Interviews with two females enrolled in vocational auto mechanics and two males enrolled in a medical aide program were conducted to discover why secondary students enroll in nontraditional programs. Results indicate that females' choices depend upon interpersonal interaction and role models, whereas males are concerned with workplace roles and…

A workshop on female dentists in management is summarized. Topics included female dentists' experience in a predominantly male profession, rejection of feminism as a political movement, need to improve female dentists' opportunities, and gender differences in management style. An evolution in women's issues since the 1960s is seen. (MSE)

Although partially caused by sex differences in aspirations and qualifications, the underrepresentation of women in professional and managerial positions also reflects the persistence of sex discrimination at the entry level. Discrimination against women applying for traditionally male jobs seems to increase with ambiguity about the fit between…

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…

Examined reasons underlying the reported sex differences in structural features of vocational schemas. Controlled for type of rated occupation in determining structural features, and for individual career orientation. Found only gender had a significant impact on structural features. Women showed higher levels of vocational integration, and men…

Male students gave lower faculty ratings than female students, but their ratings for female faculty were high regardless of the field. Female students showed a bias against women faculty in traditional fields and for women faculty in nontraditional fields. (Author/RM)

Examined predicted sex differences in occupational achievement motivation. Significant sex by occupation stereotype interactions were found supporting the prediction of highest achievement motivation toward sex appropriate occupations. Females did not show significantly lower motivation toward high prestige masculine occupations--inconsistent with…

Women whose choices were in nontraditional career fields were significantly more likely to be making choices congruent with their personality type. While sex-role orientation was not significantly related to either congruence or traditionality, masculine-typed women were most likely to make nontraditional and congruent career choices. (Author)

Most students, regardless of gender, were influenced by males, particularly fathers. However, a notable percentage of female students, especially those in traditional fields, were influenced by females. Students whose primary influencers were in fields closely related to their own vocational choices reported being more certain of their choices.…

College students with higher career decision-making skills associated more career consequences with dentistry and more favorable personal characteristics with nursing and business. Females responded more favorably to nursing and law. Sex differences were not related to personal characteristics associated with careers. (JAC)

Personnel managers examined vignettes in which an employee had made a serious mistake. Responses indicated that employees in traditionally male-identified positions were seen as more competent than those in female-identified jobs. Punishing personnel action was least likely to be recommended for men in traditionally male positions. (Author/SJL)

Examined utility of gender, traditionality of choice, and gender role identification as moderators of interest-field congruence and ability-level realism of academic major and occupational preferences in college students (N=592). Found traditionality of choice and gender role unrelated to interest-field congruence. (Author/NB)

A "release from proactive inhibition (PI) task" method examines the masculine-feminine connotation of a word as an attribute of encoding in memory. Male (N=45) and female (N=61) subjects were given four trials, each trial consisting of three occupations with all masculine or all feminine connotations, a subtraction task, and a recall…

Examined the shifts in occupational plans of adolescent women during the decade of the 1970s in contrast with those of men, studying general trends into higher status and out of lower status major occupational categories. Compared entry into male-dominant and exit from female-dominant occupations between students graduating in 1972 and 1980,…

Investigated the effects of occupational sex-dominance on sex differences in occupational performance expectations. College students indicated their self-expectations and comparison person expectations (those of a "typical" male or female) regarding job performance for six occupations. Women reported lower expectations for themselves except for…