The unifying theme of this book is women's employment success with the objective of profiling supportive public policy for women in global contexts from Atlantic Canada to Western Europe, Australia and China. It studies the example of first generation women's careers in the Atlantic Canada region, rapidly undergoing economic restructuring. In the cases of Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, Switzerland and Finland, active state policy in support of diverse workforces includes women's advancement beyond middle management and professional positions. The collection of cases combines a view...

This book examines gender and professions in the 21^st century. Historically the professions encompassed law, medicine and the church, all of which excluded women from participation. Industry and the 20th century introduced new professions such as engineering and latterly information technology skill and, whilst the increase in credentialism and accreditations open up further avenues for professions to develop, many of the 'newer' professions exhibit similar gendered characteristics, still based on a perceived masculine identity of the professional workers and the association of...