Does the Stereotypicality of Mothers’ Occupation Influence Children’s Communal Occupational Aspirations and Communal Orientation?

Career development is a lifelong process that starts in infancy and is shaped by a number of different factors during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Even though career development is shaped through life, relatively little is known about the predictors of occupational aspirations in childhood. Therefore, in the present work we investigate how the stereotypicality of a mother’s occupation (female-dominated/communal vs. non-female-dominated/agentic) influences her young child’s communal occupational aspirations and communal orientation. We conducted two studies with young children. Study 1 included 72 mother–child dyads recruited from childcare centers in Northern Norway (children’s age range: 4½–6 years). Study 2 included 106 mother–child dyads recruited from Norwegian elementary schools (children’s age range: 6 to 13 years). Results from Study 1 showed that the stereotypicality of mothers’ occupation was related to their children’s communal occupational aspirations and children’s communal orientation. In contrast to our predictions and results from Study 1, the stereotypicality of mothers’ occupation was not significantly related to children’s communal occupational aspirations nor their communal orientation in Study 2. In both studies, we found no relationship between mothers’ gender attitudes or share of child care and children’s communal occupational aspirations. The results are discussed in terms of parents’ influence on children’s development of occupational aspirations.

Gendered occupational aspirations among German youth: Role of parental occupations, gender division of labour, and family structure

Objective: This study investigates how multiple domains of parental gender role socialisation as well as parent-child relationships and family structure may shape adolescents’ gendered occupational aspirations. Background: Young people with gender-typical aspirations have a higher chance of choosing gender-typical post-secondary education fields and are more likely to work in gender-typical occupations as adults. Gender norms, family structures and parent-child relationships have undergone profound changes in recent decades. We extend the intergenerational transmission literature by considering whether the influence of parental role modelling may vary according to parent-child relationships and family structure. Method: We draw on data from 2,235 adolescents from the German Socio-Economic Panel and apply logistic regressions. Results: Children whose fathers were employed in gender-typical jobs had a greater likelihood of aspiring to a more gender-typical occupation. This relationship was not significant among sons who did not live continuously with both parents since birth, who were generally more likely to aspire to gender-typical occupations. Surprisingly, the gender-typicality of fathers' occupations seemed more influential among daughters whose parents had separated than among those who lived continuously with both parents. Regarding the parental gender division of paid and unpaid work, only mothers' continuous non-employment was associated with daughters being more likely to aspire to a gender-typical occupation. Conclusion: On the whole, our findings suggest a rather weak influence of parental gender role modelling on children’s persistently gendered occupational aspirations in Germany. Yet, our study extends existing family research by pointing to significant variations across family structures.

Exploring occupational aspirations of school-age children by fluid intelligence, gender and grade

The present study explored the occupational aspirations of school-age children (N = 394) comparing differences by gender, level of intelligence and grade level. Results indicated that girls’ aspirations were more realistic, intrinsically motivated, prosocial and inclusive of higher education than those of boys. Moreover, a higher level of intelligence only from the fourth grade and 10 years of age was associated with higher education aspirations. These results suggest that in choosing occupational aspirations, children from the fourth grade (aged 10–11) may begin to be guided by intellectual abilities. The contribution of these results to career development theories is discussed.

Gender Attitudes and Occupational Aspirations in Germany: Are Young Men Prepared for the Jobs of the Future?

The increasing rate of post-industrialisation in advanced economies has dramatically impacted on the availability of jobs in male-dominated occupations. Consequently, men with traditional gender attitudes may experience difficulties in finding employment that aligns with their conception of masculinity. Attitudes to gender roles develop during childhood as part of the process of socialisation; thus, family background, and in particular parental education and occupation, may influence the occupational aspirations of young people. To examine the associations between family background, a child’s attitudes to gender roles and a child’s occupational aspirations, analysis of the German National Education Panel Study (NEPS) Starting Cohort 4 data was conducted. The findings suggest that family background continues to be associated with attitudes to gender roles and occupational aspirations.

Occupational Aspiration of Undergraduate Agricultural Students of Kerala Agricultural University- A Multidimensional Analysis

The study titled ‘Occupational aspiration of undergraduate agricultural students of Kerala Agricultural University- A multidimensional analysis’ was undertaken during 2017 - 19. The objectives of the study was to study and compare the occupational aspirations of the male and female undergraduate students of agriculture and also to categorise and compare the male and female undergraduate agricultural students based on the level of occupational aspiration. The study analyses both idealistic and realistic occupational aspirations of the undergraduate agricultural students by considering the concept of long and short range for goal period expression. The study also categorises the students based on their level of occupational aspiration by following the procedure adopted by National Opinion Research Centre (NORC) and Ajit [1] in developing level of aspiration scale. The occupational prestige rating scale establishes level of occupational prestige as viewed in India as well as determines the weighted score for each of the occupation. The sample of the study comprised of 120 third year and final year students i.e., 60 students from College of Agriculture (COA), Vellayani, 35 students from College of Horticulture (COH), Vellanikkara and 25 students from College of Agriculture (COAP), Padannakkad were selected based on proportionate random sampling method. The results on occupational aspiration of the students revealed that more than half (56.65%) of the undergraduate students in agriculture belonged to the category of high level of occupational aspiration. Getting the state/ central government job (67.5%) and entering into administrative sector jobs through PSC’s (48.3%) were the realistic occupational aspirations of majority of the students. Becoming Agricultural scientist in central/ state government (45.85%) and cracking civil services (36.66%) were the idealistic occupational aspirations of the majority of the students. It was also observed that irrespective of the gender and college of study, the students’ level of occupational aspirations remained same.

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

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.

Courses Preferences and Occupational Aspirations of Students in Australian Islamic Schools

Course selection by year 11 and 12 students exert a significant influence on occupational outcomes of young people. While many studies have been conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) across a broad spectrum of schools, not much is known about this aspect in relation to Islamic School students. In this research, data was collected on student course choice from nine randomly selected Islamic schools across Australia. For the first time, the results reveal the most prevalent course clusters studied by students are Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) aligned courses. Mathematics and sciences followed by legal and business studies sit at the peak of the course hierarchy. Long-held views and anecdotal evidence that suggest Arabic and Islamic Studies feature prominently in course selection proved to be unfounded. Preference for these courses are shown to be very low. Vocational Education & Training (VET) courses do not feature prominently in Islamic school curriculums to the disadvantage of students who may wish to pursue non-academic careers instead of opting for university inspired career paths. Professionally, medicine, engineering, law and business (in that order) are the most preferred occupations. We also find a conspicuous gender-based difference regarding course selection and occupational aspirations.