A hypothetical model to explain the career motivation and aspirations of teachers and administrators in the State of Michigan.

The purpose of the study was to investigate a hypothetical model for explaining career aspirations and motivations of educators in the State of Michigan. The model postulates reasons for the disproportionate number of men and women in educational administration via developing an underst and ing of the relationship of three role orientation groups: administrators, aspirants, and non-aspirants. Methodology. A survey approach was used to collect data from 241 female and 210 male educators in Michigan. Questions asked were related to the interactive effects of sex, role group, and school level among themselves and among the dependent variables of attributional habits, career planning strategies, role conflict, sex-stereotyped attitudes, institutional factors, and job satisfaction. One-way analysis of variance was applied to the dependent variables followed by a planned comparison to assess the predicted interactive and main effects of the three independent variables. Results. Data indicate the sample was external in attribution patterns in all three achievement domains. Ability attributions received the least amount of importance in each achievement domain and was the attributional factor where most interactions occurred. The only career-specific attributional habit was in the degree of importance attributed to ability for success, where males at the elementary level allocated more importance than females. Analysis of the role conflict variable revealed non-aspirants and females prefer working with children more than adults while marriage produced more role conflict for females than males. Data concerning sex-stereotyped personnel placement and belonging to an "in-group" had the most negative results for female elementary administrators and female secondary aspirants. In career planning strategies, females favored the use of friends as an approach more than males while administrators and aspirants relied on the mentor approach. Conclusions. (1) Aspiration or non-aspiration is a critical variable for studying gender differences in career development; (2) aspirants were more like administrators than non-aspirants; (3) gender differences in attribution patterns occur among non-aspirants; (4) administrators and aspirants use mentors; (5) career development for females was negatively affected by institutional practices and internal sex-role beliefs; (6) all respondents attribute career success to factors beyond their control.PhDEducational administrationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161825/1/8812932.pd