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Student perceptions of gender roles: Implications for counsellors

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Abstract

Occupational aspirations of school children are undergoing changes as more men and women enter nontraditional spheres of work. Nevertheless, Papageorgiou (1982) reported that the overwhelming majority of a sample of upper elementary through high school students in Colorado regarded traditional gender roles as their only choice, and gender role stereotyping as placing serious limitations on career choices, particularly for females. In this article, we describe a replication of Papageorgiou's study in a western Canadian school district, with similar results. Gender-role stereotyping still appears to dominate the occupational aspirations of the majority of school children. Implications are drawn for counsellors interested in promoting career aspirations based on abilities and interests rather than gender-role stereotypes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G5, Canada

    Doreen Lupaschuk & Carolyn Yewchuk

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  1. Doreen Lupaschuk
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  2. Carolyn Yewchuk
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Correspondence to Carolyn Yewchuk.

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Lupaschuk, D., Yewchuk, C. Student perceptions of gender roles: Implications for counsellors. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 20, 301–318 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005327123336

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