Achievement-related expectations and aspirations in college women

Two hundred unmarried female undergraduates (129 juniors, 71 seniors) participated in an investigation of the thesis that achievement in women is hindered by depressed occupational and educational aspirations, which are in turn influenced by a cluster of a cluster of achievement-related expectations. The study examined correlations among five achievement-related expectations (sex-role conception, expectations about the consequences of role-inappropriate achievement, expectations for success, peer expectations, and perceived discrimination), occupational and educational aspirations, and indices of past achievement and ability. The data support the hypothesized relation between expectations and aspirations. Sex-role conception, expectations of positive consequences from success, expectations of negative consequences from success, expectations for success, female peer expectations, and perceived discrimination were each significantly related to aspirations (p<.05 or above, in all cases). The implications of these findings, along with the high intercorrelations of expectation variables and results from path and factor analyses, are that there is considerable consistency in what women expect from themselves and their social environment, and that these expectations influence women's aspirations.This article is based in part on a dissertation submitted by the author to the faculty of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree. This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant #2TO1MH0661316PO. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Drs. D. Wayne Osgood, Lawrence Severy, Kathleen Wells, John Forward, and Mr. Robert Burton in the preparation of this article, and Brynn Beacom, her research assistant, in the conduct of the study.