FAMILY EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND GENDER-ROLE ATTITUDES - A COMPARISON OF WOMEN AND MEN COLLEGE GRADUATES

Data from 590 college graduates am used to assess the relationship bet ween family employment status and gender role attitudes for a predomin ately European American sample. The women in this study are employed f ull time, part time, or are full-time homemakers, and all report being married to men employed full rime. The men in the study are all emplo yed full time curd report having wives who are employed full rime, par t time, or are full-time homemakers. Controlling for the effects of se lected background factors, full-time employed women am the most suppor tive of nontraditional family gender roles, followed by part-time empl oyed women. The attitudes of homemakers are more similar to those of t he men. Few significant differences exist when comparing the men with full-time employed wives, those with part-time employed wives, and men married to homemakers. The findings suggest an important link between work experiences, lifestyle choices, and gender role attitudes, parti cularly for women.