Stability and Change in the Career Plans of Ninth Grade Girls

Changes in career plans occurring between the ninth grade and one year after high school were examined in a sample of 7,061 girls from the Project talent Data Bank. Longitudinal changes for five career groups (Natural Sciences, Professions, Teaching, Office Work, and Housewife) were examined as a function of selected aptitude and interest measures. Girls who change differ from girls who maintain the same plans over time in each career group on most of the measures employed. There is a tendency for the brighter girls to change from initial careers in Office Work and Housewife more frequently than the less able girls, whereas those who shift out of the career-oriented groups, Sciences, Professions, and Teaching, are scholastically less capable than those who maintain these same plans over time.