Professional Aspirations of Teenagers in Switzerland: On the Crossroad of Gender, Class and Country of Origin

Although class and country of origin differentials also characterize Swiss society, occupational gender segregation is the most pronounced and persistent form of division in the Swiss labour market, resulting in inequalities in income and career chances to the disadvantage of women. These three social distinctions– gender, class, and national origin - are present at the educational system, not only influencing pupil's educational attainment, but also the occupational aspirations of girls and boys enrolled in the Swiss compulsory schooling system.

In this paper, I aim to understand the structural mechanisms contributing to gender-atypical professional aspirations in this country. The focus is on the importance of gender identities and their intersection with social class and country of origin.

To do this, I adopt a three-fold approach, linking the materialist feminism to the life course perspective by using an intersectional approach. My hypothesis is that the configuration of social class and country of origin systems modifies pupils’ attachment to gender roles and identities, and creates a new set of rules. These in turn define which teenagers may target gender-atypical professions.

I use data from a survey carried out in Switzerland among a sample of more than 3300 pupils between the ages of 13 and 15.