Gender stereotyping in schools – Young people and career

choices

Ronald McQuaid and Sue BondEmployment Research InstituteNapier University, Edinburgh

WES Conference, Aberdeen, 12-14 September

2007

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”  

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 13-15 year school pupils?

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

Research Methodology

•Stage One: Background

•Stage Two: Survey (2148 pupils)

•Stage Three: Case Study Interviews (82 pupils in 4 schools)

Gender Stereotyping of careers

Outline

Figure 1. Who is best suited to the job?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Waiter/Waitress

Teacher

Shop Worker

Police Officer

Plumber/Electrician

Nurse

Manager

Lorry Driver

Lawyer/Solicitor

Labourer

hairdresser/Barber

GP/Doctor

Engineer

Computer/Software Designer

Clerk/Office Assistant

Care Assistant

Armed Forces

Both

Women

Men

Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (survey)% of boys and girls saying ‘Both’ men and women suited for these

jobsBoys 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 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

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) .124 .000

Achievement and Aspirations: Achievement in English (F/E/Credit).095 .003

Achievement and Aspirations: Chemistry chosen to study (dummy) .099. 002

Attitude: ‘Man’s job to earn money…’ -.277 .000

Job Characteristic: ‘Earn a lot of money’ -.069 .028 

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’.

Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (Survey)

•Gender

•Level of Achievement

Explanations

Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (Interviews)

•Gender Characteristic/Aptitude

•Interest

•Mostly men/women do these jobs

•‘Man’s’ job/’woman’s’ job

•Unsure

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

Gender Characteristics/aptitudes

ENGINEER

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)

Gender Characteristics/aptitudes

Own Suitability for Jobs

Own Suitability for Jobs (Survey)

•Gender

•Level of Achievement

•Ethnicity

Explanations

% stating ‘very suitable’ or ‘suitable’.

Boys Girls Total Chi-square

sig

ANOVA

Armed Forces 57.7% 19.1% 38.1% ** **

Care Assistant 15.3% 62.0% 39.2% ** **

Clerk/ Offi ce Assistant 31.3% 52.2% 42.0% ** ** Computer/ Sof tware Designer

58.9% 29.7% 44.1% ** **

Engineer 63.0% 9.8% 36.0% ** **

GP/ Doctor 28.5% 38.1% 33.4% ** ** Hairdresser/ Barber 9.9% 63.3% 37.0% ** **

Labourer 28.5% 7.7% 17.9% ** **

Lawyer/ Solicitor 46.5% 50.8% 48.7% * Lorry Driver 35.6% 9.1% 22.2% ** **

Manager 70.9% 69.1% 70.0% * Nurse 11.4% 57.1% 34.7% ** **

Plumber/ Electrician 49.5% 5.4% 27.1% ** **

Police Offi cer 52.0% 40.2% 46.0% ** ** Shop Worker 36.5% 55.7% 46.3% ** **

Teacher 27.8% 58.7% 43.6% ** ** Waiter/ Waitress 27.8% 64.4% 46.5% ** **

Pupil Perceptions of their own suitability for Jobs

**significant to 99% level*significant

to 95% level

Outline% stating ‘very suitable’ or ‘suitable’.

White Non-White

Total Chi-square

sig

ANOVA

Armed Forces 38.5 36.2 38.4

Care Assistant 39.4 34.1 39.1

Clerk/ Offi ce Assistant 41.9 43.9 42.0 Computer/ Sof tware Designer

43.1 62.6 44.0 ** **

Engineer 35.8 46.8 36.5 * *

GP/ Doctor 31.9 51.8 33.3 ** ** Hairdresser/ Barber 37.0 31.9 36.6

Labourer 17.8 20.6 18.0

Lawyer/ Solicitor 47.9 60.4 48.7 * * Lorry Driver 22.3 25.0 22.5

Manager 69.9 74.3 70.2 Nurse 34.3 36.4 34.5

Plumber/ Electrician 27.3 27.3 27.3

Police Offi cer 46.4 41.0 46.0 Shop Worker 46.5 39.9 46.0

Teacher 43.7 40.3 43.4 Waiter/ Waitress 47.0 35.9 46.2 * *

Pupil Perceptions of their suitability for Jobs by Ethnic Background

Linking Gender Stereotyping of JobsWith 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

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

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’).

