Occupational Gender Stereotypes Research Articles

A cross-cultural study of children's graphic representations of men- and women-dominated occupations.

Occupational gender stereotypes develop from early age and contribute to occupational gender imbalance. Previous research used questionnaires or interviews to investigate children's explicit stereotypes and where drawings have been used, mostly men-dominated occupations have been considered. This study used drawings and interviews to assess implicit stereotypes of both men and women-dominated occupations and whether children's sex, age and cultural background predicted these stereotypes. Two hundred and forty-three 6-to-7-year-olds and 10-to-11-year-olds in Britain and Argentina-encompassing both Global South and Global North perspectives- drew five human figures: (i) person of their choice, (ii) dancer, (iii) nanny (iv) firefighter and (v) pilot. In interviews, children confirmed and justified their gender choices for each drawing. Results indicate gender stereotypes in children from both countries, especially towards women-dominated occupations. Girls exhibited more rigid gender views than boys. These findings suggest widespread and culturally consistent occupational gender stereotypes, potentially limiting children's future job choices.

High - definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) alleviates occupational gender stereotypes

Occupational gender stereotypes are widely held misconceptions that individuals use to classify occupations according to gender. Alleviating occupational gender stereotypes would be beneficial for individuals to choose occupations more freely, without the influence of gender-based expectations. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown effectiveness in alleviating stereotypical beliefs. The present study aims to explore the positive effects of tDCS targeting the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) on occupational gender stereotypes and uses event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neural correlates of tDCS in modulating occupational gender stereotypes. Participants (N = 60) were recruited and randomly assigned to either the anodal tDCS group (n = 30) or the sham tDCS group (n = 30). All participants were asked to complete the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in the pre- and post-stimulation, while EEG data were recorded simultaneously. The behavioral results showed a decreased D value and reaction time (RT) after the tDCS in the anodal group. However, no significant difference in ERPs were observed after tDCS between the two groups. This study contributes to our understanding of occupational gender stereotypes and provides further evidence supporting the use of tDCS. The findings highlight the importance of considering the mPFC in research on occupational gender stereotypes and pave the way for future investigations utilizing brain stimulation techniques to address stereotypes.

Betting on Diversity—Occupational Segregation and Gender Stereotypes

Gender segregation of occupations and entire industries is widespread. The segregation could be the result of perceived job-specific productivity differences between men and women. It could also result from the belief that homogeneous teams perform better or from in-group bias of male or female recruiters. We investigate these explanations in two samples: students and personnel managers. The subjects bet on the productivity of teams that are homogeneous with respect to gender at the outset and then either remain homogeneous or become diverse. The teams work on tasks that differ with respect to gender stereotypes. We obtain similar results in both samples. Women are picked more often for the stereotypically female task, and men are picked more often for the stereotypically male task. Subjects believe that gender-diverse teams perform better, especially in the task with complementarities, and they display an own-gender bias. Elicited expectations about the bets of others reveal that subjects expect the gender stereotypes of tasks but underestimate others’ bets on diversity. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: The authors acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [Excellence Cluster EXC 2035/1 “The Politics of Inequality” (to U. Fischbacher), CRC TRR 190 “Rationality and Competition” (to D. Kübler), and the Excellence Cluster EXC 2055 “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (to D. Kübler)] and from Tamkeen [NYU Abu Dhabi Research Institute Award CG005 (to R. Stüber)]. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4943 .

Betting on Diversity – Occupational Segregation and Gender Stereotypes

Betting on Diversity – Occupational Segregation and Gender Stereotypes

Examining the effects of male candidates' gender nonconformity on employment decisions

Our research aimed to explore how interviewers perceive male candidates' gender nonconformity during job interviews and how job type may play a role in the process. Based on role congruity theory, we propose that male candidates' gender nonconformity negatively affects employment decisions through cognitive and affective processes (i.e. perceived expectancy violation and likability). Further, based on the literature on occupational gender stereotypes, we examined the moderating effect of job type on the above indirect process. We believe that the negative indirect effects of male candidates' gender nonconformity on employment decisions through perceived expectancy violation and likability will be weakened when interviewing for female‐dominated jobs compared with male‐dominated jobs. We found robust evidence consistent with our theoretical assertion using three independent between‐subjects experiments.

