Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-qc88w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-05T05:24:32.131Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Motivational affordances in school versus work contexts advantage different individuals

A possible explanation for domain-differential gender gaps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

By
Jutta Heckhausen
Edited by
Ingrid Schoon  and
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Jutta Heckhausen
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde
Ingrid Schoon
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Get access

Summary

Abstract

In the last decade, girls have attained similar achievement levels in mathematics and natural sciences as boys. Girls also value mathematics or sciences as highly as boys do. However, women are still not attaining equivalent career success in professional fields associated with mathematics and natural sciences, such as engineering and computer science. One possible explanation for the disassociation between school-based motivation and achievement in mathematics and sciences, on the one hand, and successful entry and pursuit of science-related careers, on the other hand, might be that the two achievement contexts – school and work/career – require different motivational self-regulatory skills to be most effective. The chapter discusses a set of individual differences in various components of motivational self-regulation, ranging from opportunity-congruent goal selection to implicit and explicit motives, volitional commitment, and goal disengagement and self-protection. To date, we have only scarce empirical evidence about gender differences in these components of motivational self-regulation. However, the stark contrasts between the self-regulatory requirements in the highly structured school versus the low structured work domain present a fascinating research area to begin to explain the gender gap between the two domains of achievement behavior.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment
A Life Course Perspective
 , pp. 346 - 362
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anderman, E. M., & Young, A. J. (1994). Motivation and strategy use in science: Individual differences and classroom effects. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, 811–831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barron, K. E., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2001). Achievement goals and optimal motivation: Testing multiple goal models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 706–722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baumann, N., Kaschel, R., & Kuhl, J. (2005). Striving for unwanted goals: Stress-dependent discrepancies between explicit and implicit achievement motives reduce subjective well-being and increase psychosomatic symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 781–799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biernat, M. (1989). Motives and values to achieve: Different constructs with different effects. Journal of Personality, 57, 69–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunstein, J. C. (2011). Implicit and explicit motives. In Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H. (Eds.), Motivation and action (2nd ed., pp. 227–246). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brunstein, J., & Heckhausen, H. (2011). Achievement motivation. In Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H. (Eds.), Motivation and action (2nd ed., pp. 137–183). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brunstein, J. C., & Maier, G. W. (2005). Implicit and self-attributed motives to achieve: Two separate but interacting needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 205–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brunstein, J. C., Schultheiss, O. C., & Grassman, R. (1998). Personal goals and emotional well-being: The moderating role of motive dispositions. Journal of Personality and Social psychology, 75, 494–508.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brunstein, J. C., & Maier, G. W. (1999). The pursuit of personal goals: A motivational approach to well-being and life adjustment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Chipperfield, J. G., Perry, R. P., Bailis, D. S., Ruthig, J. C., & Chuchmach, L. P. (2007). Gender differences in use of primary and secondary control strategies in older adults with major health problems. Psychology and Health, 22, 83–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chusmir, L. H. (1985). Motivation of managers: Is gender a factor?Psychology of Women Quarterly, 9, 153–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deCharms, R., Morrison, H. W., Reitman, W., & McClelland, D. C. (1955). Behavioral correlates of directly and indirectly measured achievement motivation. In McClelland, D. C. (Ed.), Studies in motivation (pp. 414–423). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.Google Scholar
Duncan, L. E., & Peterson, B. E. (2010). Gender and motivation for achievement, affiliation-intimacy, and power. In Chrisler, J. C. & McCreary, D. R. (Eds.), Handbook of gender research in psychology: Vol. 2. Gender research in social and applied psychology (pp. 41–62). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S., & Roeser, R. W. (2011). Schools as developmental contexts during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 225–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliot, A. J. (2005). A conceptual history of the achievement goal construct. In Elliot, A. J. & Dweck, C. S. (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 52–72). New York: Guilford Publications.Google Scholar
Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., & Linn, M. C. (2010). Cross-national patterns of gender differences in mathematics: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 103–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farr, J. L., Hofmann, D. A., & Mathieu, J. E. (1993). Job perception, job satisfaction relations: An empirical comparison of three competing theories. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 56(3), 370–387.Google Scholar
Fox, K., Goudas, M., Biddle, S., Duda, J. L., & Armstrong, N. (1994). Children’s task and ego goal profiles in sport. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 64, 253–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haase, C. M., Heckhausen, J., & Köller, O. (2008). Goal engagement during the school-to-work transition: Beneficial for all, particularly for girls. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18, 671–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, S. F. (1990). Apprenticeship for adulthood: Preparing youth for the future. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., & Elliot, A. J. (1998). Rethinking achievement goals: When are they adaptive for college students and why?Educational Psychology, 33, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., Tauer, J. M., & Elliot, A. J. (2002). Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 562–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckhausen, J. (1997). Developmental regulation across adulthood: Primary and secondary control of age-related challenges. Developmental Psychology, 33, 176–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heckhausen, J. (1999). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age-normative and sociostructural constraints as adaptive challenges. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J. (2000). Motivational psychology of human development: Developing motivation and motivating development. