Search Results

Author: Rosenthal, Evelyn R.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Rosenthal, Evelyn R.
Structural Patterns of Women's Occupational Choice
Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1974
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Family Influences; Mobility; Occupational Attainment; Occupations, Female; Sex Roles; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

The sex structure of occupations cannot be predicted on the basis of job relevant traits of women. The view that occupations chosen by women are a response to special traits of women that make them more suitable for traditionally female jobs receives no support from an analysis of the work experience and job relevant traits of a national sample of working women (the NLS of Mature Women (N = 5083) who were 30-44 years old in 1966). The work relevant characteristics examined are: low financial motivation to work, low geographical mobility potential, lack of interest in job advancement, and low labor force commitment. A mature women's occupational choices are less dependent on her early socialization than on aspects of her current environment as determined by the structure of her family of procreation and the opportunities presented by employers and other occupational gatekeepers. This hypothesis is examined using Census reports, published case studies of specific occupations, and interview data from the NLS. Three sets of variables are explored as influential in women's occupational decisions. Social origins, potential occupational attainment, and family life decisions are viewed in a path analytic framework as determinants of women's occupational choices. Examination of the direct and indirect effects of these three sets of variables shows that the work activity of mature women can be viewed as a response to the need to balance non economic family needs with economic rationality. Social origins predict women's occupational choices by socioeconomic level in a manner similar to that of men, but have no effect on women's job choices on the dimension of the degree of male dominance in the occupation. Women's family life decisions, such as the timing of marriage and family building, and choice of spouse also influence women's job choices. Potentialoccupational attainment, measured by education and experience, affect the job choices of mature working women, mediated by the effects of economic need and family constraints.
Bibliography Citation
Rosenthal, Evelyn R. Structural Patterns of Women's Occupational Choice. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1974.