The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Choice of Occupation - Research Paper Example

The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Choice of Occupation Title A study of the influence of gender stereotypes on the occupational and career choices of males and females by understanding their explicit and implicit career preferences Abstract Background: Girls and boys internalize occupational stereotypes at a young age with children being able to classify careers as either masculine or feminine. Moreover, the classification used by children is similar to that used by adults. Accordingly, these gendered stereotypes that girls and boys internalize during the process of socialization via the media and parents lead women and men to take up gender-appropriate stereotypical career choices. Aim: This study will seek to investigate the effect that gender stereotypes have on both male and female career preferences. The study hypothesized that career preferences are positively associated with traditional gender systems and roles, in which men prefer masculine occupations and women prefer more feminine occupations. Methodology: The study selected (n=40) individuals, of which (n=30) were female, while (n=10) were male. A questionnaire was administered consisting of two major sections. One section sought to directly elicit the career preferences of the participants. The other section sought to indirectly elicit career preferences by asking participants to choose from a list of twenty eight career aspects that the participants preferred in their future career. These career aspects were then entered into the Making Better Career Decisions computer program to identify careers most suited for the aspects identified. Results: As hypothesized, there was a significant relationship between gender stereotypes of suitable careers and the careers chosen by participants of their respective genders in the directly elicited career lists. However, the relationship between gender stereotypes and careers selected from the indirectly elicited lists was less significant. Differences between males and females in the indirectly elicited lists were negligible. Conclusion: The influence of gender stereotypes on career choices can be significantly reduced if the decision is made based on the preferred aspects or characteristics of one’s future occupation, rather than the career itself, which is likely to be biased by gender stereotypes. Introduction According to Zafar (2013), the movement of female workers into the labor force in Europe has increased steadily in the last thirty years, although a similar number of women who occupy prestigious and powerful career roles in their respective fields have not matched this. While all careers, theoretically, should be equally available to females and males, various studies have shown that this is not perceived as being realistic by both genders. Gupta et al. (2014) show that traditional gendered social roles play a critical role in determining accepted norms for women and men, encouraging gender differences in their activities and interests. In addition, Alon and DiPreteb (2015) find that traditional gender roles determine desirable behaviors and qualities for women and men, which leads to perpetuation and sustenance of occupational-related gender stereotypes. Along with influences like socio-economic level and race, gender stereotypes have been implicated in influencing family and career role importance via the processes of self-regulation and confirmation (Alon & DiPreteb, 2015). This research study sought to investigate the influence of gender stereotypes in the choice of careers by both women and men. More specifically, the study sought to elicit direct responses on career preferences for both males and females, as well as indirect responses based on the participants’ preferences for different career aspects, such as analytical vs. artistic preferences. Background Wang et al. (2013) state that girls and boys internalize occupational stereotypes, with children being able to classify careers as masculine or feminine at a young age, also noting that the classification used by children is similar to that used by adults. Accordingly, these gendered stereotypes that girls and boys internalize during the process of socialization via the media and parents lead both women and men to take up gender-appropriate stereotypical career choices. Mutekwe and Modiba (2012) further note that occupational-related gender stereotypes have a significant impact on the decision-making process for career choices, arguing that there is a need for researchers to study the context within which these choices are made. However, despite the fact that gender stereotypes portend similar influence on the occupational choice for men and women, the effect is more detrimental for females because the stereotypes limit their occupations to less prestigious and lower paid choices. Indeed, Buccheri et al. (2011) argue that the theories of identity foreclosure and circumscription suggest that gender role socialization prematurely eliminates potential occupational chances, which leaves them with less optimal aspirations. Steffens and Jelenec (2011) find that the tendency for males and female to select occupations that are traditionally compatible with their gender is already visible in their college years. In this case, males have more interest in physical science and math majors than females, whereas females are more interested in humanities, arts, and education majors compared to males. In another study, Petersen and Hyde (2014) find that women and men have significant differences in their vocational interests with males tending to show more interest in enterprising, investigating, and realistic fields whereas females showing more interest in conventional, social, and artistic fields. Moreover, these tendencies for males and females to gravitate towards traditional stereotypical preferences based on gender strengthen after they finish college, in which the aspirations of women to raise a family tends to encourage them to shift towards occupational fields that are more traditional. However, Cerinsek et al. (2013) argue that differences in career preferences between males and women cannot be attributed to variations in their competence, concluding that gendered occupational choices prevail despite a lack of perceived or actual competence in science or math. Aims and Hypothesis This study will seek to investigate the effect that gender stereotypes have on both male and female career preferences. In order to achieve this