Making Learning Real: Design Principles and Evidence for Applied Learning in Schools
Category: Student Learning
Instrument Overview
Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths
Strong reliability (typically α > .90), meaning responses are highly consistent across items. Validated primarily with U.S. college students; useful for measuring students’ confidence in completing career decision-making tasks.
Cautions
Measures confidence in decision-making, not actual career choices or outcomes.
The Career Decision-Making Self-efficacy Scale (CDMSE) is a survey instrument. The purpose is to measure a student's confidence in making career decisions. The scale is based on Albert Bandura's concept of self-efficacy (one's belief in their ability to accomplish specific actions). The version most often used is a short form, the CDMSE-SF, which was created to replace a longer 50-item survey.
The CDMSE-SF contains a total of 25 items across five subscales. It is intended for use in career counseling interventions and for individual assessment. Students respond to the items using a 10-level confidence continuum. This continuum ranges from ""no confidence at all"" to ""complete confidence"". The short form was developed and evaluated in 1996.
Organization
Topic
Collection Category(ies)
Content
Grades
Post secondary
Respondent
Student
Administration Information
Length
25 items
Access and Use
Open Access
No
Use in Research
Bin Abu Talib, J., Mohamad, Z., & Abdul Wahab, N. (2015). Effects of Career Exploration Module on Career Planning, Career Self-Efficacy and Career Maturity among Community College Students. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(6 S1), 464–470
Psychometrics (additional guidance)
Reliability
.94 (Cronbach's alpha)
Psychometric References
Betz, N. E., Klein, K. L., & Taylor, K. M. (1996). Evaluation of a short form of the career decision-making self-efficacy scale. Journal of career assessment, 4(1), 47-57.
Item Type
Likert
