ket is perpetuated to some degree by micro-level processes
that produce gender differences in the aspirations and quali-
fications with which workers enter the labor market, but...
this association is perpetuated even more by micro-level
processes that operate at the point of career entry to channel
women and men with the same aspirations and qualifications
into different, sex-typed jobs. [Marini & Fan 1997, p. 602]So far, we have focused on sociological contributions to under-
standing career choice and development by describing the institu-
tional arrangements, both broadly across nations and specifically
within the United States, that structure opportunities and constrain
decision making. We now turn to the most proximal contexts of
individual vocational development and decision making, includ-
ing the family, the adolescent workplace, and features of the local
community.
Contexts of Career Decision Making
We have already considered the family’s influence on educational
and occupational aspirations in the context of the status attainment
model. This section addresses other psychological dimensions that
have relevance for occupational attainment.
Family. The socioeconomic position of the family has important
implications for the development of occupational reward values
(Lindsay & Knox, 1984; Mortimer & Kumka, 1982). These values,
also called work or job values, are assessments of the importance of
various rewards offered through work.
A major strand of sociological research on occupational choice
and attainment has focused on parents’ workplaces as a context for
the vocational development of children. The characteristics of par-
ents’ jobs are thought to influence parents’ values and personalities,
which, in turn, shape parenting behavior. Through parents’ child-
rearing orientations and behaviors, parental work conditions affect
A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 51