Role model influencers of nontraditional professional women

Abstract

A sample of 142 women college graduates now employed in engineering, natural science, and architecture or pursuing advanced degrees in these three areas or law, business administration, or social science allowed a test of the hypothesis that these women had received a family environment congruent with their nontraditional work orientation. Five types of influencer-parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and other adults-of both sexes were found at three points in time (high school, undergraduate years, and graduate school) to significantly influence the women in a positive direction. Further, when the pairs of each type of influencer were compared, there was no evidence that females or males were more effective at influencing nontraditional professional women. © 1982.