Chronicling the lives and career choices of a dynamic group of women, this book provides a comprehensive and unique glimpse into the intricate balance of work and family. Women's Employment and Homemaking Careers is based on three surveys, the first conducted while the women were attending university, and the second and third conducted one and two decades later. The surveys provide quantitative data that supplements the qualitative material gained from final interviews conducted at the end of the 25 year longitudinal study. The book is based on two comparisons - the first examines how women change in the quarter century following university and the second compares the lifestyle choices of career women, homemakers, part-time employees and entrepreneurs -- and uses those comparisons to build in-depth analyses of the pivotal importance of women's employment and family decisions. Cherlyn Granrose interprets her findings using lifespan development, decision-making and gender role theories, and then outlines lessons for women, their counselors and employers as well as for other scholars. Women learn there are many different means by which to create satisfying family and working lives; employers learn the importance of positive supervision and flexible family support policies; and scholars learn the necessity of using multiple methods and perspectives to understand the complexity of modern women's lives.Scholars and students of sociology, psychology, business and women's studies will find this volume as informative as they will find it interesting.

Women's employment is one of the most widely-discussed and often-misunderstood issues of modern society. Are women today oppressed, or do they have the best of both worlds? Do women have to go out to work to gain equality with men, or do they already do more than their share of domestic work, caring work and voluntary work as well as work in the informal economy? Do women seek careers on the same terms as men, or are they content to be dependent wives or secondary earners taking jobs on a short-term basis? How important is job segregation in explaining the 20% pay gap between men and women? Have equal opportunities laws had any real impact? Are women in Europe lagging behind, or are they at the forefront of developments in modern societies? This new updated edition of Catherine Hakim's classic text addresses all the key issues currently debated in relation to women's work - in the domestic sphere, as well as paid employment. Dr Hakim tests the power of patriarchy theory and preference theory against economic theories. Sex discrimination, work-life balance, part-time work, flexible hours, homeworking, career patterns across the life cycle, labour mobility, labour turnover, the returns to education, occupational segregation, the pay gap, the glass ceiling, and the impact of European Union policies are all considered. Analysis of historical developments over the twentieth century, based on censuses, is complemented by case studies of people working in occupations undergoing dramatic change. Throughout the book, comparisons are drawn between the USA, Britain, other European countries, Canada, Australia, and also China, Japan and other Far Eastern societies. The analysis draws on sociology, economics, psychology, labour law, history and social anthropology to conclude that the diversity of women's life goals and lifestyle preferences is increasing. This explains the growing polarisation of women's employment and many contradictory recent research results.

Originally published in 1980, women in the United Kingdom exhibited a pattern of work which was notably different from that in other countries of the EEC at the time. Its distinguishing feature was the high proportion of women who returned to work by the time they were forty years of age, having temporarily retired to care for young families. Although this pattern was of fairly recent origin, it was thought likely to be sustained. Women’s current life pattern was typically: school – training – work – withdrawal – retirement. Despite the existence of this pattern, agencies responsible for education, training and employment failed to recognise it as normal, often treating women as special cases. Thus there was a lack of flexibility in employment and insufficient retraining or part-time work. The problem was important both for qualified women who had made a considerable personal investment in a career, and for the nation in terms of effective manpower utilisation. The skills required in many occupations traditionally entered by women are either learnt on the job or by means of relatively short formal training courses. This book, however, examines in some depth seven careers which require a minimum of three years’ training. After a foreword by Baroness Nancy Seear and a chapter which introduces the concept of the ‘bimodal’ career and the consequent problems of withdrawal and re-entry, each chapter is written by an author who has conducted original research into the occupation under discussion, and specifically into women’s personal experiences in that particular calling. A concluding chapter considers the implications of the findings both for the individuals concerned and for social policy.

The literature defines a displaced homemaker as a woman who has worked primarily without remuneration to care for the home and family (U.S. Congress, 1977). Federally funded displaced homemaker programs are provided to help these women move from dependency to self-sufficiency (Displaced Homemakers Network, 1986). The purpose of this study is to examine the employment and career situation of women, age 40 and older, who have received services from a rural displaced homemaker program. Qualitative research by unstructured interviewing was the primary method used for gathering data. An ecological framework, proposed by Bronfenbrenner, 1979, was used as a guide for interpreting and describing the findings. The sample consists of 18 women, age 40 and older, who had participated in the Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) Displaced Homemaker Program in Coos Bay, Oregon. The findings indicated that the majority of women interviewed never expected to be working for pay. Most women exiting the program are employed at part-time minimum wage jobs without benefits and little chance for advancement. A mentorship program is needed to help women advance from a minimum wage job to a more desirable occupation. The program at SWOCC is understaffed. Formation of a volunteer group of past program participants could help meet the need for assistance. Academic advisors outside the program are not aware of the background and capabilities of the displaced homemaker. Greater importance should be placed on advising these entering students in their selection of college courses. Age, location, and health care are critical barriers to their personal and professional development. Once the women leave the program they are suddenly cut off from a support system. A follow-up system should be developed to provide a support system. Further recommendations and a model for a follow-up system for SWOCC is presented.

In the past, social scientists have relied predominantly on traditional models of work to understand women's experiences. These models, however, have been based on men's occupational experiences, which have been assumed to be the same for women. More recently, researchers and theorists from a variety of disciplines have begun to challenge earlier assumptions as inaccurate reflections of the realities for female workers. Newer studies have concentrated on the historical and social reasons for women's employment and career choices, including changes in economy, family, and social conditions. To provide a deeper understanding of women worker's realities by including the meaning they make of their work experiences, the editors have assembled the research of social scientists from various disciplines whose investigations focused exclusively on this subject. Their qualitative methodology provides a forum for women to voice issues, raise questions, and share self-reflections about their work experiences and the meaning they make of their work in the context of the rest of their lives. The common themes that are interwoven within the fabric of women's work experience are: the need to expand traditional definitions of what constitutes "work;" the fluid nature of boundaries between personal life and work life; the importance of the relational aspects of their work; the issues related to the uses of power at work; the role of work in the development of women's sense of self and personal identity; and the degree to which women's work experience is colored by discrimination and sexism.