Validating the Future Career Autobiography as a measure of narrative change

This study examined the validity of the Future Career Autobiography (FCA; Rehfuss, 2009), a qualitative instrument designed to capture change or stability in individuals’ life and occupational narratives across time as a result of narrative career interventions. Italian female entrepreneurs (N = 82) were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (n = 40) that received career counseling consistent with the Life Design paradigm or a control group (n = 42) that received no intervention. The results indicated a significant narrative movement or change in the post-FCAs of the experimental group, moving from general to more specific life and occupational themes, while the control group’s pre- and post-FCAs remained similar across the same time period. In addition, word count analysis revealed expanded narrative expression within the experimental group’s post-FCAs. Together, these findings support the validity of this qualitative instrument.