The effects of student gender, race, and achievement on career exploration advice given by canadian preservice teachers

Sex Roles, Vol. 21, Nos. 3/4, 1989

The Effects of Student Gender, Race, and Achievement on Career Exploration Advice

Given by Canadian Preservice Teachers

Elisabeth Stewart University of Regina

Nancy Hutchinson x Queen's University

Peter Hemingway and Fred Bessai University of Regina

This study investigated the effects o f gender, race, and achievement on ratings o f appropriateness o f occupations and classifications o f occupations (people, data, things) suitable for future exploration by ninth-grade students. The subjects (N = 125; 106females, 19 males), advanced undergraduate education students, were each asked to evaluate a case folder in which gender (female, male, not stated), race (Native, non-Native), and achievement (higher average, lower average) were systematically varied. Subjects gave ratings o f appropriateness for future exploration of occupations on 5-point Likert-type scales. The occupations rated also represented three classifications (data, people, things), yielding a second dependent variable. Analysis was accomplished using two four-way analyses o f variance. The attribute most influencing ratings was achievement. However, the three-way interactions o f gender, race, and achievement limit direct interpretation of the data, and suggest that complex combinations o f student attributes influence teachers. The limitations of the present study are emphasized; the implications for advising young women and for future research are discussed.

Recently scholars have focused on the study of gender and work. They have asked how and why gender systems shape men's and women's relationships

~To whom correspondence should be addressed at Faculty of Education, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6.

247

0360-0025/89/0800-0247506.00/0 © 1989 Plenum Publishing Corporation

248 Stewart et al.

to technology, and why a two-tiered labor market defined by gender is so resistant to change (Conway, Bourque, & Scott, 1987). Three major types of explanations for gender segregation in the labor market have been advanced (Marini & Brinton, 1984). The first consists of explanations focusing on employer demands, and the second consists of explanations focusing On legal and institutional barriers within the workplace. These two types of explanations place the source of gender segregation in the workplace. The third type of explanation focuses on worker characteristics and gender-based socialization. Two of the major socializing influences are the home and the school.

Not only women, but also members of minority racial groups, such as Amerindian Natives frequently find themselves in low-paying, uninteresting occupations (Clifton, 1981; Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, 1980; Ellis, Pinacie, Turner, & Swiftwolfe, 1978). Research suggests that per- sonal attributes related to achievement in school, such as self-efficacy and attributions, influence occupational and career aspirations. However, the influence of these variables is mediated by environmental factors like parental and teacher support and advice (Farmer, 1987).

Teachers' expectations for students are influenced by gender (Benz, Pfeiffer, & Newman, 1984; Ott, Carmichael, Gallup, Lewis, Russ, & Veres, 1980; Picou & Howard, 1976), race (Dusek & Joseph, 1983; Finn, 1972), and achievement (Brophy & Good, 1974; Rolison & Medway, 1985). Not only do teachers form their expectations on the basis of student characteristics, but teachers' recommendations about the appropriateness of programs of study for particular students are also influenced by the gender, race, and prior achievement of students. Stewart, Hutchinson, Hemingway, and Bes- sai (1989) found that all programs of study (academic, commercial, and vocational) were seen as more appropriate for higher achievers than lower achievers, and as more appropriate for Natives than non-Natives. Commer- cial programs were seen as more appropriate for young women than young men. It was also found that academic programs of study were rated particu- larly appropriate for higher achieving Native students.

The first two findings of Stewart et al. (1989) suggest that teachers were influenced in recommending program options by achievement and race of the students. The third finding corroborates earlier studies indicating gender bias with Canadian women being advised to seek clerical and service positions (Menzies, 1981). The fourth finding may reflect the small numbers of Amerindian Native students who stay in school through high school in Canada.

After following a particular program of study, young men and women leaving high school have occupational and career decisions to make. These choices are frequently made with the advice of teachers due to the lack of

Career Advice 249

guidance counselors (Lee & Ekstrom, 1987). Sproles (1988) reported that students thought teachers exerted as much influence as guidance counselors on their choice of vocational programs. Do teachers make recommendations, for types of occupations that students ought to explore, on the basis of student characteristics known to influence teacher expectations and advice given about high school programs?

