WOWI, short for World of Work Inventory, was developed by Dr. Robert Ripley in 1970. From 1958 to 1963, he was hired by the U.S. Department of Labor as an expert consultant tasked with developing the Third Edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)*. During this time, he traveled all over the USA, surveying similarities and differences in the rapidly changing world of work.
Based on his observations, Dr. Ripley concluded that something was missing — there was a real need for a comprehensive career assessment that could change lives for the better. That’s where the WOWI comes in. As the first and only career assessment developed directly from the Department of Labor database, it is fully-integrated AND multidimensional.
*In 1998, O*Net replaced the DOT.
The WOWI is designed to provide an assessment of three major considerations in vocational counseling, planning, and career decision making: interests (Career Interest Areas), aptitudes-abilities, and temperaments (Job Satisfaction Indicators). Combining these three types of information into one system is the greatest accomplishment of the system's developers.
—Karl Botterbusch, Professor, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, University of Wisconsin-Stout
Explore the history of career assessments and the development of the WOWI in this six-minute video. This is key foundational knowledge for understanding why a multidimensional approach to career assessment is essential.