SEX-RATIOS AS A BASIS FOR OCCUPATIONAL EVALUATIONS: A CONTEMPORARY VIEW

Abstract

The present experiment failed to replicate a widely-cited sexist bias in people's evaluations of occupations that was originally reported by Touhey (1974x; 1974b). Not only were contemporary college students unwilling to downgrade the prestige of masculine professions or to upgrade that of feminine professions when told that the proportion of other-sex (i.e., minority) practitioners was increasing; they actually rated one traditionally masculine occupation (college professor) in more favorable terms if informed that women would be making greater contributions to this profession in the future. Some present and future implications of these findings are discussed.