Thomas A. Lyson

Sex Differences in the Choice of a Male or Female Career Line. An Analysis of Background Characteristics and Work Values.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, this article identifies similarities and differences in social background characteristics, academic ability, and work values among men and women in sex-typical and sex-atypical curriculums. The research was designed to examine two implicit assumptions in the literature about the choice of a sex-atypical major: (1) that women in traditionally male areas manifest characteristics more closely associated with men in these same areas than with women in traditionally female areas; and (2) that men in traditionally female curriculums are more like women in these areas than they are like men in traditionally male areas. Results show that men and women in sex-atypical majors are more like their sex peers than like their curriculum mates. The implications of these findings for maintaining gender inequalities in the labor market are discussed.

Recruitment to School Teaching: The Relationship Between High School Plans and Early Adult Attainments

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, this paper examines the relationship between teaching plans and actually embarking on a teaching career. Results show that almost half the NLS respondents holding teaching positions in 1979 did not report teaching plans in high school, whereas three-fourths of the seniors who planned to teach were not teaching 7 years after high school graduation. Discriminant analysis is used to identify a set of background characteristics, demographic traits, and academic ability measures that distinguish different paths toward, into, and away from a career in teaching. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.

RACE AND SEX DIFFERENCES IN SEX ROLE ATTITUDES OF SOUTHERN COLLEGE STUDENTS

A sample of southern college students is used to investigate race and sex differences among nine Likert-type sex role attitudes. Results show that black and white men share a similar sex role orientation while black and white women also share a similar world view. There were only two instances where blacks were notably different from whites. First, blacks were more likely to feel that a womans real fulfillment in life comes from motherhood, and second, blacks were more likely to feel that it was appropriate for a mother with school-age children to work.

Some Plan to Become Teachers: Further Elaboration and Specification

In a recent article, Schwarzweller and Lyson (1978) report on factors related to the occupational choice of school teacher. Utilizing a cross-national sample of high school seniors, they consider such variables as residence, fathers occupational status, and scholastic performance, with all comparisons made between sexes. We replicate, or nearly replicate, their measures using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. We go beyond their analysis by including both blacks (N=831) -and whites (N=7700). Our findings both complement and contrast with those of Schwarzweller-Lyson. They complement them in that we too find occupational career plan differences based on residence, fathers occupational status and scholastic performance. Our findings contrast with theirs in that Schwarzweller-Lyson report percentages considerably higher than ours for the relative proportions of young men and women who aspire to teaching from among all professional occupational choices.

The Changing Sex Composition of College Curricula: A Shift-Share Approach

Shift-share analysis is used to provide a descriptive explanation of the changes in curriculum areas in which women received bachelors degrees between 1966 and 1976. The purpose is to assess the extent to which women have moved into male-dominated fields and consequently prepared themselves for employment in traditional male occupations. Data are from reports published by the U.S. Office of Education. Results show that seven of nine traditional male curricula had net increases of women between 1966 and 1976, along with 7 of 10 sex neutral areas and two of four traditional female areas. The net increase of women in traditional male areas, however, was greater than the increase in either sex neutral or traditional female areas.

Oversupply or Underutilization? The Sociology Job Market in the 1980's

Abstract This paper examines the recent job crunch in sociology. From a historical perspective the current glut of Ph.D.s is seen not as a temporary aberration in an otherwise healthy economic system, but rather as a recurring phenomenon with the conditions that foster the oversupply of Ph.D.s likely to continue well into the future. We show how most proposed solutions to the unemployment and underemployment problems faced by sociologists are limited by the failure to examine the historical origins and structural characteristics that have given rise to current imbalances. Prevailing conditions and opportunity structures are accepted as given. This uncritical and atheoretical approach limits our understanding of current employment problems and restricts the range of potential solutions that are considered. The paper lays out an alternative framework for analyzing the sociology job market and suggests new directions for research into this social problem.

THE CHANGING CURRICULUM ORIENTATIONS OF STUDENTS AT BLACK LAND GRANT COLLEGES: A Shift-Share Approach

Using data published by the U.S. Office of Education, shift-share analysis is used to examine changes in the number and proportion of bachelors degrees awarded in seven curriculum areas in the historically black and the historically white land grant colleges in the South between 1967 and 1977. Our guiding hypothesis suggested that recent pressure brought by the federal government to enhance programs at black land grant colleges coupled with the opening-up of a wide spectrum of traditionally white occupations would result in a broadening of the areas of study pursued by students at the black land grant colleges. Results show that, in general, students are pursuing a wider range of curriculums in the black land grant schools than in the past. Especially notable are increases in business, engineering, and the social sciences, while the number of education degrees has declined dramatically.

3. Career Plans of Farm Reared Boys : A Cross Cultural Study

Research by Burchinal (1962), Haller and Sewell (1957), Haller (1960, 1967, 1969) and others reveals that farm reared young people in the United States tend to have relatively lower educational and occupational ambitions than their urban or rural non-farm counterparts. Residential isolation, inaccessability of occupational alternatives and low socio-economic circumstances have frequently been cited as reasons why young people from farm backgrounds manifest low career ambitions.

Two Sides to the Sunbelt: The Growing Divergence between the Rural and Urban South.

Preface Economic Development, De Facto Industrial Policies, and the People and Places Left Behind Economic Stagnation in the Rural South: Old Times There Are Not Forgotten Health, Education, and Welfare: Creating and Sustaining Human Capital in the South Industrial Development and Occupational Change: Creating Job Opportunities for Southern Workers Wedding Economic Development to Social Justice Bibliography Index

Occupational concentration in work establishments

The failure of sociological and economic models premised on individual decision-making to account for persistent patterns of occupational concentration by race and gender has been a matter of considerable recent interest and debate. One response to this debate has been to explore the impact of various organizational dimensions on the social division of labor as experienced by males and females and/or blacks and whites. The importance of the work place as a locus of occupational restrictions has been widely acknowledged, but empirical research on this topic has been limited by the availability of establishment-level data. This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of occupational concentration by race and gender through analysis of 1980 EEOC data on business establishments. The first phase of analysis examines the importance of the work place for occupational concentration by race and gender and places the EEOC data within the context of the 1980 U.S. economy. The second phase of analysis explores the impact of several organizational characteristics on occupational concentration within work establishments.