Book Reviews : BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING: CAN WOMEN REACH THE TOP OF AMERICA'S LARGEST CORPORATIONS ? ANN M. MORRISON, RANDALL P. WHITE and ELLEN VAN VELSOR Addison-Wesley (Reading, Mass.) 1987, Hardback. 229 pp. ISBN 0 201 15787 X $15.95

Abstract

will simply reinforce the inequalities that currently exist, if the ideological assumptions which underpin notions of so-called men's and women's work are left unchallenged. It shows that such inequalities of opportunity are established long before women are recruited into a specific workforce: they may be the product of childhood and adolescent peer group pressure to conform to certain gender stereotypes; they can result from lack of encouragement for girls and young women to study non-traditional subjects, such as engineering and science, at school and places of further and higher education; they also reflect the overall structure of society which encourages men to be the chief breadwinners in the family and women to take the major responsibility for child rearing and domestic work.IT alone cannot overcome these barriers but, if introduced creatively, by employers who have the awareness, will and commitment to promote greater equality amongst their workforce, it can provide opportunities for changing the traditional work patterns and career paths of women. Such is the case of F International (Freelance Programmes Ltd~. This commercially successful company provides software to other organisations and operates on the basis that the majority of its staff, most of whom are women, work from home. Unlike the exploitative nature of most home-working organisations, F International aims to harness 'the intellectual energy of individuals and groups unable to work in a conventional environment'. Given that, as is reported elsewhere in the book, women make up 43% of the national workforce, 64% of whom are married and 55% with dependent children, it would seem that many of our major companies in Britain could to do worse than adopt a similar aim. This is a book that I shall dip into again and again for ideas and information. It is of relevance to training practitioners, personnel professionals and managers, regardless of the specific nature of their industry and the degree of their direct involvement in IT. I know that I shall use it as a resource for providing me with material to back up arguments for introducing positive action programmes for women and promoting greater flexibility in the working environment. The chapter on the insurance industry will be of particular use to me in arguing the case for greater equality of opportunity within my own organisation.My only criticism is linked with my specific use of the book as outlined above. I should like to have seen more recommendations for action at the end of chapters such as those outlined so clearly in the chapter on equal opportunities and the role of trade unions. I appreciate that this may appear contrary to the nature and style of most academic writing but on a subject such as this, which is crying out for action to be taken, it would be useful for women like myself, who are working to effect change in our organisations, to be offered some practical suggestions and guidelines for how we might move the issue forward. (Reading, Mass.) 1987, Hardback. 229 pp. ISBN 0...