SOCIOLOGY OF WORK & GENDER
SOC 117a
Summer 2016, Session I
June 6, 2016 – July 8, 2016
Instructor: Kimberly D. Lucas
Email: klucas@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: 10:30-11am M, Tu, Th &
by appointment
Office Location: Pearlman 104
Course Location:
Course Days/Times: 11:00am-1:30pm
M, Tu, Th
Description: While we may not recognize it, gender plays a profound role in the way in which
we all experience everyday life. Work, a major facet of society, is deeply affected by gender.
While the wage gap between men and women has decreased over the past several decades, it
persists nonetheless. This course examines gender disparities in both unpaid and paid work and
how these disparities affect everyone’s lives (regardless of gender) and society at large, and by
using a sociological lens, this course begins to uncover the societal mechanisms through which
phenomena like the wage gap, traditional gender roles, and gendered jobs persist.
Learning Goals: The goal of this course is to provide a broad overview of several topics
discussed at the intersection of the sociological subfields of work and gender. Upon course
completion, course participants will be able to discuss the role of gender as it pertains to both
unpaid and paid labor, identify ways in which gender influences and complicates the intersection
of work and family life, and provide examples of these roles and influences from everyday life.
Active course participation and course assignments will provide participants with the opportunity
to exercise their observation, listening, writing, and analytic skills.
Course Policies:
Expectations: Because this is a college-level course, you will be held to college-level
standards—as will I. Together, we will meet the following expectations:
a) Present and active participation. This class is yours. You are expected to take ownership
of it by being on time, present, and prepared. You are also expected to…
a. share your knowledge with others in a way that is comfortable to you, rather than
horde your knowledge for yourself and
b. actively listen to your peers as they share their knowledge—anything stated in
class is fair game for inclusion in a class assignment.
b) Clear communication. The exchange of ideas and knowledge cannot occur without clear
communication. Therefore, you are expected to:
a. complete assignments on time and according to paper formatting parameters (see
below) and
b. provide the instructor with important information in a timely manner (life
circumstances that affect the quality of assignments or the timeliness of
assignments, etc.).
Given the abbreviated nature of summer school, extensions will only be
granted to those with extenuating circumstances. These must be
communicated to the instructor as soon as possible.
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Assignments & Grading: Course grades will take into account each of the elements detailed in
this section. You will begin the class with 100 points.
a) Memo (20 points). A memo consisting of your thoughts on topics covered during the
first week of the course. Not to exceed two pages. DUE: Monday, June 13
b) Field assignment (30 points). This assignment is comprised of two parts: (1) primary
data collection through either observation or interview and (2) a short paper that both
documents the data collection process and analyzes findings. This assignment will focus
on topics covered in Part 2 of the course readings. Not to exceed five pages.
DUE: Thursday, June 23
c) Final paper (50 points). Two short papers, 25 points each: (1) a response to one of two
prompts and (2) a response to a mandatory prompt. These prompts will focus on topics
covered over the entirety of the course readings, with an emphasis on those presented in
Parts 3 and 4. Not to exceed a total of 10 pages. DUE: Thursday, July 7
d) Resource BONUS (up to 10 points). Up to 10 points (5 points per resource; no partial
credit given) are awarded at the end of the course for each class-related resource shared
with the instructor and the class. Examples of acceptable resources include (but are not
limited to) current events articles from news or popular media outlets, artistic media
(music, film, art), and on-campus events. Course participants are encouraged to ask the
instructor about the acceptability of potential resources.
Resources may be shared at any point over the course of the class; there will be a specific
place for resource upload on the Latte site. To count, resources must be shared in a onepage write-up following the paper formatting guidelines (below) and must include:
a. Name of resource
b. Type of resource (and URL, if applicable)
c. Brief description
d. Relevance to course, including specific reference to a particular week’s readings
Resources should be emailed directly to the instructor for credit.
All assignments, aside from the Resource BONUS, will be collected at the BEGINNING of
class on their respective due dates.
All assignments must be turned in on time and must adhere to paper formatting parameters
(see below) for full credit.
 Late assignments: 5 points per day late will be deducted from the assignment grade.
