Influencing Adolescents’ Gendered Aspirations for Nursing and Surgery

Abstract This study investigated the influence of gender stereotypes on adolescents’ vocational aspirations and the potential mitigating effects of gender-inclusive linguistic forms. Building on Fox and Barth’s (2017. The effect of occupational gender stereotypes on men’s interest in female-dominated occupations. Sex Roles , 76 (7–8), 460–472) findings and literature on gender-fair language, we tested if various presentations of occupation titles within healthcare occupational descriptions could decrease the saliency of gender stereotypes. Two hundred and twenty-two adolescents aged between 12 and 19 were provided with descriptions, in French, of healthcare occupations either without any title, in the Masculine grammatical form (the so-called generic form) or in the Pair Form (gender-fair condition). Adolescents’ interest in and anticipated sense of belonging to the presented occupations were measured. Girls’ and boys’ interest in and anticipated sense of belonging to the presented occupations were in line with gender stereotypes, regardless of how the occupations’ titles were presented. We discuss these findings in relation to potential interventions that may help reduce gendered interests in adolescents and health careers.