LIFE ROLE ASPIRATIONS OF HIGH ABILITY FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES By LAURA-LYNNE MCBAIN B.S.N., The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1975 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of C o u n s e l l i n g Psychology) We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the required standard The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia August 1983 © Laura-Lynne McBain, 1983 I n p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r an advanced degree a t the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , I agree t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and s t u d y . I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be g r a n t e d by t h e head o f my department o r by h i s o r h e r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l n o t be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Department o f C o u n s e l l i n g Psychology The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date August 31. 1983 DE-6 (3/81) i i ABSTRACT This study used a biodemographical questionnaire and a v a r i a n t of K e l l y ' s (1955) repertory g r i d technique to examine the l i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s (career, home and f a m i l y , and personal) of a group of high a b i l i t y women and to describe how t h e i r r o l e perceptions and expectations seemed to i n f l u e n c e t h e i r career a s p i r a t i o n s . A l l subjects were of s i m i l a r high academic standing (72% average or above) and were e i t h e r i n the f i n a l year of the Bachelor of Commerce Program at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia or i n f i r s t year Law (combined Commerce/Law Option). Twenty-nine subjects met w i t h the researcher i n small groups to complete the que s t i o n n a i r e s . Each subject provided biodemographical data, i n c l u d i n g information about her proje c t e d f i v e - y e a r plans f o r paid employment, graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l school, r e l a t i o n s h i p s t y l e / m a r i t a l s t a t u s , and c h i l d r e n . In a d d i t i o n , each subject completed a 12 x 12 r o l e g r i d while imagining h e r s e l f i n each of 12 d i f f e r e n t r o l e s during the subsequent f i v e years of her l i f e . Twelve r o l e s and 12 constructs ( c o n s i d e r a t i o n s judged to be important i n f l u e n c i n g f a c t o r s i n the l i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s of women) were rank ordered i n terms of personal preference and importance. Then, each of the 12 r o l e s was rated according to each of the 12 c o n s t r u c t s . Group r e s u l t s were reported and described on a number of dimensions, i n c l u d i n g l e v e l and type of career a s p i r a t i o n s , preference and p r e f e r a b i l i t y ranks of r o l e s , importance and c e n t r a l i t y ranks of co n s t r u c t s , o v e r a l l l e v e l of c o n f l i c t , c o n f l i c t between c o n s t r u c t s , and i i i c o n f l i c t between r o l e s . The main f i n d i n g was t h a t a l l the women i n the group were a s p i r i n g t o r e l a t i v e l y h i g h l e v e l f u l l - t i m e c a r e e r s i n b u s i n e s s or law f o r t h e next f i v e y e a r p e r i o d o f t h e i r l i v e s . T h e i r most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s were p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s . They appeared t o be most s t r o n g l y m o t i v a t e d by a d e s i r e f o r p e r s o n a l g r o w t h , w h i c h t h e y seemed t o c o n s t r u e m a i n l y i n terms of achievement. On the whole, they seemed t o be a group o f c o n f i d e n t and ind e p e n d e n t women who were c o n f l i c t - f r e e i n t h e i r a t t i t u d e s t o w a r d t h e i r p r o j e c t e d l i f e r o l e s . The r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y a r e u s e f u l t o ^ c o u n s e l l o r s and e d u c a t o r s O of h i g h a b i l i t y women who a r e s e e k i n g t o combine m u l t i p l e r o l e s i n a manner w h i c h a l l o w s f o r maximum development'of p o t e n t i a l . iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i i TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v i i DEDICATION v i i i CHAPTER I. SCOPE AND FOCUS OF THE STUDY 1 Background of the Problem 1 Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study 7 Definition of Terms 10 Research Questions and Rationale 12 Delimitation of the Study 13 Justification of the Study 14 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 16 Theories of Career Development 16 Variables Affecting the Career Development of Women 24 Achievement Motivation 24 Achievement, Affiliation, and Power 30 Role Conflict 32 Achievement-Related Encouragement 33 Perceived Compatibility Between Femininity and Competence. • 36 Role Models 37 Self-Estimate of Competence and Expectations of Personal Efficacy 38 Commitment and Investment..... 39 Conclusion 40 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY 42 Subjects 42 Measuring Instruments 43 Biodemographical Questionnaire 43 Role Grid 43 Grid Measures Employed in this Study 52 Data Collection and Procedures 56 V Page CHAPTER IV. RESULTS 58 P r o j e c t e d F i v e - Y e a r P l a n s 58 P r o f e s s i o n a l and Graduate Student R o l e s 58 R e l a t i o n s h i p S t y l e / M a r i t a l S t a t u s 60 C h i l d r e n 66 R o l e Importance ( Q u e s t i o n 1) 66 C o n s t r u c t Importance ( Q u e s t i o n 2) 70 I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between C o n s t r u c t s ( Q u e s t i o n 3) 75 C o n f l i c t ( Q u e s t i o n 4) 86 CHAPTER V. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 90 D i s c u s s i o n and C o n c l u s i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . 90 L i m i t a t i o n s 99 I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r Theory and P r a c t i c e 100 Recommendations f o r F u t u r e R e s e a r c h 104 REFERENCE NOTES 110 REFERENCES I l l APPENDICES A. I n t r o d u c t i o n t o the S t u d y 119 B. B i o d e m o g r a p h i c a l Q u e s t i o n n a i r e 121 C. R o l e G r i d 123 D. V e r b a l I n s t r u c t i o n s f o r C o m p l e t i o n o f B i o d e m o g r a p h i c a l Q u e s t i o n n a i r e and R o l e G r i d 126 E. R o l e G r i d Completed by S u b j e c t #22 139 v i LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1 D e r i v a t i o n of Constructs from Factors Discussed i n the L i t e r a t u r e 49 Table 2 Graduate or P r o f e s s i o n a l Programs Considered 59 Table 3 Subjects' Highest P r o f e s s i o n a l A s p i r a t i o n s f o r Subsequent Five Year P e r i o d 61 Table 4 Subjects' Lowest P r o f e s s i o n a l A s p i r a t i o n s f o r Subsequent F i v e Year P e r i o d 63 Table 5 Subjects' Expected P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n s f o r Subsequent Five Year P e r i o d 64 Table 6 Group Preference Ranks of Roles Based on Means and Standard Deviations of Role Preference Ranks.... 68 Table 7 Group P r e f e r a b i l i t y Ranks of Roles Based on Means and Standard Deviations of Role Sums 69 Table 8 Group Importance Ranks of Constructs Based on Means and Standard Deviations of Construct Importance Ranks 71 Table 9 D e r i v i n g C e n t r a l i t y Ranks 73 Table 10 C e n t r a l i t y Ranks of Constructs 74 Table 11 Average I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs 78 Table 12 Strength of R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Personal Growth and Achievement) 80 Table 13 Strength of R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs ( S e l f - E s t i m a t e of Competence and Success and A f f i l i a t i o n ) 81 Table 14 Strength of R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Role Model and Support: Parents, Other Family Members) 82 Table 15 Strength of R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Power and Enjoyment) 83 Table 16 Strength of R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Support: Partner and Support: F r i e n d s , Colleagues, Teachers) 84 Table 17 Strength of R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Commitment/Investment and Degree of F i t w i t h View of S e l f as a Woman) 85 v i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would l i k e to express my deepest a p p r e c i a t i o n to Dr. L o r e t t e K. Woolsey, who, i n both the planning and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n stages of t h i s study, by means of c o n f r o n t a t i o n , v a l i d a t i o n , encouragement, and strong personal example, g r e a t l y a s s i s t e d the maintenance and continu i n g development of my f e m i n i s t p e r s p e c t i v e . In a d d i t i o n , I would l i k e to thank Dr. L a r r y R. Cochran f o r h i s unending patience and c l e a r explanations (and re-explanations!) of repertory g r i d methodology. I am g r a t e f u l to Dr. Sharon E. Kahn f o r her continu i n g support and a s s i s t a n c e i n keeping t h i s task to a manageable s i z e . F i n a l l y , I would l i k e to acknowledge the cooperation of the Fa c u l t y of Commerce and Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia and to express my a p p r e c i a t i o n to the women who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h i s study. DEDICATION I would l i k e to dedicate t h i s t h e s i s t o my mother, Marguerite McBain, who, by her acknowledgement and support of my s t r e n g t h and a b i l i t i e s , has a s s i s t e d me i n c o n t i n u i n g to develop my p o t e n t i a l . 1 CHAPTER I Scope and Focus of the Study Background of the Problem The l i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s of high a b i l i t y women must n e c e s s a r i l y be understood w i t h i n the s o c i a l context of what i s p o s s i b l e f o r women to achieve w i t h i n a given s o c i e t y . O p p o r t u n i t i t e s and s o c i a l expectations f o r women i n Canada form the general context i n which the l i v e s of the women i n t h i s study are embedded. Understanding women's achievement has become important f o r many reasons - personal, i d e o l o g i c a l , s o c i a l - not the l e a s t of which i s that s i g n i f i c a n t numbers of women are now t a k i n g part i n the world of achievement outside the home. Since the 1950's, female p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n higher education and the workforce has s t e a d i l y increased (Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, 1973; Labour Canada, 1980; S t a t i s t i c s Canada 1977, 1981). However, the l e v e l and scope of women's achievement does not appear to have undergone as marked a s h i f t . Women s t i l l tend to enter at and to remain i n lower status and lower paying p o s i t i o n s (Labour Canada, 1980, 1981) and t o be underrepresented i n the higher echelons of almost every 2 occupation (O'Leary, 1974; Sutherland, 1978). When measured i n terms of t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n management, women s t i l l hold l i t t l e d e c i s i o n making power (Bennett & Loewe, 1975; Economic A n a l y s i s and Research Bureau, 1979; Labour Canada, 1980; Greenglass, Note 1). The question i s - why are women co n t i n u i n g to underachieve i n almost every occupation and, more s p e c i f i c a l l y , why are they c o n t i n u i n g to underachieve i n management? How can women's achievement be improved? Greenglass (Note 1) o u t l i n e d some p o s s i b l e explanations f o r the c o n t i n u i n g o c c u p a t i o n a l underachievement of women: The question of why women have not become more v i s i b l e among the higher l e v e l s of management has been addressed from s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n t p e r s p e c t i v e s , and no doubt i s a complex one r e q u i r i n g explanation on s e v e r a l l e v e l s . While overt d i s c r i m i n a t i o n may be a l e s s s a l i e n t f a c t o r today than perhaps i t was i n the n o t - t o o - d i s t a n t past, sex ste r e o t y p i n g , the absence of female r o l e models, mentors, and support groups, lower s a l a r i e s , and masculine job stereotypes as a r e s u l t of women's employment s t a t u s , a l l f u n c t i o n as r e a l obstacles to the advancement of women. (p. 1) A f i r s t step i n e x p l o r i n g the question of how women's achievement can be improved i s an examination of the f a c t o r s upon which l e v e l of occupational achievement i s assessed. The three i n d i c e s which seem to be most c e n t r a l are educational s t a t u s , income l e v e l , and general l e v e l of occupational p r e s t i g e . For example, B l i s h e n and McRoberts (1976) 3 used these v a r i a b l e s ( e d u c a t i o n a l s t a t u s , income l e v e l , and p r e s t i g e ranking) to construct a socioeconomic index f o r occupations i n Canada. The r e s u l t was a rank ordering of 500 Canadian occupations (e.g., a d m i n i s t r a t o r s i n teaching and r e l a t e d f i e l d s r eceived a rank of one and hunting, trapping and r e l a t e d occupations received a rank of 500). Because earnings are a s i g n i f i c a n t i n d i c a t o r of s o c i a l value, and hence, of women's o p p o r t u n i t i e s , the present author concurs w i t h the f o l l o w i n g assumption of F i t z g e r a l d and C r i t e s (1980): ...we i n t e r p r e t the p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r women's equity p a r t i a l l y i n economic terms; that i s , women w i l l not achieve e q u i t y u n t i l they have access to f i n a n c i a l resources and are not dependent on others f o r t h e i r l i v e l i h o o d . I t i s t h i s dependence, p o s s i b l y more than any other f a c t o r , which has kept women from developing to the extent of t h e i r d e s i res and p o s s i b i l i t i e s , (p. 45) Occupations which are predominantly male occupations (e.g. occupations i n the scie n c e s , management and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , law, medicine, and the t e c h n i c a l and s k i l l e d trades) tend to be much higher i n p r e s t i g e and/or income l e v e l than predominantly female occupations (e.g., c l e r i c a l , sales and s e r v i c e occupations, n u r s i n g ) . Therefore, as state d by B r i t o and Jusenius (1978) "the extent to which there i s an a l t e r a t i o n i n women's occupational preferences f o r the future i s of great importance to attempts to improve t h e i r r e l a t i v e earnings p o s i t i o n " (p. 165-166). Other researchers have noted the importance of l e v e l of 4 a s p i r a t i o n to subsequent occupational s t a t u s attainment (Canter, 1979; F o t t l e r & Bain, 1980; H a l l e r , Otto, Meier, & Ohlendorf, 1974). Canter (1979) suggested that a s p i r a t i o n s a c t u a l l y act as l i m i t s on performance. For example, a woman with low a s p i r a t i o n s may not give h e r s e l f the opportunity to achieve, or she may even avoid achievement. The f i e l d of management i s one f i e l d i n which i t i s p o s s i b l e f o r women to achieve e q u i t y , f i n a n c i a l and otherwise, w i t h men and to advance i n accordance with high a s p i r a t i o n s . This i s so because managerial and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p o s i t i o n s are higher i n rank than the maj o r i t y of other occupations ( B l i s h e n & McRoberts, 1976) and are higher paying (Labour Canada, 1980). Although e n t e r i n g t h i s f i e l d does not guarantee career advancement and higher s a l a r y , i t does increase one's chances f o r the same (Bogorya, 1982; Mironowicz, 1981; Vine, 1981). This study, then, w i l l focus on women who are seeking careers i n management. The number of women planning f o r and ent e r i n g the f i e l d of management has increased r a p i d l y over the past ten years. For example, at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, the number of women graduating from the Bachelor of Commerce Program has s t e a d i l y increased from 10% i n 1974 to 29% i n 1982. The f i g u r e s are s i m i l a r f o r the Masters i n Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n Program, w i t h the percentage of women graduates r i s i n g from 8% i n 1974 to 32% i n 1982 ( O f f i c e of I n s t i t u t i o n a l A n a l y s i s and Planning, Note 2 ) . The p a r t i c i p a t i o n of women i n higher education does tend to inc r e a s e income and to decrease the wage gap between the earnings of 5 women and men. However, the wage gap i s s t i l l s t r i k i n g l y l a r ge even at higher l e v e l s of education. For example, women with a u n i v e r s i t y degree earn, on average, only 55.9% of what men w i t h the same l e v e l of education earn (Labour Canada, 1981). Higher education i n management does increase a woman's e l i g i b i l i t y f o r more p r e s t i g i o u s p o s i t i o n s and her l i k e l i h o o d of success i n the business world (Bogorya, 1982; Mironowicz, 1981; Vine, 1981). However, education alone does not produce f i n a n c i a l p a r i t y , as the above example demonstrates, nor does i t guarantee success. Another very important f a c t o r i n the d i f f e r e n t i a l a s p i r a t i o n s and achievements of women and men academically and p r o f e s s i o n a l l y i s the sex r o l e s o c i a l i z a t i o n process which occurs i n our c u l t u r e . F i t z g e r a l d and C r i t e s (1980), i n t h e i r recent review a r t i c l e summarizing the st a t e of the a r t i n the ev o l v i n g career psychology of women, stated t h a t : ...the p o t e n t i a l career development of women, although not fundamentally d i f f e r e n t than that of men, i s a great deal more complex due to that combination of a t t i t u d e s , r o l e e x pectations, behaviors, and sanctions known as the s o c i a l i z a t i o n process. (p. 45) Ohlsen (1968) b e l i e v e d that s o c i e t y ' s ambivalent a t t i t u d e toward women working outside of the home has s o c i a l i z e d g i r l s and women to be more concerned about success i n lo v e , marriage, and fa m i l y than with the choice of and success i n an occupation. His i n t e r v i e w s w i t h women suggested that even i n t e l l e c t u a l l y g i f t e d women often p r e f e r r e d not to work outside the home as t h i s was seen as a threat to success as a homemaker. 6 Horner's (1970, 1972) work on f e a r of success i s another example of t h i s l i n e of thought. Her hypothesis was that women fear success i n achievement contexts because such success c o n f l i c t s w i t h the t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e and w i l l thus be followed by negative consequences such as p o t e n t i a l a f f i l l a t i v e l o s s , s o c i a l r e j e c t i o n , and a sense of being l e s s feminine. Recent e m p i r i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s (Monahan, Kuhn, & Shaver, 1974; Cherry & Deaux, 1978) and c r i t i c i s m s (Greenglass, 1982) of the fear of success hypothesis have suggested that f e a r of success i s not j u s t a female phenomenon, but i s a concern shared by both women and men. Rather than viewing f e a r of success as a motive i t may in s t e a d be viewed as a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of men's and women's stereotyped r e a c t i o n s to others ( i . e . , women and men) whose behaviours v i o l a t e t r a d i t i o n a l gender r o l e s (Greenglass, 1982). Fear of success may a f f e c t women's career a s p i r a t i o n s more than those of men, though, because many more occupations are t r a d i t i o n a l l y male, and as stated e a r l i e r , t r a d i t i o n a l l y male occupations tend to be much higher i n p r e s t i g e and income l e v e l . The phenomenon of home/career c o n f l i c t i s another f r e q u e n t l y o c c u r i n g t o p i c i n the l i t e r a t u r e . I t has been seen as a c r u c i a l f a c t o r a f f e c t i n g women's career involvement (Farmer, 1971, 1978; Farmer & Bohn, 1970; H a l l , 1975; H a l l & Gordon, 1973; O'Leary, 1974, 1977; Stake, 1979b). Women have t r a d i t i o n a l l y been seen i n the r o l e s of w i f e , mother, and homemaker and, u n t i l r e c e n t l y , they have l i v e d t h e i r l i v e s p r i m a r i l y i n these r o l e s . Their i n c r e a s i n g entry i n t o the paid labour forc e has brought w i t h i t the need to r e - t h i n k t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e 7 d e f i n i t i o n s and to jugg l e time and energy demands f o r m u l t i p l e r o l e s . I t f o l l o w s , then, that any comprehensive understanding of women and career involvement r e q u i r e s c o n s i d e r a t i o n of how, and to what extent, r o l e f a c t o r s are operating i n t h e i r career choice and planning processes. Past and present sex r o l e expectations seem to have c o n t r i b u t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the lowered career a s p i r a t i o n s of women. Considerable numbers of br i g h t women have e i t h e r chosen no careers at a l l or careers f a r below t h e i r l e v e l of a b i l i t y ( F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980). This c o n s i s t e n t u n d e r u t i l i z a t i o n of women i s a great l o s s of p o t e n t i a l both p e r s o n a l l y , f o r i n d i v i d u a l women, and f o r s o c i e t y . I t seems apparent, then, that the s o c i a l i z a t i o n process must c o n s i s t e n t l y be confronted, r a t h e r than cooperated w i t h , i f women are t o be freed to make informed career choices based on a l l that they are and can be ( F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980). Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study Even though the m a j o r i t y of women do not achieve h i g h l y i n ca r e e r s , some women do^ a s p i r e t o and do pursue higher l e v e l occupations. A question that a r i s e s here i s , "What i s the d i f f e r e n c e between women who a s p i r e to higher l e v e l c a reers, and thus aim f o r more n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s as women, and those who don't, that i s , those who have more t r a d i t i o n a l plans f o r lower l e v e l careers and f o r p l a c i n g 8 primary emphasis on home and f a m i l y r o l e s ? " Answering t h i s question w i l l help us to understand (and perhaps to a s s i s t ) those women who are c u r r e n t l y underachieving. Because women's career involvement i s c l e a r l y r e l a t e d to r o l e f a c t o r s (Stake, 1979b) and because women's a t t i t u d e s , e x p e c t a t i o n s , o p p o r t u n i t i e s , and attainments are changing so r a p i d l y , i t was decided to do a d e s c r i p t i v e and e x p l o r a t o r y study of the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the r o l e c o n s t r u a l and career a s p i r a t i o n s of high a b i l i t y women. I t seemed important to study those women who had the p o t e n t i a l to achieve h i g h l y . Women, l i k e men, are not a homogeneous group - not a l l women have the p o t e n t i a l to reach top l e v e l p o s i t i o n s . Therefore, the subjects f o r t h i s study were r e c r u i t e d from a population of women who had both the a b i l i t y and the l e v e l of education necessary to pursue high l e v e l careers i n business. A l l subjects were females of s i m i l a r high academic standing (72% average or above) and were e i t h e r i n the f i n a l year of the Bachelor of Commerce Program or i n f i r s t year Law (combined Commerce/Law degree) at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia. This sample provided a f a i r l y homogeneous group i n terms of I n t e r e s t , a b i l i t y l e v e l , socioeconomic s t a t u s , l e v e l of education, and working environment. The purpose of t h i s study was to gather from these high a b i l i t y women in f o r m a t i o n about t h e i r plans f o r the next f i v e years of t h e i r l i v e s - to examine t h e i r l i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s ( career, home and f a m i l y , and personal) and to describe how t h e i r r o l e perceptions and expectations seemed to i n f l u e n c e t h e i r career a s p i r a t i o n s . M u l t i p l e r o l e l i f e planning i n v o l v e s examining and p r i o r i t i z i n g 9 many d i f f e r e n t r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s and combinations. Many con s i d e r a t i o n s enter i n t o t h i s d e c i s i o n making process. To f a c i l i t a t e the simultaneous examination of many r o l e s and many consid e r a t i o n s and to f a c i l i t a t e the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of how these women were planning f o r and construing l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s , a v a r i a n t of K e l l y ' s (1955) repertory g r i d technique was chosen as the main instrument f o r data c o l l e c t i o n . Each subject provided i n f o r m a t i o n f o r a 12 x 12 r o l e g r i d i n which 12 l i f e r o l e s were evaluated or rated on a set of 12 constructs ( c o n s i d e r a t i o n s judged to be important i n f l u e n c i n g f a t o r s i n the l i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s of women). I f d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s of career a s p i r a t i o n had been found during data a n a l y s i s , comparisons would have been made between women w i t h higher career a s p i r a t i o n s and women w i t h lower career a s p i r a t i o n s . Subjects' s t a t e d career a s p i r a t i o n s were matched w i t h the socioeconomic index f o r occupations i n Canada ( B l i s h e n & McRoberts, 1976). An a r b i t r a r y c u t - o f f point on the scal e was to have been used to d i s t i n g u i s h between higher and lower career a s p i r a t i o n s . Results f o r the two groups (higher a s p i r i n g vs lower a s p i r i n g ) would have been compared to determine i f there was anything about t h e i r r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s , expectations, and c o n s t r u a l that made a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e i r career a s p i r a t i o n s . When the data were analyzed i t was discovered that the subjects were a very homogeneous group i n terms of career a s p i r a t i o n s - they were a l l r e l a t i v e l y high a s p i r i n g and were planning f o r careers commensurate wi t h t h e i r l e v e l of education. This i n i t s e l f was a f a i r l y s i g n i f i c a n t f i n d i n g , as these women d i f f e r e d from previous f i n d i n g s (see the 10 comments of Ohlsen (1968) and F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s (1980) i n regard to b r i g h t and even g i f t e d women choosing careers w e l l below t h e i r l e v e l of a b i l i t y ) . The study changed, t h e r e f o r e , from a comparative one to a d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s of h i g h - a s p i r a t i o n women. D e f i n i t i o n of Terms The most important terms used i n t h i s study have been given the f o l l o w i n g o p e r a t i o n a l d e f i n i t i o n s : 1. High a b i l i t y women are defined as women i n f o u r t h year Commerce or f i r s t year Law who had, i n t h e i r previous year of s t u d i e s ( i . e . , t h e i r t h i r d year i n the Bachelor of Commerce Program at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia) achieved a 72% or b e t t e r average. A 72% or b e t t e r average was chosen because i n order to q u a l i f y f o r graduate school i n Commerce, a p p l i c a n t s must have obtained a 72% or b e t t e r average i n t h e i r f i n a l two years as undergraduates. One of the r o l e s used i n the study was that of graduate student. Therefore, i t was necessary that a l l those p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the study have the minimum necessary p r e r e q u i s i t e s f o r t h i s r o l e . 