Social role theory (Eagly, 1987) posits that gender differences in career interests are consistent with normative social role expectations, with men assuming more agentic roles and women assuming more communal roles. To account for historical shifts in occupations and social roles, this mixed-methods study re-examines gender differences in career interests and motivations with a sample of 501 eighth graders (52% girls; 40% White) from the U.S. Findings indicated that boys and girls had distinct career interests and motivations. Despite preferring careers that were generally dominated by their own gender, students perceived their chosen career as being more gender balanced than U.S. labor force statistics indicate. This misperception might be the result of a preference for less stereotypical occupations, and may reflect a unique characteristic of the next-generation workforce. In addition, boys were more likely than girls to indicate that salary factored into their career choice; whereas girls were more likely than boys to indicate that a desire for helping others or working with children motivated their career choice, consistent with social role theory. Some motivational factors that are typically linked with young adult career preferences were not strong factors in younger adolescents’ career interests, perhaps due to the developmental status of participants or a generational shift in values. A generational shift in values may account for the presence of a relatively understudied motivational factor, occupation creativity, which was important for both boys and girls. Addressing gender differences in the motivations and goals that affect career interests may both alleviate workforce shortages and achieve a less gender segregated work environment.

社会角色理论 （Eagly， 1987） 假设职业兴趣的性别差异与规范的社会角色期望一致，男性承担更多的代理角色，而女性承担更多的公共角色。为了解释职业和社会角色的历史变化，这项混合方法研究以来自美国的 501 名八年级学生（52% 为女孩;40% 为白人）为样本重新审视了职业兴趣和动机的性别差异。研究结果表明，男孩和女孩具有不同的职业兴趣和动机。尽管他们更喜欢通常由自己性别主导的职业，但学生们认为他们选择的职业比美国劳动力统计数据显示的更加性别平衡。这种误解可能是由于偏爱不那么刻板的职业，并且可能反映了下一代劳动力的独特特征。此外，男孩比女孩更有可能表示薪水是他们职业选择的因素;而女孩比男孩更有可能表示帮助他人或与孩子一起工作的愿望激发了她们的职业选择，这与社会角色理论一致。一些通常与年轻人的职业偏好相关的激励因素并不是年轻青少年职业兴趣的重要因素，这可能是由于参与者的发展状况或价值观的代际转变。价值观的代际转变可能是存在一个相对未被充分研究的激励因素的原因，即职业创造力，这对男孩和女孩都很重要。解决影响职业兴趣的动机和目标中的性别差异，既可以缓解劳动力短缺，又可以实现减少性别隔离的工作环境。