The experiences of young women and men lead to social role expectations and related behaviors that result in gender differences in career achievement and in related motivation (Farmer, 1987). Some occupations are seen as more suitable for men, some for women, and some as gender neutral (Gaskell, 1987). The research investigating the career choice process suggests that women consider a narrower range of occupational fields than men (Bielby & Baron, 1984) and that this may be one source of gender differences in occupational achievement (Farmer & Backer, 1977; Gottfredson, 1981). When asked to give advice to students about career exploration, do preservice teachers use this opportunity to enhance the range of choice considered by young women, or does their advice reflect existing gender inequality in occupational achievement?

The principal purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of students' gender, ethnicity, and achievement on advice given to high school students concerning occupations and types of occupations suitable for future exploration. Such knowledge may contribute to our understanding of how educational and occupational stratification are maintained.

METHOD

Description of the Sample

A total of 125 preservice teachers in a western Canadian university participated voluntarily in this study. The sample was comprised of 106 women and 19 men; thier ages ranged from 19 to 51 years (M = 24.41; Md = 21.38; SD = 6.88). Teaching experience of participants ranged from 0 to 25 years (M = 1.23, Md = 0.18; SD = 3.53). Twenty-four of the preservice teachers were in a secondary education program, 97 in elementary, and 4 did not indicate their type of program. The number of classes previously taken in either educational psychology or guidance and counseling ranged from zero to eight, with a mean of 1.63 and a standard deviation of 1.45. This sample was used because these preservice teachers were available and volunteered to partici- pate. The ideal sample from which to generalize would have consisted of experienced secondary teachers, more men than women, representative of

250 Stewart et al.

the high school teachers who typically give career exploration advice to Grade 9 students.

Procedure

Preservice teachers were given verbal and written instructions to im- agine that they were Grade 9 classroom teachers, and that one of their respon- sibilities at the end of the year was to make specific recommendations concerning their students. Each teacher was asked to examine the content of a file folder and, on the basis of the information therein, respond to a questionnaire. On the questionnaire they were asked to rate the appropriateness of further career exploration for the described student in each of nine occupations. These nine occupations were selected according to three criteria: the high school educational program required for entrance into the occupation, occupational classification (data, people, or things) found in the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO; Department of Manpower and Immigration, 1971), and androgynous job titles. Using these criteria, the final selection of occupations, their required high school program, and the CCDO classifications were as follows: academic p r o g r a m - research scientist (data), lawyer (people), architect (things); business/commercial p r o g r a m - b o o k k e e p e r (data), band teller (people), keypunch operator (things); vocational/technical p r o g r a m - c o m p u t e r programmer (data), day care worker (people), lab technician (things) (see Table I). For each of these occupations, the subjects' responses were recorded using 5-point Likert- type scales in which 1 equaled very appropriate and 5 equaled very inappropriate. Subjects were provided with definitions of the three educational programs.

Each preservice teacher reviewed one case folder and responded to the questionnaire. There were twelve experimental conditions to which subjects were randomly assigned. A complete factorial 3 x 2 x 2 design was used.

Table 1. Occupations Rated by Preservice Teachers High school educational program required for en-

trance into occupation Occupational Business/ Vocational/ classification Academic commercial technical

Data Research Bookkeeper Computer scientist programmer

People Lawyer Bank teller Day care worker Things Architect K e y p u n c h Laboratory

operator technician

Career Advice 251

CASE FOLDERS

A total of 120 case folders were prepared (10 folders for each of the experimental condkions). The age and grade level of the individual represented in the case folders were held constant throughout (15 years, seven months; Grade 9), while the independent variables were systematically varied to reflect the appropriate conditions.

The gender of the student represented in the case folder was indicated by direct listing; for the four "gender not stated" experimental conditions, all references to the gender identity of the student were blacked out. Ethnic identification (Native, non-Native) was provided by varying the student's last name (Stonechild, Johnston) and listing the language of the home (Cree, English).

