Women and Careers : Transnational Studies in Public Policy and Employment Equity

The unifying theme of Women and Careers is women’s educational and employment success, with the objective of profiling supportive public policy in global contexts from Atlantic Canada to Western Europe, Australia and China. It takes up the career processes of women from marginalized groups who have been underrepresented historically: women who are the first generation to graduate from university in both Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick) and China and rural women from the eastern most Canadian province (Newfoundland and Labrador). It examines the situation of marginalized Protestant women in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who benefit from a European Union program that supports their political and social involvement in an economically underdeveloped region and previously unimagined in a country once wrought by sectarian violence. A policy analysis of an Atlantic Canadian region after the dominant forestry industry leaves takes up policy options and women’s possible agency should economic support return for small business networks and social enterprise, e.g., credit unions, food and social housing cooperatives. Proactive employment equity programs in Finland’s Applied Science Institute and Switzerland’s Forestry Institute provide cutting edge examples of diversity and inclusion policies in education and academia. A comparative study of Canada and Australia of two leading public service employers illustrates incremental outcomes for women managers and professionals but raises the ultimate question of the pace and necessary political will required to remove barriers to gender equality in countries with major gender inequities.

Women and Careers examines a series of institutional contexts transnationally and the impact of policies, programs and economic re-structuring on careers outcomes. It displays the latest research on the topic and will be of interest both to students at an advanced level, academics, reflective practitioners, and diversity managers. It addresses the topics with regard to women’s education and employment and will interest researchers, academics and policymakers in the fields of women’s employment and career studies, diversity programs, organization studies, development policy, gender studies and globalization.