Parents’ Perceptions of Occupational Fit

Author: Anne Brenøe (University of Zurich)Daphne Rutnam (University of Zurich)
Posted: 23 February 2026

Abstract

We study how adolescents’ second-order beliefs about their parents’ occupational preferences shape gendered career aspirations. In a consequential early-career choice setting, we combine a parental choice experiment with a randomized salience intervention among students. Parents give gendered recommendations, but students substantially overestimate fathers' preference for boys to choose male-dominated occupations as well as mothers' preference for girls to choose female-dominated occupations. Making the same-gender parent salient raises aspirations for gender-congruent occupations, while highlighting the opposite-gender parent and both parents has no effect. Salience does not shift perceived occupational fit, suggesting that identity-based second-order beliefs can reinforce occupational gender segregation.
JEL codes: J16, J24, I21, C93, D91
Keywords: gender norms; second-order beliefs; occupational aspirations; parental beliefs; identity and career choice; early-career choices; choice experiment; field experiment