Abstract
Data from the Monitoring the Future Study were used to examine the impact of early gender role attitudes on later career outcomes for women and men. We also examined the impact of marriage, children, and labor market outcomes on changes in gender role attitudes. Women’s early gender role attitudes predicted their later work hours and earnings. Women’s work hours predicted their later gender egalitarianism. Children were negatively associated with later gender egalitarianism for both women and men. Findings indicated that gender role attitudes influence subsequent behavior, but they may also be adjusted to accommodate to situational constraints.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldous, J. (1996). Family careers: Rethinking the developmental perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Alwin, D. F., Braun, M., & Scott, J. (1992). The separation of work and family: Attitudes toward women’s labour-force participation in Germany, Great Britain, and United States. European Sociological Review, 8, 13–37.
Bachman, J. G., Wadsworth, K. N., O’Malley, P. M., Johnston, L. D., & Schulenberg, J. (1997). Smoking, drinking, and drug use in young adulthood: The impact of new freedoms and new responsibilities. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Becker, P. E., & Moen, P. (1999). Scaling back: Dual career couples’ work–family strategies. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 995–1007.
Bianchi, S. M., Milkie, M. A., Sayer, L. C., & Robinson, J. P. (2000). Is anyone doing the housework? Trends in the gender division of household labor. Social Forces, 79, 191–228.
Blair, S. L., & Lichter, D. T. (1991). Measuring the division of household labor: Gender segregation of housework among American couples. Journal of Family Issues, 12, 91–113.
Bolzendahl, C. I., & Myers, D. J. (2004). Feminist attitudes and support for gender equality: Opinion change in women and men, 1974–1998. Social Forces, 83, 759–789.
Brayfield, A. (1992). Employment resources and housework in Canada. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 19–30.
Brewster, K. L., & Padavic, I. (2000). Change in gender-ideology, 1977–1996: The contributions of intracohort change and population turnover. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 477–487.
Cassidy, M. L., & Warren, B. O. (1996). Family employment status and gender role attitudes: A comparison of women and men college graduates. Gender & Society, 10, 312–329.
Christie-Mizell, C. A. (2006). The effects of traditional family and gender ideology on earnings: Race and gender differences. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27, 48–71.
Chuang, H., & Lee, H. (2003). The return on women’s human capital and the role of male attitudes toward working wives: Gender roles, work interruption, and women’s earnings in Taiwan. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 62, 436–459.
Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1208–1233.
Doucet, A. (2004). “It’s almost like I have a job but I don’t get paid”: Fathers at home reconfiguring work, care, and masculinity. Fathering, 2, 277–303.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Glass, J. (1992). Housewives and employed wives: Demographic and attitudinal change, 1972–1986. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 559–569.
Hakim, C. (2000). Work–lifestyle choices in the 21st century: Preference theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hakim, C. (2002). Lifestyle preferences as determinants of women’s differentiated labor market careers. Work and Occupations, 29, 428–459.
Hayghe, H. V., & Bianchi, S. M. (1994). Married mothers’ work patterns: The job–family compromise. Monthly Labor Review, 117(6), 24–30.
Hersch, J., & Stratton, L. S. (2002). Housework and wages. Journal of Human Resources, 37, 217–229.
Huber, J., & Spitze, G. (1981). Wives’ employment, household behaviors, and sex-role attitudes. Social Forces, 60, 150–169.
Kamo, Y. (1994). Division of household work in the United States and Japan. Journal of Family Issues, 15, 348–378.
Kaufman, G., & Uhlenberg, P. (2000). The influence of parenthood on the work effort of married men and women. Social Forces, 78, 931–949.
Konrad, A. M. (2003). Family demands and job attribute preferences: A 4-year longitudinal study of women and men. Sex Roles, 49, 35–46.
Kroska, A. (1997). The division of labor in the home: A review and reconceptualization. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60, 304–322.
Loo, R., & Thorpe, K. (1998). Attitudes toward women’s roles in society: A replication after 20 years. Sex Roles, 39, 903–912.
McAllister, I. (1990). Gender and the household division of labor: Employment and earnings variations in Australia. Work and Occupations, 17, 79–99.
McRae, S. (2003). Constraints and choices in mothers’ employment careers: A consideration of Hakim’s Preference Theory. British Journal of Sociology, 54, 317–338.
Molm, L. D. (1978). Sex-role attitudes and the employment of married women: The direction of causality. Sociological Quarterly, 19, 522–533.
Peake, A., & Harris, K. L. (2002). Young adults’ attitudes toward multiple role planning: The influence of gender, career traditionality, and marriage plans. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 405–421.
Pittman, J. F., & Blanchard, D. (1996). The effects of work history and timing of marriage on the division of household labor: A life course perspective. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 78–90.
Plutzer, E. (1988). Work life, family life, and women’s support of feminism. American Sociological Review, 53, 640–649.
Presser, H. B. (1994). Employment schedules among dual-earner spouses and the division of household labor by gender. American Sociological Review, 59, 348–364.
Raley, S. B., Mattingly, M. J., & Bianchi, S. M. (2006). How dual are dual-earner couples? Documenting change from 1970–2001. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 68, 11–28.
Schaninger, C. M., & Buss, W. C. (1986). The relationship of sex-role norms to couple and parental demographics. Sex Roles, 15, 77–94.
Shelton, B. A., & Firestone, J. (1989). Household labor time and the gender gap in earnings. Gender & Society, 3, 104–112.
Smith-Lovin, L., & Tickamyer, A. R. (1978). Nonrecursive models of labor force participation, fertility behavior and sex role attitudes. American Sociological Review, 43, 541–556.
Spence, J. T., & Hahn, E. D. (1997). The Attitudes toward Women Scale and attitude change in college students. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 17–34.
Tallichet, S. E., & Willits, F. K. (1986). Gender-role attitude change of young women: Influential factors from a panel study. Social Psychology Quarterly, 49, 219–227.
Thornton, A., Alwin, D. F., & Camburn, D. (1983). Causes and consequences of sex-role attitudes and attitude change. American Sociological Review, 48, 211–227.
Treas, J., & Widmer, E. D. (2000). Married women’s employment over the life course: Attitudes in cross-cultural perspective. Social Forces, 78, 1409–1436.
Twenge, J. M. (1997). Attitudes toward women, 1970–1995. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 35–51.
Xie, Y., Raymo, J. M., Goyette, K., & Thornton, A. (2003). Economic potential and entry into marriage and cohabitation. Demography, 40, 351–367.
Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1990). Sex and psyche: Gender and self viewed cross-culturally. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Corrigall, E.A., Konrad, A.M. Gender Role Attitudes and Careers: A Longitudinal Study. Sex Roles 56, 847–855 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9242-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9242-0