Date of Award

Spring 5-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Chair

Frances Karnes

Committee Chair Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Member 2

Hollie Filce

Committee Member 2 Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Member 3

David Walker

Committee Member 3 Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Member 4

Elgen Hillman

Committee Member 5

James T. Johnson

Abstract

This research project was conducted to analyze the career maturity level scores of intellectually gifted middle school students. The Career Maturity Inventory-Revised (Crites & Savickas, 1995) was used to compare the career-choice readiness of the intellectually gifted students to their typical middle school-age peers, as well as to the 9th through 12th graders in the norm sample. In addition, a comparison of the career maturity levels of intellectually gifted male and female 6th and 7th graders was also conducted. It was also hypothesized that the intellectually gifted students' career maturity score would increase as the students' grade level increased T-tests and a two-way ANOVA were used for data analysis. The findings indicate that intellectually gifted students have more mature attitudes toward career decision-making than their typical peers but not more so than the high school students in the norm sample. Differences were also found between the level of readiness of the male and female intellectually gifted students. There were, however, no differences found between the 6th and 7th grade intellectually gifted participants. A summary of findings and recommendations for future research and practice are also included.

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