How are the pleasures of making things work turned into processes of domination? Are there links between gender and military institutions? Does eroticism have something to do with engineering? In this book, first published in 1989, Sally Hacker explores the answers to these and other provocative questions about our attitudes toward work and leisure. Drawing from her broad experience as a sociologist, feminist and student of engineering, Hacker helps us to understand the impact of technology on our society and how feminist principles can be used to make work life more egalitarian and more...

This book, first published in 1941, is concerned to relate the argument for Trade Unionism to the needs of women who work, whether in their homes or outside them. It is, in part, a historical analysis of the inter-war years, and it also prefigures the changes to women’s working conditions brought about by the two World Wars. War necessitated the mass employment of women, and Trade Union action had greatly improved the position of the woman war-worker of 1941 compared to a quarter century previously. This invaluable book examines that Trade Union action.

Women-owned businesses are the fastest growing segment of new business start-ups, and black women’s businesses are a larger share of black-owned businesses than white women’s businesses are of all white firms. Most studies compare men’s and women’s businesses, but few examine differences among women. This book, first published in 2000, makes a significant contribution not only to the literature on entrepreneurial business, but also to the experiences of African American women.

In this book, first published in 1971, the authors show from first-hand studies of family and working life (and with evidence from many countries, including the socialist societies of Eastern Europe) the nature of the discrimination facing women in the professions – and how various family and employment patterns might contribute to solving it. Their point is not that some new stereotype should be substituted for traditional views of the role of husbands and wives: different patterns fit different situations.

Theories on the eradication of poverty abound. Self-help, self-reliance and self-sufficiency are touted as solutions, and are indeed critical to an economically stable life. Yet, for economically disadvantaged women (America’s poorest citizens), self-help is not as simple as grabbing sturdy boot straps or climbing elusive ladders. Creative ideas for self-sufficiency do not flower and flourish in environments that are void of resources. This book, first published in 1995, examines the questions raised around the concept of self-help by introducing microenterprise and exploring its...

How far is there a ‘feminine’ style of managerial and professional work? Have employers taken account of the different timetable governing the life of a woman as compared to that of a man, and the implications of this if women are to have the training, promotion and job security needed to reach the top? This book, first published in 1971, considers women as company directors; examines the position of women managers in two large firms; analyses how they fare in senior posts in the BBC and in the Civil Service. The four studies together contain a mass of information on women’s...

An increasing number of women are claiming the careers and the success which are rightfully theirs. This book, first published in 1988, demonstrates that the way to the top consists of a series of steps and strategies. It outlines these steps and provides practical advice, based on Australian research, on the challenges to be faced in achieving career goals. Succinct profiles of successful women demonstrate that these challenges can be met, understood and overcome.

This book, first published in 1994, explores the impact of work and gender roles on union activism, and identifies factors that support and hinder women’s representation in trade unions. These issues are discussed in terms of gender role, work-related and union-related factors. The author details what trade unionists are doing to challenge inequalities that still exist, and identifies factors that divide and unite men and women within trade unions. The author shows the impact that feminism has had on the trade union movement and explores the extent to which men and women have similar...

In this book, first published in 1975, the author examines the role of women in the workforce. Despite representing a rapidly increasing section of the workforce, why are women still overwhelmingly confined to unskilled jobs? Why do they hold such a tiny proportion of managerial and professional posts? In answering these vital questions Ross Davies shows how women’s economic roles in pre-industrial society were modified and distorted by industrialisation; how this legacy of exploitation has affected contemporary attitudes among both men and women; and how the present situation should be...

This important collection, first published in 1993, brings together the most comprehensive analyses of women’s experience in business to date. The small business world – usually associated with men – is unpacked to display the multiple roles played by women. Links are made between lifestyles and business-styles, the interface between business and family life, paid and unpaid work and changing social and economic patterns. Throughout, the limitations of current theory, practice and policies in underestimating the significance of female entrepreneurship are shown. International in...