Are Interest Assessments Propagating Gender Differences in Occupations?

Abstract

The current study focused on the effect of assessment methods on estimates of gender differences in interests across Holland’s themes. College students (121 women, 76 men) rated their interests in Holland-based activities and occupations using Likert-type scales, and they also completed a card sorting assessment of Holland interests using occupation-based items. Gender differences were consistently observed for realistic and social interests with the magnitude of the observed gender differences varying by measure type. A Gender × Measure interaction accounted for 33% of the variance observed in interest scores: Occupation-based scales produced larger differences than activity-based scales, and the card sorting assessment produced larger gender differences than the Likert-type rating scales. Therefore, the choice of interest measure used in career counseling may influence the extent to which gender affects the career decision-making process, which may be particularly important when exploring nontraditional career choices for women and men.