knowledge that adult activities are sextyped, in Stage 2 it clearly
reflects an active rejection of cross-sex behavior. Youngsters have
now erected their tolerable-sextype boundary (see Figure 4.3).
Children exhibit no concern over occupational prestige at this
age and show but a “preawareness” of distinctions in social class. They
will speak of social status but simply collapse the distinctions of “rich
versus poor,” “clean versus dirty,” and “own versus other” into a sin-
gle dichotomy between “good” and “bad.” Girls report fewer but
higher-status occupational preferences than do boys, but this is an
artifact of which same-sex occupations are most visible to young chil-
dren because of equipment (truck driver), gross motor activity (ath-
lete), uniforms (police officer, nurse), or personal contact (teacher).
In summary, children have now ruled part of the occupational
world out of bounds for being the wrong sextype. They may have a
developing sense of other social distinctions, but the nature and rel-
evance of these distinctions is not yet clear to them.
Stage 3: Orientation to social valuation (ages nine to thirteen).
At this stage, youngsters become very sensitive to social evaluation,
whether by peers or the larger society. The issue is no longer just
male versus female but higher versus lower. By age nine (grade 4),
youngsters become harsher judges of low-status occupations and
cease to mention them as preferences. They start to recognize the
more concrete symbols of social class (clothing, rough behavior,
possessions brought to school). By age thirteen (grade 8), most rank
occupations in prestige the same way adults do, and they under-
stand the tight links among income, education, and occupation. It
has become clear to them that there is an occupational hierarchy
that affects how people live their lives and are regarded by others.
They and the important adults in their lives have also formed
perceptions of the adolescent’s own general level of ability (intelli-
gence) relative to that of schoolmates and thus of their competitive-
ness for more difficult and more desirable occupations. Adolescents
have also learned which occupations their own families and commu-
nities would reject as unacceptably low in social standing. In short,
they have begun to sense a ceiling and a floor for their attainments.
GOTTFREDSON’S THEORY OF CIRCUMSCRIPTION, COMPROMISE, AND SELF-CREATION 97