Gender at Work: The Dynamics of Job Segregation by Sex During World War IIUniversity of Illinois Press, 1987 - 213 pages Winner of the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in Women's History, the American Historical Association, 1987. Winner of the SOCIALIST REVIEW Book Award Women's entry into so-called men's work during World War II sparked conflicts at the time and when men returned at war's end. Ruth Milkman delves into the issues in play and the prewar origins of traditional patterns of gender segregation in the workplace. Ranging from the dynamics on the shop floor to hiring patterns, Milkman pays particular attention to automobile and electrical manufacturing. She analyzes a number of persistent questions, including management's decision to re-embrace gender segregation after the war; women's lack of protest; the failure of unions to protect women; and how related employer strategies helped control labor by maintaining women's place as workers paid less than men. |
Contents
Fordism and Feminization | 12 |
The Great Depression and the Triumph of Unionization | 27 |
Redefining Womens Work | 49 |
Wartime Labor Struggles over the Position of Women in Industry | 65 |
The Emergence of a Womens Movement in the Wartime CIO | 84 |
Demobilization and the Reconstruction of Womans Place in Industry | 99 |
Common terms and phrases
activists auto and electrical auto industry Automobile Automotive Bureau of Labor contract Department of Labor Detroit division of labor East Pittsburgh electrical industry electrical manufacturing employed employers equal pay factory female employment female labor female substitution feminization folder Ford gender hiring ideology issue job segregation labor force labor market Labor Statistics large numbers layoffs male workers management's married women men's jobs Michigan Motor National Archives numbers of women pay for equal percent plant prewar sexual division R. J. Thomas Records of UE Report Rosie the Riveter Ruth Young segregation by sex sex differentials sex discrimination sex segregation sex-typing strike struggles survey U.S. Bureau U.S. Department U.S. Women's Bureau UAW-CIO UAW's UE Archives UE District UE's United Electrical Workers V-J Day veterans wartime Wayne State University Westinghouse woman women war workers women workers women's employment women's seniority rights World War II WSU Archives York