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Gender Stereotypes & Teen Career Choices

This study focuses on the influence of gender stereotypes on adolescents' occupational choices. The study found that most adolescents are influenced by gender stereotypes in their career choices, either from family upbringing or from school upbringing

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
115 views12 pages

Gender Stereotypes & Teen Career Choices

This study focuses on the influence of gender stereotypes on adolescents' occupational choices. The study found that most adolescents are influenced by gender stereotypes in their career choices, either from family upbringing or from school upbringing

Uploaded by

lstar7333
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences RHEE 2023

Volume 12 (2023)

How Gender Stereotypes Impact the Career Choice of High


School Students
† † †
Linran, Kong1, , Jiayi, Wang2, , Xinyan, Zhang3, *,
1University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
2Rosedale Global High School, Markham, Canada
3United World College, Changshu, China
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
†These authors contributed equally.

Abstract. Nowadays, gender stereotypes are a common belief or prejudice for both males and
females. Negative or positive gender stereotypes may coexist: women are typically defined as
vulnerable, whereas gender stereotypes of men are mostly positive, such as men being more
dynamic and logical. Previous research has evidenced that gender stereotypes are perceived
differently by the sexes. However, how diverse gender stereotypes can influence adolescents'
choices requires comprehensive investigation. This study focuses on the influence of gender
stereotypes on adolescents' occupational choices. The study found that most adolescents are
influenced by gender stereotypes in their career choices, either from family upbringing or from school
upbringing. However, there is a small percentage of adolescents who are firm in their career choice
from the beginning to the end and are not influenced by gender stereotypes. To reduce the negative
impact of gender stereotypes on adolescents' occupational choices, this experimental study also
suggests several strategies, including schools offering courses to properly guide adolescents'
gender perceptions.
Keywords: Gender stereotypes, Teenage Occupational Choices, Gender Awareness.

1. Introduction
Gender stereotypes are common beliefs or biases about the characteristics or qualities that men
and women have or should have and the roles that men and women play or should play. It is possible
for positive or negative gender stereotypes to coexist, such as "women are nurturers" or "women are
weak." Social psychologists suggest that these gender stereotypes are created by assumptions about
masculine and feminine characteristics [1]. Gender stereotypes are mainly reflected in the fact that
most people perceive men as more substantial, autonomous, logical, and even more competitive and
aggressive [2]. On the contrary, most people believe that women are good at expressing their empathy,
are helpful, and even lack decisive judgment because they are too empathetic [2]. It is easy to see that
gender stereotypes differ in the perceptions of the two genders. These different perceptions of the
sexes can create different levels of perceptions of males and females. For example, it is believed that
men are inherently superior to women in mathematics and this belief has been described as a gendered
mathematical stereotype [3]. Aronson and Thirt show that gendered mathematical stereotypes may
decrease the likelihood of women choosing jobs in science [4]. However, for men, gender stereotypes
may be one of the essential factors that discourage them from choosing a career in language. This is
because there is a growing perception that girls perform better than boys in reading and language [5].
Although there is a wealth of research on gender stereotypes, there are specific gaps in the link
between gender stereotypical influences and adolescents. It cannot be denied that adolescence is one
of the crucial periods of people's growth and development. If gender stereotypes have specific adverse
effects on adolescents, these impressions may create obstacles in the adolescents' subsequent growth
path. In this study, the relationship between gender stereotypes and adolescents' future career choices
was investigated by targeting adolescents as the research subjects. Thus, it investigates how gender
stereotypes impact adolescents' future career planning. This study proposes specific improvements or

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reductions in the adverse effects of gender stereotypes on adolescents' career roles in terms of
perceptions and attitudes.

