Credentials and Careers: Some Implications of the Increase in Professional Qualifications amongst Women

Abstract

Although the extent of women's participation in the formal economy has grown considerably since the Second World War, it is a well-established fact that this increase has not been evenly distributed throughout the occupational structure. Women who work tend to be concentrated either into `women's' occupations or other low-level jobs. One reason for this, it has been argued, is that women have historically failed to acquire formal work-related qualifications. A preliminary model is developed relating specific career paths to particular kinds of employment-related qualifications and training. On the basis of our existing knowledge, characteristically `male' and `female' qualifications and career path combinations are identified. This model is then used to explore the possible consequences for male and female careers of the recent, and substantial, increase in young women gaining formal qualifications of all kinds.