In France as in Canada, we observe inequalities in educational and professional careers linked to the gender of individuals. While girls on average do better in their education than boys, they tend more towards the literary and tertiary sections, which are less profitable routes than the scientific, technical and industrial sections chosen by boys. According to the authors Couppié and Epiphane, this is how they lose ” part of the benefit of this better academic success “. Their choice of profession is undeniably less profitable from a financial point of view, but what about its relevance to happiness and fulfillment? We unfortunately know that these professional orientations lead to difficulties of professional integration for women, higher risks of unemployment and more precarious statuses … 

In 1981, Linda Gottfredson advanced a theory on the representation of professions. According to the latter, children first realize that jobs are differentiated by sex, then that different functions have unequal levels of social prestige. Thus at the age of 13, all adolescents have a unique cognitive map to represent professions. And they will use it to establish a area of ​​acceptable career choices according to 3 criteria: 

• the compatibility of the perceived sex of each occupation with the gender identity
• the compatibility of the perceived level of prestige of each profession with the feeling of having the capacity to accomplish this work
• the willingness to do whatever is necessary to get the desired job.

This map of “acceptable careers” would determine the educational orientation and the possible changes likely to occur during the career.

In 1990, a survey showed that boys ‘favorite occupations were occupations such as scientist, police officer, artist, farmer, carpenter, and architect, while girls’ favorite occupations were schoolteacher, high school teacher, farmer, artist, secretary. and grocer. In all cases, it is the gender factor that takes precedence over the social prestige factor.

Nevertheless, while the boys would pay close attention to the salaries of the various coveted professions, the concerns of the girls are more focused on social life and the reconciliation of family and professional roles.

These stereotypical perceptions exist at very early ages and especially at the start of primary school. 

In 1996, Gottfredson proposed a theory of compromise. According to the latter, compromise is defined as a process by which individuals change their aspirations for more realistic and accessible professional choices.

According to Gottfredson, so-called “early” compromises occur when an individual realizes that the profession he has most desired is not an accessible or realistic choice. So-called “empirical” compromises also occur when an individual changes their aspirations in response to experiences they have had while trying to get a job or during experiences from their schooling.

The anticipated compromises are linked to perceptions of inaccessibility and not due to real experiences on the labor market: they therefore appear earlier and influence the choice of future occupation.

In 2001, Patton and Creed observed that adolescents feel more assured of their professional project when the reality of decision-making is distant (around the age of 13): girls feel particularly confident because they have a good knowledge of the professional world.

But, surprisingly, after 15 years, both boys and girls experience uncertainty. At 17, when the choice is near, girls would begin to doubt and experience greater uncertainty in their choice of profession and the professional world than boys.

In 1996 Holland proposed a new theory based on “vocational choice”. It distinguishes 6 categories of professional interests, each corresponding to different personality profiles:

• Realistic
• Investigator
• Artistic
• Social
• entreprenant
• Conventional

According to Holland, gender, personality types, environment, culture (experiences of other people of the same sex, from the same background for example) and the influence of family (including expectations, feelings skills acquired) would make it possible to anticipate the professional aspirations of adolescents.