The Process Of Career Choice For Women And Men
Abstract
This paper aims to analyse the process of career choice according to gender, as well as how it influences, creates obstacles or opportunities, changes mentalities, attitudes and decisions in the professional path. Although society is constantly expanding and progressing, gender stereotypes about whether or not to choose a career still make their presence felt in often overwhelming proportions. Often, and equally, unfortunately, individual errors of judgment give rise to distorted perceptions which easily propagate in the collectivises. Most of the time, they cancel out a person’s abilities, skills, knowledge, desires and hopes to become a professional in a particular field. They even go so far as to irrevocably destroy the chance of professional fulfilment and quell any human aspiration to make a difference. Women’s career paths often differ from men’s, but what is fundamental for each of them is choice. The development of professional potential for both women and men is achieved either on the background of unconditional support or from the ardour of demonstrating that they can achieve what they are aiming for. Ultimately, what matters to all of us is the ability to remain who we are in a world that is constantly trying to change us and the ability to believe in us, despite the multitude of external factors, irrelevant arguments and opinions arising from inexperience. Personal beliefs should not be transformed into cultural beliefs about what a person might or may not achieve in a particular field, nor into collective assessments that may affect personal evaluations.
Keywords: Career choice process, factors, gender, prejudice, stereotypes
Introduction
The process of choosing a career is a difficult one, sprinkled with satisfaction and dissatisfaction, with progress and stagnation, with evolution and regression, with failures and success, but constantly fueled by the desire to achieve the goals proposed. The literature makes it clear that choosing a career involves identifying a vocation that is often based on a combination of factors, such as: parental guidance, professional guidance, identification with certain models, representative figures, identification with certain jobs, search for specific training and development opportunities, cultivation of personal interests and exposure to tests, profiles designed to identify the skills possessed (Vandenbos & American Psychological Association, 2015).
Moreover, it is considered that in the wise identification of a vocation that can be the basis of a fulfilling career there are three essential dimensions: the knowledge and understanding of oneself - of skills, abilities, interests, aspirations, knowledge, resources and limits, as well as reasoning, how they „came into being”; knowledge and understanding of the variety of the professional environment - requirements, responsibilities, advantages and disadvantages, ways of promoting, achieving success, compensation, benefits and opportunities; knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the two (Parsons, 1909).
In terms of gender differences in career choices, recent studies (González et al., 2019) have shown that women, on average, are 30% less likely to be called to a job interview compared to men, although women are less likely to be called to a job interview than men although they have the same characteristics as the job they want. The study of 1372 people found that more than 10,9% of male candidates had a job interview compared to women, where the percentage was only 7,7%. A woman’s chances of being called for a job interview also decrease by up to 23,5% when she doesn’t have a child, compared to a man who is found in the same position. In this sense, gender bias often arises in relation to productivity rather than the collective mind. A defining aspect of the study presented is that gender discrimination decreases only when women who want to get a job are not only qualified for it, but overqualified, that is, they bring with them characteristic features in addition to what is commonly asked of them.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) also provides evidence that women have to overcome more obstacles than men in trying to get a job and that, most of the time, women are forced to overcome more obstacles than men in trying to get a job, they end up working in vulnerable conditions and occupying low-quality jobs. Globally, the employment rate of women is just below 47%, while that of men is 72%. In the survey of all countries of the world, the gap also reaches 50 percentage points, but not just 25 as in the report mentioned (ILO, 2017).
In Europe, things are a little better, according to Eurostat (European Union), because a 2020 study shows that while the male employment rate is still higher (77,2%), exceeding that of women (66,2%), we are only dealing with a difference of 11,0 percentage points. Both globally and at European level, companies with a profile in the field are trying to develop new and new strategies each year to significantly reduce the gap between women and men, in terms of professional achievement and access to a better life (Gender Statistics, 2017).
