Fostering Sustainable Development by Eliminating Gender Stereotypes in Career Choice Thuy Hang Truong(1)*, Kim Anh Duong(1) (1) Vietnam Women’s Academy, Hanoi, Vietnam * Correspondence: truongthuyhang@vwa.edu.vn Abstract: Eliminating gender stereotypes and gender inequality has been one of the key global priorities, especially since the United Nations’ adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in September 2015 Sustainable Development Goal No.4 (SDG4) to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all emphasizes the need to eliminate gender inequality in education, to ensure the rights to choose and the rights for equal access for all learners As such, it is necessary to eliminate gender barriers in education, including gender stereotypes in career choice The questions are: what are the gender stereotypes in career choice? What are the factors influencing gender stereotypes in career choice? What are the solutions to eliminate gender stereotypes in career choice to address gender inequality in education, contributing to sustainable development? Using gender sensitive analysis and gender-responsive and rights-based approach (GRRA), authors point out that gender stereotypes exist in career choice There are some main factors influencing gender stereotypes in career choice of high school pupils, including: family, school, media and the feelings of career relevance of the pupils themselves Based on the analysis results, the authors propose specific recommendations, contributing to the elimination of gender stereotypes in career choice, contributing to sustainable development of people and society Keywords: Gender stereotypes; career choice; gender; sustainable development; SDG4 Introduction Gender stereotypes are the negative perception, attitudes and assessment on characteristics, position, role and capacity of men or women (Gender Equality Law, 2016; Article 5, Item 5) For example, men are strong, more assertive than women, while women are gentle, and more careful than men; or the notion that men are family pillars and should work in the public and the work outside home is more important than domestic work, etc (MOET, 2015:39) Gender stereotypes on occupation has been the topic of national and international research over years Most of the research confirms that, the issue has considerable impacts on the career orientation of students, and to the separation of career by gender In addition to that, gender stereotypes also can limit the development of men and women in the process of pursuing their careers (Haus et al., 2013; United Nations Human Rights, 2014) When choosing a career, high school students are often being impacted by a variety of factors, including but not limited to excitement, aspiration, their learning abilities and external factors such as social rumors, advices from relatives, and school career orientation Because of that, many students not choose to follow their favorite profession (Tran, 2008:41) The United Nations has affirmed that it is not possible to develop sustainably without gender equality Elimination of gender discrimination and gender inequality is one of the priorities of global focus, especially since the United Nations passes the 2030 95 Sustainable Development Agenda (September 2015) Sustainable Development Goal No (SDG4) "Ensuring qualified, comprehensive and equitable education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities" also emphasizes the need to terminate gender inequality in education, ensuring the rights to choose, and equal access to the student This article is written based on our recent surveys to analyze the status of gender in the career choice of young students and to propose solutions to solve the problem Methodology This article is written based on the data of the survey “Gender differences in career choice and influencing factors”, conducted in 2019 by the main author The study subjects include 706 young students of high schools in Tu Son town, Bac Ninh province Students selected are in grades 11 and 12 and balanced in gender These are the young people, that begin to think, to choose, and to decide which jobs they will choose to be the future ones This article simultaneously uses gender-sensitive analysis and gender-responsive and rights-based approach to identify gender stereotypes in career choice of male and female youth who are high school students Results 3.1 Gender stereotypes in career choice of the youth The research has classified out 21 professions selected by the youth These are quite common professions in the society Some new professions appear recently as professions using social media (such as streamer, vlogger, YouTuber ) have also attracted the attention of a certain proportion of the youth Male and female youth tend to choose differently in certain professions, showing gender differences in their career choice Table Intention for career choice of male and female youth (%) Job to be chosen Female Males Total Doctor/pharmacist 49.0 51.0 100.0 Policeman/military officer 32.4 67.6 100.0 Programmer/ Information technology staff 7.7 92.3 100.0 Teacher 80.0 20.0 100.0 Artistic activities (actor, singer) 41.7 58.3 100.0 Auditing/accounting 87.8 12.2 100.0 Architects/graphic designers, fine arts staff 40.9 59.1 100.0 Engineer (construction, mechanic, electrics) 28.2 71.8 100.0 Beauty-maker (nail, hairdresser, make-up) 92.9 7.1 100.0 Pilot 0.0 100.0 100.0 Airhostess 82.4 17.6 100.0 Tour guide 73.3 26.7 100.0 Interpreter 89.8 10.2 100.0 Journalist/writer 84.6 15.4 100.0 Banking officer 63.6 36.4 100.0 96 Doing business/marketing 56.8 43.2 100.0 Lawyer 72.7 27.3 100.0 Social network staff (streamer, Vlogger, youtuber ) 10.0 90.0 100.0 CEO/businesswoman/businessman 60.0 40.0 100.0 Official/officer 56.3 43.8 100.0 Worker/chef/local worker 47.4 52.6 100.0 (Source: Survey in Tu Son, Bac Ninh) The figures show a