indifference) they receive for performing certain activities, and the
outcomes they come to anticipate.
The process of gender-role socialization provides a useful exam-
ple of how gender, context, and cognitions jointly contribute to
shaping children’s educational and career possibilities. Based on cul-
turally shared expectations about gender-appropriate behavior, par-
ents and teachers tend to treat boys and girls differently in terms of
the activities they are encouraged to perform, how well they are
expected to do, and the reactions accorded their performance
attainments (Arbona, 2000; Eccles, 1994). Thus the beliefs and
behaviors of social agents and important others, including peers,
have important implications for the acquisition of children’s self-
efficacy and outcome expectations, as well as for the development
of their talents (Bandura, 1997; Lent & Lopez, in press).
For instance, due to biased access to opportunities for observing
and practicing particular behaviors, girls are more likely to develop
self-efficacy for female-typed activities such as artwork or domestic
tasks and to feel less efficacious at activities that are culturally
defined as masculine, such as science or athletics (Hackett & Betz,
1981). Externally imposed barriers also become internalized; at an
early age, children learn to match their behavior to conceptions of
gender appropriateness (Bandura, 1986; Bussey & Bandura, 1999;
Gottfredson, 1996). Thus impediments to later career options may
stem both from contextually engineered processes, such as differ-
ential opportunities for skill development, and from the self-beliefs,
performance standards, and outcome expectations that people
internalize. Though our example highlights gender-context inter-
actions, we believe that similar psychosocial processes (such as
educational access and cultural norms) affect the development of
career-related self-efficacy and outcome expectations in children of
particular racial-ethnic groups.
In sum, as Figure 7.2 illustrates, the effects of gender and eth-
nicity on career interest, choice, and performance are conceived as
operating largely through the differential learning experiences that
270 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT