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.
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. Women’s Attitudes to Work 8. Work’s 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
Biography
Ross Davies
