1. Gender stereotyping in schools – Young people and career choices
Ronald McQuaid and Sue Bond
Employment Research Institute
Napier University, Edinburgh
WES Conference, Aberdeen, September 2007

2. Background Sex Discrimination Act 1975
Pay differentials persist (usual suggestions – flexibility, caring responsibilities, productivity etc.)
Causes and consequences of occupational segregation e.g. Miller et al. (2004) Occupational segregation, gender gaps and skill gaps; Thomson et al. (2005) Jobs for the boys and the girls: promoting a smart, successful and equal Scotland, EOC.
Women and Work Commission (2006) Shaping a Fairer Future
Careers education should give “young people a real understanding of the pay, rewards and challenges of occupations, particularly those not traditionally taken up by their gender”  

3. Background Are females attracted to low pay occupations or
are predominantly female occupations low paid?
Opposite for males?
In any case, career choice is important.
So what influences career choice among year
school pupils?

4. Outline 1. Methodology 2. Pupil’s views on:
Gender Stereotyping of Careers,
Perceptions of their Own Suitability for Jobs,
Links Between Pupil’s Gender Stereotyping and
Job Suitability,
Job Characteristics and Sectors of Work,
Career and Job Choices, and
3. Conclusions

5. Research Methodology Stage One: Background
Stage Two: Survey (2148 pupils)
Stage Three: Case Study Interviews
(82 pupils in 4 schools)
Stage One: Background – completed May 2003
Literature Review
Secondary Analysis of surveys
Stage Two: Survey – fieldwork completed July 2003
Self-completion survey of over 2000 S2/S3 pupils in state schools in West Lothian and Edinburgh
7 schools in West Lothian (Total response: 676= Response Rate 27% of all pupils in these schools)
8 schools in Edinburgh (total response: 1472= Response Rate 67% of all pupils in these schools)
Stage Three: Case Studies – most of fieldwork complete December 2003
2 school in West Lothian and 2 schools in Edinburgh
Interviews with over 80 pupils in total – first completed survey and then an interview schedule administered by a careers advisor
Interviews with teachers, careers advisors and employers

6. Gender Stereotyping of careers

7. Outline

8. Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (survey)
% of boys and girls saying ‘Both’ men and women suited for these jobs
Boys Girls Total
Armed Forces 41% 63% 51%
Care Asst. 39% 49% 44%
Clerk/Office Asst. 74% 78% 76%
Computer/Software Dsr 65% 75% 70%
Hairdresser/Barber 63% 78% 70%
Labourer 34% 47% 41%
Lawyer/Solicitor 84% 92% 88%
Manager 75% 91% 83%
Nurse 42% 56% 49%
Shop Worker 83% 90% 87%
Teacher 81% 88% 85%
Waiter/Waitress 83% 87% 85%
GP/Doctor 79% 90% 83%
Police Officer 80% 91% 86%
Engineer 21% 34% 27%
Lorry Driver 20% 29% 25%
Gender Stereotyping
List of 17 jobs, asked ‘Who do you think is best suited to these jobs?’
Options: ‘Women’, ‘Men’, ‘Both’
How list of 17 jobs selected
Table: % of pupils who thought ‘Both’ men and women suited to selected jobs – indicating ‘Both’ suggests less stereotyping
Findings
There were 7 jobs where over 80% of pupils thought ‘Both’ were suited: Lawyer/Solicitor; Manager; Shop Worker; Teacher; and Waiter/Waitress.
Among the more persistently stereotyped jobs also included: Plumber/Electrician; Labourer; Armed Forces; Nurse and Care Assistant.

9. Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (survey)
80% of pupils thought ‘both’ men and women suited to:
GP/Doctor; Police Officer; Lawyer/Solicitor; Manager;
Shop Worker; Teacher; Waiter/Waitress
Less than 50% of pupils thought ‘both’ suited to:
Engineer; Nurse; Care Assistant; Labourer; Lorry Driver;
Plumber/Electrician

10. Who were less stereotyping
Who were less stereotyping? Linear Regression Model (Forward Selection Method)
Independent variables that were significant in the model Standardised Coefficient
B) Sig.
Demographic characteristic: Sex (female) (dummy)
Achievement and Aspirations: Achievement in English (F/E/Credit)
Achievement and Aspirations: Chemistry chosen to study (dummy)
Attitude: ‘Man’s job to earn money…’
Job Characteristic: ‘Earn a lot of money’  
Adjusted R Square=.18 Model significance = .000 (i.e. highly significant)
Variables that were 5% significant were entered into the model. Independent variables excluded from the model:
Demographic Characteristics: Ethnicity (non-white); Year (S3); Achievement and Aspirations: Achievement in Maths (F/E/Credit); ‘Want to go to University’; Physics chosen to study; Biology chosen to study; Computing chosen to study; Socio-economic and family characteristics: Single Parent Household; Not Owner Occupier; Father Unemployed; Social Inclusion Partnership Area; Area (Edinburgh); Careers Advice: Would use Careers for Advice; Would use Parents for Advice; Job Characteristics: ‘Helping others’; ‘Dealing with the public’; ‘Involves interests’; ‘Working with technology’; ‘Involves a lot of travel’; ‘Working outdoors’; ‘Being Creative’; ‘Good promotion prospects’; ‘Plenty of opportunities for further training’; ‘Means you can live in Edinburgh and the Lothians’; ‘Will fit in well with having a family’; ‘Allows you to work flexible hours’.

11. Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (Survey)
Explanations
Gender
Level of Achievement
Gender Stereotyping
Investigated factors associated with gender stereotyping
Gender
Levels of Achievement
Higher levels of achievement associated with less gender stereotyping of jobs and occupations to some extent (less so in regression models)
However, no obvious link with:
Ethnicity
socio-economic characteristics (eg. single parent; parent unemployed; owner occupation; SIP area).
NOTE: imperfect measures of deprivation and social class - doesn’t mean there isn’t a relationship necessarily, but these measures didn’t show it.
West Lothian and Edinburgh

12. Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (Interviews)
Gender Characteristic/Aptitude
Interest
Mostly men/women do these jobs
‘Man’s’ job/’woman’s’ job
Unsure
If pupils had responded that any of the jobs is best suited to ‘men’ or ‘women’ in the survey, they were then asked ‘why are men/women best suited?’ and ‘why aren’t men/women suited?’
Answers generally fell into one of five categories
Majority of responses involved character/aptitude
Note: difficult to quantify precisely since pupils could give a number of reasons and these overlapped.
Next slide going to look specifically at characteristics/aptitudes mentioned

13. Why women are well suited Why men are not as well suited
NURSE
Gender Characteristics/aptitudes
Why women are well suited
“More caring, better at talking to people” (boy)
“More patient than men. Better at caring for others” (boy)
“As mothers, women are naturally more caring and understanding” (girl)
Why men are not as well suited
“Men have little patience and can’t be bothered to look after others” (boy)
“Men are not as caring” (girl)
Nurse
Why women well suited revolved around: caring; communication; helping
Why men not well suited revolved around: not as caring, not as good at helping

14. Why women are not as well suited
ENGINEER
Gender Characteristics/aptitudes
Why Men are well suited
“Need to be strong…and men are stronger” (girl)
“Better at more technical things” (girl)
“Men don’t mind getting their hands dirty and working with tools” (boy)
[“Men are mechanics” (boy)]
Why women are not as well suited
“Jobs would be too hard for them physically” (boy)
“Don’t like to get dirty” (girl)
“Some women do not know a lot about cars” (boy)
Engineer
Why men well suited: strength; technical/working with hands; dirty
Why women not well suited: lack of strength; don’t like dirt; less knowledgeable/technical.
Misunderstanding about the job apparent:
Confusion with mechanic
Perception of dirt

15. Own Suitability for Jobs

16. Own Suitability for Jobs (Survey)
Explanations
Gender
Level of Achievement
Ethnicity
Job Suitability
Investigated what factors were associated with pupils perceptions of their suitability for jobs
Gender
Levels of Achievement in Maths and English
Higher levels of achievement – associated with higher SOC jobs: professionals, associate profesional etc.
Ethnicity- white v non-white (note: small numbers in survey, could not disaggregate)
Non-whites more suited to: Computer/Software Designer; Engineer; GP/Doctor; Lawyer/Solicitor
Non-whites less suited to: Waiter/Waitress
Socio-economic characteristics
Relatively little impact in regression models.
Area
No differences between West Lothian and Edinburgh when other factors taken into account

