ACT 'World-of-Work Map' Creator Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

May 22, 1998

IOWA CITY—Dale Prediger, the ACT research scientist who developed the World-of-Work Map and other innovations, has received the National Career Development Association's Eminent Career Award. The award is given for sustained contributions to the field of career development, which helps individuals make improved career choices and transitions.

The World-of-Work Map, developed in the early 1970s and based on the earlier contributions of ACT's John Holland, has helped millions of students decide on careers and fields of study. The map links personal interests—in people, ideas, things and data—to the occupations most closely aligned with those interests.

Prediger also developed what's known as the ACT Interest Inventory, taken by more than four million people each year, as well as inventories of work-relevant abilities and work-relevant values. His influence can be felt as far away as Japan, where a version of ACT's Career Planning Survey is being adapted to help people explore career opportunities.

"Dale has provided a legacy of work in the career development field that is second to none," said NCDA Past President JoAnn Harris-Bowlsbey, an ACT colleague who presented the award. "He continues to produce research findings that will be useful in the next century."

The NCDA’s annual Eminent Career Award is considered one of the highest honors in the career development field.