Ingrid Schoon

1
Gender differentiation in transitions to work and
family-related roles

• Ingrid Schoon
• Institute of Education, University of London
• In collaboration with
• Andy Ross, Peter Martin, and Steven Hope

ESRC Gender Equality Network (GeNet)
International Conference
City University London, 28 March 2008
2
Transitions and Career Trajectories

• Transitions
• leaving ft education
• entry to paid employment
• step into committed relationship
• parenthood
• Career trajectories dynamic context in which
  transitions take place

3
Transitions in Context A Life course approach

• Embeddedness of human development in a changing
  socio-historical context
• Social change and its influence on timing and
  sequencing of transitions
• Reciprocal interactions between individual and
  context
• Linked lives transgenerational approach
• Development as life long process accumulation of
  experiences

4
Gender and context

• Life course as personal construction
• Selective processes
• Interests and goals
• Role expectations and demands

5
Lives in Context

• Two British Birth Cohort Studies born 12 years
  apart in 1958 and 1970
• From Golden Age to Crisis Decades
• Changing labour market
• Expansion of the education system
• Increasing participation of women in the labour
  market

6
Two National British Birth CohortsAge of Cohort
Members by Historical Events
Boom Economy Recession Economy
Knowledge Economy
1958 1960 1970 1975 1980 1985
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS)
n17,415 Birth Age 7 Age 11 Age 16 Age
23 Age 33 Age 42 46 50
1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) n16,571 Birth
Age 5 Age 10 Age 16 Age 26 Age 30
34 38
Era of liberalisation Revival of Feminist movement
Oil crisis New technologies
Onset of recession Collapse of housing
market Second wave of recession
Onset of recovery
End of baby boom
7
Transitions in Times of Social Change

• De-standardisation
• prolonged education
• delayed step into financial independence
• delayed step into family formation
• Individualisation
• Differentiation
• slow versus fast transitions
• gender differences

8
Timing of Transitions

• Focus on Key Transitions
• Entry into full-time Employment
• Step into Parenthood

9
Employment Parenthood (Men only)
10
Employment Parenthood (Women only)
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Changing Transitions

• Extended education
• Delayed step into parenthood
• Increasing female attachment to labour market
• Persistent gender differences
• Timing of transitions
• Interdependence of transitions

12
Differentiation of transitions Slow versus fast
track transitions

• Fast track leaving school by age 16
• Intermediate leaving school between 17 and 18
• Slow track leaving school after age 19 (academic
  track)

13
Fast versus slow track transition
14
Antecedents to transition pathways

• Socio-economic family background
• Gender
• Socialisation experiences
• Individual characteristics (capabilities, goals,
  motivation)
• Socio-historical context

15
Predictors for staying on in ft education
(academic track)
Socio-economic family background Parental social
class, mothers education, mothers age at first
birth Own characteristics exam at age 16, school
engagement, job aspirations (Hierarchical
Regression Model Nagelkerke R2 change and
overall R2 )
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Increasing Individualisation?

• Greater importance of individual characteristics
  in shaping transitions
• Or
• Changing norms and expectations?
• General increase in further education
• Increasing importance of academic credentials
• Increasing participation of women in continued
  education

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Developmental-Contextual Model of Career
Development

• Aims to uncover processes by which the family and
  the larger societal context influence individual
  commitment and pursuit of a career
• Takes developmental perspective (considering
  timing and biographical experiences)
• Examines multiple pathways shaping career
  development in men and women
• Replication of model in two birth cohorts
• Testing for gender and cohort differences in
  pathway coefficients

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Developmental-Contextual Model of Career
Development
Family background
Parental Social Class
Birth
Proximal family environment
Material Hardship
Parental Educational Expectations
Age 16
School Motivation
Job aspirations
Individual agency factors
Exam Score
Parenthood histories
Age 16-29
Age at first birth
Adult occupational attainment
Own occupational status
Age 30/33
Schoon, Martin Ross, 2007
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Findings

• Persisting social inequalities
• Influence of social background is mediated via
  socialisation experiences in the family
• Career development takes place within a life
  planning framework
• Early transitions influence later outcomes
• ?Time inequality as major social divide

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The role of school engagement

• Possible leverage for intervention
• Is influenced by socialisation experiences
• Reflects role choices and connection between
  person and activity
• Influences timing of transitions

21
School engagement

• A multidimensional construct
• Emotion (reactions to school)
• Cognition (planning and goal setting)
• Behaviour (involvement and effort)
• (Fedricks et al. 2004)
• Often used interchangeably with motivation (why
  we do what we do), although concept emphasis more
  what people do

22
Transgenerational Model of Status Attainment

• Life course model
• Considers both social structure and individual
  factors in shaping careers
• Accounts for the context in which individual
  agency takes place
• Considers importance of timing of transitions and
  age-specific developmental tasks

23
Transgenerational Model of Status Attainment
Academic Capability
School Engagement
Transition behaviour
Own Social Status
Family Social Status
Childhood
Adolescence
Adulthood
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Measures

• Family Social Status
• parental social class, parental education
• Academic capability/IQ
• NCDS General Ability Test
• BCS70 British Ability Scales (BAS)
• School engagement
• School motivation, educational aspirations,
  occupational aspirations
• Transition behaviour
• Age leaving school, timing of parenthood
• Own social status
• own social class, highest qualifications

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Transgenerational Model of Status Attainment
(Women only NCDS/BCS70)
Academic Capability
.21/.23
.28/.23
.07/.05ns
School Engagement
.56/.53
.72/.82
Timing of Transitions
Own Social Status
.52/.60
.44/.44
.27/.20
.01ns/.06
Family Social Status
Childhood
Age 16 Ages 16-29
Age 30/33
Model Fit NCDS CFI0.998 rmsea0.032 / BCS70
CFI0.996 rmsea0.033
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Transgenerational Model of Status Attainment (Men
only NCDS/BCS70)
Academic Capability
.27/.22
.32/.19
.05/.05ns
School Engagement
.57/.58
.80/.84
Timing of Transitions
Own Social Status
.48/.59
.48/.58
.20/.15
.08/.11
Family Social Status
Childhood
Age 16 Ages 16-29
Age 30/33
Model Fit NCDS CFI0.999 rmsea0.020 / BCS70
CFI0.998 rmsea0.021
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School engagement and long-term outcomes

• School engagement significantly predicts timing
  of transition behaviour
• School engagement, ability, and social background
  are significant determinants of careers
• Cognitive ability and social class operate in
  part via school engagement in influencing
  transition behaviour

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School Engagement

• Primacy of socio-cultural influences over
  individual ability in predicting school
  engagement, especially among men
• ? suggests malleability
• ? possible role of social values and/or family
  support
• ? alternative expectation theory
• ? possible role of school environment

29
Role of ability

• more strongly related to adult social status than
  to transition behaviour
• Effects of cognitive ability increase with age
• Effects of social background decrease with age

30
Time inequality

• Social status is traditionally measured in
  employment focused and financial terms
• Time inequality as a major social divide
• Timing of life course transitions is
  significantly influenced by social background
• Timing of transitions is a particular issue for
  women

31
Conclusion

• Need for models that move beyond static snapshots
  to dynamic understanding of transitions and
  careers
• Interventions aiming to prevent early school
  drop-out and early parenthood should address
  school engagement as an important leverage for
  shaping transition behaviours
• Acknowledge multiple temporal perspectives
• Support opportunities for career path
  flexibilities

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Thank you I.Schoon_at_ioe.ac.uk

• Thank you
• I.Schoon_at_city.ac.uk