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VIEW OF THE PROGRAM: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF~CONCEPT AND JOB SATISFACTION Thesis for the Degree of M L MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY JAMES PATRICK CLIFFORD 1972 ‘ 1 Huh?“ llllllllllIllIll!Ill“Hill!”llllllNW"!UlllllHllllHll 3 1293 10432 9028 ABSTRACT THE NEW CAREER ENROLLEES' VIEW OF THE PROGRAM: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-CONCEPT AND JOB SATISFACTION BY James Patrick Clifford Purpose of the Study The New Careers Program, like many other manpower programs, is designed to assist disadvantaged persons enter the labor force. Some manpower programs are more successful than others. According to a study conducted by R. Frank Falk of the University of Minnesota, the New Careers Program is one of the successful programs. The New Careers enrollee, who generally is in her middle thirties, female, head of the household, and a member of a minority group, is capable of performing satisfactorily in a college program. This success raises a question because these women had either dropped out of high school or finished very low in their class. How then can they compete against 18-year-old students who, for the most part, completed high school in the upper quarter of their class? James Patrick Clifford A study by Edward Glazer and Harvey L. Ross, A Study of Successful Persons from Seriously Disadvantaged Backgrounds, suggests that there are a number of elements that determine success for a disadvantaged person. These elements, Peer Group Relations, Education, Family Relation- ships, Attitudes and Values, and Trouble with the Legal Authorities, are very similar to elements included in the area of self-concept or self-esteem. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between self-concept and job satisfaction and program satisfaction. Job satisfaction and program satis- faction scales were used as measurements of performance on the job and in the program. It is believed that those persons who have a high self-concept will be more likely to be successful on the job and in a training program. It is also assumed that if those persons with a low self— concept were identified then the training program could be adjusted to increase the person's self-concept. By considering self-concept as an important factor in success then manpower programs could increase their success ratio by adjusting their training accordingly. Procedure and Design Based on the Glazer-Ross study a Self-Concept Inventory was designed and pretested. This questionnaire was administered to a group of enrollees in a manpower James Patrick Clifford training program who were believed to be similar to the groups Glazer and Ross interviewed. Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis of the questionnaire thirty items were selected for the final Self-Concept Inventory. In addition to the Self-Concept Inventory a Job Satisfaction Scale and a Program Satisfaction Scale were included in the instrument administered to the New Career enrollees. A cover sheet for biographical information was also part of this instrument. The instrument was mailed to all of the New Career enrollees in the Detroit New Career Program. Sixty—eight per cent of the participants responded and returned the questionnaire. Major Findings and Conclusions 1. The four sub-sections of the Self-Concept Inventory do not correlate well with job satisfaction. 2. The Self-Concept Inventory as a whole does have a positive correlation with job satisfaction and a strong positive correlation with program satisfaction. 3. When job satisfaction is controlled for the relationship between self-concept and program, satisfaction no longer exists. James Patrick Clifford 4. The marital status of the enrollees does not seem to affect self—concept, job satisfaction, or pro- gram satisfaction. 5. Age does seem to affect a person's self-concept. Those persons who were over 36 years of age tended to have a lower self-concept than the younger group. This study suggested that a relationship between self-concept and a person's performance on the job and in a manpower program exists. It also indicated that age may affect a person's self—concept in that older persons are not as positive about their self-concept. It also sug- gested that more study is necessary in the area of what determines success or non-success for women. This later information will be very important in conducting manpower training programs for women. THE NEW CAREER ENROLLEES' VIEW OF THE PROGRAM: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-CONCEPT AND JOB SATISFACTION BY James Patrick Clifford A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS School of Labor and Industrial Relations 1972 TO Margot Jimmy and Maggie in appreciation for their love and understanding ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Daniel Kruger For his assistance and encouragement in this project. Dr. Philip Marcus For his assistance in the technical aspects of this study. Dr. Michael Moore For his assistance in the planning and development of this study. iii INTRODUCTION AND THE PROBLEM TABLE OF CONTENTS METHODOLOGY. . . . . The Development of the Self-Concept Inventory . . . Administration and Analysis of the Pretest Peer Group Relationship Sub-section . . Education Sub-section. Values and Attitudes Sub-section . . . Family Background Sub-section . . . . The Sample . . . The Instrument . . Procedure. . . . Method of Scoring . RESULTS . . . . . . The Program Satisfaction Scale. . . . Self-Concept Inventory Program Satisfaction . Work Life. . . . Marital Status . . Summary . . . . CONCLUSIONS. . . . . RECOMMENDATIONS . . . BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . APPENDICES Appendix A. B. Preliminary Self-Concept Test Instrument . iv Questionnaire Page 21 21 22 24 26 27 29 31 31 33 34 36 36 37 41 44 46 50 53 56 S9 61 72 Table 10. LIST OF TABLES Correlation Matrix of Items Related to Peer Group Relationship Which Were Used in Self-Concept Inventory . . . . . Correlation Matrix of Items Related to Education Which Were Used in the Self- Concept Inventory. . . . . . . . Correlation Matrix of Negative Items Related to Attitudes and Values Which Were Used in the Self-Concept Inventory Correlation Matrix of Positive Items Related to Attitudes and Values Which Were Used in the Self-Concept Inventory Correlation Matrix of Negative Items Related to Family Background Which Were Used in the Self-Concept Inventory . . Correlation Matrix of Positive Items Related to Family Background Which Were Used in the Self-Concept Inventory . . Pearson Product—Moment Correlation Matrix for the Program Satisfaction Scale . . Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept (Family Sub-section) Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . . . Job Satisfaction and Self—Concept (Attitudes and Values Sub-section) Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept (Peer Groups Sub-section) Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . Page 24 26 27 28 29 30 36 38 39 39 Table Page 11. Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept (Education Sub-section) Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . . . . . 4O 12. Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . 41 13. Job Satisfaction and Program Satisfaction for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . 42 14. Self-Concept Inventory and Program Satis- faction for New Career Enrollees . . . . 42 15. Program Satisfaction Without Job Satis- faction and Self-Concept for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 16. Work Life and Program Satisfaction for New Career Enrollees. . . . . . . . . . 45 17. Work Life and Job Satisfaction for New Career Enrollees. . . . . . . . . . 45 18. Work Life and Self-Concept Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . 46 19. Self-Concept and Marital Status for New Career Enrollees. . . . . . . . . . 47 20. Program Satisfaction and Marital Status for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . 47 21. Job Satisfaction and Marital Status for New Career Enrollees. . . . . . . . . . 48 22. Marital Status and Self-Concept (Family Sub- section) Inventory for New Career Enrollees . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 23. Self-Concept Inventory and Age for New Career Enrollees. . . . . . . . . . 49 24. Age Without Job Satisfaction and Self- Concept Inventory for New Career Enrollees . 50 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Department of Social Services Upward Mobility Ladder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 vii INTRODUCTION AND THE PROBLEM The New Careers Program was initiated as a result of a revision in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1966. This program, often referred to as the Scheuer Program after Representative James Scheuer of New York, was first implemented in 1967. The basic spirit of the program is to develOp careers in para-professional occupations. Some of the major categories of para-professional occupations are education, social services, health, and welfare. Para— professional jobs then are in the service industries which place a great deal of emphasis on credentials. Because of this emphasis on credentials, the edu- cational aspect of the New Careers Program takes on great significance. Upward mobility within these occupations will depend on work experience and academic certificates and not necessarily in that order. Figure 1 shows a sug- gested career ladder for persons in the Department of Social Services for Detroit's New Careers Program. Career ladders for the other categories, education, welfare, and health are similar. The New Careerist, if he is to be promoted on the job, will be required to obtain academic credentials. Professional Social work Classifications 1 Eligibility Examiner 06 Experience at 05 level or 2 years college / _ \ I Social Service Aide Supervisor 05 Homemaker Supervisor 05 Qualifications not yet Qualifications not yet W Social Service