Books in the Routledge Library Editions: Women and Business series

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.

At a time when most French women were not unionised and did not pursue effective action on occupational health problems, French women in the match industry succeeded. This book, first published in 1989, examines their actions and provides the definitive account of their success.

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.

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. This autobiography is a remarkable record of an early business woman¿s life.

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 (Americäs 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 relevance to poor women.

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 education and the reasons why they reach the top ¿ or fail to get there.

This book, first published in 1914, examines the economic position of women at the turn of the twentieth century. Women¿s economic position had been undermined by the helpless dependence engendered, among the better-off, by nineteenth century luxury, and among manual workers by the loss of their hold upon land and by the decline of home industries. The essays collected here examine the changing state of affairs, with a new force at work: the revolt of the modern woman against economic dependence in all forms.

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 humane. In the first part of the book, the author examines various examples of the masculinization of power, ranging from military institutions to the mechanisation of farm labour, computer technology and affirmative action. In the second part, Hacker presents the results of her research on Mondragon, the world¿s largest cooperative workplace, located in Spain. Hacker reaches surprising conclusions about gender and technology at Mondragon, where, in spite of the community¿s egalitarian philosophy, gender inequality was as pervasive as in capitalist and socialist systems.

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.

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 seen and assessed in its proper perspective.

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.

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 book focuses on the Israeli labor market. Through the utilization of several theoretical approaches, combining economic, sociological, and social-psychological perspectives, the book analyses empirical findings concerning labor market perceptions, attitudes and behaviors.