Gender Difference in Early Occupational Attainment: The Roles of Study Field, Gender Norms, and Gender Attitudes

Abstract

Based on the data from the Beijing College Student Panel Survey (BCSPS), this paper examines the effect of study fields on gender disparities in early occupational achievement. Multinomial logistic regression suggests that field of study can only explain part of the occupational gender differences. Women are more likely than men to become office clerks-a typical female occupation even if the field of study is controlled. Relative to clerks, gender disparities in entry into professional and technicians (male-typed of occupations) are largely attributed to women's underrepresentation in science and engineering fields. However, women's disadvantages in attaining managerial or marketing occupations are even enlarged after controlling the field of study. By innovatively adopting simulation strategy, our results further demonstrate that after considering gender role expectations, that is, if women would have the same likelihood of taking science and engineering fields at college as men given their social and economic background, women's disadvantage in entering professional and technicians would largely diminish. Despite the pervasive influence of gender norms, egalitarian gender attitudes at job entry can partially moderate women's disadvantage in entering male-dominated occupations. Women with more traditional gender attitudes are more likely to be office clerks. In contrast, those tending to be more progressive more likely to become managers. In this vein, we argue that gender norms are the main driving force behind the occupational gender differences.

Gender Difference in STEM Career Aspiration and Social-Cognitive Factors in Collectivist and Individualist Cultures

“…Furthermore, the results from both samples indicated that gender and STEM self-efficacy were the two most salient variables in our prediction models, which were in accordance with previous studies (Mau et al, 1995;Twenge & Campbell, 2018;Wang, 2012). The current findings are generally consistent with other studies focused on gender difference within culturally and ethnically diverse samples (He & Zhou, 2018;Kermani & Aldemir, 2015).…”

“…Findings from this study added to the growing body of empirical literature on gender difference regarding parental involvement, learning experience, and self-efficacy, and STEM career aspiration. In accordance with previous research (He & Zhou, 2018;Ing, 2014;Mau et al, 2019;Mau & Li, 2018;Wang & Degol, 2013), the present study provides additional evidence that gender differences in STEM career interests remain pervasive among high school students. Male students were more likely to participate in the STEM workforce than female students regardless of the socio-cultural contexts.…”

Family status and women’s career mobility during urban China’s economic transition

“…As women are responsible for a greater share of domestic work than men, especially when they have young children to care for, they are seen as being less committed to the workplace and more likely to quit jobs for family reasons (Cha 2010(Cha , 2013Jacobs 1989;Kan and He 2018;Marini 1989;Stone 2007;Treiman and Hartmann 1981). If employed, they are more likely to remain in lower-paid occupations traditionally dominated by women (e.g., He and Wu 2019;He and Zhou 2018;Levanon and Grusky 2016;Marini 1989). Hence, it is women's family role that holds off their career advancement in the labor markets.…”

Parental Education and College Students' Attitudes Toward Love: Survey Evidence From China

“…To facilitate sampling, the BCSPS took advantage of the registration cards for all of the students who were enrolled in 2009 as the sampling frame and adopted the proportional‐to‐population sampling strategy. The primary sampling units were higher education institutions, from which the secondary sampling units were fields of study (see Cai & Wang, ; He & Zhou, ; Li & Feng, 2018; X. G. Wu, ; D. Xu, ; Wu, Li, & Wang, in press).…”