Pre-Occupation: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression of Gender Differences in Adolescent Vocational Interests

Abstract

Vocational interests have important implications for a range of life outcomes, such as satisfaction with career choice. Extending research on gender differences in vocational interests with adult samples, we sought to evaluate whether a similar pattern emerged during adolescence in a meta-analysis and explored moderators via meta-regression. Examining 41 studies using 3-level meta-analysis, gender differences in vocational interests are substantially accounted for using Holland’s RIASEC framework. Male adolescents have higher interests in Realistic and Investigative careers and female adolescents have higher interests in Social and Artistic careers. The differences were not moderated by year, national gender inequality ratings, or scale type. The study highlights that there are patterns in gender differences in the vocational interests of adolescents, that these differences reflect those found with adult samples, and that the differences have been stable over the past 80 years.