[1] Strong initially planned to teach in China, but due to difficulties obtaining clearance from the government, he decided to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology at Columbia University.
[4] At Columbia University, he worked with Dr. James McKeen Cattell and assisted in the psychology laboratory of Dr. Harry Levi Hollingworth,[6] where he met his wife, Margaret Hart.
[8] He left his teaching position and joined the Committee on Classification of Personnel in the Army during World War I in 1917.
[2] After his military service, Edward Strong briefly became a researcher at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he began studying career theory and industrial/organizational psychology principles.
[1] During his academic career, he chaired approximately 58 dissertation, contributed 46 journal articles, and wrote 6 books.
John Darley (1964) noted that "it is impossible to estimate how many thousands of young people have been helped in crucial career choices by the use of the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory.
[4] Strong hypothesized that an interest inventory can predict a person's entry into an occupation at a better rate than chance.
[3] Eventually this led to the creation of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) in 1927, followed by a form for women in 1933.
More recent research has confirmed Strong's original theories and findings that vocational interests are similar across cultures.
[5] Strong theorized that abilities, interests, and achievements all reciprocally worked together to influence vocational development.