Assessing Gender-Based Circumscription of Occupational Aspirations

Abstract

The circumscription and compromise theory of vocational aspirations draws attention to the possibility that many adolescents may unnecessarily limit their vocational options. This article describes key elements of the theory, particularly its emphasis on children's perceptions of occupational sextype, and the changes the theory requires in how to conceptualize and assess vocational aspirations. It also describes a theory based Mapping Vocational Challenges 1 (MVC; Lapan, Loehr-Lapan, & Tupper, 1995) activity that helps adolescents map and discuss the beliefs and background factors that can lead them to rule out careers they might actually find interesting and perform well.Perceptions of, and preferences for, gender roles are central to the circumscription and compromise theory of occupational aspirations. The theory postulates that gender is (a) the first element of self-concept against which children judge the desirability of different occupations for people like themselves and (b) the aspect of self that young people are generally least willing to violate when they have to make major compromises in their vocational choices (Gottfredson, 1981(Gottfredson, , 1996. The theory therefore treats gender self-concept as one among other key individual differences (e.g., Holland, 1997, category of interests, intelligence) that shape young people's vocational aspirations. Indeed, the theory attributes special salience to gender self-concept in explaining those IThe MVC activities are copyrighted material. Additional information on these activities as well as permission to use them can be obtained from Dr. Richard Lapan, 16 Hill Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO 65211.

Narratives of sex-segregated professional identities

“…Sociologists have also critiqued the widespread devaluation of women's work (see for example, Hakim, 2000;Reskin & Roos, 1990; although also see footnote 3 below). In addition, considerable attention has been paid to the "gender typing" of occupations, which is even evident in the early school years, where subject choices are inextricably bound with gender identity; young people (especially boys) are reluctant to violate what they perceive as gender appropriateness of professions by considering a career that is traditionally viewed as appropriate for the opposite sex (Francis, 2002;Gottfredson & Lapan, 1997). Even with women's increased access to STEM professions, gender typing and gendered perceptions of professions (e.g.…”

Gender stereotyping within career and technical education : exploring relationships among gender, coursetaking, and outcomes of high school CTE students.

“…School counseling can be especially helpful for young people in terms of increasing their awareness of career options and understanding how their interests and abilities relate to various occupational requirements (Blackhurst & Auger, 2008). However, Gottfredson & Lapan (1997) pointed out that despite the fact that people to form a gender-self concept that will eventually influence their vocational aspirations as young as age six, students do not typically start to receive career counseling until their teen years. By this point in time, young adults might have already limited their career options based upon gender stereotypes during the circumscription process, potentially derailing them from considering legitimate nontraditional careers in which they could be successful.…”

“…Lufkin et al, (2007) suggested promoting equity from an institutional level (counseling services, curriculum materials), involving parents, providing nontraditional mentors, and conducting pre-technical training programs and targeted recruitment as a means to improve the nontraditional participation rate. Like Gottfredson & Lapan (1997), Lufkin et al (2007 speculated that programs aimed at encouraging nontraditional participation should begin sooner as currently they do not start until late adolescence, long after gender role socialization has already taken place. By adolescence, boys and girls have already internalized their gender identities and the various stereotypes associated with their membership in a particular gender group (Tobin et al, 2010), which makes them less likely to consider a nontraditional career (Lufkin et al, 2007).…”

“…This impacts both occupational choice and earning power in the labor market (Ainsworth & Roscigno, 2005;Eardley & Manvell, 2006;NWLC, 2005) as well as postsecondary degree choice since high school coursetaking influences the types of degrees that people pursue in college (Adelman, 2006;Ma, 2011). In order to increase nontraditional participation, scholars suggest remedies such as exposing students to career development programs sooner before gender roles are ingrained (Gottfredson & Lapan, 1997, Lufkin et al, 2007, improving teacher education on gender equity within their educational practice (Sayman, 2007), using learning materials that reflect nontraditional genders in certain professions (Smith, 2006), and providing career counseling and nontraditional mentors (Lufkin et al, 2007).…”

“…Gender helps form an individual's self-concept, which he/she uses to judge the desirability of various occupations and it also is the component of occupational compromise that people are least willing to sacrifice, although this sometimes leads to individuals' unnecessarily restricting their career options (Gottfredson & Lapan, 1997). …”