2. L i f e r o l e s have been discussed by H a l l and H a l l (1979) i n terms of three main areas of a c t i v i t y : work or career r o l e s , home and f a m i l y r o l e s , and personal r o l e s . They provided a l i s t of such r o l e s as examples: parent, manager, partner, neighbour, daughter, s i s t e r , f r i e n d , community member, s e l f (a person), church member, and author. In the present study subjects rank ordered and rated s i x standard r o l e s 11 (daughter, f r i e n d , homemaker, mother, p a r t n e r / w i f e , and s i n g l e person) and s i x personal examples of the f o l l o w i n g r o l e t i t l e s or d e s c r i p t i o n s : community member/citizen, graduate student, personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment, p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n , p r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n , and expected p r o f e s s i o n . 3. L i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s were determined by asking subjects to provide i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e i r f i v e - y e a r plans f o r student, p r o f e s s i o n a l , and f a m i l y r o l e s . In a d d i t i o n they were asked to complete the l i f e r o l e g r i d while imagining t h e i r l i v e s (who they'd be, where they'd be, what they'd be, and who they'd be doing i t with) during the subsequent f i v e year period of t h e i r l i v e s ( i . e . , the period from May 1983 to May 1988). 4. Constructs were the elements or values upon which the l i f e r o l e s were judged or r a t e d . The constructs used i n t h i s study i n c l u d e d : opportunity to meet needs f o r achievement, a f f i l i a t i o n , and power, enjoyment, amount of support and encouragement from spouse, f r i e n d s , c o l l e a g u e s , parents, and other f a m i l y members, presence of a r o l e model, s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence and success, and degree of commitment or investment. 5. The l i f e r o l e g r i d i s a r e p e r t o r y g r i d i n which a set of 12 l i f e r o l e s are rated on a set of 12 c o n s t r u c t s . The repertory g r i d technique was f i r s t described by K e l l y (1955) and f u r t h e r developed by others (e.g. Bannister & Mair, 1968; S l a t e r , 1976; Cochran, Note 3 ) . This technique i s e s s e n t i a l l y a s o r t i n g and r a t i n g task which produces primary data i n matrix form (Bannister & Mair, 1968). The g r i d 12 f a c i l i t a t e d the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of s u b j e c t s ' o v e r a l l c o n s t r u i n g of l i f e r o l e s . Research Questions and R a t i o n a l e A coherent theory enabling the p r e d i c t i o n of women's career behaviour i s not p o s s i b l e at t h i s time due to the r a p i d l y changing r o l e of women i n our s o c i e t y ( F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980). In regard to achievement, a f f i l i a t i o n , and power (the three most c e n t r a l human motives), Denmark, Ta n g r i , and McCandless (1978) s a i d : F o l l o w i n g the review of the three most c e n t r a l motives i n human p e r s o n a l i t y , as they appear i n women, i t i s much ea s i e r to c r i t i q u e the m a t e r i a l than to e f f e c t a s y n t h e s i s . The f i e l d i s q u i t e c h a o t i c , and i t i s d i f f i c u l t to derive s o l i d conclusions about any of these motives i n women, l e t alone use them as b u i l d i n g blocks f o r a t h e o r e t i c a l framework of the r e l a t i o n s h i p among them. (p. 445) Although c e r t a i n p r e d i c t i o n s could have been made about the r e l a t i o n s h i p s of some constructs to l i f e r o l e planning (e.g., women who rank achievement high and perceive themselves as competent i n p r o f e s i o n a l and graduate student r o l e s are more l i k e l y to a s p i r e to these r o l e s than those who don't), p r e d i c t i o n s about the o v e r a l l construing were more d i f f i c u l t , and perhaps impossible. Therefore, 13 r a t h e r than attempting to t e s t s p e c i f i c hypotheses, the present research addressed s e v e r a l d e s c r i p t i v e and e x p l o r a t o r y questions aimed at e l i c i t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n about the o v e r a l l c o n s t r u i n g of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s i n terms of s p e c i f i c c o n s t r u c t s . The four research questions i n v e s t i g a t e d i n t h i s study were: 1. Role Importance. How does t h i s group of women rank order l i f e r o l e s i n terms of personal importance? 2. Construct Importance. How does t h i s group of women rank order constructs i n terms of personal importance? 3. I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs. For t h i s group, how are constructs r e l a t e d on average? 4. C o n f l i c t . (a) O v e r a l l C o n f l i c t . What i s the o v e r a l l l e v e l of c o n f l i c t f o r t h i s group, i . e . , to what extent are construct r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n harmony or i n c o n f l i c t ? (b) C o n f l i c t Between Constructs. For t h i s group, do any of the constructs c o n f l i c t w i t h each other i n the o v e r a l l construing of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s ? (c) C o n f l i c t Between Roles. As judged by the r o l e sums, f o r which r o l e s i s c o n f l i c t i n d i c a t e d ? D e l i m i t a t i o n of the Study The subjects f o r t h i s study were a s e l e c t group of high a b i l i t y women w i t h i n a p a r t i c u l a r age range. A l l subjects were women of high 14 academic standing ( i . e . , 72% or above average i n t h e i r t h i r d year of the Bachelor of Commerce Program). A l l but three of the subjects were e n r o l l e d i n the f o u r t h and f i n a l year of the Bachelor of Commerce Program at the time of the study. The remaining three subjects were i n f i r s t year Law (combined Commerce/Law Option). The m a j o r i t y of the subjects were s i n g l e (26 of the 29 s u b j e c t s ) , were between the ages of 21 and 23, and had no c h i l d r e n at the time of the study. The r e s u l t s , then, are g e n e r a l i z a b l e only to very s i m i l a r groups of high a b i l i t y women. J u s t i f i c a t i o n of the Study I n t e r e s t i n the career psychology women, i . e . , career development and choice and f a c t o r s which i n h i b i t and enhance these proceses i n women, has exploded over the past s e v e r a l years and the r e s u l t i n g expansion of the body of theory and research has begun to f i l l the many gaps i n our understanding of women's occupational involvement ( F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980). The gaps have only j u s t begun to be f i l l e d though, and i n t h i s time of ra p i d s o c i a l change i t i s i n c r e a s i n g l y important to monitor trends i n women's career choices, e x p e c t a t i o n s , preferences, and a s p i r a t i o n s . Career c o u n s e l l o r s of women must remain up-to-date i n t h e i r own a t t i t u d e s and knowledge i f they are to provide u s e f u l s e r v i c e s to t h e i r female c l i e n t s . The m a j o r i t y of work that has been done on women and career 15 development has t r e a t e d a l l women as i f they were the same, i . e . , had the same o p p o r t u n i t i e s and a b i l i t i e s . This study takes i n t o account the f a c t that women are not a homogeneous group - that f a c t o r s such as past achievement, f i e l d and l e v e l of education, and everyday w o r k i n g / l i v i n g environment s t r o n g l y a f f e c t women's choices. These f a c t o r s do, i n r e a l i t y , a f f e c t what i s reasonable to hope f o r and thus to plan f o r , i n terms of a career. For example, i f a woman does not have the a b i l i t y (e.g., i n t e l l i g e n c e ) to pursue a high l e v e l career, then i t i s reasonable f o r her to aim f o r a lower l e v e l career f o r which she has the p r e r e q u i s i t e a b i l i t y . This study focuses on high a b i l i t y women. The r e s u l t s w i l l be u s e f u l to educators and co u n s e l l o r s of t a l e n t e d women who are seeking to combine m u l t i p l e r o l e s i n a manner which allows f o r maximum development of p o t e n t i a l . 16 CHAPTER I I Review of Related L i t e r a t u r e This review w i l l begin w i t h a d i s c u s s i o n of current t h e o r i e s of career development as they p e r t a i n to women. Foll o w i n g that some s p e c i f i c v a r i a b l e s b e l i e v e d to a f f e c t women's career involvement w i l l be discussed. Theories of Career Development O'Leary (1977) s t a t e d that i n our s o c i e t y "the primary r o l e s of women and men are c l e a r l y defined: women marry and have c h i l d r e n ; men work" (p. 119). T r a d i t i o n a l l y , a woman's primary r o l e , that of homemaker, has been "organized around the nurturance of c h i l d r e n and the support of the e f f o r t s of the f a m i l y ' s breadwinner" (Zytowski, 1969, p. 661). These r i g i d r o l e d e f i n i t i o n s of women and men are changing as an ever i n c r e a s i n g number of women enter the paid labour f o r c e . These women must attempt to s t r i k e a balance between f a m i l y and work commitments. Men, too, are beginning to assume more a c t i v e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n the home and f a m i l y sphere. However, because men were 17 considered the "workers" of our s o c i e t y and, u n t i l r e c e n t l y , they were working outside the home i n f a r greater numbers than women, th e o r i e s of career development were developed almost e x c l u s i v e l y on studies of men and t h e i r career involvement. E x i s t i n g t h e o r i e s , though male o r i e n t e d , are a good s t a r t i n g point from which to embark on a search f o r v a r i a b l e s relevant to the career development of women. As so s u c c i n c t l y s t a t e d by F i t z g e r a l d and C r i t e s (1980), " I t seems reasonable to assume that a l l i n d i v i d u a l s , regardless of sex, share the b a s i c human need f o r s e l f - f u l f i l l m e n t through meaningful work" (p. 46). They preface t h e i r remarks, though, w i t h the st a t e d assumption that women's p o t e n t i a l career development although not fundamentally d i f f e r e n t than the career development of men, i s considerably more complex due to the s o c i a l i z a t i o n process and the r o l e e x p e c t a t i o n s , a t t i t u d e s , s a n c t i o n s , and behaviours which c o n t r i b u t e t o i t . The present author concurs w i t h t h i s assumption. A quick look at some th e o r i e s of occupational choice, followed by a d i s c u s s i o n of some of the s p e c i a l i s s u e s of concern to women and t h e i r career development f o l l o w s . Super (1963b) po s t u l a t e d t h a t , i n adolescence and e a r l y adulthood, there are two major stages i n v o c a t i o n a l development -e x p l o r a t i o n and establishment. The developmental tasks w i t h i n these stages are: (1) c r y s t a l l i z i n g a v o c a t i o n a l preference, (2) s p e c i f y i n g t h i s preference, (3) implementing i t , (4) s t a b i l i z i n g w i t h i n t h i s v o c a t i o n , (5) c o n s o l i d a t i n g status w i t h i n the chosen f i e l d , and (6) advancing i n t h i s vocation. Strongly inter-woven i n t o Super's theory i s 18 the idea that an i n d i v i d u a l implements h i s or her s e l f concept through the choice of an occupation. Osipow (1975) suggested that the stages and tasks described by Super (1963b) may not ac c u r a t e l y describe women's career development. Adolescent females may conduct only pseudo-exploration pending marriage plans, and may then delay establishment and maintenance of a career u n t i l a f t e r c h i l d r e a r i n g has e s s e n t i a l l y been completed. In a d d i t i o n , F i t z g e r a l d and C r i t e s (1980) pointed out the f a c t t h a t , f o r women, the expression of a s e l f concept through the choice of an occupation may be extremely d i f f i c u l t due to the apparent incongruence between the r o l e s of worker and wife/mother. These behaviours and a t t i t u d e s , created and r e i n f o r c e d by the s o c i a l i z a t i o n process, have d i r e c t consequences f o r women's career achievement. S t r i k i n g d i f f e r e n c e s e x i s t i n the occupational status attainment of men and women. Rosenfeld (1979) very a p t l y summarized these d i f f e r e n c e s : When one considers an occupational career, one probably thinks of a sequence such as the f o l l o w i n g : a person leaves school and advances r a p i d l y through a number of r e l a t e d but s u c c e s s i v e l y b e t t e r jobs u n t i l he reaches the highest l e v e l j ob f o r which h i s education, t r a i n i n g , and experience q u a l i f y him. A d d i t i o n a l education, t r a i n i n g , experience, and s e n i o r i t y may al l o w advancement l a t e r i n h i s career, but h i s most r a p i d advancement w i l l occur e a r l y . The male pronoun i s used i n t e n t i o n a l l y . A general 19 assumption i s that men have careers. Women may work outside the home at times - common wisdom goes - but women do not r e a l l y have careers since they are occupied by and committed to t h e i r r o l e w i t h i n the home, as i s perhaps i n d i c a t e d by the d i s c o n t i n u i t y of women's employment, (p. 283-284) She went on to say that "women, i n cont r a s t w i t h men, have a f l a t career l i n e , or even one going s l i g h t l y down w i t h years since l e a v i n g school" (p. 288). Super (1957) made one of the e a r l i e r attempts to inc l u d e women i n hi s theory b u i l d i n g . His c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of women's career patterns included the f o l l o w i n g p a t t e r n s : (1) st a b l e homemaking, (2) con v e n t i o n a l , (3) st a b l e working career p a t t e r n , (4) double-track, (5) i n t e r r u p t e d , (6) unstable career p a t t e r n , and (7) m u l t i p l e - t r i a l career p a t t e r n . E s s e n t i a l l y , he described the patterns of women's careers at the time but d i d not i d e n t i f y or even discuss the p o t e n t i a l value of e l u c i d a t i n g separate v a r i a b l e s relevant to women's career development. A l l but two of h i s d e s c r i p t i o n s are di s c u s s i o n s of f u l l - t i m e homemaking and/or various combinations of homemaking and working outside the home. The s t a b l e working career p a t t e r n and the m u l t i p l e - t r i a l p a t t e r n are the only two patterns which do not include the homemaking theme. Women c l a s s i f i e d under the m u l t i p l e t r i a l p a t t e r n work i n a succession of unrel a t e d jobs and thus never do develop a l i f e work. In d e s c r i b i n g the st a b l e p a t t e r n , Super stated that a small percentage of women have strong career ( r a t h e r than homemaking) i n t e r e s t and m o t i v a t i o n , and i t 20 i s these women who do develop a f u l l - t i m e l i f e career. This d e s c r i p t i o n already seems obsolete, i n l i g h t of women's present labour force p a r t i c i p a t i o n r a t e s . In Canada, the number of women i n the labour f o r c e increased 61.6% i n the 10 year period from 1969 to 1979. In 1979, 48.9% of the women i n Canada were i n the paid labour f o r c e . At t h i s time, women represented 39.3% of the t o t a l labour force i n Canada (Labour Canada, 1980). Two t h e o r i s t s (Psathas, 1968; Zytowski, 1969) attempted to construct separate t h e o r i e s of career choice f o r females. Both t h e o r i s t s s t r o n g l y emphasized the c e n t r a l i t y of the homemaker r o l e i n the l i v e s of women. Psathas (1968) presented a number of f a c t o r s which i n f l u e n c e females' occupational choice. The most c e n t r a l of these f a c t o r s included i n t e n t i o n to marry, time of marriage, and husband's a t t i t u d e toward h i s wife working. The e f f e c t s of these f a c t o r s , he b e l i e v e d , are mediated by sex r o l e . Therefore, the understanding of these f a c t o r s must begin w i t h an examination of the r e l a t i o n s h i p between sex r o l e and occupational r o l e . Zytowski (1969) noted the current changing r o l e of women, and ended h i s a r t i c l e w i t h "the hope that a l t e r e d s o c i a l expectations and t e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n (would) u l t i m a t e l y r e s u l t i n obsolescence" (p. 664) of h i s nine postulates c h a r a c t e r i z i n g the patterns of women's occu p a t i o n a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n . However, he himself spoke i n f a i r l y s t a t i c terms about women. His o r d i n a l s c a l e f o r occupational p a r t i c i p a t i o n of women in c l u d e d the f o l l o w i n g p a t t e r n s : (1) m i l d v o c a t i o n a l p a t t e r n (very 21 e a r l y or l a t e entry to the workforce, f o r a b r i e f p eriod of time, i n a "feminine" occupation, e.g., stewardess, nurse); (2) moderate v o c a t i o n a l p a t t e r n (longer time span i n the work force and/or employment i n a l e s s "feminine" o c c u a t i o n ) ; and (3) unusual ( e a r l y entry i n t o the workforce f o r a lengthy or uninterr u p t e d time span, i n a n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l occupation f o r a woman). His use of the term unusual to describe a pa t t e r n t h a t , f o r a man, would most l i k e l y be l a b e l l e d " t y p i c a l " casts such women i n a deviant r o l e and i s at best l i m i t i n g i n i t s scope. Terminology more enhancing to women's a b i l i t i e s would use words such as " f u l l " , "abundant", or "intense" and would thus describe t h i s p a t t e r n i n p o s i t i v e r a t h e r than i n negative or deviant terms. Zytowski (1969) went on to c i t e evidence that the "unusual" patterns of p a r t i c i p a t i o n are seemingly caused by e x t r a o r d i n a r y , i . e . , traumatic, events i n childhood. The f a r t h e r away from the c u l t u r a l stereotype the woman's occupational choice i s , the more l i k e l y i t i s that she has experienced p a r t i c u l a r pressures which predispose her t o t h i s choice. For example, a female may decide to become an engineer i n an attempt to replace a l o s t f a t h e r . Zytowski thus described women a c t i v e l y commited to n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l careers i n terms i n d i c a t i v e of pathology. He did not once suggest that a woman's preference f o r such a career might be a p o s i t i v e choice of a f u l f i l l i n g career that i s very much an expression of her s e l f concept and a b i l i t i e s . These, then, are some of the attempts at for m u l a t i n g a theory of career development f o r women. They, and other current t h e o r i e s of career choice, are inadequate i n e x p l a i n i n g women's v o c a t i o n a l behaviour 22 ( F a l k & Cosby, 1978; F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980). Current t h e o r i e s are inadequate f o r a number of reasons: (1) They e x p l a i n age cohort patterns as general trends, r a t h e r than as outcomes of a p a r t i c u l a r time and place. (2) They f a i l to recognize the s o c i a l , h i s t o r i c a l , and i d e o l o g i c a l forces impinging on these p a t t e r n s . (3) They appear to have i m p l i c i t unstated biases toward an i d e a l i z e d and r e s t r i c t e d view of women as mothers. (4) They f a i l to recognize s p e c i f i c e f f e c t s of p r e j u d i c e and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n which have l i m i t e d women's career choices. F a l k and Cosby (1978), upon reviewing the major current t h e o r i e s of career choice developed p r i m a r i l y on men, c l e a r l y d e l i n e a t e d some of the issues unique to females which r e s u l t i n the d i s p a r i t y of t h e i r career development: (1) The female at the e a r l i e s t stage of development i s s o c i a l i z e d p r i m a r i l y by another female, u s u a l l y her mother who often holds t r a d i t i o n a l views of what c o n s t i t u t e s appropriate e d u c a t i o n a l and occupational attainment. (2) Society tends to sex-type occupations i n a manner such that pressures e x i s t to express f e m i n i n i t y to the choice of c e r t a i n occupations which are r e s t r i c t e d both i n range and status as compared to the options open to males. (3) During the adolescent years the female may experience a serious a t t i t u d i n a l c o n f l i c t between notions of success defined i n terms of educational and occupational attainment on the one hand and marriage and motherhood on the other. 23 ( 4 ) I n f l u e n c e f o r a t t a i n m e n t from o t h e r s i n c l u d i n g p a r e n t s , t e a c h e r s , p e e r s , husbands, and p o s s i b l y the husband's employer o f t e n t e n d s t o encourage marriage-motherhood r o l e s a t t h e expense of f u r t h e r e d u c a t i o n a l and o c c u p a t i o n a l a c h i e v e m e n t s , ( p . 133) As p r e v i o u s l y s t a t e d , a c o h e r e n t t h e o r y o f c a r e e r c h o i c e e n a b l i n g the p r e d i c t i o n of c a r e e r b e h a v i o u r i n women has not y e t been d e v e l o p e d . However, s p e c i f i c v a r i a b l e s w h i c h a f f e c t t he c a r e e r development and c h o i c e p r o c e s s e s of women have been i d e n t i f i e d i n t h e e x p a n d i n g body o f t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h on women's c a r e e r i n v o l v e m e n t ( F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980). A l o n g w i t h c o n c e p t s p r e s e n t e d i n e x i s t i n g t h e o r i e s , t h e s e v a r i a b l e s p r o v i d e u s e f u l c o n s t r u c t s w h i c h may s e r v e as g u i d e s i n c u r r e n t e x a m i n a t i o n s of women's c a r e e r i n v o l v e m e n t . These v a r i a b l e s i n c l u d e r o l e c o n f l i c t o r home/career c o n f l i c t ( Farmer, 1971, 1978; Farmer & Bohn, 1970; H a l l , 1975; H a l l & Gordon, 1973; Hol a h a n & G i l b e r t , 1979a, 1979b; O'Leary, 1974, 1977; S t a k e , 1979b); encouragement/discouragement from s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s (Farmer, 1978; S t a k e , 1981), i n c l u d i n g l e v e l o f spouse s u p p o r t (Gordon & H a l l , 1974; Kundsen, 1974); n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l and o c c u p a t i o n a l r o l e models ( O ' L e a r y , 1977; S t a k e , 1981); s e l f - e s t e e m ( A s t i n , 1978), i n c l u d i n g s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence ( S t a k e , 1979a;1979b) and e x p e c t a t i o n s of p e r s o n a l e f f i c a c y ( B e t z & H a c k e t t , 1981; H a c k e t t & B e t z , 1981); achievement m o t i v a t i o n ( M a r s h a l l & W i j t i n g , 1980), i n c l u d i n g i n h i b i t e d achievement and c a r e e r m o t i v a t i o n (Farmer, 1978; F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980); i n d i v i d u a l and i n t e r a c t i v e e f f e c t s of need f o r achiev e m e n t , need f o r power, and need f o r a f f i l i a t i o n (Denmark, T a n g r i , & M c C a n d l e s s , 1978), w h i c h i n c l u d e s i n 24 part the concept of fear of success (Horner, 1970, 1972); sex role s e l f concept (O'Leary, 1977; Ory & H e l f r i c h , 1978; Marshall & Wijting, 1980; Yanico & Hardin, 1981); perceived compatibility between feminity and competence (O'Leary, 1974; Dewey, 1977; Laws, 1978); and degree of commitment to career (Hennig & Jardim, 1977). These variables are discussed i n more d e t a i l i n the sections which follow. Variables A f f e c t i n g the Career Development of Women Achievement Motivation An examination of the l i t e r a t u r e on achievement motivation reveals a t h e o r e t i c a l l y consistent body of data which allows predictions of achievement behaviour as a function of the strength of achievement motive i n men. However, the achievement data for women are sparse, inconsistent, and contradictory compared with the data for men (Denmark, Tangri, & McCandless, 1978; F i t z g e r a l d & C r i t e s , 1980; Greenglass, 1982; O'Leary, 1974; Stein & Bailey, 1973). Stein and Bailey (1973) summarized the work of McClelland et a l . (1953) who i n i t i a l l y proposed the most well known theory of achievement motivation. McClelland viewed achievement motivation as a f a i r l y stable motive to be competent, to s t r i v e for success i n any s i t u a t i o n i n which there are standards of excellence. Support for t h i s concept i s found quite consistently i n studies of men but not i n studies of women. 