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Career theory is not a new topic, but one with an interesting past. The theories have been developed through working with men in the early days of the study of careers, modified to add women, and then modified even more for men and women in transition. Making a career decision is not a single event that takes place only in one's early adulthood, but might happen on other occasions during the life span. As the theory changes, different considerations are evident in the research. Much interest is focused on career transitions and the life change involved in breaking a career pattern. Factors such as changing economies, role expectations, more women in higher education and the workplace have caused theories to be modified and changed. Two implications of a study that investigated what women had done when faced with midlife career changes and how they made their choices were noteworthy and are as follows: (1) the socialization of girls and women and the correlation to their career choice and (2) the apparent need for flexible programming for women. The women in the study who initially focused on being "stay-at-home-mothers" have all chosen traditional women's occupations--a typical pattern according to Gottfredson's theory about early socialization and the tendency for women to choose gender-acceptable occupations. Career planning and vocational maturity need to consider the whole woman and all her needs, which is difficult when the flexibility of time is not available. (Contains 77 references.) (YLB)

The two two-page briefs in this packet focus on nontraditional careers and nontraditional students and how to recruit and teach nontraditional students. "What Do We Know about Nontraditional Careers?" notes that men and women still tend to work in careers that are traditional for their sex, although the numbers of men and women choosing nontraditional jobs are increasing. Women in nontraditional jobs earn 20 percent more than women in traditional jobs, and both men and women need to learn skills for all types of careers, including nontraditional occupations. "How Can We Effectively Recruit and Teach Nontraditional Students?" provides suggestions for both these activities. Suggestions for recruiting nontraditional students include creating career-technical programs to reach all students, presenting career clusters in a way that shows how career pathways can align with interests, giving students multiple opportunities to explore both traditional and nontraditional careers, and helping students overcome stereotypes of appropriate jobs for their gender. Strategies suggested for teaching nontraditional students include improving curriculum and program design, supporting students in working with unfamiliar equipment, bringing in nontraditional role models, avoiding verbal gender bias, and creating contextual learning experiences. References and resources are listed. (KC)

A study determined the extent of gender stratification in Finnish vocational education and labor force, especially in the transition from school to work. It used follow-up data that Statistics Finland gathered in 1990 concerning the labor force status of the 1985 school leavers and the level of their educational qualifications 5 years later to identify gender-related differences in students' choices in vocational education, transition from school to work, and various occupations. Only data relating to vocational institution leavers were used. Findings indicated there were still gender differences in vocational educational and in occupational choices. Women and men made traditional choices both in education and in the labor force. Female-intensive fields of vocational education and the labor force included the clothing industry, home and institutional economics, and social services. Correspondingly, male-dominated programs were as follows: heat, water and ventilation technology; mechanical engineering; vehicle and transportation technology; electrical engineering; forestry; and seafaring. (Contains 26 references.) (YLB)

The European Social Fund's (ESF's) emphasis on new technology training increased throughout the 1980s, but in the 1990s this emphasis disappears from policies toward "socially excluded" groups, including long-term unemployed women. Women are segregated into certain occupations and then further segregated by a hierarchical division that consistently favors men and is reflected in the gendered pay differentials. Furthermore, women are far less likely than men to be employed full time, but are more likely to be in temporary or part-time employment: lower paid and less secure. The importance of this gendered hierarchical and occupational segregation is that women have been restricted to the "low-skilled," low-paid, periphery occupations, with little authority or control. Linked to this concept of gendering is that of re-gendering. This continual process of gendering is related directly to changes within the processes of production and maintains the gendered power differential. New technology is also being "gendered." A research project that followed the general principles of "grounded theory" has shown that new technology training is no longer stressed in the European Union (EU) Priority Guidelines. This change has occurred at the same time as numerous EU Reports have consistently stressed the importance of new technology, especially for vulnerable groups, including women. The targeted working-class women are having the occupational key to the future effectively denied them. (Contains 60 references.) (YLB)

Sex-role stereotypes have been defined as the constellation of psychological traits that characterize one sex more than another. This thesis investigates the role of eight independent variables--gender, classification of student, socioeconomic status of the parents, mother's employment outside the home, family structure, parental education level, size of school, and nationality of student--in sex-role stereotyping among students. Two instruments, a demographic sheet and the Occupational sex-role stereotyping sheet, were used. The sample of 170 secondary students (80 males, 90 females) was used to make 24 comparisons. Results supported the following generalizations: (1) Male secondary school students have greater occupational sex-role stereotyping than female students; (2) The independent variables mother's employment outside the home and socioeconomic status of the parents should be examined concurrently with occupational sex-role stereotyping; and (3) The independent variables size of school and classification of student should also be examined concurrently with occupational sex-role stereotyping. Findings support studies that show boys as being more aware of sex roles than girls, as well as reports that males record higher mean sex-role stereotyping scores than females. Contains 37 references. Five appendices contain two survey instruments, an instruction sheet, and two letters regarding permission. (RJM)

