Sibling Influences on the Career Plans of Male and Female Youth

摘要

Using as a starting point Olneck's 1977 finding that the adult earnings of brothers are more similar than their common origin status would lead us to expect, this report analyzes the effects of siblings on career aspirations. Data from 5715 respondents who form 2419 sibling groups of two, three, or four are used to see how their self-reported career aspirations influenced each other from 1979 to 1982. The principal finding is that brothers, and brothers only, reinforce one another's occupational aspirations during the critical years of occupational identity formation when youth are beginning to make the transition to full-time employment. The apparent absence of a similar socialization mechanism between sisters may be one further hidden barrier to the career development of females.