The effect of service robot occupational gender stereotypes on customers' willingness to use them.

Customers have obvious occupational gender stereotypes for service employees. In recent years, intelligent service robots have been widely used in the hospitality industry and have also been given gender characteristics to attract customers to use them. However, whether and when the usage of gendered service robots is effective remains to be explored. This research focuses on customers' occupational gender stereotypes and the gender of service robots, examining the influences of their consistency on customers' willingness to use service robots through three scenario studies. The findings suggest that: (1) The consistency between occupational gender stereotypes and service robot gender positively affects customers' willingness to use service robots. (2) Performance expectancy and trust are two psychological mechanisms underlying the above effect. (3) In the context of service failures, the consistency backfires and brings negative effects on willingness to use. This research extends the literature on customers' acceptance of anthropomorphized robots from the perspective of gender stereotypes and identifies the mechanisms behind the stereotype consistency effect. For practical implications, hotels should design and deploy gendered robots consistent with corresponding occupational gender stereotypes.

Pandemic silver lining: how the COVID-19 pandemic helped women to beat the “gender stereotypes pandemic” in entrepreneurship

PurposeThis study aims to explore how the COVID-induced exogenous shock changed the prevalent occupational gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship in urban Turkey and presented an opportunity to some Turkish women to start their own business. Furthermore, this study investigated how women entrepreneurs’ social networks helped them to clear the gendered hurdles that hindered their entrepreneurial endeavors in the times of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachHighly personal topics like gender stereotypes are complex and nebulous, as is entrepreneurship as lived experience. Moreover, the COVID-induced crisis complicates the context further, which is why the addressal of questions about gendered stereotypes in the process of entrepreneurship, and the role of social networks in that process, warrants a qualitative research approach. Consequently, this study relied on in-depth semistructured interviews for investigating the study’s research questions.FindingsThe findings suggest that research participants used the COVID-induced crisis conditions as an opportunity to beat the existing occupational gender stereotyping in entrepreneurship in the context of urban Turkey that opened a window of opportunity for the women participants to enter into entrepreneurship. In addition, social networks significantly helped the women entrepreneurs to acquire resources, and provided the leverage needed to clear the gendered hurdles that hindered the women’s entrepreneurial endeavors.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is among the first that generates insights into occupational gender stereotyping in entrepreneurship within the context of a developing country in the times of COVID-19 crisis. Hence, this study can help to understand the broader implications of the crisis like COVID-19 for gender-related beliefs and attitudes toward women entrepreneurship within the context of developing countries.

What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood

Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children.

Sexism in Indonesia’s Tenth Grade EFL Companion Textbook

<em>The present study investigates the kind of sexism reflected in the companion textbook used in Senior High School: the frequency of female and male occurrences, the female and male titles, the graphic depiction of females and men, the masculine pronoun tendency, activities, and social-domestic roles throughout the description phase. It also examines how occupational gender stereotypes are portrayed in textbooks. This analysis was conducted by applying Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics. Finally, this research indicated that textbooks had a sexist mindset characterized by gender marginalization, gender subordination, gender stereotypes, cultural sexism, and sex-based work segregation. The textbooks were biased toward females by depicting females less frequently than males in pictorial representation (58.48 vs 33.97 percent); the titles Mr. and Mrs. were used inconsistently, and there were 12 instances of masculine pronoun tendency, representation of activities, and social-domestic roles that perpetuate female subordination. The research also found that there were considerably fewer images of women than males in the public domain, suggesting that women in traditional gender roles such as cooking and caring for children were far more prevalent. In terms of occupational gender stereotypes, the survey indicated that male jobs were more prevalent and diversified than female ones. In terms of social duties, men were found to have a greater selection of occupations than females</em>.

