Competency standards for female dominated professions: A dual closure strategy?

Abstract

Witz' (1992) approach to the study of female dominated professions is employed to analyse and contrast the processes, debates and tactics within nursing and social work as they have responded to national pressure to develop competency-based professional standards. A particular concern is whether this national initiative provides an opportunity for such professions to open up to public scrutiny and reevaluation the skills and attributes required for competent performance as a professional and, in so doing, improve the status of the profession. It concludes that, first, the initiative has allowed nursing to lay claim to a distinct and larger area of practice; second, the outcomes in social work are much less certain; and, third, that Witz' model appears worthy of further employment as a tool for analysis of the strategies employed by female dominated professions to gain greater recognition for the value of the work performed by their members.