Beroepsarbeid van die getroude vrou: Afrikaanse dogters se hooding en toekomsvisie

Abstract

Work and the married woman: Afrikaans-speaking girls' attitudes and aspirations. Existing literature on adolescent girls' views of gender roles focuses mainly on the position in the United States of America and Europe. In this study information was obtained on the visions that Afrikaans-speaking adolescent girls have of future roles. A scale consisting of 48 items was developed to measure the attitudes of adolescent girls towards the employment of married women. Their vision for future roles and their attitudes towards the employment of married women as measured with this scale were tested for statistical differences in terms of relevant variables. The sample consisted of 550 Std 9 girls in Pretoria. It was found that the study plans and expectations of these girls coincided with traditional stereotypes of the female role. Aspirations were, however, somewhat less stereotypical. Their vision of the future was statistically related to socio-economic status as indicated by the occupation and educational level of their fathers in particular, with girls from higher socio-economic backgrounds being the more liberal. Their attitudes towards employment of married women were moderately positive, with daughters of fulltime housewives being the most negative. Furthermore, the girls, in a school for girls only, had a less stereotypical vision of the future and more positive attitudes towards the employment of married women than girls in co-educational schools.