Article (Scientific journals)
Gender stereotypes and gendered vocational aspirations among Swiss secondary school students
Hadjar, Andreas; Aeschlimann, Belinda
2015In Educational Research, 57 (1), p. 22-42
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
Hadjar_Aeschlimann_Educational Research_Gender stereotypes and gendered vocational aspirations.pdf
Publisher postprint (324.91 kB)
Request a copy

javascript:$('next-but').click();


All documents in ORBilu are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
vocational aspiration; gender stereotypes; interest; schooling; family structure
Abstract :
[en] Background: Horizontal gender inequalities appear to be rather stable, with girls more often choosing ‘female’ service professions, and boys choosing career paths related to science, technology, engineering or Mathematics. Purpose: Non-egalitarian patriarchal gender-role orientations and gender associations (perceived femininity) of the school subjects German Language Arts and Mathematics are theorised – triangulating different theoretical backgrounds – and empirically analysed as a major predictor of gender-typical vocational aspirations, considering interest in these school subjects as a mediating factor. Furthermore, we focus on a patriarchal relation of father’s and mother’s workforce participation as a root of gender-role orientations, and teacher gender in regard to its impact on gendered images of subjects. Sample: Empirical analyses are based on survey data from eighth-graders (around the ages of 14 and 15 at the time of data gathering) in the Swiss canton of Bern. The sample only encompasses children from two-parent families, as patriarchality in terms of differences in workforce participation between father and mother is taken into account. Design and methods: The research issues are analysed employing structural equation models. The statistical package Mplus allows for an analysis of the two dependent dichotomous variables ‘gender-typical vocational aspiration’ and ‘gender-atypical vocational aspiration’. The hierarchic structure of the sample (school class clusters) is taken into account. Results: Findings reveal different patterns for boys and girls; for boys, gender-typical (male) vocational aspiration could be explained to a small extent via gender-role orientations, interest in Mathematics and gender associations of school subjects; for girls, the factors under consideration could be empirically linked to ‘atypical vocational aspiration’. Teacher gender only has an impact among girls: if girls are taught by a female Mathematics teacher, they perceive the subject as a bit more female and show a higher interest in this subject. Their likelihood of having a gender-atypical vocational aspiration is a bit higher than among girls with a male Mathematics teacher who perceive the subject as a bit less female and, thus, show somewhat lower interest in this subject. Conclusions: There are still links – although weak – between gender stereotypes and vocational aspirations. Gender-role orientations are rooted in the family. A sensitisation towards gender stereotypes and their impact on aspirations and career would appear to be meaningful in broadening the vocational perspectives of men and women.
Disciplines :
Education & instruction
Author, co-author :
Hadjar, Andreas  ;  University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Education, Culture, Cognition and Society (ECCS)
Aeschlimann, Belinda;  University of Bern > Institute of Education
Language :
English
Title :
Gender stereotypes and gendered vocational aspirations among Swiss secondary school students
Publication date :
2015
Journal title :
Educational Research
ISSN :
1469-5847
Publisher :
Routledge, United Kingdom
Volume :
57
Issue :
1
Pages :
22-42
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Available on ORBilu :
since 13 January 2015

Statistics


Number of views
137 (9 by Unilu)
Number of downloads
3 (3 by Unilu)

Scopus citations®
 
24
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
22
OpenCitations
 
23
WoS citations
 
25

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBilu