Introduction: jobs in context: circles and settings (H.Z. Lopata). Working sisters from outside: rural Chinese household workers in Beijing (Dai Kejing, P.R. Dempsey). Asian entrepreneurs in Chicago (Jing Zhang). Indian-American success story of "Potel" motels: immigration, tradition, community and gender (N.N. Assar). The lobstermen of narrow river: becoming one of the guys (R.V. Travisano). From casuals to careers: the professionalization of real estate saleswork (C.S. Wharton). Models of culture in physician group practices (E. Goodrick et al.). Crossing legal practice boundaries: paralegals, unauthorized practice of law, and Abbott's system of professions (J. Goldschmidt). Career commitments: women and men law school graduates (K. Pearson Schrimsher). Careers of early African-American women educators (K.F. Slevin, C.R. Wingrove). A critical evaluation of the experiences of women and minority faculty: some implications for occupational research (T.M. Calasanti, J. Watt Smith). Women physicists: where are they now? (R. Genovese, S. Fava).