• Demographic Characteristics;

• Achievement and Aspirations;

• Socio-economic and family characteristics;

• Careers Advice;

• Attitudes;

• Job Characteristics.si = βXi + γYi + δZi ……+ i

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Demographic characteristics Sex (f emale) (dummy)

-.104 .189

1.902 .190

.664

.151 -.780 .186

-1.191 .217

2.813 .244

-1.593 .210

-1.794 .210

2.085 .184

-2.498 .244

-.405 .144

.713

.144 1.066 .168

1.281 .158

Ethnicity (non-white) (dummy)

1.116 .306

Year: S3 (dummy)

-.332 .147

-.459 .150

Achievement and Aspirations Achievement in Maths (F/E/Credit) (dummy)

.365 .147

.636 .168

.723 .155

.707 .170

-.527 .191

.429 .193

Achievement in English (F/E/Credit) (dummy)

-.385 .178

-.481 .191

-.810 .185

.476 .193

Want to go to university

.504 .116

.554 .100

.261 .089

-.257 .087

Physics chosen to study (dummy)

.376 .176

.490

.197 .4438 .178

-1.288 .224

-.521 .161

Chemistry chosen to study (dummy)

.483 .166

1.134 .151

-.599 .189

-.360 .143

Biology chosen to study (dummy)

-.726 .174

-.498 .198

.963

.168 -.460 .203

.445 .169

-.565 .203

Computing chosen to study (dummy)

1.187 .171

-.463 .206

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Socio- economic and family characteristics Single P Household (dummy) -.584

.214

Not Owner Occupier (dummy) Father unemployed (dummy) -1.647

.833 -2.128 .808

Area (Edinburgh)

-.421 .213

SI P area (dummy)

.465 .197

Careers Advice Would use Careers for advice (dummy)

Would use Parents for advice (dummy)

Attitudes Man’s job to earn money..’

.189 .078

‘Both’ men and women suitable (dummy)

.455 .175

.439 .212

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J ob Characteristics Helping others

.896 .112

.165 .085

.284 .092

.448 .094

.469 .092

.166

.083 Dealing with the public .177

.084 .255 .095

.233

.096 .198 .073

.243 .079

.179 .071

.222

.070

Earns a lot of money

.371

.110 .321

.108 .299

.099

I nvolves interests

Working with technology

.208

.085 -.186 .085

.626 .091

.522

.094 -.197

.098 .247

.094 -.209

.078

I nvolves a lot of travel

.165 .078

-.139 .070

Working outdoors

.420

.077 -.332

.070 -.380 .080

.185 .078

-.282 .067

.245 .083

.248

.065

Being creative

-.174 .077

.180 .067

.193

.077 .149

.062 .141

.066 Good promotion prospects .254

.083 .304

.088

Plenty of opportunities f or f urther training

.231 .106

.210 .078

.196 .087

Means you can live in Edinburgh and Lothians

-.144 .063

Will fi t in well with having a f amily

.206

.090 .232 .095

.266 .081

.346 .100

.178 .078

.288 .085

.263

.082 Allows you to work flexible hours

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Statistics f or the Models

Overall Explained (%)

75.4 76.5 64.0 74.1 78.9 72.4 80.6 80.7 66.2 80.2 76.1 74.7 79.0 61.1 60.0 70.1 67.8

‘Suitable’ or ‘very suitable’ explained (%)

60.9 72 52.5 64.6 68.1 48.4 75.2 3.8 78.1 14.2 97.9 80.0 61.1 52.5 52.9 69.2 67.3

‘Neither’, ‘Not suitable’ or ‘Not suitable at all’ explained (%)

82.5 79.5 75.6 81.3 84.1 86.2 83.7 99.1 51.1 96.4 12.1 71.5 85.7 68.8 66.3 70.9 68.3

