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Title: | Factors Which Influence Career Choice and Future Orientations of Females: Implications for Career Education |
Authors: | Glaze, Elane Avis |
Advisor: | Wine, Jeri |
Keywords: | Education;Education |
Publication Date: | 23-Nov-1979 |
Abstract: | <p>The International Women's Year of 1975 was a catalyst in generating interest and stimulating discussion on the status of women in general, but of women in the work force in particular. Despite a discernible increase of women in the job market, occupations continue to be sex-segregated and women are still clustered in certain careers. High status occupations continue to be androcentric and the salary differential between males and females is still widening.</p> <p>The literature is replete with explanations on the reasons for the constricted career choices of females and the lack of planning for a future which stresses a strong career orientation. In recent years, many efforts have been directed at raising the consciousness of women and sensitizing them to the factors which inhibit their progress. Even though the statistics on the participation of women in the work force are so revealing and the centrality of work in the lives of individuals so well established, many young women continue to be myopic in their career planning. At the other end of the spectrum the influx of ill-prepared, unskilled, "re-entry" women into the workforce amplifies this problem. For an increasing number of women, a productive and self-sustaining life involves a career. Others are trying to make successful integrations of the variety of roles available to them.</p> <p>With these concerns in mind, the present investigator sought to discover what the future plans of Ontario high school girls were and to elucidate their Career Education needs.</p> <p>This was an applied study, designed to identify the variables which contribute significantly to the career aspirations, expectations, educations plans and career commitment of Ontario high school girls.</p> <p>The sample of comprised of 1,167 girls from grades 11, 12 and 13, in both public and private high schools. They were selected in such a manner that the influence of such factors as rural or urban residence, ethnicity, socio-economic status and religious affiliation, could be investigated.</p> <p>The study was a cross-sectional survey and the major statistical procedure employed was multiple regression analysis. This procedure facilitated the study of the impact of 33 independent variables of a social psychological and demographic nature on the dependant variables previously mentioned. The major findings are summarized below.</p> <p>1. According to daughters, almost half of their parents wanted them to attend university.</p> <p>2. As a group the parents had higher educational expectations for their daughters than the daughters had for themselves.</p> <p>3. Over sixty percent of the girls did not know the occupations their parents wanted them to have. Of those who knew, there were slight differences between the expectations of the two parents. The expectations of the fathers were slightly more non-traditional than those of the mothers.</p> <p>4. A higher percentage of girls felt that they resembled their mothers in terms of attitudes and expectations than felt that they resembled their fathers.</p> <p>5. Both parents more often wanted their daughters to combine marriage and a career than for them to become single professionals or to be married without careers.</p> <p>6. Almost half the girls aspired to upper class occupations. Two out of five aspired to non-tradtional occupations.</p> <p>7. Less than a third of the girls expected to have an upper class occupation. One girl in four expected to have a non-traditional occupation.</p> <p>8. Only half the girls stated that they knew at least one woman in the occupation they plan to enter.</p> <p>9. Just under half of the girls planned to continue their education in a community-college or other post-secondary institution. Slightly more than one-third planned to enter university.</p> <p>10. Most of the girls had a moderate career commitment. Their plans for career involvement would depend on whether or not they had children. The stage of schooling at which their children were would be very important.</p> <p>11. More than half of the girls stated that they did not know enough about the occupations available to them to make a well-informed, career choice. However, many felt that they knew themselves (i.e., interests and abilities) quite well.</p> <p>12. Only sixteen percent of the girls had had a course in which topics related to women were discussed in detail. For the majority, such topics were mentioned but only in a general way. One girl in three had never had the opportunity to discuss such topics.</p> <p>13. The sex-role ideology of girls was varied with almost an equal proportion of girls falling within the Traditional, Moderate and Liberated categories.</p> <p>14. In general, the girls in the sample knew very little factual information about women in the work force. They believed many myths about women.</p> <p>15. The variables which contributed significantly to the dependent variables may be summarized as follows:</p> <p>a. Career Aspiration (Socio-economic level): Grade level, academic average, position in the family, sex role ideology.</p> <p>b. Career Aspiration (Traditional, Undifferentiated Non-traditional): Academic average, knowing women in the career, sex-role ideology.</p> <p>c. Career Expectation (Socio-economic level): Academic average, socio-economic status, occupational category of mother, sex-role ideology.</p> <p>d. Career Expectation (Traditional, Undifferentiated Non-Traditional): Type of school, academic average, occupational category of mother, occupation of mother, knowing women in the career, sex-role ideology.</p> <p>e. Educational Plans: Type of school, grade level, academic average, family situation, mother's expectation concerning daughter's education, sex-role ideology.</p> <p>f. Career commitment: Ethnicity, position in the family, father's education, mother's feelings about employment, parent student wishes to emulate, sex-role ideology, knowledge of women in the workforce.</p> <p>The results of this study will be of particular interest to counsellors, teachers, educational policy-makers and all those concerned with the career preparation of students. The implications of the major findings for Career Education are discussed and recommendations are made to address the special needs of young women. A review of curriculum models and programs related to Career Education is appended.</p> |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/5709 |
Identifier: | opendissertations/1056 2645 1316768 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
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fulltext.pdf | 25.66 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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