Hetherington and Orzek

general population of 120 college students to indicate what jobs were most interesting to lesbian women, gay men, and heterosexual men and women. The top three stereotyped lesbian professions were auto mechanic, plumber, and truck driver, whereas the top three occupations listed for heterosexual women were interior decorator, nurse, and dietitian. It is interesting that the occupations listed for lesbian women do not require a college degree. Lesbian women may therefore experience deep negative stereotypes because of their sex.

Because of gender role attitudes, employers may perceive women as less committed than men are (Milburn, Eldridge, & Hetherington, 1988). Employers may assume that they are only temporarily involved in the work world and will soon leave to raise a family or follow a husband's career. To counter these assumptions, a lesbian woman may choose to reveal her sexual orientation which, in turn, may lead to discrimination based on sexual orientation.

It is difficult, currently, to ascertain the importance of discrimination as a factor in lesbians rejecting particular careers. Gay men and lesbian women have little protection against discrimination because they are not recognized as a legitimate social group (Paul, 1982). Because their legitimacy is in question, they are not afforded the same protection as other minority groups and therefore must weigh the pros and cons of self-disclosure to employers. Career decisions become even more complex when lesbian women are involved in loving relationships. The following section examines these issues.

DUAL-CAREER ISSUES

FOR LESBIANS

O'Neil, Fishman, and Kinsella-Shaw (1987) studied the issues for heterosexual, dual-career couples and reported the following findings: (a) few functional norms exist that guide effective management of the life-style; (b) interpersonal conflict exists for couples as they deviate from traditional norms in careers and families; (c) couples violate traditional norms in careers, gender roles, and marriage-family, causing negative critiques and devaluations from others; and (d) few models exist describing the interpersonal dynamics of couples. The key organizing factor in this research has been sex-related differences.

Lesbian couples must deal with many of the heterosexual stresses plus a plethora of related complications and additional issues. In a survey by Winkelpleck and Westfeld (1982), gay couples cited employment discrimination as one of the major issues facing them. Most studies report that about 75% of lesbians are part of a couple at any given time (Peplau & Amaro, 1982). Those lesbian couples have numerous issues besides career choice to consider, including (a) how to present the relationship, (b) how to introduce one's partner, (c) how to openly acknowledge the relationship, if at all, and (d) how to deal with social events. Riddle and Sang (1978) noted the stress that lesbian couples experience from homophobia in the workplace. Fears about losing jobs or alienation from colleagues because of their lesbianism often have to be dealt within lesbian couples' relationships.

A group of 275 professional lesbian couples who have been together 2 to 22 years were studied to determine relationship satisfaction and role conflict among dual-career lesbian couples. Eldridge (1987b) found that 65% have not disclosed their lesbianism to their employers, and 37% have not disclosed it to anyone in their work environment. At the same time the lesbians in this sample are highly satisfied with their relationships and their life in general. They experience a high degree of

intimacy in their relationships and are quite committed to their careers. The level of disclosure seems to depend primarily on situational or sociological factors, and "non-disclosure is apparently as adaptive for some participants as high levels of disclosure is for others" (p. 160).

Some of these factors include: (a) 42% to 75% live together as partners (Peplau & Amaro, 1982; Harry, 1983); (b) lesbians, as women, have access to fewer resources, particularly to financial resources, and are likely to have children living with them (Eldridge, 1987a); (c) role flexibility and turn taking is a common pattern in lesbian couples living together (Peplau, 1982); (d) 77% of the lesbians said that their lover had become their closest friend (Vetere, 1982); (e) living too far apart was a major factor in 19% of the break-ups and a minor factor in 16.7% of the break-ups (Peplau, Padesky, & Hamilton, 1982); (f) when one partner moves for a job in another part of the country, there are few resources to actively help her partner find a job; and (g) this sets up a stressful and nonsupportive situation for the couple. It can be a lonely and isolating situation for both partners, especially because their relationship is a hidden one to the majority of society.

