The role of gender in occupational choices and applications on secretarial occupation

The aim of this study is to look into the effects of gende r factors in line with the general view that certain occupations are more suitable for the nature of the female sex, despite the non existence of rules, la ws and other similar written factors. Following literature review and defining terms and definitions needed for the study, two measurement tools were used. The firs t section of the tool is made up of the gender inventory developed by Sandra BEM and adapted to our country by Kavuncu and Dökmen. The second part of the tool is made up of a questionnaire. The inventory was used with 447 employees who work within both the private and the public sectors as secretaries in A nkara, with the purpos e of discovering the effects of gender categories on their choice of occupation. Out of 447 secretaries who took part in the inventory, 400 were female and 47 were male. According to the results of BEM's inventory, within the female group 144 were in the feminine group and 144 were in the androgenic group. Within the male group, 18 were in the androgenic group and 16 were in the masculine group. Findings suggest that dissatisfaction w ith secretarial occupation increases in proportion with the increase in masculinity. Besides the effects of gender categor ies on occupational choice, another important finding from the study is the eff ect of unemployment on occupational choice. One other finding is that vocational traini ng enhances occupati onal satisfaction. The findings of this study show that with the increa se in the ratio of femininity in the gender categories, the view that secretarial work is more suitable for women increases.