Feminism and Professionalism: The Case of Education and Business. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

This paper explores the impact of feminist scholarship on the professions of education and business, and looks critically at the assumptions on which the study of professionalism has been based. The paper begins with a feminist critique of professionalism, based on characteristics of professions and gender theory. Feminist theory is applied to education, focusing on research, textbooks, curriculum, gender bias, and efforts to empower teachers and students. Feminist critiques of research on teaching and learning are examined, using gender as a theoretical framework through which to critique male-dominated theories, reconceptualize teaching and learning, and restructure the educational system. Feminist scholarship on business is then addressed, and its limitation to the liberal perspective is noted. Three kinds of critiques are explored: research examining gender as a regulator of individuals' activity according to their biological sex, research on the cult of true womanhood as opposed to the cult of rationality, and research on the changing character of American business. It is concluded that as feminists begin to question the professionalism paradigm and to subject it to gender analysis, models can be built that are more sensitive to women as professionals and that can eliminate the dualisms that categorize women differently from their male colleagues. Notes concerning seven suggested readings are appended. (JDD)