Personality and Background Characteristics of Women in Male-Dominated Occupations: A Review

Abstract

Literature on women in occupations where men predominate is reviewed from 1930 through 1976, including publications referenced in Psychological and Sociological Abstracts and limited additional materials. The literature is summarized and discussed with reference to the women's personality and background characteristics Personality data show such women to be high on “competency” traits related to the masculine stereotype and ideal. While slightly more oriented toward ideas than people in comparison with other women, the nontraditional woman does not differ from them on “warmth and expressiveness” traits of the feminine stereotype and ideal. These women are emotionally healthy and have good coping skills, although they may experience situational stress. They tend to share background characteristics which foster achievement, i.e., high parental education, frequent foreign ancestry and firstborn status, and high family stability. Other factors relate not only to achievement but to comfort with accomplishment in traditionally male fields, i.e., parental encouragement of androgynous exploration, high maternal employment, and strong paternal support for both mother and daughter. The data are discussed as supporting Almquist and Angrist's “enrichment hypothesis” whereby the nontraditional woman is seen as the product of unusual but positive factors. Suggestions for further research call for a clearer separation of the determinants of career choice and academic achievement, comparisons of occupationally nontraditional members of both sexes, and further investigation of the correlates of competence and atypical career choice in women.