FYSP 163: She Works Hard for the Money: Women, Work and the Persistence of Inequality
MWF 10-10:50 King
Prof. Daphne John
Office: King 305b
Office Hours: M: 3:30-4:30; W: 2:30-4:30, Th: 11:00-12:15
Course Description
Current U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports indicate that women who are employed full-time
earn only 76.7% of what men who are employed full-time earn. In this course, we will explore
the causes and consequences of gender based wage discrepancy. Topics to be covered include:
occupational segregation, comparable worth, shift work, "the Mommy Track", gender based job
queuing, career trends and unpaid labor. In addition to class reading, each student will choose an
occupation and research it throughout the semester.
Required Texts
Cassell, Joan. 1998. The Woman in the Surgeon’s Body. Harvard University Press.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Metropolitan
Books.
Hesse-Biber, Sharlene and Gregg Lee Carter. 2005. Working Women in America: Split Dreams.
2nd Edition, Oxford University Press.
Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. 2001. Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the
Shadows of Affluence. University of California Press.
Phillips, John L. 2000. How to Think About Statistics. W.H. Freeman.
Required Assignments
Two Essay Responses to Questions
#1-10%, #2- 15% (DUE DATES: 9.29 and 11.3)
Reading a Journal Article Exercise
15%
(DUE DATE: 10.18)
Quantitative Exercise
15%
(DUE DATES:11.22)
Written Report on Occupation
20%
(DUE DATE: 12.04)
Oral Presentation of Occupation Report
10%
(TBS: 12.06-12.13)
Video Discussion Paper—Take Home Final
15%
(DUE DATE: 12.20)
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Class Attendance and Participation: Attendance will be taken at each class. Students may miss
up to 5 days without penalty. Students are expected to be prepared for class discussion and
participate in discussions.
Essays: Students will be given a choice of essay questions, from which they will select one to
answer, approximately one week before the due date. The answers should reference as much of
the reading as possible to support the answers. A bibliography should be attached. Each essay
should be approximately 3-4 pages and double-spaced.
Journal Article Exercise: Students will be given an empirically based article to read from a
scholarly journal. Specific questions will be asked regarding the content and structure of the
article as well as interpretation of statistical findings.
Quantitative Exercise: Students will be asked to interpret statistical data from a variety of
sources, such as tables from government publications, journal articles and reports. Graphing and
interpretation of data using Excel also will be covered.
Occupation Report: Each student will select an occupation (or occupational category) to
examine. The research should address the following:
What is the history of this occupation?
What is the nature of the work in this occupation?
Is this occupation considered to be male-dominated, female-dominated or gender balanced?
Is gender and/or racial segregation present within the occupation by job category?
What are the requirements for employment in this occupation and how do those requirements vary by job
category?
What sectors of the labor market are the jobs in this occupation in?
What are the experiences of women in this occupation?
What are the typical wages and benefits of the jobs in this occupation?
Is there job growth or decline in this occupational area?
What are the positive and negative aspects of employment for women in this area?
(A variety of resources (eg. books, journal articles, The Occupational Outlook Handbook,
TheMonthly Labor Review, Statistical Abstracts of the United States) should be utilized when
gathering information.)
The in-class PowerPoint presentation (during the last week of class) will consists of highlights
from the research. Each presentation will be 15 minutes in length. Student will receive
instruction on the use of PowerPoint.
The written component will be in the form of a 10-12 page paper reviewing the literature and
empirical studies in regard to the questions above. A bibliography must be included with the
paper. This assignment serves as the final exam for the course.
Video Discussion Paper—Take Home Final: Students will be asked to respond to several essay
questions based on the films we will watch (and some that will be on reserve for viewing) during
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the semester. These essays will focus on comparison of particular themes in the documentaries
as well as links to the semester readings. The exam is open book/open note.
Course Outline
9.6-9.13
I. Introduction/History
Hesse-Biber and Carter:
Preface, Chapter 1: Models of Women and Work, Chapter 2: A Brief
History of Working Women
Reserve Reading:
Amott and Matthaei: Race, Class, and Gender and Women’s Work
Edwards: Contested Terrain
Hall: Gender and Work
Ortiz: Puerto Rican Women in the Garment Industry of New York City,
1920-1980
Dublin: Lowell Millhands, Lynn Shoeworkers, Working Women in New
England, 1900
Korabick: Sex and Gender in the New Millenium
Brush: Gender, Work, Who Cares?! Production, Reproduction,
Deindustrialization and Business as Usual
Thistle: The New Economy” and the Transformation of Women’s Work
STATISTICS READING: Phillips—Chapters 1-4
VIDEO: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
The Phantom Operator
The Trickle Down Theory of Sorrow
9.15-9.20
II. Indicators and Explanations of Inequality
Hesse-Biber and Carter:
Chapter 3: Gender Inequality: Economic and Legal Explanations
Reserve Reading:
Marx: Alienated Labor
Durkheim: The Social and Political Role of Occupational Groups
Weber: Bureaucracy
Federal Glass Ceiling Commission: The Glass Ceiling
Tomaskovic-Devey: Sex and Racial Segregation and Pay Gaps
Ferdman: The Color and Culture of Gender in Organizations
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England, Thompson and Aman: The Sex Gap in Pay and Comparable
Worth: An Update
Hossfield: The Logic Against Them
Reskin and Roos: Occupational Sex Segregation: Persistence and Change,
Queueing and Changing Occupational Composition, Consequences
of Desegregation: Occupational Integration and Economic Equity?
