Career development and counselling Focusing on gender The Department of Education Program for career counsellor

Agenda  Gender equality politics in Sweden  Some figures from Sweden  Circumscription and Compromise – a Theory about Gender and Career Development

Two perspectives The perspective of the client and The perspective of the counsellor

3 levels  Individual for example how I live my life, my identity, my choices in life  Structural fx division of labour  Symbolic idea about masculinity and femininity Fx our idea about a ‘a real man and a real woman’ Yvonne Hirdman

Society Society Global conditions. For example economy, working life, overriding valuesystem The society’s goals for career counselling, local goals (hidden or visible) for career counselling, economical frames, labour market policy, educational system, social security, value systems Counselor client Social background Gender Values Education World view View of society Self-knowledge Interview 3 Interview 2 Interview 1 Model for theoretical framework Lovén, Anders (2000) (Choice and agony). Social background Gender Values Education World view View of society Self-knowledge

Gender equality in Sweden The main objective of the government's policy is that "women and men shall have equal power to shape society and their own lives". Nyamko Sabuni Minister for Integration and Gender Equality

Goal for the goverment  An equal distribution of power and influence.  Economic equality between women and men.  An equal distribution of unpaid care and household work.  Men's violence against women shall come to an end.

Labour market in Sweden 31 % Public sector Fx Medical care, school 25% Production Fx Industrial 44% Service Fx business

Employed, by sex (16-64) Source: Statistics Sweden PopulationPopulation UnemploymentUnemployment 5.2%

A gender divided labour market educationfinancial work construction work

Three managers out of four are men Private sector, female Public sector female Public sector, male Private sector, male (Statistics Sweden 2006)

Men have higher income than women (SCB, 2004) Män Kvinnor

Different dimensions of the segregation between men and women:  Horizontal – women and men are working in different sectors of the labour market, for example, men with construction and women with health care  Vertical – place women lower than men, ”man is boss”  Internal – if they work in the same sector men and women have different jobs, in a factory men is more near to the product and the expensive mashines

A gender divided labour market 2 different opinions: 1. It reflects the free choice of men and women 2. It reflects that women and men have predetermined gender roles in the society and in working life What is your opinion?

Example from Curriculum for the Compulsory School System The school has a responsibility to counteract traditional gender roles and should therefore provide pupils with the opportunity of developing their own abilities and interests irrespective of their sexual identity.

Upper secondary school Girl’s choice  87% in the Health Care programme are girls  Media, Social service, Hotell & restaurant, Social science programmes are dominated by girls

Upper secondary school Boy’s choice  More than 98 % in the Energy and Electricity programmes are boys  In the Construction, Vehicle and Industrial programmes over 90% are boys

Even gender programmes  Natural Science programme has a relatively even gender distribution

Higher education In higher education, female and male students choose different programmes and specialisations. In seven out of ten broad subject areas, there are more female than male students who graduate and male students are only dominant in technical subjects.

Professors are men… The gender gap becomes more noticeable the further up the academic hierarchy one goes. Only 18% of professors are female.

Två perspective EssentialismConstructionism Nature Nurture Biology Socialisation Not changing Changing over time and place What do you think?

Comparing to The Czech Republic or Slovak Republic? Small talk 3 &3: 1. Difference and similarities? Change over time? 2. Official policy? 3. What is a counsellor’s obligation? 10 minutes and than we talk about it together

Theory of Circumscription, compromise and self- creation By Linda Gottfredson

 Try to explain how gender and status impact on career choice  Focuses on how young people gradually come to recognize and deal with the array of vocational choices their society provides  A “matching” theory that emphasizes the importance of occupational information and early intervention

Four developmental processes ….. during the first two decades of life: 1. age-related growth in cognitive ability ( cognitive growth ) 2. increasingly self-directed development of self ( self-creation ) 3. progressive elimination of least favoured vocational alternatives ( circumscription ) 4. implementing most favoured alternatives ( compromise )

Four cognitive stages of circumscription 1. Orientation to size and power, age of 3 – 5 2. Orientation to sex roles Orientation to social valuation Orientation to internal, unique self 14- and older

Cognitive development Stage 1: Size and Power (preschool) Big, powerful vs. little and weak Adult roles: Worker, Parent Children fantasize about what they will be: Any animal, fantasy characters

Stage 2: Sex Roles  Ages 6 to 8  Recognize only clearly visible occupations  Frequent contact (teachers and doctors)  Uniformed (police and nurses)  Power (truck drivers)  Children notice the gender divide and internalize the distinction  Make distinction a moral one  Decide own gender is superior  Decide that gender-appropriate behavior is imperative  Eliminate counter-gender alternatives

Social Valuation Middleschool (9-13) High prestige (class) Low prestige (class) Doctor Firefighter Truckdriver Teacher Nurse Secretary MALE FEMALE

Internal, unique self (+14 and beyond) Search for jobs that are personally fulfilling Doctor Fire fighter teacher Secretary C Nurse truckdriver Sales Manager Artist High LowMale femaleneutral Also being factoring in non vocational obligations and goals

Compromising Sextype Rating Feminine High Low Masculine Prestige Construction Worker Psychiatrist Receptionist Nurse programmer Surgeon Elementary Teacher Federal Judge High School Teacher Tolerable-Level Boundary Tolerable-Effort Boundary Tolerable-Sextype Boundary Zone of Acceptable Alternatives Sales Manager

Compromise – Modifying occupational choices in light of limiting factors, whether internally or externally imposed  Tolerable-effort boundary  Tolerable-level boundary  Tolerable-sextype boundary  Zone of acceptable alternatives Good Enough and Not too Bad

Compromise of aspirations  Problem getting information –cost time and effort  You only look for information about jobs which is consistent with you self- concept  Your aspiration get more and more ’realistic’ when you are near to make a decision (gender and class)  When you do not find an alternative you can accept according to your self- concept, it is too difficult to choose

Occupational aspirations Availability Consisten with selfconcept

References Patton, Wendy & McMahon, Mary (2005). Career development and systems theory. A new relationship. Californien: Brooks/Cole Publ Co. (300 s).