Society needs to try harder after survey finds children drew stereotypical gender images of bankers, builders, lawyers and nurses

RESEARCH conducted last month among seven to 11 year old school children communicates an old-fashioned picture of the employment market.

Some say it has worrying implications for job aspiration among girls, gender imbalance in higher level posts and the continuing curse of the glass ceiling.

British-based international executive and professional recruitment specialist Michael Page is behind the survey which sought to determine how children relate job titles to gender when asked to draw scenes from the working world.

It underlines that unhelpful typecasting of job functions to men or women is too alive and well for comfort in our so-called more enlightened, though still inconsistently structured, age.

The Page study involved slightly more than 100 youngsters. The sample seems low and in many research circles would be deemed irrelevant in reaching a robust conclusion, but empirically I suspect it is representative. The children came from all parts of the UK. Children were asked to draw a nurse, a builder, a lawyer and a banker as well as a person undertaking the job to which they aspire when they grow up.

Where gender was clearly identifiable, the statistical skew looked like this: 81 per cent of children drew nurses as female; 88 per cent of children drew builders as male; 80 per cent of children drew bankers as male; 65 per cent drew lawyers as male – the most gender balanced of the four professions.

"The findings show a generation that is growing-up in a forward-thinking world, but is clearly inheriting outdated gender stereotypes," trumpets the Page news release.

Independent child psychologist and author Dr Richard Woolfson is quoted. He concludes: "The psychological danger of stereotypes like this during childhood is that children’s future career ambitions and employment aspirations can be unnecessarily limited by their own rigid job-gender perceptions and expectations, irrespective of their actual ability, and that children might fail to even consider job possibilities associated with the opposite gender."

And he recommends: "Parents should get to know their children’s views about job-gender and try to broaden their perspective so that they avoid setting artificial employment boundaries for themselves. Children will only fulfil their maximum employment potential if they make a career choice that is suited to their talents, interests and abilities, not one needlessly restricted by job-gender stereotypes."

Woolfson’s view is supported by the intense drive of the various scientific and engineering institutions to encourage more young women to embrace the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) agenda when selecting subject choices during high school years. That drive, while arguably late in the day, is beginning to bear fruit after a frustrating start. But should more be consciously done at primary school to broaden horizons and appreciation of the modern workplace? First I’ll give the stage to Oliver Watson, Executive Board Director for UK & North America, Page Group.

He comments: "While these drawings might seem like a fairly light-hearted way to examine the topic of gender diversity, they are a worrying indication that children are still associating certain job roles with specific genders.

"This early-age stereotyping will likely impact the roles, industries and positions they look at as adults. More needs to be done to encourage diversity and inclusion in schools and in the adult working world, but it is certainly our responsibility to lead by example."

Any potentially limiting preconceptions among children should be adjusted. For me, that’s mainly a job for guardians and society at large; I completely support his last remark in that context. As I understand it, the curriculum in Scottish primary schools has in recent years been quick to recognise a need for diversification in use of societal example, reflecting a changing world. The latest crop of young teachers surely helps reinforce rebalancing, notwithstanding the majority in primary classrooms may be women.

Interestingly, in the Page survey girls chose "teacher" as the most popular profession to follow when they grow up. Boys chose "footballer". I’m no psychologist but perhaps this finally shows the female of the species to be the more strategic imaginative thinker?

Findings also illustrated some interesting gender trends in those children’s job aspirations. Apparently girls’ drawings generally showed a focus towards helping others and entertainment while boys’ drawings frequently depicted sports-dominated roles (footballers, rally drivers and rugby players) and careers where they could exercise authority – "fireman" and "head" teacher.

Should we be concerned? Yes, is the answer – but I’d contend we shouldn’t be worried, a precursor to ill-considered policy making.

Surely we need to facilitate change, not force it. Young people of today seem more capable of forming their own robust views than in previous generation.

For an example of resulting mature perspectives, think of the 16-year-olds interviewed on TV before the Scottish independence referendum.