Career Aspirations of Urban, Mexican American Adolescent Females

The gender distribution of jobs remains vastly disproportionate, especially among minority groups: Women continue to be overrepresented in traditionally femaleoccupied jobs and underrepresented in high-status, high-paying occupations. Literature on gender distribution of careers and factors affectin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hispanic journal of behavioral sciences 1999-08, Vol.21 (3), p.366-382
Main Authors: Reyes, Olga, Kobus, Kimberly, Gillock, Karen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Acculturation
Adolescents
Career Choice
Careers
Chicago, Illinois
Females
Grade 10
Grade 6
High School Students
High Schools
Hispanic Americans
Illinois (Chicago)
Life Plans
Mexican Americans
Nontraditional Occupations
Occupational Aspiration
Occupational Segregation
Public Schools
Sex roles
Student Attitudes
Teenagers
Urban Areas
Urban Education
Urban Youth
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Summary:The gender distribution of jobs remains vastly disproportionate, especially among minority groups: Women continue to be overrepresented in traditionally femaleoccupied jobs and underrepresented in high-status, high-paying occupations. Literature on gender distribution of careers and factors affecting career choice remains sparse where ethnic minority females are concerned. The present study attempts to fill this gap and focuses on adolescent females from Mexican American backgrounds. Descriptive findings indicate the general male dominance of females’career aspirations. Compared to females aspiring to highly female-dominated careers, females aspiring to highly male-dominated careers were more acculturated, earned higher grade point averages (GPAs) and higher achievement scores in science and social studies, and held higher educational aspirations and expectations, and a greater number of this group evidenced a clear understanding of the steps needed to achieve career goals. Findings are discussed in terms of their contradiction of previous findings and Mexican cultural norms.
ISSN:0739-9863
1552-6364
DOI:10.1177/0739986399213010