Changing Importance of Gender, Ability, and Socioeconomic Status in Affecting Adolescents' Career Expectations

• In Event: Diversity Factors That Impact Career Development

Abstract

We examined 20-year trends of how gender, academic ability, and socioeconomic status affected adolescents’ expectations for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), Doctor, Legal, Business, and Teaching careers in 24 high-performing educational systems. Using multilevel logistic regressions with the large-scale Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data, we showed that: (a) STEM careers attracted more boys with strong math ability regardless of socioeconomic status (SES) background; (b) Doctor careers were preferred by girls with slightly higher math ability and higher SES, but the influence had diminished in recent years; (c) Legal professions were favored by girls with higher reading ability and slightly higher SES; (d) Teaching professions were evidently girl-dominated no matter what academic achievement or SES background they had.

Authors

• Luyang Guo, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  Presenting Author

• Dan Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  Presenting Author

• Leifeng Xiao, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  Presenting Author

• Kit-Tai Hau, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  Presenting Author