From Biological Clocks to Unspeakable Inequalities: The Intersectional Positioning of Young Professionals
通过访谈两家专业服务公司的员工，研究性别和年龄如何影响年轻专业人士的职业体验，发现他们用生物钟解释职业分化、用个人策略应对少数地位、用代际变化掩盖性别不平等，从而强调个人能动性而忽视系统性不平等。
The article examines how gender and age influence the experience of being a professional by drawing on intersectionality as an act of positioning for which different discursive resources are employed. Through interviews with employees at two professional services firms, it is shown how younger men and women make sense of professional experiences. First, the biological clock is used to explain the divergence of career patterns of men and women while ignoring that all women, regardless of actual maternal status, suffer a maternity penalty. Second, individual strategies for overcoming being in a minority are suggested that indicate that the individual rather than societal structures shape chances of success. Finally, generational change is used to argue that gender inequality belongs to a previous generation, which indicates that inequality is becoming unspeakable. The article shows that young professionals position themselves in unique ways with regard to age and gender, which entails emphasizing individual agency over systemic inequalities.