Occupational Sex-Role Stereotyping in Secondary Students

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate occupational sex-role stereotyping in secondary students. The independent variables were: gender, classification of student, socioeconomic status of the parents, mother\u27s employment outside the home, family structure, parental education level, size of school, and nationality of the student. The dependent variable was scores from Occupational Sex-Role Stereotyping. The sample consisted of 170 secondary students. This included 80 males and 90 females; of these 47 were 9th grade students, 43 were 10th grade students, 46 were 11th grade students, and 34 were 12th grade students. Six composite null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance employing three-way analysis of variance (general linear model). A total of 24 comparisons were made plus 18 recurring. Of the 24 comparisons, 7 were main effect and 17 interactions. Of the 7 main effects, 1 was statistically significant at the .05 level. The statistically significant main effect was for the independent variable gender. The results indicated males had a statistically higher mean occupational sex-role stereotyping score than females. Of the 17 interactions, 2 were statistically significant at the .05 level. The following interactions were statistically significant: 1. the independent variables mother\u27s employment outside the home and socioeconomic status of the parents; and, 2. classification of the student and size of school enrollment. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations: (1) male secondary school students have greater occupational sex-role stereotyping than female, (2) the independent variables mother\u27s 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 be examined concurrently with occupational sex-role stereotyping