It is commonly known that some professions - like those in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields - have traditionally been typecast as 'masculine,' with women often being socialized away from these areas in our patriarchic, male-dominated society. Likewise, some careers - like nursing and K-12 education - have been viewed as traditonally 'female' work.

African-Americans and Latinos have had a hard time cracking the glass ceiling that separates them from the upper echelons of corporate, academic, and political spheres. Until Barack Obama's 2008 victory, most people in the US did not believe that an African-American could realistically aspire to the White House. Conversely, Asian-Americans have found it difficult to get accepted in fields outside traditional STEM areas - the world does not seem ready to welcome an Asian-American Hollywood star, sports hero, or pop idol...

I thus found it very interesting to read the following article in today's New York Times, which suggests yet another dimension for professional typecasting: political ideology!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/arts/18liberal.html?em

College professors have traditionally been viewed as a generally liberal bunch. The authors of the study quoted in the above article suggest, however, that instead of looking at why most professors are liberal, we should ask why so many liberals - and so few conservatives - want to be professors. They suggest that the prevalent view of academia as overwhelmingly liberal influences younger people’s ideas about whether they want to enter the field when they grow up. According to these sociologists, fields like journalism, art, fashion, social work and therapy are politically typed as liberal, while law enforcement, farming, dentistry, medicine and the military are typed as conservative.

Whereas most past arguments along the above lines have primarily relied on anecdotes, this is apparently one of the only studies to use data from the General Social Survey of opinions and social behaviors and compare professors with the rest of Americans.