statistically significant difference between female and male youth in future career option tendency (P < 0.001) Males tend to choose more than females in professions such as: physician/pharmacist, artistic activity (actor, singer ), architect/graphic designer/art, worker/chef/local craft staff Besides, the female youth tend to choose more than men in professions such as: public officials/office workers, CEOS/entrepreneurs, and business/marketing staff Many young women tend to choose to start up and become to be businesswomen - that is an issue of concern Males tend to choose more than females in professions such as public security/military officer, programmer/information technology, engineers (construction, machine building, electronics), and new occupations appearing in recent times (streamer, Vlogger, YouTuber, etc.) Only men choose to be pilots Females tend to choose far more than males in professions such as teachers, auditors/accountants, aviation practitioners, tour guides, interpreters, journalists/writers, bankers, lawyers and beauty makers (nail, hair, make-up) - these are almost only female options Overall, young men tend to choose complicated occupations that require high technical expertise, and good health/fitness Young women tend to choose careers that are said to be somewhat gentle and technically less complex It should be noted that the gender differences mentioned above are also the gender stereotypes in career choice of the youth Ideas of high school students clearly explain this point “Young men with good academic skills are more inclined to choose highly technical careers They like to study in schools such as Polytechnic, Civil Engineering, Transportation Later, after graduation, they become construction engineers, electronics engineers, mechanical engineers Girls often like stable jobs like public officers, or office workers So, the girls often choose to study in C and D group and take exams in universities like Foreign Trade University, Humanities and Pedagogy (In-depth interview, female, 18 years old) I think that females choose the “gentle” occupations like teachers, accountants, officers There are not few females choose business job The jobs like policemen, pilots are suitable only to men Females are not strong enough to these jobs” (In-depth interview, male, 18 years old) Shinnar et al (2012) suggested that careers are often divided into two categories: occupations suitable for men and occupations suitable for women For example, teachers, nurses, caregivers, waiters, secretaries are considered suitable jobs for women; engineers, 97 doctors, judges, senior managers are suitable jobs for men Individuals, therefore, often choose a career based on this division Vietnam is in the transition period, so along with accepting new, modern and progressive ideas, there are still old and backward ideas Gender stereotypes in general and gender bias are not yet eliminated The results of this research on gender stereotypes in career choice raise many interesting questions For example, why are there still gender stereotypes in career choice? What factors affect these gender stereotypes? And what is the radical solution to this problem? These questions need to be further analyzed and clarified 3.2 Factors influencing gender stereotypes in career choice of the youth Perspective of the youth on career suitability The concept of career suitability by gender is closely related to gender stereotypes in career choice In case the youth have gender stereotypes in their career perspective, it is possible that they will have gender stereotype in career choice Table Perspective of the youth on career suitability by gender (%) Jobs to be chosen More suitable More Suitable to to women suitable to both sexes Total men Doctor/pharmacist 8.2 18.4 73.5 100 Policeman/military officer 0.0 55.9 44.1 100 2.6 55.3 42.1 Teacher 40.0 0.0 60.0 100 Artistic activities (actor, singer) 10.0 10.0 80.0 100 Auditing/accounting 32.7 2.0 65.3 100 4.5 27.3 68.2 0.0 59.0 41.0 Beaty maker (nail, hairdresser, make-up) 28.6 0.0 71.4 100 Pilot 0.0 60.0 40.0 100 Airhostess 29.4 0.0 70.6 100 Tour guide 0.0 0.0 100.0 100 Interpreter 10.2 4.1 85.7 100 Journalist/writer 7.7 7.7 84.6 100 Banking officer 9.1 18.2 72.7 100 Doing business/marketing 10.3 11.1 78.6 100 Lawyer 9.1 0.0 90.9 100 0.0 0.0 100.0 2.0 12.0 86.0 Programmer/ Information technology staff Architects/graphic designers, fine arts staff Engineer (construction, mechanic, electrics) Social network staff (streamer, Vlogger, youtuber ) CEO/businesswoman/businessman 98 100 100 100 100 100 Official/officer 0.0 0.0 100.0 100 Worker/chef/local worker 15.8 26.3 57.9 100 The youth nowadays are more open and less stereotypical in career choice perspective Most of the youth think that the careers they choose are relevant for both sexes However, the gender stereotypes on career choice clearly express via several jobs, such as: policeman, programmer, engineer (construction, mechanic, and electronics) and pilot Most of the youth think that those jobs are mainly suitable to men Even, with the job of policeman, engineer and pilot, no informant giver thinks that these jobs are more suitable to women Some professions are little or no discrimination in the concept of men or women such as business/marketing, social networking professions (streamer, V-blogger, YouTuber), office worker/staff For these professions, most young men think that females fit There are 15/21 different concepts in the world with different levels of Khan It can be said to exist about careers in young men's conception They think that there are professions that fit only boys, or are more suited to men, and there are professions that match only women or women who are better suited These professions are said to be suitable for men rather than those that require a lot of health, technical and professional skills These professions