Winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics
A renowned economic historian traces women's journey to close the gender wage gap and sheds new light on the continued struggle to achieve equity between couples at home
A century ago, it was a given that a woman with a college degree had to choose between having a career and a family. Today, there are more female college graduates than ever before, and more women want to have a career and family, yet challenges persist at work and at home. This book traces how generations of women have responded to the problem of balancing career and family as the twentieth century experienced a sea change in gender equality, revealing why true equity for dual career couples remains frustratingly out of reach.
Drawing on decades of her own groundbreaking research, Claudia Goldin provides a fresh, in-depth look at the diverse experiences of college-educated women from the 1900s to today, examining the aspirations they formed—and the barriers they faced—in terms of career, job, marriage, and children. She shows how many professions are "greedy," paying disproportionately more for long hours and weekend work, and how this perpetuates disparities between women and men. Goldin demonstrates how the era of COVID-19 has severely hindered women's advancement, yet how the growth of remote and flexible work may be the pandemic's silver lining.
Antidiscrimination laws and unbiased managers, while valuable, are not enough. Career and Family explains why we must make fundamental changes to the way we work and how we value caregiving if we are ever to achieve gender equality and couple equity.
1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 12, 2021 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780691226736
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780691226736
- File size: 2862 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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August 23, 2021
Harvard economics professor Goldin (Women Working Longer) examines the obstacles that prevent women from “having it all” in this clear-eyed and evidence-based study. Disputing the idea that women need to “lean in” to advance their careers, Goldin draws on employment surveys, census records, and other large data sets to show that because women are expected to bear the brunt of child-rearing duties, they don’t have time for the extensive travel, client entertainment, and 60-hour workweeks that lead to career success in fields such as law and accounting. As a result of working fewer hours than men in order to have enough time for childcare, women tend to miss out on promotions and earn less, on average, than their male peers. Goldin refers to the phenomenon as “greedy work” and cites the example of the pharmacy industry, where there is virtually no pay gap between male and female pharmacists and few incentives for pharmacists to work extra hours, as proof that requirement doesn’t need to exist, even within high-paying professions. Combining diligent research with acute observations, accessible case studies, and practical solutions, this is a refreshing take on a pernicious social problem. -
Starred review from August 27, 2021
In this latest work, Goldwin (Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Harvard Univ.; Women Working Longer) seeks to address the issues faced by women today, focusing on American women who are college graduates and have had many opportunities for career advancement. In her study of the historical background of women college graduates, Goldin uses case studies to illustrate the opportunities women had during specific time periods during the 20th century. For example, Jeannette Pickering Ranking, who became the first woman elected to a federal position (1916), never married and had children. Today, many women have families and are elected to public office, as in the case of New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Goldin analyzes challenges faced by women, including balancing career and family life, and examines the impact of capitalism and the expectation of working long hours for little pay. Historically and today, in heterosexual marriages, women are generally the ones making career sacrifices, Goldin states, and she urges men to be more supportive in their private relationships and when voting for public policies. Using statistics and other research, Goldin analyzes possible solutions and trends for the future while also studying the impact of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. VERDICT A thorough look at the historical and socioeconomic causes of disparity in salaries and opportunities between men and women, with practical solutions. Highly recommended.--Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Queens Village, NY
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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