25 One t h e o r y put f o r t h f o r t h e i n c o n s i s t e n t r e s u l t s between women and men i s t h a t w h i l e men's achievement b e h a v i o u r i s m o t i v a t e d p r i m a r i l y by achievement needs, women's achievement b e h a v i o u r i s m o t i v a t e d by a f f i l i a t i v e needs. The l i t e r a t u r e c o n t a i n s s e v e r a l v a r i a t i o n s on t h i s b a s i c theme. Hoffman (1972) t h e o r i z e d t h a t w h i l e men are m o t i v a t e d by m a s t e r y s t r i v i n g s and by a d e s i r e t o a c h i e v e a s t a n d a r d o f e x c e l l e n c e , women a r e m o t i v a t e d p r i m a r i l y by a d e s i r e f o r l o v e and s o c i a l a p p r o v a l . Hoffman c l a i m e d t h a t t he r o o t s o f t h i s phenomenon a r e i n c u r r e n t c h i l d r e a r i n g p a t t e r n s i n w h i c h g i r l s , as compared t o boys, r e c e i v e l e s s p a r e n t a l encouragement f o r i n dependence, more p a r e n t a l p r o t e c t i v e n e s s , and l e s s p r e s s u r e t o e s t a b l i s h an i d e n t i t y s e p a r a t e from the mother. G i r l s , t h e r e f o r e , engage i n l e s s i n d e p e n d e n t e x p l o r a t i o n s o f the environment and hence do not d e v e l o p the n e c e s s a r y s k i l l s and c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e i r own a b i l i t i e s . They i n s t e a d c o n t i n u e t o be dependent on o t h e r s and t o get what they need by p l e a s i n g o t h e r s . S t e i n and B a i l e y (1973) found no e m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e t o s u p p o r t Hoffman's n o t i o n t h a t women work f o r s o c i a l a p p r o v a l . They argued i n s t e a d t h a t women do i n d e e d s t r i v e f o r e x c e l l e n c e , but t h a t t h e y choose to do so i n the s o c i a l a r e n a . T h e i r needs f o r achievement may be met i n th e s o c i a l sphere w i t h o u t t h r e a t o f a f f i l i a t i v e l o s s because t h i s s p h ere has been d e f i n e d as a p p r o p r i a t e f o r women. Y e t a n o t h e r e x p l a n a t i o n i s t h a t of v i c a r i o u s achievement o r i e n t a t i o n (Lipman-Blumen & L e a v i t t , 1976) i n w h i c h a p e r s o n may s a t i s f y achievement needs t h r o u g h a r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h a s i g n i f i c a n t 26 other who i s d i r e c t l y a c h i e v i n g . An example of t h i s o r i e n t a t i o n i s provided by Tangri's (1975) study of T r a d i t i o n a l s and Innovators. T r a d i t i o n a l subjects i n her study seemed to have proj e c t e d t h e i r achievement needs onto t h e i r future husbands. Horner's (1970, 1972) work on the motive to avoid success o f f e r s another p o s s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n . To account f o r the f a c t that there appeared to be some d i f f e r e n c e s between women's and men's behaviour i n achievement contexts she hypothesized that women fear success because they expect that success i n achievement s i t u a t i o n s , i . e . , i n spheres other than home and f a m i l y , w i l l r e s u l t i n negative consequences, such as s o c i a l r e j e c t i o n and the f e e l i n g of l o s i n g one's f e m i n i n i t y . Horner (1972) used a p r o j e c t i v e technique i n which subjects were asked to w r i t e s t o r i e s i n response to v e r b a l cues. The females i n t h i s study responded to the cue, " A f t e r f i r s t term f i n a l s , Anne f i n d s h e r s e l f at the top of her medical school c l a s s . " The cue f o r the male subjects was, " A f t e r f i r s t term f i n a l s , John f i n d s himself at the top of h i s medical school c l a s s . " She found that 65% of the women responded w i t h s t o r i e s high i n fear of success Imagery, compared with fewer than 10% of the men. Horner's o r i g i n a l work was followed by both a multitude of studies on fear of success and by many arguments about her methodology and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s (Cherry & Deaux, 1978; E s p o s i t o , 1977; Feather, 1974; I l l f e l d e r , 1980; Lockheed, 1975; Monahan, Kuhn, & Shaver, 1974; Robbins & Robbins, 1973; Stake, 1976; Topol & R e z n i k o f f , 1979; Tresemer, 1976; Zuckerman & Wheeler, 1975). Two of these studies i n p a r t i c u l a r have provided strong evidence that f e a r of success i s not a motive, but 27 i s instead a representation of people's stereotyped reactions to women, and to men too, who achieve i n a gender-inappropriate s e t t i n g . The f i r s t study, conducted by Monahan, Kuhn, and Shaver (1974) used a proj e c t i v e technique s i m i l a r to Horner's. However, i n t h e i r study, both males and females were asked to t e l l s t o r i e s about both Anne and John. When ta l k i n g about Anne, the men t o l d even more s t o r i e s i n d i c a t i n g fear of success (68%) than did the women (51%). Stories about John contained less fear of success imagery, with 21% of the men and 30% of the women i n d i c a t i n g negative consequences for John. These r e s u l t s indicate that fear of success may be r e f l e c t i n g c u l t u r a l sterotypes about a woman's success i n a t r a d i t i o n a l l y "male" career, i . e . , medicine. Cherry and Deaux (1978) extended t h i s idea one step further. I f gender-inappropriate behaviour i s the key for t r i g g e r i n g fear of success imagery, then the same should occur when a man i s successful i n a gender-inappropriate f i e l d . The re s u l t s of t h e i r study supported t h i s hypothesis. They found that both men and women wrote s t o r i e s containing fear of success imagery when writing about a man i n a non-tr a d i t i o n a l f i e l d for men, i . e . , nursing, and when wr i t i n g about a woman i n a no n - t r a d i t i o n a l f i e l d for women, i . e . , medicine. The r e s u l t s of these l a s t two studies in d i c a t e that fear of success i s not j u s t a female phenomenon, but i s a concern shared by both men and women. Rather than viewing fear of success as a motive, i t can perhaps be more accurately described as a representation of men's and women's stereotyped reactions to others whose behaviours v i o l a t e 28 t r a d i t i o n a l gender r o l e s (Greenglass, 1982). Fear of success may a f f e c t women's career a s p i r a t i o n s more, though, because many more occupations are t r a d i t i o n a l l y male than are t r a d i t i o n a l l y female. I n a d d i t i o n , as p r e v i o u s l y s t a t e d , t r a d i t i o n a l l y male occupations tend to be much higher i n p r e s t i g e and income l e v e l than t r a d i t i o n a l l y female occupations. In summary, then, the data do i n d i c a t e that some, and perhaps the m a j o r i t y of women do work f o r s o c i a l approval, experience achievement v i c a r i o u s l y through others, s t r i v e f o r success s o c i a l l y , and "fea r success" i n gender-inappropriate career r o l e s . However, t h i s should not be i n t e r p r e t e d to mean that women's achievement behaviour i s fundamentally d i f f e r e n t from that of men or that the d i f f e r e n c e s outweigh the s i m i l a r i t i e s . Quite c l e a r l y , both women's and men's achievement and career behaviour are i n f l u e n c e d by sex r o l e s o c i a l i z a t i o n , but the i n h i b i t i o n on a woman's choice i n v o l v e s a wider and more powerful range of occupations ( i . e . , t r a d i t i o n a l l y male occupations range from welder to prime m i n i s t e r ) . Not a l l women are underachievers o c c u p a t i o n a l l y . Some women d i s p l a y a pa t t e r n of achievement behaviour that i s e s s e n t i a l l y the same as the t y p i c a l p a t t e r n f o r men. Female a c h i e v e r s , s t a t e Unger and Denmark (1975), "have not resigned (themselves) to the c u l t u r a l l y defined r o l e of woman as someone who can experience success only v i c a r i o u s l y through her husband or some other male f i g u r e " (p. 136). For example, i n Tangri's (1975) study, although o n e - t h i r d of her sample were T r a d i t i o n a l s who achieved v i c a r i o u s l y , o n e - t h i r d were Role Innovators w i t h f a i r l y high, and n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l , o c c upational 29 a s p i r a t i o n s of t h e i r own. A l s o , i n Horner's (1972) o r i g i n a l work, 35% of the women responded p o s i t i v e l y when w r i t i n g s t o r i e s about a woman i n a n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l f i e l d and thus d i d not d i s p l a y f e a r of success. Studies of women who have achieved h i g h l y i n the p r o f e s s i o n a l sphere have shown that some women do d i s p l a y achievement behaviour e s s e n t i a l l y the same as the achievement behaviour of men (Adams, 1979; Birnbaum, 1975; Hennig & Jardim, 1977). Hennig & Jardim (1977) studied twenty-five women s u c c e s s f u l i n top management p o s i t i o n s i n i n d u s t r y and business across the United States. By adolescence these women had c l a r i f i e d and strengthened t h e i r s e l f concepts and had set f o r themselves i d e a l s of achievement and independence. They had r e j e c t e d the t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e d e f i n i t i o n s of f e m i n i n i t y which t h e i r mothers had t r i e d to impose and had i n s t e a d accepted f e m i n i n i t y and t r a d i t i o n a l expectations f o r marriage and motherhood on t h e i r own terms. They d i d not consider t h e i r feminine r o l e to be i n c o n f l i c t w i t h career a s p i r a t i o n s . They planned to go to c o l l e g e and begin a career, and to marry l a t e r . I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to note the time d i f f e r e n t i a l between t h i s study and Super's (1957) theory. Nearly twenty years had elapsed. Sex r o l e ideology, p a r t i c u l a r l y about women and work, had changed d r a m a t i c a l l y i n that time and so, apparently, had the career a s p i r a t i o n s and achievements of women. This concludes the s e c t i o n on achievement motivation and i t s i n f l u e n c e on women's a s p i r a t i o n s . A s e c t i o n on the i n d i v i d u a l and i n t e r a c t i v e e f f e c t s of need f o r achievement, need f o r a f f i l i a t i o n , and need f o r power f o l l o w s . 30 Achievement, A f f i l i a t i o n , and Power Need f o r achievement, need f o r a f f i l i a t i o n , and need f o r power have been described as the three most c e n t r a l motivators of human behaviour. As primary motivators they w i l l i n f l u e n c e the career behaviour of women i n varying ways. Their e f f e c t depends on the l e v e l of each need and on the i n t e r a c t i o n s of a l l three w i t h each other, w i t h other needs, and with the female's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the s i t u a t i o n a l press (Denmark, T a n g r i , & McCandless, 1978). In a recent a r t i c l e , H a r r e l l and S t a h l (1981) described the use of a new method f o r measuring McClelland's trichotomy of needs - need f o r a f f i l i a t i o n ( n A f f ) , need f o r achievement (nAch), and need f o r power (nPow). An approach commonly used f o r measurement of nAch, n A f f , and nPow l e v e l s i n i n d i v i d u a l s i s the Thematic Apperception Test. Recognizing various problems w i t h t h i s approach, H a r r e l l and S t a h l proposed a new method f o r measuring these three needs. They a p p l i e d a behavioural d e c i s i o n theory modelling approach to examine how i n d i v i d u a l s weight t h e i r nAff, nPow, and nAch i n a r r i v i n g at job choice d e c i s i o n s . An instrument was developed i n which each subject was d i r e c t e d : ... to assume that he or she was seeking a new p o s i t i o n and that a number of jobs were a v a i l a b l e . The subject was i n s t r u c t e d that a l l of these jobs were e s s e n t i a l l y a l i k e as to pay, b e n e f i t s , l o c a t i o n , and so on and d i f f e r e d only i n the degree to which three key a c t i v i t i e s were 31 i n v o l v e d . These a c t i v i t i e s were: e s t a b l i s h i n g and maintaining f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s with other persons ( n A f f ) , i n f l u e n c i n g the a c t i v i t i e s or thoughts of a number of i n d i v i d u a l s (nPow), and accomplishing d i f f i c u l t (but f e a s i b l e ) goals and l a t e r r e c e i v i n g d e t a i l e d i n f o r m a t i o n about your personal performance (nAch). The a c t i v i t i e s occurred e i t h e r r a r e l y , f a i r l y o f t e n , or very o f t e n i n each of the various jobs. These three f a c t o r s served as the i n f o r m a t i o n cues that were provided to each subject on which to base h i s or her job choice d e c i s i o n s . The wording of the three cues was derived from a review of McClelland's (e.g., 1961, 1962, 1975, 1979) d e s c r i p t i o n s of the three motives, (p. 244) H a r e l l and S t a h l employed t h i s d e c i s i o n making e x e r c i s e i n gathering e m p i r i c a l data from three groups of subjects - graduate students, s c i e n t i s t s and engineers, and management executives. A l l but a few subjects i n each group were males. Using m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s to determine how each subject had weighted the three needs i n coming to a job choice d e c i s i o n , they found that the dominant motive f o r management'executives was need f o r power, whereas f o r graduate students and s c i e n t i s t s and engineers the dominant motive was need f o r achievement. The advantage of H a r r e l l and S t a h l ' s approach i s that the r e l a t i v e importance of a l l three needs can be measured r e l a t i v e l y q u i c k l y and e a s i l y while subjects perform a concrete d e c i s i o n making 32 task. For the purpose of the present study, each of the needs as described above w i l l be employed as constructs i n the l i f e r o l e g r i d . H a r r e l l and Stahl's wording w i l l be modified to ensure b r e v i t y . Role C o n f l i c t The importance of r o l e f a c t o r s to women's career involvement, and the p o t e n t i a l c o n f l i c t that may a r i s e when a woman's behaviour c o n t r a d i c t s t r a d i t i o n a l sex r o l e e x p e c t a t i o n s , has already been noted e x t e n s i v e l y throughout the previous pages. T r a d i t i o n a l l y women have been taught to seek personal f u l f i l l m e n t p r i m a r i l y through marriage and f a m i l y r o l e s , and have done so. Now, however, women are more l i k e l y to see t h e i r career r o l e s as being s i g n i f i c a n t sources of p s y c h o l o g i c a l f u l f i l l m e n t and are planning t h e i r l i f e r o l e s a c c o r d i n g l y (Greenglass & Devins, 1982). The r e s u l t i s an i n c r e a s i n g number of women who hope to have both a demanding career and a f a m i l y (Gray, 1980). The i n c r e a s i n g entry of women i n t o the paid labour force has meant, f o r most women, the a d d i t i o n of the r o l e of p r o f e s s i o n a l to an already f u l l s l a t e of more t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s ( i . e . , w i f e , mother and homemaker). Gray (1980) summarized some of the problems and c o n f i c t s encountered by many women who seek to combine demanding career and family r o l e s : In recent years, there have been numerous studies conducted on the s p e c i a l problems of married p r o f e s s i o n a l 33 women. A survey of the l i t e r a t u r e i n t h i s area shows that such women face two d i s t i n c t types of problems: p r a c t i c a l ones and p s y c h o l o g i c a l ones. The p r a c t i c a l ones i n v o l v e career r e s t r i c t i o n s r e s u l t i n g from f a c t o r s such as l i m i t e d time, the oft-assumed primacy of the husband's career, geographical l i m i t a t i o n s and, i n the case of the woman pro f e s s o r , nepotism r u l e s . The p s y c h o l o g i c a l problems in c l u d e gaining the emotional support of others, d e a l i n g w i t h c o n f l i c t i n g s o c i e t a l demands, and r e s o l v i n g c o n f l i c t s that a r i s e between r o l e s , (p. 43). A s p i r i n g to and being s u c c e s s f u l i n a demanding career r e q u i r e , as p r e r e q u i s i t e s or as concomitant a c t i v i t i e s , the r e s o l u t i o n of r o l e c o n f l i c t on a t t i t u d i n a l , p s y c h o l o g i c a l , and p r a c t i c a l l e v e l s . A c c o r d i n g l y , recent research on women's r o l e c o n f l i c t has focussed on s t r a t e g i e s f o r , and c o r r e l a t e s of, coping w i t h and r e s o l v i n g r o l e c o n f l i c t (Amatea & Cross, 1981; Farmer, 1971; Farmer & Bohn, 1970; Gordon & H a l l , 1974; Gray, 1980, 1983; H a l l , 1972; Stake, 1979b; V i l l a d s e n & Tack, 1981). Achievement-Related Encouragement As p r e v i o u s l y discussed, a major f a c t o r i n the lowered a s p i r a t i o n s and achievements i n females i s the s o c i e t a l expectation f o r t r a d i t i o n a l sex r o l e behaviour. Women are not supposed to be high 34 a c h i e v e r s ; men are. Women, then, are the r e c i p i e n t s of tremendous s o c i a l pressure to set t r a d i t i o n a l goals. Women who are s u c c e s s f u l i n high l e v e l careers have most of t e n received much support and encouragement to counteract the broader c u l t u r a l discouragement. For example, s u c c e s s f u l women i n t o p - l e v e l management p o s i t i o n s i n business and i n d u s t r y reported much c o n s i s t e n t v a l i d a t i o n and support from t h e i r f a t h e r s f o r t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a l and p r o f e s s i o n a l p u r s u i t s (Hennig & Jardim, 1977). Counsellors and educators of women are i n a good p o s i t i o n to counteract some of the c u l t u r a l pressures a c t i n g against women's achievement. Stake (1981) summarized e m p i r i c a l work done by h e r s e l f and others which demonstrated the important r o l e of c o u n s e l l o r s and educators i n enhancing female students' g o a l - s e t t i n g . In each of the studies she reviewed, students' s e l f - a p p r a i s a l s and goals were a f f e c t e d by three i n g r e d i e n t s i n the achievement s e t t i n g - a supportive atmosphere, occupational r o l e models, and ass e r t i v e n e s s t r a i n i n g to r a i s e performance-self-esteem. The importance of a supportive atmosphere i s discussed f u r t h e r here. According to Stake (1981), females, when provided w i t h p o s i t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e i r a b i l i t y to succeed, set higher goals f o r themselves. She suggested that one reason f o r lower a s p i r a t i o n s and goals i n women i s that they b e l i e v e women have l e s s p o t e n t i a l to achieve. Thus, when provided w i t h p o s i t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e i r own and other women's p o t e n t i a l to succeed, they increase t h e i r own expectations f o r performance. 35 Stake and L e v i t z (1979) Interviewed female and male c o l l e g e s e n i o r s about t h e i r career and f a m i l y goals. Three groups were int e r v i e w e d - a group of women who had high career a s p i r a t i o n s (plannned to attend graduate, law, or medical s c h o o l ) ; and two comparisons groups - men w i t h career goals that matched the high a s p i r i n g women, and women who expected to become f u l l - t i m e horaemakers. Subjects were interviewed regarding the p o s i t i v e and negative feedback they had recei v e d from s i g n i f i c a n t people i n t h e i r l i v e s . Some d i s t i n c t d i f f e r e n c e s were evident between the groups. The career women had recei v e d more encouragement from a number of sources i n c l u d i n g f a m i l y members (other than mothers), teachers, advisors and c o u n s e l l o r s , f r i e n d s , as w e l l as p o s i t i v e feedback i n the form of higher grades. Career men reported more encouragement from t h e i r mothers than d i d the career women. In s p i t e of having experienced l e s s p o s i t i v e feedback from a number of sources, the men as p i r e d to goals that were j u s t ashigh as the career women. ( I t may be argued here that the support these men received from t h e i r mothers was a very powerful form of encouragement). Stake concluded that t h i s p a t t e r n of f i n d i n g s suggests that women requi r e more encouragement from s i g n i f i c a n t others as w e l l as from t h e i r own accomplishments before they w i l l set higher career goals. As the s o c i e t a l e xpectation f o r women i s t r a d i t i o n a l g o a l - s e t t i n g , i t i s not s u r p r i s i n g that career women were able to set higher goals, and thus go against the c u l t u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n , only when they had recei v e d a d d i t i o n a l p o s i t i v e support. The r e s u l t s of Lunneborg's (1982) study of women i n 36 n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l c a r e e r s ( e . g . , e n g i n e e r i n g , n a t u r a l s c i e n c e , a r c h i t e c t u r e , law, b u s i n e s s a d m i n s t r a t i o n ) i n d i c a t e d t h a t t he c a r e e r s o f t h e s e women had been f o s t e r e d by i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h and s u p p o r t o f b o t h p a r e n t s , i n a d d i t i o n t o a g e n e r a l l y s t r o n g s u p p o r t i v e e n vironment c r e a t e d by t h e encouragement o f s i b l i n g s , p e e r s , t e a c h e r s , and o t h e r a d u l t s . These s t a t e m e n t s a r e s i m i l a r t o t h o s e o f Farmer (1978) who commented on the c r i t i c a l r o l e of husbands, p a r e n t s , t e a c h e r s , c o u n s e l l o r s and employers i n i n f l u e n c i n g whether o r not a woman a c h i e v e s o u t s i d e the home and r e a l i z e s h e r f u l l c a r e e r p o t e n t i a l . E p s t e i n (1973) and Rapoport and Rapoport (1969) a l s o found t h a t when t h e a t t i t u d e s o f p a r e n t s and husbands a re s u p p o r t i v e of women's c a r e e r a s p i r a t i o n s , women t e n d t o c o n t i n u e i n n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l c a r e e r r o l e s . P e r c e i v e d C o m p a t i b i l i t y Between F e m i n i n i t y and Competence Farmer (1978) quoted s t u d i e s w h i c h r e p o r t e d h i g h e r measured achievement m o t i v a t i o n i n women who view e d achievement as c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t he female sex r o l e and l o w e r measured achievement m o t i v a t i o n i n h i g h a b i l i t y women who were i n c o n f l i c t about t h e s e r o l e s . Laws (1978) d i s c u s s e d t he i m p o r t a n c e of " c o g n i t i v e f e m i n i z a t i o n " of o c c u p a t i o n s and b e h a v i o u r s . She s t a t e d t h a t because adequate f e m i n i n i t y and m a r r i a g e a b i l i t y a r e so i m p o r t a n t t o young women, they w i l l not engage i n b e h a v i o u r s i n t e r p r e t e d as sex r o l e i n c o n g r u e n t . Our c u l t u r e s t r e s s e s 37 femininity at the expense of competence and i t appears that women w i l l engage i n career-directed behaviours only when they are interpreted by the woman hers e l f as appropriate for her sex r o l e . Other authors (e.g., Dewey, 1977; O'Leary, 1974) gave evidence to support s i m i l a r ideas. Role Models Role models provide l i v i n g examples of what i s possible and desirable to hope f o r , to work toward, and to achieve. One reason f or women's li m i t e d career aspirations and achievements has been the lack of non-t r a d i t i o n a l role models. Women have been provided with many role models for family and home roles but have had l i m i t e d numbers of female occupational and academic role models. O'Leary (1977) and Almquist and Angrist (1971) noted the importance of female no n - t r a d i t i o n a l role models i n r a i s i n g the career aspirations of women. As we l l , Stake (1981) summarized a number of studies which pointed to the importance of female occupational role models i n women's goal s e t t i n g . What may be most important for women i s to have as models women who successfully combine desired career and family r o l e s . However, the sex of the model seems less relevant when the woman i s using the model only as an exemplar of an occupational r o l e (Almquist & Angrist, 1971). The issue of role models relates to the supportive atmosphere mentioned previously. A woman may derive much support, encouragement, 38 and a sense of purpose from a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e model. Stake (1981) s t a t e d that r o l e models are important i n two ways: (1) In seeing the accomplishments of the r o l e model the woman v i s u a l i z e s what i t i s p o s s i b l e f o r her to achieve; and (2) The model i s seen as understanding what i s necessary f o r success i n h i s or her f i e l d of endeavor. The r o l e model's encouragement, t h e r e f o r e , has more value and meaning than encouragement from others not as knowledgeable. S e l f - E s t i m a t e s of Competence and Expectations of Pers o n a l E f f i c a c y Stake (1979a; 1979b) examined one aspect of s e l f esteem, which she c a l l e d the s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence or a b i l i t y to succeed i n performance s e t t i n g s . She measured t h i s with the Performance-Self-Esteem Scale (PSES) and found that i n general females scored lower than males. She suggested that t h i s sex d i f f e r e n c e i n PSES scores i n d i c a t e s another reason f o r lower career a s p i r a t i o n s i n women; women may set lower goals because they have l e s s confidence than men i n t h e i r a b i l i t y to succeed i n h i g h l e v e l careers. Her conc l u s i o n was that one way to increase the career a s p i r a t i o n s of women i s to r a i s e t h e i r performance -self-esteem. For example, Stake and Pearlman (1980) s u c c e s s f u l l y used a s s e r t i v e n e s s t r a i n i n g to increase PSES scores i n women. A v a r i a t i o n on t h i s theme i s the work of Betz and Hackett (1981) and Hackett and Betz (1981) on s e l f - e f f i c a c y e x p ectations. Expectations of s e l f - e f f i c a c y are, i n sh o r t , "expectations or b e l i e f s that one can 39 s u c c e s s f u l l y perform a given behavior" (Hackett & Betz, 1981, p. 328). They believed that women f a i l to r e a l i z e t h e i r f u l l career p o t e n t i a l because, l a r g e l y as a r e s u l t of s o c i a l i z a t i o n experiences, they do not have strong expectations of s e l f - e f f i c a c y i n regard to many career-related behaviours. They quoted the work of Krumboltz, M i t c h e l l , and Jones (1976) who suggested that i t Is one's evaluative self-statements of performance or preferences which are primary components i n the process of career decision making. Commitment and Investment A high degree of career commitment has been i d e n t i f i e d as an important variable related to women's professional success (Hennig & Jardim, 1977). The twenty-five successful women i n Hennig and Jardim's study worked hard and established the pattern of "goal-setting, planning, the establishment of p r i o r i t i e s and sub-goals, and commitment to a course of action with d i s t r a c t i n g diversions i d e n t i f i e d and avoided" (p. 112). Because career and family roles are demanding i n terms of time, energy, and resources required, an important consideration i n multiple role l i f e planning i s how much of the each of these one i s w i l l i n g to invest i n each role (Stake, 1979a; Cochran, Note 3). Overload and exhaustion may e a s i l y r e s u l t i f a woman attempts to meet a l l role demands (O'Leary, 1974). Therefore, i n order to plan for and to l i v e 40 out a l i f e that i s ordered, has meaning and i s g o a l - d i r e c t e d , r o l e p r i o r i t i e s and subsequent plans of a c t i o n must be set based on the amount of commitment and investment one f e e l s to each r o l e . M c C a l l and Simons (1966) a l s o emphasized the importance of assessing the amount of commitment and investment to each r o l e . Conclusion A theme running throughout the preceding l i t e r a t u r e review i s the l i m i t i n g e f f e c t of sex r o l e s o c i a l i z a t i o n on women's r o l e expectations and career a s p i r a t i o n s . Factors which may counteract the negative e f f e c t s of sex r o l e s o c i a l i z a t i o n have been described. The present study w i l l focus on the r o l e perceptions and expectations of high a b i l i t y women and w i l l examine the perceived importance and p o s s i b l e e f f e c t s of 12 f a c t o r s which may i n f l u e n c e , e i t h e r p o s i t i v e l y or n e g a t i v e l y , t h e i r career a s p i r a t i o n s . McCall and Simmons (1966) provided a u s e f u l summary of f a c t o r s which determine the prominence of a r o l e - i d e n t i t y . These f a c t o r s i n c l u d e amount of s e l f - and s o c i a l support, one's degree of investment i n and commitment to a r o l e , and the i n t r i n s i c and e x t r i n s i c g r a t i f i c a t i o n s associated with the r o l e . In order to keep the number of constructs to a manageable number, and because f a c t o r s l i k e s e l f - and s o c i a l support, f o r example, appeared to be of primary importance i n 41 counteracting the negative e f f e c t s of sex role s o c i a l i z a t i o n , i t was decided to exclude e x t r i n s i c factors from this study and to more thoroughly cover the other factors discussed by McCall and Simons (1966). The construct of enjoyment, discussed by McCall and Simons under i n t r i n s i c g r a t i f i c a t i o n s , was used i n t h i s study along with 11 constructs previously discussed i n t h i s chapter, as enjoyment seemed, i n t u i t i v e l y , to round out the l i s t of i n t r i n s i c g r a t i f i c a t i o n s . 42 CHAPTER I I I Methodology Subjects A t o t a l of 29 women volunteered to p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h i s study. T h e i r range i n age was from 21 to 32 years. The modal age was 22 years; 20, or 69 %, were 22 years o l d , and there were two o u t l y e r s aged 29 and 32 years. Twenty-two (76%) were Anglo-European Canadians and seven (24 %) were Chinese. The subjects were r e c r u i t e d from a population of female students who had, i n t h e i r previous year of studies ( t h i r d year of the Bachelor of Commerce Program), received a 72% or above average. L e t t e r s of recruitment were sent to 45 women and follow-up phone c a l l s were made to p e r s o n a l l y request p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the study. A 64% response ra t e was obtained, w i t h 29 women p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the study. At the time of the study, 26 of the subjects were i n t h e i r f o u r t h and f i n a l year of the Bachelor of Commerce Program at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia and three were i n f i r s t year Law (combined Commerce/Law Option). 43 Measuring Instruments The two questionnaires used i n data c o l l e c t i o n were developed f o r the purpose of t h i s study. Each of the questionnaires w i l l be discussed s e p a r a t e l y . 