What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood

Abstract

Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children.

The role of parents in predicting gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards HEED occupations and gender‐stereotypic interest in these careers

“…This association is in line with Bem's theory of gender schemas: when children incorporate the societal norm that HEED occupations are more suitable for women in their gender schemata, these professions are more interesting for girls than for boys (Liben et al, 2002). This association is in line with the study of Olsen et al (2022) among young children, but not in line with other previous studies among young children, which found no associations between gender-stereotypic attitudes and gender-stereotypic occupational preferences (De Vries et al, 2022;Liben et al, 2002). This illustrates the need for more research on the development of gender-stereotypic interest in HEED careers specifically throughout childhood.…”

“…From a young age, children associate and classify certain professions with men and others with women in line with prevailing stereotypes in society (Olsen et al, 2022;Solbes-Canales et al, 2020). Gender stereotypes are 'culturally shared assumptions and expectations about sex differences in abilities, personality traits, activities, and roles' (Weinraub et al, 1984(Weinraub et al, , p. 1493.…”

“…Also, gender-stereotypic attitudes are related to gender-stereotypic interest in occupations (Cundiff et al, 2013;Garriott et al, 2017). Except from Olsen et al (2022), most of these studies focused on interest in STEM occupations or occupations in general rather than HEED occupations specifically.…”

“…Male underrepresentation in HEED occupations, however, has remained remarkably stable (European Commission, 2021;Meeussen et al, 2020). The fact that men still shy away from HEED professions is alarming, as male representation in HEED domains can reduce labour shortage in this field, reduce negative stereotypes about men in these roles, increase flexibility in Although often referred to in theoretical frameworks (Croft et al, 2015;Solbes-Canales et al, 2020), few studies specifically focusing on HEED occupations examined the association between stereotypical attitudes towards HEED occupations and gender-stereotypical interest in HEED careers (Olsen et al, 2022). In addition, there is little research on the specific role parents play in developing genderstereotypic attitudes towards HEED professions and interest in these careers (Halpern & Perry-Jenkins, 2016;Polevieja & Platt, 2014).…”

“…Male underrepresentation in HEED occupations, however, has remained remarkably stable (European Commission, 2021; Meeussen et al., 2020). The fact that men still shy away from HEED professions is alarming, as male representation in HEED domains can reduce labour shortage in this field, reduce negative stereotypes about men in these roles, increase flexibility in societal gender norms and provide varied role models for younger generations (e.g., Meeussen et al., 2020; Olsen et al., 2022). Whereas there has been substantial research on the reasons why women are underrepresented in STEM professions, studies on the reasons why men do not aspire to a career in HEED are scarce (Beutel et al., 2019; Olsen et al., 2022).…”