Gender Similarity or Gender Difference? Contemporary Women's and Men's Career Patterns

Career development research has often explored gender differences in and development of career patterns (Gottfredson, 2006). Hyde's (2005) meta-analysis indicated that men and women shared more similarities than differences. Applying Hyde's gender similarities hypothesis to careers, the authors conducted a 2-stage study. Stage 1 was an analysis of career choices of couples (a socioeconomically and educationally advantaged group) announcing their wedding in the New Tork Times. Stage 2 was a comparison of a New York Times wedding cohort with a cohort from 11 other U.S. newspapers, examining national trends and exploring generalizability of the findings from Stage 1 of the study. Results revealed that there are shifting trends in career choices, most notably in the legal profession. Keywords: gender differences, female career patterns A very active area of career development research is the investigation of gender differences in career decision-making processes, both in initial career choices and in later career patterns (Fitzgerald, Fassinger, & Betz, 1995). Other key research areas include an examination of the critical influences during the developmental years, differences in experiences in chosen career paths, and identification of sociocultural perspectives accounting for men's and women's career pattern differences. Correli (2001) observed that "sex segregation often emerges early in the path towards many careers ... as cultural conceptions of gender serve to constrain the early career- relevant choices of men and women" (p. 1692). Mothers' personality characteristics, educational status, and attachment style influence their daughters' early career planning (O'Brien & Fassinger, 1993; Rainey & Borders, 1997). A variety of researchers have found that women have been discouraged from choosing science and technology careers that are traditionally dominated by men because of a variety of psychosocial factors, including a lack of role models, a lack of career information, concerns about juggling career and family, sex-role stereotypes, and limited psychosocial support (Betz, 1994; Fitzgerald & Harmon, 2001; Luzzo & McWhirter, 2001). A number of recent studies have shown that women with higher socioeconomic status viewed work as a source of personal satisfaction and experienced high levels of career adaptability (Blustein et al., 2002). Research that offers a deeper understanding of how gender and social class intersect with career choices of higher socioeconomic populations is lacking, however. It has been found that women's career choices continue to reflect lower levels of aspiration, educational attainment, and achievement with the central priority being given to fitting career around family responsibilities (Betz, 1994; Kaufman, 1995; Leung, Conoley, 8c Scheel, 1994; Whitmarsh, Brown, Cooper, Hawkins- Rodgers, 8c Wentworth, 2007). Cook, Heppner, and O'Brien (2002) stated that career development theory reflects the worldview of men that includes separation of work and family roles, a linear career trajectory, centrality of work for personal worth, and the primary values of individualism and autonomy. L. S. Gottfredson's (2006) theory of circumscription and compromise stresses gender appropriateness and status as the dynamic influences in career decision making. She suggested that throughout childhood, gender identity schemas shape and restrict occupational preferences, inducing conformity to careers perceived as gender appropriate. Adolescents develop an idea of attainable occupational choices that fit with their gender and class. Using the well-known Holland (1997) typology of career interests, many researchers have studied gender differences in careers selected by men in comparison to those selected by women. Reardon, Bullock, and Meyer (2007) examined census data over the past 5 decades and found that women were employed in a broader range of careers, including those with Conventional, Realistic, Social, and Enterprising interests, whereas men were more concentrated in Realistic and Enterprising careers. …