Reports cross-sectional data from 1,971 Australian adolescents who completed the Career Decision Scale and the Career Development Inventory. Results illustrate a developmental progression in career maturity, although a less uniform pattern emerged with gender differences. Findings regarding career indecision also presented a complex picture and…

Tested Gottfredson's (1981) compromise model by comparing the relative importance of sex-type, prestige, and interests under career preference and compromise choice situations using a policy-capturing paradigm with 37 participants. Found no support for Gottfredson's compromise model. (Author/ABL)

The limited representation of women in academic appointments in Australian universities, and the heavy concentration of women academics in the social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, and education are considered. Some implications of a university system with predominantly male academics are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Contends that use of occupational prestige scale to code occupations when investigating sex differences in occupational aspirations and expectations is not appropriate because of inherent sex biases. Addresses development of early prestige scales, apparent congruence of prestige ratings by men and women, and effect of sex on prestige ratings and…

This study explored the effects of sex on responses to 247 items in the "Choice of Occupation Form" among a sample of 500 junior high school students in Australia. It was argued that there was substantial interaction between the types of work chosen (i.e., contact with people versus things and sex in the most frequently and infrequently…

Research focused on two factors that may be influencing females in choice of careers. Factors are role-specific self-concept in science and self-perception in terms of stereotypical masculine and feminine characteristics. Logical ability and mathematics and science courses were also examined as factors in career choice. Results of data for 177…

This study compared the areas of talent and career aspirations of boys and girls in Year 7 (n=398) and Year 11 (n=240) samples in a middle class metropolitan area in Australia. Students nominated the high school subject in which they saw themselves as being most talented, and current perceptions of talent in relation to each of their high school…

Reviews literature related to gender, science discourse, and the discourse designed to enhance girls' post-school options through nontraditional choices. Contains 116 references. (DDR)

Among 24 tenth-grade students in an isolated rural school in Western Australia, all intended to finish twelfth grade although that required leaving home. Students' career decisions were influenced mainly by their mothers, with little influence from schools and teachers. Girls expressed more criticism of rural schooling than did boys. (LP)

This article describes how females are disadvantaged in many professions and suggests school strategies to help females overcome barriers. It describes the Australian Breakthrough Programme that teaches high-ability girls to become aware of what is happening to them and to become more self-confident and strategic in their approach and actions.…

The personal possibilities that 15-year-olds in Australia and Singapore perceived in relation to their career and leisure pursuits were examined. The extent to which both awareness of options and a consideration of multiple options for self were associated with culture, gender, and class was considered. (Author/MLW)

The intention of Australian youth to pursue vocational training was found to be negatively related to school attainment. The impact of occupational aspirations and expectations was also found to vary by ethnicity and sex. (RM)

Describes a study of women in Australia enrolled in distance education programs that focused on the culturally different social setting they encountered. Portions of interviews are included that address issues related to gender, parenthood, career and employment, attitudes toward higher education, and motivation. (Contains 29 references.) (LRW)

This paper describes a study that explored assumptions regarding the role of women in higher education set forth in the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) in June 1995 by Dame Leonie Kramer, a prominent academic. She contended that "women go a bit limp when things get tough...." The study was based on semistructured interviews with seven…

Values are important in understanding what a person wants from life, from work, and from the various roles that one plays in life. This study examined the most and least popular values chosen by diverse groups of people: 9,650 U.S. students in grades 7 through 12; 2,925 U.S. college freshmen; 571 Spanish-speaking Americans from Massachusetts and…