Gender, Status and Professionalism

Abstract

This paper attempts to develop a framework through which the location of women in the occupational structure can be `thought through'. It is argued that approaches which derive their inspiration from class theories (of various types) have not been particularly successful. The Weberian concept of `status', it is suggested, may be more useful in understanding the employment position of women. However, Weber's original formulation of the status concept contains a number of ambiguities which may be rendered less problematic by thinking of `status' as a quality located in a matrix which has several dimensions, rather than in emphasising particular aspects of the `status' concept to the virtual exclusion of the others. Finally, these arguments are applied to the discussion of a small but significant section of the labour force - the professions. This task is of considerable contemporary interest given the recent, and considerable, increase in the proportion of women gaining `professional' qualifications.