Johanna Ilmakunnas, Marjatta Rahikainen and Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen, ‘Women and professional ambitions in Northern Europe, c. 1650–1850’

This chapter discusses the concepts of ‘work’, ‘profession’ and ‘professionalization’ and women’s agency. It gives a historiographical view on how profession and professionalization have been conceptualized and discussed within academia in the twentieth century. The chapter comments important recent scholarship on women’s work, careers and professions in order to contextualize the issues into a wider discussion on human capital formation and women’s skills and professional ambitions. The chapter highlights the significance of economically active women in European history and shows how they can be found where there were literate and ambitious women.