2. Literature review
Previous research has demonstrated gender stereotypes in a range of subjects. According to Xie
Fang and Yang Yan, gender stereotypes in mathematics have a negative impact on adolescents' math
performance [6]. Fang Xie and Yang Yan recruited 297 Chinese college students to participate in
their study [6]. One hundred two freshmen (18-19 years old) and 195 sophomores made up the sample
(19-20 years old). A total of 260 (87.54%) participants answered the questionnaire in the classroom
while enrolled in one of two teacher-training universities in China [6]. The study's findings imply that
gender-mathematical preconceptions may encourage women to disprove the notion that mathematics
is a field dominated by men, leading to higher female mathematics proficiency [6]. However, the
association between gender-mathematics stereotypes and female mathematics achievement was
hampered by mathematical self-concept. More specifically, women who held stronger gender-
mathematical preconceptions were more inclined to believe that math is a male-dominated field.
Because of this perception, girls are more likely to be content with their math performance but have
a higher math self-concept. As a result, females need to be more committed to and effective in math,
which lowers arithmetic performance. Second, males' math self-concept did not show any correlation
between gender math stereotypes and arithmetic achievement. This might be the case because, rather
than being based on their actual mathematical ability, boys' self-concepts in mathematics were
reinforced by gender stereotypes. Deeper stereotyped males might be more upbeat when evaluating
their mathematical abilities. As a result, there was no correlation between men's perceptions of their
mathematical and actual abilities.
Gender stereotypical influences in mathematics have not only an impact on students' mathematics
performance but also on future career choices. Song Juan et al. studied 186 female students in a
Chinese high school, and participants completed five questionnaires [7]. The questionnaire measured
mainly mathematics-related gender stereotypes and career intentions. The study's results indicated
that mathematics-gender stereotypes were negatively associated with adolescent girls' career
intentions in mathematics. The negative effect of mathematics-gender stereotypes on female students
was associated with a lower likelihood of pursuing a mathematics-related career [7]. One of the
elements influencing this outcome is the cultural belief in China. Chinese girls with strong math-
gender stereotypes have a high demand for interpersonal approval and physical attractiveness since
women are expected to carry the family burden due to traditional gender ideas [8]. Adolescent girls
with unfavorable views on sexual attractiveness think that math-proficient women are unfeminine
and socially unacceptable. These females may perceive mathematics as being unimportant to their
futures.
As a result, enhancing female students' attitudes about their mathematical competence and the
value of mathematical tasks may be helpful to strategies for raising the likelihood that they would
pursue careers in mathematics. Teachers can actively encourage students to learn maths in the
classroom. Also, they can use examples of average women who are competent in traditionally male
sectors to purposefully raise children's expectations that women may achieve in historically masculine
professions [9]. In the Chinese socio-cultural context, it may be considered unfeminine for a girl to
be good at mastering math. In other words, girls who are good at math are less attractive to the
opposite sex. To some extent, the concept of sexual attraction associated with mathematics may not
only undermine beliefs about mathematical competence but may also discourage girls from pursuing
mathematics as a career. The perceived unattractiveness of women in a male position may be why
girls are less likely to be motivated to study mathematics and less likely to report pursuing a
mathematics-related career. Building on this, another way to promote women in mathematics is the
media, which should spread the idea that self-reliant and independent girls are beautiful.

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3. Method
3.1. Survey Design
Two surveys were designed in this study: one is for adolescents in high school and the other is for
adults of working age. The two surveys aim to collect data targeting the attitude of high school
students who are facing choices and the experiences of adults who have entered the workforce to
analyze how gender stereotypes influence adolescents’ occupational roles. The research hypothesis
is that gender stereotypes will have a significant negative effect on adolescents’ attitudes toward
occupational roles.
3.2. Participant
Participants recruited in this research were 186 Chinese volunteers from the internet with the age
group of 15-40. They were separated into two age groups: high school students (15-18) and working-
age people (19-40), and they were asked to do different surveys. This study focuses on adolescents,
but sampling adults can help conduct future predictions of adolescents. Asking adults to recall their
thoughts and choices when they were adolescents can bring an objective perspective to the study. In
the context of Chinese society, students will choose humanities or sciences in high school to confirm
their future direction, which also influences their majors in college or university, so the survey
classifies college students into the “working population” because they are categorized as people who
have already gone through the choice.
3.3. Procedure
Participants will be distinguished between adolescents (high school students) and adults by
selecting their age group in the survey. They will all answer a common question: Have you ever been
indoctrinated opinions about your future professional choices because of your gender? Those who
choose the answer “yes” will be presented with a second question: At what point were you first
indoctrinated with such an opinion (gender stereotype)? In the questionnaire for high school students,
they are also asked to answer: Do you perceive certain gender stereotypes in the content of the course?
Then, both high school students and adults will answer similar questions: Have you changed your
course content/major/career choice because of what others have said? Do you regret your choice? Are
most of your classmates/colleagues of the same gender? Have you (or people around you) ever been
suspected of abilities because of gender?
3.4. Data Analysis
For data analysis, the qualitative data descriptive analysis, independent samples t-test and
correlation analysis by SPSS software were conducted. In addition, the authors also conducted cross-
data analysis through graphs and charts to significantly analyze the differences in the choices made
by men and women when faced with research questions

