Barrier to Employment Success Inventory (BESI)

Abstract

The Barrier to Employment Success Inventory (BESI), Second Edition, is a specialized, 50-item psychological assessment designed to identify and highlight personal obstacles that hinder individuals from obtaining or maintaining employment. This instrument utilizes a 4-point Likert-type scale, ranging from “of no concern” to “of great concern.” The BESI is designed for self-administration, self-scoring, and self-interpretation, making it accessible for individual or group use. Administration typically takes between 10 and 15 minutes.

The inventory organizes potential barriers into five distinct categories: Personal and Financial; Emotional and Physical; Career Decision-Making and Planning; Job-Seeking Knowledge; and Training and Education. The primary goal of the BESI is to serve as a discussion catalyst, enabling unemployed individuals and vocational counselors to collaboratively address significant obstacles to employment success. It was developed primarily for adults with lower levels of education.

Keywords

Barrier to Employment Success Inventory, BESI, vocational assessment, job seeking, unemployment, employment barriers, career planning, self-scored inventory, vocational counseling.

Authors

The author of the BESI, Second Edition, is not explicitly named in the available documentation. However, the development is founded on research conducted by Miller and Oetting (1977).

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Barrier to Employment Success Inventory (BESI) is to systematically identify the personal and structural difficulties that prevent individuals from successfully entering or remaining in the workforce. By quantifying concerns across various life domains, the BESI provides a structured framework for both the job seeker and the counselor to pinpoint major obstacles.

The inventory is intended to be an introductory tool that facilitates open dialogue about specific employment barriers. Although it provides immediate results and suggestions, its core utility lies in its capacity to structure an initial interview or intake process, particularly for vocational counselors working with disadvantaged or less educated adults.

Construct

The BESI measures the psychological and practical construct of perceived Barriers to Employment Success. These barriers are categorized into five distinct domains, reflecting challenges commonly faced by unemployed individuals. These domains move beyond simple job skill deficiencies to include personal, psychological, and logistical concerns.

The five measured sub-constructs are:

• Personal and Financial: Concerns related to logistical support, such as childcare, transportation, or financial stability necessary for job searching and retention.
• Emotional and Physical: Measures barriers arising from issues like insecurity, low self-esteem, physical health problems, or difficulties managing the anger and depression associated with unemployment.
• Career Decision-Making and Planning: Reflects difficulties related to setting career goals, choosing appropriate paths, or understanding the job market.
• Job-Seeking Knowledge: Measures a lack of effective knowledge regarding job search strategies, resume writing, or interviewing skills.
• Training and Education: Concerns related to inadequate formal schooling, such as lacking a high school diploma or essential technical qualifications needed for desired employment.

Validity

Empirical evidence supporting the validity of the BESI is minimal and limited. While the tool possesses strong face validity and content validity—meaning the items appear relevant and cover the relevant domain of employment barriers—quantitative validation data is sparse.

The data used to support the inventory’s initial evidence of validity was derived from a single, small sample of 85 to 150 unemployed adults participating in government-sponsored job training programs (specifically, the “Starting Points” intervention). There is virtually no available documentation regarding the norming sample composition, administrative conditions, or comprehensive validation evidence, making it difficult for test users to accurately evaluate the quality and applicability of the BESI. Critically, there is no evidence of predictive validation, and only minimal construct-related evidence has been reported.

Reliability

Based on the limited technical information available, the BESI demonstrates relatively high reliability and internal consistency among the scores attained from the single sample of adults in the government training program. Basic descriptive data regarding reliability is included in the administrator’s manual. However, the lack of detailed information concerning the data collection methods, sample characteristics, and comprehensive data analysis procedures prevents robust determination of the reliability and consistency of scores across diverse populations of unemployed workers.

Factor Analysis

The scale development utilized a national-empirical, content-based approach rather than relying solely on classical factor analysis to determine the final structure. The initial item pool of 100 statements, based on the foundational work of Miller and Oetting (1977), was designed to measure constructs identified through literature review and consultation with counselors.

The development process involved professional counselors categorizing and reviewing statements for clarity and appropriateness, reducing the pool to 75 items. Subsequently, the author reduced the item count to the final 50 items, which are evenly divided among the five predetermined scales. The exact methodology used to reduce the 75 items to the final 50, or the psychometric justification for the five-factor structure beyond the content-based approach, is not clearly documented.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Inventory (Psychological/Vocational Assessment)

Format: Paper-and-pencil inventory or online assessment

Language Available: English (implied)

Population Group: Job seekers and career planners

Age Group: Adult and teenage populations

Population Details: Individuals preparing to look for a job, those who have not found employment, or those unable to retain a job. Requires at least an eighth-grade reading level. Developed primarily for less educated adults facing significant employment barriers.

Test Methodology: 50 items rated on a 4-point scale (“of no concern” to “of great concern”). Responses are summed within five categories, with color coding facilitating self-scoring and interpretation. Higher scores indicate greater concern regarding specific barriers.

Keywords

Vocational psychology, psychological testing, assessment instrument, job retention, career counseling, Miller and Oetting, self-esteem, training and education, job search knowledge.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified

Correspondence Address: Not specified

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Publication Date (Test Year): 2002 (Second Edition).

Permissions and Fees: Information regarding current licensing, permissions, and associated fees must be obtained directly from the publisher of the BESI. Due to the lack of clear authorship details in the public domain, specific permission requirements are not listed here.

Reference’s

• Miller, M. J., & Oetting, E. R. (1977). Research generating a list of 37 barriers to employment.
• The Sixteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook.
• The Nineteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook.

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Items of the Barrier to Employment Success Inventory (BESI)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The source content does not provide the specific 50 scale items of the Barrier to Employment Success Inventory (BESI). It only lists the five categories under which the items are structured:

• Personal and Financial:
• Emotional and Physical: The E scale measures barriers stemming from feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem, and physical problems. Respondents with high scores on this scale are concerned with maintaining their health or a positive attitude. They may also be concerned about dealing with the anger and depression associated with unemployment or underemployment.
• Career Decision-Making and Planning:
• Job-Seeking Knowledge:
• Training and Education: In the Training and Education scale, possible barriers may be lack of a high school diploma or needed technical school training.