Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Working women, women's work and the occupational sociology of being a woman

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Purcell, Kate (1978) Working women, women's work and the occupational sociology of being a woman. Women's Studies International Quarterly, Volume 1 (Number 2). pp. 153-163. doi:10.1016/S0148-0685(78)90865-5

Research output not available from this repository, contact author.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0148-0685(78)90865-5

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

The relationship between women's conflicting roles of mother-wives and members of the labour force is frequently used to account for the high incidence of part-time work done by women and their low investment in career development and the acquisition of skills. It is also taken to justify employers' unwillingness to take on women and develop their potential when they do. This paper asks two questions which have rarely been separated: Firstly, do women themselves see their main job as childrearing and homemaking? Secondly, do they choose to give the role of mother-wife priority and see work outside the home as an optional extra? It is suggested that the answer to the first question is yes, since being a woman is itself seen in career terms, this imagery having been fostered throughout the socialization of both women and men. However, the distinction between the relationships and jobs involved in the mother-wife package are examined and it is suggested that women accommodate their employment arrangements to parenthood in a way that men do not simply because there are no practical alternatives. Their behaviour has little to do with the intrinsic characteristics of the jobs of mother-wife.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Institute for Employment Research
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Housewives--Social conditions, Married women--Employment, Part-time employment, Women--Social conditions
Journal or Publication Title: Women's Studies International Quarterly
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd.
ISSN: 0148-0685
Official Date: 1978
Dates:
DateEvent
1978Published
Volume: Volume 1
Number: Number 2
Number of Pages: 11
Page Range: pp. 153-163
DOI: 10.1016/S0148-0685(78)90865-5
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item
twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us