For this virtual lab, I ask you to consider into your own college and career ambitions and how these ambitions may be related to or influenced by gender and gendered patterns in occupation.
Here’s your assignment:
In her accounting of the stalled gender revolution, Paula England argues that one hurdle to full gender equity is sex segregation in fields of study and careers. In other words, many careers remain notably gendered: more men are plumbers and electricians; more women are teachers and nurses, etc. For a fuller discussion of this phenomenon in skimmable format, see this short piece she wrote with graduate students Andrew Levine and Emma Mishel:
https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-gender-revolution-is-stalling-what-would-reinvigorate-it/
Many scholars, England included, have begun to explore why this pattern of sex segregation persists. Conclusions are mixed, and we’ll review some of these conclusions in class next week — but for now, I want you to think about your own major and career ambitions and how they relate to gendered patterns in occupations. (Note: there is no need to do any research to answer these questions; in fact I’d prefer if you didn’t, and instead answered them based on the knowledge and impressions you have right now!)
What are you planning to major in? Do you think your major is more female dominated, more male dominated, or an equal mix of men and women?
And what career do you plan to pursue after college (and graduate school)?
Why this major/career choice? What makes you want to pursue this occupation?
Basically, I’m asking you to tell me about what you want to be when you grow up, and why you want to be what you want to be. One final question for you…
Do you think your chosen profession will be mostly male dominated, mostly female dominated, or about equal? And how does this make you feel — do you think the gender composition of your future job factors into your decision making at all?
Remember, polished academic prose isn’t necessary for virtual lab assignments. Feel free to write about this just as you’d talk to me directly about it! I hope you’ll have a bit of fun with this one and really dig into why you want to study what you want to study, why you’re pursuing one career over another, etc. And we’ll see if, as a class, your answers map onto research findings related to occupational sex segregation! (And don’t worry — I’ll tell you all my own story too on Monday!)
Have a question about this assignment? Send me an email, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!