Educational and occupational aspirations of fourth form girls with particular reference to working class girls and to nursing as an occupation

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether class affected the occupational choices of fourth form girls, in particular the choices of working-class girls, and whether they had considered nursing as a job option. Factors which together with class might affect occupational choice were investigated. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 131 girls. From this sample 15 working-class girls were selected and they and their mothers were interviewed. Three school counsellors were also interviewed. Although the trends indicated class affected both educational aspirations and occupational choice the results did not reach levels of significance. The results which approached significance (ie. p between .10 and .05) were: educational expectations, working-class girls' educational hopes and expectations, and class and occupational choice. The size of the sample may have affected the results. The girls chose a wide variety of jobs, both traditional and non-traditional female jobs. Marriage and a family were seen as part of the future for most as was a job after marriage. The girls in the working-class subsample followed a similar pattern. However, the data about these girls was not always consistent with that of previous studies of working-class girls. The educational potential of the sample may have affected this. Class did not appear to be a barrier to nursing except that the girls' educational expectations were lower than those for girls from other classes. This could be a barrier to entry to some nursing courses