ABSTRACT
According to Cole, women who have persevered are survivors who have gone against the grain of occupational stereotyping to enter a primarily male profession. Studies of social stratification in academe have paid most attention to men. From study of faculty career vitality at a large, research-oriented public multiversity, illustrations will be drawn to demonstrate the applicability of a literature-based model of professional socialization to the career experiences of academic women. Selected hypothetical explanations for the different progress of women will be explored within the context of the connected, three-stage model, using content from focused, open-ended interviews with women respondents. Socialization models have been postulated as being particularly useful for understanding sex differences in academic careers. For faculty members, the focus is on extensive formal training in graduate school, which also provides anticipatory socialization and a site for recruitment as well as facilitation of professional role commitment.
