Female representation may play a key role in women’s career choices

Women may be more likely to pursue jobs when they see other women represented in the field, potentially helping explain persistent gender disparities across professions, according to new research by Emory University psychologists. In a series of studies, women consistently expressed greater interest in jobs portrayed as having higher female representation and reported higher anticipated belonging in those jobs. “Gender representation is often spoken of simply as a result of women choosing not to work in a particular field,” said Stella Lourenco, first author of the study. “Our work suggests that gender representation is also an important underlying cause of fewer women choosing to work in certain fields.”