Article
Children's Career Expectations and Parents' Jobs: Intergenerational (Dis)continuities
Íris M. Oliveira,
Erik J. Porfeli,
Maria do Céu Taveira,
Bora Lee,
Corresponding Author
Íris M. Oliveira
Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, Braga, Portugal
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Íris M. Oliveira, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, Campus Camões, 4710-362 Braga, Portugal (email: imoliveira@braga.ucp.pt).Search for more papers by this authorErik J. Porfeli
Department of Human Sciences, Ohio State University
Search for more papers by this authorMaria do Céu Taveira
School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
Search for more papers by this authorBora Lee
Department of Education, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
Search for more papers by this authorÍris M. Oliveira,
Erik J. Porfeli,
Maria do Céu Taveira,
Bora Lee,
Corresponding Author
Íris M. Oliveira
Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, Braga, Portugal
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Íris M. Oliveira, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, Campus Camões, 4710-362 Braga, Portugal (email: imoliveira@braga.ucp.pt).Search for more papers by this authorErik J. Porfeli
Department of Human Sciences, Ohio State University
Search for more papers by this authorMaria do Céu Taveira
School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
Search for more papers by this authorBora Lee
Department of Education, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
Search for more papers by this authorThis work was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/84162/2012), with the support of national funds from the Ministry of Education and Science as well as the European Social Fund through the Human Capital Operational Program.
Abstract
Children develop career expectations as they increase self-knowledge and perceive societal affordances and barriers to life roles. Parents are powerful agents in the socialization of children to work, transmitting occupational concepts that influence children's career development. The authors used Gottfredson's (1981) and Holland's (1973) theories to test associations between children's career expectations and parents' jobs in terms of gender, prestige, and interest typology among same-sex and cross-sex child-parent dyads. Data were collected from 185 Portuguese children (51.4% boys, 48.6% girls; Mage = 10.41 years) from 2-parent families. Children reported their parents' jobs and shared personal career expectations. Correlation and linear regression results indicated that fathers' male-dominated jobs put boys at risk of gender-based circumscription of career expectations. An intergenerational cycle of prestige inequalities was also evidenced, although parents seemed to support children's exploration of various interest areas. Future research could explore these relationships across family structures. Practice should foster children's in-breadth career exploration and engage parents as key partners.
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