Although coronary prone, or Type A behavior, appears to predict coronary heart disease in women, as it does in men, little research has compared men and women in the same life circumstances. To determine if there is a coronary prone behavior pattern in women preparing for traditionally male professionals, two studies were conducted. In the first study, 168 undergraduate women, in three traditionally male fields (i.e., engineering, management, and pre-medicine), 145 udergraduate men in the same fields, and 83 undergraduate women majoring in traditionally female fields (i.e., education, sociology, and psychology) completed a questionnaire. Measures of personality characteristics, physical and psychological symptoms, and work environment strain that are related to Type A behavior were assessed. Results showed that the three groups differed significantly on Type A, as well as on other variables. The traditional women were significantly lower on Type A than the nontraditional women and the men. Very small differences were found in Type A for men and women in the same work environment. In a followup study, 216 subjects from the original sample completed similar questionnaires. Results showed that subjects whose current occupations were the same as their undergraduate majors did not differ on Type A. As in the first study, traditional women were significantly less Type A then the nontraditional women or men. The work environment was especially relevant to Type A, and Type A was especially relevant to symptoms for women and, to a lesser extent, for men who were currently in high status, traditionally male fields. Type A was a better predictor of symptoms for women working in high status, traditionally male roles than it was across all subjects. (KGB)