Assumptions held by sociologists concerning the role that women played in their own mobility has resulted in a variety of creative operationalizations in measuring female mobility; however, the assumptions can no longer be accepted as applicable to the present generation of younger women. Some research on social mobility has simply excluded females from its purview. Other research placed the importance of female mobility on a secondary level to male mobility. Some studies determined a woman's class and mobility by comparing her father's occupation to that of her husband. Reasons cited for differential treatment of women include these: males seek identity through occupations, females seek it through their husbands; role conflict faced by working women complicates occupational aspiration; female's occupation differs from male's in duration and purpose. Differential treatment of women by researchers reflects the former status of women. Significant changes, particularly in the past decade, in female educational attainment, the opening of the occupational structure for women, smaller families, and increased occupational aspiration suggest that women now play a more significant role in determining their own future statuses. One recent study concluded that generalizations about occupational mobility which have been made for males apply for females. Exclusion of females from research on mobility can no longer be tolerated in studies which offer to generalize about the social mobility of the population as a whole. (JT)