Aide 03 Home maker 03 1 year as Social Service Aide 02 1 year 88 Homemaker 01.2 2 years college preferred years college or GQU1V8183t experience T - A Special Services Aide 02 High school diploma or GED f [ Special Services Traniee 01 Homemaker 01 (6 months), 8th grade reading level or equivalent ex (6 months), 8th grade reading lev l or erience Figure 1 Department of Social Services Upward Mobility Ladder Source: Meredith Roberts, "Civil Service in Michigan Sponsors Project," New Careers, II, No. 6 (1970), 1p. 5. The academic credentials which are recognized by society also provide a lattice mobility which allows the bearer to move longitudinally among occupations as well as laterally within an occupation. The New Careerist who acquires the proper credentials will not be locked into one occupation but rather is developing the freedom to explore a number of occupations if he wishes. Most New Career programs require that their par- ticipants qualify for the program under the guidelines of the Office of Economic Opportunity for disadvantaged. This means that most of the enrollees are from disad- vantaged neighborhoods, welfare recipients, members of a minority group, or have an annual income which is below a specified amount. New Career programs operate in conjunction with a college or university. While the partnership between a Manpower program and the university is new for manpower develOpment of the disadvantaged it is equally new for universities and colleges. Colleges and universities have traditionally trained persons whose socio-economic status has been predominantly middle class and above, and who were relatively young. The New Careers Program presents these educational institutions with a new clientele and a new challenge. There is very little information avail- able on the New Careerists. We do know, however, they average thirty years of age, come from low-income families, and generally have had a poor academic record. How these educational institutions respond to this new program will affect (1) the New Careerist himself, (2) all para- professional training programs, and (3) the admittance requirements of the colleges and universities. In 1969 a study was released by the Department of Labor entitled, The Frontier of Action.1 This study was done by Frank Falk of the University of Minnesota on the New Career Program which was in operation in Minneapolis. It is a rather extensive study and covers a number of areas. The following topics are considered: (1) "A Critique of Agencies in the Minneapolis New Careers Pro- gram," (2) "A Functional Model for the Use of Para- professional Personnel," (3) "Extracts from Costs and Benefits of Minneapolis New Careers Program," (4) "Job Interest and Job Satisfaction of New Careers," (5) "Down the Up Stair Case: A Study of New Career Dropouts," (6) "Contamination of New Careers by Professionalization: Fact or Fancy," (7) "The New Careerist: A Description," (8) "Discussions with New Careers," (9) "Social Psycho- logical Changes in New Careerists," and (10) "New Careers in Higher Education." The portion of this study which has the most interest for the present research project is the section entitled, "New Careers in Higher Education." 1R. Frank Falk, The Frontier of Action: New Careers for the Poor--A Viable Concept (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 1969). Mr. Falk points out the importance of higher education in the New Career Program. He states, "One of the best recog- nized methods of producing such an individual (that is an individual who can move laterally and longitudinally with- in the job economy) is to provide that individual with credentials from an institution of higher education."2 How these New Careerists perform in higher education will deter- mine to a great extent the upward mobility within their job. The following information concerning new careers in higher education is based on Falk's study and is an accumulation of data over a two-year period. The most striking finding of this study indicated that the grade- point average for the New Careerist was approximately 2.5 while the average university student maintained a grade point of 2.6. Though their average was slightly less than that of the entire university, they scored higher than most students in the general college. The junior college stu- dents in general college had a grade point average of 2.3. At the end of two years of academic work at the uni- versity, 105 New Careerists received forty-five credit certificates, 22 received an Associate Arts Degree and 2 received their Baccalaureate Degree. 2Ibid., Appendix J, p. l. Falk also compared the social background between the New Careerist and the average college student of the University of Minnesota. The following are his findings: The average New Careerists' age was 30 years as compared to 18 years for the normal student entering the university and general college. Almost all New Careerists had some time previously been permanently employed. Few university and general college students had such work experience. Of the general student body, 80 per cent plus had fathers whose occupation levels were professional white collar and skilled tradesmen. Only a few New Careerists had fathers or head of households at such a level with the majority falling well below. Over half of the New Careerists are non—white as compared with about 1 per cent of the uni- versity student body. Approximately one out of three general college students were female whereas two-thirds of the New Careerists were women. Practically every uni- versity student and general college student had gradu- ated from high school. Approximately 37 per cent of the New Careerists did not have a high school certificate. Almost half of the entering university freshmen graduated in the upper quarter of their high school whereas only a few of the New Careerists who completed high school were ranked that high. In the area of finance, only about 10 per cent of the general student body cover the majority of their expenses from work and roughly 60 per cent had no jobs of any kind. In contrast all the New Careerists derive living expenses from agency jobs and department of labor funds. Tuition and book expenses for New Careerists are assumed by the New Careers Program. While very few of the university students attending school were married, 88 per cent of the New Careerists were and 83 per cent of them were heads of households. Their families averaged a little better than three children per family. In terms of educational preparedness, Falk looked at a test battery which was administered to all college students and which included the following three tests: Studied Skill Series, General College Comprehensive Testing Batteries, and the Gates Reading Tests. The New Careerist had a median score on the Study Skills Series of 35 as compared to 33 for the standard population. On the Gates Reading Battery the New Careerist's median score was 115 as compared to the median score of the standard pOpulation of 125. New Careerists' reading speed and comprehension were slightly below the standard population, however, their vocabulary was higher than the standard population. On the General College Comprehensive Score the New Careerists showed deficiencies in all five areas of organization, vocabu- lary, mathematical thinking, critical thinking, and read- ing comprehension. However, there were only two areas in which these deficiencies seemed to be of any great extent and that was organization and math thinking. In general then, the New Careerists' educational preparedness tends to be slightly less than the average student entering the university.3 Reviewing their performance, we note that the New Careerists over a two-year period of time averaged a median grade of 2.5 on a scale of 4.0 as compared with an overall university grade of 2.6 and a general college score of 2.3. The New Careerists' course load averaged approximately 9 credits per academic quarter which is in excess of the 6 units required by the university for this program. While this is considerably less than the 13.8 credits that full-time students carry, it should be remembered that these are part-time students who are en- gaged in agency work and have family concerns. By com— parison, graduate students who are on a half-time appoint- ment carry a slightly heavier load than the New Careerists. Another interesting finding of Falk's study was that almost all of the New Careerists have set their in- tentions on a Bachelor's Degree rather than the two inter- mediate options which they have, a 45-credit certificate or an Associate of Arts Degree. Of the general college students that enrolled in 1966, less than half of them intended on working towards a Baccalaureate Degree. This then is a rather brief description of Mr. Falk's findings regarding the New Careerists and their performance in 3Ibid., Appendix J. higher education. As was mentioned earlier their per- formance in higher education will mean a great deal in determining the individual's upward and longitudinal mobility. This paper is concerned with the relationship between the New Careers Program performance on the job and in higher education. What attributes are necessary for the New Careerist to succeed? This question is im- portant to the New Careers Program as well as to the college or university that will conduct the training and the employer for whom the participant is working. It is important for all parties concerned to be fairly certain that all of the people in this program succeed in their education as well as on the job. From the Falk study it is clear that although the New Careerist's socio-economic status and background is quite different from that of the average college student, his performance has been satisfactory. This means that the traditional measures of success in college are not sufficient in predicting the performance of New Careerists. A study by Edgar G. Epps suggests that "socio-economic status (SES) was found to be negligibly related to stu- dents' grades, for all but southern females."4 He further found that SES is very weakly related to test anxiety and 4Edgar G. Epps, "Correlates of Academic Achievement Among Northern and Southern Urban Negro Students," The Journal of Social Issues, XXV, No. 3 (1969), 68. 