The effects of job title vs. job description on occupational sex typing

Abstract

Differences in sex typing of occupations of young adolescents, as a function of (a) job title vs. job description, (b) school classification, and (c) gender were investigated. Participants were 1601 female and 1344 male seventh- and eighth-grade students, of whom 93% were Caucasian. Participants viewed one of two videotaped versions of job descriptions or job titles of 18 occupations, and responded as to whether a man, a woman, or either should be hired for each occupation. Results indicated job title elicited more sex typing than job description and that males were more sex typed than females in attitudes toward occupations. There was no difference in sex typing ascribed to occupations as a function of school classification; however, more metropolitan school males than rural school males and more rural school females than metropolitan school females were sex typed in their attitudes toward occupations.