The level of achievement (higher average, lower average) was indicated by intelligence test data (WISC-R profile) and teacher-assigned Grade 9 final marks. The higher average student was identified as having a WISC-R score one standard deviation above the mean (full-scale IQ = 115, + 1 SD) and a similar grade average (75%0, + 1 SD). The lower average student was identified as having a WISC-R full-scale IQ of 85 ( - 1 SD) and a grade average of 55% ( - 1 SD). The mean of the grades was set at 65, with standard deviation of 10. On the WISC-R profile, care was taken to ensure that no significant difference existed between the profiles of subscale scores (Sat- tler, 1982). Similarly, in assigning subject marks, care was taken to ensure that the higher and lower average students had parallel grade profiles.

RESULTS

Preservice teachers were asked to indicate the level of appropriateness of nine occupations for future explorations. The independent variables manipulated in the case folders were gender (female, male, not stated), race (Native, non-Native), and achievement (higher average, lower average). The results were analyzed using two four-way analyses of variance, with occupations and types of occupations as the fourth factors (with correlated levels). The means and standard deviations of the subjects' responses on the 5-point Likert-type scale are reported in Table II (where 1 = very appropriate and 5 = very inappropriate).

Table III presents a summary of the analysis of variance for ratings of appropriateness of the nine occupations. There were two significant main effects, achievement and occupation, and three significant interactions involving these main effects.

The main effect of achievement on appropriateness ratings of occupations for future exploration was significant IF(l , 107) = 83.36, p < .01].

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Career Advice 253

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254 Stewart et al.

Table IIL Analysis of Variance for Ratings of Appropriateness of Nine Occupations

Source of variation d f M F Significance Gender 2 2.32 1.10 Race 1 .64 .30 Gender × Race 2 1.72 .82 Achievement 1 175.94 83.36 p < .01 Gender x Achievement 2 .05 .03 Race × Achievement 1 .53 .25 Gender × Race × Achievement 2 9.70 4.59 p < .05 Error 1 107 2.11

Occupation 8 12.66 19.54 p < .01 Gender × Occupation 16 1.03 1.59 Race x Occupation 8 2.83 4.36 p < .01 Gender x Race x Occupation 16 .42 .65 Achievement × Occupation 8 37.82 58.39 p < .01 Gender x Achievement x Occupation 16 .76 1.17 Race x Achievement x Occupation 8 .24 .38 Gender x Race x Achievement x Occupation 16 .57 .88 Error 2 856 .65

Subjects in this study gave higher overall ratings to higher achieving students than to lower achieving students on appropriateness of future exploration of the occupations. However, the direct interaction of this main effect for achievement is limited by the significant three-way interaction involving achievement, that is, gender by race by achievement [/7(2, 107) -- 4.59, p < .05]. Post hoc analysis using Newman-Keuls showed that the nine occupations were rated as significantly more appropriate for exploration by non- Native, higher achieving students when gender was not stated; the lowest ratings were given to male, Native, lower achieving students. The order of the 12 means from most appropriate to least appropriate was as follows: non- Native higher achieving students gender not stated (2.3); Native higher achieving girls (2.4); non-Native higher achieving girls (2.6); Native higher achieving boys (2.7); non-Native higher achieving boys (2.7); Native higher achieving students with gender not stated (2.8); Native lower achieving students with gender not stated (3.2); Native lower achieving girls (3.3); non-Native lower achieving boys (3.3); non-Native lower achieving students with gender not stated (3.6); Native lower achieving boys (3.7). The combinations of student characteristics receiving the six highest ratings of appropriateness all includ- ed higher achievement. The two combinations receiving the highest ratings of appropriateness involved gender not stated once and girls once, and Na- tive once and non-Native once. The two combinations receiving the lowest ratings of appropriateness involved boys once and gender not stated once, and Native once and non-Native once. It appeared that the careers were judged as more appropriate for higher achievement in combination with non-

Career Advice 255

Native and nonmale characteristics, and that the careers were judged as least appropriate for lower achievement in combination with non-Native and nonfemale characteristics. However, 57 of the 65 comparisons were significantly different, with four of the nine nonsignificant comparisons involving adjacent means.

