父母的性別偏好對國中子女升學和高中職主修領域選擇的影響──以「台灣青少年計畫」樣本為例

THE EFFECT OF PARENTS' GENDER PREFERENCE ON CHILDREN'S HIGH SCHOOL OUTCOMES AND CHOICE OF FIELD OF STUDY IN SENIOR AND VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS: EVIDENCE FROM TAIWAN YOUTH PROJECT

本文使用「台灣青少年計畫」，檢視父母的性別偏好對國中子女升學與高中職主修領域選擇的影響。父母的性別偏好是透過生育停止法則分別定義女孩面對父母偏好兒子和男孩面對父母偏好女兒。結果顯示，在國中升學率趨於100％下，父母的性別偏好對國中子女升學及升學類型均沒有顯著的影響，但父母的性別偏好則會顯著影響子女在高中職主修領域的選擇。在高中端，來自於父母偏好兒子家庭的女孩與父母偏好女兒家庭的男孩均較可能選社會組。在高職端，來自於父母偏好兒子家庭的女孩較可能選女性主流職群，來自於父母偏好女兒家庭的男孩較不會選女性主流職群。這些結果表示，當父母重男輕女的觀念轉為男女平等時，高中職主修領域的性別區隔程度應能有所改善。

Using the data of the Taiwan Youth Project, the paper examines the effect of parents' gender preference on children's high school outcomes and choice of field of study in senior and vocational high schools. Based on the fertility stopping rule, the paper defines girls whose parents' preference is for a son and boys whose parents' preference is for a daughter. The results indicate that the parents' gender preference has no effect on high school outcomes of children, because the opportunity to enter high school is close to 100%. However, this gender preference significantly affects children's choice of field of study. For senior high school students, both the effect of girls' parental preference for a son and the effect of boys' parental preference for a daughter on the choice of ''social science program'' are positive. For vocational high school students, girls whose parents prefer a son are more likely to choose women-stereotyped fields of study, while boys whose parents prefer a daughter are less likely to choose women-stereotyped fields of study. These results suggest that when parents' gender preference for a son is reduced and their gender preference for children turns to gender equality, the degree of gender segregation in fields of study for senior and vocational high schools can be alleviated.