Gender, Professions and Management in the Public Sector

This article examines the location and status of women professionals in the public services, noting their small numbers in the élite sectors and at the highest levels. It also charts the rise in managerialism in the public sector, particularly in those areas where women dominate, and argues that the rise in managerialism is a gendered phenomenon which ensures that women remain in roles and occupations subordinate to men. Equal opportunities policies will have little effect while occupations numerically dominated by women remain devalued and continue to be controlled by men from outside the profession.