Children's Sex-Stereotypes of Adult Occupations.

A 21-item group-administered rating scale was designed to measure elementary school students' sex-stereotyped attitudes about adult occupations. The students responded to items by designating who could, as well as who should fill certain occupations. By choosing from five responses (only women, more women than men, about the same number of women and men, more men than women, and only men), which are illustrated pictorially on the instruments' answer sheet, students rated each occupation from very sex-typed through moderately sex-typed to sex-neutral. Test items and administration directions are appended. The instrument includes a preliminary language lesson to ensure that children have been exposed to the difference in meaning between the words can, should, and is. Scoring formulas are explained and the internal consistency, stability, and validity of the instrument are breifly discussed. The research conducted on the instrument has shown that students' attitudes toward occupations can be changed through the use of sex-role reversed reading materials; that students'"should" responses are more sterotyped than their "can" responses; that responses to occupations are less stereotyped with age; that practice effects show students' attitudes become less stereotyped with each administration of the scale; and that, of the students measured, boys were more stereotyped than girls. (Author/JAC)