Succeeding in a man's world: women's expectations for success and perceptions of ability

With the introduction of research content into nursing curricula, female students are expected to achieve in an area traditionally considered male-oriented. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors may influence women's expectations for success and perceptions of ability on a task described as either male- or female-linked. Two hundred fifty-four female undergraduates constituted the sample of convenience. Measures were obtained on the following variables: private self-consciousness, sex-role orientation, past experience with task, present motivation, expectations for success, actual performance on task, and attributions made to ability. Multiple-regression analyses indicated that stable personality factors influenced expectations for success and perceptions of ability on the male task but not on the female task. The findings provide nurse educators with information useful in predicting which female students may have difficulty with the male-linked nature of research.