4. Results
Table 1. Respondent Information (gender)
gender
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid male 43 23.1 23.1 23.1
female 143 76.9 76.9 100.0
Total 186 100.0 100.0

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As shown in table 1, the majority of the questionnaire respondents were female, with a total of 143
samples collected, representing 76.9%. Male respondents accounted for a small proportion, with a
total of 43 samples collected, representing 23.1%.
Table 2. Respondent Information (Age)
Age group
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Percent
Valid High school(15-18) 102 54.8 54.8 54.8
College/university(19-
56 30.1 30.1 84.9
23)
Worker(24-40) 28 15.1 15.1 100.0
Total 186 100.0 100.0

As shown in Table 2, 54.8% of the respondents were high school students, 30.1% were college or
university students, and 15.1% were workers. The most frequent option for this question is "high
school students", which represents adolescents who are exploring their future career roles. The
remaining 45.2% of the respondents were college or university students and workers. Since they had
already made their initial career choices, are available to work and play the role of future expectations
for study, the samples of these two groups were analyzed together and called the “working
population”. Therefore, among all respondents, the sample size of high school students and the
working population are close.
Table 3. Gender Stereotype experiences
Have you ever been taught opinions(gender stereotype related) about your future major choice
because of your gender? For example: boys should study science, girls can't beat boys in science,
etc.
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid yes 86 46.2 46.2 46.2
no 100 53.8 53.8 100.0
Total 186 100.0 100.0

As shown in the table 3, 46.2% of the respondents indicated that they had been influenced by
gender stereotypes about their choice of career and 53.8% indicated that they had not been told about
them. Since more than half of the respondents chose "no", which refers that the influence of gender
stereotypes is not as great as previously expected. However, given that a significant number of
respondents still indicated that they had been subjected to gender stereotypes about their major choice,
it is undeniable that gender stereotypes are a prevalent phenomenon, but less so than expected.
Table 4. Age of Gender Stereotypes Experiences
When were you first indoctrinated with this opinion(gender stereotype)?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid kindergarten 4 2.2 4.7 4.7
grade 1 to 3 15 8.1 17.4 22.1
grade 4 to 5 14 7.5 16.3 38.4
grade 6 to 7 15 8.1 17.4 55.8
grade 8 to 9 22 11.8 25.6 81.4
grade 10 to 12 16 8.6 18.6 100.0
Total 86 46.2 100.0
Missing System 100 53.8
Total 186 100.0

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According to Table 4, of the 86 individuals who were exposed to perceptions about career choices
during childhood because of gender stereotypes, 25.6% claimed that they were first told such
perceptions in grades eight to nine, 18.6% in grades ten to twelve, and 17.4% in grades six to seven.
From these samples, it can be inferred that as they get older and the curriculum begins to increase,
adolescents are more susceptible to gender stereotypes regarding their careers.
Table 5. Influence on Career Choice
Have you ever changed your professional direction or career choice because of others comments?
Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent
Percent Percent
Valid yes 8 4.3 9.5 9.5
no, but ever wavered from 37 19.9 44.0 53.6
no, I didn’t change my choice of major because of
39 21.0 46.4 100.0
others comments
Total 84 45.2 100.0
Missing System 102 54.8
Total 186 100.0

