Women's Sex-role Self-Concept : A Study of Career Choice and Satisfaction / Robbie J. Steward and Karen Kessler.

This study was conducted to examine sex role characteristics common to women making nontraditional career choice; to determine whether dissatisfaction is affected by congruence of sex role, self-concept, and traditionally of program; and to investigate whether sex role self-concept plays a role in women's ratings of satisfaction within their graduate programs of study. Subjects were 111 female graduate students enrolled in either traditional (developmental and child psychology, counseling psychology) or nontraditional (law, engineering) programs. Subjects completed a consent form, an academic data sheet, a 9-point Likert measure of satisfaction, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Data analysis revealed no significant difference in satisfaction ratings for individuals whose career choice was congruent to their sex role versus individuals who did not display congruence. Significant differences were found in satisfaction ratings among the four sex role categories and female-dominant versus male-dominant programs of study. There was higher satisfaction of the masculine-androgynous group as opposed to the feminine-undifferentiated group across traditional and nontraditional programs and within nontraditional programs. The masculine-androgynous group within the nontraditional program was the only group for which congruence of sex role and program was of significance. (NB)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.