‘Free to Be Me?’: Gender Role Norms Constrain Career Interests Less for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People Than for Heterosexual People

ABSTRACT Societal gender role norms play a crucial role in shaping men's and women's career aspirations. However, prior research documenting this key role of gendered norms has primarily focused on heterosexual women and men in the global North‐West. Previous studies documenting differences in career interests by sexual orientation suggest that gender role norms might affect lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) women and men less strongly than heterosexuals. This large‐scale, preregistered study sought to document group differences in norm perceptions, career interests and their relationship. To this end, 18,351 university students ( n = 3318 LGB, n = 15,033 heterosexual) from 46 countries completed a self‐report survey about their gender, sexual orientation, perceptions of societal gender role norms, as well as their personal gender role beliefs and career interests. Analyses revealed that, compared to heterosexual individuals, LGB individuals reported significantly less stereotypical career interests and endorsed less traditional gender role beliefs about careers. As predicted, perceptions of societal gender role norms predicted career interests for heterosexual but not for LGB participants. Moreover, LGB participants showed a weaker relationship between societal gender role norms and own gender role beliefs than straight participants did. Interestingly, we found no evidence that this effect was conditional on the level of LGBT acceptance in different countries sampled. We discuss implications of this new evidence for understanding occupational gender segregation from an intersectional perspective.

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Publication Details

Journal
European Journal of Social Psychology
Published
2026-05-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70083
Primary Topic
Career Development and Diversity
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

‘Free to Be Me?’: Gender Role Norms Constrain Career Interests Less for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People Than for Heterosexual People

Sheila X. R. Wee, Dana Gavreliuc, Rita Anne McNamara, Tabea Häßler et al.
European Journal of Social Psychology
Career Development and Diversity
article

‘Free to Be Me?’: Gender Role Norms Constrain Career Interests Less for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People Than for Heterosexual People

Sheila X. R. Wee, Dana Gavreliuc, Rita Anne McNamara, Tabea Häßler, Abiy Menkir Gizaw, Christina Lapytskaia Aidy, Adriana L. Germano, Janine Bosak, Sanne Van Grootel, Toni Schmader, Isaac David Grijalva, Rina González, Lianne Aarntzen, Thierry Devos, Nilanjana Dasgupta, Rasa Erentaitė, Eunsoo Choi, Renzo Gismondi Diaz, Natasza Kosakowska‐Berezecka, Derya Güngör, Filiz Künüroğlu, Soledad de Lemus, Sabine Otten, Amanda B. Diekman, Alba Jasini, Denisa Fedáková, Fridanna Maricchiolo, Edona Maloku, Marwan Diab, Ilan Dar‐Nimrod, Narseta Mickuvienė, Albert Lee, Julija Gečaitė-Stončienė, María Isabel Miranda‐Orrego, Inna Kozytska, Liany Luzvinda, Tizita Lemma Melka, Wilson López‐López, Jana Nikitin, Mare Ainsaar, Léïla Eisner, Alyssa Croft, Diala R. Hawi, Lyudmila Gitikhmayeva, Delphine Martinot, Molly Shuyi Sun, Marie Gustafsson Sendén, Leire Gartzia, Alin Gavreliuc, Renata Franc, Yoko Kitakaji, Magdalena Adamus, Kaltrina Kelmendi, Incheol Choi, Colette van Laar, Biljana Gjoneska, Tessa Benson‐Greenwald, Ilaria Giovannelli, Clara Kulich, Katharina Block, Przemysław Bąbel, Jurgita Jurkevičienė, Blerta Bodinaku, Markus Barth, Marija Branković, Ivan Danyliuk, Sapna Cheryan, Annedore Hoppe, Charles Harb, Loes Meeussen, Omar Martinez Gonzalez, Eva Kundtová-Klocová, Anja Eller, Anna Eneroth, Jia Yue He, J Julius Burkauskas, Bushra Hassan, Sarah E. Martiny, Ciara Atkinson, James Morandini, Monica Biernat, Maria I. T. Olsson, Carolin Schuster, Alyson Meister, Hilary B. Bergsieker, William Hall, Keiko Ishii, Levke Henningsen, Vladimíra Čavojová, Ivana Jakšić, Jennifer Bosson, David Mrisho, Andreea G. Bîrneanu, Teri A. Kirby, Mohamad Avicenna, Thadeus Mkamwa, Andrew Coogan, Jacques Berent, Carlos C. Contreras‐Ibáñez, Thomas Morton
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Societal gender role norms play a crucial role in shaping men's and women's career aspirations. However, prior research documenting this key role of gendered norms has primarily focused on heterosexual women and men in the global North‐West. Previous studies documenting differences in career interests by sexual orientation suggest that gender role norms might affect lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) women and men less strongly than heterosexuals. This large‐scale, preregistered study sought to document group differences in norm perceptions, career interests and their relationship. To this end, 18,351 university students ( n = 3318 LGB, n = 15,033 heterosexual) from 46 countries completed a self‐report survey about their gender, sexual orientation, perceptions of societal gender role norms, as well as their personal gender role beliefs and career interests. Analyses revealed that, compared to heterosexual individuals, LGB individuals reported significantly less stereotypical career interests and endorsed less traditional gender role beliefs about careers. As predicted, perceptions of societal gender role norms predicted career interests for heterosexual but not for LGB participants. Moreover, LGB participants showed a weaker relationship between societal gender role norms and own gender role beliefs than straight participants did. Interestingly, we found no evidence that this effect was conditional on the level of LGBT acceptance in different countries sampled. We discuss implications of this new evidence for understanding occupational gender segregation from an intersectional perspective.

