| Abstract: | Recently, Hakim (1991) has argued that women's choices and decisions are a key determinant of labour market behaviour and patterns of gender segregation. Drawing on a case study of women scientists and engineers, this paper examines the extent to which horizontal segregation is the product of preference and planning. The evidence suggests that the women's choices were a significant factor in entering the technical professions. However, from predominantly middle-class families, coming from single-sex schools, the women were able to specialize in technical subjects and to withstand pressure to change their decisions. Their subsequent occupational positions were the product of these educational choices rather than well-formulated career plans. Their involvement in their employers' schools/industry liaison policies highlighted that the majority of young women do not consider professional science and engineering as an appropriate job for them. The findings of the study illustrate that preferences and plans are made in ‘gendered’ social contexts in which women face different opportunities and constraints in exercising their decisions. While the study of women's attitudes and behaviour should not be neglected, sociologists should be wary of voluntaristic accounts of gender segregation which rely on rationalistic notions of labour market behaviour. |
