PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION NETWORKS: A CASE STUDY OF WOMEN IN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION.

This article discusses the level of official participation by women members in a professional association such as the American Public Health Association. According to figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau, during the 1950's the percentage of female professional workers dropped from 39.5 percent to 38.4 percent. Similarly the percent growth of female professionals lagged behind that of males even in those occupations traditionally regarded as female, such as elementary and secondary school teachers, librarians and social workers. These trends were reversed between 1960 and 1970 within selected occupational categories. Sexual inequality in the professions is reflected not only in the status discrepancies between men and women but in income differentials as well. The structural processes which control access to status and advancement in the professions include the colleague system of the profession, the sponsor-protege relationship, demands of the specific professions' inner structure and the sex-typing of occupations.