Jerry A. Jacobs. 1989. Revolving Doors: Sex Segregation and Women’s Careers.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
ISBN: 0-8047-1489-4 (hard cover)
ISBN: 0-8047-1814-8 (paperback)
Are women limited to careers in female-dominated occupations because of their
socialization as children and teenagers, or as a result of their choice of major in
college? Do women become trapped in female ghettos if their first jobs are in
traditionally female fields? Do women who aspire to careers in male-dominated
occupations maintain these aspirations, obtain the appropriate education, and find and
hold onto the jobs they desire? These are among the questions addressed in this book,
a study of how women are channeled into doing “women’s work.”
Using large national samples of women studied over time to assess stability and change
in the sex typing of career aspirations, college majors and occupations, Jacobs attempts
to determine at what point during the life cycle women are tracked into women’s jobs.
His findings indicate remarkable rates of mobility between male-dominated, sex-neutral
and female-dominated fields on the part of individual women. Does this mobility imply
the existence of equal opportunity for women? The evidence suggests the contrary,
because while individual mobility is common, change in the structure of sex segregation
is slow.
The author places sex segregation in a historical and comparative context and critically
assesses theories of segregation. He then develops a theory of sex segregation that
stresses the enduring operation of social control processes that constrain women’s
career opportunities throughout the life cycle. Later chapters consider aspirations,
education and careers. The discussion of women’s careers includes a review of the
literature on harassment as well as case studies of sex segregation within the legal and
medical professions. A chapter on reconciling economic and sociological perspectives
on discrimination is followed by the conclusion, which discusses comparable worth and
other possible remedies.