Who is Responsible For Gender Inequality in the Workplace? A Study Exploring Female Emerging Adults Aspirations for Male-Dominated vs. Female-Dominated Career Roles
Le résumé fourni par la source
Despite increases in women’s participation in the paid workforce and attempts to reduce gender inequity, women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology and other traditionally male-dominated careers. Whether this is a result of young women’s endorsement of sexist attitudes and poor self-esteem influencing the formation of their career aspirations, is a fundamental question that thus far, research has been unable to answer. Further, research suggests women working in traditionally male-dominated careers may experience heightened stress in comparison to women in other careers. However, research has not investigated whether women anticipate job stress according to their career aspirations. The present thesis aimed to investigate the relationship between women’s occupational aspirations (for male- versus female-dominated careers) and the psychological predictors of sexism and self-esteem during the emerging adult years; a crucial time for the formation of career aspirations. It also investigated women’s anticipated job stress. It was hypothesised that higher scores on benevolent sexism would be associated with women aspiring to female-dominated careers. It was also hypothesised that women aspiring to male-dominated careers would rate higher on anticipated job stress. Self-esteem was hypothesised to moderate both of these associations. A sample of Australian emerging adults (18-29 years; N = 366) completed an online survey. Results revealed that benevolent sexism and self-esteem were not significant predictors of occupational aspirations. Further, while self-esteem was a significant predictor of anticipated job stress, occupational aspirations were not. Selfesteem did not moderate either of the two hypothesised associations. Overall, findings from this research indicate a need for further focus on gender inequality in the workplace with particular attention on factors influencing emerging adult women’s career aspirations.
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