The development of gendered occupational aspirations across adolescence: examining the role of different types of upper-secondary education

Abstract

Gender-typical educational and occupational goals are an important precursor of educational gender segregation and unequal opportunities of men and women in the labour market. However, little is known about how gender-typical aspirations develop during childhood and adolescence. Drawing on identity and opportunity arguments from a developmental perspective, this paper attempts to fill this gap by examining whether and to what extent gender-typical aspirations change during adolescence and how track allocation in secondary school is related to the development of gendered occupational aspirations between the ages of 15 and 21. The analyses are based on the Swiss Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. They include an observation span of six years, during which respondents were surveyed at the ages of 15, 16, 18 and 21.The findings show that gender-typical occupational aspirations were most prevalent at the age of 15. Their level and development differed by upper-secondary school track and gender. Young men’s aspirations were considerably more gender-typical than those of young women. Aspirations became less gender-typical for women in baccalaureate school and in initial vocational education and training programmes with high academic requirements and, in particular, for young men who entered vocational education and training with low requirements. Overall, our results support the assumption that changes in gender-typical aspirations during adolescence are the result of an interplay between opportunity structures offered by the upper-secondary school track, identity and status considerations.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>The development of occupational aspirations differs by upper-secondary track and by gender.</li><br /><li>Gender-typical occupational aspirations are most prevalent at the age of 15.</li><br /><li>Identity formation, perceived opportunities and status considerations may provide an explanation.</li></ul>

Gendered ethnic choice effects at the transition to upper secondary education in Switzerland

“…Although administrative data provide information only on students' nationality, we use these data for descriptive purposes to give an approximate overview of the distribution by nationality and gender at upper secondary level for the period between 1990 and 2015 (see Figures 3, 4 in the Appendix). The data highlight how gender-specific this educational trajectory is in Switzerland (see also Basler et al, 2021). The proportion of young Swiss men in VET is about 80%, but is higher for men with former Yugoslav, Turkish, or Portuguese nationality.…”

“…In such a context, a relatively high proportion of women aspires to enter occupations for which a higher education entrance qualification is required. In addition, these high educational aspirations are related to the tertiarisation of many women's occupations over recent decades (Buchmann et al, 2008 ; Kriesi and Imdorf, 2019 ; Basler et al, 2021 ; Becker and Blossfeld, 2021 ; Nießen et al, 2022 ; Wicht et al, 2022 ). If the proportion among women striving for academic education is relatively high, we assume that the room for ethnic choice effects is confined.…”

The Representation of Women as Post-Secondary Graduates and the Role of Educational Systems: Evidence From 51 Countries

“…Charles and co-authors (2001) find that girls enrolled in educational systems with later tracking ages are less likely to choose female-typical educational fields (education, nursing) in favor of more gender mixed fields (that is, fields where men and women are more equally represented). Another study finds that young men’s occupational aspirations are considerably more “gender-typical” at the relatively late-tracking age of 15 compared to young women (Basler, Kriesi, & Imdorf, 2021Basler et al, 2021). It is plausible that gender mixed fields are more likely to require advanced degrees for occupational credentials compared to male dominated fields and that women are more likely than men to pursue these educational degrees to demonstrate their professional credentials (Kupfer, 2010; Niemeyer & Colley, 2015).…”

Gendered occupational aspirations among German youth: Role of parental occupations, gender division of labour, and family structure

“…After applying cross-sectional design and wave non-response weights, 7009 adolescents completed the youth questionnaire. As we are interested in parental socialisation influences on somewhat idealistic occupational aspirations, and the occupational aspirations of young people who have already started vocational training are significantly affected by accessibility of jobs and labour market demand and therefore are heavily influenced by their realised vocational choices (Basler et al, 2020), we restricted our sample to adolescents who were not enrolled in vocational education or training when they filled in the youth questionnaire. Therefore, we omitted 1769 adolescents from our analysis.…”