Problem Statement
Over time, career choice has become a priority for most people in developed or developing countries. Choosing a career is both an option and a responsibility, and the freedom to shape the professional path has taken on a different shade in today’s society compared to the past. Professional development is almost never easy or coherent, it cannot be guaranteed and does not always go through the set stages. The process of choosing a career has a decisive impact on the well-being of the individual, the family or the community to which he is a part, and precisely for this reason, continuous concern for the subject is achieved in an attempt to identify the degree to which the individual and groups receive sufficient support and freedom in career guidance and training (Blustein & Ellis, 2000).
In this regard, numerous theories and models have been outlined to explain from various perspectives the process of career choice and its defining elements, but we will focus our attention on the best known of them (Ginige et al., 2007).
Donald Super Model
Career development is a complex process that takes place throughout life, and professional activity brings with it the existence of several roles that each person fulfils. Donald's model only reflects the course of life as most people know it. In this sense, his theory presents three fundamental dimensions: the dynamics of life, the space of life, and the concept of self. In turn, they are based on 14 principles, as follows:
- There are a number of differences between people in terms of: abilities, personality, needs, values, interests and conceptions about oneself;
- Judging by these differences, people have skills for a number of occupations, professions;
- Each profession requires specific skills and personality traits;
- The contexts in which people live and end up working, along with their self-conceptions, change over time and with the accumulation of more experience. However, the conception of one’s own person tends to remain faithful with age and to determine a certain coherence, fluency regarding the vocation and the necessary skills;
- Change is possible due to the existence of certain stages of life expressed by the author as stages of: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and decline;
- The professional level reached, its presence and intensity is characterized by stability given: socio-economic status of the family, intellectual capacity, education, skills, personality traits, maturity and openness to opportunities;
- Professional success along with personal success is determined by the person’s capacity for development and adaptability to situations. Thus, career maturity consists of the existence of physical and psycho-social particularities of the person;
- The maturity of the career is not uniform, and its advancement is customized on a case-by-case basis;
- Career development is facilitated by the maturation and stable maintenance of personal characteristics and self-image;
- The process of career development is inseparable from that of self-knowledge and personal development;
- The compromise between individual and social factors is what the author calls: learning through feedback;
- Both personal and professional satisfaction depend on the environments and groups to which the person belongs, and they validate, accept and recognize their skills, needs, values, principles, aspirations, and values. self-conception, world and life conception, and personality;
- Professional satisfaction is directly proportional to the way in which the person manages to integrate his self-image;
- The profession is a core element in the organization of personality for most people.
The essential concepts of Donald Super’s theory (life dynamics, space of life and self-conception) provide even more clarity to the process of career choice and that is why it is necessary to expose them.
- The dynamics of life
The process of choosing a career is a process that takes place throughout life and it encompasses both psychosocial characteristics and professional opportunities. A career is born by confronting various tasks that a person wants to cope with in such a way that he or she can fulfil his or her human potential and become what he or she dreams of. In this regard, the author identified certain tasks with which people make contact and translated them into what he called - the stages and sub stages of career development. According to their chronological development, the stages are: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and decline.
- The space of life
Donald Super was of the opinion that when people simultaneously combine the roles that they do nothing but reflect their lifestyle, and when they combine them sequentially, they expose this space of life, along with the cycles involved. Thus, he concluded that there are nine major roles that people fulfill throughout their lives: son/daughter; student; person in their free time; citizen; employee; husband/wife (partner/partner); householder; father and pensioner. In most situations, all of these roles manifest themselves in specific contexts and places: at home, at studies, at work or in the community to which they belong. The difficulty of successfully fulfilling roles derives from the fact that they interact constantly, create conflicts, frustrate the person and lead him to the point where he has gaps in expression and low capacities to realize his own potential. On the other hand, when the roles are harmoniously intertwined, they lead to the creation of a favorable environment, secure both for the expression of the person and for the well-being of his life.
