College students, evenly divided by sex, rated the degree of influence of six or eight people on choice of a college and a career. Sex-role attitude was also assessed. In the first of two experiments, the sexes showed different patterns of influence as did the sex-role attitude groupings. Experiment 2, using only college seniors and matching the sexes on the attitude scale, again found that females were more influenced by female models in their choice of career than were males. However, no effect of sex-role attitude appeared. In neither experiment was there a main effect of sex on the choices. Results were discussed in terms of the particular importance of female models for female students.During the past two decades there have been increasing attempts by researchers to identify and explore variables associated with career development in women of various ages. Because the behaviors associated with career aspirations, commitment, and achievement have traditionally been sex typed as masculine, much of the literature has focused on the sex-role aspects of these behaviors.One of the variables that has been explored regarding sex-typed behavior in general and vocational behavior in particular i s the -~
Over 700 college students evaluated one of eight written profiles of a college professor. The descriptions varied by professors' sex and by professor sex-type (neutral/control, affective, instrumental, androgynous). Profiles were handed out in class to male and female students by regular instructors (experimenters). Professors described as high in affective qualities (the affective and androgynous professors) received the highest ratings on questions related to interactions with students outside of class. Professors' sex-type interacted significantly with students' sex and instructors' sex on these questions as well. The effects of both instrumental and affective qualities of the instructor appear to overshadow the effects of a professor's sex in students' evaluations, at least under certain conditions.
Careers described by a woman were rated by 55 undergraduate women as having greater potential for advancement than when presented by a man. Sex bias was not found for 5 other factors in careers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.