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Segregated occupations and gender stereotyping: a study of secretarial work in Europe

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 16:58 authored by Catherine Truss, Robert Goffee, Gareth Jones
Much has been written about the "gendered" nature of many occupations, especially to explain how they have developed and maintained their female-dominated identity. This article reports the findings of one study of women working as secretaries in England, France, and Germany, in an attempt to assess the validity of this explanation. Data were collected by questionnaire and interview from secretaries, and by interview from their bosses. It was found that secretarial work in all three countries does conform to some of the gender stereotypes, but that organizational and societal factors impinge on the social construction of secretarial work. Some consideration is given to the role of the secretary as agent, acting to shape her work identity, which has hitherto been ignored in the literature.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Human Relations

ISSN

0018-7267

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

11

Volume

48

Page range

1331-1354

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2010-09-30

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