Sex Differences in Occupational Values and Beliefs for Students Pursuing an Engineering Degree

• In Event: Encouraging Careers in Engineering and Computer Science

Abstract

Researchers theorize that commitment to a college major is supported when there is an alignment between personal values and the value affordances of the career fields (i.e., what values the fields can meet). Some fields, such as engineering, are seen as only affording the pursuit of individualistic/status goals (vs. communal/helping goals), but recent research indicates there may be substantial individual differences in the perception of value affordances of engineering. These differences may interact with sex differences in values to impact commitment to an engineering major. In this study, we explored whether male and female engineering students varied in the degree to which they believed engineering was a communal vs. individualistic profession and how this predicted commitment to their engineering major.

Author

• Joni M. Lakin, Auburn University