 Lack of adherence to formatting parameters: 10 points total will be deducted from the
assignment grade. Any paper that does not meet ALL of the parameters below will have
points deducted.
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Paper Formatting Parameters: To help you communicate clearly and to ensure consistency
across class participants, the following paper formatting parameters should be used for all of the
above assignments:
 1 inch margins all around (top, bottom, left, right)
 Times New Roman, size 12 font
 Paginate
 Staple
 Use a single, consistent citation format (ASA, APA, MLA, etc.)
 A maximum of 10 spelling or grammar errors. Use spellcheck.
Course Readings: The following are required books:
 Hochschild, Arlie. 1989. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home.
New York: Viking.
All other articles and chapters will be provided in electronic form and can be downloaded via
Latte.
Academic Integrity: You are expected to uphold standards of academic integrity. While the
social exchange of ideas is, in fact, encouraged in and beyond the classroom, the assignments
turned in under your name must be original and produced independent of others. When using
words or ideas of others (this includes academic writers, anything found on the Internet, your
classmates, your parents, etc.), you must acknowledge your source by using proper references
(see Paper Formatting Parameters above) and quotation marks to delineate any direct use of
others’ words or ideas.
Please refer to Section 4, “Maintenance of Academic Integrity,” of the Brandeis University
Rights and Responsibilities booklet. Violations of University policies on academic integrity may
result in failure in the course or on the assignment and could end in suspension from the
University. You are encouraged to speak with me for clarification on this policy and/or if you
have any questions about course assignment instructions.
Accommodations: If you are a student who needs accommodations because of a
documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable
accommodation made for you in this course, please contact me and present your letter of
accommodation as soon as possible.
Students who have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic
accommodations, should contact Jodi Rosenblatt, Disability Services and Support, Office of
Academic Services at jrosenb@brandeis.edu.
Letters of accommodation should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure timely
and proper provision of accommodations. Accommodations cannot be granted
retroactively.
And now, the actual syllabus…
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Part 1: Introduction to Work and Gender
Here, we dedicate time to learning theories that influence our understanding of both gender and
work. By deeply examining these concepts, we will create a solid foundation from which we can
explore the practical matters of work and gender.
Monday, 6.06: Introduction to Work and Gender; Picking Apart Gender
ASSIGNED: Memo
Why do we care about the intersection between work and gender? What’s the point of studying this stuff?

10 Findings About Women in the Workplace
What is gender, exactly?
 West, Candace and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender & Society 1(2):
125-151.
 Messner, Michael. 2000. “Barbie Girls versus Sea Monsters: Children Constructing
Gender.” Gender & Society 14(6): 765-784.
Tuesday, 6.07: Intersectionality
Does the whole equal the sum of its parts? What is intersectionality, and how is it relevant in our
understanding of work and gender?
 West, Candace and Sarah Fenstermacher. 1995. “Doing Difference.” Gender & Society
9(1): 8-37.
 Amott, T. L. 1996. “Race, Class, Gender and Women's Work: A Conceptual
Framework.” Pp. 11-28 in Race, Gender, and Work: A Multi-cultural Economic History
of Women in the United States, edited by T. L. Amott & J. A. Matthaei. Boston: South
End Press.
 hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist Theory from Margin to Center. Cambridge: South End Press.
Chapter 7, “Re-Thinking the Nature of Work.” Pp. 96-105.
Thursday, 6.09: Picking Apart Work
What is work, exactly?
 Durkheim, Emile. 2014 [1893]. The Division of Labor in Society. New York: Free Press.
Chapter 3, “Solidarity Arising from the Division of Labor, or Organic Solidarity.”
Pp. 88-105.
 Vallas, Steven P. 2012. Work: A Critique. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Chapter 1, “Introduction.” Pp. 1-36.
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Part 2: Gender and Unpaid Work
We begin our exploration of work and gender by looking to the place where gendered work first
occurs: in the home.
Monday, 6.13: Reproductive Labor: The Division of Labor in the Home
DUE: Memo
ASSIGNED: Field Assignment
Are we working when we’re at home? How is this type of labor divided up?
 Bianchi, Suzanne M., Melissa A. Milkie, Liana C. Sayer, & John P. Robinson. 2000. “Is
Anyone Doing the Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor.”
