Preference for occupations in relation to masculinity, femininity, and gender

Male students (n=95) and female students (n=77) in their penultimate year at a metropolitan high school completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to provide masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scores and also nominated their choices of ideal and realistic occupations, the former being the occupation they would most prefer to work in and the latter the occupation that they realistically expected to choose. They then rated each choice for male dominance and status or prestige. Those subjects who indicated that they would not continue in the realistically chosen occupation until retirement also rated the likelihood that each of 10 reasons would be their reason for leaving. Results indicated strong gender effects for the male dominance ratings, males preferring gender‐congruent ideal and realistic occupations more than females. Strong gender effects also occurred from the analyses of the likelihood ratings for some of the reasons. Effects involving masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scores and their joint classification (androgynous, masculine, feminine, undifferentiated) were mostly non‐significant but the significant effects that did emerge were theoretically meaningful, especially those that concerned reasons for quitting the realistic occupation. Results were taken as support for the view that the effects of sex‐role expectations and attitudes should be distinguished from the effects of instrumental and expressive personality traits when occupational choices are considered. 1983 The British Psychological Society