goal, the study sought to directly elicit explicit preferences on career roles from both males and females by eliciting responses from participants on the occupations that they considered as most suitable for them. The study began by testing several hypotheses; Career preferences for women and men are positively associated with traditional gender systems and roles, in which men prefer masculine occupations and women prefer more feminine occupations. Gender stereotypes and differences are also positively associated with career preferences, specifically in factors that are related to gender roles such as working hour’s flexibility and income level. Occupations elicited by directly asking participants to list their occupations are more gendered, compared to those elicited indirectly from the participants’ preferences of particular career aspects. Methods and Ethics The study selected (n=40) individuals who responded to the call for participants to take part in this project, which was promoted on the university’s website and invited students studying for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The invitation informed the potential participants that they would be required to fill out a questionnaire on their decision making in choosing their careers, in which they were promised that they would be given an occupation list suitable to their preferences. In order to enhance the chances that the selected participants would all be at the same life stage, the study included only the (n=40) students as their ages ranged between 20 and 25, which was 60% of the potential participants who volunteered for the study. Of this sample, (n=30) were female, while (n=10) were male. The reason why the percentage of females was higher is reflective of the proportion of females who responded to the invitation to take part in the study. The mean age of the selected sample was 22.5 years, of which 60% of the participants had not completed more than two years of university education. Since the study was mainly focused on gender differences, the researcher also conducted analyses to identify whether gender differences existed in the male and female demographic characteristics. The selected participants were then administered with a research questionnaire that was made up of four major, consecutive sections. These were a section on background details, a second section that asked them to list seven to ten occupations they felt most suited for, a third section that asked participants to prioritize career preference aspects by importance, and a fourth that asked participants to report on their contact information for personal feedback. However, eight participants (20%) did not choose to complete the latter section and no contact information was collected from them. The aspects of career preference in the third section included use of analytical skills, outdoor or outdoor working, length of training, professional advancement, team work, public service, working with plants and animals, physical care, using numerical or organizational skills, supervising and managing, working hours flexibility, and economic security and income levels. These aspects are relevant for people making decisions on their career path, especially because they are useful in their ability to distinguish between careers. The participants were asked to select six of their most important aspects and to rank them in order, as well as to rank the least important aspects in order. Prior to beginning the data collection phase using the questionnaires, several ethical issues were considered. To begin with, informed consent was ensured for all the participants, in which they were all informed of what the study was about and what they would be asked to do prior to their agreement to be part of the study. An information sheet was provided that contained information on the study, reasons for the study, why the participants were selected to take part, what will be required of them during the study, the level of guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity, and how the information would be used and stored. All (n=40) participants signed the consent form, which was done without pressure on them to take part. In addition, the participants were informed of their option to leave the study at any time of their choosing. This was in adherence to the need for respect of individual autonomy, in which they were guaranteed of their freedom to withdraw without giving their reasons. Results The findings from this study revealed that men were more likely to choose careers such as Mathematics and statistics, engineering, computer science, economics, and actuarial science as indicated in table 1 in the appendices. On the other hand, women are likely to choose careers such as nursing, medicine, education, arts, and humanities as shown in table 2 in the list of appendices. Men were least likely to prefer careers such as nursing, social work, humanities, education, and arts while women were least likely to settle for mathematics, statistics, engineering, economics, computer science, and actuarial science as highlighted in tables 4 and 4 respectively in the list of appendices. The careers aspects that men give consideration to in their choice of occupation include economic security, authoritativeness, independence, use of numerical skills, professional advancement, prestige, and responsibilities as highlighted in table 6. On the other hand, women consider economic security, the flexibility of working hours, the use of artistic skills, emotional treatment, teamwork, community service, as well as the length of training when identifying what they need from a career, as shown in table 5. Evidently, women have different career preferences from men. Moreover, both men and women consider various career aspects. Discussion This study set out to investigate the influence that gender stereotypes has on the direct and indirect career preferences for females and males. Both male and female participants reported the direct occupational preferences explicitly, while the indirect career preferences were implicitly reported by eliciting their preferences of different career aspects like analytical vs. artistic skills, outdoor vs. outdoor working, among others. The study’s findings were in support of the hypothesis that occupation-associated gender stereotypes affect career choices and preferences reported directly by participants. The directly reported occupational lists by females were more feminine, while the directly reported lists by women showed more femininity. These results are