Desiring and expecting to work among high school girls: Some determinants and consequences

The effects of mother's and father's work status and of social-psychological intervening variables on high school girls' orientation to the labor force are examined. The dependent variables are separate indicators of whether the girls want and whether they expect to have an occupation. In these data from 1965, a log linear analysis shows that whether the mother worked was the major background influence on the dependent variables; father's occupation had no significant independent effect. In addition, two “ideological” variables, the girl's identification with the mother and beliefs in individual achievement, strongly influenced the dependent variables, in a way that did not merely mediate the background effects. Finally, some consequences of wanting and/or expecting to work are examined, and it is argued that the choice of career pattern (housewife versus paid employment) was a central one in girls' attitudinal structures.