Differences in the Occupational Achievement Process between Male and Female College Graduates

In the college graduating class of 1961, mean 1968 occupational achievement for men and women was similar. The standard deviation for men was greater than that for women, indicating that occupational opportunities of women were more constricted than were those of men. Basically the same pattern holds for occupational expectations held in the freshman and senior years in college and three years after graduation. On the other hand, women's achievement of education beyond the bachelor's degree lagged behind men's. Regression analysis reveals that compared with men, women showed greater instability in occupational expectations, reaped lesser returns in occupational status from investments in advanced education, and were less likely to realize their occupational expectations.