The issue of underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is especially important to the future of the United States in current times when STEM careers play an increasingly important role in the global economy (Toulmin & Groome, 2007; United States Department of Labor, 2007). The pool of…

Joint implications from five recent studies on occupational choice indicate that a more in-depth concentration on the occupational consistency or discontinuity of women and minorities will provide direction for future academic discipline and policy for this population. The discipline and policy process is potentially one of the most important…

This paper describes trends in and causes of minority and female representation among holders of advanced science and math degrees. The minority groups studied are Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and Asian Americans, all of whom are compared with Whites. The degrees looked at include those in math, the computer sciences, physical…

In a study designed to document empirically perceptions about women managers' communication skills and training needs, 101 managers (53 females and 48 males) responded to two open-ended questions: (1) From your observation and experience, what specific communication skills do women possess that might help promote their managerial effectiveness?…

Although illegal, sexual harassment is frequent in the American workplace and extremely disruptive and costly to employees and employers alike. Most organizational responses to the problem have been hard line, short term, after-the-fact measures that inform, threaten, or discipline employees. What is needed, however, is a training program with an…

A study examined data from literature and from three surveys of high school students to analyze the equity of the way in which high schools assign students to the vocational track and the effectiveness of vocational education in preparing students for work. Data revealed that while students' junior high abilities, achievement, and curricular…

Describes instructional objectives, resources, and student projects for four units of a course on women and communication: (1) intrapersonal communication: socialization and self-concept; (2) interpersonal relations between the sexes; (3) females' communication in structured groups; and (4) public communication: female orators. (JMF)

The study examined the self-concept of rural elementary children to ascertain if differences occur according to sex. The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was used to determine cluster scores on: behavior, intellectual and school status, physical appearance and attributes, anxiety, popularity, and happiness and satisfaction. Administered…

A study was conducted to explore how males and females differ in their use of interpersonal conflict management styles. Subjects were 71 male and 76 female students from an introductory interpersonal communication course at a large midwestern state university. They were instructed to think of an important relationship with either an opposite-sex…

The work experience of high school students is investigated, including type of work, amount of time worked, reasons for jobs away from home, effect of work on school performance and activities, and reasons for not being employed. The sample consisted of 1,227 urban and rural secondary school students in 14 Georgia high schools, 35.9 percent of…

A study assessed whether the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) equitably allocates its training, employment, occupational, and wage benefits by sex. To analyze the sex equity of CETA's resource distribution, researchers used data from the Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey (CLMS) for fiscal 1976, 1977, and 1978 CETA enrollees.…

A study examined the relationship among attitudes toward women in general, attitudes toward women as managers, and perceptions of the communication competencies of women managers. Subjects, 178 employees from various types of organizations, completed the Positive Regard Scale (PRS), the Women as Managers Scale (WAMS), and the Communication…

This study explores young women's retention in sex-atypical jobs in the military and in civilian firms. It tests the hypothesis that women tend to leave stereotypically male jobs at higher rates than they leave stereotypically female jobs. The study models job turnover over a one-year period as a function of (1) the sex composition of an…

A project was designed to identify factors that predispose young women to choose and remain in sex-atypical jobs in the military and in civilian firms. Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Behavior, a longitudinal study with annual interviews from 1979 through 1983 of youth between the ages of 14 and 21 in the…

The occupational distributions in the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs and the wage implications of these for men and women of different racial and ethnic origins were examined. Data came from two projects on CETA, both using Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey data. One assessed the nature and equity of men's and…