Sex Role Identity and Career Indecision as Predictors of Holland's Congruence

A study examined the extent to which sex role identity and career indecision could be used as predictors of individuals' congruence with their environment. Holland's Self-Directed Search, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Career Decision Scale were administered to 84 male and 42 female undergraduates who had declared Animal Science majors at a large midwestern university. A discriminant analysis of the variables related to Holland's theory of person-environment congruence established that sex role identity and career indecision did not account for enough of the variance in congruence to make significant predictions on their basis. It was concluded that sex role identity and career indecision may account for only a small amount of the variance in congruence and that there are other factors that should be explored when helping individuals choose a vocation. It was acknowledged that the study was limited inasmuch as it was specific to a single university population and that it examined only one dimension of sex role identity. Further research should be based on a multifactoral approach to gender and that includes other measures of sex role identity incorporating more social or situational measures of the construct. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)