OCCUPATIONAL GENDER STEREOTYPES IN INDONESIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS

This discourse study examines occupational gender stereotypes in two textbooks of secondary English language textbooks published in Indonesia. Occupational gender stereotypes in two English textbooks, entitled When English Rings a Bell, for grades 7 and 8 were analyzed with the help of Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) framework. The findings indicate that both textbooks encompass gender stereotypes, particularly occupation. The findings also revealed far fewer photos of women in the public domain than there were of men, indicating that women in conventional gender roles such as cooking, cleaning, watering plants, caring for children, and performing all domestic activities were far more common. Furthermore, the study found that male occupations were more common and diverse than female occupations regarding occupational gender stereotypes. Furthermore, in terms of societal responsibilities, males were demonstrated to have a wider choice of vocations than girls. Gender blindness among curriculum designers and textbook authors is a severe worry in this regard, and it must be addressed to improve awareness of gender-related occupations. The study's practical implications are that English teachers, language textbook authors, curriculum creators, and illustrators should be fully aware of the interplay between language, visual depictions, and gender concerns while constructing language textbooks to avoid unwanted insights into occupational gender stereotypes.

Occupational Gender Stereotypes in Indonesian Secondary School English Language Textbooks

This discourse study seeks to examine occupational gender stereotypes in two textbooks of secondary English language textbooks published in Indonesia. Occupational gender stereotypes in two English textbooks, entitled When English Rings a Bell, for grade 7 and 8 were analyzed with the help of Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) framework. The findings indicate that both textbooks encompass content on gender stereotypes, particularly occupation. The findings also revealed that there were far less photos of women in the public domain than there were of men, indicating that women in conventional gender roles such as cooking, cleaning, watering plants, caring for children, and performing all domestic activities were far more common. Furthermore, the study found that male occupations were more common and diverse than female occupations in terms of occupational gender stereotypes. Furthermore, in terms of societal responsibilities, males were demonstrated to have a wider choice of vocations than girls. Gender blindness among curriculum designers and textbook authors is a serious worry in this regard, and it must be addressed in order to improve awareness of gender-related occupations. The study's practical implications are that English teachers, language textbook authors, curriculum creators and illustrators should be fully aware of the interplay between language, visual depictions, and gender concerns while constructing language textbooks to avoid unwanted insights into occupational gender stereotypes.

Analysis on the Causes and Influence of College Students ' Occupational Gender Stereotypes

Based on the sampling survey data of ten universities in Wuhan, this study uses binary Logistic regression and Stereotypic Explanatory Bias (SEB) quantitative method to explore the influencing factors of college students' occupational gender stereotypes and analyze the influence of college students' occupational gender stereotypes on their employment choices from the point of occupational gender stereotype. The results show that: Wuhan college students have significant occupational gender stereotypes, but will consciously suppress external stereotypes; Occupational concept affects occupational gender stereotype; Occupational gender stereotype affects college students' career choice. Combined with the research results, the end of This study puts forward some suggestions to change the stereotype of college students' career gender and optimize the employment field. Respectively, colleges and universities set up relevant courses to correctly shape college students' view of occupation and gender; Mass media guide society to establish a correct occupation concept; The state and society strengthen the institutional building, introduce policies and regulations; The enterprise establish es fair, impartial and open employment and promotion systems, breaking down gender barriers in various industries and eliminating "hidden discrimination".

Do Gender Conformity Pressure and Occupational Knowledge Influence Stereotypical Occupation Preferences in Middle Childhood?

This study investigates how perceived occupational knowledge, gender stereotypes, and pressure to conform to gender norms influence children’s career interests in a sample of fourth and fifth grade children (n = 178, Mage = 9.78 years, 46.6% girls). Children were interested in and perceived that they knew more about own gender dominated occupations, compared to other gender dominated occupations. Gender moderated the effect of gender conformity pressure and gender stereotypes on interest in female-dominated but not male-dominated occupations. Boys were less interested in female-dominated occupations when they felt pressure to conform to gender norms and held more stereotypical beliefs about those occupations. These results suggest that perceived occupational knowledge is an important, yet overlooked, factor in understanding gender differences in children’s occupational interests.