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., & Chang, E. S. (2009). Can ambition help overcome social inequality in the transition to adulthood? Individual agency and societal opportunities in Germany and the United States. Research in Human Development, 6, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckhausen, J., & Heckhausen, H. (2011). Motivation and development. In Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H. (Eds.), Motivation and action (2nd ed., pp. 384–443). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., & Schulz, R. (1995). A life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102, 284–304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heckhausen, J., & Tomasik, M. J. (2002). Get an apprenticeship before school is out: How German adolescents adjust vocational aspirations when getting close to a developmental deadline. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 199–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Fleeson, W. (2001). Developmental regulation before and after a developmental deadline: The sample case of “biological clock” for child-bearing. Psychology and Aging, 16, 400–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Schulz, R. (2010). A motivational theory of lifespan development. Psychological Review, 117, 32–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinz, W. R. (1999). From education to work: Cross-national perspectives. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A., & Williams, C. (2008). Gender similarities characterize math performance. Science, 321, 494–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, S. (1987). Need for achievement and women’s careers over 14 years: Evidence for occupational structure effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 922–932.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krapp, A. (2002). Structural and dynamic aspects of interest development: Theoretical considerations from an ontogenetic perspective. Learning and Instruction, 12, 383–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langan-Fox, J., Samkeu, M. J., & Canty, J. M. (2009). Incongruence between implicit and self-attributed achievement motives and psychological well-being: The moderating role of self-directedness, self-disclosure and locus of control. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 99–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClelland, D. C. (1961). Achievement and society. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.Google Scholar
McClelland, D. C. (1980). Motives dispositions: The merits of operant and respondent measures. In Wheeler, L. (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (pp. 87–113). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
McClelland, D. C., & Boyatzis, R. E. (1982). The leadership motive pattern and long-term success in management. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 737–743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClelland, D. C., Koestner, R., & Weinberger, J. (1989). How do self-attributed and implicit motives differ?Psychological Review, 96, 690–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meece, J. L., Glienke, B. B., & Burg, S. (2006). Gender and motivation. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 351–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2008, February). Ten years after college: Comparing the employment experiences of 1992–93 Bachelor’s degree recipients with academic and career-oriented majors – Postsecondary education descriptive analysis report (NCES 2008–1550. Washington, DC: Dept. of Education.Google Scholar
Pajares, F., Britner, S. L., & Valiante, G. (2000). Relation between achievement goals and self-beliefs of middle school students in writing and science. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 406–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pajares, F., & Cheong, Y. F. (2003). Achievement goal orientations in writing: A developmental perspective. International Journal of Educational Research, 39, 437–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pintrich, P. R., Conley, A. M., & Kempler, T. M. (2003). Current issues in achievement goal theory and research. International Journal of Educational Research, 39, 319–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulin, M., & Heckhausen, J. (2007). Stressful events compromise goal striving during a major life transition. Motivation and Emotion, 31, 300–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rheinberg, F. (2008). Intrinsic motivation and flow. In Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H. (Eds.), Motivation and action (pp. 323–383). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoon, I., Martin, P., & Ross, A. (2007). Career transitions in times of social change: His and her story. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 78–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoon, I., & Silbereisen, R. K. (Eds.). (2009). Transitions from school to work: Globalisation, individualisation, and patterns of diversity. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Schultheiss, O. C., & Brunstein, J. C. (2001). Assessment of implicit motives with a research version of the TAT: Picture profiles, gender differences and relations to other personality measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 77, 71–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Senko, C., Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2011). Achievement goal theory at the crossroads: Old controversies, current challenges, and new directions. Educational Psychologist, 46, 26–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spangler, W. (1992). Validity of questionnaire and TAT measures of need for achievement: Two meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 140–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, A. J., & Chester, N. L. (1982). Sex differences in human social motives: Achievement, affiliation and power. In Stewart, A. J. (Eds.), Motivation and society (pp. 172–218). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Tomasik, M. J., Hardy, S., Haase, C. M., & Heckhausen, J. (2009). Adaptive adjustment of vocational aspirations among German youths during the transition from school to work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 38–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veroff, J. (1982). Assertive motivations. In Stewart, A. J. (Eds.), Motivation and society. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Veroff, J., Reuman, D., & Feld, S. C. (1984). Motives in American men and women across the adult life span. Developmental Psychology, 20, 1142–1158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiese, B. S., & Freund, A. M. (2000). The interplay of work and family in young and middle adulthood. In Heckhausen, J. (Ed.), Motivational psychology of human development: Developing motivation and motivating development (pp. 233–249). New York: Elsevier Science.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). The development of competence beliefs, expectancies for success, and achievement values from childhood through adolescence. In Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (Eds.), The development of achievement motivation (pp. 91–120). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigfield, A., Eccles, J. S., Schiefele, U., Roeser, R., & Davis-Kean, P. (2006). Motivation. In Eisenberg, N. (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 933–1002). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Witkowski, T., & Stiensmeier-Pelster, (1998). Performance deficits following failure: Learned helplessness or self-esteem protection?British Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 59–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wrosch, C., & Heckhausen, J. (1999). Control processes before and after passing a developmental deadline: Activation and deactivation of intimate relationship goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 415–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×