The second significant main effect (see Table III) was for occupations [F(8, 856) = 19.54, p < .01]. As there were nine occupations, a New- man-Keuls post hoc analysis was conducted to discern where the differences lay. Table IV shows that all the differences were significant. The occupation rated most appropriate overall for future exploration was bookkeeper, and the occupation judged least appropriate was lawyer. In order, from most to least appropriate, the nine occupations were bookkeeper, bank teller, computer programmer, keypunch operator, lab technician, architect, day care worker, research scientist, and lawyer.

There were two significant interactions involving occupation: race with occupation [F(8, 856) = 4.36, p < .01], and achievement with occupation [F(8,856) = 58.39, p < .01]. In the race by occupation interaction, all but 7 of the differences were significant at the .05 level in a Newman-Keuls analysis. The highest appropriateness ratings were given to non-Native students exploring the bookkeeping occultation, while a non-Native student exploring the occupation of lawyer was rated least appropriate. In the achievement by occupation interaction, all but 5 of 152 differences were significant (p < .05, Newman-Keuls analysis). The subjects in the study rated as the most appropriate for future exploration, higher achieving students exploring com-

Table I V . N e w m a n - K e u l s A n a l y s i s o f r a t i n g s o f A p p r o p r i a t e n e s s o f O c c u p a t i o n s

O c c u p a t i o n s

O c c u p a t i o n s a 9 4 6 8 3 2 7 5 1

M e a n s 2 .58 2 .73 2 . 8 0 2 .83 3.01 3 .05 3 .08 3 .35 3 .63 9 2 .58 ~ .15 c .22 ~ .25 c .43 ~ .47 .49" .77 ~ 1.05 ~ 4 2 .73 - .07 c .10 c .28 c .32 c .35 ~ .63 c .90 c

6 2 . 8 0 - .04 c .21 c .26 ~ .28" .56 ~ .83 ~ 8 2 .83 - .18 c .22 c .24 ~ .52 c .80 c

3 3.01 -- .04 c .07 c .35 ~ .62 ~

2 3 .10 -- .02 ~ .30 c .58" 7 3 .08 - - .28 ~ .56 c

5 2 .83 - - .28 c

1 3 .63 C r i t i c a l v a l u e s c .02 .02 .02 .03 .03 .03 .03 .03

a C o d e f o r o c c u p a t i o n s : 1 = l a w y e r ; 2 = a r c h i t e c t ; 3 = l a b t e c h n i c i a n ; 4 = b a n k te l le r ; 5 =

r e s e a r c h sc ien t i s t ; 6 = c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m e r ; 7 = d a y c a r e w o r k e r ; 8 = k e y p u n c h o p e r a t o r ;

9 = b o o k k e e p e r . b M e a n s r e p r e s e n t s c o r e s r a n g i n g f r o m 1 (very appropriate) t o 5 (very inappropriate). Cp < .05.

256 Stewart et al.

Table V. Analysis o f Variance for Ratings for Appropriateness of Three Classifications (Peo- ple, Data, Things) of Occupations

Source o f variation df MS F Significance

Gender 2 .83 1.20 Race 1 .08 .12 Gender x Race 2 .47 .67 Achievement 1 6t .19 88.77 Gender × Achievement 2 .05 .07 Race × Achievement 1 .00 .00 Gender × Race × Achievement 2 3.58 5.19 Error 1 112 .69

Classifications o f occupations 2 1.81 8.66 Gender × Classification 4 .29 1.42 Race x Classification 2 .23 1.18 Gender × Race x Classification 4 .33 1.58 Achievement x Classification 2 4.37 20.89 Gender x Achievement × Classification 4 .09 .43 Race x Achievement × Classification 2 .18 .88 Gender × Race × Achievement x Classification 4 .25 1.20 Error 2 224 .21

p < .01

p < .01

p < .01

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puter programming as an occupation. The least appropriate ratings were for lower achieving students exploring the occupation of lawyer.