As Table 5 shows, 9.5% of those who have a clear career direction (working population) have
changed their major because of gender stereotypical comments about their career choice, 44% have
wavered in their choice after being subjected to gender stereotypes, and only 46.4% have been firm
in their choice from the beginning to the end. These figures show that most people are influenced to
some extent by gender stereotypes in their career choices, and that these influences may cause them
to change their future direction.
Table 6. Attitude toward Major Choice
Do you regret your choice of course or major direction?
Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent
Percent Percent
Valid yes, I regret that I didn’t consider others comments 12 6.5 6.5 6.5
yes, I regret follow others comments 24 12.9 12.9 19.4
no, I’m glad I decided my major by my own 126 67.7 67.7 87.1
no, I’m glad I follow others comments 24 12.9 12.9 100.0
Total 186 100.0 100.0
As shown in Table 6, 67.7% of the participants said they are glad they stuck to their choice. This
indicates that confidence in their career choice can have a positive impact on adolescents. However,
there are still a small number of people who regret not following others’ comments, so the situation
still depends on the individual.
Table 7. Gender of Colleagues
Are most of your colleagues in same gender?
Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent
Percent Percent
yes, there are more males than females
Valid 27 14.5 32.1 32.1
(more than 60% of males)
yes, there are more females than males
37 19.9 44.0 76.2
(more than 60% of females)
no, the ratio is almost same 20 10.8 23.8 100.0
Total 84 45.2 100.0
Missing System 102 54.8
Total 186 100.0

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As Table 7 shows, 44% of the working population is in a working environment where there are
more females than males, 32.1% are in a working environment where there are more males than
females, and only 23.8% are in a working environment where the ratio of male to female is about the
same. Such results indicate that there is a large gender imbalance in the current Chinese society
between different occupations, and the research team believes that gender stereotypes are one of the
major factors contributing to this result.
Table 8. Gender Stereotypical Cases
Are there any cases around you where people were suspected about their work or learning ability
because of gender?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid yes, I have personally experienced 35 18.8 18.8 18.8
yes, people around me have
34 18.3 18.3 37.1
experienced
yes, I have heard of 54 29.0 29.0 66.1
no 63 33.9 33.9 100.0
Total 186 100.0 100.0

As Table 8 shows, only 33.9% of all respondents denied the existence of differential treatment due
to gender stereotypes, while 66.1% had heard of or even experienced it personally. These data show
that gender stereotyping is not a minority phenomenon, and that a large percentage of people
experience unfair treatment or hear about such things, which can affect their gender pride
subconsciously.
Table 9. Independent Sample test
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test for Equality of
t-test for Equality of Means
Variances
95%
Sig.
Mean Std. Error Confidence
F Sig. t df (2-
Difference Difference Interval of the
tailed)
Difference
Lower Upper
What's your Equal variances
14.814 .000 -4.575 82 .000 -.566 .124 -.812 -.320
major/profession assumed
Equal variances
-5.531 29.702 .000 -.566 .102 -.775 -.357
not assumed
Have you ever been
taught opinions(gender
stereotype related) about
your future major choice Equal variances
.489 .485 .306 184 .760 .027 .087 -.145 .199
because of your gender? assumed
For example: boys should
study science, girls can't
beat boys in science, etc.
Equal variances
.305 69.011 .761 .027 .087 -.148 .201
not assumed
When were you first
indoctrinated with this Equal variances
1.169 .283 .245 84 .807 .097 .397 -.692 .887
opinion(gender assumed
stereotype)?
Equal variances
.267 33.076 .791 .097 .365 -.645 .840
not assumed
Have you ever changed
Equal variances
your professional .070 .792 .888 82 .377 .162 .182 -.200 .524
assumed
direction or career choice

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because of others
comments?
Equal variances
.913 23.340 .371 .162 .177 -.205 .528
not assumed
Do you regret your choice
Equal variances
of course or major .833 .363 .624 184 .533 .077 .123 -.166 .321
assumed
direction?
Equal variances
.628 69.862 .532 .077 .123 -.168 .322
not assumed
Are most of your
Equal variances
colleagues in same .005 .942 -3.885 82 .000 -.746 .192 -1.129 -.364
assumed
gender?
Equal variances
-3.830 22.256 .001 -.746 .195 -1.150 -.343
not assumed
Are there any cases
around you where people
Equal variances
were suspected about 9.116 .003 2.955 184 .004 .559 .189 .186 .932
assumed
their work or learning
ability because of gender?
Equal variances
3.375 87.579 .001 .559 .166 .230 .888
not assumed
Equal variances
Overall .279 .598 -1.465 184 .145 -.255 .174 -.598 .088
assumed
Equal variances
-1.416 65.864 .162 -.255 .180 -.614 .104
not assumed

