ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that the social processes involved in shaping young black women's occupational choice commonly held to structure gender disadvantage are further complicated by the operation of racism. The distinct ideological orientation of working-class, secondgeneration black women also plays a major part in the understanding of the career aspirations and expectations of young black women. The distinctive, high and realistic aspirations of these women are clearly the outcome of a strategy to rationalise the constraints imposed on them by the workings of a racially and sexually segregated labour market. It is often assumed that girls choose traditionally caring occupations because they are an extension of their socialisation as carers for their family and community. Many young women had special interests from which they wished to develop specialised careers. There is a common assumption that young black women 'naturally' gravitate towards non-traditional 'female work'.
