ACT is developing a social community called ACT Profile to help students with college and career planning. It will provide personalized insights and guidance based on students' interests, abilities, and values to help them choose a major and career path that is a good fit. Currently in beta testing, ACT Profile will be a free social networking tool accessible on mobile devices to guide students throughout their lives. It aims to increase self-awareness, expand opportunities considered, improve decision making, and create education and career roadmaps for students.

1. College and Career Planning Goes Social
www.act.org/profile

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Katie McDonnell - Social Property Analyst, Customer Experience
• With ACT for almost 2 years
• Background in events, social media, digital communications
• B.A. in English and Journalism from the University of Iowa
• M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern
University
Introduction

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Tyler Coon - Director of Social Property, Customer Experience
• With ACT for 5+ years
• Primary focus on technology and operations
• Customer facing applications in education and healthcare
• B.B.A. Management Information Systems, University of Iowa
Introduction

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The Problem
The Lost Student
 Wandering without a goal or plan
 Could benefit from developing a
personally relevant, meaningful goal
and plan
The Head-butt Student
 Has a goal, may not attain it, but
isn’t considering other options
 Could be made aware of a broader
range of personally relevant,
meaningful options

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Persistence in Major by ACT Score Range and Interest-Major Fit
Individual Benefits
• Persist in college
• Remain in their major
• Complete their college
degree in a timely manner
• Reduce likelihood to
accumulate unneeded debt
Major Fit Linked to Persistence
All learners need to focus on good fit to ensure college and career
success. Good fit starts with exploring opportunities.

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First-Generation Students
94 percent of first-generation students
aspire to earn a post-secondary
degree…
First-generation students are less likely to select a planned major that’s
a good fit with their interests.
Source 2013 report from ACT and COE: “The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2013: First-generation Students.”
Yet common challenges that face these
students include:
• Lack of family educational capital
• Alienation from PSE environment

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Career & Educational Planning - Critical Aspects
• Self-Knowledge – interests, abilities, and
values
• Connecting your personal characteristics
to educational and occupational options
that better fit you
• Skills for finding and using relevant career
and educational resources
• Taking appropriate actions to achieve
goals

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Planning is Social
Source: 2011 Carnegie Communications Research
Report “The Digital Age Comes to Search”
Who are the top influencers in
college selection?

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For the iGeneration, the social web is the only context they know
Our Audience Trends
Source: eMarketer
In order to better understand and better serve our audience,
we need to meet them where they are.
Millennials Generation X Baby Boomers
Internet 93% 89% 77%
Social Media 84% 75% 44%
Facebook 75% 65% 39%

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• ACT is developing communities for personalized insights to
provide contextual information and guidance to students
throughout their lives
• Personalized insights will provide opportunities to students at key
transition points to:
ACT Profile
• Increase self-awareness
• Expand view of opportunities
• Improve decision-making
• Roadmap education and career
plans
The choices can be overwhelming. Focusing on the personalized
insights will provide navigation and guidance based on data.

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 Free – Lowering barriers to access
 Social – Connecting the network of planning
 Mobile – Meeting people where they are
 Insight-Driven – personalized and based on research
ACT Profile is a social college and career planning community built on
more than 30 years of research, focusing on personalized
experiences.
ACT Profile will give students and their respective networks a free and
powerful tool to derive the insights they need to make smarter
decisions about their next steps.
Delivering a meaningful experience

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Current State
• Learner community – open beta
• Focused on 13+ aged learners
• Listening to learners and their unique needs
• Developing insights based on interactions
• Educator/mentor community – managed beta
• Understanding unique guidance points
• Focusing on actionable insights
• Individuals in all 50 states and international

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Live Demo

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Questions and Discussion
www.act.org/profile
Profile@act.org

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Appendix

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Appendix – Interest Inventory
• Contains 12 items for each of six
scales—72 items total
• Uses a three-choice response format
(dislike, indifferent, like)
• Untimed and usually takes about 10-
14 minutes to complete
• Items emphasize work-relevant
activities that are likely to be familiar
to individuals, either through
participation or observation
• Reliability and validity are backed by
130 million inventories delivered

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Appendix – Abilities Inventory
• 18-item instrument that
measures informed self-
estimates of abilities
• Each ability is accompanied
by a definition and list of
relevant experiences to
consider
• Students rate themselves
compared to same-age
peers on a five-point scale
ranging from High (top 10%)
to Low (lowest 10%)
• The inventory contains a
broad range of abilities,
including those commonly
assessed by tests (e.g.,
Mathematics) and not
typically assessed by tests
(e.g., Artistic)

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Appendix – Values Inventory
• 22-item instrument that measures
work-relevant values
• Each value is accompanied by a
definition
• Students choose one of four
response options: Don’t Want, Not
Important, Somewhat Important,
and Very Important
• The inventory contains a broad set
of work-relevant values related to
work settings (e.g., Working
Outside), work tasks (e.g., Helping
Others), work preparation (e.g.,
Short Training Time), and work
opportunities (e.g., Prestige)

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Appendix – Major Map
• The ACT Major Map displays the
locations of 153 college majors
and programs of study
• The map is empirical and based
on the measured interests of
college students in the majors
shown on the map
• All majors can be organized
according to the interests of
students for types of basic
activities: data, ideas, people, and
things activities
• These four basic activities serve
as compass points and are shown
on the outer edge of the map
• Of the 153 majors, 42 are based
on data from 2-year institutions

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Appendix – Career Map
• Map based the Holland Occupational
Themes (RIASEC)
• Theory of careers and vocational
choice based upon personality types
• Developed by the psychologist John L.
Holland
• Each letter or code stands for a
particular "type": Realistic (Doers),
Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic
(Creators), Social (Helpers),
Enterprising (Persuaders), and
Conventional (Organizers)