comparable with Schuette et al. (2012), who state that persons have preferences for careers that are more compatible with their respective gender, i.e. those that are more gendered. However, the indirectly reported lists for both females and males were less gendered compared to the directly reported lists. Nevertheless, while the difference in “masculinity” between the directly and indirectly elicited lists for men was not significant, the difference in the female lists was significant. There were no gender variations noted in the number of occupations that the female participants considered, which is in contrast to Domenico and Jones (2014) who claim that the occupational range for men is less restricted than that of women. Indeed, no gender differences were noted in the indirectly derived or directly elicited lists. Moreover, gender dominance variation in the considered occupations was not significant. Nevertheless, the fact that the participants were only asked to name 7 to 10 careers in the explicit lists, rather than being asked to only name those careers they felt suited for, means that these findings should be considered cautiously. Unlike findings from Cundiff et al. (2013), which concluded that preferences for career-associated aspects differ in terms of gender, this study found no such differences. This study’s major finding is that variations in gender are less significant when occupational preferences are elicited using the career aspects approach. Although it is possible to claim that the direct elicitation method acts as the best way of identifying genuine career preferences, Rueben et al. (2014) argue against such an assumption by stating that young males and females do not have clear understanding of occupational characteristics. In addition, DiDonato and Strough (2013) also claim that most people, whether male or female, who are not sure about their future occupational preference state that they have inadequate information concerning their careers. Deemer et al. (2014), who claim that provision of occupational information for females is a critical aspect getting more girls into analytical careers, support this. Therefore, there is a high likelihood that the directly elicited career lists were primarily based on general career impressions held by participants, which are, in turn, influenced by traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Steffens and Jelenec (2011) showed that locating potentially promising occupational options is best done through the career aspect approach, especially since it is more likely to predict the individual’s long-term satisfaction with their choice of career. The current study also found this approach to be beneficial, especially because it is effective in helping both males and females to select careers that are less based on gender stereotypes. Overall, this study found that the directly elicited occupational lists were more influenced by gender stereotypes than the career aspects-based lists, which, as Wang et al. (2013) also note, may be as a result of the self-regulation process where the participants conformed to traditional gender stereotypes that have been constructed over time by social norms. However, indirect elicitation of their preferences, specifically based on occupational characteristics, led to a less significant activation of the self-regulation process. This conclusion is particularly supported by the findings of the study that differences between males and females in the indirectly elicited lists were negligible. Therefore, the influence of gender stereotypes on career choices can be significantly reduced if the decision is made based on the preferred aspects or characteristics of one’s future occupation, rather than the career itself. References Alon, S., & DiPreteb, T. A. (2015). Gender Differences in the Formation of a Field of Study Choice Set. Sociol. Sci, 2, 50-81 Buccheri, G., Gürber, N. A., & Brühwiler, C. (2011). The impact of gender on interest in science topics and the choice of scientific and technical vocations. International journal of science education, 33(1), 159-178 Cerinsek, G., Hribar, T., Glodez, N., & Dolinsek, S. (2013). Which are my future career priorities and what influenced my choice of studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics? Some insights on educational choice—case of Slovenia. International Journal of Science Education, 35(17), 2999-3025 Cundiff, J. L., Vescio, T. K., Loken, E., & Lo, L. (2013). Do gender–science stereotypes predict science identification and science career aspirations among undergraduate science majors? Social Psychology of Education, 16(4), 541-554 Deemer, E. D., Thoman, D. B., Chase, J. P., & Smith, J. L. (2014). Feeling the Threat Stereotype Threat as a Contextual Barrier to Women’s Science Career Choice Intentions. Journal of Career Development, 41(2), 141-158 DiDonato, L., & Strough, J. (2013). Do College Students’ Gender-typed Attitudes about Occupations Predict Their Real-World Decisions? Sex roles, 68(9-10), 536-549 Domenico, D. M., & Jones, K. H. (2014). Career aspirations of women in the 20th century. Journal of career and technical education, 22(2), 239-242 Gupta, V. K., Goktan, A. B., & Gunay, G. (2014). Gender differences in evaluation of new business opportunity: A stereotype threat perspective. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(2), 273-288 Mutekwe, E., & Modiba, M. (2012). Girls' career choices as a product of a gendered school curriculum: the Zimbabwean example. South African Journal of Education, 32(3), 279-292 Petersen, J., & Hyde, J. S. (2014). Chapter Two-Gender-Related Academic and Occupational Interests and Goals. Advances in child development and behavior, 47, 43-76 Reuben, E., Sapienza, P., & Zingales, L. (2014). How stereotypes impair women’s careers in science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(12), 4403-4408 Schuette, C. T., Ponton, M. K., & Charlton, M. L. (2012). Middle school children's career aspirations: Relationship to adult occupations and gender. The Career Development Quarterly, 60(1), 36-46 Steffens, M. C., & Jelenec, P. (2011). Separating implicit gender stereotypes regarding math and language: Implicit ability stereotypes are self-serving for boys and men, but not for girls and women. Sex Roles, 64(5-6), 324-335 Wang, M. T., Eccles, J. S., & Kenny, S. (2013). Not lack of ability but more choice individual and gender differences in choice of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Psychological science, 24(5), 770-775 Zafar, B. (2013). College major choice and the gender gap. Journal of Human Resources, 48(3), 545-595 Appendices Questionnaire Section 1: Background Gender: ............................................................................................................. Age: .................................................................................................................. Year of Study: .................................................................................................. Marital Status: .................................................................................................. Are you employed? .......................................................................................... Section 2: Choice of Career A. Please list seven to ten careers that you would like to pursue in the future: 1. .......................................................................................... 