The development of explicit occupational gender stereotypes in children: Comparing perceived gender ratios and competence beliefs

Overcoming gender occupational stereotypes is a major educational objective in removing barriers to children's future career ambitions and employment aspirations. Yet, the mechanisms that underlie the development of occupational stereotypes in school-age children remain unclear. This questionnaire study investigates the developmental relationship between two possible factors contributing to occupational stereotype development, perceptions of occupational gender ratio and personal beliefs about occupational competence, across the primary school years. One questionnaire assessed beliefs about the occupations held by men and women, by asking 195 children, aged 6 to 11 (UK Years 2 to 6), to report on the gender ratio of 24 occupations (e.g., who does a specific job) on a 5-point Likert scale (only males, mostly males, both, mostly females or only females). A second questionnaire assessed stereotyped attitudes by asking 194 children of comparable age to judge the competence of men and women (e.g., who can do a specific job very well) on the same scale. We found that children across age groups predominantly assigned men and women to traditionally male and female occupations, respectively, both in terms of perceived distribution and competence. However, while the perceived distribution of men and women remained stable across the sexes and age groups, stereotyped responding for competence was lower in girls than in boys, and decreased with age in both sexes for traditionally male and gender-neutral (but not for traditionally female), occupations. Some occupations which have become less gender-segregated in the workforce (e.g., Doctor, Head teacher), are also becoming more gender-balanced in children's beliefs. Taken together these results suggest that children's occupational stereotypes are influenced by developmental differences in children's understanding of gender, as well as perceptions about what jobs women and men have. We conclude by discussing practical implications for targeted interventions aimed at reducing occupational stereotyping in children.

Occupational Gender Stereotypes for Different Sectors: A Research about Explicit and Implicit Measurement Methods

İşgücünün meslekler arasında cinsiyet açısından eşitsiz bir dağılıma sahip olması, mesleklere ilişkin toplumsal cinsiyet kalıp yargılarına dair tartışmaları gündeme getirmiş ve bu konu akademik alanda giderek daha sık biçimde tartışılmaya başlanmıştır. Bu kapsamda bu araştırma ile ülkemizde belli mesleklere ilişkin toplumsal cinsiyet algısı var mıdır?, “Bu algı sektörden sektöre farklılaşır mı?” ve “Toplumsal cinsiyet algısının ölçümü, ölçüm yöntemine duyarlı mıdır?” sorularına cevap aranmıştır. Çalışmada nicel yöntemden faydalanılmıştır. Katılımcıların sekiz farklı mesleğe ilişkin toplumsal cinsiyet algılarının ölçümlenmesinde hem doğrudan ölçüm hem de dolaylı ölçüm(senaryo) tekniğine başvurulmuş ve 1020 katılımcıdan anket aracılığıyla veri toplanmıştır. Hipotezler bağımsız örneklem t-testi ve ki-kare analiziyle test edilmiştir. Sonuçlar, katılımcıların mesleklere yönelik güçlü bir cinsiyetçi bakış açısına sahip olduklarını ve toplumsal cinsiyetçi algılamalarda ölçüm yöntemi ve sektör farklılıklarının önemli bir etken olduğunu yansıtmaktadır. Mesleklere ilişkin toplumsal cinsiyet algılarının farklı sektörlerde ve farklı ölçüm yöntemleriyle incelenmiş olması, bu araştırmanın özgün değerini oluşturmaktadır.

