Gender and Career Choices

Paper Summary:

The paper reviews the literature concerning the impact of gender on occupations in the past and today. The paper concludes that many of the same trends that have affected the gender of a given occupation in the past can be expected to come into play in the future as well. The paper points out, however, that the impact of technology will likely have more of an effect on these strict gender-divisions than in the 19th and even the 20th centuries. The paper explains that things are changing faster as more people seek out alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting, where an individual's gender will likely be of less significance. The paper includes a table, graphs and extensive source material.

Outline:
Review and Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Some men and women may simply disregard certain career fields because of stereotypical perceptions of either the work involved or of the types of people that seek out such professions. In the not-so-distant past, people's career choices were related in many ways to their gender, with many fields being regarded as the sole domain of either men or women. Today, though, women enjoy many of the same opportunities as their male counterparts in almost every field of endeavor, and while the so-called glass ceiling may remain firmly in place in some regions of the country, enormous progress has been made in recent years to help level the playing field for everyone in the United States in terms of employment."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Decorse, C. J., & Vogtle, S. P. (1997). In a complex voice: The contradictions of male elementary teachers' career choice and professional identity. Journal of Teacher Education, 48(1), 37.
• Eckes, T. B., & Trautner, H. M. (2000). The developmental social psychology of gender. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Jacobson, R. R., & Moore, B. J. (1995). Negative impact of females on male selection of career choice. Education, 116(2), 201.
• Johnson, M. K., & Mortimer, J. T. Career choice and development from a sociological perspective. In D. Brown (Ed.). Career choice and development. (2002). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p. 37.
• Mead, M. (1949). Male and female. New York: Morrow.

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