Gender differences in career choices among students in secondary school

Mozahem, Najib A.; Kozbar, Dana K.; Hassan, Ahmad W. Al; Mozahem, Laila A.

doi:10.1080/21683603.2018.1521759

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…One such limitation is that the effect of time was not incorporated into the model. Research in educational psychology has found that gender differences in occupational choices develop overtime (Mozahem et al 2018), and that the information received from the four sources of self-efficacy is mediated by the gender of children over time (Mozahem et al 2020). These results support social roles theories that argue that males and females undergo different socialization processes and that these processes develop over time.…”

Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 61%

Social cognitive theory and women’s career choices: an agent—based model simulation

Mozahem

2020

Comput Math Organ Theory

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An agent-based model is proposed and tested. This model aims to simulate agency as conceptualized in Bandura's (Am Psychol 37:122–147, 1982; Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50:248–287; Annu Rev Psychol 52: 1–26) Social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory has been used to explain the continued underrepresentation of females in certain fields, most notably fields that are associated with engineering and technology. The theory proposes that agents acquire information from four different sources, and then, through a process of reciprocal interaction, these agents develop their perception of self-efficacy. In this study, an agent-based model is used to model this interaction. The output from the simulation supports the validity of the model used and illustrates how agency "emerges" from the triadic interaction. The model successfully simulates several of the theorized aspects of social cognitive theory. The simulation results reveal that even small gendered differences can lead to female misrepresentation in certain fields. The model also shows that female discouragement plays a larger role than male encouragement in female underrepresentation. The implications of these results are discussed. Finally, the limitations of the model are discussed, along with directions for future research.

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Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 61%

Social cognitive theory and women’s career choices: an agent—based model simulation

Mozahem

2020

Comput Math Organ Theory

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“…These studies were possibly the first explicit referrals to a people-things dimension contributing to the sex differences in occupational interests. These sex differences were further confirmed by Finch and Odoroff in 1939 [ 12 ] or more recently by Mozahem and colleagues in Lebanon ( d = 0.8) [ 13 ]. On the basis of these findings it is not surprising that today, many of the occupational sex differences (e.g., few female electricians) have been explained by boys’ and men’s greater interest in things (i.e., mechanical tools, machines, or gadgets) as opposed to an interest in helping people or living beings more broadly, and the reverse for girls and women [ 3 – 5 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Sex differences in adolescents’ occupational aspirations: Variations across time and place

Stoet

Geary

2022

PLoS ONE

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We investigated sex differences in 473,260 adolescents’ aspirations to work in things-oriented (e.g., mechanic), people-oriented (e.g., nurse), and STEM (e.g., mathematician) careers across 80 countries and economic regions using the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We analyzed student career aspirations in combination with student achievement in mathematics, reading, and science, as well as parental occupations and family wealth. In each country and region, more boys than girls aspired to a things-oriented or STEM occupation and more girls than boys to a people-oriented occupation. These sex differences were larger in countries with a higher level of women’s empowerment. We explain this counter-intuitive finding through the indirect effect of wealth. Women’s empowerment is associated with relatively high levels of national wealth and this wealth allows more students to aspire to occupations they are intrinsically interested in. Implications for better understanding the sources of sex differences in career aspirations and associated policy are discussed.

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“…As discussed in the literature review, previous studies have concentrated on micro-level factors such as student characteristics (Cochran et al , 2014), and course characteristics (Boldt et al , 2017). Given that career occupational choices are a result of the interaction of personal, behavioral and environmental factors (Lent et al , 1994), coupled with the finding that strong gendered differences exist in career choices (Ceci et al , 2009; Mozahem et al , 2018), a comparison of withdrawal behavior of both male and female students across colleges can shed light on possible existence of macro-level factors that might be playing a role in the decision to withdraw.…”

Section: Purpose Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Course withdrawal: a comparison of business and engineering students in a private university

Mozahem

2019

JARHE

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the course withdrawal behavior of business and engineering students in a private university. While previous research has studied such behavior, the literature remains sparse and dated. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a negative binomial model in order to model the total number of course withdrawals for 760 students. The data set includes all courses taken by the students, with a total of 25,160 course outcomes. Findings Among the findings of the study are that males withdraw from courses more than females, engineering courses have the highest withdrawal rates, and male engineering students withdraw more than any other group. Originality/value While dropping out of college has received cross-national interest, the same cannot be said of course withdrawal. Most research to date has been conducted in a community college setting or has used a subset of the courses taken by students at universities in the USA. Thus, this is one of the first studies to investigate course withdrawal in another country.

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Gender differences in career choices among students in secondary school

Cited by 13 publications

References 57 publications

Social cognitive theory and women’s career choices: an agent—based model simulation

Social cognitive theory and women’s career choices: an agent—based model simulation

Sex differences in adolescents’ occupational aspirations: Variations across time and place

Course withdrawal: a comparison of business and engineering students in a private university

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