Entrepreneurial Professionals: Australian Engineers, 1965-1984

Little research has been conducted on how and why workers enter self-employment. Even less research has been devoted to self-employment among professionals, despite its theoretical and practical significance. Four explanations derived from the literature - family socialisation, social marginality, bureaucratisation and attitudes and values - are tested to determine whether they predict entry into self-employment for professionals. The data are a panel survey of 192 professional engineers collected between 1965 and 1984. Although there is partial support for each explanation the results show that the relative importance of factors vary between career points. Whereas attitudes and values are more important early in a career, family socialisation and bureaucratic constraints have stronger effects as the career progresses. Schooling and social marginality, on the other hand, have a consistent impact across the career. The results suggest the need for a dynamic understanding of professional career paths and the processes whereby professional entrepreneurs reproduce themselves.