1. Biodemographical Questionnaire This questionnaire consisted of a s e r i e s of questions designed to gather standard biodemographical data (e.g. age, m a r i t a l s t a t u s , e t h n i c designation) and to e l i c i t i n f o r m a t i o n about each subject's p r o j e c t e d f i v e - y e a r plans f o r p a i d employment, graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l s c h o o l , r e l a t i o n s h i p s t y l e / m a r i t a l s t a t u s , and c h i l d r e n . See Appendix B f o r the complete l i s t of i n f o r m a t i o n obtained by t h i s q u e s t i o n n a i r e . 2. Role G r i d The r o l e g r i d used i n t h i s study was a v a r i a n t of the r e p e r t o r y g r i d technique as f i r s t described by K e l l y (1955) and f u r t h e r developed by others (e.g., Bannister & Mair, 1968; S l a t e r , 1976; Cochran, Note 3) . T his technique i s e s s e n t i a l l y a s o r t i n g and r a t i n g task which produces primary data i n matrix form (Bannister & Mair, 1968). T y p i c a l l y , the r e p e r t o ry g r i d technique i n v o l v e s subjects r a t i n g a number of elements (e.g. people, r o l e s , p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s ) on a set of 44 c o n s t r u c t s ( b i p o l a r concepts such as k i n d - unkind). The elements and co n s t r u c t s may be provided by the i n v e s t i g a t o r or, a l t e r n a t i v e l y , may be e l i c i t e d from i n d i v i d u a l s u b j e c t s . Each subject's responses are recorded on a g r i d , thus producing a matrix of c e l l s i n which rows represent constructs and columns represent elements (Bannister & Mair, 1968). Subsequently, a v a r i e t y of s t a t i s t i c a l techniques may be u t i l i z e d to examine, f o r example, the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the c o n s t r u c t s . Cochran (Note 3) has o u t l i n e d numerous s t a t i s t i c a l techniques and methods f o r a n a l y z i n g g r i d data. The repertory g r i d methodology has been used e x t e n s i v e l y i n both research (e.g., Bannister & Mair, 1968; Cochran, 1978, 1981; Long, 1982; Mair, 1966) and c l i n i c a l contexts (e.g. Bannister, 1960; S l a t e r , 1976; Cochran, Note 3 ) . The r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y of t h i s methodology have been t e s t e d i n a wide range of s t u d i e s . The g r i d , though, i s a v a r i a b l e technique, not a t e s t , and may be cast i n many d i f f e r e n t forms with any number of d i f f e r e n t types of elements and c o n s t r u c t s . Therefore, as s t a t e d by Bannister and Mair (1968), since "there i s no such t h i n g as the g r i d , there can be no such thing' as the r e l i a b i l i t y of the g r i d " (p. 156). S p e c i f i c r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s may be obtained, though, f o r each s p e c i f i c a p p l i c a t i o n of the g r i d method and f o r each of the g r i d measures used. Bannister and Mair (1968) report that studies of construct r e l a t i o n s y i e l d r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s w i t h i n the range of .60 to .80. Mair (1966) conducted a study i n which she assessed the v a l i d i t y of g r i d scores as measures of meaningful r e l a t i o n s between c o n s t r u c t s . 45 She used a d i c t i o n a r y to s e l e c t synonyms or near synonyms to serve as c o n s t r u c t s . Because a d i c t i o n a r y i s a normative index of commonly agreed upon meanings, two a d j e c t i v e s , when used as constructs i n a g r i d completed by a number of people, should be h i g h l y p o s i t i v e l y r e l a t e d . The c o r r e l a t i o n s among constructs i n her study c l o s e l y r e f l e c t e d normative meanings, i n d i c a t i n g that c o r r e l a t i o n s between co n s t r u c t s are good measures of r e l a t i o n s between c o n s t r u c t s . The above s t u d i e s , and others summarized by Bannister and Mair (1968), i n d i c a t e that g r i d scores, when used as measures of r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o n s t r u c t s , are s u f f i c i e n t l y r e l i a b l e and v a l i d f o r the purpose of t h i s study. The present study a l s o made use of the a d d i t i o n a l g r i d measures of r o l e preference rankings, p r e f e r a b i l i t y (based on the rank ordering of average r o l e sums), construct Importance rankings, c e n t r a l i t y ( d e r i v e d from i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o n s t r u c t s ) , and c o n f l i c t (e.g., c o n f l i c t r a t i o . ) R e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y studies have not been done f o r these measures, although there i s precedence f o r t h e i r use (Cochran 1978, 1981; Cochran, Note 3). The g r i d method i t s e l f i s sound and w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d and appeared to be very appropriate f o r the e x p l o r a t o r y purposes of t h i s study. As described above, the three major components of the r e p e r t o r y g r i d methodology are elements ( r o l e s , i n t h i s study), c o n s t r u c t s , and a r a t i n g s c a l e . Cochran (Note 3) has made use of an a d d i t i o n a l component, that of a rank ordering of elements and constructs according to preference and importance, r e s p e c t i v e l y . This a d d i t i o n a l component, as 46 w e l l as the three main components, were used i n the present study and are discussed separately on the pages which f o l l o w . Roles. In order to provide a l i s t of r o l e s most relevant to the subject population and to adequately represent as broad a range of r o l e s as p o s s i b l e , 12 r o l e s were chosen from the three main areas of r o l e a c t i v i t y described by H a l l and H a l l (1979): work and career r o l e s , home and f a m i l y r o l e s , and personal r o l e s . The l i s t of r o l e s given as examples by H a l l and H a l l i n c l u d e d : p a r t n e r , parent, manager, author, neighbour, daughter, s i s t e r , f r i e n d , community member, s e l f (a person), church member, and grandparent. Role t i t l e s used by other w r i t e r s and i n v e s t i g a t o r s were a l s o considered i n the s e l e c t i o n of r o l e s f o r t h i s study. Super (1980) defined a career as the "combination and sequence of r o l e s played by a person during the course of a l i f e t i m e " (p. 282). The nine major r o l e s described by Super included: c h i l d ( i n c l u d i n g son and daughter), student, " l e i s u r i t e " (one engaged i n a l e i s u r e - t i m e a c t i v i t y ) , c i t i z e n , worker, spouse, homemaker, parent and pensioner. Combinations of major l i f e r o l e s used as frameworks i n e m p i r i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s of r o l e c o n f l i c t have included wife r o l e , employee r o l e , mother r o l e , housewife r o l e ( H a l l , 1972) and p r o f e s s i o n a l , spouse, parent, and s e l f as s e l f - a c t u a l i z e d person (Holahan & G i l b e r t , 1979a, 1979b). The l i s t of twelve r o l e s chosen f o r use i n t h i s study was checked fo r adequacy of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n d i s c u s s i o n w i t h three f a c u l t y members from the Department of C o u n s e l l i n g Psychology at the U n i v e r s i t y of 47 B r i t i s h Columbia and w i t h four graduate students i n C o u n s e l l i n g Psychology, a l l of whom were knowledgeable i n r o l e - r e l a t e d i s s u e s . The f i n a l l i s t of r o l e s rank-ordered and rated by subjects included s i x standard r o l e s (daughter, f r i e n d , homemaker, mother, p a r t n e r / w i f e , and s i n g l e person) and s i x personal examples of the f o l l o w i n g r o l e t i t l e s or r o l e d e s c r i p t i o n s : community member/citizen, graduate student, personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment, p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n , p r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n , and expected p r o f e s s i o n . The r o l e of s e l f (a person) or s e l f as s e l f - a c t u a l i z e d person was not used as a r o l e . The concept of s e l f - a c t u a l i z a t i o n was i n s t e a d used as a construct upon which a l l of the r o l e s were evaluated ( s e l f - a c t u a l i z a t i o n was o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d as "personal growth"). S e l f - a c t u a l i z a t i o n or personal growth may occur i n any or a l l of the r o l e s , and not j u s t i n the somewhat i l l u s i v e r o l e of s e l f . The r o l e of s i n g l e person was included as i t was thought that a number of women i n the sample would choose to remain s i n g l e over the subsequent f i v e year p e r i o d , and not to take on the r o l e of p a r t n e r / w i f e . Personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment was chosen as a d e s c r i p t i o n of the r o l e l a b e l l e d " l e i s u r i t e " by Super (1980). Because a major purpose of t h i s study was to examine career a s p i r a t i o n s , the p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e was d i v i d e d i n t o three l e v e l s of a s p i r a t i o n : p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n , p r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n , and expected p r o f e s s i o n . Constructs. The twelve constructs used i n t h i s study were se l e c t e d during a review of the l i t e r a t u r e on career development and 48 choice. In t h i s review, p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n was paid to f a c t o r s hypothesized to or e m p i r i c a l l y found to i n f l u e n c e the process and content of women's career choices. The aim of s e l e c t i n g constructs i n t h i s manner was to cover a broad range of issues thought to be Important by researchers on the career development of women. See Table 1 f o r a l i s t of constructs and the d e r i v a t i o n of each construct from i n f l u e n c i n g f a c t o r s discussed i n the l i t e r a t u r e . R a t i n g Scale and Forms. Subjects were requested to r a t e each r o l e according to each construct using a 5-point r a t i n g s c a l e which employed the f o l l o w i n g format: More chance to accomplish Less chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals c h a l l e n g i n g goals Subjects i n d i c a t e d t h e i r r a t i n g of each r o l e by c i r c l i n g the dot which best represented t h e i r perceptions of and expectations f o r themselves w i t h i n the r o l e . For example, i f a subject rated a r o l e according to the above c o n s t r u c t , c i r c l i n g e i t h e r the f i r s t or second dot on the l e f t would i n d i c a t e that the subject f e l t that the r o l e would provide her w i t h a l o t more opportunity to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals or somewhat more opportunity, r e s p e c t i v e l y . C i r c l i n g the dot f a r t h e s t to the r i g h t would i n d i c a t e a great deal l e s s chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g g o a l s , c i r c l i n g the dot second from the r i g h t would i n d i c a t e somewhat l e s s chance, and c i r c l i n g the middle dot would i n d i c a t e an inbetween stance. The dots correspond to the numerical r a t i n g s of 2, 1, 0, -1, and -2 when moving from l e f t to r i g h t . See Appendix C, Part C f o r a sample of the r a t i n g form that was completed f o r each r o l e . Table 1 D e r i v a t i o n of Constructs from Factors Discussed i n the L i t e r a t u r e I n f l u e n c i n g Factors As Stated i n the L i t e r a t u r e Constructs need f o r a f f i l i a t i o n " e s t a b l i s h i n g and maintaining f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h other persons" ( H a r r e l l & S t a h l , 1981, p. 243) Al s o : Denmark, Tangri, & McCandless (1978) more chance f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s vs l e s s chance f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s need f o r power " i n f l u e n c i n g the a c t i v i t i e s and thoughts of a number of i n d i v i d u a l s ( H a r r e l l & S t a h l , 1981, p. 243) A l s o : Denmark, Tangri & McCandless (1978) more chance to i n f l u e n c e others vs l e s s chance to i n f l u e n c e others need f o r achievement "accomplishing d i f f i c u l t (but f e a s i b l e ) goals and l a t e r r e c e i v i n g d e t a i l e d information about your personal performance" ( H a r r e l l & S t a h l , 1981, p. 243) A l s o : Denmark, Tangri, & McCandless (1978) more chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals vs l e s s chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals contd.. Table 1 contd. I n f l u e n c i n g Factors As Stated i n the L i t e r a t u r e Constructs encouragement/ discouragement from s i g n i f i c a n t people E p s t e i n (1973); Farmer (1978); Hennig & Jardim (1977); Lunneborg (1982); Rapoport & Rapoport (1969); Stake (1981); Stake & L e v i t z (1979) 4. more support & encouragement from partner/husband vs l e s s support & encouragement from partner/husband 5. more support & encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues &/or teachers vs l e s s support & encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues &/or teachers 6. more support & encouragement from parents &/or other family members vs l e s s support & encouragement from parents &/or other f a m i l y members perceived c o m p a t i b i l i t y between f e m i n i n i t y and competence Dewey (1977); Farmer (1978); Laws (1978); O'Leary (1974) 7. c l o s e r to how I see myself as a woman vs f a r t h e r away from how I see myself as a women contd. Table 1 contd. I n f l u e n c i n g Factors As Stated i n the L i t e r a t u r e Constructs r o l e models Almquist & A n g r i s t (1971); O'Leary (1977); Stake (1981) 8. l i k e l y to know someone who does t h i s w e l l vs u n l i k e l y to know someone who does t h i s w e l l s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence/expectations Betz (1981); Stake (1979) of personal e f f i c a c y Betz & Hackett (1981); Hackett & 9. more competent & s u c c e s s f u l vs l e s s competent & s u c c e s s f u l degree of commitment/ Henning & Jardim (1977); McCall investment & Simons (1966); Cochran, Note 3 10. more w i l l i n g to i n v e s t a l o t of time & energy vs l e s s w i l l i n g to i n v e s t a l o t of time & energy d e s i r e f o r personal growth Holahan & G i l b e r t (1979a, 1979b) 11. more opportunity f o r personal growth vs l e s s opportunity f o r personal growth amount of enj oyment derived from r o l e McCall & Simons (1966) 12. more enjoyment vs l e s s enjoyment 52 Rank Ordering of Roles and Constructs . In order to gather i n f o r m a t i o n about subjects' r o l e preferences and judgements about construct importance, subjects were asked to rank order r o l e s and cons t r u c t s i n order of preference and importance, r e s p e c t i v e l y . For example, i n completing the numerical rank o r d e r i n g of r o l e s , a subject would mark the most p r e f e r r e d r o l e with a "1" f o r "most important" and the l e a s t p r e f e r r e d r o l e w i t h a "12" f o r " l e a s t important". See Appendix C, Part A f o r a sample of the form on which r o l e s were rank ordered and Appendix C, P a r t B f o r a sample construct rank o r d e r i n g form. G r i d Measures Employed i n t h i s Study A v a r i e t y of methods and s t a t i s t i c a l techniques may be used to i n t e r p r e t the l i f e r o l e g r i d (see Cochran, Note 3 f o r a review of these measures). The measures used i n t h i s study were drawn from Cochran's review. Each measure i s described separately here and i s discussed again i n Chapter Four i n the context of the r e s u l t s . Preference and P r e f e r a b i l i t y . Subjects' rank ordering of r o l e s i n terms of personal importance was an expression of t h e i r a c t u a l r o l e preferences. Cochran (Note 4) has coined the term " p r e f e r a b i l i t y " to r e f e r to "the p o t e n t i a l f o r something to be p r e f e r r e d "(p. 20). This p o t e n t i a l may be determined by c a l c u l a t i n g a r o l e sum f o r each r o l e . 53 The r o l e sum i s the sum of the r a t i n g s of each r o l e according t o each c o n s t r u c t . Once c a l c u l a t e d , these r o l e sums may be rank ordered. The r o l e w i t h the highest score, i . e . , the r o l e that i s viewed most p o s i t i v e l y , i s given a rank of "one". A rank of "two" i s given to the r o l e w i t h the next highest score. This procedure i s continued u n t i l a l l r o l e s receive a p r e f e r a b i l i t y rank. Each r o l e i n the r o l e g r i d thus re c e i v e s two ranks, one f o r preference and one f o r p r e f e r a b i l i t y . Congruence between these two rank orderings may be checked by v i s u a l i n s p e c t i o n and by c a l c u l a t i n g a rank order c o r r e l a t i o n (Spearman's c o e f f i c i e n t of rank c o r r e l a t i o n ) . Construct Importance Ranks and C e n t r a l i t y . Subjects' rank o r d e r i n g of c o n s t r u c t s i n terms of personal importance was a d i r e c t expression of t h e i r v a l u i n g of c o n s t r u c t s . To determine whether or not the most valued constructs a c t u a l l y played key r o l e s i n the e v a l u a t i o n of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s , c e n t r a l i t y ranks may be c a l c u l a t e d and compared w i t h the importance ranks. C e n t r a l i t y i s determined by construct i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s . A c e n t r a l construct has many strong r e l a t i o n s and a p e r i p h e r a l construct has few and weak r e l a t i o n s (Cochran, Note 3). Thus, a c e n t r a l c o n s t r u c t may be s a i d to be the most important construct i n the meaning scheme of a decider. As a d e t a i l e d e x p l a n a t i o n of the d e r i v a t i o n of c e n t r a l i t y ranks i s provided i n Chapter Four, the c a l c u l a t i o n s w i l l not be discussed here. Congruence between importance ranks and c e n t r a l i t y ranks may be determined by v i s u a l i n s p e c t i o n and by the c a l c u l a t i o n of a 54 rank order c o r r e l a t i o n (Spearman's c o e f f i c i e n t of rank c o r r e l a t i o n ) . I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs. The g r i d technique allows f o r the assessment of r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o n s t r u c t s . These r e l a t i o n s h i p s are important because a con s t r u c t ' s meaning i n v o l v e s , i n p a r t , the other constructs to which i t i s r e l a t e d . A more complete understanding of an i n d i v i d u a l ' s or a group's c o n s t r u c t i o n of a l t e r n a t i v e s ( i n t h i s case, of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s ) may be developed through the examination of construct r e l a t i o n s h i p s (Cochran, Note 3). The s t a t i s t i c a l techniques used to evaluate these r e l a t i o n s h i p s are described i n d e t a i l i n Chapter Four. I n d i c a t o r s of C o n f l i c t . , Three measures of c o n f l i c t were u t i l i z e d i n t h i s study: s i g n i f i c a n t negative r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o n s t r u c t s , the c o n f l i c t r a t i o , and the v i s u a l i n s p e c t i o n of r o l e sums. The poles of a g r i d are a l i g n e d w i t h p o s i t i v e to p o s i t i v e and negative to negative, so any s i g n i f i c a n t negative c o r r e l a t i o n between two constructs defines a c o n f l i c t . A negative c o r r e l a t i o n means that the p o s i t i v e pole of one construct i s l i n e d up w i t h the negative pole of another construct (Cochran, Note 3). For example, i n the f o l l o w i n g i l l u s t r a t i o n , need f o r achievement and need f o r a f f i l i a t i o n are i n c o n f l i c t . Roles that provide more o p p o r t u n i t i e s to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals are construed as p r o v i d i n g fewer o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s . 55 s CD T3 3 4-1 CO CU 4-> Cfl 3 T) Cfl !-i O P o s i t i v e C h a r a c t e r i s t i c more chance to accomplish 2 2 1 1 c h a l l e n g i n g goals 3 00 O 3 o • H • H 3 •H co OJ O 4-1 CO •r - l Cfl OJ 1 4-1 !-i 4-1 T—l Cfl • H " o OJ 1—1 U (H, SM 4-1 CU •rA CO Cu •l-l !3 Cu Cfl co TJ —^ T-M U cfl 4 J OJ cfl OJ co 4 J CD 3 4-1 4-1 OJ o 3 o 43 3 CO Si OJ 4 J co 60 Q) OJ 60 Cu r4 r4 3 •H • H X Cfl OJ cfl r4 o ts W CM CM P a cu N U c o co r4 Q) CU OJ Si 60 4-> 3 E O -H O s w ca 1 0 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 -2 -2 more chance f o r warm f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s -2 -2 - 1 - 1 - 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 Negative Contrast l e s s chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals l e s s chance f o r warm f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s For example, t h i s person says that the r o l e of graduate student allows her much more chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals (2) but very l i t t l e chance f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s (-2). The r o l e of homemaker i s the reverse. Therefore, c o n f l i c t i s Ind i c a t e d here. The c o n f l i c t r a t i o i s a measure of the extent of harmony or c o n f l i c t i n construct r e l a t i o n s h i p s . As such, i t i s an i n d i c a t o r of c o n f l i c t i n the o v e r a l l c o n s t r u i n g of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s . The r a t i o i s computed by squaring and adding a l l negative c o r r e l a t i o n s between 56 c o n s t r u c t s and then d i v i d i n g t h i s sum by the o v e r a l l sum of squared c o r r e l a t i o n s between c o n s t r u c t s . A high score i n d i c a t e s a high degree of c o n f l i c t and ambivalence w i t h i n a d e c i s i o n scheme and a low score i n d i c a t e s a low degree of c o n f l i c t and ambivalence (Cochran, Note 3). The r o l e sums may a l s o be examined f o r i n d i c a t i o n s of c o n f l i c t . Roles w i t h p o s i t i v e r o l e sums are viewed p o s i t i v e l y and r o l e s w i t h negative r o l e sums are viewed n e g a t i v e l y . The p o s i t i v e expectations of r o l e enactment increase as the p o s i t i v i t y of the r o l e sum in c r e a s e s . For example, a r o l e sum of 24 would i n d i c a t e extremely p o s i t i v e e x p ectations. A l t e r n a t i v e l y , the negative expectations of r o l e enactment increase as the n e g a t i v i t y of the r o l e sum inc r e a s e s . For example, a r o l e sum of -24 would i n d i c a t e extremely negative expectations. C o n f l i c t woud be i n d i c a t e d , then, i f an i n d i v i d u a l planned to take on, or was a c t u a l l y i n a r o l e , which was viewed very n e g a t i v e l y . I n d i c a t i o n s of c o n f l i c t , then, may be derived by an examination of the r o l e sums f o r n e g a t i v i t y . As w e l l , the r o l e sums f o r each r o l e may be examined to see i f the o v e r a l l p a t t e r n of r o l e preferences i s congruent w i t h i t s e l f and with value p r i o r i t i e s expressed i n construct importance rankings and c e n t r a l i t y . Data C o l l e c t i o n and Procedures., The biodemographical q u e s t i o n n a i r e , the l i f e r o l e g r i d , and the v e r b a l i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r t h e i r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n were teste d f o r c l a r i t y and 57 ease of a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n a b r i e f p i l o t study. Four female graduate students i n C o u n s e l l i n g Psychology were used as subjects i n the p i l o t study. In s i x groups ranging from two to eight subjects (one person was t e s t e d i n d i v i d u a l l y ) , subjects completed t e s t i n g i n approximately one hour. A f t e r a b r i e f i n t r o d u c t i o n to the study (Appendix A), subjects completed the Biodemographical Questionnaire (Apprendix B) and the Role G r i d (Appendix C). Subjects were guided through these instruments by the researcher s t a t i n g aloud the i n s t r u c t i o n s and the questions i n the instrument and by c l a r i f y i n g s u b j e c t s ' questions (see Appendix D f o r these v e r b a l i n s t r u c t i o n s ) . 58 CHAPTER IV R e s u l t s The r e s u l t s of t h i s study are presented i n t h i s chapter i n f i v e main s e c t i o n s . The f i r s t s e c t i o n discusses the p r o j e c t e d f i v e - y e a r plans of the 29 subjects f o r p r o f e s s i o n a l and graduate student r o l e s , r e l a t i o n s h i p s t y l e / m a r i t a l s t a t u s , and c h i l d r e n . Each of the l a s t four se c t i o n s present the r e s u l t s obtained i n the i n v e s t i g a t i o n of each of the four proposed research questions. P r o j e c t e d Five-Year Plans P r o f e s s i o n a l and Graduate Student Roles. A l l 29 subjects planned t o work and/or attend school f u l l - t i m e during the subsequent f i v e years of t h e i r l i v e s . Twenty-one of the 29 subjects (72%) planned to attend graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l school during t h i s time and 8 subjects (28%) had no plans f o r graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l school. A l l subjects were asked which graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l programs they would consider e n t e r i n g i f they were to go on. The r e s u l t s of t h i s question are shown i n Table 2. 59 Table 2 Graduate or P r o f e s s i o n a l Programs Considered Program N % Chartered Accountancy 12 34.3 MBA 12 34.3 Law School 6 17.1 MSc (Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ) 4 11.4 M.A. (Psychology) _1 2.9 T o t a l 3 5 a 100.0 T o t a l i s 35 as 6 of the 29 subjects were co n s i d e r i n g 2 d i f f e r e n t program options. 60 Each subject was requested to thi n k about the type of paid work she was planning on doing during the subsequent f i v e years of her l i f e . She was then asked to d i v i d e her p r o f e s s i o n a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n t o three c a t e g o r i e s : (1) the highest l e v e l p r o f e s s i o n toward which she would a s p i r e , i . e . , the highest l e v e l p o s i t i o n she'd aim f o r ; (2) the lowest l e v e l p r o f e s s i o n toward which she'd a s p i r e , i . e . , the lowest l e v e l p o s i t i o n she'd accept or s e t t l e f o r ; and (3) the p r o f e s s i o n or p o s i t i o n i n which she r e a l l y expected to work. The group r e s u l t s f o r t h i s task are presented i n Tables 3, 4, and 5. Each of the stated a s p i r a t i o n s i n the three categories (highest a s p i r a t i o n , lowest a s p i r a t i o n , and expected p o s i t i o n ) was matched w i t h the socioeconomic index f o r occupations i n Canada ( B l i s h e n & McRoberts, 1976) and was given a rank w i t h i n t h i s s c a l e . Using 1971 Canadian census data, B l i s h e n used income l e v e l , e d u c a t i o n a l s t a t u s , and a p r e s t i g e v a r i a b l e to rank order 500 Canadian occupations. The st a t e d occupational a s p i r a t i o n s of a l l subjects i n t h i s study a l l f e l l between the ranks of nine and 63. They were a very homogeneous group i n terms of occupational a s p i r a t i o n s . They were a l l aiming f o r p o s i t i o n s near the top of the scale w i t h i n f i v e years. R e l a t i o n s h i p S t y l e / M a r i t a l S t a t u s . Twenty-seven subjects (93%) were s i n g l e at the time of the study ( i n c l u d i n g one woman who was divorced/separated) and two subjects (7%) were married or l i v i n g w i t h a partner. When asked about t h e i r f i v e - y e a r plans, 12 (41%) s t a t e d that they planned to remain s i n g l e , 16 (55%) s a i d they planned to be married or l i v i n g w i t h a partner, and one (3.5%) was u n c e r t a i n . 