The Distinction between Sex Restrictiveness and Sex Bias in Interest Inventories

Abstract

Recent definitions of sex bias in interest inventories focus on factors related to sex which limit the career options considered by persons taking the inventories. This article proposes that these sex-limiting or sex-restrictive effects of interest inventories do not necessarily constitute sex-bias and that sex restrictiveness is an important characteristic of interest inventories that should be considered separately from sex bias. Tentative definitions of sex-restrictive and sex-biased reporting procedures are provided and applied to three interest inventories for purposes of illustration. The types of evidence these definitions require of publishers are also discussed and parallels with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on test bias are drawn. The authors maintain that unless a distinction between sex-restrictive and sex-biased reporting procedures is made, current definitions of sex bias in interest inventories (e.g., the AMEG and NIE definitions) can and will be successfully challenged by inventory authors, and delays in eliminating biased reporting procedures will result.