Gender Roles in Vocational School Advertising Appeals
This paper analyzes two print advertisements from vocational and technical schools — DeVry's Chamberlain College of Nursing and ITT Tech's School of Information Technology — to examine how gender roles, norms, and advertising appeals are used to attract female consumers. Drawing on Jib Fowles's fifteen basic appeals of advertising, the paper compares how each school targets different segments of the female market: one reinforcing traditional gender norms and the other appealing to progressive, nontraditional identities. Key appeals examined include the need to achieve, the need for autonomy, the need for affiliation, and the need to nurture.
- Introduction: Gender and Vocational School Advertising: Overview of gender targeting in vocational school ads
- Traditional vs. Nontraditional Gender Imagery: Contrasting gender imagery in DeVry and ITT Tech ads
- Flexible Programs and the Female Consumer: How flexible scheduling appeals to working women
- The Need to Achieve as a Core Appeal: Achievement as shared appeal across both advertisements
- Autonomy, Dominance, and Independence: Differing appeals to autonomy and personal power
- Affiliation, Nurturance, and Additional Appeals: Affiliation and nurturing needs in nursing ad
- Conclusion: Summary of contrasting gender appeals in both ads
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its analysis in a recognized theoretical framework — Jib Fowles's fifteen basic appeals — giving the comparative argument a clear scholarly anchor.
- It uses specific, observable evidence from actual advertisements (imagery, word choice, layout) to support claims about gender representation, making the analysis concrete rather than abstract.
- The structure moves logically from broad context to specific appeals, allowing each paragraph to build on the previous one without repeating itself.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative textual analysis applied to media artifacts. By examining two advertisements side by side against a shared analytical framework, the writer shows how similar products can be marketed using opposed ideological messages. This technique — selecting contrasting cases to illuminate a broader social pattern — is a foundational method in media studies and communication research.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with context-setting on vocational advertising and introduces the two case studies. It then analyzes traditional versus nontraditional gender imagery, discusses flexible program appeals, and applies Fowles's framework across several specific needs: achievement, autonomy, affiliation, and nurturance. The conclusion synthesizes the comparative findings and restates how each ad targets a distinct female consumer identity.
Introduction: Gender and Vocational School Advertising
Advertisements for technical and vocational schools abound in local newspapers and on television. Their target audiences include new high school graduates as well as middle- to lower-income individuals, because consumers of technical and vocational education most likely do not already hold advanced degrees. The advertisements usually appeal to young adults, although age is less of an issue than gender. Technical and vocational schools target men and women differently, and the content of ads changes depending on the department or program being promoted. These differences often reflect traditional gender roles and norms.
For example, a recent advertisement for DeVry University promoted its nursing program with three photos of females from different ethnic backgrounds. The absence of male models clearly played up the stereotype that nursing is a female profession. By contrast, an ITT Tech advertisement promoted its School of Information Technology programs with photos of women surrounded by electronic gadgets, implying that technology fields are gender neutral. Both DeVry and ITT Tech offer vocational training and degree programs, but each school's advertisements capitalize on gender roles and norms to appeal to their respective target groups.
References
Biagi, S. (n.d.). Advertising's 15 basic appeals, by Jib Fowles. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from
DeVry University's Chamberlain School of Nursing. Advertisement: viewed in local newspaper, October 20, 2008.
ITT Tech's School of Information Technology. Advertisement: viewed in local newspaper, October 20, 2008.
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