N

874 876 868 860 875 876 878 810 868 859 877 871 863 877 876 876 879bv

Link between gender stereotyping and own job suitability

GI RLS BOYS

Armed Forces .184** Care Assistant .128**

Clerk/ Offi ce Assistant .137**

Computer/ Sof tware Designer .164**

Engineer .255** -.098**

GP/ Doctor

Hairdresser/ Barber -.067* .127**

Labourer .117** -.138**

Lawyer/ Solicitor

Manager .090*

Nurse .164**

Lorry Driver .121**

Plumber/ Electrician .139** Police Offi cer .119**

Shop Worker

Teacher -.092* Waiter/ Waitress .114**

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.).

JOB/INDUSTRIAL CHARACTERISTICS

% stating ‘very important’ or ‘important’.

Boys Girls Total Chi-square

ANOVA

Helping others 67.4% 83.3% 75.5% ** **

Dealing with the public 54.9% 62.6% 58.8% ** ** Earn a lot of money 91.4% 83.5% 87.4% ** **

I nvolves your interests 91.4% 93.1% 92.3% Working with technology 65.3% 26.7% 45.7% ** **

Means you can live in Edinburgh and the Lothians

50.8% 46.8% 48.8% * *

Fit well with having a f amily 75.6% 74.8% 75.2%

I nvolves a lot of travel 32.1% 24.1% 28.1% ** ** Working outdoors 45.4% 23.8% 34.5% ** **

Being creative 60.8% 55.2% 58.0% * Plenty of opportunities f or f urther training

75.1% 76.1% 75.6%

Allows you to work flexible hours

72.5% 76.2% 74.4% *

Good promotion prospects 84.2% 80.0% 82.1% * *

Attractiveness of Job/Industrial Characteristics

ADVICE SOURCES

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%

First Choice for Advice about Careers (Survey)

% Used % UsefulMother 84% 92%Father 78% 84%Guidance Teacher 67% 87%Internet 64% 86%Friends 59% 58%Careers Advisor 44% 94%

Sources of Careers Advice (Interviews)

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

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.

Gender Stereotypingin

Career Choice

Gender Stereotyping of Jobs

Suitable for male and female Male onlyTeacher Lorry DriverWaiter/Waitress Armed ForcesLawyer/Solicitor Engineer Police Officer LabourerManager Plumber/ElectricianGP/DoctorShop Worker Female only

Care AssistantMixed NurseHairdresser/Barber Clerk/Office AssistantComputer/Software Designer

Linking Gender Stereotyping of JobsWith Job Suitability (Survey)

Suitability for Jobs: % of Girls who say theyare ‘suitable’ or ‘very suitable’

BoysGirls

Engineering 63%10%

Armed Forces 58%19%

Plumber/Electrician 50% 5%

Suitability for Jobs (Survey)% of Boys and Girls who say they are

‘suitable’ or ‘very suitable’

Boys GirlsArmed 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%

Gender Stereotyping of Jobs (survey)% of boys and girls saying ‘Both’ men and

women suited for these jobs

Boys GirlsTotal

GP/Doctor 79% 90% 83%

Police Officer 80% 91% 86%

Engineer 21% 34% 27%

Lorry Driver 20% 29% 25%

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Statistics f or the Models

Overall Explained (%)

75.4 76.5 64.0 74.1 78.9 72.4 80.6 80.7 66.2 80.2 76.1 74.7 79.0 61.1 60.0 70.1 67.8

‘Suitable’ or ‘very suitable’ explained (%)

60.9 72 52.5 64.6 68.1 48.4 75.2 3.8 78.1 14.2 97.9 80.0 61.1 52.5 52.9 69.2 67.3

‘Neither’, ‘Not suitable’ or ‘Not suitable at all’ explained (%)

82.5 79.5 75.6 81.3 84.1 86.2 83.7 99.1 51.1 96.4 12.1 71.5 85.7 68.8 66.3 70.9 68.3

N

874 876 868 860 875 876 878 810 868 859 877 871 863 877 876 876 879bv