Career choices of most pupils at the end of grammar school conform to gender norms. Qualitative study presented here maps reasons for non-traditional choices based on a sample of 25 female students and 31 male students who study gender-atypical high-school programs.
Results revealed that reasons for school choices of boys and girls differ to a certain extent. Their situations also differ with respect to support they receive from their close ones and acceptance by their classmates.
Parents of girls disapproved of their choices more often than parents of boys. Girls were also ridiculed more frequently by their peer groups.