- The concept of self
In the author’s view, self-conception refers to the image that the person has about oneself in a specific situation, role or position, both in terms of fulfilling certain tasks, requirements, and in terms of social relations. The development of self-conception is decisively influenced by the relationship: personal factors and situational factors. The exposed report is reflected in the roles that the person performs, as well as in the decision-making process regarding the career, so that the decisions come to evoke the person’s efforts to translate the self-concept into career notions (Super, 1953).
Anne Roe Theory
According to Anne Roe, every person is endowed with a certain predisposition to use their psychic energy in a particular way. Together with life experiences, a general style of personal evolution is outlined, with varying implications for professional behavior.
Career development, according to her, is carried out on two levels.
The first refers to the fact that each person’s genetic „giving” highlights his or her abilities and interests, being closely related to vocational choice. Also, the psychic energy that each of us possesses is often out of control and influences the development of abilities. The foundation of this level is that genetic predispositions and the way needs are organized influence the choice of a profession, occupation, and even life. Finally, the level and intensity of motivation in achieving vocational goals are defined by the organization of individual needs and their intensity for each individual (Brewer et al., 1942).
The second level evokes that early experiences are vital to the way life develops and the intensity of human needs. It is based on the premise that the satisfaction of the needs is conditioned by the environment in which the person lives. To support this argument, the role of parents in satisfying their childhood needs and caring for the child is brought to the fore, identifying the following categories of parents: hyperprotective, superfriendly, ignorant and permissive. The process of career choice thus becomes a result of the organization of human needs and the atmosphere of the family home, with subsequent vocational choices depending on the two.
Social - cognitive theory of career
The developers of the social-cognitive theory of career, Robert Lent et al. (2000), believed that cognitive factors play an essential role in both career choice and career progression, underlining the major attribution of self-concepts, expectations of what can be achieved and individual goals.
Based on people’s beliefs in relation to individual efficiency, they identified four factors that influence the entire process: individual performance; involuntary learning; social pressure and mood, and expressed reactions. The relationship between goals, self-conception and expectation of results led to the conclusion that the native aspects of the person (gender, race) interact with both environmental factors (culture, geographical location, family, community/society of which the person belongs) and learning experiences in order to modify the perception of individual efficiency. Beliefs about personal efficiency and about expected results are also noted at the level of one’s own aspirations, goals, actions and successes. To all this, situational factors, such as job opportunities, training opportunities, hierarchical advancement and the economic and material situation, are unmistakably added.
The holistic career model based on values
From the need to understand and explain the career and culturally, Duane Brown’s (2002) holistic value-based model has been materialized. The model highlights the importance of values in career choice, serving as a benchmark in evaluating both their own actions and those around them.
According to research, values are influenced by both genetic factors and environmental elements – family, school, community, society and culture. Once formed and reached stability, values have a decisive role on all the peculiarities of life and implicitly on the information processing. In this sense, what is conclusive and rational for some of us may be inconclusive and irrational for others. Value systems are like humans, different, and against the background of genetic and environmental aspects, certain values become much more poignant and important than others. Values guide our entire existence and allow us explaining both personal and societal behavior is essential to achieving professional success (Feather, 1992).
John Holland's Theory
Holland's theory (1959) analyzes and describes the process of career choice in terms of individual characteristics under psychological aspects. In this regard, she focuses her attention on identifying the relationship between personality traits specific to psychological types and the ideal jobs for them.
Thus, the theory starts from the following four principles:
- Most people can be characterized by and framed in six psychological types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional;
- Based on this classification, we find six different types of environments: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional;
- For most people, the most sought after and important environments are those that make them allow them to exercise their skills, externalize their attitudes and expose their values;
- Human behavior is a product of the psychological type-factors ratio medium.
John Holland manages to reflect that vocational interests represent the appearance of the human personality and that, both in terms of pregnancy and intensity, each person corresponds to one type of personality of the six. Also, the better the person identifies with a particular pattern, the more they will display specific attitudes and behaviors.