10 self—esteem which seems to support Brookover's findings that, "self-concept of ability is modifiable and that changes in self-concept of ability are related to changes in academic achievement."5 A change in self-concept might explain why New Careerists perform better in their college course work than they did in their earlier high school work. In a study conducted by David Hunt and Robert Hardt of twenty-four Project Upward Bound programs, they found similar results with regard to self-esteem. Their results are based on data collected over a two-year period (June 1966 to March 1968) on both Negro and white stu- dents. "Both self-esteem and internal control have been tentatively linked with better academic achievement so it would seem possible that such increases might later pro- duce improved academic achievement."6 Brookover found in a longitudinal study of a large group of students from the seventh through the twelfth grade that, "self-concept accounts for a significant portion of achievement, inde- pendent of measured intelligence socio-economic status, educational aspirations, and the expectation of family, 51bid. 6David E. Hunt and Robert H. Hardt, "The Effects of Upward Bound Programs on the Attitudes, Motivation, and Academic Achievement of Negro Students," The Journal of Social Issues (Summer, 1969), 128. 11 friends, and teachers."7 By controlling for the above factors, such as intelligence and socio-economic status, academic achievement will change when a person's self- concept changes. Brookover refers to self-concept as a "threshold variable." He found that, "although a signifi— cant proportion of students with high self-concept of ability achieved at a relatively lower level (approxi- mately 50 per cent) practically none of the students with low self-concept of ability achieved at a high level."8 These findings are supported by the findings of Miller and O'Connor.9 Their study suggested that although students may have received a low score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) they could still perform successfully in a college curriculum if they scored high on the Achiever Personality Scale (Ach P). Of those students who scored very low on (SAT) and high on (Ach P) 71 per cent per— formed successfully in college work as compared to only 14 per cent of those students that scored low on both the SAT and ACh P. 7Wilbur B. Brookover and Edsel L. Erickson, Society, Schools and Learning (Boston, 1969), p. 105. 8Ibid. 9Doris Metzger Miller and Patricia O'Connor, "Achiever Personality and Academic Success Among Dis- advantaged College Students," The Journal of Social Issues (Summer, 1969), p. 114. 12 This thesis deals with the problem of understanding the relationship between a person's self-concept and his job satisfaction and program satisfaction. It is assumed that program satisfaction will be high if an enrollee is doing well in his academic courses and low if the enrollee is doing poorly in his studies. This problem gives rise to a second problem and that is the means by which self-concept is to be measured. Edward Glazer and Harvey L. Ross conducted a study of successful persons from seriously disadvantaged back- grounds.10 Their work resulted in establishing an atti- tudinal inventory which included self-concept items. Their study consisted of persons who had been disadvan— taged during their childhood specifically between the ages of 9 and 16. The criteria used here for disadvantaged is a family which had been on public assistance or had lived in a public housing project. The subjects were male, either Mexican-American, or Negro, and were between the ages of 21 and 30 and had at one time lived in a ghetto section of either Los Angeles or another urban ghetto. They selected thirty-seven Mexicans, seventeen of whom met their definition of successful and twenty who did not meet that definition, and thirty-three blacks, fifteen of whom met their definition of successful and eighteen who did not. They defined success in the following manner: 10Edward Glazer and Harvey L. Ross, A Study of Successful Persons from Seriously Disadvantaged Back- grounds (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 1970). 13 The subject had worked more or less steadily during the past two years, or had been going to school. When not working he had been on unemployment insurance and actively looking for work. Second, the subject had not been on welfare during the past two years. Third, the subject did not require Department of Labor agency intervention to get training or to get a job,and fourth, this subject had not been in serious trouble with the law.11 The group that was designated as unsuccessful met the following criteria: "The subject must have been unem- ployed or underemployed during the preceding two years and secondly, because of educational background or other deficiencies, it was likely that he would need inter- vention of some agency to prepare him for regular employ- ment."12 The remaining comments on this study will be restricted to the successful and unsuccessful Negroes because they are the primary group with which this thesis is concerned. There are a number of areas in which the success- ful and the unsuccessful groups differ from each other. The successful group came from a family which provided a warm and supportive atmosphere while the unsuccessful group came from a family background which had an atmos- phere that was neither warm nor supportive. The parents of the unsuccessful Negro group did not expect their sons to succeed academically or occupationally. The next area which seemed to differentiate between the two groups was 11 12 Ibid., pp. 31-32. Ibid. l4 peer association. Approximately one-fourth of this successful group reported gang membership and approxi— mately three-fifths of the unsuccessful group belonged to a gang. In education, Group A (successful group) tended to enjoy participating in school activities and enjoyed sports. The unsuccessful group did not enjoy school, occasionally or even frequently got failing grades and remembered being discipline problems. Three- fourths of this group said school was difficult and half of them dropped out before graduating from high school. In the area of legal problems 38 per cent of the success- ful group stated that they had trouble with the law and 72 per cent of the unsuccessful group said that they had trouble with the law. Ninety-three per cent said that they were arrested as juveniles while 61 per cent were arrested as adults. In the area of work experience the successful group had been continuously employed for the last two years which meets the definition of recruitment for this study. Half of the unsuccessful group, on the other hand, were unemployed and only thirteen had managed to be continually employed during the last two years. Most of those that had been employed had not felt a sense of satisfaction in their job nor pride or work related accomplishments. In the areas of goals, values, aspi- rations, and self-images the successful group had estab- lished long-range goals rather early in their live. While 15 they were growing up approximately 93 per cent remembered admiring somebody who represented mainstream values. They felt that "leaving the streets" is not seen as leaving the ghetto community but rather natural and an expected style of life. Fewer than 50 per cent of them remember being discouraged as adolescents by those who had attempted to keep them in their place. Approximately 75 per cent of this group reported a positive self-image. They are optimistic about their chances for "getting ahead" in mainstream society and 87 per cent felt comfortable in white communities. This group generally felt that working at anything is preferable to not working at all. The un- successful group, on the other hand, had an absence of goals or a presence of short-range goals which centered frequently on immediate gratification. They were attracted to the street scene. Eighty per cent of these people felt discouraged during the period of adolescence. They were generally pessimistic about their chances of success in the mainstream society. This group tended to feel more at home in the ghetto among their peers although 56 per cent said that they felt comfortable in a white community. Based on their findings, Glaser and Ross devised an attitudinal inventory which included the areas of Family Background, Peer Associations, Education, Legal Problems, Work Experiences, Current Family Relationships, and Goals, Values, Aspirations and Self—Image. This 16 method of measuring attitudes was first proposed by L. L. Thurstone in 1928.13 Thurstone developed an Attitude Scale method. Later this was improved upon by Likert and Edwards who developed the Attitude Inventory. "It has often been found that scores from attitude inventories are more reliable than those from corresponding Thurstone- type attitude scales."14 The method by which Glaser and Ross arrived at their attitude inventory is widely accepted and is one of the better ways of measuring atti- tudes. The questionnaire was the result of a study conducted with a population similar to the typical New Careerists in many respects. The New Careers enrollees generally come from disadvantaged backgrounds, many of them live in a ghetto, average 30 years of age, and are predominantly Negro. The major difference between the two populations is that the majority of the New Careerists are women in contrast to Glaser's sample population which were all males. Although there have not been any attempts to check the reliability or the validity of the Glaser-Ross questionnaire, there is reason to believe that the areas included in this questionnaire are similar to the areas 3Louis L. Thurstone, "Attitudes Can Be Measured," American Journal of Sociology, XXXIII (1928), 529-54. 