Crossing Boundaries: Understanding Women’s Advancement from Clerical to Professional Positions

This article describes findings from a qualitative study designed to understand how women in clerical roles cross the real and perceived boundaries of their rank and advance into professional positions. Informed by phenomenology, this inquiry employed interviews with 22 women from one public research university in New England. Findings illuminate the significance of (1) instrumental individuals in women’s advancement, (2) organizational processes that served as barriers, (3) “advanced knowledge,” and (4) how being a woman shapes the career journey. Following discussion of the ways that existing practices may unwittingly limit women’s advancement, the author articulates implications for practice.