Effects of Counselor Gender and Gender-Role Orientation on Client Career Choice Traditionality

The purpose of this study was to test common assumptions about the effects of counselors' gender and gender-role orientation on clients' career choice traditionality. A sample of 240 career counseling clients (120 women and 120 men) were counseled by a male or female counselor, who were further classified as possessing a masculine, feminine, or androgynous gender-role orientation as determined by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. The clients' career choice traditionality was measured on three occasions: during the counseling sessions, at the conclusion of counseling, and with respect to clients' actual career choices 6 months after completion of the counseling process. Results showed that counselor gender and gender-role orientation had no effects on any of the three measures of client career choice traditionality. Client gender emerged as the only significant determinant of client career choice traditionality. We discuss the implications of these findings for counseling research and practice.