- reflects the inclination of the person to activities and actions that involve structuring, systematization and manipulation of objects, machines, tools, the most suitable jobs for this being those in the fields: technical, agricultural, mechanical;
- reflects the person’s inclination toward activities involving the analysis, investigation, organized and unorganized examination of physical, chemical, biological, cultural processes, as well as their knowledge. With this type, routine is almost always avoided;
- expresses the person’s inclination toward non-conformist, free, unconstrained activities that involve the handling of elements to make molds, products or works of art. The artistic type is differentiated both by transposing the person into what he works, and by avoiding rigors and customs;
- highlights the inclination of the person to activities that involve information, cultivation and training, from the desire to help and support others, the most appropriate areas in this regard being those that involve teaching, counseling and certain interpersonal skills;
- reveals the inclination of the person to activities that involve increased communication, efficiency, persuasion, leadership attitude, the most representative areas being: business, sales;
- brings to the fore the inclination of the person toward activities involving organization, order, discipline, as well as coherent manipulation of numerical data, standardized information and economic, organizational reports. The conventional type is distinguished by avoiding chance, disorganization, confusion, and the unknown.
In turn, the six professional environments (realistic environment, investigative environment, artistic environment, social environment, entrepreneurial environment, the conventional environment) has characteristics related to the six personality types and allows optimal development when choices are wise. In other words, they are perfectly completed only if they belong to the same category (realistic type - realistic environment; investigative type - investigative medium, artistic type - artistic environment, etc.).
Another defining feature of Holland's theory is the congruence construct. This construct expresses the way in which the personality agrees with the current or future professional environment, attesting that when there is congruence between the personality type and the environment (e.g., a classical music performer in a Philharmonic) people end up being more satisfied and achieving successful results.
The fact that many authors have tried to explain the process of career choice, formulating various theories and making solid arguments in this regard, attests precisely the hyper complexity, dynamism and diversity it proposes, its own unique, original route for each of us.
Factors that influence career choice. Gender stereotypes
The process of career choice is always subject to a series of external factors that influence and alter its dynamics, acting more or less consciously, more or less voluntarily on the personal decision.
Current research has shown that the external factors that people face are: parents, socio-cultural factors, friendships and opportunities (Borg, 1996).
The level of influence exerted by parents is not only and perhaps a decisive role in the choice and development of the career. Their status and the support they display throughout life are key elements with strong emotional impact. When the influence of parents is positive, it is distinguished by: availability and support for vocational decisions; constructive feedback; providing autonomy; recognizing the vocational option; realistic expectations about the process of career choice; overall optimistic attitude and guidance.
On the other hand, when the influence is negative and the family is not prepared for a particular vocational decision, whether from a social, cultural, educational, material, financial point of view, by showing himself lacking empathy, the choice of the person may suffer, being considered unreal and taken in second place. Unfortunately, not all families serve as role models for personal and professional achievement, and can only urge the choice of a career for personal reasons, principles or certain values that have no relevance to the person concerned (Bordin et al., 1963).
From the point of view of socio-cultural factors, the process of career choice can be subject to career models that can occur both from your own family and from your close friends, acquaintances, relatives, schoolmates, co-workers and even from the very society in which the person lives (Hirschi, 2010). The social impact that acts on the person is intense and can often interfere with vocational ideals and even life itself. It can be a model both a representative person from the narrow circle (family, friends, colleagues) of a man, and an unknown one, with whom he has no apparent connection or contact (figures promoted by the media) (Kinnier et al., 1990).
The process of choosing a career is influenced to some extent for each of us by people and their deeds, but the difference is always the grade we choose to give.
Moreover, when models are positive, our vocational choices are distinguished by maturity, independence, initiative, control and self-control, flexibility and sustainability.
