Gender Interaction And Inequality

Causal explanations are essential for theory building. In focusing on causal mechanisms rather than descriptive effects, the goal of this volume is to increase our theoretical understanding of the way gender operates in interaction. Theoretical analyses of gender's effects in interaction, in turn, are necessary to understand how such effects might be implicated with individual-level and social structural-level processes in the larger system of gender inequality. Despite other differences, the contributors to this book all take what might be loosely called a "microstructural" approach to gender and interaction. All agree that individuals come to interaction with certain common, socially created beliefs, cultural meanings, experiences, and social rules. These include stereotypes about gendered activities and skills, beliefs about the status value of gender, rules for interacting in certain settings, and so on. However, as individuals apply these beliefs and rules to the specific contingent events of interaction, they combine and reshape their implications in distinctive ways that are particular to the encounter. As a result, individuals actively construct their social relations in the encounter through their interaction. The patterns of relations that develop are not completely determined or scripted in advance by the beliefs and rules of the larger society. Consequently, there is a reciprocal causal relationship between constructed patterns of interaction and larger social structural forms. The constructed patterns of social relations among a set of interactants can be thought of as micro-level social structures or, more simply, "microstructures.

Ridgeway asserts that widely shared cultural beliefs about gender act as a 'common knowledge' frame that people use to make sense of one another in order to coordinate their interaction.

For the first time the anthologized works of Sarah Fenstermaker and Candace West have been collected along with new essays to provide a complete understanding of this topic of tremendous importance to scholars in social science.

Social Psychology: Individuals, Interaction, and Inequality invites students to take a sociological approach to the study of the individual in relationship to society. This unique new text explains how social psychology provides varied, yet interrelated, explanations for individuals′ experiences in groups and how the micro-level interactions of individuals have consequences for macro-level phenomena within society. Karen A. Hegtvedt and Cathryn Johnson describe an array of processes that shape interaction in contexts characterized by differences in status, power, or group memberships. Unlike other social psychology texts, theirs stresses the interconnections among these processes, to create a story of how individuals come to perceive and then act in their social worlds.

The literature on gender and professions shows that professional careers continue to be impacted by gender – albeit with important differences among professions and countries. Much less researched is the issue of the significance of gender and age-cohort or generation to professional work. Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions explores men’s and women’s experiences of professional work and careers through an intersectional lens by focusing on the intersection of gender and age. The chapters explore different professions – including Medicine, Nursing, Law, Academia, Information Technology and Engineering – in different Western countries, in the present and over time. Through original research, and critical re-analysis of existing research, each of the chapters explores the significance of gender and age-cohort or generation to professional work, with particular attention to professionals just entering professional careers, those building professional careers, and comparisons of men and women in professions across generational cohorts. The book contributes to literature on inequalities in the professions by demonstrating the ways in which gender and age converge to confer privilege and produce disadvantage, and the ways in which gender inequality is reproduced, and disrupted, through the activities of professionals on the job. The book constitutes a departure point for future research in terms of theoretical perspectives and empirical findings on how gendered and age-related processes are produced and reproduced in particular organisational, professional and socio-cultural contexts. To enhance generational understanding, relationships and collaboration in educational institutions, organisations and professions, the book ends with a section on policy recommendations for educators, professionals, professional organisations as well as policy- and decision-makers. This book will also appeal to students and researchers in the fields of Sociology, Gender Studies, Organisational and Management Studies, Law, Medicine, Engineering and Information Technology as well as related disciplines.

'This state-of-the art collection brings together the latest research of eminent experts in the field. It combines a wide sweep with focused analysis of gender dynamics at home and at work, and the interaction between them. A longitudinal and life course perspective underpins the authors' assessment of the current state of gender inequality, and helps explain why some domains are more resistant to change than others. This timely and innovative volume will be an excellent resource for academics and policy-makers alike.' – Miriam Glucksmann, University of Essex, UK This meticulous book examines how gender inequalities in contemporary societies are changing and how further changes towards greater gender equality might be achieved. The focus of the book is on inequalities in production and reproductive activities, as played out over time and in specific contexts. It examines the different forms that gendered lives take in the household and the workplace, and explores how gender equalities may be promoted in a changing world. Gendered Lives offers many novel and sometimes unexpected findings that contribute to new understandings of not only the causes of gender inequalities, but also the ongoing implications for economic well-being and societal integration. This topical and interdisciplinary study by leading researchers in the field will appeal to course leaders, researchers and postgraduate students in sociology, economics, public policy, demography and human geography. Social scientists interested in gender equality, labour market behaviour and public policy will also find much to interest them in this fascinating book.

In an advanced society like the U.S., where an array of processes work against gender inequality, how does this inequality persist? Integrating research from sociology, social cognition and psychology, and organizational behavior, Framed by Gender identifies the general processes through which gender as a principle of inequality rewrites itself into new forms of social and economic organization. Cecilia Ridgeway argues that people confront uncertain circumstances with gender beliefs that are more traditional than those circumstances. They implicitly draw on the too-convenient cultural frame of gender to help organize new ways of doing things, thereby re-inscribing trailing gender stereotypes into the new activities, procedures, and forms of organization. This dynamic does not make equality unattainable, but suggests a constant struggle with uneven results. Demonstrating how personal interactions translate into larger structures of inequality, Framed by Gender is a powerful and original take on the troubling endurance of gender inequality.

This edited collection examines the significance of Sandra L. Bem’s research for current debates on gender and gender roles in the social sciences, with contributions that question how the institution of gender has been, and remains, deeply contested.