ABSTRACT
Women's participation in the professions has increased dramatically in the last half-century, although women have yet to achieve parity with men. Nevertheless, the establishment of "parity" as a broad, socially acceptable goal is a significant political achievement. Evaluating the extent to which women have achieved parity within some of the dimensions of professionalization draws on three issues identified by Alvarez's framework (1990): (1) sociological analyses of the professions; (2) the nature of women's labor and how it fits into the four dimensions of professional activity; and (3) the outcomes of political strategies used by professional women