In terms of opportunities, the process of career choice is influenced by the material, financial, educational and development situations in the person’s life. They can also facilitate or obstruct the career path. Despite the attempts of society to reduce, minimize the factors that restrict adherence to certain opportunities, it is noted, however: poor socio-economic status; physical or mental deficiencies; gender differences (Gadassi & Gati, 2009).
As for the last factor, which is also the subject of the research, the literature shows that gender halts the number of opportunities, plus rigidity in certain professions, most of the time, both women and men being guided to choose specific professions. Gender discrimination is also present in the recruitment and selection of personnel for those jobs, trades, professions considered typical, representative, perfect for a particular category (Gati et al., 1995; Heilman, 2012; Larson et al., 1994).
The question is often asked whether gender is a limit or an advantage in choosing a career, but a key aspect is that the number of women with higher education and fulfilling careers increases annually, so taking gender differences into account during their careers is crucial. In addition, research shows that women, like minority groups, often face discrimination at work, ostracism or multiple challenges in terms of access to data, information, knowledge, people and environments (Kerka, 2003; Luhaorg & Zivian, 1995).
Most of the time, in the world, learning through observation is achieved, leading to the development of skills to cope with obstacles, overcome them and be more and more efficient so as not to be banished on gender criteria. Although there are a large number of obstacles, we mention: financial resources, time, discrimination, limited opportunities, personal confusion, inter-personal or intra-personal conflicts also form sufficient resources to succeed in doing so. While, according to research, for the male side, a common career obstacle is time management, for the female side, financial resources take the first position, a result explained by the much lower wages women receive. Also, in achieving success, self-conception and the ability to cope with discrimination, regardless of considerations, are paramount for women (Hughes, 1958; Ibrahim et al., 1994).
Simone Cusack (2013) states that gender stereotypes represent those generalized perceptions about the characteristics that each of us should have, let's have them in the needles roles that we should learn and interpret at the highest level just because we are women or men. These perceptions only divide people and further strengthen the struggle for supremacy, causing egos to reach higher levels for this reason alone.
Our goal, of all of us, is to promote uniqueness and unity, to respect the professional decisions of each other and to remain open about the career path.
While there is a certain predisposition for men to realistic professions such as science and business, and a predisposition for women to artistic and social professions such as medical and educational professions, authoritarian character, much more rigid and the traditional conception of life are elements that are more accurately found in the male population. This strictness does not derive from men’s personal opinions about their careers, but rather from the backgrounds, cultures and education they have received. Studies draw attention to cultural beliefs about gender, as well as to errors in judgment about the competence of women and men that they distort the subjective reality of the person concerned and cause him to choose a particular career not only because he is fit to do so, it's because the others think it would. Although they wear out many stereotypes in this regard, men are not as affected as women, who, although not generally used to them, end up being safe „victims”.
In this sense, the ability of men to lead others in a certain function is often perceived as a proof of assertiveness and competence, but for a woman it is perceived rather as an antipathy, superior, abrasive, and scorching attitude. Thus, the extent to which people stereotype affects the level of respect and authority they are willing to give to the woman or man (Wood & Lindorff, 2001).
The process of choosing a career is equally important to all of us, regardless of gender, and promoting hermetic mindsets does not add value to any human being. Stereotypes do nothing but hurt, create suffering, destroy dreams, stop evolution and trivialize the human being in its fullness (Melamed, 1995, 1996). The best solutions for this are information and education. Educating people in expressing, supporting, declaring and fighting for their own rights must be a priority. A priority of the state, a priority of society, of the community we are part of, of family, friends, acquaintances and all those around us, so that we can be each one of us!
“Good education is the source from which all good comes into the world!” (Immanuel Kant).
Research Questions
The main questions of our research referred to: evaluating the process of career choice for women and men and identifying appropriate tools for evaluating the process of career choice at women and men.
We started from the premise that there is a significant difference in the process of career choice for women and men. Further, we started from the assumption that the process of choosing a career for both women and men depends on a number of factors.
