Institute for Social Science Research

This paper explores the several dimensions of the term "feminization" of the legal profession. On the one hand, we can consider the profession feminized simply by the increased number of women in the pro- fession. On the other hand, the question of whether the profession will be "feminized"--that is, changed or influenced by women in the profession--is an issue of a different order. There is some level of complexity even in the definition of "feminized." For those who attribute "feminine" qualities to women (or to men), the legal profession becomes feminized when those feminine qualities are recognized, appreciated and absorbed into the performance of legal tasks and functions (empathy, relatedness, nurturance, collectiveness) (see Lenz and Meyerhoff 1985 and Sherry 1986). For others the profession becomes "feminized" not by stereotypic attributions of gender qualities (Olsen 1986) but by a "feminist" influence on the profession which includes particu- lar substantive changes, not only in the practice of law (i.e., adaptation of work to family) but in the law itself (ranging from employment discrimination issues to family law and criminal law). The issues here, which derive in part from important work being done in the field of feminist jursiprudence (Mac- kinnon 1983, Wishik 1985, Littleton 1986), are concerned with whether women who enter the profession will conform to a "male" model of what it means to be a legal professional or whether the profession will innovate and adapt to new, previously excluded, entrants who may have new perspectives to offer on how the practice of law can be conducted.

. In this paper I will make the argument that increasing labor flexibility and, particularly, the trend toward more part-time or contingent work represents a structural change rather than a cyclical fluctuation. I will then briefly describe the characteristics of the contemporary female contingent labor force and lay out some of the implications of flexibility for women's employment prospects and for emerging patterns of labor segmentation.

In September 1985, the California State Assembly initiated a job training/workfare for welfare recipients called GAIN, Greater Avenues for Independence. This program, though barely underway, is already seen as a model for future workfare programs in other states as well as at the federal level. GAIN and other workfare proposals raise the issue of how women in low-wage work are to sustain themselves. This paper explores the need for policy makers to focus on neighborhood development when creating programs intended to move women (who are disproportionately women of color) off the welfare rolls and into wage labor.

The current paper explores the relation of mothers' employment status to a variety of factors relevant to the home environment, particularly those that may directly affect the emotional and cognitive development of children in these families. The results are based on secondary analyses of data from two independent studies--one of parents of preschool children, the other of families of elementary school children. Because issues pertaining to mothers' employment status were incidental to the main thrust of these studies, this report cannot do justice to more complex models of the linkages between work and family contexts. Most notably, our data sets do not include many of the factors hypothesized to moderate the interface between work and family situ- ations. Rather, it is hoped that these secondary analyses can contribute added information concerning the global relationship of maternal employment to some parent and family characteristics critical to children's healthy emotional development, while at the same time underlining some of the special needs of mothers who work outside the home.

The present study relates mental health to characteristics of work and family roles in a small sample of employed female clerical workers who are married and/or have children living at home. The main goals of the investiga- tion are (a) to examine the separate and joint influence of qualities of work and family roles on women's mental health, and b) to explore conditions under which the effects of work and family roles are maximized.

During the last 15 years, women have substantially increased their share of traditionally male professional jobs. As recently as 1975, only 15 percent of the law degrees and 3 percent of the dentistry degrees were earned by women. In 1985, however, women earned 38 percent of the law degrees and 21 percent of the degrees in dentistry. Just as dramatic has been the increase in the number of women physicians. In 1975, women received 13 percent of the medical degrees and by 1985 this figure had increased to 30 percent. It is currently estimated that one-third of all medical students today are female. Generally, these types of figures are used to illustrate that gender differences in professional occupations are narrowing. However, in spite of the increase in the number of female physicians, there still exist several differences between male and female physicians. A number of studies have noted that differences exist across gender in physicians' choice of specialty, board certification, and work hours (Becker et al. 1984; Culler and Oshfeldt 1987; Mitchell 1984; Silberger et al. 1987). The factors that cause these gender differences in incentives are also going to affect the physician's choice of employment status. In fact, female physicians are nearly twice as likely to be employees than their male colleagues. Only 23.5 percent of male physicians were employees in 1985 compared with 45.5 percent of female physicians (Cotter 1986). The purpose of this study is to examine the role of gender with regards to physicians' employment status.

A common assumption about women as laborers made in past unemployment research has been that their participation in the labor force is optional (Schlozman 1979). This assumption suggests that when unemployed, such women should be less susceptible than are males, to personal, familial or social sources of stress (Rundquist and Sletto 1936). Additionally, this view sug- gests that women, especially Latino women who are accustomed to the role of homemaker, should not object to job loss nor to a return to this role, particularly since they are supported by their husbands (Romero 1986).

This paper reports on an exploratory study designed to identify the sources of work stress for ancillary nursing staff who cared for severely and profoundly retarded residents of a state institution. The study assesses the role of work-based social support in reducing the negative impact of job stress on the staff's health. Differences between female and male nursing staff with regard to their perceptions of job stress, their use of work-based social supports, and their health was another focus of the investigation

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence of occupational/ disciplinary differences in women's research production and to examine these differences from various theoretical perspectives. It is clear that research performance is central to advancement in the profession and is, therefore, an important area of inquiry (e.g. Blackburn et a1,,1978; Smart & McLaughlin,1978; Weiss & Lillard,1982). It is also clear that women tend to be less .productive in research than men and generally do not fare as well in terms of career outcomes (Astin, 1978,1984; Cole,1979; Reskin,1978). Given the importance of research performance in the typical academic career, knowledge about occupation-specific performance differences is important to women who are engaged in (or aspire to) careers in academe.

This paper recognizes the increasing burden being placed on those who design and program instruments for Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) systems, and proposes certain enhancements to CAT1 instrument management capabilities that should be useful in easing this burden. The suggested approach for incorporating these features is to use a design based on the properties of the logical structure of instruments, many of which are described. An attempt is made to demonstrate that this approach results in a reliable, extendable and comprehensive CAT1 system design.