ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors develop answers to these key questions: Is the blockage of mobility in the workplace the intended, even envisioned effect of the educational and credentialing stratification? Is mobility blocked for the reasons adduced by stratification and labor market theories? In the authors’ view, the internal stratification of allied health occupations as respiratory, physical and occupational therapy represent at the very least a form of within-occupation labor market dualism. They set out to establish the plausibility of this view. The authors review the relevant portions of functional and status competition theories of stratification and of dual labor market theory, specifying how they would explain this sort of labor market dualism. They draws upon the explications of functional and status competition theory provided by Collins. The authors consider several factors as possible explanations of both the substantial blockage of mobility between tiers and the absence of a strict division of labor among tiers.
