A Cross-Cultural Examination of Women's Marital, Educational and Occupational Options

Abstract

The examined cross-cultural evidence indicates that women may come to have many options in very different types of societies and through very different combinations of social, political, cultural and economic reasons. Furthermore, there is no linear relationship between a country's level of economic development and the range of women's options in different life sectors. Thus, the option not to marry becomes much more of an option for men and women in the less economically developed countries. Women, on the other hand, have much more the options to work in general, to work after marriage and to enroll in college when a country is at a medium high level of economic development (GNP—S 1,000—S 1,500) than at higher or lower levels. Finally, a wide range of occupational choices for women can be achieved in countries at either a medium high or a medium low level of economic development.