The data were then analyzed with the occupations grouped according to the three classifications of data, people, and things. This four-way analysis of variance for gender by race by achievement by type of occupation yield- ed two significant main effects and two significant interactions (see Table V).

There was a significant main effect for ratings of achievement [F(1, 112) = 88.77, p < .01]. All classifications were rated as more appropriate for higher achieving students than for lower achieving students. However, the three-way interaction of gender by race by achievement [F(2, 112) = 5.19, p < .01] limits direct interpretation of the data. In the gender by race by achievement interaction, 59 of 66 differences were significant when analyzed using Newman-Keuls. Subjects in this study rated the classifications overall as most appropriate for non-Native high achievers whose gender was not stated. The lowest ratings for future exploration went to male, Native, lower achievers.

The other significant main effect on ratings of appropriateness of classifications (people, data, things) of occupations for future exploration was produced by the three types of classification [F(2, 224) = 8.55, p < .01] (Table V). The Newman-Keuls analysis (Table VI) of differences among the occupations classified according to the people, data, and things groupings showed that occupations classified as data oriented received the highest appropriateness ratings. The lowest appropriateness ratings were given to oc-

Career Advice 257

Table VI. Newman-Keuls Analysis of Ratings of Appropri- ateness of Classification of Occupations

Factors Data Things People Means 2.91 2.95 3.13

Data 2.91 -- .04 b .23 b Things 2.95 - . 1 9 b

People 3.13 -

Critical values b .01 .01

aMeans represent scores rating from 1 (very appropriate) to 5 (very inappropriate).

bp < .05.

cupations classified as people oriented, with things-oriented occupations receiving appropriateness ratings between the other two. The differences among the three classifications were all significant.

The second interaction effect significant in the analysis of variance with three types of occupations was achievement by occupational classification (people, data, things) IF(2, 224) = 20.89, p < .01]. In the achievement by occupational classification interaction, all differences between means were significant (Newman-Keuls analysis). The order from most appropriate to least appropriate for future exploration was occupations classified as oriented toward data for higher achieving students, things-oriented occupations for higher achieving students, people occupations for higher achieving students, things-oriented occupations for lower achieving students, people occupations for lower achievers, and data-oriented occupations for lower achievers received the lowest appropriateness ratings.

DISCUSSION

This study has four major limitations that should be considered in in- terpreting the findings. The first three limitations concern the subject pool in relation to the task and interpretations in this study. The sample consisted of 106 women and 19 men, 24 secondary teachers and 97 elementary teachers, few of whom had full-time teaching experience. The task asked them to rate the appropriateness of career exploration advice for adolescents. The fourth limitation concerns the case file method that was used.

The sample in this study did not reflect the teaching position of most teachers who would be asked to give advice to adolescents about career exploration. Most of the subjects were elementary t e a c h e r s - a n d it is secondary teachers who are called on to give such advice. The data cannot be analyzed for the secondary teachers separately because there are only 24 of them. This means

258 Stewart et al.

that care should be used in generalizing the findings to secondary teachers, the population of interest. In addition, most of the teachers who participated in this study had no previous full-time teaching experience. This suggests that the results should not be generalized to experienced Canadian teachers without confirmation that experienced teachers make similar responses. The majority of the preservice teachers who participated in this study were women. However, most Canadian high school teachers are men. The sample did not accurately reflect the gender ratio of the population to which one would like to generalize. The subsample of men was too small to allow for separate analysis; consequently, the question of the influence of subject gender has not been addressed. Studies undertaken recently (Smith & Hemingway, in preparation) have sampled experienced secondary school teachers. The subject pool in these replication studies represents the population of teachers who receive tasks of advising adolescents on career exploration. The results of these investigations corroborate the findings of the present study.

The case file method has been used extensively in studies of the biasing effect of student characteristics on teacher judgments (e.g., Dusek & Joseph, 1983; Rolison & Medway, 1985). While this experimental method is com- mon, and does allow orthogonal manipulation and control of each of the independent variables, it is not without shortcomings. For example, teachers interacting with adolescents they know rather than reading about fictitious students may give different advice, and this might change with further con- tact. Thus the result of this and other case file studies must be considered tentative until replicated in actual classrooms.

