Changing (S)expectations: How gender fair job descriptions impact children's perceptions and interest regarding traditionally male occupations

Vervecken, Dries; Hannover, Bettina; Wolter, Ilka

doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2013.01.008

Cited by 105 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Results showed that participants who had received the role nouns in a pair form listed more female personalities then participants in the masculine only condition. Similar results have been reported with German and Dutch speaking Belgian primary school children as young as 6 years of age (Vervecken et al, 2013). Vervecken et al (2013) (Studies 2 and 3) investigated primary school children’s perceptions of females’ and males’ success (i.e., who can succeed?)…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Similar results have been reported with German and Dutch speaking Belgian primary school children as young as 6 years of age (Vervecken et al, 2013). Vervecken et al (2013) (Studies 2 and 3) investigated primary school children’s perceptions of females’ and males’ success (i.e., who can succeed?) in traditionally male occupations.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…This language reform reflects the assumption that language, here gender-fair language, is a tool to influence people’s gendered perception of reality. For example, with respect to occupations, studies with adults and primary school children from countries with grammatical gender languages (e.g., French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian) suggest that they are perceived in a less gender-typed manner when they are described in gender-fair language, more specifically in pair forms (i.e., by explicit reference to both male and female jobholders, e.g., inventeuses et inventeurs ; French feminine and masculine plural forms for inventors), rather than masculine plural forms (e.g., inventors; Braun et al, 1998; Heise, 2000, 2003; Stahlberg and Sczesny, 2001; Stahlberg et al, 2001; Rothmund and Scheele, 2004; Vervecken et al, 2013; Vervecken and Hannover, 2015; for a discussion of this issue for natural gender languages e.g., English; see, e.g., Gabriel et al, 2008; Garnham et al, 2012; Lassonde and O’Brien, 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations

et al. 2015

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Recent studies from countries with grammatical gender languages (e.g., French) found both children and adults to more frequently think of female jobholders and to consider women’s success in male dominated occupations more likely when the jobs were described in pair forms (i.e., by explicit reference to male and female jobholders, e.g., inventeuses et inventeurs; French feminine and masculine plural forms for inventors), rather than masculine only forms (e.g., inventors). To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, we systematically varied the gender connotation of occupations (males overrepresented, females overrepresented, equal share of males and females) and measured additional dependent variables, predicting that gender fair language would reduce the impact of the gender connotation on participants’ perceptions. In a sample of 222 adolescents (aged 12–17) from French speaking Switzerland, we found that pair forms attenuated the difference in the ascription of success to male and female jobholders in gendered occupations and attenuated the differential ascription of warmth to prototypical jobholders in male vs. female dominated jobs. However, no effect of language form on the ascription of competence was found. These findings suggest that language policies are an effective tool to impact gendered perceptions, however, they also hint at competence-related gender stereotypes being in decline.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations

et al. 2015

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“…Both males and females preferred jobs that they saw as stereotypically gender-appropriate and dominated by their own sex. Some researchers explored the role of language in job titles as a means of creating and maintaining stereotypes in primary school children (e.g., Liben et al 2002;Vervecken et al 2013). Gender specific job titles are exclusionary, whereas the naming of occupations in both a male and female form seems to increase the mental accessibility of female jobholders and strengthens their interest in stereotypically male occupations.…”

Section: Studies Of Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

Study choice and career development in STEM fields: an overview and integration of the research

Tuijl

Molen

2015

Int J Technol Des Educ

135

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Although science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) study paths and STEM work fields may be relatively difficult and therefore not appropriate for everyone, too many children prematurely exclude STEM-related study and work options, based on negative images of the field or negative ability beliefs. In the present article, we provide an overview of the literature from different research perspectives that shows that study choice and career decisions made by young adults have their roots in earlier in childhood. In our view, the literature reviewed points to three interrelated factors that are important in the study choice and career development of children aged 8-16: knowledge, affective value, and ability beliefs and self-efficacy building. Based on this review, we argue that knowledge of the STEM field, and of the self in STEM activities, and parents' and teachers' knowledge of the early circumscription processes of children aged 8-16 needs to be broadened. Also, negative and often-stereotypical affective values adhered to STEM study choices or careers among parents and teachers need to be countered. With regard to ability beliefs, we argue that we should focus more attention on turning pupils' entity beliefs into incremental ones.

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“…engineer, astronaut) when teachers described the occupation using masculine rather than gender-neutral terminology. 15 More broadly, numerous studies demonstrate that children’s general linguistic environment also skews male. Analyses of children’s literature indicate that not only do male storybook characters vastly outnumber females, but male characters enjoy heroic roles whereas female characters are relegated to dependency themes.…”

Section: Why You Should Care: the Impact Of Gender Bias In Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

What is in a Pronoun?

Harris¹,

Blencowe

Telem

2017

Annals of Surgery

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Changing (S)expectations: How gender fair job descriptions impact children's perceptions and interest regarding traditionally male occupations

Cited by 105 publications

References 33 publications

Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations

Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations

Study choice and career development in STEM fields: an overview and integration of the research

What is in a Pronoun?

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