Battles between the American Medical Association and the American Medical Women's Association over the 1921 Act for the Promotion of Welfare and Hygiene of Maternity and Infancy were gendered intra- and interprofessional struggles among physicians, midwives, nurses, and social workers. The conflicts illustrate the gendered nature of professions.…

Analysis of data from 4,500 managerial-administrative and professional employees hired 1978-1986 indicates that promotion affects quitting behavior of employees depending on the type of occupation. Past promotions reduce the likelihood of quitting and professionals are promoted at a higher rate than managers but had similar quitting rates.…

Analyzes the order in which professionalism occurs, using medicine as an example. Investigates a variety of basic events in professionalism--control of work, development of schools and other knowledge institutions, creation of professionally dominated work sites, association, licensing, and scientific transformation. Argues for a model of…

Freidson's contributions include a new concept of professions rooted in social organization of labor markets; analysis of professional control resulting from knowledge monopolies and gatekeeping activities; and defense of professions against critics who view their powers as unnecessary or harmful. (SK)

Division of labor in hospitals has undergone task reunification, promoted as professional upgrading for nurses. However, this contradicts theories of professionalization and intensifies nurses' workload. At the same time, flattening of the nursing hierarchy increases their accountability. (Author/SK)

Contemporary conditions relevant to the maintenance of occupational control are examined for five professions (accounting, architecture, civil engineering, law, and medicine) in the United Kingdom and the United States as an impetus for the analysis of control by occupations in general. (Author/CT)

Patterns of the gender desegregation process in managerial and professional specialty fields are associated with differences in both occupational growth rates and gender salary levels. Sex desegregation is both widespread among higher-status fields and is increasing over time. (Author)

Interviews with 1,115 male and 271 female professionals revealed significant gender differences in objective characteristics (job title, salary grade, and numbers supervised) and few differences in subjective characteristics (rewards, peer cohesion, staff support, role conflict/ambiguity, workload). (SK)

Social, economic, and political trends are undermining claims to autonomy and monopoly by previously well-entrenched groups such as the legal profession in America. These trends include changes in the knowledge base, shifts in composition patterns, consumerism, and encroachment from allied professions. (Author/SSH)

Explores how physicians and educators handle referrals. A content analysis of interview responses shows (1) the extent of agreement on grounds for referral and causes of disagreement, (2) how practitioners handle disagreements, and (3) how clients deal with transitions during referral. (Author/CT)

Consists of two articles on the sociology of the professions. The first by MacDonald and Ritzer refutes Richard Hall's 1983 study claiming that the sociological study of the professions was almost totally inactive by examining the British literature on the topic. The second article consists of Hall's comments on the first. (CH)

"Professional" and other occupational characteristics were selected as variables for predicting the earnings of occupational groups. Task complexity and education were significant predictors of occupational earnings. In support of some power theorists, the data suggested that some occupational groups derive additional earnings by influencing their…

Analysis of data from 804 African Americans and 2,101 Whites supported the particularistic mobility thesis. African Americans' promotion to managerial-administrative or professional-technical occupations was restricted by particularistic employment practices to those who acquire significant human capital credentials and experience. These practices…

A model of professionalization based largely on the power view is presented. As a test of a portion of the model, professional power is defined in terms of two dimensions of attitudinal autonomy. Autonomy from client and autonomy from employing organization are studied in a sample of 1,000 students representing eight different occupations.…

From a sample of 1,000 New York attorneys, data from 553 men and 129 women suggest that professional autonomy depends on social capital arrangements that assume overtime, open-ended work demands, and release from private obligations. Access to time is qualitatively different for men and women, especially married women with children. (SK)