Precursors to the Gender Gap in College Enrollment: Children's Aspirations and Expectations for Their Futures

Influence of clients’ personality and individual characteristics on the effectiveness of a career counselling intervention

“…Hijazi, Tatar, and Gati (2004) found gender differences relative to career decision-making difficulties in Israeli and Palestinian Arab high school samples. Blackhurst and Auger (2008) found gender differences with regard to students' future career aspirations and expectations and further concluded that these differences may increase as children age. Certain external factors may also prohibit clients' career decisionmaking capabilities, such as career choice, based on the desires expressed by one's parents or entourage in younger clients (Zikic & Hall, 2009); job loss, economic hardship, or a slow economy (Duffy & Dik, 2009;Zikic & Hall, 2009); or family expectations and needs in adult clients (Duffy & Dik, 2009;Whiston & Keller, 2004).…”

College and Career Readiness in Elementary Schools

“…Such programs should be intentional and strategic, utilizing theoretical frameworks and professional guidelines that support a holistic approach to college and career readiness at all levels (Auger et al, 2005;Blackhurst & Auger, 2008;Mariani et al, 2016;Woods & Kaszubowski, 2008). Developmental in nature, strong college and career readiness programs should consider activities and counseling strategies that are age-appropriate and should proactively involve key stakeholders, including school counselors, administrators, teachers, parents, and community members (Zunker, 2006.).…”

“…Another study (n=115) showed glaring gender disparities (Blackhurst & Auger, 2008) with respect to elementary and middle school-aged students' career aspirations and expectations for their futures. Results revealed that female students were more likely than their male counterparts to aspire to careers that require a college education, more likely to emphasize career advancement in their rationale for attending college, and less likely to choose sex-typed occupations.…”

Exploring careers while learning Alice 3D

“…At this age, most children have reached the level of cognitive development that would enable them to comprehend and work with abstractions, a key prerequisite for many introductory computer science activities [29]. Middle school students are also beginning to experience more freedom in their academic selections, and are being encouraged to think about college and other career preparation activities [1,7,15]. These characteristics make it an ideal time for introducing some simple programming concepts, in an effort to help girls see how such activities might play a role in their future.…”