Predicting gender-role attitudes in adolescent females: Ability, agency, and parental factors

The contribution of ability, agency, and parental factors to the prediction of gender-role attitudes was investigated in a sample of 409 adolescent females enrolled in a private, college-preparatory high school. Results in-dicated that ability and agency were predictive of gender-role attitudes, whereas parental factors were not significant contributors. Recornmenda-tions for further research examining the etiology of gender-role attitudes are provided given the critical connection between gender-role attitudes and success in occupational and interpersonal areas for young women. Many researchers have examined the contribution of gender-role attitudes to women’s interpersonal development and occupational choices (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987; Fassinger, 1990). Gender-role attitudes have been found to be related to self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy (Betz & Hack-ett, 1981). Also, women who have embraced traditional gender roles often circumscribe their vocational opportunities despite their potential for suc-cess in a wide range of careers (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987). Recently, Fas-singer (1990) empirically tested a model of career development for college women, investigating gender-role attitudes as a critical variable in occupa-We thank Sherry Borgers and Ronald Evans for their comments on earlier drafts of this article