Social Forces 79(1): 191-228.
 Hochschild, Arlie. 1989. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home.
New York: Viking.
Chapter 4, “Joey’s Problem: Nancy and Evan Holt.” Pp. 34-60.
-ORWalzer, Susan. 1996. “Thinking About the Baby: Gender and the Division of Infant
Care.” Social Problems 43(2): 219-234.
Tuesday, 6.14: The Gendering of Unpaid Labor
Why is housework women’s work? How did housework become women’s work? What happens
when housework takes on the label of women’s work?
 Coltrane, Scott. 1989. “Household Labor and the Routine Production of Gender.”
Social Problems 36(5): 473-490.
 Crittenden, Ann. 2001. The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the
World is Still the Least Valued. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Chapter 3, “How Mothers’ Work was ‘Disappeared’: The Invention of the
Unproductive Housewife.” Pp. 45-64.
 Daniels, Arlene Kaplan. 1987. “Invisible Work.” Social Problems 34(5): 403-13.
Thursday, 6.16: Shifting from Private Life to Public Life
Does reproductive labor relate to labor in the real world?
 Gerson, Kathleen. 2002. “Moral Dilemmas, Moral Strategies, and the Transformation of
Gender: Lessons from Two Generations of Work/Family Change.” Gender & Society
16(1): 8-28.
 Duffy, Mignon. 2007. “Doing the Dirty Work: Gender, Race, and Reproductive Labor in
Historical Perspective.” Gender & Society 21(3): 313-336.
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Part 3: Gender and Paid Work
Moving from the private sphere (home, family) to the public sphere (office, paid labor), we look
at various facets of work where gender plays a large role.
Monday, 6.20: Gendered Work and Job Segregation
Are jobs gendered? If so, how do jobs become gendered?
 Acker, Joan. 1990. “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations.”
Gender & Society 4(2): 139-158.
 Massoni, Kelly. 2004. “Modeling Work: Occupational Messages in Seventeen
Magazine.” Gender & Society. 18(1): 47-65.
 Milkman, Ruth. 2004. “Constructing Jobs as Women’s Work in WW2.” Pp. 113-115 in
The Sociology of Gender, edited by Amy Wharton. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Tuesday, 6.21: Picking Apart Discrimination
If we can’t legally discriminate on the basis of gender, how does discrimination persist?
 Reskin, B. F. 2000. “The Proximate Causes of Employment Discrimination.”
Contemporary Sociology. 29(2): 319-328.
 Ortiz, S. Y. and V.J. Roscigno. 2009. “Discrimination, Women, and Work: Processes and
Variations by Race and Class.” Sociological Quarterly 50(2): 336-359.
 Blair-Loy, Mary. 2001. “It’s Not Just What You Know, It’s Who You Know: Technical
Knowledge, Rainmaking, and Gender among Finance Executives.” Pp. 51-83 in Research
in the Sociology of Work, edited by Steven Vallas. Bradford, UK: Emerald Group
Publishing.
Thursday, 6.23: The Wage Gap: Motherhood Penalty, Fatherhood Premium
DUE: Field Assignment
ASSIGNED: Final
Are mothers and fathers treated differently in the workplace?
 Coltrane, Scott. 2004. “Elite Careers and Family Commitment: It’s (Still) About
Gender.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 596: 214-220.
 Budig, Michelle J. and Paula England. 2001. “The Wage Penalty for Motherhood.”
American Sociological Review 66(2): 204-25.
-ORCorrell, Shelley J., Stephen Benard, and In Paik. 2007. “Getting a Job: Is There a
Motherhood Penalty?” American Journal of Sociology 112(5): 1297–1338.
 Williams, Christine. 1992. “The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the
‘Female’ Professions.” Social Problems 39(3): 253-268.
 Wingfield, Adia Harvey. 2009. “Racializing the Glass Escalator: Reconsidering Men’s
Experiences with Women’s Work.” Gender & Society 23(1): 5-26.
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Monday, 6.27: Doing Gender at Work
What does it mean to ‘do’ gender at work?
 Henson, Kevin D. and Jackie Krasas Rogers. 2001. “‘Why Marcia You’ve Changed!’
