Predicting the post-baccalaureate church employment status of Christian Church Bible college graduates
Abstract
This study identified variables which predicted the church employment status of Bible college students four months after graduation. Holland's (1985) Self-Directed Search (SDS) and researcher-developed self-efficacy and family measures were administered to 130 graduating seniors at 7 Bible colleges in May, 1992. The SDS was also mailed to 42 practicing Christian Church ministers selected at random, providing data from which Iachan's (1990) congruence indices were calculated. In September, the graduates were contacted to ascertain which were employed full-time in a church and which were not. Test instrument and employment data were fit to a multiple logistic regression model to determine which variables best predict the outcome. Chi-square tests showed gender, hours spent in paid church work, hours spent in paid nonchurch work, plan to attend seminary, self-efficacy average score, plan church employment, and Iachan's congruence score to be statistically significant (p $<$.05) predictor variables. When included in the same regression, these variables were 94.3% successful in predicting the level of the employment outcome variable.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Kelly, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Academic guidance counseling
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