Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Spring 1996

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Social Work

Advisor

Bill Daley

Abstract

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate gender bias in career counseling at the secondary school level. The independent variables investigated were gender of the counselor, age of the counselor, years of experience of the counselor, amount of formal education of the counselor, high school classification of the counselor, and ratio of students to the counselor. The dependent variables investigated were scores from the following scales of the Questionnaire Pertaining to the Student Profile sheet (Appendix B): Nursing, Carpentry, Secretarial, and Engineering. Six composite null hypotheses were tested employing a nested design and one-way analysis of variance at the .05 level of significance. A total of 24 comparisons were tested. Of the 24 main effects tested, 1 was statistically significant at the .05 level. The statistical significant main effect was for the independent variable school size and the dependent variable engineering. The results indicated the following: 1. counselors from school sizes (1 A2A-enrollment, 16-123) who received female profiles (profile with female name) rated the occupation engineering significantly higher than those from school sizes (5A6A-enrollment, 466-1836) who received female profiles and male profiles, and 2. counselors from school sizes (5A6A-enrollment, 466-1836) who received male profiles rated the occupation engineering higher than counselors from school sizes (5A6A-enrollment, 466-1846) who received female profiles. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations: 1. counselors in small schools who received female profiles (profile with female name) rate the occupation engineering higher (gender and school size bias in career counseling) than those from large schools who received female profiles and male profiles, 2. counselors from large schools who received male profiles rate the occupation engineering higher (gender bias) than those who received female profiles, 3. no association between age of counselor and bias in career counseling of secondary school students, 4. no association between years of experience of the counselor and bias in career counseling of secondary school students, 5. no association between amount of formal education of the counselor and bias in career counseling of secondary school students, 6. no association between ratio of students to the counselor and bias in career counseling of secondary school students, 7. counselors rate nursing numerically higher (above the theoretical mean) than carpentry, secretarial, and engineering, 8. counselors rate carpentry, secretarial, and engineering average, and 9. high school counselors in Kansas are basically free of bias in career counseling of secondary school students.

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Rights

© 1996 Rhonda S. Murphy

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