14J. P. Guilford, Personality (New York, 1959), p. 229. 17 which would be included in an inventory built specifically to measure attitudes of self-concept. This would be especially true for any person who was sympathetic to the Rogerian theory of personality. A person's behavior is a result of his own self-concept according to Rogers. The self, which is the nuclear concept in Roger's theory of personality, has numerous prOperties, some of which are these: (a) it develops out of the organism's interaction with the environment, (b) it may introject the values of other people and perceive them in a distorted fashion, (c) the self strives for consistency, (d) the organism behaves in ways that are consistent with the self, (e) experiences that are not consistent with the self-structure are perceived as threats, and (f) the self may change as a result of maturation and learning.1 Although not everyone agrees with Rogers' definition of "self," there is general agreement on a number of aspects of it. "Self" is a complex concept; Lundholm (1940) distinguishes between "subjective self" and “ob- jective self." Sherif and Cantril (1947) define self as a constellation of attitudes. Sarbin's (1952), "self" is the cognitive structure which consists of one's ideas about various aspects of his being. Mead (1934) suggests, as does Brookover (1969) that there are many selves, the family self, school self, and many other selves. This discussion has pointed out and supports the theory that the self-concept is a result of many inter- actions and that an instrument which intends to measure self-concept must include a number of these areas of 15Calvin S. Hall and Gardner Lindzey, Theories of Personality (New York, 1966). 18 interaction. The Glaser—Ross attitudinal questionnaire meets this stipulation. It should also be pointed out that many of the areas which Glaser includes in his inventory, i.e., family, peer group, and self, are similar to the areas included in the "Q" sort technique. There- fore, although this instrument was based on the idea of distinguishing "success" from "non-success," it should also serve as an instrument to measure "self-concept." If viewed in terms of the sociologist, Glaser and Ross' definition of success is very basic to an adequate standard of living. The idea of earning an income and staying out of trouble with the law and being self- supportive are essential to social integration. These are accepted norms of behavior in our society and persons that do not meet these expectations do not receive rewards from the society. Whether or not society rewards a person will have a great deal to do with developing that person's "self-concept." This evidence suggests that the Glaser questionnaire will measure self-concept and "success" at the lower levels of socio-economic status. It is the intention of this study to assess the association between self-concept, academic performance, job satisfaction, and program satisfaction. Based on the information previously stated we should observe a relation- ship between these variables. Because self-concept is the result of a lifetime of experiences its development pre- cedes the New Careers program. Therefore, it is concluded 19 that a positive self-concept will have an effect on how an enrollee performs in the New Careers Program. If this is the case, then it could be very important for programs such as New Careers to be knowledgeable about a person's self-concept. This study will lay the groundwork for further study in the area of self-concept and its relationship to manpower training programs. It will provide an instru- ment for measuring self-concept which has been developed for the disadvantaged person who is receiving manpower training. Finally, this study will suggest a means for measuring program satisfaction among the recipients of the training services. It is also intended that this study will suggest a means by which manpower programs such as New Careers can be more successful. Manpower programs have tradition- ally concerned themselves with technical skills. While technical skills are important the entire area of atti- tudes have not been seriously considered in relationship to employment. This study will show that unless the participant has a positive self-concept he will not be satisfied with his job or the program in which he is participating in. The result of this dissatisfaction will be failure on the part of the individual as well as fail- ure of the program. Not only will the participant not succeed but the total result of the manpower program may 20 be the expenditure of a great deal of money only to rein- force a person's negative self-concept. This study will show how important a person's attitudes are in relation- ship to employment and training. METHODOLOGY The Develqpment of the Self-Concept Inventory The pretest of the Glaser and Ross questionnaire was administered to identify and eliminate double-barreled and ambiguous questions as well as to identify those statements to be used in the final questionnaire. The pilot study, A Study of Successful Persons from Seriously Disadvantaged Backgrounds, identified the areas that seemed to be related to success. The authors suggested a number of statements dealing with the topics of family relationships, peer group relationships, attitudes and values, educational experiences, and experiences with legal authorities. Glaser and Ross, however, did not design their questionnaire to be administered to the subjects directly. The first task, then, was to select, from the Glaser-Ross study, those statements which were of greatest significance in distinguishing between the successful and the non-successful person. Next the statements had to be rewritten in the first person format. Finally, some of the ambiguous statements were eliminated or clarified. This procedure resulted in a questionnaire of 108 statements on the five topics (Appendix A). 21 22 The selection of the items to be used in the final self-concept questionnaire are based on the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation coefficient. Through the pre- test it was possible to identify those statements which indicated a strong relationship with one another for each topic. This selection procedure resulted in the develop- ment of the final Self-Concept Inventory. Administration and Analysis of the Pretest The questionnaire (Appendix A), which was based on the Glaser-Ross study, consisted of 108 statements. These statements covered five areas: family relation- ships, attitudes and values, educational experiences, peer group relationships, and experiences with legal authorities. The pretest was administered to fifty enrollees at the Chrysler Training Center in Detroit. These sub- jects were selected because it was believed that they would be similar to the New Career enrollees who were ultimately to use the inventory. Both groups are re- quired to meet the CEO guideline for disadvantaged. All fifty of the Chrysler participants were black males. They ranged in age from 21 to 36 with the average age of 26.8 years. The majority of the subjects were single. Of the thirty-five persons who responded to question 8, "How would you rate your work life as compared 23 to your peers?" on the biographical page, three felt they were successful, five felt they were unsuccessful, and the remainder felt they were average. The questionnaire was administered by the Director of Counseling for the Chrysler Training Center. It was agreed that the instrument would be administered as if it were a normal part of the testing program for the center. The counseling director contributed some very constructive criticisms and suggestions both before and after the questionnaire was administered. One of the major sug- gestions was to eliminate that part of the questionnaire which dealt with, "experiences with legal authorities." This suggestion was supported by the lack of responses to this tOpic by the subjects. Comments by the participants indicated that they did not feel that these statements pertained to those persons who did not have a criminal record. For these reasons it was decided to remove those statements from the body of the questionnaire and as a result they are not included in the analysis of the pre- test. Questions regarding this area were included on the Biographical Information page of the final questionnaire. Each of the remaining four sections of the test were treated as if they were separate and independent questionnaires. These four sections were then subdivided into positive and negative statements based on the Glaser- Ross pilot study. The purpose for this was to select 24 approximately the same number of positive and negative statements for each topic. Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 show the statements that were finally selected for the Self-Concept Inventory and the linear relationship that exists among these items. Peer Group,RelationshipVSub-section Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation the following statements regarding Peer Group Relationship were selected for the final questionnaire. Both positive and negative statements were tested but only positive statements were finally selected because the negative statements did not correlate well which indicated that there was a lack of association among these items. TABLE l.—-Correlation matrix of items related to Peer Group Relationship which were used in Self- Concept Inventory. Item Number Item Number 77 78 80 81 82 77 1.00 78 .44 1.00 80 .34 .30 1.00 81 .41 .33 .28 1.00 82 .35 .22 .39 .34 1.00 25 Item Number Statement 77. I admired someone in school with mainstream values while growing up. 78. I remember being successful among my peers who were not identified with street life. 80. I remember not being successful among my peers in the street. 81. There was quite a lot of friction between me and my family because of my activities in street life. 82. I have never been on the street or in a gang in a serious or committed manner. The scores in the matrix indicate how well each of the items correlate with other items in the group of statements. Scores of .50 or higher suggest that there exists a rather strong association between two items while scores of less than .50 indicate a loose association. Scores in the range of .60 to .80 are most desirable be- cause they indicate a strong correlation without the items duplicating one another. Some of the statements which are retained in the final questionnaire correlate very loosely with other items in the questionnaire. These statements were re- tained in an effort to determine if the relationship of these items would change based on responses by women. The self-concept questionnaire has been developed on information gathered from men and it will be necessary to determine if women respond differently to the items in- cluded in the inventory. 26 Education Sub-section Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation the following statements regarding Education were selected for the final questionnaire. Both positive and negative statements were tested but only positive statements were finally selected because the negative statements did not correlate well with the other items in this category. TABLE 2.--Corre1ation matrix of items related to Education which were used in the Self-Concept Inventory. Item Number Item Number 89 91 92 93 98 89 1.00 91 .50 1.00 92 .56 .80 1.00 93 .57 .70 .78 1.00 98 .66 .49 .46 .57 1.00 Item Number Statement 89. Sports seemed to have played an important part in my life. 91. While I was in school I made friends with many of my fellow students. 92. I remember admiring or liking some of my teachers and/or coaches. 93. I gained some recognition in school, either academically or in sports. 98. Sports seem to have been important to me in that it gave me a feeling of being good at something and some recognition from my peers. 27 Values and Attitudes Sub-section Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation the following negative statements regarding Values and Atti- tudes were selected for the final questionnaire. TABLE 3.--Correlation matrix of negative items related to Attitudes and Values which were used in the Self-Concept Inventory. Item Number Item Number 5 14 22 27 31 5 1.00 14 .12 1.00 22 .17 .55 1.00 27 .07 .28 .48 1.00 31 .05 .38 .16 .10 1.00 Item Number Statement 5. I blame my failures on the present social system which handicaps me because of my race. 14. I do not talk in terms of goals. 22. None of my goals center around an occupation. 27. Hustling is a good means of getting ahead. 31. I am not concerned about getting ahead. 28 Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation the following positive statements regarding Values and Atti— tudes were selected for the final questionnaire. TABLE 4.--Correlation matrix of positive items related to Attitudes and Values which were used in the Self—Concept Inventory. Item Number Item Number 11 15 16 18 19 11 1.00 15 .29 1.00 16 .59 .06 1.00 18 .43 .31 .28 1.00 19 .19 .15 .12 .31 1.00 Item Number Statement 11. I blame myself for not taking advantage of opportunities to fulfill my potential. 15. My sense of self-esteem seems to come from belonging to some group. 16. My.sense of self-esteem seems to come from some achievement, either educational or occupational. 18. I am concerned about getting ahead but I am somewhat confused about how to do it. 19. I have long-range goals towards which I am working. 29 Familnyackground Sub-section Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation the following negative statements regarding Family Background were selected for the final questionnaire. TABLE 5.--Correlation matrix of negative items related to Family Background which were used in the Self- Concept Inventory. Item Number Item Number 42 46 48 59 61 42 1.00 46 .34 1.00 48 .39 .41 'l.00 59 .39 .59 .54 1.00 61 .58 .40 .40 .34 1.00 Item Number Statement 42. I come from a family in which nearly everyone is in and out of trouble including me. 46. I remember my parents as having discouraged me from speaking good English. 48. When I was growing up religious values were not stressed in my home. 59. My parents expected little from me in terms of meeting standards of behavior or achievement. 61. I could pretty much get away with whatever I wanted. 30 Based on a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation the following positive statements regarding family background were selected for the final questionnaire. TABLE 6.--Correlation matrix of positive items related to Family Background which were used in the Self- Concept Inventory. Item Number Item Number 37 51 56 64 65 37 1.00 51 .37 1.00 56 .21 .29 1.00 64 .36 .51 ' .31 1.00 65 .24 .13 .27 .45 1.00 Item Number Statement 37. I have never been seriously involved with street life. 51. When I was growing up religious values were important in my home. 56. I remember my parents as encouraging me to speak good English. 64. My parents expected me to get ahead by fulfilling my obligations towards them. 65. I remember my home as a place where I could always go in times of trouble. 31 The thirty items which were selected from the pre-test made up the final Self—Concept Inventory. Based on the Glaser and Ross study and again on the pre-test with the participants at the Chrysler Training Center these items should discriminate between successful and non-successful persons. The Sample The participants selected for this study were members of the New Careers Program in Detroit, Michigan. There were forty-seven persons enrolled in the program at the time of the study. All of the participants were en- rolled in courses at Wayne County Community College in Detroit. They were also employed by various state agencies in connection with the New Career Program. At the time of the study, May 1971, the enrollees were just about ready to complete their second year in the program. All but two of the participants in the program were females. The enrollees in the program, with the exception of four persons with a Spanish surname, were black. These New Career enrollees ranged in age from 23 to 54 years old with an average of approximately 38 years of age. The Instrument The questionnaire for this study (Appendix B) consisted of the Self-Concept Inventory, a Job Satis- faction Scale, and a Program Satisfaction Scale as well 32 as a cover page for biographical information. Each one of the sub-sections of the questionnaire were preceded by a short description on how to fill out the question- naire. Various biographical information was requested of the New Career enrollee in order to determine how these variables might effect the test variables. Basic infor- mation was requested such as race, sex, age, and marital status but there were also questions on criminal records and "work life." The questions on criminal records were included because the Glaser-Ross study identified this as an im- portant area in determining success. Since questions regarding this topic were not included in the final Self- Concept Inventory, it was felt that it would be valuable to include it in the biographical page. The question on "work life" was included to deter— mine whether a person's perception of his success or lack of success is related to academic performance, job satis- faction, program satisfaction, and self-concept. The development of the Self—Concept Inventory has already been discussed. The items that were included for the various topics were mixed up so that not all of the questions dealing with family relationship, for instance, would be grouped together. 33 The Job Satisfaction Index was developed by A. H. Broyfield and H. F. Rothe.l This index was selected be- cause it could be self—administered, and it appeared to be a reliable instrument having a split half coefficient of .87. This index was short, having eighteen items and it is easy to score. A Program Satisfaction Index was also included to identify those persons who may be satisfied with their job but not satisfied with their training program and vice-versa. This scale was devised by selecting state- ments similar to the type of statement used in some of the various job satisfaction questionnaires. Each state- ment mentioned the New Careers Program specifically so that it would be clear which program was being discussed. Fifteen statements were originally developed and then administered to a group of five persons in an effort to eliminate unclear questions. The final ten questions in the Program Satisfaction Index are shown in Appendix B. Procedure Questionnaires (Appendix B) were sent to forty- seven New Career enrollees. The questionnaire was accom- panied by a letter from the director of the New Careers Pro- gram requesting that the enrollees cooperate in this study. Three weeks after the original questionnaire was mailed 1A. J. Broyfield and H. F. Rothe, "An Index of Job Satisfaction," Journal of Applied Psychology (1951), 307-11. 34 out a follow—up post card was sent out. After another three weeks had passed the final post card was mailed out to the participants requesting that they complete the questionnaire and return it. Thirty-four of the question- naires were returned which is 68 per cent of the total sample. It was not possible to get the academic records from Wayne County Community College on the New Career enrollees in that school. Because it was not possible to acquire academic performance on the enrollees, this study must restrict its finding to the information re- ceived in the questionnaire. Method of Scoring Each of the sections of the questionnaire, self- concept, job satisfaction, and program satisfaction were scored in the same manner. Positive statements, those statements which expressed a favorable sentiment about the subject, were given a score of l for a "strongly agree" response, a 2 for an "agree" response, a 3 for an "undecided" response, a 4 for a "disagree" response, and a 5 for a "strongly disagree" response. Negative state- ments, those statements which expressed an unfavorable sentiment about the subject, were scored in the Opposite manner, that is, a 5 for a "strongly agree" response and a l for a "strongly disagree" response. With this method of scoring the person having the lowest score is ranked 35 as being the most satisfied with his job, or with the program and also the one that had the most positive self-concept. RESULTS The Program Satisfaction Scale The responses on the Program Satisfaction Scale were reviewed to determine if the statements in the questionnaire were unidimensional. A Pearson Product- Moment Correlation test was applied to the response (Table 7) to indicate the strength of the various corre- lations and suggests that the questionnaire does have a strong association among most of the items. TABLE 7.—-Pearson Product-Moment correlation matrix for the Program Satisfaction Scale. Item Number Item Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 l 1.00 2 - 18 1.00 3 .27 -.17 1.00 4 .26 -.23 .20 1.00 5 .53 -.22 .49 .37 1.00 6 .40 -.36 .44 .36 .63 1.00 7 -.42 .08 -.47 -.13 -.34 -.40 1.00 8 -.05 .26 -.26 -.38 .48 -.56 .20 1.00 9 .00 -.07 -.05 .57 .20 .17 .05 -.29 1.00 0 -.23 .19 -.40 -.14 .47 —.16 .19 .50 —.18 1.00 -H 36 37 Table 7 indicates that items 2, 7, 8, and 10 are negative items. It was intended that those items would be negative and this correlation supports that attempt. This table also suggests that further work is needed on this scale in order to improve the correlation for items 2 and 9. Self-Concept Inventory The four sub-sections of the Self-Concept question- naire were evaluated in terms of their association with the job satisfaction scale. Because grade—point averages were not available, the job satisfaction scores were used as the dependent variable for most of the correlations in this study. Tables 8, 9, 10, and 11 illustrate how well each of the four sub-sections were correlated to job satisfaction. Family responses and attitudes and values have a moderately positive correlation with job satisfaction, when the Yule's Q test is applied and peer group and education have a negligible negative relationship with job satisfaction. These findings suggest a person's peer group relations and his educational experiences do not have as strong a relationship, in terms of a person's job satisfaction, as does his family relationships and his attitudes in general. 38 TABLE 8.—-Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept (Family Sub- section) Inventory for New Career enrollees. Job Satisfaction Family Sub-section % of % of % of High Low Total % of Low 9 26 35 % of High 26 39 65 % of Total 35 65 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .35 Q is not statistically significant (p 1 .025) The Yule's Q statistical test was used because it does not require as large a sample as do many other tests. Because the data acquired in this study is ordinal data a more SOphisticated statistical tool may require some measurement assumptions which this data can not meet, therefore, Yule's Q was selected. This test assesses the strength of the relationship between two variables. A "Q" value indicates how much better than chance we can predict, "order on one variable from order on the other variable."2 A "Q" value of .70 or greater, for instance, would indicate a strong positive correlation while a value of -.30 or less would indicate a weak negative association. 2James A. Davis, Elementary Survey_Ana1ysis (New Jersey, 1971), p. 49. 39 TABLE 9.--Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept (Attitudes and Values sub-section) Inventory for New Career enrollees. Attitudes Job Satisfaction and Values ' % Of % Of % of Sub section High Low Total % of % of High 20 27 47 % of Total 35 65 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .34 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) TABLE 10.--Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept (Peer Groups sub-section) Inventory for New Career enrollees. Job Satisfaction Peer Group Sub-section % of % of % of High Low Total % of Low 24 38 62 % of High 11 27 38 % of Total 35 65 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = -.16 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) 40 TABLE 11.--Job Satisfaction and Self—Concept (Education sub-section) Inventory for New Career enrollees. Job Satisfaction Education Sub-section % of % of % of High Low Total % of Low 15 20 35 % of High 20 45 65 % of Total 35 65 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = —.21 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) When the entire Self—Concept Inventory is reviewed, Table 12, we find a low positive association between that instrument and the Job Satisfaction Scale. This relation- ship is consistent with the four sub-sections of the inventory in that it falls between the high and low correlations. It does suggest that there is a positive corre- lation between these two variables which supports the theory, which was presented earlier, that a person's self-concept will have an effect on his job performance. 41 TABLE 12.--Job Satisfaction and Self-Concept Inventory for New Career enrollees. 1._-..._ —._—_..__. ..._....————.—~...—-... _. .- .- ..__..._.__—-_.._ ..- .. . .‘__.__. _..---._._-.- -.-~—.-¢ ....-..-i< ‘ .1-.. - 1 - .- -- ..-..—_. -.~ ...—.__._._ ..v . Job Satisfaction Self-Concept Inventory % of % of % of High Low Total % of Low 15 35 50 8 of High 20 30 50 % of Total 35 65 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .25 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) Program Satisfaction The next correlation which was reviewed was the relationship between job satisfaction and program satis- faction (Table 13). In this relationship we observe a substantial positive association. Twenty-two out of the thirty-four participants ranked either low, low, or high, high which leaves a small number of cases that are in- consistent. These findings suggest that those persons who are satisfied with their program will have job satis- faction and vice versa. When we look at program satisfaction as it pertains to self-concept, we observe a very strong positive associ- ation (Table 14). This correlation indicates that twenty- five of the thirty—four participants are consistent on 42 TABLE 13.--Job satisfaction and program satisfaction for New Career enrollees. Job Satisfaction Program Satisfaction % of % of % of High Low Total % of Low 15 44 59 % of High 20 21 41 % of Total 35 65 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .50 Q is not statistically significant (p i .025) TABLE l4.--Self-Concept Inventory and program satisfaction for New Career enrollees. Self-Concept Inventory Program Satisfaction % of % of % of High Low Total % of Low 18 41 59 % of High 32 9 41 % of Total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .79 Q is statistically significant (p i .025) 43 both variables. This data suggests that those persons who have a positive self-concept will be satisfied with the program. This finding leads to another question which is what happens to the relationship if we control for job satisfaction. Table 15 shows what happens to the correlation between program satisfaction and self-concept when job satisfaction is removed. This table shows a very strong negative association among these variables. TABLE 15.--Program satisfaction without job satisfaction and self-concept for New Career enrollees. Program Self-Concept Inventory Satisfaction ‘ Less Job % of % of % of Satisfaction High Low Total % of Low 15 3 18 % of High 35 47 82 % of Total 50 50 10 N = 34 Yule's Q = -.74 Q is statistically significant (p i .025) It must be pointed out that because of the small number of participants, that were classified as being satisfied with the program but not satisfied with their jobs, the statistical validity of Yule's Q is rather tenuous. Nonetheless, it becomes quite clear that a 44 positive self-concept does not have a positive correlation with program satisfaction when job satisfaction is not present. Work Life The next area that was considered was how the New Career enrollees saw themselves in relation to their friends or peers in terms of being successful or non— successful in their work life. Tables l6, l7, and 18 indicate that there is a positive association between this variable and program satisfaction, job satisfaction, and self-concept. This variable is not consistent with the self-concept variable even though it correlates highly with that variable. If it were consistent with the self-concept variable it would reflect a much stronger relationship with the program satisfaction variable. Therefore, while this variable does indicate that the participants are aware of their comparable success or lack of success, it has little reliability. TABLE 16.—~Work life and program Career enrollees. satisfaction for New Work Life Program Satisfaction % of % of % of Other Successful Total % of Low 26 32 58 % of High 24 18 42 % of Total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .24 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) TABLE l7.--Work life and job satisfaction for New Career enrollees. Work Life Job Satisfaction % of % of % of Other Successful Total % of Low 26 38 64 % of High 24 12 36 % of Total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .49 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) 46 TABLE 18.-—Work life and Self-Concept Inventory for New Career enrollees. Work Life Self-Concept Inventory % of % of % of Other Successful Total % of Low 15 35 50 % of High 35 15 50 % of Total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .70 Q is statistically significant (p i .025) Marital Status The next area that was assessed was the effect marital status had on three dependent variables: job satisfaction, program satisfaction, and self-concept. Tables 19, 20, and 21 illustrate that these relationships are rather weak. This data suggests that marital status, unlike family relationships,have little correlation to the three dependent variables. This is supported by Table 22 which shows the relationship between marital status and family relationships. These findings suggest that marital status and family relationships are not synonymous for New Career enrollees. 