are more suitable for women, which are said to be less complex, less technical, gentle profession, beauty profession and are not too hard In-depth interviews and focused group discussions provided similar results “Females study Pedagogy, later to be teachers, that is a suitable trend, because the work is not too heavy Or women can also work related to offices or being civil servants /officials Female is not suitable for Polytechnic or Civil Engineering Because even while learning, the study loads of those schools are very heavy Later, after graduation, being engineers also requires strong health and high willpower to the job (In-depth interview, male student, grade 11) I intend to choose the job of an officer It is my favorite job I have no special reason I think I am a man, with good health, and strong thinking So that it is suitable for that profession When talking about that job, people mention mainly to men and boys” (Focused group discussion, male student, grade 12) Gender stereotyped perspective in career choice can lead to the act of gender stereotypes in career selection Analyzing the youth's perceptions about the career characteristics that are suitable for men and women, we will understand more about students’ gender stereotypes that exists in their perceptions and awareness Feelings about career characteristics that are suitable for men and women Perceptions of suitable male/female career characteristics are strongly linked to gender stereotypes in career choice Although here the focus is given to the feeling, not yet the awareness, but it is enough to see ideas that distinguish between male and female career characteristics Table Feelings about career characteristics that are suitable for men and women (%) 99 More More suitable to suitable to Suitable to both sexes Career characteristics women men Supporting/Caring others 33.7 1.2 65.2 Careful/meticulous 49.4 2.7 47.8 Communicating with different people 2.9 12.8 84.3 Earn lots of money 1.3 15.0 83.7 Having opportunity for promotion 1.1 22.0 76.9 Technology related job 1.0 59.7 39.3 Travelling frequently 1.2 59.7 39.2 Innovative job 3.9 20.3 75.8 2.4 28.7 68.9 The job that have opportunity to take part-time work 10.7 9.4 79.9 With opportunity for higher education 4.0 9.6 86.3 With flexible work arrangement 12.2 13.5 74.4 Jobs requiring strong personality / assertiveness/ and confidence The data show that many career characteristics are perceived to be suitable for both men and women; that means, without gender discrimination Besides, there are career characteristics – such as careful and meticulous, helping/taking care of others are considered as more suitable for women, and are agreed by 1/3 to half of young people There are career characteristics perceived to be more suitable for men, with a relatively low percentage of opinions Those are: communicating with many people, earning lots of money, having opportunity for promotion, technology-related jobs, travelling often, and the jobs requiring creativity, jobs requiring strong personality /assertiveness/ and confidence, or a job with opportunity for higher study These characteristics are more suitable for men That is, gender stereotypes about job characteristics still exist in the youth It can be observed that the occupational characteristics considered by young people to be more suitable for women are in line with the role of women in traditional societies Accordingly, women are thought to be skillful, careful, thoughtful, and have a major role in the care work On the contrary, the job characteristics that are considered more suitable for men are in line with traditional gender roles of men: participation in community activities, being economic pillar of the family, and with stable position in the community, having good ability in technical job, with strong personality, assertiveness, and confidence “Theoretically, our society is equal now, men and women can the same thing But in fact, it is not necessarily so There are jobs with complex nature, requiring strong health, that is difficult for women to meet with specific requirement Or simply, there are jobs that require frequent travelling, and women cannot meet the requirement On the one hand, women’s health does not allow, in the other hand, once getting married, women have more things to than men” (In-depth interview, female, 17 years old) Therefore, the concept / perception of job characteristics that are suitable for men and women has contributed to creating additional barriers in the career selection process of 100 young people, contributing to maintaining gender stereotypes in career choice McQuaid et al (2004) also affirmed that students' career choices were affected by gender stereotypes Some occupations are thought to be for men, such as truck drivers, engineers, plumbers, electricians, people working in armed forces; and typical jobs for women such as nurses and care givers Impacts of family, school, friends, and media Family, school, friends and media are considered as the main factors influencing youth career orientation Therefore, it can also be considered as the factors that contribute to gender stereotypes in youth career choice today 48.6 50 45 40 37.7 35 30 25 20 15 9.7 10 2.2 0.7 The family School Friends The media Yourself Figure Factor influencing career choice intention of the youth (%) There are not few young people who have certain autonomy and political opinions and decide their own future career options In addition, more than half of the young people surveyed said that they were influenced by many different factors in career orientation (51.4%), of which the family had a much higher impact rate than other factors (37.7%) Media has a lower influence (9.7%), and school and friends have almost no influence on youth's career choice (2.2% and 0.7%) “My name says a lot about my parents' expectations A very feminine