Drawing Gender Stereotypes: British and Argentinian Children’s Graphic Representations of ‘Female’ and ‘Male’ Occupations

Objective
The aim was to compare gender and age differences in Argentinian and British children’s perceptions of female and male stereotyped occupations.
Design
A persistent gender-inequality in occupational differences and evidence suggests that these gender-role stereotypes develop early in childhood. Previous research has predominantly used questionnaire techniques to assess children’s explicit beliefs and where drawings have been used only male-stereotyped occupations have been examined. Therefore, this study is novel in its use of drawings and interviews to investigate implicit assumptions of male and female gender-stereotyped occupations. Furthermore, this research compares the assumptions of children from two age groups and two cultures with contrasting gender gap reports.
Method
Two hundred and forty 6-to-7-year-olds and 10-to-11-year-olds from cities in Britain and Argentina drew and named five human figures: (i) person of their choice, ii) dancer, iii) babysitter iv) firefighter and v) pilot). Each child completed a semi-structured interview in which they confirmed the gender and provided justification for their gender choices for each drawing. All drawings and interviews were coded by a rater blind to the age and country of the drawer.
Results
Children from both countries and age groups showed evidence of gender-role stereotyping, with one exception (Argentinian 10-11 year-olds’ ‘dancer’; p. 189). Although drawings suggested some cross cultural differences justifications for gender choices differed across age but less so between sexes and cultures.
Conclusions
Occupational gender-stereotypes develop early, but not universally. Older children increasingly justify their gender choices on their own experiences suggesting that over time their views might alter.