Gender at Work: The Dynamics of Job Segregation by Sex during World War II

The Working Class in American History

by Ruth Milkman

"By analyzing the process of work in both the electrical and the automobile industries, the supplies of male and female labor available to each, the varying degrees of labor-intensive work, the proportion of labor costs to total costs, and the extent of male resistance to female entry into the industry before, during, and after the war, Milkman offers a historically grounded and detailed examination of the evolution, function, and reproduction of job segregation by sex."-- Journal of American History"Analytic sophistication is coupled with a powerfully rendered the reader strides briskly along, enjoying one provocative insight after another while simultaneously absorbed by the drama of the events."-- Women's Review of Books

Genres: History, Feminism, Labor

213 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1986

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love a historical sociology queen, and a structural contingency one at that!! But I thought the main argument fell a little flat. Management chose to preserve male dominance in manufacturing, despite the potential to decrease wages by keeping women in the factories, because they...thought that the male workers would be mad? But she captured the complexity of the moment and provided some helpful mid-century context for me.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Hist 200- Univ Freshman)