Siegfried Rouvrais & Nathalie Chelin
INTRODUCING PERSONALITY TESTS to Clarify Engineering Student Self-perception and Demystify Recruitment Procedures
8th International CDIO Conference, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, July 1 - 4, 2012 03/07/2012
[Rouvrais & al.] A Mixed Project-based Learning Framework: Preparing and Developing Student Competencies in a French Grande Ecole. European Journal of Eng. Education, 31(1), 2006.
Telecom Bretagne curriculum context 2003
reform incorporating large semester projects
• integrated curriculum • but freshmen struggled to identify professional skills & career directions • therefore needed some time before feeling committed and being operational in their projects and studies It
is often said that Generation Y students:
• seek a better quality of life and a balance between work and personal interests. Think short-term • low conscientiousness and a penchant for delaying passage into adulthood, impact their learning and professional expectations • uncertainty/indecision dominate their professional future appraisal Some
incoming students:
• “Who am I, what do I do, what will I do?” page 1
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
[Rouvrais & Chelin] Engineer Professional Identity: For an Early Clarification of Student's Perceptions. 6th Intl. CDIO Conf. 2010.
Career preparation program
Program designers: • must trust students to finally find their own way • but they must also enable them to participate actively in their own learning path, to build their future professional identity • must also give them a sense of responsibility so as to enable them to plan proactively their future career, asap
2007: integration of a career preparation program over the 3 years, 21h mandatory per year
Several tools for a realistic and more secured professional and personal student project: 1.Year 1-- identification of one’s personality and skills, choose his courses and electives 2.Year 2-- career orientations: propose a first professional project 3.Year 3-- itineraries: define and evaluate career paths, personal development page 2
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
A test in the career preparation program since 2007
Psychometric tests: • sometimes used to support the selection of incoming students or the student composition for PBL (teaming) A Professional Interest Inventory test at Telecom Bretagne: • formative: help students have a more objective self-perception, challenge stereotypes, question their character traits and interests • each year, this test is proposed, as optional, to freshmen and senior students (other tests for sophomores and seniors) Personality is analyzed based on twelve facets of the human character (with opposite factors) • delivered to students (property of) • together with a documented interpretation of each student score (approx. 10 pages) • plus a comparison with nine personality patterns • and an optional 30-minute one-to-one debriefing session page 3
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Radar sample
page 4
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
One-to-One Personalized Debriefing as a Reflective Complement (non compulsory) “Magic Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Fairest of Them All?”
A dozen of volunteer A/Prof trained 1. Pre-contact: welcoming, trust building and contextualization; let the student express his/her views on the test 2. Contact: discuss student’s self-perception and representation in comparison with the image given by the test results 3. Post-contact: “Did you learn something? How did you find this discussion?”
If A/Prof. experiences difficulties or notices that a student does not feel comfortable (self-esteem), provide feedbacks to a referent
In practice, the test is mostly an excuse to initiate a discussion and to question self-perception, self-image There is no perfect profile, and the opposing factors greatly favour discussions
page 5
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
3A Population Totale 12
Questions
10
10
10 9,4
10
10
10
9,4
10
10
10
9,4
9,2
8 1APersuasiveness
6
10,0 1AFlexibility
1AAltruism
6,4 4,8
8,0
6,7 5,1
5,1
6,9
6,4 5,8
5,7
5,6
5,1
4,8
6,1 4,7
4,1
4
6,0
7
6,6
5,8
5,4
5,1
4,5
6 4,9
1AResistance stress
1ANeed autonomy
4,0
2
2,0
2
1,8 1,2
0,0
1AAmbition
6,4
1AExtroversion
1,2
2
1,2
0,6
1,8
1,8
2,4 1,2
0,6
0 1ANeed for action
1AImprovisation
1ADesire to lead
1ARationalism 1AInvolvement at w ork
1AFemales
1AMen
Q1
min
mediane
moyenne
max
Q3
More than 700 test scores collected since 2007: 1. Is there a specific profile of engineering students at Telecom Bretagne? 2. Do profiles evolve between the first and last year of the engineering program? 3. Do test credibility and acceptance depend on the year when the test is taken? page 6
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8th International CDIO Conference
Quantitative results for Freshmen Even
if optional, a vast majority of freshmen take it
(96%) The
average score is approximately 5 for freshmen (0-10 scale) for the 12 traits • the maximum score being 5.7 in Rationalism • on average: - male student are higher with respect to Stress resistance, Rationalism, and Ambition - female student are higher with respect to Rationalism, Involvement at work, Altruism, and Organisation & Sensitivity
page 7
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Quantitative results for Seniors
No trait significantly stands out (i.e. medians very close to the means, between 4 and 6) • few students reach extreme figures • Introversion (5.9), Rationalism (5.7), Ambition, and Flexibility predominate
