Women and Scientific Employment (Electronic book text)

Women and Scientific Employment combines rich empirical data and theoretical discussion on the 'problem' of women's representation in scientific education and employment. Making a plea for the different scientific disciplines to be examined separately, it contributes to public policy debates on the sciences and to sociolog-ical knowledge on women's professional employment.
A major conclusion is that a science can contain either a few or many women but they are equally likely to be concentrated in low level positions. There is little evidence from Britain, USA or France - the three countries focused on - that high levels of 'getting in' (quantitative feminization) lead to correspondingly high
levels of 'getting on' (vertical feminization).
Clear general implications for research, policy and data-gathering on women's employment follow from this conclusion: there needs to be a renewed emphasis on the examination of vertical segregation within particular
occupations. Encouraging women to enter the sciences has only a weak connection with their retention and advancement.