name My parents want me to always be gentle, and always have long, shiny black hair My parents didn't like me doing something that was said to be too different from the tradition, different from what people think of women My parents not want me to adventurous, risky, labor-intensive jobs My parents want me to have a stable job, such as civil servants or office workers, for example, and that is enough Parents never want me to have a short haircut I used to cut my hair short and my parents were angry, not happy at all But it is those desires of my parents that make me sometimes feel pressure and frustrated Parents' wishes are not wrong My parents just want the good things for me But sometimes I wonder why I can't it differently” (In-depth interview, female, 18 years old) 101 Findings from our study also support the results of the previous research A study by Ha Thuc Dung and Nguyen Ngoc Anh (2012) shows that people want their sons to more technical occupations such as doctors, engineers, and skilled workers They prefer their daughter to light, more feminine jobs like teachers In addition, sons must be the breadwinner of the family so the most important thing in the career is to earn a lot of money And for girls, the high income is not as important as the light job and be suitable to their wishes Thus, the family, school, friends and media all influence gender stereotypes about career choice of young people at different levels Family and communication have greater influences than the other two factors Schools and friends are an important socializing environment, but they not significantly affect gender stereotypes in career choices of young people Perhaps, the family is the first educational environment, the first socialized environment that has affected young people since their childhood The influence of the family, therefore, continues to grow in the process of development of young adulthood and career choice Conclusions and discussion Gender stereotypes exist in the youth and continue to be the obstacles to job development of the youth, especially the female ones This also limit the development of the youth themselves, community, and society as the choice of future job is being gender stereotyped Gender stereotypes in career choice of students are influenced by difference factors Communication, school, peers, and especially family have different impacts and contribute to gender stereotyping in career choice of the youth So, to alleviate gender stereotypes in career choice, we first need to remove gender stereotypes in job career right in the awareness and behavior of family members, especially of the youth’s parents This issue requires time, and the close cooperation between family, school and the society to minimize gender stereotypes related to career choice Elimination of gender stereotypes in career choice will contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals No (SDG4) to ensuring quality, comprehensive and equitable education, and promoting lifelong learning opportunities Naturally, the elimination of gender stereotypes in career choice cannot ignore supporting policies, and the agenda, the goals towards gender equality, and many other specific careerrelated policies The design and implementation of such legal documents have significant impacts on their effectiveness (ILO Vietnam, 2015) In fact, some of the provisions of the Labour Code may discriminate against female laborers Vocational training and employment supporting policies have not help alleviate gender stereotypes in career orientation and career choice Incentive policies for enterprises using more female workers have posed different challenges There are policies in labour and employment area that have not been gender mainstreamed fully and effectively (Anh Quang, 2017) These are things that continue to be of interest, research and towards the 102 complete elimination of discrimination, of gender stereotypes in labor, in occupation and in related policies References Anh Quang (2017) Linking vocational training and employment solving with gender equality Giao duc & Thoi dai Newspaper Ha, T.D & Nguyen, N.A (2012) Learning orientation and occupation for children in Cuu Long Delta Sociology, 7(167), 45-53 Haus, I., Steinmetz, H., Isidor, R., Kabst, R (2013) Gender effects on entrepreneurial intention: a meta-analytical structural equation model International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(2), 130-156 ILO Vietnam (2015) Report Gender equality in recruitment and promotion in Vietnam MOET (Ministry of Education and Training) (2015) Guidelines on gender mainstreaming in job orientation for high school students Hanoi National University Publishing House National Assembly, No 622-/QĐ-TTg (2017) National Action Plan to implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda Dated 10 May 2017 Tran, D.C (2008) Career choice tendency of grade 12 high school students under the influence of the market economy (Survey in Phu Tho province) Master thesis in Education studies Thai Nguyen University UN (United Nations) (2015) The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda United Nations Human Rights (2014) Gender stereotypes and stereotyping and women’s rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland 103 ... contribute to gender stereotyping in career choice of the youth So, to alleviate gender stereotypes in career choice, we first need to remove gender stereotypes in job career right in the awareness... Factors influencing gender stereotypes in career choice of the youth Perspective of the youth on career suitability The concept of career suitability by gender is closely related to gender stereotypes. .. and the society to minimize gender stereotypes related to career choice Elimination of gender stereotypes in career choice will contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals