Past research has indicated an association between parents' beliefs and adolescent children's selfperceptions of ability and has shown the importance of accounting for parents' gender-stereotyped beliefs when examining boys' and girls' self-perceptions of math-science ability. The current study extends these findings by examining the longitudinal relations between mothers' earlier gender stereotypes and perceptions and adolescents' later math-science achievement beliefs and career choices. As predicted, mothers' earlier perceptions of their adolescents' abilities were related to adolescents' math-science self-efficacy 2 years after high school, with adolescents' self-perceptions of math ability during 10th grade mediating the relation with mothers' perceptions. Moreover, mothers' earlier predictions of their children's abilities to succeed in math careers were significantly related to later career choices.

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Previous studies (for example, Bregman & Killen, 1999; Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998; Jacobs, 1991;Jacobs & Eccles, 2000) have demonstrated the important role that parents' attitudes play in shaping their children's later self-perceptions and achievement behaviors. Studies indicate that in the math and science arena, parents' perceptions of their children's abilities as well as their own values about math and science are related to their children's later self-perceptions and values for achieving in these domains. The previous work suggests that parents are conveying their attitudes and values about math to their children through their words and actions; however, little research has documented the ways in which parents' beliefs and specific behaviors might promote positive achievement attitudes and behaviors in their children. The goal of the study reported here was to document relations between parents' math and science--promotive behaviors and attitudes and their children's later activity choices, values, and achievement in these subjects.

Research on the development of the self-system is briefly reviewed, with a special focus on major themes and issues related to childhood and adolescence. Important tasks and characteristics of the self-system that emerge during infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, and adolescence are described, helping to illustrate the numerous factors that influence changing perceptions of the self. Relationships between the self-system and social agents also are described, showing the influence of schooling and parental involvement on the development of the self. Examples from the authors' research on the relationships between gender and the development of self-beliefs are reviewed. They include examples of atypical development throughout the article, and conclude with a discussion regarding the implications of developmental research for clinical practice.Conceptions of self change dramatically during childhood and adolescence. Asking a 5-year old girl to describe herself might elicit a response such as "I'm a girl and I have blonde hair." When asked the same question 10 years later, she is more likely to say "I'm energetic and outgoing. I'm a good student and fun to be around most of the time, but I can be difficult." What develops that might lead to the changes in this young girl's description of herself?

The goals of the current study were to examine (1) the relation between parents' gender-typed occupational expectations for their children at age 15 and their children's own reports of occupational expectations at age 17; (2) the long-term relations between parents' gender-typed occupational expectations for their children at age 17 and their children's actual occupation at age 28; and (3) the relation between job satisfaction and having a gender-traditional or nontraditional job. The results indicated that parents' gender-typed occupational expectations were significantly related to children's own expectations and to their actual career choices, and job satisfaction was significantly related to having a gender-typed career. These findings suggest that parents' early gender-typed expectations for their children's occupational achievements were highly related to the actual occupational decisions made by the adult children.