Creating Careers: Women Teachers at Work

Abstract

Teachers' careers have been approached from a number of angles. Some writers conceptualize careers primarily as individual decisions, while others emphasize the structural constraints that shape and limit careers. One such constraint is the gender differentiation that pervades the teaching occupation, as demonstrated by statistics that show men disproportionately in management roles. Generally neglected is the middle ground, ways in which perceptions and actions are influenced by daily experiences in a workplace context. This article explores this middle ground, drawing upon an ethnographic study conducted over several years in two primary schools in England. Teachers were interviewed, some on four or five occasions, and observed in staffrooms, classrooms, and other venues. Results suggest that career plans are provisional and changeable, especially although not exclusively for the women. Most teachers believed men had a career advantage in primary school teaching, but there was little sense of outrage about it. Some teachers blamed themselves for mistakes they had made, such as staying too long in one school. Women teachers, especially those with children, juggled their commitments adroitly, with moral but rarely domestic support from their husbands. Head teachers were particularly influential in providing support and opportunities. Career as a concept seems to fascinate certain sociologists, myself included. We grope for a way of understanding its shades of meaning. Distinctions are made, for example, between objective and subjective careers (Hughes 1958; Evetts 1990), or personal and structural career contingencies (Carlson and Schmuck 1981). In one sense, a career clearly is an individual construction. Individuals have work histories, perspectives on the past and desired future, the *Editor's Note: This article is the first in a new series on Girls and Women in Education. 01992 by The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Curriculum Inquiry 22:2 (1992) Published by Blackwell Publishers This content downloaded from 207.46.13.114 on Thu, 26 May 2016 06:19:47 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms