Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant relationship between the length of time it takes Trinity University graduates to become employed and the identified job related variables and combinations of variables. The job related sets of variables are: (1)background variables, (2)variables related to academic major and grade point average, (3)variables related to employment seeking behaviors influencing job attainment, (4)variables related to ethnic background and socio-economic status, and (5)variables related to geographic and organization size preference.The group surveyed in this study was the Trinity University graduates who had received bachelor's degrees in December 1978, May 1979, and August 1979. A questionnare was sent to each of the 572 Trinity graduates. Three weeks later follow-up questionnaires were mailed out and two weeks later a reminder post card was sent to the graduates who had not returned questionnaires. Two weeks after the mailing of the post cards, twenty-five random telephone calls were made to graduates who had still not returned the survey. Of the 572 questionnaires mailed out, 370 useable questionnaires were returned (65 percent).The statistical analyses were done in phases. Because much of the information collected was at the nominal level, the first phase of analysis was descriptive. Item counts were reported for each item on the questionnaire. Means, standard deviations, and correlations with length of time to secure employment were reported on data that can be considered to be at the interval level. Two-way classifications, (chi)('2) tests, and probability levels were reported for time to secure employment for most items on the questionnaire which were nominal in nature. After the classificatory analyses were completed, a set-wise regression analysis was applied to the data.The researcher tried to ascertain whether there is a significant relationship between length of time it takes Trinity University graduates to become employed and the identified variables and combination of variables.The first set of variables addressed was background variables. No combination, nor any variable among these, was found to show any significant relationship with length of time to become employed.The second set of variables included academic major and grade point average. Several of these variables showed a significant relationship both alone and in combination with time to secure employment. The more valuable either a major or a Trinity degree was seen, the longer it took to become employed. Grade point average showed a non-significant relationship to length of time to secure employment.With regard to the variables examining employment seeking behaviors influencing job attainment, several significant findings occurred. First, the higher the salary the faster employment was found. Also, people who perceived employment as not difficult to find, found employment faster.With regard to variables related to ethnic background and socio-economic status, no significant findings were found in regard to ethnic background, nor were there any significant relationships to socio-economic status.The fifth set of variables were related to geographic and organization size preference. There were significant findings for both variables. Apparently, there is a somewhat faster rate of employment of those who actually express a preference for geographic location.In comparing the five sets of variables, the most important with regard to length of time for college graduates to obtain employment were the employment seeking behaviors. The second most important set was the academic major variables. The other three sets of variables contributed very little to predicting the length of time to secure employment.

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