New jobs, old occupational stereotypes: gender and jobs in the new economy

This paper reports data from a questionnaire-based UK study that examined occupational sex-role stereotypes, perceived occupational gender segregation, job knowledge and job preferences of male and female pupils aged 14-18 for 23 jobs. Data were collected from 508 pupils in total. Both boys and girls perceived the majority of the jobs as being gender-segregated. Girls perceived jobs as being more gender-segregated than did males, but boys stereotyped jobs more than did girls. Both males and females preferred jobs that they saw as stereotypically gender-appropriate and dominated by their own sex. However, for females, this association between job preference and perceived stereotyping/segregation decreased with age, while for males, it remained constant across the age groups. Females claimed more knowledge about jobs they preferred, but for males there was no association between job preference and job knowledge. Results are discussed in the context of UK policies to challenge occupational gender segregation.