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Images of occupations: Components of gender and status in occupational stereotypes

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Abstract

A multidimensional approach to occupational gender type was explored. In Study 1, participants' spontaneous images of various jobs were elicited. The attributes generated were used to develop a job images questionnaire employed in Study 2 on which participants rated a random sample of 100 occupational titles. Occupational images were primarily structured on two orthogonal dimensions: prestige and gender type. The multidimensional approach to occupational gender-type was supported in that important gender-related occupational attributes (masculine personality trait requirements and analytical skills) did not load on the gender-type factor, but did load highly on the prestige factor. Thus, even though the prestige and gender-type factors were orthogonal, specific gender-related attributes were related to perceived occupational prestige.

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This research was supported by a grant from Lawrence University. We gratefully acknowledge comments on the manuscript by two anonymous reviewers, the assistance of Shelley Mueller in data coding, and Dorothy Sawvel's help in the creation of Fig. 1.

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Glick, P., Wilk, K. & Perreault, M. Images of occupations: Components of gender and status in occupational stereotypes. Sex Roles 32, 565–582 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544212

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