From Necktie to Pant-Suit: Feminisation without Equality at the Postal Bank[De la cravate au tailleur : la féminisation sans l’égalité au sein de la Banque postale]

The French Post Office's financial advisors have evolved considerably over the last few decades. The typical 1960's middle-aged postmaster has been replaced by a young female graduate. Not only has the social composition of this group changed, but the ways they relate to work as well as their employment status have undergone marked transformations. Younger and more woman oriented, the group must cope with the organization's many new activities. But despite the changes, the hardening of the professional group's originally masculine patterns of functioning thwarts the opportunities feminisation might have led women to expect, and professional discrimination persists. Shedding light on the gendered path dependency of this professional group, this article shows that feminisation has not ruled out the "glass ceiling".