Lawson Katie M, Crouter Ann C, McHale Susan M
Department of Psychological Science, Ball State University.
Human Development & Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University.
J Vocat Behav. 2015 Oct 1;90:26-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.07.003. Epub 2015 Jul 21.
Gendered occupational segregation remains prevalent across the world. Although research has examined factors contributing to the low number of women in male-typed occupations - namely science, technology, engineering, and math - little longitudinal research has examined the role of childhood experiences in both young women's and men's later gendered occupational attainment. This study addressed this gap in the literature by examining family gender socialization experiences in middle childhood - namely parents' attitudes and work and family life - as contributors to the gender typicality of occupational attainment in young adulthood. Using data collected from mothers, fathers, and children over approximately 15 years, the results revealed that the associations between childhood socialization experiences (∼10 years old) and occupational attainment (∼26 years old) depended on the sex of the child. For sons but not daughters, mothers' more traditional attitudes towards women's roles predicted attaining more gender-typed occupations. In addition, spending more time with fathers in childhood predicted daughters attaining and sons acquiring gender-typed occupations in young adulthood. Overall, evidence supports the idea that childhood socialization experiences help to shape individuals' career attainment and thus contribute to gender segregation in the labor market.
性别化职业隔离在全球范围内仍然普遍存在。尽管已有研究探讨了导致女性在男性主导职业（即科学、技术、工程和数学领域）中人数较少的因素，但很少有纵向研究考察童年经历在青年女性和男性后来的性别化职业成就中所起的作用。本研究通过考察童年中期的家庭性别社会化经历——即父母的态度以及工作和家庭生活——作为青年成年期职业成就性别典型性的影响因素，填补了这一文献空白。利用从母亲、父亲和孩子那里收集的大约15年的数据，结果显示，童年社会化经历（约10岁）与职业成就（约26岁）之间的关联取决于孩子的性别。对于儿子而非女儿来说，母亲对女性角色更传统的态度预示着会获得更具性别典型性的职业。此外，童年时期与父亲相处时间更多预示着女儿在青年成年期会获得、儿子会习得性别典型性职业。总体而言，有证据支持这样一种观点，即童年社会化经历有助于塑造个人的职业成就，从而导致劳动力市场中的性别隔离。