There is a rather tight distribution: • no linearity (e.g. each quartiles of 2.5 length), • no extreme profiles (e.g. large quartiles near the medians) • the quartiles are from median: - at a minimum of 0.6 points (cf. Flexibility, Extroversion and Desire to Lead coming next) - at a maximum of 1.6 points (cf. Flexibility and Resistance to Stress, Extroversion, and Ambition coming next)
Gender trend is quite similar as for freshmen page 8
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8th International CDIO Conference
French preparatory schools incoming students versus Univ. students Telecom
Bretagne student recruitment sources are mostly found: • in Maths selective scientific studies (French preparatory classes) • in international university: - there are 40% of international students at Telecom Bretagne, representing each year approximately 46 nationalities
Students
coming from the university (seem to):
• stronger (approx. 0.6 spread) in Rationalism (6.1/5.6), Involvement at work (5.3/4.5) and Need of autonomy (5.7/5.1) Students
from preparatory schools (seem to):
• stronger in Need for action (4.6/3.8) and more Stress Resistant (5.3/4.4) page 9
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Quantitative results for students who passed the test both in 1st Year and 3rd Year Only
40 student tests results collected & compared • seniors tend to favour other tests because they already took the PII test as freshmen and prefer to discover other types of results • the gender breakdown is representative of the school population (women represent 20% of Telecom Bretagne students) For the most significant examples: • a student gained 5.2 points in Desire to Lead, whereas another decreased of 5.8 points in Improvisation Even if some student profiles have slightly changed, the average remains quite the same. Quartiles followed approximately the same mode page 10
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Student evaluations
In order to analyze more precisely test perception, the first year of test introduction was analyzed (2007)
Satisfaction questionnaire submitted to students on Moodle • overall, approximately 70% of the students judge the results as partially relevant and 25% as fully relevant • as tests are also a tool to prepare recruitments, senior students are more receptive/assertive and even wish to be exposed to other types of tests (e.g. management, leadership, or sales profiles)
A transcription of evaluation results is provided in the paper, with student testimonials: • about the optional debriefings • about the utility of this test
page 11
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Lessons to be learned
We initially had to face a significant reluctance to the test introduction both from students and teaching staff • the reliability of the test scores is regularly questioned, even more by French freshmen (foreign students more open-minded and curious) • “not a problem”: the test is above all a reflective tool to initiate and discuss self-awareness and self-perception for further activities during the career preparation program
There is a danger to lock up students in boxes as some of them could place too much faith into the PII test
As such, the debriefing phase is critical • solicitations for participating in the optional debriefing must be as precise and proactive as possible • … and debriefers must be trained page 12
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Conclusion Students construct their personal and professional identity at various stages of their studies
•
a career preparation program in 2007 to better support nomadic/protean/boundaryless careers managed by the individual
Results of 6 years of PII tests: 1. it exists a specific profile at Telecom Bretagne (Rationalism, Ambition, Flexibility and Introversion), not so far from the average/median - although one might expect an emphasis on some traits about digital natives (Flexibility, Improvisation, Need for action, or Need of autonomy) - perhaps the same for all French students from preparatory schools (Grande Ecole national concours) 2. globally, student profiles do not significantly evolve (1st – 3rd years) 3. test credibility and acceptance depend on the year when the test is taken page 13
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Conclusion (cont’), possible future work
Tests permit to demystify recruitment procedures and be better prepared for job interviews Overall, tests are a good instrument for curriculum & career counselling if a well conducted debriefing is offered Help many of our students to challenge stereotypes (engineering identity, generalist eng. school), have a more objective selfperception and self-image
1. Is there a right time to take a test in a curriculum? 2. Is there a link between character traits and types of internships/1st jobs? 3. Compare these scores with those of students in business schools as interpersonal skills seem to be more significant in marketing, sales and management page 14
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
8th International CDIO Conference
Annexe: Whiskers plot of main factors for seniors (scale 0-10) 3A Population Totale 12 10
10
10 9,4
10
10
9,4
10
10
10
10
9,4
9,2
8 6
6,4 4,8
6,7 5,1
5,1
6,9
6,4 5,7
5,6
5,1
5,8 4,8
6,1
5,8
4,7
1,8
2 1,2
1,2
2
1,2
0,6
1,8 0,6
0
Q1 page 15
S. Rouvrais & N. Chelin
min
mediane
moyenne
max
5,4
6,4 5,1
4,5
4,1
4 2
7
6,6
Q3
8th International CDIO Conference
1,8
6 4,9
2,4 1,2
1APersuasiveness
10,0 1AFlexibility
1AAltruism
8,0 1ANeed autonomy
6,0
1AResistance stress
4,0 2,0 1AAmbition
0,0
1AExtroversion
1ANeed for action
1AImprovisation
1ADesire to lead
1ARationalism 1AInvolvement at w ork
1AFemales page 16
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1AMen
8th International CDIO Conference
