Abstract
In the present research, we applied a goal-congruity perspective – the proposition that men and women seek out roles that afford their internalized values (Diekman et al., 2017) – to better understand the degree to which careers in healthcare, early education, and domestic roles (HEED; Croft et al., 2015) are devalued in society. Our first goal was to test the hypothesis that men, relative to women, are less interested in pursuing HEED careers in part because they are less likely than women to endorse communal values. A second, more novel goal was to extend goal congruity theory to examine whether gender differences in communal values also predict the belief that HEED careers add worth to society and are deserving of higher salaries. In three studies of undergraduate students (total N = 979), we tested the predictive role of communal values (i.e., a focus on caring for others), as distinct from agentic values (i.e., a focus on status, competition, and wealth; Bakan, 1966). Consistent with goal congruity theory, Studies 1 and 2 revealed that men’s lower interest in adopting HEED careers, such as nursing and elementary education, was partially mediated by men’s (compared to women’s) lower communal values. Extending the theory, all three studies also documented a general tendency to see HEED as having relatively lower worth to society compared to STEM careers. As expected, communal values predicted perceiving higher societal worth in HEED careers, as well as supporting increases in HEED salaries. Thus, gender differences in communal values accounted for men’s (compared to women’s) tendency to perceive HEED careers as having less societal worth and less deserving of salary increases. In turn, gender differences in perceived societal worth of HEED itself predicted men’s relatively lower interest in pursuing HEED careers. In no instance, did agentic values better explain the gender difference in HEED interest or perceived worth. These findings have important implications for how we understand the value that society places on occupations typically occupied by women versus men.
Highlights
“If we’re going to get to real equality between men and women, we have to focus less on women and more on elevating the value of care.”
Gender Differences Personal values Based on previous findings, we expected men to score lower than women on communal values but expected no clear gender difference in agency (Diekman et al, 2017)
Career interest Reflecting past evidence of gender differences in occupational interest (Evans and Diekman, 2009; Su et al, 2009; Diekman et al, 2017), we expected men to be more interested in male-stereotypic STEM careers, and women to be more interested in female-stereotypic HEED careers
Summary
“If we’re going to get to real equality between men and women, we have to focus less on women and more on elevating the value of care.”. Men devalue care-oriented occupations (e.g., teaching or nursing) as personal career paths (Croft et al, 2015) In addition, those men and women who do choose healthcare, early education, and domestic roles (HEED; Croft et al, 2015) are afforded both lower status and lower salaries in many societies (Cross and Bagilhole, 2002; England et al, 2002). Because women tend to be overrepresented in these low-paying HEED careers, sociologists have suggested that the tendency to undervalue care-oriented roles perpetuates the persistent gender wage gap women continue to face in modern societies (Kilbourne et al, 1994; England et al, 2001) Despite such broad implications for important social issues, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no empirical social-psychological investigation of the perceived societal worth of HEED (or STEM) careers. We examine these questions through the lens of social role theory, goal congruity theory, and status-value theory
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