Women and Work [Hardcover]

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 womens 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 seen and assessed in its proper perspective.

1. Working Women Today: A Wasted Resource  2. Pre-Industrial Woman  3. The Industrial Revolution  4. Trade Unions: Men Only  5. The Professions Close Ranks  6. The Two World Wars: Votes and Jobs  7. Womens Attitudes to Work  8. Works Attitudes to Women  9. Women and the Professions Today: Too Little, Too Late  10. Married Women: Burying the Talents  11. Second Thoughts Set In  12. Equality and the Law

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 womens 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 seen and assessed in its proper perspective.