scholarly journals Things Versus People: Gender Differences in Vocational Interests and in Occupational Preferences

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kuhn ◽  
Stefan C. Wolter
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Occupational Preferences

scholarly journals The Development of Vocational Interests in Early Adolescence: Stability, Change, and State-Trait Components

2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110356
Author(s):  
Thomas Gfrörer ◽  
Gundula Stoll ◽  
Sven Rieger ◽  
Ulrich Trautwein ◽  
Benjamin Nagengast
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Variance Components ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Stability Change ◽  
Trait Variance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Over Time

Vocational interests predict major life outcomes such as job performance, college major choice, and life goals. It is therefore important to gain a better understanding of their development during the crucial years of late childhood and early adolescence, when trait-like interests are starting to develop. The present study investigated the development of vocational interests in a longitudinal sample, comprising N = 3,876 participants—assessed at four time points from ages 11 to 14. Stability, state-trait variance components, mean-level development, and gender differences in mean-levels of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC) dimensions were examined. Stabilities were moderate for all dimensions, but Realistic, Investigative, Social, and Conventional interests became more stable over time. For Realistic, Artistic, Social, and Conventional interests, the trait variance increased over time. At age 14, all dimensions had substantial trait variance components. The mean-levels of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, and Conventional interests decreased over the 3 years (–0.44 <  d < –0.24). Initial gender differences—with girls having higher Artistic and Social interests and boys having higher Realistic and Investigative interests—increased over time. By investigating the development of vocational interests in late childhood and early adolescence, we complement previous findings and provide first insights about state-trait proportions in early adolescence.

Gender differences and similarities in work preferences: Results from a factorial survey experiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 000169932110602
Author(s):  
Sara Seehuus
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Western World ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Job Attributes ◽  
Occupational Preferences ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Gendered Occupations

Despite increased gender equality in many arenas in most of the Western world, women and men continue to choose different educational paths; this is one reason for the persistent gender segregation in the labour market. Cultural and economic explanations for occupational gender segregation both contend that gendered career choices reflect gendered preferences. By analysing data from a multifactorial survey experiment conducted in Norway, designed to isolate the preferences for occupations from preferences for job attributes with which occupation is often correlated: pay; type of position; and amount of work, this article examines whether and to what extent boys and girls who have not yet entered the labour market have different preferences for different work dimensions. The study shows some gender differences in occupational preferences, while also demonstrating similarities in boys’ and girls’ preferences for work dimensions, such as pay and working hours. This indicates that attributes tested by the experiment, which are typically associated with gendered occupations, cannot independently explain why boys and girls tend to have divergent occupational preferences. Importantly, however, the results suggest that boys’ reluctance to undertake some female-typed occupations might be reduced if they did not pay less than male-typed occupations requiring the same level of education.

Gender Differences in the Impact of the ‘Work for the Dole’ Program on Wellbeing and Access to Latent Benefits

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanita J. Muller ◽  
Richard Goddard ◽  
Peter A. Creed ◽  
Kate Johnson ◽  
Lea Waters
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Psychological Responses ◽  
Work Experiences ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study is to examine gender differences in the impact of the Work for the Dole program on wellbeing and access to latent benefits. Previous studies have shown gender differences in coping and responding to stressful situations, and the vocational interests and psychological responses to participation in personal development programs in the unemployed. The research proposes that participation in Work for the Dole programs will decrease psychological distress in males but not females, but that access to latent and manifest benefits will increase for both. Participants were 45 (20 females, 25 males) unemployed participants surveyed at Time 1 (commencement of the Work for the Dole program) and at Time 2 (sixweeks later) using the GHQ-12 and the LAMB scale. Results showed a significant decrease in psychological distress for males but not for females. It is argued that the Work for the Dole program does not provide valuable work experiences for females and therefore may be discriminatory.

scholarly journals Are Girls More Ambitious Than Boys? Vocational Interests Partly Explain Gender Differences in Occupational Aspirations

2021 ◽  
pp. 089484532199166
Author(s):  
Alexandra Wicht ◽  
Ai Miyamoto ◽  
Clemens M. Lechner
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Ninth Graders ◽  
Occupational Aspirations ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mediation Analyses

Previous research suggests that girls have higher occupational aspirations than boys before entering the labor market. We investigate whether this gender gap in occupational aspirations generalizes to secondary school students in Germany and illuminate the possible mechanisms behind these purported gender differences. For this purpose, we used a large and representative sample of ninth graders ( N = 10,743) from the German National Educational Panel Study. Adolescents’ occupational aspirations were coded on the International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational Status (ISEI) according to the socioeconomic status of the aspired occupation. Results showed that girls’ occupational aspirations were 6.5 ISEI points higher than boys’ (Cohen’s d = .36). Mediation analyses further revealed that gender differences in vocational interest could explain one-half of the gender gap in occupational aspirations. This suggests that girls’ higher occupational aspirations reflect their specific vocational interests rather than a general striving for higher status and prestige compared to boys.

