Doing Women's Work

Research tells us of the problems women face when they cross over into male-dominated professions: discrimination harassment glass ceilings exclusion from informal networks. We also know much about female-dominated professions where pay and prestige are lower than corresponding male professions. What happens to men doing womens jobs? Doing Womens Work represents the first effort to summarize our state of knowledge about the effects of men in womens professions on the men and their views of masculinity on the occupations and on the women with whom they work. Do men get preferential treatment in these positions? Higher salaries? Are they treated the same as their female coworkers? Through a series of statistical and demographic analyses as well as qualitative case studies of men in such professions as teaching secretarial work caregiving and stripping the authors offer an insightful glimpse of the roles of these men in bolstering or undermining the gendered assumptions of occupational sex segregation in the workplace. A fascinating yet scholarly study Doing Womens Work will be invaluable reading for students researchers and professionals interested in gender studies work and occupations human resources sociology management human services family studies psychology and education. The studies lead to a more complex and sophisticated view of occupational segregation. . . . The chapters in Christine Williams book are logically arranged and all are of reasonably good quality. --Contemporary Sociology The focus on pursuing questions is illustrated most capably by this collection of research on occupational segregation. . . .The book is an excellent collection of essays for those interested in work and gender issues providing both a rich theoretical background and case studies of men in nontraditional occupations. --Masculinities