well as considerable social skills. For example, filling in application forms in most cases entailed asking assistance from a sighted person and calling poten- tial employers and actually attending interviews required sufficient social skills. Thus the relative importance of these four variables may well indicate that those members who got jobs were more strongly self-initiated and possessed better interpersonal skills. It might be of interest to observe that attendance percentage did not show a strong relationship with placement success, which is not consistent with Azrin's finding that the Pearson r correlation coefficient between the proportion of sessions attended and the number of days unemployed after the program started was as high as -0.80. In fact, in the Job Club for Persons with Visual Impairment, the attendance records of those not employed were slightly better (mean: 85.18% versus 83.80% of those employed). Also, the daily average of job leads obtained did not make much difference in the chances of getting jobs (mean: 4.35 of the employed versus 4.26 of the unemployed; median: 4.72 versus 4.42). This may indicate that being present and acquiring job leads 97 from the counselor is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for obtaining jobs. For the sample of participants in this study, a determining factor for getting jobs could have been, as discussed, self-initiative and assertiveness. Three demographic variables were found to be significantly related to placement outcomes. Age and educational attainment both had negative regression coefficients with job offers, placements, and employments that were significant at .05 level, meaning that those who were younger, and received comparatively less education were in a better position to be employed. One plausible explana- tion is that younger job seekers with less education have relatively lower expectation and are more ready to apply for lower level jobs, which are more readily available in the job market. All four members who got jobs had received formal vocational training relevant to their jobs (two worked as office assistants, one as telephone operator, and one as assembly worker). Although time of onset of visual impairment did not achieve statistical significance in the multiple regression analyses, it is noteworthy that all four members who got jobs were adventitiously visually impaired. This fact may indicate that those who are blind later in life adjust more readily to the world of work and are better accepted by the so-called world of the sighted majority because they conform better to the social norms in various 98 aspects of society. Further studies with more vigorous control, of course, will need to be conducted before any firm conclusion on this issue can be drawn. In comparison to the 0.8. based research litera- ture, which showed success rates of various Job Clubs in the range of 50% to as high as 90%, the Job Club for Persons with Visual Impairment in Hong Kong seemed to have achieved moderate result. It is speculated that several factors might have contributed to this relatively less favorable result: 1. The time span of this project (4 months) was shorter than those of programs for job seekers who were disadvantaged in Azrin's studies. The durations of those programs ranged from six months to one year and thus logically allowed more time for participants to acquire jobs. 2. The samples in Azrin's studies included persons who experienced various social disadvantages or disabili- ties, whereas participants in this program were only persons with visual impairment. It might be possible that the lack of sight indeed to a certain extent posed more restriction on these persons' opportunities of access to suitable employment. 3. The participants apparently did not meet the requirements of the original Job Club. As stated in the membership agreement, participants were expected to make up 99 to ten contacts with potential employers in the hope of producing at least two interviews per day. Progress records showed that, on the average, each member had obtained only 4.3 job leads, sent out 2.3 application letters, made 1.4 telephone contacts, and obtained 0.57 interview in each Job Club session. 4. The quality and adequacy of the services‘ provided in this program might not have met the standards of original Job Club. For instance, there was no placement specialist or vocational counselor available to serve as the Job Club counselor; the preparation of the Job Club staff might not have been adequate for the efficient implementa- tion of the program; or they might not have been effective in eliciting high response from the participants. 