61 Table 3 Subjects' Highest P r o f e s s i o n a l A s p i r a t i o n s f o r Subsequent Five Year P e r i o d P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n N % A r t i c l i n g student/lawyer i n q u a l i t y law f i r m Commercial loans manager or p r o j e c t banker i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l department of major bank Corporate loan o f f i c e , I.e., work at head o f f i c e of f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n and be i n charge of a p o r t f o l i o of companies Foreign exchange manager, banking I n d u s t r i a l r e l a t i o n s s u p e r v i s o r , resource Industry Marketing manager f o r consumer product i n Western Canada Marketing manager f o r e n t i r e d i v i s i o n of l a r g e c o r p o r a t i o n Management p o s i t i o n d e a l i n g w i t h labour law and employee r e l a t i o n s Manager, C.A. f i r m Manager, f i n a n c i a l s e r v i c e s - department i n government or p r i v a t e company Manager, personnel department/labour r e l a t i o n s Own & operate own business R e t a i l business Computer technology, medicine P a r t n e r , c o n s u l t i n g f i r m i n management inf o r m a t i o n systems (computers) 2 2 6.9 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 24.1 3.4 6.9 6.9 3.4 contd. 62 Table 3 contd.... P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n N % P a r t n e r , C A . f i r m 3 10.3 Regional manager, personnel d i v i s i o n of major 1 3.4 company Senior s t a f f accountant ( C A . ) 1 3.4 V i c e - p r e s i d e n t , r e a l e s t ate s a l e s or land 1 3.4 development Western region operations research - _1_ 3.4 t r a n s p o r a t i o n a l / l o g i s t i c s T o t a l 29 99.3 a This percentage i s s l i g h t l y l e s s than 100 due to rounding e r r o r . 63 Table 4 Subjects' Lowest P r o f e s s i o n a l A s p i r a t i o n s f o r Subsequent Fi v e Year P e r i o d P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n N % A r t i c l i n g 1 3.4 Branch manager, bank or f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n 3 10.3 Commercial loans o f f i c e r , i n t e r n a t i o n a l department of a bank 1 3.4 C r e d i t o f f i c e r , banking 1 3.4 Employment c o u n s e l l o r , f e d e r a l government 1 3.4 F i e l d work, operations research 1 3.4 General accountant, company, i n d u s t r i a l , or f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n 3 10.3 Ju n i o r o f f i c e r - f i n a n c i a l s e r v i c e s , government or p r i v a t e company 1 3.4 Labour r e l a t i o n s or personnel o f f i c e r 3 10.3 Manager, r e t a i l store i n Vancouver 1 3.4 Middle management marketing p o s i t i o n 2 6.9 Programmer, computer f i r m 1 3.4 Salesperson f o r a consumer product of a region 1 3.4 Senior accountant, C A . f i r m 3 10.3 Senior i n a p u b l i c accounting f i r m 1 3.4 S t a f f C A . , C A . f i r m 3 10.3 Work i n business i n a non-law c a p a c i t y , commerce-r e l a t e d , e.g., management t r a i n e e 2 6.9 T o t a l 29 99.3 a This percentage i s s l i g h t l y l e s s than 100 due to rounding e r r o r . 64 Table 5 Subject's Expected P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n s f o r Subsequent Five Year P e r i o d P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n N % Accountant f o r a company, not very high up 1 3.4 A r t i c l i n g student/lawyer i n law f i r m 3 10.3 Branch manager, bank 1 3.4 Commercial banker 1 3.4 L a b o u r / i n d u s t r i a l r e l a t i o n s o f f i c e r 10.3 Loans o f f i c e r , consumer & small business loans 1 3.4 Manager, C A . f i r m 6.9 Manager, operations research - t r a n s p o r t a t i o n / l o g i s t i c s 1 3.4 Manager, r e t a i l operation i n B r i t i s h Columbia 1 3.4 Marketing department of consumer product company 1 3.4 Middle management, f i n a n c i a l f i r m 1 3.4 Middle management, marketing (probably l i m i t e d to Western Canada) 1 3.4 Personnel a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , government or medium-s i z e d company 1 3.4 Product l i n e manager (of one product) 1 3.4 Real estate executive 1 3.4 Semi-senior s t a f f accountant ( C A . ) 1 3.4 Senior s t a f f accountant, C A . f i r m 1 3.4 S t a f f C A. f o r a f i r m 1 3.4 contd... T a b l e 5 c o n t d . 65 P r o f e s s i o n a l P o s i t i o n N , % S u p e r v i s o r , C A . f i r m 3 10.3 S u p e r v i s o r , p u b l i c a c c o u n t i n g f i r m 1 3.4 S u p e r v i s o r , some department i n f i n a n c i a l 1 3.4 s e r v i c e s - government o r p r i v a t e company Systems development ( c o m p u t e r s ) , i n a c o n s u l t i n g 1 3.4 c a p a c i t y T o t a l 29 9 9 . 0 a T h i s p e r c e n t a g e of s l i g h t l y l e s s than 100 i s due t o r o u n d i n g e r r o r . 66 C h i l d r e n . Twenty-eight subjects (96.5%) had no c h i l d r e n at the time of the study and one subject (3.5%) had two c h i l d r e n ( t h i s woman was 32 years o l d and was separated/divorced). When asked about t h e i r f i v e - y e a r p lans, 24 subjects (83%) s t a t e d that they planned not to have any c h i l d r e n i n the next f i v e year p e r i o d . The subject who already had two c h i l d r e n s t a t e d that she planned not to have any more c h i l d r e n i n the next f i v e years. Three subjects (10%) s t a t e d that they planned to have one c h i l d and two subjects (7%) stated that they planned to have two c h i l d r e n during the subsequent f i v e year p e r i o d . The t o t a l percentage, then, of subjects planning to have c h i l d r e n i n the next f i v e year p e r i o d was about 20%. The f o l l o w i n g four s e c t i o n s present the r e s u l t s obtained i n the i n v e s t i g a t i o n of each of the four proposed research questions. These i n v e s t i g a t i o n s involved various analyses of the 12 x 12 repertory g r i d s produced by the 29 su b j e c t s . See Appendix E f o r an example of a repertory g r i d completed by one subj e c t . The s t a t i s t i c a l analyses u t i l i z e d i n answering each question w i l l be discussed separately i n each of the f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s . Role Importance (Question 1 ) ^ The r e s u l t s obtained i n the i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the question, "How does t h i s group of women rank order l i f e r o l e s i n terms of personal importance?" are presented i n t h i s s e c t i o n . 67 The r o l e preference ranks were averaged to obt a i n an average ranking f o r each r o l e f o r the group. These averages were then rank ordered to obtain a preference rank f o r each r o l e f o r the group. The r e s u l t s of these c a l c u l a t i o n s are presented i n Table 6. The s i x most important or most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s f o r t h i s group of women were, i n order of preference: expected p r o f e s s i o n , personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment, p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n , f r i e n d , p artner/wife and graduate student. The s i x l e a s t important r o l e s , i n descending order of preference, were: daughter, community member/citizen, p r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n , s i n g l e person, mother, and homemaker. Another way of assessing r o l e preference i s to look at the p r e f e r a b i l i t y ranks. A r o l e sum was c a l c u l a t e d f o r each subject by adding up the 12 numerical r a t i n g s given f o r each r o l e . As the r a t i n g s c a l e ranged from 2 to -2, and each r o l e was rated according to 12 d i f f e r e n t c o n s t r u c t s , the range of p o s s i b l e r o l e sums was 24 to -24. A r o l e which received a r o l e sum of 24 would be h i g h l y p o s i t i v e l y valued and a r o l e which received a r o l e sum of -24 would be valued very n e g a t i v e l y . See Appendix E f o r the c a l c u l a t i o n of r o l e sums f o r one subj e c t . A f t e r c a l c u l a t i n g the 12 r o l e sums f o r each subject, an average r o l e sum f o r the group f o r each of the 12 r o l e s was c a l c u l a t e d . These averages were then rank ordered to obt a i n p r e f e r a b i l i t y ranks f o r the group. These f i n d i n g s are presented i n Table 7. 68 Table 6 Group Preference Ranks Means and Standard Deviations of Roles of Role Based on Preference Ranks Mean Preference Group Preference Role Rank SD Rank 3 Expected p r o f e s s i o n 3.4 1.7 1 Personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment 3.4 2.2 2 P r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n 4.2 2.5 3 F r i e n d 4.6 2.4 4 Partner/Wife 5.0 2.8 5 Graduate student 5.3 3.3 6 Daughter 6.3 2.5 7 Community member/citizen 7.9 2.5 8 P r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n 8.5 2.6 9 S i n g l e person 9.2 2.2 10 Mother 9.7 3.1 11 Homemaker 10.5 1.5 12 Obtained by rank ordering the average rankings of r o l e s , w i t h "1" being the most p r e f e r r e d r o l e on average and "12" being the l e a s t p r e f e r r e d r o l e on average. 69 Table 7 Group P r e f e r a b i l i t y Ranks of Roles Based on Means and Standard Deviations of Role Sums Mean Group Role P r e f e r a b i l i t y Role Sum3 SD Rank a P r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n 15.7 4.7 1 Expected p r o f e s s i o n 13.5 5.0 2 Fr i e n d 12.8 5.3 3 Graduate student 12.6 4.5 4 Partner/Wife 11.1 3.7 5 Personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment 10.9 5.6 6 Community member/citizen 8.2 7.1 7 Mother 5.5 10.4 8 P r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n 3.2 10.3 9 Single person 2.7 7.4 10 Daughter 2.4 5.7 11 Homemaker -10.3 8.2 12 ^ a n g e of p o s s i b l e means was 24 to -24. ^Obtained by rank ordering the r o l e s according to the average r o l e sums. The highest mean was ranked "1", i . e . , the most p r e f e r a b l e r o l e according to the r o l e sums, and the lowest mean was ranked "12", i . e . , the l e a s t p r e f e r a b l e r o l e according to the r o l e sums. 70 A v i s u a l i n s p e c t i o n of Tables 6 and 7 reveals that the p r e f e r a b i l i t y rank ordering i s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h the preference rank o r d e r i n g . A rank order c o r r e l a t i o n c a l c u l a t e d between these two rank orderings produced a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of .82 ( s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l , t w o - t a i l e d t e s t ) . This i s a very high c o r r e l a t i o n and i n d i c a t e s a very strong r e l a t i o n s h i p between subjects' stated r o l e preferences and p o t e n t i a l preferences based on the r a t i n g s of r o l e s according to each of the twelve c o n s t r u c t s . Construct Importance (Question 2) The r e s u l t s obtained i n the i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the question, "How does t h i s group of women rank order c o n s t r u c t s i n terms of personal importance?" are presented i n t h i s s e c t i o n . The construct importance ranks were averaged to obtain an average ranking f o r each construct f o r the group. These averages were then rank ordered to obtain an importance rank f o r each construct f o r the group. The r e s u l t s of these c a l c u l a t i o n s are presented i n Table 8. For t h i s group the s i x most important constructs were, i n order of importance: opportunity f o r personal growth, opportunity to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals (achievement), enjoyment, s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence and success, opportunity f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s ( a f f i l i a t i o n ) , and support and encouragement from partner. The s i x l e a s t important c o n s t r u c t s , i n order of descending importance, were: 71 Table 8 Group Importance Ranks of Constructs Based on Means and Standard Deviations of Construct Importance Ranks Mean Group Importance Importance Construct Rank SD Rank 3 Personal growth 2.9 1.7 1 Achievement 3.4 2.5 2 Enj oyment 4.2 2.3 3 S e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence & 4.6 2.6 4 success A f f i l i a t i o n 5.5 2.8 5 Support: partner 6.5 2.7 6 Support: f r i e n d s , colleagues 7.3 2.5 7 &/or teachers Commitment/investment 7.4 3.0 8 Support: parents &/or other 7.6 2.3 9 f a m i l y members Degree of f i t w i t h view of 8.7 3.4 10 s e l f as a woman Power 9.0 2.8 11 Role model 11.0 1.4 12 Obtained by rank ordering the constructs according to the average rankings of c o n s t r u c t s , w i t h "1", being the most important construct on average and "12" being the l e a s t important construct on average. 72 support and encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues, and/or teachers, w i l l i n g n e s s to invest time and energy i n the r o l e (commitment/ investment), support and encouragement from parents and/or other f a m i l y members, degree of f i t wi t h view of s e l f as a woman, opportunity to i n f l u e n c e other people (power), and knowing someone e l s e who does w e l l i n the r o l e ( r o l e model). Construct importance may al s o be assessed by examining the c e n t r a l i t y ranks of the constructs as determined by construct i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s . These i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s are discussed i n depth i n the next s e c t i o n , I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Question 3), where the c a l c u l a t i o n of variance-in-common scores, from which construct r e l a t i o n s are derived , i s described i n d e t a i l . The d e r i v a t i o n of c e n t r a l i t y ranks i s shown i n Table 9. The f i r s t step i n determining c e n t r a l i t y was to add up the mean variance-in-common scores f o r each const r u c t . The construct w i t h the highest sum (personal growth) i s the most c e n t r a l construct i n the g r i d s of t h i s group. The r e l a t i o n s h i p of each construct to the most c e n t r a l construct was assessed by i t s variance-in-common with the most c e n t r a l c o n s t r u c t . Constructs were rank ordered according to t h e i r r e l a t i o n to the most c e n t r a l c o n s t r u c t . The c e n t r a l i t y ranks of constructs are shown more c l e a r l y i n Table 10. The comparison of c e n t r a l i t y ranks (Table 10) w i t h s u b j e c t s ' o r i g i n a l rank orderings of constructs (Table 8) served as a check on the o r i g i n a l importance rankings. A v i s u a l i n s p e c t i o n of the two rank order l i s t s i n d i c a t e s that the l i s t s are very s i m i l a r i n t h e i r ordering of Mean Variance-in-Common Scores - J3 3 o CO f-l UJ OH u CO a u o CH OH c a) ai •• 3 « 60 CU 0) rJ O OH r-l CH r-t 3 O o P. o c u o fu IH ai 4-» o u 3 W CD U U CU co ,n o. S OJ •• a u r-» O rH CH-H CH B 3 CO c/i «n B > •o o a o OS 5 C u a •H O in 3 •HOT CH CO o CO 01 cu CJ I o m 3 t-i co 01 CO CO H C o n s t r u c t s were rank ordered according to their r e l a t i o n to the most central construct. Table 10 C e n t r a l i t y Ranks of Constructs Construct C e n t r a l i t y Rank Personal growth 1 Achievement 2 S e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence & 3 success Commitment/investment 4 Enj oyment 5 Support: f r i e n d s , colleagues 6 &/or teachers Power 7.5 Degree of f i t w i t h view 7.5 of s e l f as a woman Support: partner 9 A f f i l i a t i o n 10 Support: parents &/or other 11 members Role model 12 See Table 9 f o r the d e r i v a t i o n of c e n t r a l i t y ranks. Constructs are ordered according to t h e i r r e l a t i o n to the most c e n t r a l construct (personal growth). 75 c o n s t r u c t s . The one construct that d i d move down i n importance, when assessed i n terms of c e n t r a l i t y ranks, was a f f i l i a t i o n . I t moved from f i f t h most important c o n s t r u c t , i . e . , one of the s i x most important, to t e n t h most important, i . e . , one of the s i x l e a s t important c o n s t r u c t s . This w i l l be discussed i n more d e t a i l i n the next s e c t i o n , I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Question 3). A rank order c o r r e l a t i o n c a l c u l a t e d between the two l i s t s r e s u l t e d i n a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of .73 ( s i g n i f i c a n t at the .01 l e v e l , t w o - t a i l e d t e s t ) . This i s a high c o r r e l a t i o n and i n d i c a t e s a strong r e l a t i o n s h i p between su b j e c t s ' o r i g i n a l rank orderings of c o n s t r u c t importance and the rank o r d e r i n g derived from g r i d c e n t r a l i t y ranks. A c e n t r a l construct has many strong r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h other constructs and a p e r i p h e r a l construct has few and weak r e l a t i o n s (Cochran, Note 3 ) . The more c e n t r a l a construct i s , the more s t r o n g l y i t w i l l i n f l u e n c e r o l e preferences, and hence the more s t r o n g l y i t w i l l i n f l u e n c e l i f e r o l e d e c i s i o n s . This group of s u b j e c t s , then, appear to be s t r o n g l y motivated by a d e s i r e f o r personal growth. This w i l l be discussed i n more d e t a i l i n the next s e c t i o n (Question 3 ) . I n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s Between Constructs (Question 3) ; The r e s u l t s obtained i n the i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the question, "For t h i s group how are the c o n s t r u c t s r e l a t e d on average?" are presented i n t h i s s e c t i o n . 76 For each subject the r a t i n g s of r o l e s according to each construct were cast i n g r i d form. This y i e l d e d one 12 x 12 g r i d f o r each sub j e c t . As the same 12 elements ( i . e . , r o l e t i t l e s or d e s c r i p t i o n s ) were rated by each subject according to each of the 12 c o n s t r u c t s , i n f e r e n c e s about the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between constructs f o r each subject could be i n f e r r e d from the c o r r e l a t i o n s between c o n s t r u c t s . Each subject's r a t i n g s on each p a i r of constructs were c o r r e l a t e d using a Pearson product-moment c o r r e l a t i o n . This y i e l d e d one c o r r e l a t i o n matrix f o r each subject. To assess the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s between constructs across subjects the absolute value (maintaining sign) of each c o r r e l a t i o n f o r each subject was squared and m u l t i p l i e d by 100 y i e l d i n g a variance-in-common score f o r each p a i r of constructs (see Cochran, Note 3 f o r a f u l l d e s c r i p t i o n of t h i s procedure). Average variance-in-common scores and standard d e v i a t i o n s were then computed f o r the group of 29 subjects on each p a i r of co n s t r u c t s . Each of the average variance-in-common scores was t e s t e d f o r s i g n i f i c a n c e using the t - t e s t formula of mean minus zero d i v i d e d by the standard e r r o r of the mean. A l e v e l of s i g n i f i c a n c e of jp_ < .05 was accepted because of the ex p l o r a t o r y nature of t h i s study. Because 66 s i g n i f i c a n c e t e s t s were done, the Bonfe r r o n i i n e q u a l i t y f o r m u l t i p l e comparisons (Dunn, 1961; Marascu i l o & L e v i n , 1983) was used i n order to s p l i t the r i s k of a Type I e r r o r across the 66 t e s t s . The average variance-in-common scores are reported i n Table 11. Use of variance-in-common scores i n analyses of repertory g r i d data, although i t represents a non-standard a p p l i c a t i o n of i n f e r e n t i a l 77 s t a t i s t i c s ( w i t h respect to assumptions of independence), i s j u s t i f i e d by precedent (Bannister & Mair, 1968; Cochran, 1978, 1981; Cochran, Note 3) and by the exp l o r a t o r y nature of t h i s study. I n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of the r e s u l t s must, t h e r e f o r e , be made t e n t a t i v e l y , bearing these cautions i n mind. An examination of Table 11 reveals that almost a l l of the cons t r u c t p a i r s were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d . Of the 66 s i g n i f i c a n c e t e s t s done only seven construct p a i r s were found to be not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d . The construct p a i r s which were not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d were: a f f i l i a t i o n - achievement, a f f i l i a t i o n - power, a f f i l i a t i o n - support: parents and/or other family members, a f f i l i a t i o n - r o l e model, a f f i l i a t i o n - s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence and success, enjoyment - r o l e model, and support: parents and/or other f a m i l y members - r o l e model. A more i l l u m i n a t i n g d i s c u s s i o n of these construct r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n v o l v e s an examination of the stre n g t h of the r e l a t i o n s h i p s . A simple guide to the stre n g t h of the r e l a t i o n s h i p s i s to consider a variance-in-common score over 50 as i n d i c a t i v e of a strong r e l a t i o n s h i p , a score between 26 and 49 as moderate, and a score below 25 and s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t as m i l d or weak. Tables 12 through 17 show the strength of each construct's r e l a t i o n s h i p s to each of the other c o n s t r u c t s . The strongest r e l a t i o n s h i p s were between personal growth, achievement, and s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence and success (see Tables 12 & 13). These three constructs were a l l s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to each other. They were, i n f a c t , the only three constructs w i t h such strong r e l a t i o n s h i p s ( i . e . , w i t h variance-in-common scores over 50). 78 Table 11 Average Interrelationships Between Constructs t4 u c 3 •u o V4 u tO c a 00 o. o c u • H 0) o o I—1 • H co o. •rH JS v< a 44 u OJ 3 t*H < CM co < OJ u OJ 3 01 u tu 00 .e c 0 to 4J 0) OJ o 4J 3 I—1 OJ OJ r-H M a. • H o 0 B > a \ i« CO 4J to to • H •a 4-1 o 3 3 c 3 to to OJ OJ U 01 j-i e U 01 4J • H O fr tO a 6 r-1 to E u-i 3 4J OJ OJ •rf to (4-1 CO .. co c •• a •3 4J tO o 4J U OJ 4J 0 to OJ to U 0) s a OJ u 0) to O J= >N 0 i-' 1 cj OJ o. a 0 OJ OJ •4-1 3 l-i M-4 a to 3 a e rH r-4 tO 60 i-l 3 a) c o 3 to O 0) OJ 0) cn 4J CU CO "4-1 ca CO co a to o Achievement Personal growth Support: partner A f f i l i a t i o n SD SD SD SD Support: friends, colleagues, teachers SD Enjoyment Power SD SD Support: parents &/or other family members SD Role model SD Self-estimate of competence & success SD Degree of f i t with view of s e l f as a woman SD 64* 26 X X 26* 28 37* 30 X X 5 21 23* 29 22* 24 X X 32* 23 41* 27 28* 27 24* 25 X X 23* 24 42* 29 30* 24 41* 24 31* 23 X X 37* 26 38* 25 21* 21 11 21 34* 25 27* 22 X X 16* 22 21* 25 21* 27 12 25 24* 24 20* 26 17* 19 26* 23 19* 18 12* 16 3 20 17* 22 10 19 23* 24 7 12 X X 53* 25 51* 31 23* 24 9 24 34* 23 35* 31 41* 25 22* 24 26* 23 25* 28 38* 30 28* 24 22* 31 28* 36 33* 27 25* 26 22* 29 13* 18 37* 36 X X Commitment/investment SD 41* 28 47* 28 41* 27 16* 20 33* 26 44 23 35* 22 30* 26 21* 25 48* 28 40* 33 X X Note: For each subject the 12 constructs were i n t e r c o r r e l a t e d . The absolute value (maintaining sign) of each c o r r e l a t i o n was squared and multiplied by 100 to compute a variance-in-common score for each pair of constructs. Average variance-in-common scores and standard deviations were then computed for the group of 29 subjects. The above scores represent these means and standard deviations. Decimals are rounded off to present whole numbers. * S i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l (two-tailed test) using the Bonferroni inequality procedure (Dunn, 1961; Marascuilo & Levin, 1983) in which the experiment-wise error rate for a l l 66 signi f i c a n c e tests i s <^ .05 ( i . e . , p r o b a b i l i t y of Type I error i s < .05). 79 The weakest r e l a t i o n s h i p s were evidenced by the r e l a t i o n s h i p s of a f f i l i a t i o n , r o l e model, and support from parents and/or other f a m i l y members (see Tables 13 & 14). These three constructs were, on the whole, only weakly r e l a t e d to the ma j o r i t y of the other c o n s t r u c t s and/or not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to a few c o n s t r u c t s . The constructs of powers, enjoyment, support from p a r t n e r , support from f r i e n d s , colleagues, and/or teachers, commitment/investment and degree of f i t wi t h view of s e l f as a woman showed moderate to weak r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h most other c o n s t r u c t s (see Tables 15, 16, & 17). As p r e v i o u s l y discussed, personal growth was on average the most c e n t r a l construct f o r t h i s group, followed by achievement and s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence. A l l other constructs revolved around the construct of personal growth. As personal growth was very s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to achievement (note the very large variance-in-common score of 64 between these two constructs) and s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence (variance-in-common score of 51), i t can be s a i d that on average t h i s group of women view personal growth predominantly i n terms of achievement. Their b e l i e f s about t h e i r a b i l i t y to succeed s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e the contexts i n which they choose to achieve and thus to grow as persons. Their confidence i n themselves as competent p r o f e s s i o n a l s was i n d i c a t e d by t h e i r r o l e preferences (Tables 6 & 7) and t h e i r s t a t e d f i v e year p r o f e s s i o n a l a s p i r a t i o n s (Tables 3, 4, & 5 ) . Three of t h e i r s i x most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s were p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s ( i . e . , p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n , expected p r o f e s s i o n , and graduate student) and, as a group, they a s p i r e d to r e l a t i v e l y high l e v e l careers. 80 Table 12 Strength of Relationships Between Constructs (Personal Growth and Achievement) Variance-in-Common Scores Personal Growth Strongly Achievement 64* related to Self-estimate of competence and success 51* Moderately Commitment/investment 47* related to Enjoyment 42* Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 41* Power 38*' Degree of f i t with view of s e l f as a woman 38* Support: partner 37* Weakly A f f i l i a t i o n 23* relat e d to Support: parents, other family members 21* Role model 19* Achievement Strongly Personal growth 64* related to Self-estimate of competence and success 53* Moderately Commitment/investment 41* related to Power 37* Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 32* Support: partner 26* Role model 26* Weakly Degree of f i t with view of s e l f 25* related to as a woman Support: parents, other family members 16* Enjoyment 23* Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y A f f i l i a t i o n 5 related to Note: A strong relationship i s indicated by a variance-in-common score over 50, a moderate re l a t i o n s h i p by a score between 26 and 49, and a weak rel a t i o n s h i p by a score under 25 (but s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d ) . * S i g n i f l e a n t at the .05 l e v e l using the Bonferroni inequality procedure. 81 Table 13 Strength of Relationships Between Constructs (Self-Estimate of Competence and Success and A f f i l i a t i o n ) Variance-in-Common Scores Self-Estimate of Competence and Success Strongly Achievement 53* related to Personal growth 51* Moderately Commitment/investment 48* related to Power 41* Degree of f i t with view 37* of s e l f as a woman Enjoyment 35* Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 34* Role model 26* Weakly Support: partner 23* related to Support: parents, other family members 22* Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y A f f i l i a t i o n 9 related to A f f i l i a t i o n Moderately Enjoyment 41* related to Weakly Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 24* rel a t e d to Personal growth 23* Support: partner 22* Degree of f i t with view 22* of s e l f as a woman Commitment/investment 16* Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y Support: parents, other family members 12 related to Power 11 Self-estimate of competence and success 9 Achievement 5 Role model 3 Note: A strong re l a t i o n s h i p i s indicated by a variance-in-common score over 50, a moderate relationship by a score between 26 and 49, and a weak relationship by a score under 25 (but s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d ) . * S i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l using the Bonferroni in e q u a l i t y procedure. 