47 TABLE 19.--Self-concept and marital status for New Career enrollees. Marital Self-Concept Inventory Status % of % of % of High Low Total % of Married or Single 24 20 44 % of Separated or Divorced 26 30 56 % of Total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = -.12 Q is not statistically significant (p 1 .025) TABLE 20.—-Program satisfaction and marital status for New Career enrollees. Program Satisfaction Marital Status % of % of % of High Low Total % of Married or Single 20 24 44 % of Separated or Divorced 21 35 56 % of Total 41 59 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = -.20 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) 48 TABLE 21.--Job satisfaction and marital status for New Career enrollees. Job Satisfaction Marital Status % of % of % of High Low Total % of Married or Single 12 32 44 % of Separated or Divorced 23 33 56 % of Total 35 65 100 N Yule's Q = .33 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) TABLE 22.--Marital status and Self-Concept (Family sub- section) Inventory for New Career enrollees. Family Sub-Section 2:2:321 8 of 8 of 8 of High Low Total % of Married or Single 29 15 44 % of Separated or Divorced 36 20 56 % of Total 65 35 100 N Yule's Q = -.08 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) 49 The final variable which was looked at was age. Table 23 shows the relationship between age of the par- ticipants and self-concept. These two variables have a moderately positive association. This data indicates that age affects a person's self-concept. The older groups tended to have a less positive self-concept. When job satisfaction is controlled for as in Table 24, the relationship between age and self-concept becomes less significant. This suggests that a lack of job satis- faction as well as age accounts for the less positive self—concept. TABLE 23.-—Se1f-Concept Inventory and age for New Career enrollees. Self-Concept Inventory Age % of % of % of High Low Total % of 35 and under 18 26 44 % of 36 and older 32 24 56 % of total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .35 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) 50 TABLE 24.--Age without job satisfaction and Self-Concept Inventory for New Career enrollees. Self-Concept Age Less Job Satisfaction % of % of % of High Low Total Other 41 44 85 36 Years and Older--Less Job Satisfaction 9 6 15 Total 50 50 100 N = 34 Yule's Q = .23 Q is not statistically significant (p Z .025) Summary Of the four sub—sections of the Self-Concept Inventory that were correlated with job satisfaction, none were statistically significant at the .05 level. Two of the sub-sections, Peer Group Relations and Edu- cation, had negative values for "Q." This result may have occurred because the statements in these sub-sections might not be apprOpriate for women. The Self-Concept Inventory itself, however, does have a positive corre- lation with Job Satisfaction even though it is not strong enough to be significant at the .05 level. 51 Tables 13 and 14 indicated that program satis- faction correlated with both job satisfaction and self- concept. This is a valuable scale for measuring atti- tudes participants have about the program in which they are participating. These two tables suggest that there is a strong association among program satisfaction and both job satisfaction and positive self-concept. The variable "work life" has a positive corre- lation with job satisfaction, program satisfaction, and self-concept. These results would suggest that New Career enrollees are realistic about whether or not they are successful. The three correlations, Tables 19, 20, and 21, which assess the effect of marital status are very interesting. These tables suggest that marital status has little or no correlation to self-concept, job satis- faction, or program satisfaction. This result is contra- dictory to the results of family relationships. Such findings suggest that certainly marital status and family relationships are not synonymous. The last category that was analyzed was the relationship between self-concept and age. Tables 23 and 24 indicate that age is correlated to self-concept in an interesting manner. The younger group, 35 years of age and less tend to have a more positive self-concept. This information suggests that at some point in a person's 52 life self-concept will reach its most positive level and then it will start to decline. CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the self-concept of a New Career enrollee and his academic performance. We also wanted to study the relationships between self-concept and job satisfaction and program satisfaction. It was hypothesized that those persons who had a positive self-concept would tend to score higher in their academic work. These en- rollees would also tend to be more successful in their work and their program and therefore they would be more satisfied with both as compared to those enrollees with a negative self-concept. Because academic records were not available for this research, we were unable to complete the major questions of this study. Academic performance was in- tended to be the major dependent variable but since it was not available job satisfaction scores were used in— stead. These scores were used because it was an estab— lished instrument. It seemed to be a reliable scale by which we could measure our other variables. After collecting the data for this study and sub- mitting it to the Yule's "Q" we arrived at the following 53 54 conclusion. Self-concept is, in fact, related to job satisfaction and program satisfaction. Since a person's self-concept is developed over a long period of time, whereas, the New Career enrollees had been in the program and on their jobs for less than two years, this would indicate that self-concept preceded job satisfaction and program satisfaction and therefore would be the causal variable. Furthermore, when job satisfaction is controlled we find that the relationship between self—concept and program satisfaction is not nearly as strong as it origi— nally appeared to be. Job satisfaction seems the stronger variable in terms of program satisfaction. This finding suggests that while a positive self-concept may account for a more successful program, the variable which has the greatest impact on the program is the job. The next area that was reviewed, was the en- rollee's own impression on his success or lack of success as compared to his peers. This variable suggests that the enrollees have a realistic view of themselves. They tend to compare themselves with their peers and if they have a positive self-concept, if they are satisfied with their job, and the program they are in, then they view themselves as successful. If they are not satisfied with what they are doing and who they are, then they tend to classify themselves as average or unsuccessful. 55 Marital status has little or no effect on a person's self-image or their satisfaction with what they are doing on the job or in a manpower program. Marital status is not synonymous with family relationships for New Career enrollees. The ages of the enrollees affect their self- concept. Those persons 36 years of age and older have a less positive self-concept than does the younger group. When job satisfaction is used as a test variable, the association between age and negative self-concept is even stronger. In summary, although self-concept is associated to program satisfaction and job satisfaction, it appears that job satisfaction is the more predominant variable. This being the case, this study indicates that in programs like the New Careers Program, while it is important to consider the self-concept of enrollees, it is even more important to help the enrollees find satisfactory employ- ment. RECOMMENDATIONS A study similar to the Glaser-Ross study should be conducted to identify those elements that affect success or non-success for women. Items in the Self-Concept In- ventory did not apply to women and that reduced the effectiveness of the questionnaire. Such a study is especially necessary if manpower programs intend to spend considerable time and effort in employment of women. If the Department of Labor is going to become more involved in finding employment for ADC recipients then they need to know what determines success for these people. This study suggests that whatever determines success for women, or improves self-concept, it is not the same elements that determine success for men. A closer look should be taken at self-concept as it relates to age. The findings in this study suggest that those persons 36 years of age or older have a less positive self-concept. These findings would suggest that at some point in a person's life self-concept reaches its peak. It might be very valuable in terms of manpower training to know when that peak occurs. It seems that training would be most successful if it takes place when 56 57 self—concept is on the increase rather than when self- concept is declining. In future studies a much larger sample should be used so that multivariant analysis and multiple regression analysis may be applied. Some of the antecedent variables which should be considered are the four sub—sections of the Self-Concept Inventory. Also, any other sub-sections which might be identified as determinants to success for women. The intervening variables to be considered are job satisfaction, program satisfaction, and age. The dependent variables should be job performance rather than job satisfaction and program performance. A multivariant or multiple regression analysis would go a great deal further than the present study in clarifying the relation- ships which exist among these variables. It would also be valuable to look at manpower pro- grams in terms of how they affect self-concept. This type of a study would require a before and after survey approach to a variety of programs. A comparison between the New Careers Program, the NYC program, and the MDTA program may reveal some very interesting information. This type of research should have a large enough sample size so that multivariant or multiple regression analysis could be used. The area of self-concept presents manpower train— ing with a wide variety of interesting areas to consider. 