The vocational counseling process. Almost from the time they enter school, girls seem to restrict the range of occupations they consider. Looft, for instance, found that first- and second-grade boys named more than twice as many occupations as the same-aged girls when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Furthermore, more than 75% of the girls questioned named the traditionally sex-appropriate occupations of nurse or teacher as their primary career choice. The results since have been replicated (Siegal).
Even if a girl does choose a nonconventional career objective, she is apt to run up against powerful obstructions. Vocational guidance perpetuates the notion of occupational distinction between the sexes. Research evidence suggests that both male and female counselors respond most positively to those women who hold traditional career goals (Thomas and Steward). There also is evidence suggesting that professional personnel consultants generally agree that a four-year college is less advisable for women than for men (Cash, Gillen, Burns). In a recent study it was discovered that the counseling given men and women who were not accepted into medical school differed. Men rejectees were urged to persevere in their career objectives or to substitute others that were of nearly equivalent status; women rejectees, however, were encouraged to reconsider and/ or abandon their career goals in favor of those that were more traditionally appropriate to a woman (Weisman, Morlock, Sack, and Levine). Therefore women often are pressured to set traditional career goals and receive little support for deviating from the pattern deemed appropriate to their sex. Consequently, because of their power and authority, those in a position to counsel can create insurmountable obstacles for women hoping to fulfill nonconventional career aspirations. Such behavior is one of the most pernicious forms of sex discrimination. Unfortunately, its effects most often are not recognized until it is too late to undo them.
A Department of Health, Education, and Welfare regulation prohibits discrimination within educational institutions in counseling materials, aptitude tests, and also in the counseling process itself. Some curriculum packages have been developed for counselors to use to help girls examine various careers and lifestyles (e.g., Hansen). At the elementary school level, OCCUPACS enables boys and girls to experiment with a variety of occupations. At the junior high school level, counseling tools have been developed to stimulate girls’ awareness of the potential and challenge of work. Further information about new developments and counseling techniques can be found in Wirtenberg and Nakamura.
It should be remembered that the vocational counselor is in a unique position to intervene in the socialization process by challenging the assumption underlying sex-typed occupational choices. Training of counselors must emphasize this if these individuals are to become instrumental in facilitating rather than in blocking achievement-oriented women.
The absence of role models. There are many-discussions in the literature pointing out the importance of female role models to women with nontraditional occupational goals (e.g., Brenner; Buchanan). It has been proposed that the absence of females who successfully function in traditionally male occupations discourages other women from considering them (Shein). However, the number of women role models still is quite limited.
The term “female role model” usually is used to refer to a woman who has combined marriage and career, and has effectively achieved in the work world without sacrificing her womanhood. In many studies the influence of nontraditional mothers (who combine family with career), on their daughters (who also tend to be nontraditional), is considered the influence of a role model (Almquist and Angrist; Tangri). However, the term role model also can be used in a more general sense. It can simply connote the presence of other members of one’s subgroup in positions of power and prestige. It is in this sense that the absence of female role models can be a source of sex discrimination.
By not placing women in visible and important positions, organizations and professional groups may be ensuring that they do not attract the interest of women making career decisions. Data supporting this point of view recently has been collected (Heilman, in press). When told that a moderate rather than the traditionally meager proportion of women would populate a given occupation during the next decade, female high school students expressed a greater interest in that occupation. They also indicated a higher estimate of their probability of success. These results attest to the fact that the number of women within an organization or professional group communicates important information to women actively seeking career paths.
Number is not necessarily the only issue; visibility may be very critical. Anecdotal evidence supports this contention. After this author had been a member of the faculty for several years, she was appointed the director of her undergraduate program at Yale College. Immediately following this appointment there was a sudden and dramatic increase in the number of women who “signed up” for that major. Similar trends have been evident in female course enrollments when women rather than men faculty members are instructors. Although causation obviously cannot be attributed in these cases, they nevertheless provide food for thought.
The reasoning implied here appears to be rather circular. If a woman’s career choices are determined by the conspicuous presence of successful women already in that career, then occupations currently without women would never shift in sexual composition. Of course this is not so. Many other factors besides the existence of role models enter into career decisions. But the perceived absence of women within the occupational ranks may deter the entry of women and/or slow down the rate at which they seek access to a given career.
Nontraditional career choices can be inhibited both by the stereotypical beliefs of vocational counselors and also by the tacit messages conveyed by the sexual composition of an occupational group. Despite these potential deterrents, some women do select nontraditional career paths.
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