82 Table 14 Strength of Relationships Between Constructs (Role Model and Support: Parents, Other Family Members) Variance-in-Common Scores Role Model Moderately Achievement 26* relat e d to Self-estimate of competence and success 26* Weakly Power 23* related to Commitment/investment 21* Personal growth 19* Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 17* Degree of f i t with view of s e l f as a woman 13* Support: partner 12* Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y Enjoyment 10 related to Support: parents, other family members 7 A f f i l i a t i o n 3 Support: Parents, Other Family Members Moderately Commitment/investment 30* related to Weakly Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 24* related to Self-estimate of competence and success 22* Degree of f i t with view 22* of s e l f as a woman Personal growth 21* Support: partner 21* Enjoyment 20* Power 17* Achievement 16* Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y A f f i l i a t i o n 12 related to Role model 7 Note: A strong relationship i s indicated by a variance-in-common score over 50, a moderate rela t i o n s h i p by a score between 26 and 49, and a weak relationship by a score under 25 (but s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d ) . • S i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l using the Bonferroni inequality procedure. 83 Table 15 Strength of Relationships Between Constructs (Power and Enjoyment) Variance-in-Common Scores Power Moderately related to Weakly related to Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y related to Self-estimate of competence Personal growth Achievement Commi tment/investment Support: friends, colleagues, teachers Enj oyment Degree of f i t with view of s e l f as a woman Role model Support: partner Support: parents, other family members A f f i l i a t i o n 41* 38* 37* 35* 34* 27* 25* 23* 21* 17* 11 Enj oyment Moderately Related to Weakly related to Not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to Commitment/investment Personal growth A f f i l i a t i o n Self-estimate of competence and success Degree of f i t with view of s e l f as a woman Support: friends, colleagues, teachers Support: partner Power Achievement Support: parents, other family members Role model 44* 42* 41* 35* 33* 31* 30* 27* 23* 20* 10 Note: A strong relationship i s indicated by a variance-in-common score over 50, a moderate re l a t i o n s h i p by a score between 26 and 49, and a weak r e l a t i o n s h i p by a score under 25 (but s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d ) . * S i g n i f l e a n t at the .05 l e v e l using the Bonferroni inequality procedure. 84 Table 16 Strength of Relationships Between Constructs (Support: Partner and Support: Friends, Colleagues, Teachers) Variance-in-Common Scores Support: Partner Moderately Commitment/investment 41* rel a t e d to Personal growth 37* Enjoyment 30* Degree of f i t with view 28* of s e l f as a woman Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 28* Achievement 26* Weakly Self-estimate of competence and success 23* related to Power 21* A f f i l i a t i o n 22* Support: parents, other family members 21* Role Model 12* Support: Friends, Colleagues, Teachers Moderately Personal growth 41* related to Self-estimate of competence and success 34* Power 34* Commitment/investment 33* Achievement 32* Enjoyment 31* Support: partner 28* Degree of f i t with view 28* of s e l f as a woman Weakly Support: parents, other family members 24* related to A f f i l i a t i o n 24* Role model 17* Note: A strong relationship i s indicated by a variance-in-common score over 50, a moderate re l a t i o n s h i p by a score between 26 and 49, and a weak relationship by a score under 25 (but s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d ) . • S i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l using the Bonferroni inequality procedure. 85 Table 17 Strength of Relationships Between Constructs (Commitment/Investment and Degree of Fit with View of Self as a Woman) Variance-in-Common Scores Commitment/Investment Moderately Self-estimate of competence and success 48* related to Personal growth 47* Enjoyment 44* Support: partner 41* Achievement 41* Degree of f i t with view 40* of self as a woman Power 35* Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 33* Support: parents, other family members 30* Weakly Aff i l i a t i o n 16* related to Role Model 21* Degree of Fit with View of Self as a Woman Moderately Commitment/investment 40* related to Personal growth 38* Self-estimate of competence and success 37* Enj oyment 33* Support: partner 28* Support: friends, colleagues, teachers 28* Weakly Power 25* related to Achievement 25* Support: parents, other family members 22* Affiliation 22* Role model 13* Note: A strong relationship is indicated by a variance-in-common score over 50, a moderate relationship by a score between 26 and 49, and a weak relationship by a score under 25 (but s t i l l significantly related). *Signifleant at the .05 level using the Bonferroni inequality procedure. 86 A f f i l i a t i o n , on the other hand, was a comparatively p e r i p h e r a l construct i n the meaning-schemes of these women. The only construct to which i t was moderately r e l a t e d was enjoyment. I t was only weakly r e l a t e d to f i v e of the other c o n s t r u c t s , and was not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to support: parents and/or other f a m i l y members, power, s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence, achievement, and r o l e model. This p a t t e r n of r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n d i c a t e s that these women view a f f i l i a t i o n ( i . e . , the opportunity f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s ) as fun but not p a r t i c u l a r l y u s e f u l f o r g e t t i n g ahead i n achievement contexts. This p a t t e r n of r e l a t i o n s h i p s becomes even more evident when informat i o n from the construct importance rankings (Table 8) and from the c e n t r a l i t y ranks (Table 10) i s added. A f f i l i a t i o n was the f i f t h most important construct on average according to the o r i g i n a l construct importance rankings. This would i n d i c a t e that a f f i l i a t i o n i s f a i r l y important to t h i s group of women i n the context of r o l e s . However, an examination of the c e n t r a l i t y ranks reveals that a f f i l i a t i o n dropped i n importance to p o s i t i o n number 10. Hence, although they s a i d that a f f i l i a t i o n was important to them, when they a c t u a l l y performed the task of e v a l u a t i n g r o l e s according to each of the constructs a f f i l i a t i o n came out as one of the l e a s t important c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . C o n f l i c t (Question 4). Each of the three parts of Question 4 are concerned w i t h the measurement of c o n f l i c t . The f i r s t part of Question 4 was concerned 87 w i t h the measurement of o v e r a l l c o n f l i c t i n the construing of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s . This part of the question read, "What i s the o v e r a l l l e v e l of c o n f l i c t f o r t h i s group, i . e . , to what extent are construct r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n harmony or i n c o n f l i c t ? " A c o n f l i c t r a t i o was computed f o r each subject by squaring and adding a l l the negative c o r r e l a t i o n s between constructs and then d i v i d i n g t h i s sum by the o v e r a l l sum of squared c o r r e l a t i o n s between c o n s t r u c t s . Subsequently, the average c o n f l i c t r a t i o f o r the group was computed. The mean c o n f l i c t r a t i o was .049 (standard d e v i a t i o n of .069). This means that about 5% of the variance-in-common among co n s t r u c t s was negative or c o n f l i c t i n g . This i s a very low l e v e l of c o n f l i c t i n d i c a t i n g that f o r the group as a whole construct r e l a t i o n s h i p s are qu i t e harmonious. I t may thus be s a i d that on average t h i s group i s c o n f l i c t - f r e e i n i t s o v e r a l l construing of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s . T h e i r d e c i s i o n a l schemes r e f l e c t very l i t t l e ambivalence. The second part of Question 4 was concerned with c o n f l i c t between any s p e c i f i c p a i r s of co n s t r u c t s . This question read, "For t h i s group, do any of the constructs c o n f l i c t w i t h each other i n the o v e r a l l c o n s t r u i n g of l i f e r o l e a l t e r n a t i v e s ? " The mean c o n f l i c t r a t i o of .049 i n d i c a t e d that there was very l i t t l e c o n f l i c t between constructs i n general. An examination of the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between construct p a i r s as measured by the variance-in-common scores (Table 11) revealed that there were no negative r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o n s t r u c t s . This absence of negative r e l a t i o n s h i p s between constructs i n d i c a t e d that there were no c o n f l i c t s between s p e c i f i c p a i r s of c o n s t r u c t s . This i s another 88 i n d i c a t o r of a c l e a r l y formulated d e c i s i o n scheme c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the absence of ambivalence and c o n f l i c t . The t h i r d p a r t of Question 4 was concerned w i t h p o t e n t i a l or a c t u a l r o l e c o n f l i c t . This part of the question read, "As judged by the r o l e sums, f o r which r o l e s i s c o n f l i c t i n d i c a t e d ? " To answer t h i s question the average r o l e sums f o r the group (Table 7) were examined f o r n e g a t i v i t y and f o r congruence of the o v e r a l l p a t t e r n of r o l e preferences (as per r o l e sums) w i t h i t s e l f and w i t h value p r i o r i t i e s expressed i n construct importance rankings and c e n t r a l i t y . The only r o l e viewed n e g a t i v e l y was that of homemaker (mean r o l e sum was -10.3). This negative score i n d i c a t e s that on an average the women i n t h i s group expect negative consequences i n the r o l e of homemaker. As t h i s r o l e received both preference and p r e f e r a b i l i t y ranks of 12 t h i s negative view of homemaker i s congruent wit h the o v e r a l l p a t t e r n of r o l e preferences. The r e s t of the r o l e s were viewed w i t h v a r y i n g degrees of p o s i t i v i t y . The r o l e s of p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n and expected p r o f e s s i o n were the most p o s i t i v e l y viewed, wit h mean r o l e sums of 15.7 and 13.5, r e s p e c t i v e l y . The p a t t e r n of r o l e preferences according to the r o l e sums was congruent w i t h the group's strong v a l u i n g of personal growth l i n k e d to achievement. The two most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s ( p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n and expected p r o f e s s i o n ) are r o l e s which w i l l enable them to r e a l i z e t h e i r most c e n t r a l values ( d e s i r e f o r personal growth and achievement). 89 These women di d not appear to a n t i c i p a t e c o n f l i c t i n the l i v i n g out of t h e i r most p r e f e r r e d l i f e p l a n s . No matter how the g r i d was analyzed, d i r e c t a t t i t u d i n a l c o n f l i c t could not be found. However, the makings of c o n f l i c t may be seen i n comparing the r o l e sums of p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n (15.7), expected p r o f e s s i o n (13.5), partner/wife (11.1), mother (5.5), and homemaker (-10.3) and sp e c u l a t i n g what l i f e w i l l be l i k e f o r these women when they are a c t u a l l y simultaneously i n these career and fa m i l y r o l e s . As the pr e f e r r e d p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s r e a l l y do not have a r i v a l i n terms of importance, c o n f l i c t may occur when a d d i t i o n a l r o l e s , w i t h t h e i r demands f o r l i m i t e d time, energy, and resources, are assumed. 90 CHAPTER V Di s c u s s i o n of Re s u l t s and Conclusions D i s c u s s i o n s and Conclusions This e x p l o r a t o r y study used a biodemographical questionnaire and a v a r i a n t of K e l l y ' s (1955) repertory g r i d technique to examine the l i f e r o l e a s p i r a t i o n s (career, home and f a m i l y , and personal) of a group of high a b i l i t y women i n Commerce and Law and to describe how t h e i r r o l e perceptions and expectations seemed to i n f l u e n c e t h e i r career a s p i r a t i o n s . The most s a l i e n t r e s u l t s , the ones which added most s i g n i f i c a n t l y to the shape, c o l o u r , and texture of the o v e r a l l p a t t e r n of f i n d i n g s , have been drawn out f o r d i s c u s s i o n i n t h i s chapter. The women i n t h i s group, almost u n i l a t e r a l l y , were a s p i r i n g to r e l a t i v e l y high l e v e l demanding careers f o r the next f i v e year period of t h e i r l i v e s . A l l of t h e i r s t a t e d career a s p i r a t i o n s were near the top of the sc a l e on the socioeconomic index f o r occupations i n Canada ( B l i s h e n & McRoberts, 1976). Previous theory and research (e.g. Horner, 1970, 1972; Ohlsen, 1968) had put f o r t h the idea that even, and perhaps p a r t i c u l a r l y , i n t e l l e c t u a l l y g i f t e d women w i l l lower t h e i r a s p i r a t i o n s f o r success i n achievement contexts because such success c o n f l i c t s w i t h 91 t r a d i t i o n a l sex r o l e expectations and threatens success i n more a f f i l i a t i v e contexts ( i . e . , l o v e , marriage, f a m i l y ) . In a d d i t i o n , the l i t e r a t u r e had i n d i c a t e d that home/career c o n f l i c t or r o l e c o n f l i c t was a c r u c i a l f a c t o r a f f e c t i n g women's career involvement and that i t often c o n t r i b u t e d to lowered career a s p i r a t i o n s (Farmer, 1971, 1978; Farmer & Bonn, 1970; H a l l , 1975; H a l l & Gordon, 1973; O'Leary, 1974, 1977; Stake, 1979b). Bearing these f i n d i n g s of previous research i n mind, one of the o r i g i n a l purposes of the present study was, i f p o s s i b l e , to d i v i d e the subjects i n t o two groups based on a s p i r a t i o n l e v e l ( i . e . , higher a s p i r i n g vs lower a s p i r i n g ) . Comparisons would then have been made between the two groups based on aspects of r o l e c o n s t r u a l and c o n f l i c t . This was, of course, not p o s s i b l e because of uniformly high a s p i r a t i o n s of v i r t u a l l y a l l the su b j e c t s . Lowered a s p i r a t i o n s due to c o n f l i c t w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l sex r o l e expectations and home/career c o n f l i c t appeared, from the r e s u l t s of t h i s study, to be t o t a l l y a l i e n and outdated concepts w i t h which to approach the study of these high a b i l i t y women. They were an e s s e n t i a l l y homogenous group i n terms of c o n f l i c t - f r e e career a s p i r a t i o n s . They seemed to be "marching to the beat of a d i f f e r e n t drum" ( t h e i r own!). When the g r i d s were examined f o r c o n f l i c t (using negative r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o n s t r u c t s , the c o n f l i c t r a t i o , and the r o l e sums), no evidence of d i r e c t a t t i t u d i n a l c o n f l i c t about l i f e r o l e s and more s p e c i f i c a l l y , about t h e i r high career a s p i r a t i o n s , could be found. Another s i g n i f i c a n t f i n d i n g of t h i s study was that the most 92 c e n t r a l value and motivating f a c t o r f o r these women appeared to be t h e i r d e s i r e f o r personal growth. Personal growth (opportunity f o r personal growth) was on average the most c e n t r a l construct i n t h i s group's r o l e c o n s t r u a l , followed by achievement (opportunity to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals) and s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence and success ( l i k e l i h o o d of competence and success i n the r o l e ) . The strong r e l a t i o n s h i p of personal growth to achievement (variance-in-common of 64) and to s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence (variance-in-common of 51) i n d i c a t e d that these women viewed personal growth predominantly i n terms of achievement and that they r e l i e d h e a v i l y on t h e i r own evaluations of themselves. Their most c e n t r a l values f o r personal growth and achievement, along w i t h t h e i r b e l i e f s about t h e i r competence and a b i l i t y to succeed, seemed to s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e the contexts i n which they planned to achieve and to grow as persons. T h e i r confidence i n themselves as competent p r o f e s s i o n a l s was i n d i c a t e d by t h e i r r o l e preferences and sta t e d career a s p i r a t i o n s . Three of t h e i r s i x most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s were p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s ( i . e . , p r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n , expected p r o f e s s i o n , and graduate student) and, as a group, they a s p i r e d to r e l a t i v e l y high l e v e l careers. The remaining three of t h e i r s i x most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s , although secondary i n importance to t h e i r p r e f e r r e d careers, were f r i e n d , p a r t n e r / w i f e , and personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment, i n d i c a t i n g that they were planning l i v e s balancing the personal and the p r o f e s s i o n a l . The next f i n d i n g that i s of i n t e r e s t i s the r e l a t i v e l y p e r i p h e r a l 93 p o s i t i o n of a f f i l i a t i o n (opportunity f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s ) i n the meaning scheme of t h i s group of women (importance rank of 5, c e n t r a l i t y rank of 10, weakly or not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to the ma j o r i t y of the other c o n s t r u c t s ) . This f i n d i n g , combined w i t h the p r e v i o u s l y s t a t e d p a t t e r n of f i n d i n g s , i s i n contrast to previous research and theory which has suggested that a f f i l i a t i v e concerns are primary motivators f o r women (Hoffman, 1972; Horner, 1970, 1972; S t e i n & B a i l e y , 1973). This discrepancy may perhaps be accounted f o r by the f a c t that these are h i g h l y competent and independent women who want t o , take pleasure i n , and can achieve t h e i r goals through t h e i r own e f f o r t s . Being warm and f r i e n d l y may not be s a l i e n t c o n s i d e r a t i o n s f o r them because they do not have to e n l i s t the help of others to meet t h e i r needs. In a d d i t i o n , most of these women are at a l i f e stage and i n l i f e s i t u a t i o n s where " p r a c t i c a l " ( i n contrast to p s y c h o l o g i c a l ) r o l e c o n f l i c t i s not a strong f a c t o r . I t seems important to note here that these comments i n regard to a f f i l i a t i o n do not mean that these women are not, or cannot be, warm and f r i e n d l y . Observations of t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h each other and with the questionnaire a d m i n i s t r a t o r j u s t p r i o r to and a f t e r data c o l l e c t i o n sessions revealed a group of f r i e n d l y , out-going, and i n t e r e s t e d women. The f a c t that the opportunity f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s was moderately r e l a t e d to enjoyment, and that the e s s e n t i a l l y a f f i l i a t i v e r o l e s of f r i e n d and partner/wife were among the s i x most p r e f e r r e d r o l e s seems to i n d i c a t e that these women do enjoy and value warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s . I t i s p o s s i b l e , though, that they may have learned, i n 94 t h e i r s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n t o the world of business, that demonstrated p r o f e s s i o n a l competence and de s i r e and a b i l i t y to achieve are more e f f e c t i v e passports to success than are being warm and f r i e n d l y . This would be co n s i s t e n t w i t h Hennig and Jardim's (1977) d e s c r i p t i o n of s u c c e s s f u l women i n business: Embedded i n the r e l a t i o n s h p s they e s t a b l i s h e d was an i s s u e of c r i t i c a l importance to t h e i r f u t ure management success: they already recognized, probably without even questioning why, that i t was p o s s i b l e to develop working r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h men on a basis of competence and i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t y , that they d i d not need to base r e l a t i o n s h i p s on personal t i e s or even n e c e s s a r i l y on l i k i n g . Where two men might hold p o s i t i o n s on a f o o t b a l l team, work together s u c c e s s f u l l y during the game and d i s l i k e each other throughout, i n q u i t e d i f f e r e n t circumstances they used the same approach, (p. I l l ) Another f i n d i n g of note i s the r e l a t i v e l ack of importance (importance rank of 12) and c e n t r a l i t y ( c e n t r a l i t y rank of 12) of the construct r o l e model (knowing someone e l s e who does w e l l i n the r o l e ) . Previous research has emphasized the importance of r o l e models to women's career achievement (Almquist & A n g r i s t , 1971; O'Leary, 1977; Stake, 1981). In accounting f o r t h i s discrepancy, s e v e r a l p o s s i b i l i t i e s come to mind. The f i r s t i s that the l i s t of 12 cons t r u c t s provided i n t h i s study may indeed have been 12 very important constructs to t h i s group of women. When p r i o r i t i z e d , though, knowing someone e l s e who does 95 w e l l i n the r o l e may have been seen by t h i s group as the l e a s t important of 12 very important c o n s t r u c t s . In a d d i t i o n , knowing someone e l s e who does w e l l i n the r o l e i s a f a i r l y l i m i t e d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the concept of r o l e model. For example, f o r the purpose of t h e i r study, Basow and Howe (1980) defined a r o l e model as "someone whose l i f e and a c t i v i t i e s i n f l u e n c e d the respondent i n s p e c i f i c l i f e d e c i s i o n s . This i n f l u e n c e can be e i t h e r p o s i t i v e (e.g., the subject a c t i v e l y wants to be l i k e someone) or negative (the subject a c t i v e l y does not want to be l i k e someone)" (p. 559). I f , f o r the purpose of the present study, r o l e model had been o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d i n both p o s i t i v e and negative terms and as wanting or not wanting to be l i k e someone, two constructs would have been used f o r the concept of r o l e model ( i . e . , knowing and wanting to be l i k e someone who is/h a s been i n the r o l e ; knowing and not wanting to be l i k e someone who is/has been i n the r o l e ) . One or both of these expanded d e f i n i t i o n s of a r o l e model may have been ranked as more important than the d e f i n i t i o n that was used i n t h i s study. Another p o s s i b l e e x p lanation f o r the r e l a t i v e lack of importance of knowing someone e l s e who does w e l l i n the r o l e i s that t h i s p a r t i c u l a r group of women may not need or value modelling a f t e r others. They are a h i g h l y capable, s e l e c t group of women. I t i s a methodological mistake to regard women as a homogenous group and i t may be a mistake to w r i t e about careers f o r "women". Rather, one might w r i t e about the careers of high a b i l i t y women i n business careers. In t h e i r s t r e n g t h and confident s e l f - r e l i a n c e they may be c h a r t i n g t h e i r own i n d i v i d u a l courses i n t o new t e r r i t o r y . 