Flight paths and revolving doors: A case study of gender desegregation in pharmacy

This paper examines practitioner reactions to occupational desegregation in pharmacy - the effects, for women and men, of a rapid female entry into the profession. The topic is documented in terms of processes of integration, ghettoisation, and re-segregation. With data collected from licensed pharmacists in Ontario, Canada, we find little evidence of either genuine gender integration in the profession or gender re-segregation precipitated by collective male discontent. While female practitioners are more positive in their evaluation of their jobs and their profession, there is no indication that current satisfaction and dissatisfaction is a harbinger of male-or female-flight from pharmacy. We discuss these findings in the light of arguments about a job and gender queue in the labour market.