Gender stereotypes and career choices: A cross-sectional study on a group of South African students in construction programmes

Abstract

Gendered perceptions may determine the aspirations and expectations, as well as the academic and career choice of young people. This article examines the role of gender stereotypes as a predictor of career choices of students in construction. A survey of 229 conveniently sampled students, enrolled in construction-related programmes was conducted. The objectives of the study are to measure the relationship between gender stereotypes and career choice behaviour, and to measure the effect of gender and socio-economic status on how gender stereotypes influence student’s career choices. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to test for significant differences between gender and socio-economic status (SES) groups. Results show that, as opposed to men, women seem to perceive gender stereotypes as having more influence on their career choices than men. The study finds statistically significant differences in gender stereotypes among the low and medium socio-economic groups.