When the first Sig value is greater than 0.05, the variance is homogeneity; if less than 0.05, it is
not statistically significant and homogeneity. When the second Sig value is greater than 0.05, the
effect is not significant, if less than 0.05, the effect is significant.
It can be seen in Table 9 that all variables are statistically significant except “What's your
major/profession” and “Are there any cases around you where people were suspected about their
work or learning ability because of gender?” The effect of gender on “Are most of your colleagues in
the same gender?” is the most significant, while the effect on the others is less significant.
Table 10. Correlation
Correlations
Have you ever
Are there
been taught
Have you any cases
opinions(gender
ever around you
stereotype
changed Do you where
related) about
your regret Are most people
What's your future
professional your of your were
your major choice
gender direction or choice of colleagues suspected
major/ because of your
career course or in same about their
profession gender? For
choice major gender? work or
example: boys
because of direction? learning
should study
others ability
science, girls
comments? because of
can't beat boys
gender?
in science, etc.
Pearson
gender 1 .451** -.023 -.098 -.046 .394** -.213**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .760 .377 .533 .000 .004
N 186 84 186 84 186 84 186
What's your Pearson
.451** 1 -.012 -.003 .086 .230* -.139
major/profession Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .913 .978 .439 .035 .208
N 84 84 84 84 84 84 84

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Have you ever


been taught
opinions(gender
stereotype
related) about
your future
major choice Pearson
-.023 -.012 1 -.206 .182* .056 .234**
because of your Correlation
gender? For
example: boys
should study
science, girls
can't beat boys
in science, etc.
Sig. (2-tailed) .760 .913 .060 .013 .612 .001
N 186 84 186 84 186 84 186
Have you ever
changed your
professional
direction or Pearson
-.098 -.003 -.206 1 -.117 -.084 .077
career choice Correlation
because of
others
comments?
Sig. (2-tailed) .377 .978 .060 .289 .447 .485
N 84 84 84 84 84 84 84
Do you regret
your choice of Pearson
-.046 .086 .182* -.117 1 .247* .218**
course or major Correlation
direction?
Sig. (2-tailed) .533 .439 .013 .289 .024 .003
N 186 84 186 84 186 84 186
Are most of
Pearson
your colleagues .394** .230* .056 -.084 .247* 1 .092
Correlation
in same gender?
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .035 .612 .447 .024 .405
N 84 84 84 84 84 84 84
Are there any
cases around
you where
people were
Pearson
suspected about -.213** -.139 .234** .077 .218** .092 1
Correlation
their work or
learning ability
because of
gender?
Sig. (2-tailed) .004 .208 .001 .485 .003 .405
N 186 84 186 84 186 84 186
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

According to Table 10, the Pearson correlation method is used here: the absolute value of the
correlation coefficient is generally between 0 and 1, a negative number represents a negative
correlation, a positive number represents a positive correlation, the larger the absolute value of the
correlation coefficient, the stronger the correlation. In other words, the closer the correlation
coefficient is to 1 or -1, the stronger the correlation; the closer the correlation coefficient is to 0, the

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weaker the correlation. However, when the sample size is large, the absolute value of the correlation
coefficient may be small, but it still shows a strong correlation.
To evaluate the correlation between variables, the authors set the gender as X1, the question
“What's your major/profession” as 2, the question “Have you ever been taught opinions (gender
stereotype related) about your future major choice because of your gender? For example: boys should
study science, girls can't beat boys in science, etc.” as X3, the question “Have you ever changed your
professional direction or career choice because of others comments?” as X4, the question “Do you
regret your choice of course or major direction?” as X5, the question “Are most of your colleagues
in same gender?” as X6, and the question “Are there any cases around you where people were
suspected about their work or learning ability because of gender?” as X7.
The result shows that X1 has a significant correlation with X2, X6 and X7, while it has a significant
positive correlation with X2 and X6 and a significant negative correlation with X7.

Figure 1. Cross data analysis 1


For high school students who are exploring their future career roles, a whopping 85.19% of males
chose science and more than half of females chose humanity (see figure 1). This result foreshadows
the career imbalance toward genders caused by gender stereotypes and demonstrates through
objective data that gender stereotypes are leading to adolescents unconsciously.