58 Future manpower training programs can be improved with a better understanding of self-concept and how it affects employment. BIBLIOGRAPHY B IBL IOGRAP HY Brookover, Wilbur B., and Edsel L. Erickson. Society, Schools and Learning. Boston, 1969. Broyfield, A. J., and H. F. Rothe. "An Index of Job Satisfaction." Journal of Applied Psychology (1951), 307—11. Davis, James A. Elementary Survey Analysis. New Jersey, 1971. Epps, Edgar G. "Correlates of Academic Achievement Among Northern and Southern Urban Negro Students." The Journal of Social Issues, XXV (1969), 68. Falk, R. Frank. The Frontier of Action: New Careers for the Poor--A Viable Concept. Washington, 1969. Glazer, Edward, and Harvey L. Ross. A Study of Successful Persons from Seriously Disadvantaged Backgrounds. Washington, 1970. Guilford, J. P. Personality. New York, 1959. Hall, Calvin S., and Gardner Lindzey. Theories of Personality. New York, 1966. Hunt, David E., and Robert H. Hardt. "The Effects of Upward Bound Programs on the Attitudes, Motivation, and Academic Achievement of Negro Students." The Journal of Social Issues (1969), 128. Miller, Doris Metzger, and Patricia O'Connor. “Achiever Personality and Academic Success Among Disad- vantaged College Students." The Journal of Social Issues (1969), 114. 59 60 Roberts, Meredith. "Civil Service in Michigan Sponsors Project." New Careers, 11 (1970), 5. Thurstone, Louis L. "Attitudes Can Be Measured." American Journal of Sociology, XXXIII (1928), 529—54. APPENDICES APPENDIX A PRELIMINARY SELF-CONCEPT QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX A PRELIMINARY SELF-CONCEPT QUESTIONNAIRE Biographic Information Age 2. Date of Birth Sex: Male Female Race: American Indian Negro Spanish Surname Caucasian Other (Specify) Residency: How long have you lived in this city? Years Months How many different cities or towns have you lived in during your life? Marital Status: Married Separated Single Divorced If you are married now, how would you rate your marriage: Successful Average Unsuccessful How would you rate your work life as compared to your peers? Successful Average Unsuccessful 61 62 This is an attitudinal questionnaire. There are five (5) possible responses to each statement in this questionnaire. Select the one response for each statement which most nearly expresses the way you feel about the statement. Example: 0 w H o rt 3 9. 8. --I 840) m H COHUI om-ru H34c:m Utficwd msfiCJQ Strongly Disagree l. I feel that when people aren't successful it is largely their own fault. 2. Marriage was the turning point in my life. 3. I could get away with almost anything at home. 4. School was an unhappy experience for me. Be as accurate in your responses to the questionnaire as you can. After you have responded to the statements in the example and if you do not have any question then turn the page and complete the questionnaire. 63 m m H (D 01 m m H m oi -a <11 C3) 0 3*. .5383 01 H01 C§O4Jtfifi OCDP tUO HLACIDH JJU‘O-H-U msrcnacn 1. I developed an occupational goal rather recently. 2. I blame failures in my life on bad breaks, luck, chance, fate. 3. I feel I would only be willing to work under certain conditions. 4. I developed an occupational goal early in life. 5. I blame my failures on the present social system which handicaps me because of my race. 6. I feel that I am more successful than my peers. 7. I feel I would be better off working at almost anything rather than being on the streets or unemployed. 8. My sense of self-esteem seems to come from the amount of money I have earned. 9. I haven't considered an occupational goal. 10. I feel that I have been as successful as my peers. 11. I blame myself for not taking advantage of opportunities to fulfill my potential. 12. I am reluctant to leave the streets for most kinds of jobs. 64 m m m H» 88‘ ,4 5:17:52: 25.88:: m Htfi c mAthc 0(0- MC) HLACIDH +JUAOW4H mstcnacn 13. I feel that I am less successful than my peers. 14. I do not talk in terms of goals. 15. My sense of self-esteem seems to come from belonging to some group. 16. My sense of self—esteem seems to come from some achievement, either educational or occupational. 17. I like myself, I am a "good" person, I have self-esteem. 18. I am concerned about getting ahead but I am somewhat confused about how to do it. 19. I have long-range goals towards which I am working. 20. I feel that I have been as successful as my family. 21. My current goals include an emphasis on "keeping out of jail." 22. None of my goals center around an occupation. 23. I have a realistic strategy for attaining not just a job but a particular occupation. 24. I feel that I am less successful than my family. 25. My current goals emphasize "getting more" of what I have already got. 65 o m u a) 01 m m n m U! ~H 4 :5 C) 9+ .885 m urn c m4Jtnc o 0- «so uxaccnu +Aoiow4u (DdIQDU) 26. I feel that I am more successful than my family. 27. Hustling is a good means of getting ahead. 28. I prefer short-range goals with tangible pleasures or rewards. 29. Hard work or education are the means for getting ahead. A 30. I feel disliked and rejected. 31. I am not concerned about getting ahead. 32. My main concerns, loyalties, and identifi- cations are toward a gang or people in street life. 33. I seldom ever make a mistake. 34. My main concerns, loyalties, and identifi- cations are towards my family. 35. I feel "settling down" and having a family will mean a basic change in my life style. 36. I have been deeply involved in street life but have left it. 37. I have never been seriously involved with street life. 38. Very seldom am I dishonest. 39. I feel getting married and having children will not change my basic way of life. 66 m m 1.. a) U1 m m H .33 2:15 a 3A 828:1 pl #401 couch: (30- «so Hxaccnxa 4Joiowau uadcncam 40. I am able to reconcile my concerns, loyal— ties, and identifications to both my family and street life. 41. I am involved neither with a family, nor with a gang, or peOple in street life. 42. I come from a family in which nearly every- one is in and out of trouble including me. 43. I remember admiring someone in my family who was representative of mainstream values. 44. I remember admiring someone in my family who represented street-life values. 45. My parents seem not to have been concerned with the way I expressed myself. 46. I remember my parents as having discouraged me from speaking good English. 47. I am almost always unhappy. 48. When I was growing up Religious Values were not stressed in my home. 49. I remember admiring delinquently oriented peers. 50. I come from a family in which most of the members are not very successful. 51. When I was growing up religious values were important in my home. 52. I remember admiring someone outside my family who represented mainstream values. 67 m m s... a) 01 93 3“. pi ~H n: (3) D .3‘ .‘2 8.31 0 arm cocn 14. My sense of self-esteem seems to come from some achievement either educational or occupational. 11182 3() 15. When I was growing up religious values were not stressed in my home. 2 213116 16. I remember my parents as encouraging me to speak good English. 13191:10 17. There was quite a lot of friction between me and my family because of my activities 11.01517 in street life. 18. I remember admiring or liking some of my teachers and/or coaches. 6251.1 1 19. I am concerned about getting ahead but I am somewhat confused about how to do it. 4144'75 20. My parents expected little from me in terms of meeting standards of behavior or achievement. 3 5 31211 21. My parents expected me to get ahead by fulfilling my obligations towards them. 5 6 1109 22. I remember not being successful among my peers in the street. £57 8104 23. I gained some recognition in school, either academically or in sports. 2212 9C) 24. Hustling is a good means of getting ahead. 01251116 25. I could pretty much get away with whatever I wanted. ()2 21317 76 o m u o m m m H m oi -a ‘2 Q '86 :1 .6631 m -H$4U1 COUCH: o0cn 16. My job is pretty uninteresting. l 2 120110 17. I find real enjoyment in my work. 3244 3 0 18. I am disappointed that I ever took this job. 1 0 115 7 80 Some training programs are more interesting and satisfying than others. We want to know how people feel about the training program they are enrolled in. This blank contains ten (10) statements about the New Careers program. You are to check the phrase which best describes how you feel about this pro- gram. There are no right or wrong answers. We would like your honest Opinion on each one of the statements. Work out the sample item below. StronglylAgree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly DISagree There are some parts of the New Careers program which could be improved. 81 w m u (D 0+ 0 m H m 01 -H d: 'U Q 3* 36’ 3.31 w ~H14oi c: 0) O 01:: o mcnaxo H$4T5m$4 +Jo+:w4u (0611:3001 l. I feel that I will be able to get a better job because I have been in the New Careers program, 17151.1 0 2. There are other training programs which would help me more than the New Careers program. 0 121149 3. The New Careers program is presenting me with many new challenges. 10240 0() 4. I wish I had more time to devote to my New Careers work. 6 #6 4() 5. My friends think I am lucky to be in the New Careers program. hfl 43()0 6. I would recommend the New Careers program to my friends. 23h10 0 0 7. The New Careers program will not help me much in the future. 0 l 3 1020 8. Most of the time the New Careers program is boring to me. ()0 31318 9. The peOple who work for the New Careers program are interested in my welfare. h5h7l 1() 10. The New Careers program will not help me much in getting a good job. 1()2P31%