CONGRUENCE BETWEEN SELF-IMAGE AND OCCUPATIONAL STEREOTYPES IN STUDENTS ENTERING GENDER-DOMINATED OCCUPATIONS

The purpose of the study was to assess gendered attributes in six occu pational images and in the self-images of university students, and how the congruence of these attributes between self- and occupational ima ges determines occupational choice. The Revised Interpersonal Adjectiv e Scales (IAS-R, Wiggins, Trapnell & Phillips, 1988) measure interpers onal traits on two orthogonal dimensions: affiliation and dominance. O riginally designed as a self-report instrument, the IAS-R was used by 500 university students to describe three female- (nurse, rehabilitati on therapist, teacher), and three male-dominated occupations (engineer , lawyer, physician). Six distinct occupational stereotypes were found , with male-dominated occupations viewed as less affiliative and more dominant than female-dominated occupations. In a second study, a sampl e of 567 women and men entering these fields completed the IAS-R as a self-report measure. Analyses compared self-images to the six occupati onal stereotypes, and found the greatest congruence between self-image and intended occupation. Men, and generally subjects entering male-do minated fields, were less affiliative than women, or subjects entering female-dominated fields. Dominance did not differ between men and wom en, nor among subjects in different occupational fields. The results s upport the congruence notion of most vocational choice theories (e.g., Super, 1980) but point to the importance of gendered attributes of se lf- and occupational images, and the need for updated measurement of b oth. Implications for gender equity in the work force are discussed.