96 Evidence to support t h i s hypothesis of strong independence and s e l f - r e l i a n c e may be found i n an examination of the c e n t r a l i t y ranks of con s t r u c t s (Table 10). The f i v e most important c o n s t r u c t s , i n descending order of c e n t r a l i t y , are: personal growth, achievement, s e l f - e s t i m a t e of competence and success, commitment/investment, and enjoyment. The nature of these constructs i n d i c a t e that these women r e l y most h e a v i l y on themselves and t h e i r own b e l i e f s , and make choices based p r i m a r i l y on t h e i r own needs. They appear to set c l e a r goals to which they are commited i n arenas which w i l l meet t h e i r needs f o r personal growth and achievement. They seem to do so because they b e l i e v e they w i l l be competent and s u c c e s s f u l i n these p u r s u i t s and that they w i l l enjoy themselves i n the process. Any encouragement, support, and modelling that they a n t i c i p a t e r e c e i v i n g from others (construct c e n t r a l i t y ranks of 6, 9, 11, and 12) seems to be secondary i n importance to t h e i r primary b e l i e f i n and encouragement of themselves. The r e l a t i v e unimportance of support and encouragement from others i s demonstrated i n the f o l l o w i n g f i n d i n g s . The constructs of support and encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues and/or teachers ( c e n t r a l i t y rank of 6) , support and encouragement from partner ( c e n t r a l i t y rank of 9) , and support from parents and/or other f a m i l y members ( c e n t r a l i t y rank of 11) are l e s s c e n t r a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s which are only moderately, weakly, or not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to the other c o n s t r u c t s . These f i n d i n g s do not lend support to the contention that support from s i g n i f i c a n t others i s important In women's career involvement and that i t i s an important f a c t o r i n r a i s i n g career 97 a s p i r a t i o n s ( E p s t e i n , 1973; Farmer, 1978; Rapoport & R a p o p o r t , 1969; S t a k e , 1981; St a k e & L e v i t z , 1979). A number of f a c t o r s may account f o r t h i s d i s c r e p a n c y . The f i r s t and most o b v i o u s , a g a i n , i s t h a t t h e s e women a r e a s e l e c t , h i g h l y c a p a b l e group of women who, because o f t h e i r s t r o n g b e l i e f s i n t h e i r own a b i l i t i e s , do not v a l u e o r r e q u i r e the s u p p o r t and encouragement from o t h e r s i n o r d e r t o a s p i r e t o and t o a t t a i n h i g h l e v e l c a r e e r g o a l s . A l t e r n a t i v e l y , t h e y may have r e c e i v e d , and may c o n t i n u e t o r e c e i v e from s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r s a g r e a t d e a l s u p p o r t f o r a c h i e v e m e n t - r e l a t e d p u r s u i t s . I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t t h i s s u p p o r t may be t a k e n f o r g r a n t e d even though i t may have been a s i g n i f i c a n t f a c t o r i n t he development o f t h e i r h i g h a s p i r a t i o n s . A n o t h e r f i n d i n g of i n t e r e s t was t h a t the c o n s t r u c t degree of f i t w i t h v i e w o f s e l f as a woman was r e l a t i v e l y low i n i m p o r t a n c e (group i m p o r t a n c e rank of 12) and i n c e n t r a l i t y (7.5) and was o n l y m o d e r a t e l y and weakly r e l a t e d t o the o t h e r c o n s t r u c t s . T h i s would seem t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e s e women have a c h i e v e d a " c o g n i t i v e f e m i n i z a t i o n " of t h e i r o c c u p a t i o n a l a s p i r a t i o n s . They d i d not seem t o be conc e r n e d w i t h e n s u r i n g t h a t t h e i r b e h a v i o u r f e l l w i t h i n the " a p p r o p r i a t e " range o f b e h a v i o u r f o r women. What seemed t o be more i m p o r t a n t t o them was what t h e y would e n j o y d o i n g , what would s t i m u l a t e t h e i r g r owth, and what t h e y would be good a t as whole human b e i n g s . T h i s f i n d i n g i s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h r e c e n t r e f o r m u l a t i o n s of the o r i g i n s and development o f a sense o f f e m i n i n i t y o r m a s c u l i n i t y : The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of s e l f t h a t men and women use t o c o n f i r m t h e sense o f t h e i r own gender i d e n t i t y f o c u s on -•• 98 those a t t r i b u t e s and behaviours they manifest, value, or are c a l l e d upon to possess at t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r stage of l i f e development, and may oft e n be qui t e d i f f e r e n t than those they employ i n assessing o t h e r s , even of the same sex and age. (Spence & Sawin, Note 5, p. 41) Another i n t e r e s t i n g f i n d i n g i s that the construct of power (opportunity to i n f l u e n c e other people) i s f a i r l y low i n importance (importance rank of 11) and i n c e n t r a l i t y (7.5) and i s only moderately and weakly r e l a t e d to the most other constructs (not s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to a f f i l i a t i o n ) . This f i n d i n g would seem to i n d i c a t e that the opportunity to i n f l u e n c e other people i s not an important motivator f o r these women. This may be contrasted w i t h the r e s u l t s of H a r r e l l and Sta h l * s (1981) study which i n d i c a t e d that the dominant need f o r business executives i n t h e i r study was power and that the dominant need f o r graduate students was achievement. The present study used wording very s i m i l a r to that of H a r r e l l and S t a h l (1981) f o r power and achievement. However, H a r r e l l and S t a h l looked only at the needs f o r achievement, a f f i l i a t i o n , and power, and a l l but a few of the subjects i n t h e i r study were men. I t would be i n t e r e s t i n g to do a study s i m i l a r to the present one w i t h both women and men and to compare the two groups. One e x p l a n a t i o n which may account f o r the r e l a t i v e lack of importance of the opportunity to i n f l u e n c e other people to these women i s that they appear to be motivated p r i m a r i l y by needs f o r personal growth and achievement. They seem to be p l a c i n g primary emphasis on the development of s u c c e s s f u l careers because i t i s p e r s o n a l l y s a t i s f y i n g 99 f o r them to do so. L i p s (1981), i n her extensive d i s c u s s i o n of power, emphasized that the d e s i r e to i n f l u e n c e others i s only one aspect of the power motive. Another important aspect of power i s "the f e e l i n g that one i s having an impact on the environment" (p. 25). Had t h i s a d d i t i o n a l aspects of power a l s o been used as a c o n s t r u c t , i t i s p o s s i b l e that i t would have been ranked much higher i n importance. L i m i t a t i o n s Several f a c t o r s l i m i t the g e n e r a l i z a b i l i t y of these r e s u l t s and suggest a cautious and t e n t a t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the f i n d i n g s . The subject group was l i m i t e d i n age, number, and l e v e l of a b i l i t y . The m a j o r i t y of subjects were 22 years of age. Had the study been done on a group of business women of say age 35, the r e s u l t s may have been s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t . The 29 subjects who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h i s study were r e c r u i t e d on a volunteer basis from a pool of 45 p o t e n t i a l subjects w i t h grade averages of 72% and above. Borg and G a l l (1979) s t a t e that volunteers tend to be higher i n i n t e l l i g e n c e and need f o r achievement than non-volunteers. The r e s u l t s of t h i s study may have been a f f e c t e d by t h i s f a c t o r , i n that the 16 n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s may have been somewhat lower i n i n t e l l i g e n c e and a b i l i t y and lower i n need f o r achievement than the p a r t i c i p a n t s . The n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s may, then, have had lower career a s p i r a t i o n s and more c e n t r a l a s p i r a t i o n s f o r more t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e combinations. 100 The r e s u l t s , then, are l i m i t e d i n g e n e r a l i z a b i l i t y to very s i m i l a r groups of high a b i l i t y women w i t h i n the same age range, and p o s s i b l y to women i n business careers. The r e s u l t s are also l i m i t e d to the 12 r o l e s and 12 const r u c t s . s e l e c t e d f o r use i n t h i s study. Had d i f f e r e n t r o l e s and constructs been used or had the subjects s e l e c t e d t h e i r own r o l e s and c o n s t r u c t s , the p a t t e r n of r e s u l t s may have been s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t . Another l i m i t a t i o n i s the f a c t that t h i s was a study of perceptions and p r o j e c t i o n s i n t o the f u t u r e . I t was an examination of what subjects b e l i e v e d t h e i r l i v e s would be l i k e during the subsequent f i v e year p e r i o d . Common sense t e l l s us that the fu t u r e i s not always what one expects, so data r e l y i n g on such a n t i c i p a t i o n s has to be i n t e r p r e t e d a c c o r d i n g l y . In summary, the r e s u l t s of t h i s study must be regarded as ex p l o r a t o r y and t e n t a t i v e , bearing these l i m i t a t i o n s i n mind. I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r Theory and P r a c t i c e The r e s u l t s of t h i s e x p l o r a t o r y and d e s c r i p t i v e study add to the body of theory and research on women and career development. As discussed i n the previous s e c t i o n , the r e s u l t s of t h i s study have l i m i t e d g e n e r a l i z a b i l i t y to other groups of women. That i s , the r e s u l t s may be most s a f e l y g e n e r a l i z e d only to very s i m i l a r groups of women (e.g. s i m i l a r l e v e l and type of education, a b i l i t y l e v e l , age range). 101 A s t r e n g t h of t h i s study was that i t c o n t r o l l e d f o r a b i l i t y l e v e l and type and l e v e l of education and thus d i d not t r e a t a l l women as i f they were the same. This may be contrasted w i t h a study comparing female professors and s e c r e t a r i e s . Such a study would have ignored the important v a r i a b l e s of a b i l i t y l e v e l and s o c i a l m i l i e u . P r o f e s s o r s and s e c r e t a r i e s undoubtedly experience very d i f f e r e n t s o c i a l i z a t i o n processes as d i r e c t r e s u l t s of the career choices they have made. Their p o t e n t i a l s and a t t i t u d e s are thus developed i n v a s t l y d i f f e r e n t ways. To date, the overwhelming m a j o r i t y of stu d i e s on women's career development have tr e a t e d a l l women as i f they were the same. Now, perhaps more than any other time i n h i s t o r y , women are not a l l the same. With the e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g e f f e c t of the women's movement and i t ' s r e s u l t a n t increase i n o p p o r t u n i t i e s and experiences f o r women, more women, and the author suspects p a r t i c u l a r l y more women of high a b i l i t y , are expecting and planning f o r rewarding careers. For the group of women i n t h i s study and perhaps f o r others who, l i k e them, are on the le a d i n g edge of s o c i a l change, Super's (1963a) f o l l o w i n g comments are d i r e c t l y a p p l i c a b l e : In expressing a v o c a t i o n a l preference, a person puts i n t o occupational terminology h i s idea of the kind of person he i s ; t hat i n e n t e r i n g an occupation, he seeks to implement a concept of himself; that i n g e t t i n g e s t a b l i s h e d i n an occupation he achieves s e l f a c t u a l i z a t i o n . The occupation thus makes p o s s i b l e the p l a y i n g of a r o l e appropriate to the s e l f concept, (p. 1) 102 Change a l l the "he's", " h i s ' s " , and " h i m s e l f s " i n the above quotation to "she's", "her's", and " h e r s e l f s " and the r e s u l t i s a summary of what the women i n t h i s study seemed to be doing i n t h e i r expression of career choices. Personal growth appeared to be extremely important to them. I t was, i n f a c t , the most c e n t r a l construct around which a l l other constructs revolved. Personal growth was viewed p r i m a r i l y i n terms of career achievement, i n d i c a t i n g that career r o l e s are c e n t r a l to t h e i r s e l f concepts. These r e s u l t s are contrary to the tenets of previous t h e o r i e s of women's career development which purport that women's c e n t r a l r o l e s are those of wives, mothers and homemakers (Psathas, 1968; Super, 1957, Zytowski, 1969) and that c o n f l i c t i s experienced when women move out of these r o l e s and place more emphasis on careers ( H a l l & Gordon, 1973; Horner, 1970, 1972; O'Leary, 1974). These women c e r t a i n l y do not appear to fear success or to experience c o n f l i c t about t h e i r choices. They seem in s t e a d to be a c t i v e l y seeking success. Their chosen career r o l e s , which are r e l a t i v e l y n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s f o r women, are not viewed as gender i n a p p r o p r i a t e . The women i n t h i s study seemed to demonstrate a pa t t e r n of career a s p i r a t i o n s and values probably more s i m i l a r to the modal patterns f o r men of s i m i l a r a b i l i t y than to the patterns of other women. The r e s u l t s of t h i s study underscore the importance of monitoring c l o s e l y the current trends i n the a t t i t u d e s , e x p e c t a t i o n s , and attainments of women. In a d d i t i o n , the author suspects that a b i l i t y l e v e l and l i f e c hoices, w i t h t h e i r subsequent d i f f e r e n c e s i n s o c i a l 103 environment, have more e f f e c t on l e v e l of occupational a s p i r a t i o n than does gender. In a d d i t i o n to these t h e o r e t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s the r e s u l t s have p r a c t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r c o u n s e l l o r s and educators of high a b i l i t y women. The women of t h i s study may serve as r o l e models f o r other women of high a b i l i t y who are c u r r e n t l y underachieving. Information about the apparent c o n f l i c t - f r e e g o a l - s e t t i n g of the women i n t h i s study may encourage other women to s e t , and to b e l i e v e they can a t t a i n , higher career goals. As w e l l , the ease w i t h which these women seemed to set high career goals i s important updating i n f o r m a t i o n f o r c o u n s e l l o r s and educators who want to keep abreast of current trends and expectations i n order to provide up-to-date i n f o r m a t i o n to t h e i r c l i e n t s . The f i n d i n g s of t h i s study are con s i s t e n t w i t h the contemporary view of working and p r o f e s s i o n a l women which emerged during the 1970's. Yogev (1983), upon reviewing modern theory and research i n the f i e l d of the p e r s o n a l i t y of p r o f e s s i o n a l and working women, o f f e r e d a framework with which to understand the c o n t r a d i c t o r y f i n d i n g s i n t h i s f i e l d . The p a t t e r n of theory and research which emerged i n the 1960's viewed p r o f e s s i o n a l women as l a c k i n g f e m i n i n i t y , v i o l a t i n g sex r o l e s tereotypes, and having p e r s o n a l i t y disturbances. The contemporary view which surfaced during the 1970's during the continuing period of r a p i d change i n women's s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l r o l e s , views p r o f e s s i o n a l women i n a normative l i g h t and i s i n d i c a t i v e of the ra p i d change i n the a t t i t u d e s of and toward working and p r o f e s s i o n a l women. The r e s u l t s of the 104 present study would seem to lend support to the f o l l o w i n g statement: Data on career a s p i r a t i o n s imply that the career-marriage c o n f l i c t i s r a p i d l y d i m i n i s h i n g i n importance. I t s persi s t e n c e as an issue f o r d i s c u s s i o n i s more f u n c t i o n of educators and c o u n s e l l o r s than the perceptions of women themselves, e s p e c i a l l y of young women, (p. 224) Recommendations f o r Future Research The r e s u l t s of t h i s study suggest s e v e r a l d i r e c t i o n s f o r f u t u r e research. A f t e r compiling the r e s u l t s of t h i s study, the author, having been brought up to date i n her own a t t i t u d e s about and expectations f o r women's p o t e n t i a l and a c t u a l career development, was l e f t w i t h two questions. Given that these women seemed, r e f r e s h i n g l y , to c o n t r a d i c t the f i n d i n g s of previous research, one obvious yet simple question was, "How did they get t h i s way?". In a c u l t u r e which, u n t i l r e c e n t l y at l e a s t , has s o c i a l i z e d women to place primary importance on the r o l e s of w i f e , mother, and homemaker, these women have managed to chart r e l a t i v e l y n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l courses f o r themselves. The present study was exp l o r a t o r y i n nature and provided a b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of t h i s group of women. More d e t a i l e d , in-depth studies of t h i s population of women are suggested to develop a more comprehensive p i c t u r e of t h i s i n t e r e s t i n g p o p u l a t i o n . An i n t e r v i e w study, based on Flanagan's (1954) c r i t i c a l i n c i d e n t technique, w i t h subjects drawn from the same population of women would 105 -be valuable i n determining the c r i t i c a l events, event c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and personal c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which enhanced and i n h i b i t e d the s e l f - a c t u a l i z a t i o n and career development of women l i k e these. The e l u c i d a t i o n of f a c t o r s c r i t i c a l to the maximum development of the p o t e n t i a l of high a b i l i t y women who are a c t u a l l y using t h e i r a b i l i t i e s at a l e v e l commensurate with t h e i r p o t e n t i a l would be i n v a l u a b l e f o r co u n s e l l o r s and educators of other high a b i l i t y women who are c u r r e n t l y underachieving. A second question a r i s i n g from the r e s u l t s of the study was, again put very simply, " W i l l these women stay t h i s way?". At the time of the study they were q u i t e c l e a r l y p l a c i n g primary emphasis on the attainment of career goals. They a n t i c i p a t e d no problems or c o n f l i c t s i n the l i v i n g out of t h e i r most p r e f e r r e d l i f e plans. Follow-up studies done on t h i s same group of women at say f i v e year i n t e r v a l s could monitor t h e i r development and answer the f o l l o w i n g questions: (1) W i l l they a c t u a l l y a t t a i n the f i v e - y e a r career goals toward which they are aiming (or w i l l they i n f a c t a t t a i n higher goals!)? I f they do, what f a c t o r s enhanced and i n h i b i t e d t h i s goal attainment? (2) W i l l they continue to set and to a t t a i n high l e v e l career goals? What f a c t o r s enhance and i n h i b i t t h e i r c o n t i n u i n g high a s p i r a t i o n s and goal attainment? (3) W i l l r o l e c o n f l i c t increase when they a c t u a l l y enter the ro l e s planned f o r ? For example, f o r those planning to be simultaneously i n the r o l e s of p r o f e s s i o n a l , p a r t n e r / w i f e , and mother w i l l the experience of r o l e c o n f l i c t increase? 106 Previous research (Amatea & Cross, 1981; Gray, 1980, 1983) has i n d i c a t e d that women of other age cohorts who have a c t u a l l y combined the r o l e s of p r o f e s s i o n a l career woman, w i f e , and mother have experienced increased s tresses and s t r a i n s when attempting to f u l f i l l the demands of m u l t i p l e r o l e s . Of p a r t i c u l a r note are the f i n d i n g s of Rosenbloom ( c i t e d i n Hennig & Jardim, 1977) i n her study of women who were simultaneously married and employed i n middle management jobs. I t was found that " f o r these women coping w i t h the c o n f l i c t s which arose between t h e i r married r o l e and t h e i r job r o l e was the major energy absorber of t h e i r l i v e s " (p. 119). The m a j o r i t y of the women s t a t e d t h a t they had had t o decide which of the two r o l e s was to have p r i o r i t y and then they had had to l e a r n to l i v e w i t h that d e c i s i o n . Most of them thought they would e v e n t u a l l y have to give up one of the r o l e s s i n c e , i f they remained i n business they would t r y to advance as f a r as p o s s i b l e , and would not continue to have the time and energy to meet the demands of w i f e and worker. Rosenbloom's study was done i n 1965. Nearly twenty years have elapsed since then and times - a t t i t u d e s , e x pectations, o p p o r t u n i t i e s -have changed. W i l l the women who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the present study (and the women of t h e i r generation) continue to c o n t r a d i c t the f i n d i n g s of previous research by s u c c e s s f u l l y combining major l i f e r o l e s w i t h a minimum of c o n f l i c t ? I t would be very encouraging i f they do and would i n d i c a t e a very s i g n i f i c a n t s h i f t i n s o c i a l s anctions. I f they do combine m u l t i p l e r o l e s s u c c e s s f u l l y i t would be important to determine the combination of i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l f a c t o r s which c o n t r i b u t e to t h e i r success. 107 An important point to note here i s that r o l e c o n f l i c t i s an experience that may be viewed i n a number of d i f f e r e n t ways. Is i t a t t i t u d i n a l , or p s y c h o l o g i c a l , or i s i t a p r a c t i c a l problem of t r y i n g to meet the demands of m u l t i p l e r o l e s ? The p r a c t i c a l concerns that have u n t i l r e c e n t l y a f f e c t e d the m a j o r i t y of women attempting to combine a number of c h a l l e n g i n g r o l e s may be changing too. We do not know what the environment w i l l be l i k e f o r the generation of women represented i n t h i s study. As w e l l as having no a t t i t u d i n a l c o n f l i c t they may a l s o have more environmental supports (e.g. easy access to q u a l i t y daycares at t h e i r places of employment, f i n a n c i a l a b i l i t y to pay f o r housekeeping and meal preparation) and may thus not experience r o l e c o n f l i c t on a p r a c t i c a l l e v e l . (4) I f and when r o l e c o n f l i c t does a r i s e how do these women resolve the c o n f l i c t ? H a l l (1972) developed a model of coping w i t h r o l e c o n f l i c t based on the behaviour of c o l l e g e educated women. While h i s model i s very u s e f u l i n understanding r o l e c o n f l i c t and coping s t y l e i n general, he did not d i f f e r e n t i a t e a b i l i t y and performance l e v e l s of the women beyond the rough measure of c o l l e g e education. The p a r t i c u l a r c o n f l i c t s which a r i s e f o r high a b i l i t y women i n business w i l l very l i k e l y c a l l f o r s p e c i f i c coping s t r a t e g i e s not de a l t w i t h w i t h i n t h i s general model. Ward (Note 6) i s compiling the r e s u l t s of a study of women's i n t e r - and i n t r a - r o l e c o n f l i c t s . She i s using a c r i t i c a l i n c i d e n t method (Flanagan, 1954) to develop a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n scheme f o r both types of c o n f l i c t and f o r coping s t r a t e g i e s . Her sample included a 108 f a i r l y heterogeneous group of women. A s i m i l a r study conducted w i t h the present sample of high a b i l i t y p r o f e s s i o n a l women at a time when c o n f l i c t s are l i k e l y to a r i s e (e.g., w i t h i n the f i r s t year or so of marriage or c h i l d b i r t h when the woman i s simultaneously working i n a demanding career) could tease out the s p e c i a l c o n f l i c t s and coping s t y l e s of t h i s p a r t i c u l a r group. The f i n d i n g s of such a study would be u s e f u l f o r co u n s e l l o r s of high a b i l i t y p r o f e s s i o n a l women who are experiencing r o l e c o n f l i c t and are seeking e f f e c t i v e s t r a t e g i e s f o r c o n f l i c t r e s o l u t i o n . Other i n t e r e s t i n g and u s e f u l s t u d i e s which could f o l l o w from the present study i n c l u d e the f o l l o w i n g . Using the same or a very s i m i l a r methodology, a study could be conducted with a l l the students i n next year's graduating c l a s s i n Commerce. Several d i f f e r e n t comparisons (of a s p i r a t i o n l e v e l , a b i l i t y l e v e l , r o l e c o n s t r u a l and c o n f l i c t ) could be made. For example, the r e s u l t s obtained f o r women and f o r men could be compared. The author suspects that the patterns of a s p i r a t i o n s and values f o r the highest a s p i r i n g men and women would be very s i m i l a r . Studies s i m i l a r to the present study could be done on d i f f e r e n t groups of women to provide data w i t h which to compare the women of t h i s study w i t h other groups of women. For example, women who, when graduating from high school, e.g., four years e a r l i e r , had the same high marks could be compared. Such a study could compare the r o l e c o n s t r u a l and c o n f l i c t s of women who had pursued d i f f e r e n t l i f e s t y l e options since t h e i r graduation from high school. The d i f f e r e n t l i f e s t y l e or career options could i n c l u d e women who had entered and were now graduating from 109 d i f f e r e n t u n i v e r s i t y programs i n science, s o c i a l work, education, and nu r s i n g , women who had done shorter t r a i n i n g courses (e.g., lab t e c h n i c i a n , l e g a l s e c r e t a r y ) , and women who had become f u l l - t i m e homemakers. The r e s u l t s of these studies would f i l l a few more gaps i n our understanding of career development of women of high a b i l i t y . In c o n c l u s i o n , the r e s u l t s of t h i s study seem to have sketched a p i c t u r e of a group of strong, c o n f i d e n t , independent women who are career-committed and c o n f l i c t - f r e e i n t h e i r a t t i t u d e s toward t h e i r f i v e -year plans. They a n t i c i p a t e d no problems or c o n f l i c t s i n the l i v i n g out of t h e i r most p r e f e r r e d l i f e plans. I t may be speculated that c o n f l i c t w i l l be more l i k e l y to occur when they a c t u a l l y enter the r o l e s planned f o r . However, they may continue to plan f o r and to get what they want w i t h a minimum of c o n f l i c t . I t remains to be seen what w i l l happen with and f o r these women over the next f i v e , ten, or f i f t e e n years of t h e i r l i v e s . They are a very i n t e r e s t i n g group of women from which we have much to le a r n both now, as they set out w i t h t h e i r strong, independent, and confident a t t i t u d e s , and i n the future as they develop and maintain careers and personal l i v e s that are, h o p e f u l l y , an expression of a l l that they are and can be as g i f t e d human beings. 110 REFERENCE NOTES 1. Greenglass, E.R. Gender-role s o c i a l i z a t i o n and management: The Japanese example. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian P s y c h o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , Winnipeg, June 1983. 2. O f f i c e of I n s t i t u t i o n a l A n a l y s i s and Planning, U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia. Personal communication, J u l y 14, 1982. 3. Cochran, L.R. Framing career d e c i s i o n s : An i n t r o d u c t i o n to the career g r i d . Manuscript submitted f o r p u b l i c a t i o n , 1983. 4. Cochran, L.R. I n t e r p r e t i n g career judgements. In L.R. 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Sex-role, self-concept and per s i s t e n c e i n a t r a d i t i o n a l vs n o n t r a d i t i o n a l c o l l e g e major f o r women. J o u r n a l of Vo c a t i o n a l Behavior, 1981, 18, 219-227. 118 Yogev, S. J u d g i n g the p r o f e s s i o n a l woman: Changing r e s e a r c h , c h a n g i n g v a l u e s . P s y c h o l o g y o f Women Q u a r t e r l y , 1983, J_, 219-234. Zuckerman, M., & Wheeler, L. To d i s p e l f a n t a s i e s about f a n t a s y - b a s e d measure of f e a r o f s u c c e s s . P s y c h o l o g i c a l B u l l e t i n , 1975, 82, 932-946. Z y t o w s k i , D.G. Toward a t h e o r y o f c a r e e r development f o r women. P e r s o n n e l and Guidance J o u r n a l , 1969, 660-664. 119 APPENDIX A INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY My name i s Laura-Lynne McBain. I am a graduate student completing my M.A. i n Co u n s e l l i n g Psychology here at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia. In t h i s study I hope to l e a r n more about your experiences as women i n t h i s time of r a p i d l y changing r o l e s , e x p e c t a t i o n s , and o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r both women and men. As high a b i l i t y women who w i l l , w i t h i n the next year, be graduating and embarking on a new phase of your l i v e s , you can provide u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n about the process of career and l i f e planning. This i n f o r m a t i o n w i l l be h e l p f u l to educators and co u n s e l l o r s of t a l e n t e d women. In a d d i t i o n , as you complete t h i s q u e s t i o n n a i r e , you may discover some i n t e r e s t i n g things about yourselves and about where you are at i n terms of your own plans f o r the f u t u r e . Your p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h i s study would be very much appreciated. However, I want to make i t c l e a r that p a r t i c i p a t i o n i s t o t a l l y v o luntary and that a l l information gathered i s s t r i c t l y c o n f i d e n t i a l . You may withdraw from the study at any time or refuse to answer any questions. P a r t i c i p a t i o n or withdrawal w i l l i n no way a f f e c t your marks or your standing w i t h i n your program. I f you do choose to p a r t i c i p a t e , your 120 completion of the questionnaire w i l l be assumed to be your consent to do so. To ensure c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y please do not w r i t e your names on any of the forms. A l l necessary data w i l l be gathered today. The forms w i l l take approximately 60 minutes to complete. I w i l l go through the questionnaire w i t h you i n a step-by-step manner, g i v i n g you v e r b a l i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r each question or task as we come to i t . I w i l l ask you, f i r s t of a l l , f o r some b i o g r a p h i c a l data and f o r some i n f o r m a t i o n about your plans f o r the next f i v e years of your l i f e . Then I w i l l ask you to think about and to rank order, i n terms of personal importance to you, 12 s p e c i f i c r o l e s and 12 f a c t o r s which may i n f l u e n c e your r o l e choices. F i n a l l y , I w i l l ask you to rate each of the r o l e s i n terms of each of the f a c t o r s . This may seem somewhat ambiguous to you r i g h t now, but each task w i l l become c l e a r as I give you more d e t a i l e d i n s t r u c t i o n s . Although some i n d i v i d u a l r e s u l t s may be reported, the bulk of the r e s u l t s w i l l be reported on a group b a s i s . I f you would l i k e to know more about the r e s u l t s of t h i s study please contact me a f t e r Christmas and I w i l l provide you w i t h more in f o r m a t i o n . Thank you very much f o r your p a r t i c i p a t i o n . 