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Journal of Early Childhood Research
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the realism and sex type of four- to five-year-old children's occupational aspirations

Esther Care

University of Melbourne, Australia

Jan Deans

University of Melbourne, Australia

Robert Brown

University of Melbourne, Australia, r.brown{at}unimelb.edu.au

Research on career development has focused primarily on adolescents and adults. However, in Gottfredson's theory of circumscription and compromise (2002) it is proposed that career aspirations originate in the preschool years and that the earliest work aspirations of children are sex typed in relation to the activities of same sex adults. This article investigates young children's career development in the context of Gottfredson's stage theory. Eighty-four children attending a kindergarten/early learning centre for four- to five-year-old children exhibited sex typing of their aspirations, with the vast majority nominating real occupational roles as opposed to fantasy ones, as aspirations for adult life. The pattern of boys' and girls' aspirations differentially support Gottfredson's proposals. Questions are raised concerning the stability of patterns of aspirations in terms of sex type in a changing society.

Key Words: Saspiration • career • children • development • gender • occupation

Journal of Early Childhood Research, Vol. 5, No. 2, 155-168 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1476718X07076681
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