Young Women's Career Choices

Abstract

This study investigated the career choices of young women attending a single-sex church school using both longitudinal and cross-sectional data. Ninety-nine Year 12 students completed Holland's Self-directed Search (SDS) in 1985. In 1991, 40 of these respondents again completed the SDS and provided demographic and employment information. Also in 1991, the school's Year 12 students (n = 87) completed the SDS and provided demographic data. SDS scores for the longitudinal group (students retested in 1991) showed that their vocational preferences changed with Realistic, Artistic, Enterprising and Conventional scores increasing and Social scores remaining the same. Comparisons between the longitudinal group's 1985 and 1991 SDS scores and the type of course and employment they pursued lent support to developmental theories of career choice. Cross-sectional results indicated that there were very few differences in the vocational preferences of the 1985 and 1991 Year 12 students. Thus results also suggested that current efforts to encourage girls to have broader career aspirations have had little effect. Implications of these findings for career counselling were discussed.