121 APPENDIX B BIODEMOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONNAIRE B i o g r a p h i c a l Information 1. Do you plan to work i n the paid labour force i n the 5 years f o l l o w i n g your graduation? Yes No I f not, what do you plan to do instead? e.g., t r a v e l , s c h o o l , f u l l - t i m e homemaking, e t c . 2. I f you were to work during the 5 years f o l l o w i n g your graduation: a. What would be the highest l e v e l p r o f e s s i o n toward which you would aspire? Would t h i s be a f u l l - t i m e or a part-time p o s i t i o n ? b. What would be the lowest l e v e l p r o f e s s i o n toward which you would aspire? Would t h i s be a f u l l - t i m e or a part-time p o s i t i o n ? c. In what p r o f e s s i o n would you r e a l l y expect to work? Would t h i s be a f u l l - t i m e or a part-time p o s i t i o n ? 3. Do you have plans f o r graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l school w i t h i n the 5 years f o l l o w i n g your graduation? Yes No I f yes, which program do you plan to enter? I f no, which program would you consider e n t e r i n g i f _ you were to enter a graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l program? 122 4. Current m a r i t a l status S i n g l e Married Common-Law Divorce/Separated Other 5. W i t h i n the 5 years f o l l o w i n g my graduation I plan to be: Si n g l e Married Common-Law Divorce/Separated Other 6. Number of c h i l d r e n now Do you plan to have c h i l d r e n i n the next 5 years? Yes No I f yes, how many? 7. Your present age 8. Current program option 9. Place of B i r t h Number of years you've been a reside n t of Canada What et h n i c designation would you give y o u r s e l f ? Please i n d i c a t e one of the f o l l o w i n g : Anglo-European Canadian Chinese East Indian French Canadian Native Indian (Canadian) Other (please i n d i c a t e __) 123 APPENDIX C ROLE GRID Part A - RQIPS Importance . Community member/Citizen Daughter F r i e n d _ , Graduate Student Homemaker ______ Mother Partner/Wife _ Personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment P r o f e s s i o n of highest a s p i r a t i o n P r o f e s s i o n of lowest a s p i r a t i o n _ P r o f e s s i o n you expect to work i n . _ S i n g l e person Note: When rank ordering the r o l e s i n order of personal importance, l e t "1" i n d i c a t e most important and "12" l e a s t important. 124 P a r t B - Considerations The f o l l o w i n g i s a l i s t of 12 f a c t o r s which may be important c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n e v a l u a t i n g l i f e r o l e p o s s i b i l i t i e s . Please rank order them i n order of personal importance to you, w i t h "1" being most important and "12" being l e a s t important. Opportunity to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals Opportunity f o r personal growth Support & encouragement from partner Opportunity f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s Support & encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues, and/or teachers Enj oyment Opportunity to i n f l u e n c e other people Support and encouragement from parents and/or other f a m i l y members Knowing someone e l s e who does w e l l i n the r o l e L i k e l i h o o d of competence and success i n the r o l e Degree of f i t w i t h view of s e l f as a woman Wi l l i n g n e s s to i n v e s t time and energy i n the r o l e 125 Par t C - Rating Form As a I expect that I would have/be: More chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals More opportunity f o r personal growth More support & encouragement from partner More chance f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s More support and encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues and/or teachers More enjoyment More chance to in f l u e n c e others More support and encouragement from parents and/or other f a m i l y members L i k e l y to know someone who does t h i s w e l l More competent and su c c e s s f u l Closer to how I see myself as a woman More w i l l i n g to i n v e s t a l o t of time & energy Less chance to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals Less opportunity f o r personal growth Less support & encouragement from partner Less chance f o r warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s Less support and encouragement from f r i e n d s , colleagues and/or teachers Less enjoyment Less chance to in f l u e n c e others Less support and encouragement from parents and/or other f a m i l y members U n l i k e l y to know someone who does t h i s w e l l Less competent and su c c e s s f u l Farther away from how I see myself as a woman Less w i l l i n g to i n v e s t a l o t of time & energy Note: Each subject completed one of these forms f o r each of the 12 r o l e s . APPENDIX D 126 VERBAL INSTRUCTION FOR COMPLETION OF BIODEMOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONNAIRE AND ROLE GRID I . I n t r o d u c t i o n to the Study "Please turn to the face sheet of the questionnaire now as I begin reading." (Read face sheet of q u e s t i o n n a i r e , thus i n t r o d u c i n g the stu d y ) . I I . Biodemographical Questionnaire "Now please turn the page to the page e n t i t l e d B i o g r a p h i c a l Information. This s e c t i o n asks some very s p e c i f i c questions, some of which may re q u i r e a b i t of t h i n k i n g . I ' l l go through the questions one by one and ask you to answer them as I e x p l a i n them. Please stop me f o r c l a r i f i c a t i o n i f what I'm asking you to do doesn't make sense a f t e r I've completed the explanation f o r each question." "Question #1: DO YOU PLAN TO WORK IN THE PAID LABOUR FORCE IN THE FIVE YEARS FOLLOWING YOUR GRADUATION?" "Please put a check mark beside e i t h e r YES or NO ". 127 " I f you answered NO to t h i s question please answer the next question, which reads: IF NOT, WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO INSTEAD? e.g., TRAVEL, SCHOOL, FULL-TIME HOMEMAKING, e t c . " " I f you answered YES please j u s t wait a minute u n t i l I e x p l a i n the next question." Pause, then, "Is everyone ready to go onto question #2?" "Question #2 has three s e c t i o n s to i t — ( a ) , ( b ) , and ( c ) . What I w i l l ask you to do here i s to thi n k about the k i n d of paid work you are planning on doing during the f i v e year period immediately f o l l o w i n g your graduation from the B. Com. Program ( i . e . , t h i s Spring; f o r those not graduating t h i s Spring, the f i v e year period a f t e r May, 1983). Even i f you answered NO i n the previous question above, I'd s t i l l l i k e you to answer t h i s question i n the h y p o t h e t i c a l sense. Therefore, I have worded the question IF YOU WERE TO WORK DURING THE FIVE YEARS FOLLOWING YOUR GRADUATION ... WHAT WOULD BE THE HIGHEST LEVEL PROFESSION TOWARD WHICH YOU WOULD ASPIRE, e t c . . . . Before you w r i t e anything down, I'd l i k e you to take some time to think about your career options f o r the f i v e year p e r i o d f o l l o w i n g your graduation. A number of p o s s i b i l i t i e s may come to mind as you think about the range of p o s i t i o n s you'd consider working i n . I'd l i k e you t r y to d i v i d e your p r o f e s s i o n a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n t o three c a t e g o r i e s : (a) The highest l e v e l p r o f e s s i o n toward which you would a s p i r e , that i s , the highest l e v e l p o s i t i o n you'd aim f o r ; (b) The lowest l e v e l p r o f e s s i o n toward which you would a s p i r e , that i s , the lowest l e v e l p o s i t i o n you'd accept or s e t t l e f o r ; 128 (c) The pr o f e s s i o n or p o s i t i o n i n which you r e a l l y expect to work....during the f i v e years f o l l o w i n g your graduation. I'd l i k e you to be as s p e c i f i c as p o s s i b l e when answering t h i s question, that i s , I'd l i k e you to w r i t e down s p e c i f i c job t i t l e s and the general type of business or o r g a n i z a t i o n you'd l i k e to work i n . I'm not i n Commerce, but I'd l i k e to give you some examples of how I think you might answer t h i s question. For (a) WHAT WOULD BE HIGHEST LEVEL PROFESSION TOWARD WHICH YOU WOULD ASPIRE?, someone who wanted to work i n banking might answer " r e g i o n a l manager, bank" or " d i r e c t o r of r e t a i l banking f o r Southwestern B.C.". For (b) WHAT WOULD BE THE LOWEST LEVEL PROFESSION TOWARD WHICH YOU WOULD ASPIRE?, they might answer "loans manager, bank"; and f o r (c) IN WHAT PROFESSION WOULD YOU REALLY EXPECT TO WORK? they might answer "branch manager, bank". Someone wanting to work i n the r e t a i l area might say that the highest l e v e l p o s i t i o n they'd aim f o r i n f i v e years i s "manager ( f o r Western Canada) of department store l a d i e s ' wear department"; the lowest l e v e l p o s i t i o n they'd accept or s e t t l e f o r would be " l a d i e s wear department manager, department s t o r e " ; and the p o s i t i o n they r e a l l y expect to work i n i s "manager of l a d i e s wear f o r the Vancouver area". These are j u s t examples. I want you to think about and to w r i t e down what f i t s f o r you p e r s o n a l l y . In a d d i t i o n , f o r each of parts ( a ) , ( b ) , and (c) please place a check mark beside e i t h e r f u l l - t i m e or part-time i n answer to the question WOULD THIS BE A FULL-TIME . OR PART-TIME POSITION? Please take some time now to thi n k about and to record your answers to t h i s question." A l l o w a few minutes f o r Ss to complete t h i s question i n d i v i d u a l l y . Check at 129 i n t e r v a l s to be sure people aren't having problems completing t h i s q u e stion. Give a one minute warning p r i o r to moving onto question / /3 , then, "O.K., I'd l i k e to move on to question #3 now." "Question #3 reads, DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL WITHIN THE FIVE YEARS FOLLOWING YOUR GRADUATION? Please place a check mark beside e i t h e r YES or NO , then t u r n the page to the second part of Question #3. I f you are i n Law, mark YES (already i n a program). IF you answered YES to the f i r s t part of Question #3, please w r i t e i n the space provided the name of the graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l program you plan to enter. IF you answered NO the f i r s t part of Question #3, please w r i t e i n the space provided the name of the PROGRAM YOU WOULD CONSIDER ENTERING IF YOU WERE TO ENTER A GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM during the f i v e years f o l l o w i n g your graduation from your current undergraduate program. Please complete Question #3 now. Pause, then, "O.K., I'd l i k e to move on to Question #4 now." "For Question #4, CURRENT MARITAL STATUS, please place a check mark i n the appropriate space a f t e r SINGLE, MARRIED, DIVORCED/SEPARATED, COMMON-LAW, OR OTHER." Pause, then: "Again, f o r Question #5, please place a check mark i n the appropriate space i n answer to the question WITHIN THE 5 YEARS FOLLOWING MY GRADUATION I PLAN TO BE — SINGLE, MARRIED, DIVORCED/SEPARATED, COMMON-LAW, or OTHER." Pause, then: 130 "For Question #6, please w r i t e i n the space provided, the NUMBER OF CHILDREN (you have) NOW. Then please check e i t h e r YES or NO i n response to the question, DO YOU PLAN TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? I f you answered YES to t h i s question please w r i t e i n the number of c h i l d r e n you plan to have during the next f i v e years." "Question #7. Please w r i t e YOUR PRESENT AGE i n the space provided." "Question #8. CURRENT PROGRAM OPTION. Please enter i n the space provided the program option you are i n i n the B. Com. program." (Also have people w r i t e i n expected date of graduation from current program.) "Question #9." Read o f f of q u e s t i o n n a i r e . Pause b r i e f l y , then, "When you have completed t h i s question please turn the page to Part A -Roles." I I I . Role G r i d Part A - Roles. While you're f i l l i n g out t h i s page I'd l i k e you to t r y to imagine your l i f e during the f i v e years f o l l o w i n g t h i s Spring. There are a number of r o l e s which you may be co n s i d e r i n g as you th i n k ahead to where y o u ' l l be, who y o u ' l l be, what y o u ' l l be doing, and who y o u ' l l be doing i t w i t h . On t h i s page I have l i s t e d , i n a l p h a b e t i c a l order, 12 r o l e s which are p o s s i b l e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . I'm 131 going to b r i e f l y describe each of the r o l e s and have you w r i t e i n your own personal examples f o r s i x of them. I am aware that you may not choose to be i n a l l of these r o l e s i n the f i v e years f o l l o w i n g your graduation, but I'd l i k e to know something about how important each of these r o l e s i s to you." "The f i r s t r o l e l i s t e d i s COMMUNITY MEMBER or CITIZEN. This r o l e i n c l u d e s a broad range of a c t i v i t i e s . Some s p e c i f i c examples are neighbour, member of a p o l i t i c a l party such as the NDP, member of a s p e c i f i c a n t i n u c l e a r group, s o f t b a l l coach, president of a student body, volunteer worker f o r a s p e c i f i c o r g a n i z a t i o n . Please take a minute to th i n k about one s p e c i f i c a c t i v i t y that f i t s i n t o t h i s category and i s pe r s o n a l l y relevant to you. When you have thought of one, w r i t e i t down i n the space provided." Pause to give people time to t h i n k and w r i t e , then: "Next i s DAUGHTER. This r o l e includes a l l that you t h i n k , f e e l and do as a daughter. When t h i n k i n g about t h i s r o l e i t may help to think about your r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h your parents — what you do w i t h them; how you f e e l when you're w i t h them, e t c . " "The r o l e of FRIEND incl u d e s a l l that you do as a f r i e n d . When t h i n k i n g about t h i s r o l e f o r y o u r s e l f i t may help to think about your most important f r i e n d and what you do wi t h that person, how you f e e l when you're w i t h that person, and so on." "For the r o l e of GRADUATE STUDENT I'd l i k e you to use as your personal example the name of the graduate or p r o f e s s i o n a l program you recorded i n the B i o g r a p h i c a l Information Questionnaire. For example, i f 132 you wrote down that you were con s i d e r i n g the Master of Science i n Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n program, your graduate student r o l e would be M.Sc. Student. Please take some time now to w r i t e i n your s p e c i f i c graduate student r o l e i n the space provided." "HOMEMAKER includes a l l the a c t i v i t i e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h running a home, e.g., a l l types of housework, arranging f o r r e p a i r s , e t c . , b a s i c a l l y anything that you would do as a homemaker." "MOTHER includes a l l that you would t h i n k , f e e l , and do as a mother, e.g., play w i t h your c h i l d r e n , worry about them when they get home l a t e , help them with schoolwork, look a f t e r a c h i l d when he or she i s s i c k , e t c . " "PARTNER/WIFE includes a l l that you would do and be as a wife or primary partner, e.g., a l l that you would do or be i f you were l e g a l l y married or l i v i n g w i t h a partner i n a common-law marriage." "PERSONAL WELL-BEING AND ENJOYMENT i s a c t u a l l y a whole category of a c t i v i t i e s which may include hobbies (e.g., antique c o l l e c t o r ) , personal growth a c t i v i t i e s (e.g., j o u r n a l w r i t e r , m e d i t a t o r ) , sports (e.g., tennis p l a y e r ) , s o c i a l i z i n g (e.g., party-goer, dancer). Take a few minutes to th i n k about what you do f o r personal w e l l - b e i n g and enjoyment and then w r i t e down the one most important a c t i v i t y that you do i n t h i s category." "The next three r o l e s are PROFESSION OF HIGHEST ASPIRATION, PROFESSION OF LOWEST APIRATION, and PROFESSION YOU EXPECT TO WORK IN. For these I'd l i k e you to use the jobs i d e n t i f i e d i n the B i o g r a p h i c a l Information Questionnaire. Please take a minute now to t r a n s f e r the job 133 t i t l e s (from question #2 i n B i o g r a p h i c a l Information) to the spaces to the r i g h t of these three p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s . " "The r o l e of SINGLE PERSON includes a l l that you would be or do as a s i n g l e person. For the purpose of t h i s study, a s i n g l e person i s someone who i s not l e g a l l y married or l i v i n g w i t h a primary partner i n a common-law marriage." "Now I would l i k e you to think about the next f i v e years of your l i f e and to consider how important each of these 12 s p e c i f i c r o l e s w i l l be to you during t h i s f i v e - y e a r p e r i o d . That i s , i f everything works out the way you want i t t o , what w i l l be the most and l e a s t important r o l e s to you? Take some time now to rank order these r o l e s i n order of personal importance to you, with "1" being most important and "12" being l e a s t important. This may be one of the most d i f f i c u l t s e c t i o n s to complete as i t ' s often very hard to choose between r o l e s , e s p e c i a l l y i f s e v e r a l are very important. F e e l free to experiment w i t h t h i s a b i t — you may need to use your erasers to t r y out d i f f e r e n t orderings." A l l o w a few minutes f o r people to complete t h i s task. Check at i n t e r v a l s to be sure everyone i s able to do i t . Give a one minute warning p r i o r to moving on to next s e c t i o n , then, "Please turn the page now, to Part B -Con s i d e r a t i o n s . " P a r t B - Con s i d e r a t i o n s . "The f o l l o w i n g i s a l i s t of 12 f a c t o r s which may be important c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n e v a l u a t i n g l i f e r o l e p o s s i b i l i t i e s . Please rank order them i n order of personal importance to you, w i t h "1" being most important and "12" being l e a s t important. The t h i r d c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s "support & encouragement from partner" -134 partner here means spouse, not business partner. Again, you may f i n d i t d i f f i c u l t to rank order these e s p e c i a l l y i f s e v e r a l seem very important. However, please take some time now to give each of these c o n s i d e r a t i o n s a separate numerical ranking from 1 to 12." Pause to all o w subjects time to complete t h i s task. Check at i n t e r v a l s to be sure no one i s stuck. Give a one minute warning p r i o r to moving on to Pa r t C. Pa r t C - Rat i n g Form. "Now please turn to the f i r s t page of P a r t C. This i s the l a s t s e c t i o n of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . Part C i s b a s i c a l l y 12 i d e n t i c a l pages. At the top of each page i s a sentence stem reading, "AS A I EXPECT THAT I WOULD HAVE/BE". Into each of these blank spaces I w i l l ask you to t r a n s f e r your personal examples of each of the r o l e s as l i s t e d i n Part A - Roles. For example, f o r the f i r s t r o l e of COMMUNITY MEMBER/CITIZEN, i f you had l i s t e d soccer coach as your personal example of t h i s r o l e you would enter the words soccer coach i n the blank space on the f i r s t page of Part C. The sentence stem would then read: AS A soccer coach I EXPECT THAT I WOULD HAVE/BE.... Please r e f e r back to Part A - Roles now to check what your personal example f o r COMMUNITY MEMBER/CITIZEN was, and then w r i t e t h i s example i n the blank space on the f i r s t page of Part C." Pause w h i l e subjects complete t h i s t a s k , then: "The next two pages are f o r the r o l e s of DAUGHTER and FRIEND. These have both been typed i n f o r you, so j u s t f l i p past these pages f o r now. The f o u r t h page i s f o r the r o l e of GRADUATE STUDENT. Please w r i t e i n your personal example now." Pause while Ss complete t h i s t a s k , then, "The next three pages are f o r the 135 r o l e s of HOMEMAKER, MOTHER, and PARTNER/WIFE. These have been typed i n f o r you, so j u s t f l i p past these pages f o r now." Check to be sure Ss are t u r n i n g pages a p p r o p r i a t e l y , then, "The next page i s f o r the PERSONAL WELL-BEING AND ENJOYMENT ROLE. Please w r i t e i n your personal example now." Pause w i l l Ss complete t h i s t a s k , then, "The next three pages are f o r the three p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s . Please t r a n s f e r i n t o these blank spaces the job t i t l e s of your PROFESSION OF HIGHEST ASPIRATION, PROFESSION OF LOWEST ASPIRATION, and the PROFESSION YOU EXPECT TO WORK IN." Pause while Ss complete t h i s t a s k , then, " F i n a l l y , the l a s t page of Part C i s f o r the r o l e of SINGLE PERSON and t h i s has been typed i n fo r you." "Please turn back to the f i r s t page of Part C now. The f i n a l task I ' l l be asking you to complete i s to evaluate or rate each of the 12 r o l e s according to each of 12 c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . This may seem kind of complicated and f r u s t r a t i n g at f i r s t , but I ' l l ask you to bear w i t h me as I e x p l a i n i t to you. I t may take longer to complete the f i r s t couple of pages but y o u ' l l speed up as you get more p r a c t i s e . " "Each of the considerations i n Part B - Considerations has been placed on a continuum i n Part C f o r the purpose of r a t i n g . For example, OPPORTUNITY TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS may be seen on a continuum w i t h MORE CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS on one end of the continuum and LESS CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS on the other end of the continuum. For a l l of the con s i d e r a t i o n s the MORE end of the continum i s on the l e f t - h a n d side of the page, and the LESS end of the continuum i s on the right-hand side of the page. I f you were r a t i n g the 136 r o l e of soccer coach and you f e l t that t h i s r o l e provided you w i t h many o p p o r t u n i t i e s to accomplish c h a l l e n g i n g goals you would c i r c l e the dot under VERY on the l e f t - h a n d side of the page and c l o s e s t to the words MORE CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS. I f t h i s r o l e provided l i t t l e chance f o r accomplishing c h a l l e n g i n g goals you would c i r c l e the dot under VERY on the right-hand side of the page and c l o s e s t to the words LESS CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS. I f the r o l e seems i n between i n terms of accomplishing c h a l l e n g i n g goals, c i r c l e the dot i n the middle, under the word INBETWEEN. S i m i l a r l y , i f the r o l e seems only s l i g h t l y to one end of the continuum or the other, c i r c l e the appropriate dot under SOMEWHAT." "In completing t h i s task i t may help you to read the sentence stem f i r s t and then c i r c l e the appropriate dot. For example, when r a t i n g the r o l e of soccer coach, f i r s t read to y o u r s e l f : "AS A soccer coach I EXPECT THAT I WOULD HAVE .... MORE CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS ... LESS CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH CHALLENGING GOALS." Then c i r c l e the appropriate dot. The word HAVE works f o r the f i r s t e ight c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , then the word BE i s most app r o p r i a t e . For example, f o r the n i n t h c o n s i d e r a t i o n the sentence would read, AS A soccer coach I EXPECT THAT I WOULD BE .... LIKELY TO KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES THIS WELL .... UNLIKELY TO KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES THIS WELL. For the tenth c o n s i d e r a t i o n , the sentence would read, AS A soccer coach I EXPECT THAT I WOULD BE .... MORE COMPETENT AND SUCCESSFUL .... LESS COMPETENT AND SUCCESSFUL." "I want to emphasize that each page of Part C i s t o t a l l y separate 137 from the r e s t of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . I want you to evaluate each r o l e s eparately as an e n t i t y unto i t s e l f , that i s , you are not comparing r o l e s here — you are e v a l u a t i n g each r o l e , by i t s e l f , according to each of the c o n s i d e r a t i o n s on the page. A l s o , please judge each r o l e f o r y o u r s e l f — how you would be i f you were i n t h i s r o l e i n the f i v e years f o l l o w i n g t h i s Spring." "Please complete t h i s s e c t i o n now. F e e l f r e e to ask me f o r c l a r i f i c a t i o n i f you get stuck while you're doing i t . Please l e t me know when you get to the r o l e of SINGLE PERSON. There i s a c o m p l i c a t i o n w i t h one of the c o n s i d e r a t i o n s that 1111 need to e x p l a i n when you get to i t . " Pause and a l l o w time f o r Ss to complete t h i s task. A s s i s t where necessary. When enough people a r r i v e at SINGLE PERSON read these i n s t r u c t i o n s : "Rating the r o l e of s i n g l e person according to 'amount of support and encouragement from partner' i s somewhat complicated as i t ' s a b i t complex to imagine being both a s i n g l e person and a partner or w i f e at the same time. In doing t h i s item, consider partner to be a current husband/partner, and ex-husband/partner, or a husband/partner-to-be. Please j u s t make a note of how you looked at t h i s one, e.g., by c r o s s i n g out the word partner and w r i t i n g i n ex-husband, f i a n c e , or whatever you t h i n k the case may be f o r you i n f i v e years time. I congratulate you f o r being able to bend your minds around t h i s one! When you've f i n i s h e d please hand your questionnaires and p e n c i l s i n to me. I'd love to d i s c u s s your r e a c t i o n s to the questionnaire a f t e r everyone i s f i n i s h e d , 138 i f anyone i s i n t e r e s t e d i n doing t h a t . Thank-you very much f o r your p a r t i c i p a t i o n . " c OJ 3 Most Important Construct o QJ CO U «H CL, QJ QJ J-t 4-1 4 J P-l CO CO a cjj CO 00 1-1 * H o a a. o OS ^ 5 U OJ c 4-1 1J CO PM I CO C o CO VJ OJ CM 3 cO a o u OJ 3 o •J QJ CO B QJ B O CO 60 e o CO QJ P o s i t i v e C h a r a c t e r i s t i c CN CO VO r ^ 00 o r-i CN t-t Negative Contrast 1. More competent & successful 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 Less competent & successful 2. More chance to accomplish challenging goals 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 -1 1 -1 0 0 Less chance to accomplish challenging goals 3. More personal growth 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 -1 0 1 Less personal growth A. Closer to view of se l f as a woman 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 -2 0 0 Farther away from view of s e l f as a woman 5. More partner support 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 -2 -1 -1 0 Less partner support 6. More enjoyment 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 -2 0 0 -1 0 Less enjoyment 7. More opportunity to influence others 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 -1 2 -2 0 0 Less opportunity to influence others 8. More parent/family support 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 -2 -1 0 0 Less parent/family support 9. More f r i e n d , colleague support 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 -1 0 0 0 Less f r i e n d , colleague support 10. More chance for warm, fr i e n d l y relations 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 Less chance for warm, f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s 11. More w i l l i n g to invest time and energy 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 -1 -2 -2 0 0 Less w i l l i n g to invest time and energy 12. Li k e l y to know someone who does this well 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 1 1 Unlikely to know someone who does t h i s well Least Important Construct 18 19 18 5 6 6 4 -7 -2 -9 -1 2 Role Sums3 aEach role sum i s obtained by t o t a l l i n g the numbers i n each column.