Figure 2. Cross data analysis 2


In terms of adults who completed their career direction choices, 81.25% of males were in a male-
dominated occupation and 52.94% (more than half) of female reported being in a female-dominated
occupation (see figure 2). These results demonstrate that the social phenomenon of career imbalance
toward gender exists and is a serious problem. Men are more likely than women to choose their career
direction (science) in accordance with societal expectations, while women mostly follow the socially
expected career direction (humanity), but a significant number still choose other career directions
(perhaps not in line with societal expectations).

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Figure 3. Cross data analysis 3


When all respondents were asked whether they had been suspected of their ability to work because
of their gender, only 4.65% of men said they had personally experienced it, and nearly half said they
had never heard of it (see figure 3). However, 23.08% of women said they had personally experienced
being suspected of their ability to work because of their gender, and 46.85% said they had heard of it
or had friends who had experienced it. Such result suggests that women are more likely to be subject
to gender stereotypes than men. The research team does not rule out the possibility that women are
more concerned about such incidents than men.

5. Discussion
The results confirm that gender stereotypes that adolescents are exposed to affect their attitudes or
perception of occupation roles. For instance, participants believe that professions such as the police
are male-dominated, or males are better suited to study science than females because the proportion
of females in professions such as police is very low. In addition, the experiment also mentioned that
females are deemed to underperform in several science-related subjects such as math, physics and
science, while high school performance in these subjects by the male is believed to be a normal thing.
The experimental data also showed that males were inculcated with this concept more in elementary
school and females were inculcated with this idea more in the middle school years when they were
taking classes. Regardless of gender, more than 50% of the participants have experiences in which
they had been questioned about their ability to work and learn because of their gender. In summary,
most of the results of this study are similar to previous studies on adolescents in other countries.
There are certain steps people can take to reduce gender stereotypes in relevant situations. When
children are allowed to experience different examples of people in many different jobs in society
during early years, regardless of gender, they will internalize greater flexibility as a natural thing and
will gradually eliminate the horizontal gaps that persist in the workplace [10]. In school, gender
stereotypes of teachers unknowingly influence adolescents' choices of subjects in teaching; thus,
adolescents are influenced by gender stereotypes and may choose to engage in jobs that they are not
good at or do not like. Thus, in order to raise the level of awareness and consciousness of pre-service
teachers about gender equality, a course on gender equality can be implemented in the Faculty of
Education [11]. Likewise, family education plays a key role. Proper guidance from parents will also

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reduce the stereotypes that influence young people's career choices. In homeschooling, parents should
break down gender stereotypes. Parents can facilitate their children to learn about gender roles by
changing their adolescents' chores so that they learn them in a non-gender-specific way. Boys can
wash dishes and girls can take out the trash. Gender stereotypes and workplace bias have been
confirmed to hinder women’s career advancement in other experiments [12]. Therefore, gender
stereotypes should not be ignored and their impact should not be underestimated. Although
adolescents are still heavily influenced by stereotypes, this situation of gender stereotyping is
gradually changing. The educational department has introduced a high school subject selective system
to give adolescents more freedom to choose courses, which gradually helps reduce the stereotypes
that claim boys are better suited for science and girls are better suited for arts. These criticisms and
accusations may be biased, or intentional and unintentional and the negative feedback can be
frustrating. In fact, when adolescents do not follow the so-called "fit with which, they are criticized
and blamed when making an inappropriate choice, they will be more likely to have diverse career
choices.

6. Conclusion
The research topic of this experiment is how gender stereotypes affect adolescents' attitudes and
perceptions of career roles. Through this experimental study, it was found that gender stereotypes
affect adolescents' attitudes and perceptions about career roles. By holding certain gender beliefs,
adolescents will think that females are more suitable for studying arts and males are suitable for
studying science; on the contrary, females are not good at studying science. Many professions, such
as nursing, teaching, etc. are believed to be more female-dominated, while police, forensics, etc. are
male-dominated. This trend is due to the influence of stereotypes on participants’ career choices when
they were adolescents. These stereotypes mainly result from family education and the transmission
of gender stereotypes from adolescents’ teachers.
There are also shortcomings in this experiment that can be improved to make the results more
accurate. In this experiment, the number of variables can be fixed in the improvement part, such as
the number of validly completed questionnaires for each male and female is 50. In addition, the age
can be fixed, such as adolescents between 12 and 18 years old, or adults between 19 and 25 years old
who are in school or working. For future research directions, it is possible to delve further into the
gender stereotypes that adolescents receive in their families of origin and in school.

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