How were men and women expected to behave when women first entered the business world? How did these patterns change in circumstances that included market pressures, the prevailing business ethic, and the demands that men and women themselves began to place, or tried to place on each other? This volume focuses on the banking and insurance industries to examine the ways in which received truths about gender roles changed in American business during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Kwolek-Folland challenges the notion ...
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How were men and women expected to behave when women first entered the business world? How did these patterns change in circumstances that included market pressures, the prevailing business ethic, and the demands that men and women themselves began to place, or tried to place on each other? This volume focuses on the banking and insurance industries to examine the ways in which received truths about gender roles changed in American business during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Kwolek-Folland challenges the notion that neutral market forces shaped American business, arguing instead for the central importance of gender in the rise of the modern corporation. Drawing on sources ranging from the archives of major insurance companies and banks to personal papers and recorded anecdotes of turn-of-the-century office life, she presents a detailed view of the gendered development of management and male-female job segmentation. She also examines the role of gender in such areas as architectural space, office clothing, and office workers' leisure activities.
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