Age and Gender Differences in the Variability of Vocational Interests

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei Ion ◽  
Christopher D. Nye ◽  
Dragoş Iliescu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Age And Gender Differences ◽  
And Gender

Gender- and age-related differences in the variability of various human attributes and abilities have been investigated. This article investigates the age and gender differences in the variability of Holland’s six vocational dimensions with a sample including 1,519 participants, divided into four age groups: early adolescence (12–15 years old), adolescence (16–20 years old), young adulthood (21–30 years old), and adulthood (31–59 years old). The results showed nontrivial differences in the variability of vocational interests across gender and age groups alike. Although significant differences in variability were observed for all vocational interest dimensions except investigative, the most pronounced differences in variability across age and gender were observed for realistic and conventional dimensions. Generally, the observed differences in variability were larger in adolescence than in adulthood. Overall, vocational interests displayed less differentiation within the younger age groups (early adolescence and early adulthood) as compared to adulthood.

Explaining Gender Differences in Interests

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyndolyn M. A. Ludwikowski ◽  
Patrick I. Armstrong ◽  
Daniel G. Lannin
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Personality Variables ◽  
Improved Model ◽  
Social Cognitive Career

This study integrated Holland’s themes within a modified social cognitive career theory (SCCT) model, exploring whether gender-related personality variables account for the relations between gender and vocational interests. Undergraduates ( N = 452) completed expressiveness, instrumentality, and realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (RIASEC)-based measures of learning experiences, self-efficacy, and interests. Through structural equation modeling, the paths via expressiveness and instrumentality fully explained gender’s effect on artistic and conventional interests, respectively. The paths through instrumentality partially explained gender’s effect on investigative and enterprising interests, while gender’s effect on social interest was partially explained through expressiveness and instrumentality when considering the path without self-efficacy. The paths through expressiveness and instrumentality partially explained gender’s effect on realistic interests. Adding direct paths from learning experiences to interests improved model fit for realistic, artistic, and social models. These results demonstrate the utility of concurrently assessing the RIASEC and SCCT frameworks to delineate factors that influence gender differences in vocational interests.

Gender Differences in Vocational Interests and Their Stability Across Different Assessment Methods

2007 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
René T. Proyer ◽  
Joachim Häusler
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Interest Inventory ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Holland's Theory ◽  
Social Interests ◽  
Better Than

In studies on gender differences with respect to Holland’s (1997) vocational interests, men often score higher on Realistic (and sometimes also on Investigative and Enterprising) interests, and women score higher on Social and Artistic interests. In research and practice, vocational interests are almost exclusively assessed by means of questionnaires. The aim of this study was to examine whether these results are also stable across assessment methods. Thus, a questionnaire and a nonverbal interest inventory were administered to a sample of N = 448 participants. Results were in the expected direction for both inventories, men scoring higher on Realistic interests and women scoring higher on Artistic and Social interests. However, the structure of interests varied between men and women: The structural assumptions of Holland’s theory fit the data for men better than the data for women. Thus, mean-level gender differences should be interpreted conservatively.

scholarly journals The Development of Vocational Interests in Early Adolescence: Stability, Change, and State-Trait Components

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Gfrörer ◽  
Gundula Stoll ◽  
Sven Rieger ◽  
Ulrich Trautwein ◽  
Benjamin Nagengast
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Variance Components ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Stability Change ◽  
Trait Variance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Over Time

Vocational interests predict major life outcomes such as job performance, college major choice, and life goals. It is therefore important to gain a better understanding of their development during the crucial years of late childhood and early adolescence, when trait-like interests are starting to develop. The present study investigated the development of vocational interests in a longitudinal sample, comprising N = 3,876 participants—assessed at four time points from ages 11 to 14. Stability, state-trait variance components, mean-level development, and gender differences in mean-levels of Holland’s (1997) RIASEC dimensions were examined. Stabilities were moderate for all dimensions, but Realistic, Investigative, Social, and Conventional interests became more stable over time. For Realistic, Artistic, Social, and Conventional interests, the trait variance increased over time. At age 14, all dimensions had substantial trait variance components. The mean-levels of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, and Conventional interests decreased over the 3 years (-0.44 &lt; d &lt; -0.24). Initial gender differences—with girls having higher Artistic and Social interests and boys having higher Realistic and Investigative interests—increased over time. By investigating the development of vocational interests in late childhood and early adolescence, we complement previous findings and provide first insights about state-trait proportions in early adolescence.

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