5. The Job Club method, which was developed in the American culture and required considerable self-assertiveness, might not be readily accepted by oriental people, who are in general more reserved and less outspoken than the wester- ners. gmpervised Self-Placement and Selective Placement The Job Club method is a supervised approach to self-placement. Whether this technique is a better alterna- tive to other methods could not be established by this study because no-treatment or alternative-treatment control groups had not been used. Nevertheless, in order to gain some 100 objective insight into the effectiveness of Job Club, placement outcomes of Job Club participants have been com- pared to those of Selective Placement Service since ten out of the twelve Job Club members were registered with the Selective Placement Service. As the two services are paral- lel and do not involve confounding effects, the ten cases could be used as their own controls. A nonparametric statis- tical technique known as the sign test (Siegel, 1956) was used. This is a distribution-free technique which is appli- cable to the case of two related groups to establish that . there is a difference in the two conditions. The difference in employment percentage between Job Club (33.3% after 4 months) and Selective Placement Service (0% after the same 4 months) was found to be statistically non-significant at a relevant job—search activities carried out by the members, such as 219 interviews obtained by the 10 members in the four months in Job Club versus 0 interview obtained for them by the Selective Placement would obviously be significant in an appropriate statistical test. The issue here could be one of efforts misdirec- ted. The researcher believes that there is no "best' place- ment technique in the absolute sense. Placement should always be perceived in light of the local economic and political scenario. Selective placement works very well in the United Kingdom because it is geared to the condition of 101 the quota-levy system. Employers have an essential need to reach out for disabled workers to fill the quota. It is necessary for them to resort to the assistance of the selec- tive placement service because, generally speaking, emplo- yers lack the know-how of the assessment and recruitment of workers with disabilities. Should they choose not to have the quota filled, they are required to pay a levy. Hong Kong is a place where protective or antidis- crimination legislation geared to protect the right of persons with disabilities to work are nonexistent. In this society, labor is very much in demand, but the supply is also, and always, in abundance. Ultimately, there is no compelling motivation for employers to hire workers with disabilities, except for doing so on humanitarian ground. Advocates for the open employment of persons with disabili- ties have to, willingly or unwillingly, appeal to the good will of employers. Such a situation is, of course, very unsatisfactory. But it is a reality that is to be faced, -- and improved. As indicated by the findings of this study, the Job Club method can be a useful placement service that is possible to be offered as complementary to the existing selctive placement service to meet to the needs of different clientele. 102 Participants' Reaction Members' attitude towards Job Club after four months of participation was tapped by means of the Job Club Feature Scale. Survey results showed that members were in general very satisfied with the services provided by the Job Club. They found most of the supplies and equipment pro- vided, skills taught, and assistance offered to them helpful or extremely helpful. Items that most members found not helpful or absolutely not helpful were: family support let- ter (66.7%), yellow pages/directories (41.7%), relatives and friends as source of informal job leads (58.3%), and family support (41.7%). This coincides with the counselor's and the researcher's observation that, in general, many members did not have a close relationship with their families. Two of them lived apart from the family in the hostel for the blind, and many of the others, though staying with family, spent substantial time in the student and social centers of the Association of the Blind. When encouraged to make more contacts with relatives and friends to solicit their help, some members found the task exceedingly difficult and ex- pressed that they did not have many friends nor maintained a close relationship with their relatives. The last supplementary question in the Job Club Feature Scale attempted to tap possible attitudinal change in participants towards a more positive stance in finding jobs. It is alarming to note that, after four months' 103 participation in the program, many of the members still clung to the hope that ”an authoritative or influential person who is concerned about the well-being of the visually impaired will arrange to secure a placement for me” (lst choice: 33.3%: 2nd choice: 25%: 3rd choice: 50%). In fact, this "authoritative person“ arrangement/method had been expressed very often by members in Job Club sessions as “the most ideal and appropriate placement method for the blind”. While it is ideal in the sense that it warrants little effort on the part of the job seeker with visual impairment, it is by no means practical or realistic. An understanding of the problem of placement for persons with visual impairment from employers' perspectives can be useful too. The experience of each Job Club member in their interviews with employers testified that employers' attitude towards applicants with visual impairement ranged from extremely repulsive to overly compassionate. Since the scope of this study did not allow an objective perception of employers' reaction, it should be of great interest to con- duct a study of employers' attitude towards applicants with visual impairment as well as towards having them as workers in their organizations. Findings of such a study would cer- tainly be helpful to the strategic planning of placement services for clients with visual impairment. 