Sex Differences in Variability in Vocational Interests: Evidence from Two Large Samples.
Type
01 - Zeitschriftenartikel, Journalartikel oder Magazin
Primary target group
Science
Created while belonging to FHNW?
Yes
Zusammenfassung
Greater male variability has been established in cognitive abilities and physical attributes. This study investigated
sex differences in variability in vocational interests with two large samples (N>40 000 and N>70 000).
The results show that although men varied more in Realistic and Enterprising interests, women varied more in Artistic
and Conventional interests. These differences in variability had considerable influence on the female–male tail ratios
in vocational interests that have been found to contribute to reported gender disparities in certain fields of work and
academic disciplines. Moreover, differences in means and variability interacted non-linearly in shaping tail-ratio imbalances.
An age-specific analysis additionally revealed that differences in variability diminished with age: Older
samples showed smaller differences in variance in Realistic, Artistic, and Social interests than younger samples. Thus,
I found no evidence that greater male variability applies for vocational interests in general.