Document Type
Article
Abstract
Professionally written biographies of 353 women selected for inclusion in two volumes of a dictionary of biography were analyzed sepa- rately for data on family structure, occupation, and personality characteris- tics. Findings from Volume 4 (1921–1940) were similar to those from Vol- ume 5 (1941–1960). Results showed that 55.2% of women biographees had no children. They were either unmarried or, if married, childless. Of those who did have children, biographees had a significantly high ratio of sons to daughters compared with the norm (0.514) (Vol. 4: males = 106, females = 76; Vol. 5: males = 115, females = 80; totals: males = 221, females = 156; χ2 = 7.87; p = 0.005). These data, interpreted according to the maternal dom- inance hypothesis (Grant 1998) and set in the context of increased workforce participation by women and declining fertility, suggest another possible ex- planation for the contemporary decline in the secondary sex ratio.
Recommended Citation
Grant, Valerie J. and Yang, Sarina
(2003)
"Achieving Women and Declining Sex Ratios,"
Human Biology:
Vol. 75:
Iss.
6, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol75/iss6/8