104 implications for Practice The Job Club for persons in Hong Kong with visual impairment has shown to yield fairly satisfactory results. Findings showed that participants were in general favorable toward the services of the program. Neverthless, the cost- effectiveness of the program has not been objectively assessed as there was considerable deployment of personnel and other resources, and thus the costs of the program was not clearly delineated and determined. Further investiga- tion into the budgetary implications of the program might be necessary for decisions at the policy making level. Bearing in mind the limitation of scope and gene- ralizability of the study, it could be of interest for fur- ther researches to investigate related questions and postu- lations. One is that while most of the participants in the Job Club were those comparatively highly educated, why were those with lower education attainment not interested in participating in the program? One possibility could be, of course, that the recruitment campaign did not achieve results as expected. For instance, persons with blindness or visual impairment had less access to circulated material and thus the circular (even though it was distributed in both print and braille) did not reach a considerable number of potential participants. Furthermore, it is speculated that Public Assistance and Disability Allowance may constitute a serious disincentive for persons with disabilities to work. 105 This may be especially true for persons with disabilities and with limited education and work skills. Another issue of interest is that all four participants who got jobs in the project were adventitiouly visually impaired. Does the time of onset of visual impairment bears impact on the person to the extent that it might affect him/her significantly at the educational, social, and vocational level, to the detriment of successful integration? This question will need to be answered through more vigorously controlled and measured studies. Further study is also desirable on the modifica- tion of the Job Club method to meet the needs of persons with visual impairment. For example, more effective methods must be sought to enable the participants to become more effective and independent in obtaining job leads, which are most commonly available in normal print. Moreover, special effort should be made to provide placement service to persons who have not attained an average level of education (recall that 74.13% of the legally blind persons in Hong Kong did not have education beyond primary school). Service programs for these persons should acutally receive a high priority. 106 Conclusions In this research project, attempts have been made to pilot an innovative placement technique in assisting job seekers who were visually impaired in Hong Kong to secure open employment. After 4 months, the Job Club method, which is a self-placement technique conducted in a supervised group format, was found to yield satisfactory results. One third of the members have obtained placements and are still maintaining the employment up to the present time. Warren (1977) pointed out that researches, especially experimental researches, in visual impairment usually encounter considerable limitations because the population is relatively small and vastly heterogeneous. The present study is no exception to this phenomenon. Since this was a descriptive and exploratory_study which utilized a small, nonrandom sample, no attempt was made to generalize the results to the general population of job seekers with visual impairment. Nevertheless, care has been taken to depict the sample characteristics within the research con- text so that applicability of the findings to the population can be more objectively evaluated and be more usable for the readers. Based on the findings of this study, the following specific conclusions have been drawn: 1. The Job Club method can be useful in providing assistance in the job finding process to clients with 107 demographic characteristics similar to those of the sample of this study. In particular, the method can be very helpful for clients who are relatively younger, for those who have received high school or junior high school education as well as vocational training, and for those who have adventitious onset of their visual impairment. 2. Based on the finding that the job-search activity variable ”application forms filled out“ has high positive correlation with all three outcome variables, it is inferred that assertivness and social skills are important factors for placement success becauce this variable entailed participants' willingness to go in person to the hiring companies and/or their effectiveness in soliciting sighted assistance. 3. Job Club received high ranking among the three placement methods (namely, Job Club, selective placement, and ”authoritative person”) from both.employed and not employed participants (lst choice: 58.3%, 2nd choice: 41.7%). In general, participants have been satisfied with the tangible and intangible services provided in the Job Club. On the other hand, it is alarming to note that almost 60% of the members still clung to the hope that an authori- tative person should secure a job for them (lst choice: 33.3%, 2nd choice: 25%). Intervention strategies may be necessary to assist clients to take a more positive and independent stance. 