Male Clerical Temporary Workers Doing Masculinity in a Feminized Occupation.”
Gender & Society 15(2): 218-238.
 Schilt, Kristen. 2006. “Just One of the Guys?: How Transmen Make Gender Visible at
Work.” Gender & Society 20(4): 386-402.
 Schilt, Kristen and Matthew Wiswall. 2008. “Before and After: Gender Transitions,
Human Capital, and Workplace Experiences.” The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis
and Policy 8(1).
Tuesday, 6.28: Even More Invisible: Sex, Sexuality, and Emotion at Work
 Dellinger, Kirsten and Christine L. Williams. 2002. “The Locker Room and the Dorm
Room: Workplace Norms and the Boundaries of Sexual Harassment in Magazine
Editing.” Social Problems 49(2): 242-257.
 Overall, Christine. 1992. “What’s Wrong with Prostitution? Evaluating Sex Work,”
Signs 17(4): 705-724.
-OR
Hochschild, Arlie. 1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapter 6, “Feeling Management: From Private to Commercial Uses.” Pp. 89136.
Thursday, 6.30: The Case of Caring
How is carework similar to and different from other types of gendered work?
 Tuominen, Mary. 2000. “The Conflicts of Caring.” Pp. 112-135 in Care Work: Gender,
Class, and the Welfare State, edited by M. H. Meyer. New York: Routledge.
 MacDonald, Cameron. 2011. Shadow Mothers: Nannies, Au Pairs, and the Micropolitics
of Mothering. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapter 6, “Creating Shadow Mothers.” Pp. 105-127.
 England, Paula and Nancy Folbre. 1999. “The Cost of Caring.” Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science 561:39-51
SOC 117a | Summer 2016 | 7
Part 4: The Nexus of Paid and Unpaid Work: Work/Family Balance
Now that we have explored gender in paid work, we return back to the home to see how
gendered work impacts gendered home life.
Tuesday, 7.05: Return to the Home: Balancing the Second Shift
What is work/life balance? How do dual-earner households balance being the ‘ideal worker’
and the second shift?
 Hochschild, Arlie. 1989. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home.
New York: Viking.
Chapter 5, “The Family Myth of the Traditional: Frank and Carmen Delacorte.”
Pp. 61-76.
Chapter 6, “A Notion of Manhood and Giving Thanks: Peter and Nina
Tanagawa.” Pp. 77-95.
-ORWilliams, Joan C. and Heather Boushey. 2010. “The Three Faces of Work-Family
Conflict: The Poor, the Professionals, and the Missing Middle.” Center for American
Progress.
 Stone, Pamela and Meg Lovejoy. 2004. “Fast Track Women and the ‘Choice’ to Stay
Home.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 596: 62-83.
 Arrighi, Barbara and David J. Maume Jr. 2000. “Workplace Subordination and Men’s
Avoidance of Housework.” Journal of Family Issues 21(4): 464-487.
Wednesday, 7.06 (Brandeis Monday): Globalization, Work, and Gender
In a globalized world, how do our work/life balance solutions affect others?
 Cheever, S. 2003. “The Nanny Dilemma.” Pp. 31-38 in Global Woman: Nannies, Maids,
and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell
Hochschild. New York: Metropolitan Books.
 Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. 2000. “The International Division of Caring and Cleaning Work.”
Pp. 149-162 in Care Work: Gender, Class, and the Welfare State, edited by M. H. Meyer.
New York: Routledge.
 Parrenas, Rhacel Salazar. 2000. “Migrant Filipina Domestic Workers and the
International Division of Reproductive Labor.” Gender & Society 14(4): 560-580.
Part 5: Bringing It All Together
So what?
Thursday, 7.07: Is There Room For Change?
DUE: Final
Can women ever ‘have it all’? Where do we go from here?
 England, Paula. 2010. “The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled.” Gender & Society
24(2): 149-166.
 Slaughter, Anne-Marie. “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.” The Atlantic. 2012.
 Hewlett, Sylvia Ann and Carolyn Buck Luce. “Off-Ramps and On-Ramps. Keeping
Talented Women on the Road to Success.” Harvard Business Review 83(3): 43-46, 48,
50-54.
SOC 117a | Summer 2016 | 8