IMPLICATIONS

Lesbian women need assistance with self-exploration and job search strategies as do all people. Yet career counselors need to be sensitive to the fact that lesbian clients are a special group, and consideration needs to be made for their unique concerns. When career counselors provide self-exploration assistance, there are informational interview questions that are specific to lesbian women. Milburn, Eldridge, and Hetherington (1988) have suggested the following:

1. Is this career available to me as an "out" lesbian?

2. Had I determined how "out" I wanted to be before I chose this career?

3. Are there any work environments in this career that are more open to lesbians?

4. Is my sexual identity pertinent to this career area? 5. Will my sexual orientation affect being accepted into graduate school?

In addition, there are several issues relating to job search that may influence the strategies lesbian clients may pursue, according to Milburn, Eldridge, and Hetherington (1988). These include:

1. How can I learn which companies have nondiscrimination policies?

2. How can I learn about the attitudes regarding homosexuality in the local communities where I want to live?

3. How should I communicate the lesbian and gay activities

in which I have been involved on my resume?

4. When I am considering a career in which the presence of

a spouse is beneficial, how should I handle the situation? 5. How can I handle the dual-career issues?

6. How can I learn about companies who are sensitive to lesbian concerns?

These are questions that require any client and career counselor to carefully consider the needs and desires of the client. The client may need information that could be difficult to find. The resources section on pages 56-57 (Milburn, 1988) provide a list

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of professional associations and resources for lesbians as well as for gay men and bisexuals.

CONCLUSION

Both the "coming-out" process and career planning process entail various stages, neither of which follows a precise timetable for duration or age appropriateness. For any lesbian woman, there will be a variety of issues operating at one time in her life. Counselors who work with lesbian women in career planning need to be particularly sensitive both to the stages of lesbian identity that the client is in and to her particular stage of career decision making. These two developments need to be perceived as interactive rather than as parallel processes. As with any interactive perspective, each factor will have an impact on the other in terms of perception of information and reciprocity of influence. Therefore, paramount to counseling a woman who is dealing with her sexual identity and career decision making is the realization that any factor influencing one process will influence the other and, in turn, will have a unique impact on each individual woman.

SUMMARY

A lesbian woman has double minority status (a triple minority status when she is a woman of color or disability) status that can contribute to the complexities that she must confront in career and life planning. As women, lesbians are socialized to be gender appropriate, yet they are already gender inappropriate because of their sexual orientation. Lesbian women must come to terms with internalized and externally encountered homophobia in the process of creating a positive self-image.

To help counselors better understand the process that a woman may encounter when coming to terms with her lesbianism and increasing positive self-concept, Sophie (1985/1986) developed a model of lesbian identity development. Although history and environment are important factors for lesbian women, this model can serve as a guideline for a typical progression.

Negative stereotypes can restrict the perception of viable options for lesbian women. The fear of direct or indirect discrimination may influence the acceptance or rejection of particular careers by lesbian women. Because they are not recognized as a legitimate social group, there is little protection against discrimination (Paul, 1982).

Career decisions become even more complex when lesbians are involved in loving relationships. Although lesbian couples must deal with many of the same stresses encountered by heterosexual couples, there are many additional complications. Some of these include (a) how to introduce one's partner, (b) how to openly acknowledge the relationship, if at all, and (c) how to deal with social events. There are also fears about losing jobs and alienation from colleagues.

Because lesbian women have many special concerns, career counselors can prepare themselves to work with lesbian women by doing the following: (a) work to consciously eliminate personal homophobic attitudes, (b) develop an understanding of the gender issues for women, (c) learn the model of lesbian identity development, (d) help lesbian clients to overcome internalized negative stereotypes, (e) provide self-exploration assistance in the form of informational interview questions specific to lesbian concerns, (f) develop a list of job search

Career and Life Planning With Lesbian Women strategies that lesbian clients may use, and (g) provide a list of professional associations and resources for lesbian clients.

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