A Multidimensional View of Children's Sex-Typing of Occupations

• Main Author: Tremaine, Leslie S
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 01-08-1978
• Subjects: Age Differences; Career Choice; Children; Classification Skills; Employment; Occupations; Psychological Studies; Role Perception; Sex Differences; Sex Role; Social Development

This study attempts a broad look at young children's sex typing of job classifications by examining the relationship of cognitive classification skills, age and sex to a 3-dimensional measure of children's job attributions, service preferences, and personal vocation choices. These dimensions were measured, respectively, by the following questions: "Who do you think would like that job?", "If you needed that job done for you, would you choose a woman, a man, or either one?", and "Would you like to do that job?" A total of 120 children from early preschool, late preschool, second grade and fourth grade responded to these questions for each of nine jobs. They also stated a free-choice job preference. A subsample of 48 children completed a cognitive classification measure. As age increased, sex typing increased for attributions and service preferences. Match scores between attributions and census reality, service preferences and reality, and attributions and service preferences also increased with age, while the use of sex typed categories in service preferences decreased. Girls were less sex typed than boys on attributions; on service preferences, girls were more sex typed for female jobs and boys for male jobs. The match between service preferences and reality and between attributions and personal job choices was higher for boys than for girls. On free choice items, girls' job choices were more restricted than boys', while boys' responses were more culturally appropriate; on fixed-choice items, girls expressed interest in female jobs and boys in male jobs. Sex differences were also found on free choice and fixed choice job preferences. Age, rather than classification skill, accounted for more variance in the sex typing measures. (Author/SS)