Customer Reviews

Job Queues, Gender Queues: Explaining Women's Inroads into Male Occupations (Women In The Political Economy)

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Any female working in a formerly-male profession will find this book of interest. Since it's been written, several more professions have become "feminized" more quickly than has the workforce as a whole. Those of us who are in these professions find that our colleagues argue the same issues over and over without looking to other, similar professions, or to work like this, for information about what is occurring. Although the book may leave you with a bit of a negative attitude, hey, discrimination IS negative! The authors do use this as a call to action, pointing out that what has occurred is not necessarily going to continue, that occupational gender changes are in a state of flux, and that simply understanding what has occurred in the past may help us to change the future.

This book was assigned for a Gender Inequality at Work class. Nothing much about this book would have gotten me to read it otherwise. Reskin and Ruse certainly can back up their theories regarding women's entry into male-dominated occupations with their extensive data, but they seemed to have a negative attitude about women's capabilities and future potential. One of the most frustrating things about the book was their continual reference, without elaboration, to the "women's liberation movement" of the 1970s as a factor in women's accomplishments. The obscure references to the "women's liberation movement" made it seem like a magical occurance that was without explanation. I would have liked much more anecdotal information.