One of the themes that recurs throughout the transcripts, particularly amongst those women who did not pursue higher education, is sex-role socialisation and its relationship with career choice. Although in most cases early socialisation and subsequent career choice are not directly related to subsequent moves to self-employment, it is clear that for many respondents, such choices were significant in that they served to establish a pattern for future career development. It must be noted at the outset that because this study did not set out specifically to study patterns of early socialisation, such data exists as a "by-product" of the main study, in cases where women felt that such experiences were significant.
Sex-role socialisation, as a major aspect of career decision-making, is central to much of the literature on women's career development, as outlined in the literature review (see for example Hennig and Jardim, 1978; Astin, 1984; Gutek and Larwood, 1989; Larwood and Gutek, 1989; Marshall, 1989; Gallos, 1989; White, 1995; Rees, 1992). Astin identifies sex role socialisation as one of the four key factors in determining occupational choice, focusing, in particular, on the gendered nature of children's play, household chores and early paid work, and the subtle messages children receive about sex-
appropriate behaviours. While the data contain very little about these implicit processes, they do provide some illuminating insights into the more explicit careers advice and directives that respondents were offered by parents, teachers and careers advisors. One-quarter of the women in the sample explained how they were guided^by parents, teachers and career advisors, to pursue careers in sectors that were traditionally female: secretarial work, nursing, teaching and retail.
"/ went for careers advice and it was basically, 'Well, you look like a caring person, why
don't you be a nurse?' 'Well I don’t want to be a nurse, I don't like blood.' 'Why don't
you go into teaching?' 'Don’t want to stay in school.' 'So the only other option that
they put forward to me was clerical, which was either local authority or civil service" (Personnel officer to training/development manager o f agency seeking to promote employment o f people with disabilities).
For these six women, the notion of "career choice" was illusory. Rees' study of working class girls and career choice (1992) produced similar findings. She argues that for the girls in her study, careers were determined by a myriad of variables, including gender, class, race and the needs of the local labour market. The limitations of my sample are such that I can not comment on these factors, except to point out that six women who reported such constraints came from both working class and middle class backgrounds, which suggests that limited career choice can be a middle class as well as a working class phenomenon.
The accounts of the six women cited above suggest that early sex role socialisation and limited career choice appear to have impacted on their subsequent career decisions, and their perceptions of themselves as working women.
"...with that sort o f background, that sort o f education, what you did was you did a secretarial course or you'djust get married, really... I never thought o f myself as being clever... Eventually I came up with the Masters [course] . I applied for it and I was in a real state cause I thought, 'No one's ever going to take me on to do a Masters. I don't have that kind o f brain. ’ It was real conditioning" (Social worker to management consultant).
"I've never worked in an whole female environment, cause I've normally worked as a secretary working for a man [she was a secretary for less than half o f her working life]... Assertiveness training would have stood me in good stead. I never had any problem as a secretary, because a secretary is a naturally subservient role and I think
that's actually my role, to some extent" (Personal Assistant to recruitment consultant in large organisation to independent recruitment consultant).
In her conclusion, Rees maintains that "the 'fixed' point for so many working-class Valleys girls was the certainty that... they would become mothers, and would spend some years looking after their children... The sensible option was a job that allowed you to return to work part time: by definition, this would be a "woman's job" (p. 57)
Likewise, when asked about career plans, a number of respondents reported that they had envisaged leaving their jobs once they married or had children. In some cases this was due to discriminatory practices on the part of employers who refused to keep married women on their staff, while in others it had to do with their expectations of themselves as women, wives and mothers. Finding this life unfulfilling, these respondents re-entered a workforce which offered limited opportunities to women who had severed links with previous employers and who now sought positions which could accommodate their domestic responsibilities. It was this transition, in terms of career expectations as well as position in the labour market, that eventually led some of them to consider self- employment.
The process of sex-role socialisation obviously extends beyond early childhood experiences and careers advisors - to professions, organisations, and to the business community at large. What is particularly significant in terms of this discussion, is how for some respondents early experiences of sex-role socialisation appeared to have impacted on early career choice and later career development.