Women in the artistic professions : Contribution of sociology to the analysis of the processes of “social closure”

International audienceThe artistic professions evolved gradually towards intellectual professions. In this movement of intellectualization of creative activities, women who commonly practiced these professions in the Middle Ages lost their right during the XVIIth century. A historical perspective explains why men are strongly represent in these professions in the functions of experts, juries, artists, art critics, editors, producers, collectors, art merchants, historians… Since the profession is dominated by male judgement, our research will address the professional assertion of women. In particular, we will defend the position that informal obstacles prevent them from existing as author, especially in rewarding, prestigious and gratifiante careers. This research is based on data provided by INSEE (National institute of the statistics and the economic studies) and a more specific survey of graduates of Art Schools. The quantitative analysis of the relation between education and employment will make it possible to demonstrate the effects of social closure of a field on the processes of auto-selection operating at the beginning of career. Moreover, it appears that it is more difficult for a woman to become artist-author as for a man and to integrate into an efficient social network