108 4. In this study, three out of the four employed members got their jobs through want-ads. This is not consistent with the important proposition of the Job Club method that informal sources of job leads play a crucial role in placement. Neverthless, the participants have also shown little confidence in the usefulness of soliciting assistance from family, relatives, and friends. Thus, whether informal channels of job leads were not important for job seekers with visual impairment in Hong Kong, or that members did not get jobs through informal channels because they did not make extensive use of it, is unclear and not conslusive by virtue of this study. 5. The Job Club is something more than a placement technique. It is a positive educational experience for fami- liarizing clients with the hiring process and providing them with valuable and lasting job seeking skills, which will be useful for their present and future job finding or job changing endeavours. The active engagement in the job search process also directly and indirectly contributed to the widening of clients' social experience and scope as well as to the enhancenment of their personal growth towards self- sufficiency and independence. This study was designed to be descriptive and ex- ploratory in nature. Its findings serve the main purpose of gaining a more objective insight into the complex and multifaceted issue of unemployment of persons who are 109 visually impaired in Hong Kong, and aim at a contribution in the improvement of vocational rehabilitation sevices in the local environment so as to be more effective in assisting individuals with visual impairment in their worthy efforts to become productive members of the community. The Job Club approach offers a plausible and workable solution in this important issue. APPENDICES :aaaaaar APPENDIX A TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING DEPARTMENT >un nerrnence: (7) in TE 75/55/2/4'11 15/F., Harbour Centre, 451:“! 25 Harbour Road, Wanehai 'oun nersneucs: SL/vd1/03/lO/85 g x ' , may: , "‘8 "‘8 ELgHONE: 5-8932341 Ext. 305 9 October 1985 Mr. Simon IEUNG, Principal, Hong Kong Society for the Blind, Vocational Training Centre, RBL 101 P kful R d, ‘ Hang K0250 am ‘ oa \ h DUI figs Dear Mr. Leung, gob Club Projgt - ‘Sogiety for the Blind m Thank you for your ref. letter. I would like to confirm that I ages to your request in relation to this project, in that: (a) the study room at your centre will be used for Job Club sessions, (b) Miss Lee, the Secretary of your centre, will assist in this project for 6-7 hours per week and that the Society of the Blind will give her a responsibility allowance for this extra duty, (c) the duration of the project is 6 months. I wish you every success with this worthy project and I look forward to seeing your results. Yours sincerely, atria; (c. Durkin) for Director of Technical Education and Industrial Training 110 APPENDIX B ******************i**************************** G O O D N E W S T O J O B S E E K E R S *ssseesesaseesasasssas:*seasesssssaeeeseeesesss "All that Counts is Work” is the slogan of the 1985 Abilympic. ‘In this work skill contest, disabled contestants have, through their actual performance, proved most elo- quently to society their competence and skills in various categories of occupations. However, the employment situation of the visually disabled in Hong Kong is far from satisfactory. Because of stereo— typed societal attitude and limitations in opportunities, a considerable number of visually disabled persons, whether they have attained high level of education or received little education but possess employable skills, are cur- rently unemployed or underemployed. This, indeed, is a regretable waste of human resources! For those visually disabled persons who are at present looking for employment, the Hong Kong Society for the Blind will shortly offer a new service called ”Job Club". This "Club“, which is a training program in job-seeking skills, has the following objectives: 111 112 * To assist participants to understand the hiring pro- cess. * To equip participants with effective job-seeking skills, such as: - Instructions in writing concise and attractive resumes and application letters. - Discussion and rehearsal of appropriate interview behaviors and techniques. - Effective acquisition of formal and informal job leads. - Full utilization of the services of governmental and private placement agencies. — Practical advice on any problems related to job- seeking techniques. The "Job Club" has gained popularity in a number of Western countries. Participants in general experienced great success in improving their employment readiness and job searching skills. If you are visually disabled and currently looking for full- time employment, you are warmly welcome to participate in this Job Club. We'll assist you to become a better job seeker so as to find yourself an ideal job. Through gainful employment, you will be able to demonstrate to society your 113 abilities and develop your potentials. You will be able to become an active and productive member of our community. The Job Club will start in November, 1985 at Pokfulam Vocational Training Centre for the Blind. The duration is 3 months. Participation fee is HK$10.00. TRANSPORTATION SERVICE is also provided. For further information, you are welcome to call 5-8177258 during office hours. APPENDIX C HONG KONG SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND Job Club For Persons with Visual Impairment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DEMOGRAPHIC DATA SHEET Name: (English) (Chinese) Sex: Female/Male Date of Birth: ____d/____m/ y Age: HK Identity Card No: Place of Birth: Marital Status: Single/Married/Divorced Address: Tel No.: Schools Attended Period School/College/Institute Qualifications Date of onset of visual impairment: Cause of visual impairment: Degree of visual impairment: Totally Blind Light Perception Hand Movement Finger Counting Partially Sighted 114 115 What is the ideal job that you want? What types of jobs have you been looking for? How many persons are financially dependent on you? Present sources of income 5 amount: Part-time work $ Full-time work Public Assistance Disb. Allowance Personal Savings Family Other sources Family/Contact Person Name: (English) (Chinese) Relationship: Address: Telephone: (Residence) (Office) What is the minimum salary that you would consider? Employment History: (Start with the most recent job) Position Main Duties Dates ~~~ APPENDIX D JOB CLUB FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In order for the Job Club to work, it is necessary to clearly state what we expect from you, and what you can expect from us. Membership Requirements Full-time Job Search. The Job Club will work for you gmiy if you spend a lot of time looking for jobs. Otherwise we can not help you. Members who make up to ten phone calls a day and two face-to-face employer contacts will get jobs. Attendance at Training Sessions. The Job Club training sessions are designed to help you find job openings and improve your chances of getting a job. As a result, these sessions are very important and it is recommended that members attend them regularly. Recordkeeping. Keeping good records of your job hunting will help you and other Club members in finding jobs. 116 117 We have special forms to help you keep records on phone calls, face-to-face employer contacts, and job leads. It's important that all members keep this information. Keeping in Touch. Once you get a job, give us a call to tell us where you are working. We also would like you to call us with any new job leads you hear about, and just let us know how you are doing on your job. BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP 1. Job Club will provide the necessary resources for you to find and get a job, such as: typing services, telephones, transportation aid, postage, writing materials, job lead materials, career information, and a job lead board. Job Club staff will provide training in special skills helpful in finding a job such as telephoning and interviewing behavior, resume writing, and practice with job applications. Job Club provides a setting which supports your job seeking behavior, informs you of new job leads, and provides information on community resources and other job search aids. 118 4. Lifetime Membership. Once you have completed the Job Club, you are a lifetime member, which means that all of the above resources, training and support will be open to you whenever you may need it again. I have read the above requirements and benefits of member- ship and agree to abide by the Membership Agreement. Job Club Member Date Job Club Staff Date APPENDIX E DAILY OUTLINE OF JOB CLUB FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT 55533-25! Program Introduction Sign Job Club agreements Explain and obtain name for family support letter Client introduction Explain People-I-Know contacts Identifying job skills (Job expansion) Explain Job Leads Log (and concept of informal leads) Obtain and write down 5-10 leads Explain Places-To-Go/Things-to-do Schedule and fill in Fill in Progress chart for session activities 119 120 SECOND DAY ~~~~~~~~~~ Fill in Progress Chart Client and counselor review accomplishments Explain probability of finding job graphs and progress chart form Make phone contact and employer contact Fill in Places-to-go/Things-to-do schedule Fill in People-I-Know Form Explain and assign 2 open letters of recommendations Continue to expand job interest Fill in Progress Chart 121 THIRD DAY Fill in Progress Chart for outside activities Clients and Counselor review accomplishments obtain and write 10 new leads Make paired telephone contacts Fill in Places-to-go/Things-to-do schedule Break Request for open letters of recommendation Complete People-I-Know contacts Begin Resume and assign finishing it Continue job expansion Fill in Progress Chart for session activities 122 FOURTH DAY ~~~~~~~~~~ Fill in Progress Chart for outside activities Review accomplishments Get 10 new leads Make telephone contacts or write application letters Fill in Places-to-go/Things-to-do schedule . Work on Resume Continue contacts for recommendations Fill in Progress Chart for session activities 123 FIFTH DAY Fill in Progress Chart for outside activities Review accomplishments Get 10 new leads Make Telephone contacts and/or write application letters Break Fill in Places-to-go/Things-to-do schedule Interview rehearsal Review and discuss After Interview Checklist Fill in Progress Chart for session activities -124 SECOND WEEK AND ALL OTHER DAYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Clients fill in Progress Chart - Review accomplishments - Get 10 new leads from press/informal channel - Make telephone contacts and/or write letters - Fill in Places-to-go/Things-to-do schedule - Break - Other Activities: - Draft Resumes - Letters writing - Assign and discuss After Interview check- list - People-I-Know contacts rehearsal - Modelling Interview - Discuss transportation to interview - Expand job interest - Continue ask for recommendations - Fill in Progress Chart for session activities APPENDIX F muasmuz aaooooa\asao mmounu< .2 .HOF Smhcm 8038 38 004 .mn