2. .......................................................................................... 3. .......................................................................................... 4. .......................................................................................... 5. .......................................................................................... 6. .......................................................................................... 7. .......................................................................................... 8. .......................................................................................... 9. .......................................................................................... 10. .......................................................................................... B. Please list three to five careers that you would least like to pursue in the future 1. .......................................................................................... 2. .......................................................................................... 3. .......................................................................................... 4. .......................................................................................... 5. .......................................................................................... Section 3: Career Aspects The following is a list of aspects that describe careers. Please choose the aspects that most describe what you are looking for in your future career. 1. Length of training............................................................. 2. Working outdoors............................................................. 3. Working indoors............................................................... 4. Travelling......................................................................... 5. Use of analytical skills..................................................... 6. Economic security............................................................ 7. Advising........................................................................... 8. Use of artistic skills......................................................... 9. Community service.......................................................... 10. Authoritativeness............................................................. 11. Use of computers............................................................. 12. Instruction and teaching................................................... 13. Working hour’s flexibility................................................. 14. Income level...................................................................... 15. Supervising and managing................................................ 16. Independence..................................................................... 17. Negotiating........................................................................ 18. Emotional treatment.......................................................... 19. Use of numerical skill....................................................... 20. Physical care...................................................................... 21. Use of organizational skill................................................ 22. Working with plants and animals...................................... 23. Working with the public.................................................... 24. Professional advancement................................................. 25. Team work......................................................................... 26. Prestige.............................................................................. 27. Responsibility.................................................................... Section D: Contact Information Please provide contact information in order for the researcher to communicate the occupations that your chosen career aspects correspond with ion the Making Better Career Decisions computer program. You do not have to provide information for all the fields below, but please indicate at least one. Mobile phone number............................................................. Email address.......................................................................... Postal Address......................................................................... Table 1: Careers Preferred by Men Careers Number of Men Percentage Mathematics/ Statistics 8 80% Engineering 9 90% Computer Science 7 70% Economics 8 80% Actuarial Science 8 80% Table 2: Careers Preferred by Women Careers Number of Women Percentage Nursing 26 87% Medicine 27 90% Education 26 87% Arts 25 83% Humanities 25 83% Table 3: Least Preferred Careers by Men Careers Number of Men Percentage Nursing 2 20% Social Work 1 10% Education 3 30% Journalism 3 30% Humanities 4 40% Table 4: Least Preferred Careers by Women Careers Number of Women Percentage Engineering 3 10% Mathematics and Statistics 2 6.7% Computer Science 5 16.7% Economics 4 13.3% Actuarial Science 5 16.7% Table 5: The most Important Career Aspects for Women Career Aspects Number of Women Identifying the Career Aspect Percentage of Women Identifying the Career Aspect Economic Security 30 100% Working Hours Flexibility 29 97% Use of Artistic Skills 28 93% Emotional Treatment 27 90% Teamwork 25 83% Community Service 25 83% Length of Training 25 83% Table 6: The Most Important Career Aspects for Men Career Aspect Number of Men Identifying the Career Aspect Percentage of Women Identifying the Career Aspect Authoritativeness 10 100% Economic Security 10 100% Independence 9 90% Use of Numerical Skills 9 90% Professional Advancement 9 90% Prestige 9 90% Responsibility 9 90% Read More