This book, first published in 1926, is the candid record of a woman’s experiences in the business world at the turn of the twentieth century. Finishing her career as an advertising executive – one of the first women to succeed in that industry – The author had experienced a fascinating life as a stenographer, and a clerk, being hired and fired and enduring the tedium of office life. Written with zest, shot through with shrewd and dispassionate comment on business life and practices, and filled with fascinating detail and anecdote, this autobiography is a remarkable record of an early...

Occupational sex segregation is one of the most universal and salient characteristics of labor markets. It indicates the different probabilities of members of both genders to take up particular occupations, and traditionally places women at a great disadvantage. This book, first published in 1992, focuses on a comparative analysis of sex-segregated occupational categories and attempts to systematically examine their implications. Since very little is known about Israeli working women, and given the cultural differences between Israel and other, more studied industrialised nations, this...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

Data from the United States Census of Population indicate that there has been a dramatic increase in the labor force participation of married women over the twentieth century. This book, first published in 1998, takes issue with this well-known stylized fact. Whereas the labor force literature comments extensively on men’s transition from home production to market work, the effect on women’s employment has gone more or less unnoticed. The objective of this book is to uncover the work usually omitted from descriptions of wage work and housework – that is, work done in the household...