Culture and gender in the career choice of aspiring managers and entrepreneurs

Ayala Malach-Pines and Oshrit Kaspi-Baruch The choice of a career is a complex and multifaceted process that includes all the spheres of a person’s life (Hall, 1996). Since the early 1900s, many attempts have been made to classify the factors that influence this process. Most of these efforts focused on such factors as aptitudes, interests, resources, limitations, requirements and opportunities (e.g. Parsons, 1909; Ginzberg, 1951; Super, 1953, 1957; Swanson, 1996). As a result, both traditional and modern vocational choice theories have been the focus of similar criticism: they do not address the myriad cultural contexts that influence people’s career choice and shape its development (Fouad and ByarsWinston, 2005). While the importance of cultural variables is increasingly accepted and valued (Swanson and Gore, 2000), most modern vocational choice theories do not include the influence of such contextual factors as educational and socioeconomic background, and the environment in which the individual grows up (Tang, 2003). And cultural context was shown to make a difference in the way people make decisions and choose their work (Fouad and Byars-Winston, 2005). The meaning of work, the value placed on it, and the expectations about who should perform what type of work reflect the society in which work is organized (Carter and Cook, 1992). Work holds different meanings for different people as a function of their sociocultural experiences (Cheatham, 1990). Growing globalization of the workforce increases the need of career counselors to understand the cultural context of their….