Preservice teachers' ratings, in this study, of the appropriateness of the nine occupations were influenced by achievement and occupation. The occupations were seen as more appropriate for exploration by the higher achieving students than the lower achieving students, even though a range of occupations was selected to reflect the marriage of high school programs- commercial and business, vocational and technical, and academic. The influence of the achievement variable supports earlier findings (Benz et al., 1984; Clifton, 1981; Stewart et al., 1989). However, the pervasive three- way interaction of gender by race by achievement limits direct interpretations of the data. Achievement appears to exert its influence in combination with other student characteristics like gender and race. No main effect was found for gender, indicating that the preservice teachers did not see the nine occupations as more appropriate, overall, for exploration by young men than young women. The main effect for race was not significant, indicating that the preservice teachers did not see the occupations as more appropriate to be explored by one of Native or non-Native students. The significant interaction involving all of achievement, gender, and race was difficult to inter- pret. The occupations were rated as most appropriate for high-achieving non-Natives with gender not stated. Amerindian Native students (male, fe-

Career Advice 259

male, and gender not stated) with high achievement were all rated in the first six of the twelve combinations, and all had absolute rankings above the mid- point of the scale. Subjects thought Native students who achieved above average should engage in career exploration. This may reflect the rarity with which one finds high-achieving Native students in Canadian high schools, and the awareness of teachers that such students may have persisted in spite of institutional racism and a cultural environment that does not value achievement in the schools of the majoity culture (Ellis et al., 1978).

There were differences in the ratings of appropriateness assigned to the occupations, with the four occupations that received the highest ratings all requiring some, but not extensive, postsecondary training-bookkeeper, bank teller, computer programmer, and keypunch operator (ordered from highest). Three of the four are relatively low-paid service occupations usually pursued by women (Gaskell, 1987; Menzies, 1981). On the other hand, three of the four lowest ranked occupations require enrollment and success in a high school academic program, and a university education. In order from the lowest, these occupations were lawyer, research scientist, day care worker, and architect. The occupation of day care worker does not require extensive postsecondary academic training and may have been seen as an inappropriate occupation for some other reason.

Occupations interacted with both race and achievement, but not with gender. In the race by occupation interaction, the three highest ratings for future exploration were assigned to non-Native students for the commercial occupations of bookkeeper, bank teller, and keypunch operator. The two lowest ratings were given to native and non-Native students for the occupation of lawyer. It would appear that the subjects perceived the achievement of the students of both races portrayed in the case files as inadequate to the task of being a lawyer, and the non-Natives especially as more suited to commercial occupations than academic occupations. The achievement by occupation interaction showed that the three more academic occupations were rated as most appropriate for higher achieving students (in order from highest, computer programmer, architect, research scientist). The three lowest ratings of appropriateness were assigned to lower achieving students (from lowest, lawyer, research scientist, architect). The dominant effect of achievement can be seen in both the main effects and the interactions for the ratings of appropriateness of occupations.

When the occupations were classified according to people, data, and things, in the second analysis of variance, the findings once again highlight- ed the effect of achievement on the ratings given by preservice teachers in the present study, and the interaction of gender, race, and achievement in making the influence of achievement subtle and complex.

An examination of the data in the present study might suggest that teacher advice is not a contributor to gender segregation in the workplace.

260 Stewart et al.

However, when the results of this study are articulated with a companion study (Stewart et al., 1989), the perspective is altered. Stewart et al. asked preservice teachers to rate the appropriateness of advising high school students to pursue particular high school programs (academic, business/commercial, and vocational/technical). The results supported the traditional stereotypes found in other studies (Gaskell, 1987; Ott et al., 1980; Picou & Howard, 1976), and observed in the workplace (Belier, 1984; Statistics Cana- da, 1980). The commercial program was rated as the most appropriate high school program of study for young women to pursue, regardless of their achievement or race. The commercial program was rated as least appropriate for young men, no matter what their racial background or achievement record. On the other hand, the academic program leading to university entrance and preparation for the professions was rated as the most appropriate recommendation for young men whatever their achievement record or race.