European Journal of Social Psychology
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (KZ), Leuphana University of Lüneburg (DE), University of Geneva (CH), Roma Tre University (IT), International Islamic University, Islamabad (PK), University of Copenhagen (DK), Jagiellonian University (PL), The University of Sydney (AU), University of Vienna (AT), Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LT), Universidad de Deusto (ES), University of Arizona (US), Seoul National University (KR), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Kansas (US), Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), University of Waterloo (CA), Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta (ID), National University of Ireland, Maynooth (IE), St. Augustine University of Tanzania (TZ), Stockholm University (SE), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (CL), University of Groningen (NL), University of Pittsburgh (US), Singidunum University (RS), Kaunas University of Technology (LT), Nanyang Technological University (SG), University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (NL), Universidad de Granada (ES), Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MK), Simon Fraser University (CA), University of Toronto (CA), Brock University (CA), Lund University (SE), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (UA), York University (CA), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX), ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (CH), University of Washington (US), University of Zurich (CH), Thomas More University (US), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Masaryk University (CZ), Purdue University West Lafayette (US), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (CO), University of Exeter (GB), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Izmir Kâtip Çelebi University (TR), Stellenbosch University (ZA), University of South Florida (US), San Diego State University (US), Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (QA), New Generation University College (ET), West University of Timişoara (RO), Yale University (US), University of Chieti-Pescara (IT), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (EC), University of Gdańsk (PL), University of Belgrade (RS), Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (BO), University Clinical Center of Kosovo (XK), Institute for Communication and Leadership (CH), Rochester Institute of Technology Kosovo (XK), Institute of Experimental Endocrinology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (FR), University of Inland Norway (NO), Indiana University Bloomington (US), Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine – Westphalia (DE), Institute of Social Sciences (RU), Office of Diversity and Inclusion (US), Cognitive Research (United States) (US), Korea University (JP), Dublin City University (IE), University of Tartu (EE), Bahir Dar University (ET), University of Tirana (AL), UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO), University of Prishtina (XK), Singapore Management University (SG), Singapore University of Social Sciences (SG), University of Amsterdam (NL), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Leipzig University (DE), KU Leuven (BE)
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Canada Research Chairs, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Australian Research Council, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Career Development and Diversity
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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