Elliot: Comparing Occupational Segregation in Great Britain and the
United States: The Benefits of Using a Multi-Group Measure of
Segregation
STATISTICS READING: Philips Chapter 5-6
9.25-9.29
III. Work, Racial and Ethnic Inequalities, and Socialization
Hesse-Biber and Carter:
Chapter 4: Gender Inequality and Socialization: The Influences of Family, School,
Peers and the Media
Reserve Reading:
Freeman: Parental Influence and Women’s Careers
Hattery: Theoretical Paradigms for Understanding Maternal Labor Force
Participation
Helgeson: Women’s Ways of Leading
Cintron-Velez: Generational Paths into and out of Work: Personal Narratives of
Puerto Rican Women in New York
Baker: Mexican-Origin Women in the Southwestern Labor Markets
Stier: Immigrant Women Go to Work: Analysis of Immigrant Women’s
Labor Supply for Six Asian Groups
Loo and Ong: Slaying Demons with A Sewing Needle: Feminist Issues for
Chinatown’s Women
England, Garcia-Beaulieu and Ross: Women’s Employment among Blacks,
Whites and Three Groups of Latinas: Do More Privileged Women Have
Higher Employment?
.
IV. Occupations, Professions and the Experience of Working
10.2-10.4
Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Metropolitan Books
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Hesse-Biber and Carter:
Chapter 5: Women in Everyday Jobs: Clerical, Sales, Service and Blue-Collar
Work
Reserve Reading:
Bronfenbrenner: Organizing Women: The Nature and Process of Union
Organizing Efforts Among U.S. Women Since the mid-1990’s.
VIDEO: The Wilmar 8
10.6-10.23
Reserve Reading:
Casey: New Tappings on the Keys
Garson: The Electronic Sweatshop
Parker: Temporary Clerical Work
Connoley and Rhoton: Women in Direct Sales
Hall: Waitering/Waitressing
Paules: “Getting” and “Making” a Tip
Reskin and Roos: Women Behind Bars
Zhou and Nordquist: Work and Its Place in the Lives of Immigrant Women:
Garment Workers in New York City’s Chinatown
Juravich: Women on the Line
Reskin and Roos: Hot-Metal to Electronic Composition
Wang and Kleiner: Sex Discrimination in Fire Fighting Organisations
VIDEO: Some Real Heat
Hammering it Out
North Country
10.25-11.1
Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. 2001. Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring
in the Shadows of Affluence. University of California Press.
VIDEO: Maid in America
Maid to Stay
11.3-11.10
Hesse-Biber:
Chapter 6: Professional and Managerial Women
Reserve Reading:
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Sokoloff: The Half-Full Glass, The Professions, White Women: Movement an
Change, Black Women: Beyond the Myth of Double Advantage, The
Half-Empty Glass: Can it Ever Be Filled?
Higginbotham: Black Professional Women: Job Ceilings
Rosenberg, Perlstadt and Phillips: “Now That We Are Here:” Discrimination,
Disparagement and Harrassment at Work and the Experience of Women
Lawyers
Bird: An Analysis of Gender Differences in Income among Dentists, Physicians
and Veterinarians, 1987
Glazer: “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”: Racial, Ethnic, and Class
Inequalities in Women’s Professional Nursing Organizations
Reskin and Roos: Industrial and Occupational Change in Pharmacy; A Woman’s
Place is Selling Homes; High Finance, Small Change
Colwill: Women in Management: Power and Powerlessness
Schwartz: Management Women and the New Facts of Life
Reskin: Culture, Commerce, Gender
VIDEO: Lifetime’s Women Docs (instructor copy)
11.13-11.20
Cassell, Joan. 1998. The Woman in the Surgeon’s Body. Harvard University Press.
STATISTICS READING: Phillips- Ch. 7-10
V. Work and Family
11.22-11.27
Hesse-Biber and Carter:
Chapter 7: Working Women and Their Families
Reserve Reading:
Torruellas, Benmayor and Juarbe: Negotiating Gender, Work and Welfare:
Familia as Productive labor among Puerto Rican Women in New York
City
Hattery: Balancing and Weaving to be a “Good” Mother, To Work or Not to
Work? That is the Question, Are Children Better Off if they have
New Bikes Rather than Having You at Home?
Devault: Feeding the Family
Shelton and John: The Division of Household Labor, Who Does What and How
Much Do They Do? Gender and Total Work Time
VIDEO: Juggling Work and Family
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VI. Social Change and the Global Economy
11.29-12.4
Hesse-Biber and Carter:
Chapter 8: Changing the Lives of Working Women
Reserve Reading:
Monson: Defining the Situation: Sexual Harassment or Everyday Rudeness?
Espinosa: Sexual Harassment Protection for Whom?
Giuffre and Williams: Boundary Lines: Labeling Sexual Harassment in
Restaurants
Welsh, Carr, MacQuarrie and Huntley: I’m Not Thinking of it as Sexual
Harassment: Understanding Harassment Across Race and Citizenship
Moghdam: Gender and the Global Economy
Wichterich: The Global Conveyor Belt, Worldwide Service
Hu-Dehart: Globalization and Its Discontents: Exposing the Underside
Whalen: Sweatshops Here and There: The Garment Industry, Latinas and Labor
Migrations
Abraham and Manning: Business Outsourcing: The U.S. and India in the New
Global Market
VIDEO: Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night
North Country
The Instructor reserves the right to modify this syllabus at any time during the semester.
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