When the results of these two investigations are considered together, it would appear that samples of preservice teachers were willing to advise adolescents to investigate occupations for a distant future in the workplace without basing their advice on the gender of the student. However, in the more immediate matter of advising students on a course of action such as selecting high school program, these preservice teachers were influenced by the gender of the student before them. It bears repeating that the sample of preservice teachers used in the present study and the sample used in the companion study (Stewart et al., 1989) were not representative of the population of experienced secondary teachers (mainly male) who usually take on the task of giving career advice to grade nine students. Young women, who pursue the business and commercial programs in high school (as recommend- ed by the preservice teachers in Stewart et al. (1989), would be ill-prepared, and in many cases unacceptable, for entrance into the postsecondary insti- tutions that would enable them to pursue the occupations preservice teachers suggested they explore in the present study. These contradictions between advice for immediate high school program decisions and advice for exploring occupations for long-term career decisions may be understood by listen- ing to adolescent women explain their enrollment in high school business programs:

I don't like typing, but it is the easiest way to get a job. It's boring and tedious just sitting there. But if you can get a job, you might as well take it. The only jobs are for secretaries these days. You might as well get trained. (Gaskell, 1987, p. 161)

In a series of interviews with 100 young women in Vancouver, Cana- da, Gaskell found that girls believed they had chosen their high school program, although they recognized they were making the choice consistent with

Career Advice 261

the advice given by teachers and counselors (pp. 155-157). The young women said that they had chosen business and commercial courses in order to prepare themselves for clerical jobs because they believed these were the jobs open to women.

Many of the young women interviewed said they had explored other occupations, sought information about working in technical jobs in indus- try and other male domains in the segregated workplace. "I like to do the jobs men do. I think they are more interesting" (Gaskell, 1987, p. 163). However, many referred to barriers in the labor market that deterred them. "They wouldn't hire a female" (Gaskell, 1987, p. 164).

The high school program decisions of the Canadian girls interviewed by Gaskell were consistent with the program advice given by Canadian preservice teachers in the case folder study by Stewart et al. (1989). Gaskell con- cluded from her interviews that the young women who chose business and commercial programs made a decision consistent with the world of work, as they perceived it. Even though teachers might advise young women to learn more about occupations consistent with their achievement, as the preservice teachers did in the present investigation, what young women learn about these occupations and the segregated labor market might encourage them to make decisions consistent with their gender and the roles expected of them as women.

Gender segregation in the workplace may be maintained by worker characteristics and gender-based socialization in the high school in that young women appear advised frequently to pursue courses of study on the basis of gender. However, the situation is more complex, in that young women appear to have formed their notions of where job opportunities lie, what occupations women will be hired in, and institutional barriers to women in the labor market on the basis of their experience of the world. Even though teachers may encourage young women to explore a wide range of occupations, it may take much more than this to change gender segregation; it may require changing the world that young women experience.

REFERENCES

Belier, A. H. Trends in occupational segregation by sex and race, 1960-1981. In B. F. Reskin fEd.), Sex segregation in the workplace: Trends, explanations, remedies. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1984.

Benz, P., Pfeiffer, I., & Newman, I. Sex role expectations of classroom teachers: Grades 1-12. American Educational Research Journal, 1984, 18, 289-302.

Bielby, W. T., & Baron, J. N. A woman's place is with other women: Sex segregation within organizations. In B. F. Reskin (Ed.), Sex segregation in the workplace: Trends, explanations, remedies. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1984.

262 Stewart et al.

Brophy, J. E., & Good, T. L. Teacher-student relationships: Causes and consequences. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974.

Clifton, R. A. Ethiticity, teachers' expectations, and the academic achievement process in Canada. Sociology o f Education, 1981, 54, 291-301.

Conway, J. K., Bourque, S. C., & Scott, J. W. Introduction: The concept of gender. Daedalus (special issue: Learning about women: Gender, politics, and power), 1987, 116(4), xxi-xxix.

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The effects of student gender, race, and achievement on career exploration advice given by canadian preservice teachers