Like Parent, Like Child? Parent-Child Consistency as a Driver of Gender-Inequality in Occupations and Career and Family Roles Across Countries
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24237146 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joyce J Endendijk (0000-0001-8149-912X), Melissa Vink (0000-0001-8393-368X), Jiefeng Ying (0009-0008-9259-880X), Faye Chadwick-Brown (0009-0002-4124-2498), Katharina Block (0000-0003-0560-4148) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication date | 2026-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sex Roles (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0360-0025 • E-ISSN: 1573-2762 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11199-026-01699-2 |
| OpenAlex | W7222800521 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
Worldwide there is persistent gender inequality in the occupational and domestic spheres, with women being underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields and men being less involved in HEED (health care, elementary education, domestic sphere). This preregistered cross-cultural study examined the role of parents in the intergenerational transmission of these gender inequalities to their young adult children. Specifically, we examined whether parents’ division of labor and occupations predicted young adults’ career and family orientation and interest in HEED and STEM careers, and whether associations are different depending on parent and child gender. This study further investigated whether these associations are moderated by country-level variation in collectivism, the value of personal autonomy, gender equality, and gender stereotypes. We used a large dataset with 17,629 young adults (aged 17–25, 63% women) from 44 countries. Results showed that, across countries, a more traditional division of paid labor between one’s parents (i.e., father > mother) was associated with a more gender-typical orientation to family for young adult women. Unexpectedly, having a mother with a HEED job was related to a greater interest in HEED careers and a greater orientation to family vs. career for both young adult men and women. Societal indicators of collectivism, personal autonomy, gender equality, and gender stereotypes did not moderate any of the associations. Thus, gender inequalities in division of labor may be transmitted from parents to their children, similarly across different countries, whereas this process seemed less relevant for explaining gender segregation in STEM and HEED careers.
Collectivism · cross-cultural comparison · Division of labor · family roles · Gender equality · Gender inequality · gender stereotypes · individual autonomy · intergenerational transmission · STEM careers · Young adults · Career Development and Diversity · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Work-Family Balance Challenges
Education at a Glance 2023
A truly global, non-Weird examination of collectivism
Biosocial Construction of Sex Differences and Similarities in Behavior
A Goal Congruity Model of Role Entry, Engagement, and Exit
Gender stereotypes can explain the gender-equality paradox
He is a Stud, She is a Slut! A Meta-Analysis on the Continued Existence of Sexual Double Standards
Women’s representation in science predicts national gender-science stereotypes
Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models
Sufficient Sample Sizes for Multilevel Modeling
Social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation.
On Happiness and Human Potentials
Gender Stereotypes About Career and Family Are Stronger in More Economically Developed Countries and Can Explain the Gender Equality Paradox
Contextualizing career development
Multilevel Analysis
Nurse or Mechanic? The Role of Parental Socialization and Children's Personality in the Formation of Sex-Typed Occupational Aspirations
The role of parents’ beliefs in students’ motivation, achievement, and choices in the STEM domain
Mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency
Do women's empowerment and self-expression values change adolescents' gendered occupational expectations? Longitudinal evidence against the gender-equality paradox from 26 European countries
Low-income minority mothers’ and fathers’ reading and children's interest
Men Want Equality, But Women Don't Expect It
Traditionality of children's interests as related to their parents' gender stereotypes and traditionality of occupations
Harder Won and Easier Lost? Testing the Double Standard in Gender Rules in 62 Countries
The role of gender in team collaboration and performance
Trends in Occupational Segregation by Gender 1970–2009
The role of parents in predicting gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards Heed occupations and gender‐stereotypic interest in these careers
The gender gap in the care economy is larger in highly developed countries
Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition
Emerging adulthood
Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others
Working Hard and Hardly Working
| Highly cited | No |
|---|