Model Of Achie Wemenf-Feed Choices

Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18 (1994), 585-609. Printed in the United States of America.

UNDERSTANDING WOMEN’S
EDUCATIONAL A N D
OCCUPATIONAL CHOICES
Applying fhe Eccles ef a/. Model of
Achie wemenf-Rela fed Choices

Jacquelynne S. Eccles

University o Michigan f Despite recent efforts to increase the participation of women in advanced educational training and high-status professional fields, women and men are still concentrated in different occupations and educational programs, and women are still underrepresented in many high-status occupational fields-particularly those associated with physical science, engineering, and applied mathematics. Many factors, ranging from outright discrimination to the processes associated
Both have been identified as gifted in mathematics and have been offered the opportunity to participate in an accelerated math program at the local college during the next school year. Barbara hopes to major in journalism when she gets to college and also has been offered the opportunity to work part-time on the city newspaper doing odd jobs and some copyediting.
Mary hopes to major in biology in college and plans a career as a research scientist. Taking the accelerated math course involves driving to and from the college. Because the course is scheduled for the last period of the day, it will take the last two periods of the day as well as 1 hr of after-school time to take the course. What will the young women do? In all likelihood,
Mary will enroll in the program because she likes math and thinks that the effort required to both take the class and master the material is worthwhile and important for her long-range career goals. Barbara’s decision is more complex. She may want to take the class but may also think that the time required is too costly, especially given her alternative opportunity at the city paper. Whether she takes the college course will depend, in part,
This image is made up of many component parts including: ( a ) conceptions of personality and capabilities, ( b ) long-range goals and plans, ( c ) schema regarding the proper roles of men and women, ( d ) instrumental and terminal values (Rokeach, 1973), ( e ) motivational sets, ( f ) ideal images of what one should be like, and ( g ) social scripts regarding proper behavior in a variety of situations. Those parts of an individual’s selfimage that are central or critical to self-definition should influence the value the individual attaches to various educational and vocational options. These differential values, in turn, should influence the individual’s achievement-related choices (Eccles, 1984, 1987, 1989; Markus, 1980;
Nash, 1979; Parsons & Goff, 1980). For example, if helping other people is a central part of individual B’s image, then B should place higher value on helping occupations than on nonhelping occupations.
Essentially, we argue that personal needs, self-images, and values operate in ways that both decrease the probability of engaging in those activities or roles perceived as inconsistent with one’s central values and