17. Pupil Perceptions of their own suitability for Jobs
**significant to 99% level
*significant to 95% level

18. Pupil Perceptions of their suitability for Jobs by Ethnic Background
Outline

19. Linking Gender Stereotyping of Jobs With Job Suitability (Survey)
Within Gender Correlations
GIRLS who thought ‘both’ genders were suited for specific jobs and
also felt they were more personally suited to that job:
Armed Forces; Computer/Software Designer; Engineer;
Labourer; Manager; Lorry Driver; Plumber/Electrician; Police Officer
Correlations show if one variable is related to another (in a linear relationship).
Note: Used ‘both’ because for many jobs those who don’t say ‘both’ invariably say the gender that is most associated with that job. Only for a small number of jobs, eg. GP/doctor, lawyer/solicitor, do you get a mix of pupils saying most suited to ‘men’ and ‘women.
Problem: can’t tell whether gender stereotyping of jobs impacts on perceptions of suitability or the other way around.
Findings: show girls who responded that both men and women suited to ‘male’ jobs, were more likely to perceive themselves to be more suited to these jobs. Boys who responded that both suited to ‘female’ jobs were more likely to perceived themselves to be more suited to these jobs.
BOYS who thought ‘both’ genders were suited for specific jobs and
also felt they were more personally suited to that job:
Care Assistant; Clerk/Office Asst; Hairdresser/Barber; Nurse;
Waiter/Waitress

20. Model
Dependent variable is: pupils’ rating of how suited they were to do each job (17 jobs) using binary logistic regression
Dichotomous variable (‘Very suitable’ or ‘suitable’) or (‘Neither’ suitable nor unsuitable, ‘Not very suitable’, or ‘Not suitable at all’).

21. Demographic Characteristics; Achievement and Aspirations;
Socio-economic and family characteristics;
Careers Advice;
Attitudes;
Job Characteristics.
si = βXi + γYi + δZi ……+ i

26. Link between gender stereotyping and own job suitability

27. Correlations: How Suitable Boys and Girls (Separately) thought they were by: if they thought ‘Both’ Men And Women Suitable for Each Occupation (** = 99% sig. * = 95% sig.).

28. JOB/INDUSTRIAL CHARACTERISTICS

29. Attractiveness of Job/Industrial Characteristics

30. ADVICE SOURCES

31. First Choice for Advice about Careers
(Survey)
Boys Girls Total
Mother 28% 51% 40%
Father 30% 9% 20%
Careers Advisor 23% 23% 23%
Internet 6% 5% 5%
Guidance Teacher 3% 3% 3%
Friends 3% 3% 3%
Other Teacher 0.2% 0.6% 0.4%
Advice About Careers - first choice for advice
Parents most popular, particularly mothers (and especially by girls)
Careers next most popular
Other sources marginally popular

32. Sources of Careers Advice
(Interviews)
% Used % Useful
Mother 84% 92%
Father 78% 84%
Guidance Teacher 67% 87%
Internet 64% 86%
Friends 59% 58%
Careers Advisor 44% 94%
Advice about Careers - actual use
Pupils using a variety of sources
Parents most used; Careers Advisor only used by 44%
Most sources were rated at least useful, with Careers coming top, shortly followed by Mother.
Rise in use of internet and high proportion finding this useful
Although nearly 60% used friends, only 58% found it useful (lower than other sources).

