Steering Women out of Engineering

Career Assessment Tools as a Technology of Self-Expressive Segregation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2292196
AutoresM Blair-Loy (0000-0002-3447-9924, University of California San Diego, autor de correspondencia), Olga Mayorova (0000-0001-5725-0009, University of California San Diego), Olga V Mayorova (University of California San Diego), Rana Hegazy (0000-0003-2646-9950, University of California San Diego), Olivia A Graeve (0000-0003-3599-0502, University of California San Diego), Pamela Cosman (0000-0002-4012-0176, University of California San Diego)
Año2024
Volumen94
Número4
Páginas830-853
Fecha de publicación2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociological Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soin.12612
OpenAlexW4397039691
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas29

Previous research has shown that gendered societal expectations are adopted by students as seemingly personal and individualistic self-assessments and preferences, which then lead to gender-normative choices about college majors and careers. This study examines one seemingly objective mechanism, which millions use each year for guidance on college majors and careers. We examine two Career Assessment Tools (CATs) with deep institutional presence: O*NET and Traitify. Analyzing an exemplar case of engineering majors, we find that CATs are less likely to recommend engineering occupations to women, even after controlling for GPA, satisfaction with the major, and planned persistence. Even in our sample of engineering majors, CATs apparently use small differences in students' gender-normative self-expressive preferences to drive sharply different occupational recommendations, thereby solidifying pathways toward gender-segregated occupations and reinforcing men's dominance of engineering. If women similar to our study participants take CATs, they are likely to be steered away from engineering occupations or majors. More broadly, CATs illustrate how taken-for-granted, seemingly neutral technologies can reinforce gender segregation

Engineering ethics · Sociology · Career Development and Diversity · Engineering · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Studies · Higher Education and Employability