The growth of psychometric testing

This paper examines the current growth in psychometric testing for recruitment, and the degree to which it reflects dissatisfaction with formal qualifications in the general education and/or vocational sectors, changes in skill needs, or other non-education related factors. It is a companion piece to Jenkins (2001) which reviews the evidence on levels of test use and confirms that there has been a significant increase: and to Jenkins (2002) which analyses the organisational and sectoral variables associated with higher or lower levels of test use. Its particular focus, however, is on the reasons for change in testing levels. Moreover, in focusing on reasons for change it draws heavily on evidence collected from case-studies of a wide range of public and private sector organisations: whereas Jenkins (2002) focuses largely on cross-sectional survey data.