In this regard, we focused on: the importance of career for the respondent, the feeling that career choice contributes to the progress of society, the balance between career choice and personality, educational investment made by the person to choose a career, the importance of choice made by respondent (fulfilled or not with the choice made), the multiple influences in this process and others.
Purpose of the Study
The process of choosing a career is a natural and necessary path in the life of any person. Depending on the choices, it will determine the subsequent lifestyle and position in society. Although most people aim high and have great ideals, not all manage to capitalize on certain opportunities and achieve their goals (Phillips & Imhoff, 1997).
Today’s society offers multiple and varied professional options that can be explored and change initial perspectives. Career is a laborious endeavor for both women and men, requiring patience, attention, perseverance, ambition and the desire for professional self-fulfilment.
Awareness of your own skills and knowledge held for a particular profession, regardless of gender, is the first step toward a right choice, assumed and ready to bear fruit.
Starting from these aspects, in this paper we aim to investigate the process of career choice in women and men. The evolution of this process, both in women and men, is influenced by a number of factors, on which we also turned our attention.
Research Methods
The method of data collection was psychometric, the questionnaire: „Evaluation of career choice process” being built personally and totalling 20 items, arranged on a Likert scale, with five ways of responding, as follows: strong disagreement; disagreement; no agreement or disagreement; agreement; strong agreement. In this case, the first variant - „strong disagreement” represents the lowest value, and the last variant - „strong agreement” represents the highest value.
The presentation of the study provided relevant information about the purpose of the research, how to respond, keeping the data confidential, the possibility of withdrawal at any time without consequences, as well as personal contact details (e-mail) to clarify any possible concerns.
Participants in this research responded fully to the questionnaire, with no omissions. They also made contact with the chosen research by providing the form link on social platforms.
The number of participants in this research is 90, of which 46 female and 44 male, from Argeș County, aged between 21-62 years, from different backgrounds (urban and rural), with distinct levels of study and varied professions.
The selection of respondents was made according to the availability criterion.
Findings
In terms of data processing, we used the statistical software S.P.S.S., where, through the T test for independent samples, we analyzed the process of career choice in women and men.
Thus, according to the Table 1, the one aimed at analysing descriptive statistical indicators according to gender, for the variable „career choice”, the scores vary.
In this respect, for female respondents, the obtained values were as follows: minimum score = 58, maximum score = 90, and average = 72,83.
At the opposite end, for male respondents, the values obtained were as follows: minimum score = 49, maximum score = 80, and average = 60,39.
Looking at the two averages obtained from the two groups of subjects, we see that the average among female respondents is higher than that among male respondents at the level of the chosen variable.
Based on the results obtained, we will present the T Test for independent samples in order to check whether the differences between the averages obtained by the subjects are statistically significant.
As can be seen in Table 2, the Levene test result shows us a value for F = 0,049, where Sig = 0,82, hence, Sig > 0,05. In this sense, the value of t = 7,07, and d.f. = 88, where Sig = 0, hence Sig ≤ 0,01, which attests that the difference between the averages obtained by female subjects and male subjects on the variable “career choice” is statistically significant, leading to confirmation of the hypothesis of the research.
In this sense, we believe that today’s society is strongly dominated by prejudices and stereotypes about various reasons and circumstances.
Regardless of gender or choices, people are questioned by others, without being known, without being given the opportunity to demonstrate what they can, without being ranked where they deserve in terms of skills and without being listened to. Unfortunately, minority groups, in which women are included most of the time, are faced with the many challenges posed by choosing a career and getting a proper job (Shann, 1983; Shu & Marini, 1998).
In this regard, respondents believe that gender constitutes a hindrance or a real challenge in reaching the desired level from a professional point of view, establishing through the answers offered the enormous discrepancy that people themselves establish among each other.
The literature brings to our attention the fact that society’s expectations from a gender point of view are stronger than ever and most often define the culture in which we live.
