Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations

In recent years, Western societies have seen unprecedented attention to gender inequality and its repercussions for women and society as a whole. Amid this societal change, this research aims to study whether and how perceiving gender inequalities relates to women university students’ investment in...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ciaffoni, Stefano, Ingellis, Anna Giulia, Condom Bosch, Jose Luis, Rubini, Monica, Moscatelli, Silvia
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/227967
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/227967
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Educació superior
Igualtat de gènere
Higher education
Gender equality
id ES_edd4dd042bcd45d6b38ee894b282265f
oai_identifier_str oai:recercat.cat:2445/227967
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirationsCiaffoni, StefanoIngellis, Anna GiuliaCondom Bosch, Jose LuisRubini, MonicaMoscatelli, SilviaEducació superiorIgualtat de gènereHigher educationGender equalityIn recent years, Western societies have seen unprecedented attention to gender inequality and its repercussions for women and society as a whole. Amid this societal change, this research aims to study whether and how perceiving gender inequalities relates to women university students’ investment in study and professional aspirations. Since inequalities between women and men unfold along different domains, we considered four dimensions of inequalities: workplace inequalities, domestic unbalance, sexual harassment, and gendered social expectations. Furthermore, we examined whether achievement-related contingencies of self-worth mediated the relationship between perceiving inequalities and students’ career aspirations. Study 1, conducted in Italy (N = 418), showed that perceiving gender inequalities had both direct and indirect positive associations with women’s career aspirations. Study 2, conducted in Spain (N = 401), extended these findings by additionally considering women students’ self-reported academic effort. The key results, which align with expectations based on relative deprivation theory, suggest that perceiving systematic disadvantages for women motivates women students to invest more in their academic and professional pursuits, and this might represent an act of social change. Remarkably, domains often perceived as unrelated to the workplace, such as domestic imbalance, significantly influenced professional aspirations, emphasizing the pervasive influence of gender inequalities across multiple life contexts.Springer Nature2026202620252026info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion16 p.application/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/227967Articles publicats en revistes (Sociologia)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07817-9Current Psychology, 2025, vol. 44, p. 8358-8373https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07817-9cc-by (c) Ciaffoni et al., 2025http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:2445/2279672026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
title Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
spellingShingle Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
Ciaffoni, Stefano
Educació superior
Igualtat de gènere
Higher education
Gender equality
title_short Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
title_full Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
title_fullStr Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
title_full_unstemmed Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
title_sort Barbie is a doctor, a lawyer, and so much more than that!”: perceiving gender inequalities is associated with higher professional aspirations
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ciaffoni, Stefano
Ingellis, Anna Giulia
Condom Bosch, Jose Luis
Rubini, Monica
Moscatelli, Silvia
author Ciaffoni, Stefano
author_facet Ciaffoni, Stefano
Ingellis, Anna Giulia
Condom Bosch, Jose Luis
Rubini, Monica
Moscatelli, Silvia
author_role author
author2 Ingellis, Anna Giulia
Condom Bosch, Jose Luis
Rubini, Monica
Moscatelli, Silvia
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Educació superior
Igualtat de gènere
Higher education
Gender equality
topic Educació superior
Igualtat de gènere
Higher education
Gender equality
description In recent years, Western societies have seen unprecedented attention to gender inequality and its repercussions for women and society as a whole. Amid this societal change, this research aims to study whether and how perceiving gender inequalities relates to women university students’ investment in study and professional aspirations. Since inequalities between women and men unfold along different domains, we considered four dimensions of inequalities: workplace inequalities, domestic unbalance, sexual harassment, and gendered social expectations. Furthermore, we examined whether achievement-related contingencies of self-worth mediated the relationship between perceiving inequalities and students’ career aspirations. Study 1, conducted in Italy (N = 418), showed that perceiving gender inequalities had both direct and indirect positive associations with women’s career aspirations. Study 2, conducted in Spain (N = 401), extended these findings by additionally considering women students’ self-reported academic effort. The key results, which align with expectations based on relative deprivation theory, suggest that perceiving systematic disadvantages for women motivates women students to invest more in their academic and professional pursuits, and this might represent an act of social change. Remarkably, domains often perceived as unrelated to the workplace, such as domestic imbalance, significantly influenced professional aspirations, emphasizing the pervasive influence of gender inequalities across multiple life contexts.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2026
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/227967
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/227967
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07817-9
Current Psychology, 2025, vol. 44, p. 8358-8373
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07817-9
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by (c) Ciaffoni et al., 2025
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by (c) Ciaffoni et al., 2025
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 16 p.
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Sociologia)
reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869423564593037312
score 15,811543

Similares en LA Referencia