33. Gender Stereotyping of Career Choice
Summing Up Key Findings
Continuity and Change
Differences between groups (gender/achievement)
Pupils’ lack of knowledge
Types of Stereotyping
Link between stereotyping and perceptions of suitability
Importance of Parents
Summing Up Findings
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY
Change - (A) More girls than boys feeling suited to job that used to be dominated by men (eg. doctor, lawyer)
(B) Also some occupations are not stereotyped a much - doctor, lawyer, manager, police, shop worker, teacher, waiter.
Continuity - (A) Still big differences for some occupations as to how suited boys and girls think they are - Engineer, Nurse.
(B) Also, some jobs still stereotyped - Engineer, Nurse, lorry driver, Plumber/Electrician, Labourer, Armed Forces and Care Assistant.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS Gender - levels of achievement
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE About some jobs, tendency to view jobs in particular ways
TYPES OF STEREOTYPING Interviews show there are different ways pupils stereotype
LINK BETWEEN STEREOTPYING AND SUITABILITY. There is a link, but not sure of direction
IMPORTANCE OF PARENTS As source of careers of advice.

34. Recommendations -Focus on job characteristics as well as occupations
Recommendations -Focus on job characteristics as well as occupations. -Identify and focus on occupations where stereotyping remains great. -Highlight the changing nature of gender stereotyping in some jobs. -Target lower achievement pupils. -Target boys and girls in separate ways. -Continue challenge of gender roles.

36. Gender Stereotyping in Career Choice

37. Gender Stereotyping of Jobs
Suitable for male and female Male only
Teacher Lorry Driver
Waiter/Waitress Armed Forces
Lawyer/Solicitor Engineer
Police Officer Labourer
Manager Plumber/Electrician
GP/Doctor
Shop Worker Female only
Care Assistant
Mixed Nurse
Hairdresser/Barber
Clerk/Office Assistant
Computer/Software Designer

38. Linking Gender Stereotyping of Jobs With Job Suitability (Survey)
Suitability for Jobs: % of Girls who say they
are ‘suitable’ or ‘very suitable’
Boys Girls
Engineering 63% 10%
Armed Forces 58% 19%
Plumber/Electrician 50% 5%
Earlier survey findings showed that girls were less likely to stereotype jobs than boys, yet low numbers of girls were still rating themselves as suitable for many ‘male’ jobs.

39. Suitability for Jobs (Survey) % of Boys and Girls who say they are
‘suitable’ or ‘very suitable’
Boys Girls
Armed Forces 58% 19%
Care Asst. 15% 62%
Clerk/Office Asst. 31% 52%
Computer/Software Dsn 59% 30%
Hairdresser/Barber 10% 63%
Labourer 29% 8%
Lorry Driver 36% 9%
Manager 71% 69%
Plumber/Electrician 50% 5%
Police Officer 52% 40%
Shop Worker 37% 56%
Teacher 28% 59%
Waiter/Waitress 28% 64%
Suitability for Jobs
List of 17 jobs, pupils asked ‘Even if you wouldn’t want to do a particular job, how suitable do you think you would be for each one?’
Rate on a 5-point scale from: Very Suitable; Suitable; Neither; Not Very Suitable; Not Suitable at all
Table presents % of boys and girls who stated either ‘Very suitable’ or ‘Suitable’ for selected occupations.
Findings:
In some previously male-dominated professions, more girls than boys rated themselves as suitable: GP/Doctor also Lawyer/Solicitor (51% compared to 47%)
Many still on traditional lines: Engineer (63% boys; 10% girls); Nursing (11% boys; 57% girls).

40. Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (survey)
% of boys and girls saying ‘Both’ men and women suited for these jobs
Boys Girls Total
GP/Doctor 79% 90% 83%
Police Officer 80% 91% 86%
Engineer 21% 34% 27%
Lorry Driver 20% 29% 25%
Gender Stereotyping
List of 17 jobs, asked ‘Who do you think is best suited to these jobs?’
Options: ‘Women’, ‘Men’, ‘Both’
How list of 17 jobs selected
Table: % of pupils who thought ‘Both’ men and women suited to selected jobs – indicating ‘Both’ suggests less stereotyping
Findings
There were 7 jobs where over 80% of pupils thought ‘Both’ were suited: Lawyer/Solicitor; Manager; Shop Worker; Teacher; and Waiter/Waitress.
Among the more persistently stereotyped jobs also included: Plumber/Electrician; Labourer; Armed Forces; Nurse and Care Assistant.