Gender Representation in EFL Textbooks in Basic Education in Mexico

Research on language and gender began in the 1970s with a broad interest, particularly from feminist researchers (Sunderland & Swann, 2016). The relationship between gender and language is of increasing interest to many scholars and researchers due to their bi-directional relationship. That is, according to AydinoÄŸlu (2014) 'gender is reflected by language and language helps to shape gender' (p. 233). This study examines male and female representation in three EFL textbooks used in early elementary grades in public schools in Mexico. To this end, two types of analyses were performed to explore the distribution of males and females in terms of visibility in illustration and photos, and display of male and female occupational roles in the visuals. Findings revealed that there is not a balanced representation of characters in the three textbooks; males were significantly more frequent than female characters in the illustrations. In terms of photos, it was found that both genders were allotted a similar number of appearances Similarly, the results indicated that occupational gender stereotypes occurred in the three textbooks.

Occupational Gender Stereotypes among University Students: Their Relationships with Self-Efficacy and Gender Role Attitudes

Occupational Gender Stereotypes among University Students: Their Relationships with Self-Efficacy and Gender Role Attitudes

Patterns of Overeducation in Europe: The Role of Field of Study

Abstract This study investigates the incidence of overeducation among graduate workers in 21 European Union countries and its underlying factors based on the European Labor Force Survey 2016. Although controlling for a wide range of covariates, the particular interest lies in the role of fields of study for vertical educational mismatch. The study reveals country differences in the impact of these factors. Compared to Social sciences, male graduates from, for example, Education, Health and welfare, Engineering, and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) are less and those from Services and Natural sciences are more at risk in a clear majority of countries. These findings are robust against changes of the standard education. Moreover, some fields show gender-specific risks. We suggest that occupational closure, productivity signals and gender stereotypes answer for these cross-field and cross-country differentials. Moreover, country fixed effects point to relevant structural differences between national labor markets and between educational systems.

Implicit occupational gender stereotypes: a research among Turkish university students

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reveal implicit occupational gender stereotypes for 12 different occupations in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 954 Turkish university students, this study aimed to explore which jobs are implicitly perceived to be masculine and which jobs are implicitly perceived to be feminine. The role of the respondents’ sex, the place where they grew up (metropolitan or rural) and the information level about the occupation (job title or job description) on occupational gender stereotypes were also tested. Gender stereotypes were assessed using a hypothetical scenario method, which provides an opportunity to reveal implicit information processing. Chi Square andt-test were used in hypothesis testing.FindingsConsistent with the circumscription and compromise and the social role theory, as expected, the findings of the current study provided additional support about occupational gender stereotypes showing that job titles are strongly effective vehicles to communicate gender stereotypes for Turkish university students.Originality/valueUsing implicit measures of information processing and offering findings from a completely different cultural background (Turkey) constitutes the original contribution of this work.

The Effect of Occupational Gender Stereotypes on Men’s Interest in Female-Dominated Occupations

A great deal of research has sought to explain women’s lower interest in male-dominated occupations, but relatively little attention has been given to explaining men’s disinterest in female-dominated occupations. Examining factors that affect men’s interest in female-dominated occupations has both theoretical and practical implications. Two factors hypothesized to alter the gender-stereotype salience of an occupation were examined: occupation titles and gender-stereotyped occupation descriptions. We hypothesized that men who reported higher levels of stereotypical feminine attributes would be more interested in feminine-stereotyped occupations. College-aged participants (N = 1001, 791 male) enrolled in an engineering, computer science, or physics course recorded their interest in occupations with or without a feminine title and described with either feminine or masculine stereotyped skills and attributes. Participants also reported the degree to which they held stereotypical feminine attributes. Results indicated that men showed greater interest in no-title occupations, especially when masculine characteristics were used in the description. For men, self-reported levels of feminine attributes were associated with interest in occupations with feminine descriptions, primarily in the no-title condition. Women expressed more interested than did men in the occupations, but unlike men, women were equally interested in occupations with feminine and masculine descriptions. Findings are consistent with the theories of precluded interest (Cheryan 2010) and circumscription and compromise (Gottfredson 1981). It is concluded that a key for attracting men to female-dominated vocations may be to provide opportunities for men to consider an occupation in ways that prevent or disrupt comparison to traditional stereotypic archetypes.