Women comprise over 57% of all U.S. mortuary school students, yet less than 20% of all funeral directors employed in this country are women. As such, women are underrepresented as funeral directors in the funeral industry. Research to date has not established clear differences between perceived gender roles and occupations in the funeral service industry. The research questions examined the perceived differences of gender role characteristics of masculine, feminine, and androgyny between the occupations of funeral service providers and nursing. Bem's gender role theory was the theoretical framework of this study. The research compared the mean scores of male and female funeral service professionals and nursing professionals as measured by the validated Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). A sample consisted of 214 randomly selected male (n = 88) and female (n = 25) funeral service professionals and male (n = 37) and female (n = 64) nurse professionals. Data scores were analyzed using the factorial multivariate analysis of variance method. Results indicated nonsignificant gender role differences between male and female funeral directors. Funeral directors appear more androgynous compared to nurses. The present study contributed to the development of this important and neglected area of research by quantitatively examining the gender role perceptions of men and women in the funeral service industry for the first time. This study results highlighted the complexity in self-perceived gender role characteristics as measured by BSRI. When the funeral profession begins to dispel gender stereotypes and discrimination issues, positive social change can occur.

This study was designed to investigate the correlation of the variables of gender, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality preferences, and androgyny as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) in Counselor Education graduate students. Instruments were administered to Counselor Education graduate students at nine institutions in five national regions. A total of 172 participants (18 males and 154 females) who were enrolled in Master's level theories courses or practicum courses completed a student information sheet, informed consent, MBTI, and BSRI. Instruments were hand scored and chi-square test was used to determine significance of the hypotheses; the saturated model of log linear analysis was the statistic used for the research question. As predicted, of the sixteen MBTI types, the most common for Counselor Education graduate students emerged as ENFP: extraversion, intuition, feeling, and perception. Additionally, this MBTI type was found to be significantly more common among the population of Counselor Education graduate students than is found among the general population. The expectation that more male Counselor Education graduate students would score higher on the androgyny scale of the BSRI was unsupported; low sample size for male Counselor Education graduate students prevented use of chi-square; however, it was apparent through the use of the statistic of raw frequencies that males clustered around every other category except androgyny. The hypothesis that more female Counselor Education graduate students would score higher on the feminine scale was also unsupported, as equal distribution of the females occurred within all four categories of the BSRI. It was hypothesized that males with a sensing and thinking preference on the MBTI would tend toward the masculine dimension of the BSRI more than males with an intuitive and feeling preference. This was unsupported as well. Female Counselor Education graduate students with an intuitive and feeling preference did, however, demonstrate a greater tendency toward the feminine classification on the BSRI than did females with a sensing and thinking preference, so that this hypothesis was retained. No significant relationship was found between the variables of MBTI type, BSRI classification, and gender.

La littérature suppose implicitement l'existence d'un déterminisme biologique pour expliquer les différences entre les hommes et les femmes entrepreneurs. Par l'analyse des représentations de la performance, nous questionnons les stéréotypes sexués en mobilisant les notions de sexe (homme/femme) et de genre (féminité/masculinité) : le sexe est-il une variable pertinente pour expliquer les différences hommes/femmes en matière de représentation de la performance d'entreprise ?Trois études quantitatives utilisant une ANOVA et des t-Test ont analysé les données issues de 244 entrepreneurs. Une étude qualitative auprès de 6 entrepreneurs a permis de modéliser les représentations de la performance. Nous montrons que les différences de représentations de la performance d'entreprise ne sont expliquées ni par les catégories de sexe (Homme et Femme), ni par celles du genre (Masculin, Féminin, Androgyne, Indifférencié) définies par le Bem Sex Role Inventory. Nous confirmons également que les représentations collectives de la performance ont évolué et vont bien au-delà de la simple quête de profit, et sont plus rattachées à des valeurs sociales actuelles. / Literature tends to assume implicitly the existence of a biological determinism to explain the differences between men and women entrepreneurs. Our aim was to study the representations of business performance based on the notion of sex (biological sex: female & male), and gender (the social sex: feminity & masculinity). Could masculinity and/or femininity reveal differences in representing business performance between men and women entrepreneurs? Three quantitative studies, based on ANOVA and t-Test, were used to analyze data collected by questionnaire from 244 entrepreneurs. A qualitative study was used to model data collected during individual interview of six entrepreneurs.We found that differences in representing business performance cannot be revealed neither by the distinction of category of sex (male / female), nor by gender categories (Male, Female, Androgynous, Undifferentiated) as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Also, we confirm that collective representations of the performance by the entrepreneurs have evolved and go well beyond the simple pursuit of economic profit, and can be more closely related to current social values.