Despite social changes and the opening up of all professions to men and women, society continues to adhere to many stereotypes, and many professions are still considered to be feminine or masculine. In addition to gendered representations of occupations, there are also social representations linked to the social prestige associated with a…

Increasing the number of women in the STEM labour market has been presented by policymakers and industry representatives as an opportunity to address purported skill shortages in the sector. National governments have spent considerable sums on initiatives aimed at increasing the proportion of girls and women who study science and work in STEM…

In recent decades, the proportion of college-educated workers in the United States entering professional occupations has declined. While the rising incomes of college graduates signals the growing value of skills and education, it seems that these skills are increasingly put to use outside of the professions. This paper examines the occupations of…

We propose a person-centered framework for conceptualizing subjective careers in an increasingly boundaryless work context. Specifically, we argue that entrepreneurship, professionalism, and leadership (EPL) can serve as three key dimensions of subjective career space. We relate this framework to earlier macro-level national and organizational…

This study examined ways portrayals of professional Black women on television influence the higher education and occupational choices of African American college women. The central research question of this study was: How do college age African American women make meaning of the portrayals of the people they see on television? Two analytic…

Russian scientists lag behind others in both remuneration and working conditions, and this has led many of them to leave science for other occupations or to leave Russia. While the country may benefit when a scientist chooses to enter business or politics, both society and Russian science are negatively affected when scientists emigrate. In order…

This article argues for the need to differentiate between "professional" and "support" careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), the article identifies important differences in the nature of the work and responsibility that…

An experimental design was used to test the hypothesis that vocational interests can be a precursor to the development of self-efficacy. Participants (n = 180) rated job descriptions for careers in the domains of information technology, sales, and teaching that contained information on activities and work values. Participants rated those job…

The purpose of this study was to explore the identity work of adult instrumental students negotiating their entry to a prestigious music academy and the professional field of music. Ten classical solo-piano students' accounts of their musical histories and experiences were collected through research interviews. The thematic analyses presented…

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of adolescent career plans reported in PISA 2006. Its main focus is on the differences in the status and area of employment expected by girls and boys in high school. In almost all countries, girls lead boys in their interest in non-manual, high status professional occupations. This can be seen as a…

Career development research has often explored gender differences in and development of career patterns (Gottfredson, 2006). Hyde's (2005) meta-analysis indicated that men and women shared more similarities than differences. Applying Hyde's gender similarities hypothesis to careers, the authors conducted a 2-stage study. Stage 1 was an analysis of…

In this article, we investigate whether adolescent girls are more determined to enter professional careers compared to boys across countries. To this end, we analyse the data from the 2006 survey of OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). First, we establish whether girls are more ambitious than boys net of their academic…

This study, inspired by the efforts of NASW to improve the public perception and understanding of social work, focused on the perceptions and attitudes of college students regarding the profession of social work. The sample included 678 undergraduates at a state university who represented a wide variety of majors. Findings indicate that students'…

Among youth workers who experience moments of not-knowing what to do, many often describe their thoughts and reactions to the phenomenon in vocational and existential terms. They ask what right they have to work in the helping professions if they find themselves simply unable to be helpful. In many cases, the vocational crises following…