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y male
domains.
Despite mounting evidence revealing women’s growing numerical
dominance in the professions, this paper seeks to challenge the
feminisation thesis by exploring the associated assumptions linked
with the feminisation of work. It will do this by focusing on two
forms of professionalism: law as a liberal professional occupation
and management as an organisational profession (Reed, 1996). The
analysis is supported by a range of quantitative sources, including:
Labour Force Survey (Office of National Statistics, 2004), the Law
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Society Annual Statistical Reports (SRU, 2004), and the National
Management Salary Survey (Chartered Management Institute/
Remuneration Economics, 2004). These data-sets, which are provided
annually by the respective professional associations, were compiled
in a database and used to analyse long-term historical trends with
regards to the realities of female work within these occupational
settings. These quantitative findings are integrated with existing
literature and surveys. This contribution focuses on the situation in
the United Kingdom but similar processes are typical of a wide
range of western economies, including Ireland.1
Law and management, besides sharing an increasing process of
numerical feminisation, represent two distinct forms of professionalism,
thus their comparative analysis may provide some interesting
insights into the relationship between gender and professionalisation.
Law represents the archetype of the liberal or traditional profession
which has recently been confronted by a more hostile institutional,
ideological and operational environment; thus, feminisation is
linked to the profession’s attempts to develop more profitable
organisational configurations, characterised by better leverage
ratios and elongated professional hierarchies. Management, on
the other hand, may be conceptualised as an organisational profession
where increasing numbers of women are seen to bring the necessary
people skills that are required by commercial success within a
new context characterised by female consumer power and a
focus on ‘soft skills’ and the extraction of employee commitment
and discretionary effort. Thus, for management, feminisation
assumes a functionalist connotation and becomes essential for the
profession’s expansion and for its success within the present
economic context.
Management and law, therefore, present distinct case studies of
professionalisation and different patterns of feminisation. However,
despite some important differences, professionalism, whether established
or emerging, seems, in the context of this analysis, to be
underscored by a persistent process of masculinisation as men
monopolise senior positions and lucrative, high status specialisms
whilst women are confined to a lesser, often transient and, ultimately,
proletarian role. This, we argue, reflects a gendered code of
professionalism that has been forged in historical processes and
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relies on cultural conceptions of masculinity to feed its continual
reproduction. In effect, we aim to assert that, whilst the professions
may indeed become numerically feminised, professionalism