Moreover, strong assumptions rooted in the collective mind, which assume that women are more vulnerable and docile, compared to men who are much stronger, lead to inequity and lifestyle inequality. In other words, it is no longer just a question of mere opinions on subjects which society does not reason correctly, but it is a question of restricting access to a much better life, clearly superior in quality (Farmer, 1985; Simpson, 2004; Thébaud, 2010).
According to current research, the number of men in top positions exceeds the number of women, with corporate thinking being that women are less able to solve problems, hence the low percentage of women in top positions, which does not exceed 2%. In this respect, until proven otherwise, women are considered incompetent and emotionally unstable.
In this sense, a woman can be successful and achieve remarkable performance in multiple areas, but failures and mistakes will almost never be due to external factors, but to the fact that she is incompetent.
It is not gender that ensures social and professional harmony, but its quality. Both women and men, by their more or less developed individual peculiarities, lead to more or less satisfactory, conclusive results.
The positive and negative traits of people teach us something and lead us to new ways of approaching the world. The purpose of the negative is to appreciate the positive and to perpetuate them, while the purpose of the positive is to minimize the negative ones, to stop them and to prevent or mediate the potential unpleasant situations derived from them. Women expect masculinity from men, and men expect femininity from women, and when perceptions are not fully satisfied, the views expressed are negative.
Whether we are talking about work or any other situation, it is fundamental to limit perceptions of gender, because they blur people’s real abilities and limit their possibilities of affirmation and living freely.
Conclusions
“Career choice process for women and men” is research whose major objective was to identify a potentially significant difference between men and women both in terms of vocational and professional route, as well as from the point of view of the factors that intervene in the dynamics of the expressed relationship.
In this way, we wanted to evaluate the process of career choice in women and men, in order to draw attention to the prejudices they face, a subject often neglected, treated superficially, whose effects are minimized or considered irrelevant to society.
Thus, we were able to observe, starting from the statistical procedures performed, not only the differences between women and men in terms of choosing a career, but also the differences in relation to a series of items of the completed questionnaire.
While certain items that focused on environmental influences on career choice were more prominent in the masculine gender, certain items that focused on investing in one's own education and continuing education in trying to reach a certain career threshold were more prominent in the female gender.
The general assumption was that there was a significant difference in the process of choosing careers for women and men. In this regard, 90 respondents, of which 46 female and 44 male, aged 21-62, from urban and rural areas, with varying levels of study and professions, expressed their views on the topic under consideration.
The subsequent statistical approach led to the confirmation of the hypothesis of the research, attesting together with the literature that there are statistically significant differences between women and men regarding the choice of a career.
The process of career choice remains hyper complex, with multiple obstacles and challenges, with difficulties and limits, loaded with sustained effort, energy, work, aspirations, ideals and the desire to evolve.
Although the study aimed to identify significant differences between women and men, it also showed the need for people to shape a prosperous future, to adhere to hierarchically superior positions and to advocate for equal opportunities. We believe that the professional environments of which the respondents are part played a decisive role in achieving the final result, because the distinct professional environments display distinct mentalities and specific elements. In turn, in some environments, women are much more numerous than men, and vice versa, therefore, the outlook varies.
Although the vision of research has been global, starting from theoretical to practical, there are a number of limits that we want to mention. Among these, we list: the low number of participants that leads to the impossibility of generalizing the results at the level of the population, the backgrounds of origin, age, level of studies, profession, the criterion of social desirability, personal limits, the context and place of completion, the time allocated and the interest given to the subject itself.
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10 April 2023
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Secară, C., & Stroe, A. (2023). The Process Of Career Choice For Women And Men. In E. Soare, & C. Langa (Eds.), Education Facing Contemporary World Issues - EDU WORLD 2022, vol 5. European Proceedings of Educational Sciences (pp. 826-839). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epes.23045.82