Associations Between Felt Pressure to Conform to Gender Norms, Gender Typicality, and Dutch Children’s Gender-Typical Views on Future Career and Family Life

Abstract Gender inequalities in involvement with family life and in certain career domains are a global phenomenon, even visible in countries with high levels of gender equality, such as the Netherlands. This study examined the pressure children feel to conform to gender norms (from parents, peers, and themselves), as well as their gender typicality, in relation to boys’ and girls’ gender-typical perspectives on future careers and family life. A total of 319 Dutch 8- to 12-year-old children (44.5% boys) completed self-report measures. Generalized Estimating Equations in SPSS were used to take into account dependency between siblings. Both boys and girls expected to prioritize family over career, with girls more so than boys. Boys and girls also exhibited gender typicality in their career aspirations. Less pressure from oneself to conform to same-gender behavior was consistently related to less gender-typical career aspirations. The association between less pressure from oneself to avoid other-gender behavior and less gender-typical expectations regarding family versus career involvement was only observed among children who scored high on gender typicality. In contrast, among children with high gender typicality, less pressure from parents to conform to same-gender behavior was linked to more gender-typical career aspirations. Parents and youth professionals can encourage a diverse range of behaviors in children, particularly those who are more gender typical. This may help mitigate pressure to conform to gender norms, allowing children to explore more diverse future work-family choices.