The extent of sex segregation in vocational and technical education (VTE) in U.S. high schools nearly 30 years after passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was examined in a national study. The key findings were as follows: (1) sex segregation is pervasive in high school-level VTE nationwide; (2) sex segregation results in substantial disparities in the wages earned by female and male graduates of VTE; (3) sex segregation in VTE results in inferior educational opportunities for women and girls enrolled in "traditionally female" programs; (4) sex segregation in VTE results from discrimination in violation of Title IX; and (5) the scope of the sex segregation in VTE education has been largely ignored in the 30 years since Title IX was enacted. The following were among the 6 recommendations emerging from the study: (1) the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights should undertake compliance reviews of high school-level VTE programs; (2) all states should have an official responsible for investigating and remedying barriers to equal educational opportunity; (3) states should adopt compliance programs to prevent, identify, and remedy sex discrimination in VTE; and (4) the business community should exercise leadership, in partnership with schools, to promote nontraditional training for women. (MN)

While there is near parity in Oregon between the numbers of men and women in education, within the profession men and women are segregated by sex. It is clear that sex, more than age, experience, background, or competence, is the major determinant for the occupational role an individual will hold within the profession. The purposes of this paper are (1) to explain the concept of sex role stereotyping and how it guides the behavior of men and women, (2) to illustrate how one's sex has directly affected men's and women's career paths in the field, (3) to explain how sex segregation is perpetuated, and (4) to describe the possible consequences of sex inequity in school management for the functioning of schools. (Author/MLF)

A study was conducted to examine race and sex differences in occupational aspirations and the role of these differences in perpetuating under- or overrepresentation of women and blacks in different occupations. The underrepresentation of women, especially blacks, in all levels of entrepreneurial jobs was stressed since these jobs constitute a large proportion of all jobs and pay better for less education than other fields. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress regarding occupational aspirations, values, and self-reported competencies of thirteen-year-olds, seventeen-year-olds, and adults aged twenty-six to thirty-five were used to examine race and sex differences in orientation to particular types of occupations. Based on these results, speculations were presented about how people adjust their occupational goals in ways that help perpetuate occupational segregation. The following five principles were formulated: (1) society-wide stereotypes about good jobs are mirrored in the occupational aspirations of children; (2) stereotypes about occupations appropriate for men are different from those for women; (3) these stereotypes are largely the same for all racial and ethnic groups; (4) as children go through adolescence their aspirations become more realistic; (5) and the races and sexes adjust their aspirations towards different sets of occupations. The data implied that strategies to decrease occupational segregation by decreasing educational handicaps will not eradicate all important differences and recommended that more attention be devoted to understanding the socialization processes that lead the races and sexes to seek different jobs. (Author/BM) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Secondary Analyses).

Occupational sex segregation is one of the most obvious facts of economic life. The largest declines in the sex segregation index between 1970 and 1980 were in the managerial and professional specialty and in the service occupations. Changes were greater for white-collar than blue-collar occupations for both white and minority women. White women reduced their entry into a number of traditionally female white-collar occupations that minority women, leaving private household work, continued to enter. It has been easier to pass laws mandating equal opportunity and affirmative action than to eliminate institutional and informal obstacles, such as sexual harassment or coworker hostility, outmoded administrative rules and procedures by employers and unions, and gender-tracked promotional ladders. There has been some growth in the number of women training for and entering higher-status, skilled blue-collar crafts. There are more women apprentices than women currently employed in the occupations. In construction, federally-mandated goals and timetables established in 1978 have led to increases in women employees, although enforcement efforts have been lax since 198l. In 1978, over 150 programs were able to recruit and train women for apprenticeships; only 50 remain after training and enforcement cutbacks. Federal training programs are doing relatively little to recruit and place women into nontraditional jobs; however, funding under the Perkins Vocational Education Act has been crucial to sustaining the successful community-based preapprenticeship training programs. (The paper also includes sections on integration of white-collar work, the impact of technological change, and policy implications and recommendations. Four data tables, a list of organizations contacted, and 115 references are included.) (CML)