Ethnicity and Gender at Work: Inequalities, Careers and Employment Relations

This book provides an authoritative account of ethnicity and gender in the workplace. It will be essential reading for scholars and policy makers concerned with inequalities, career and employment relations, but its distinction is to show how these factors intertwine in people's lives. It maps the nature of inequalities drawing on a range of international data sources, and provides a valuable account of theoretical underpinning explanations. The intersectionality of ethnicity, gender and class is shown to be central to a full understanding of social processes in the workplace, the community and the family and in the ways in which racism and sexism are constructed and reproduced. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the role of the state, employers and trade
unions in challenging inequalities in the workplace and it critically appraises their approaches to equal opportunities and diversity management. The book offers unique insights into the experience of black and minority ethnic women who work in a wide range oforganisations and are active trade union members. The stories of the women interviewed for this research project are brought to life through their discussions of experiences of inclusion and exclusion from the workplace, the link between trade unions and their career development, and the crucial role of work, unions, communities and families in the women's lives.

Few subjects could be judged more vital to current policy debates than the prospects for work and employment. The Future of Work series, edited by Professor Peter Nolan, Director of the ESRC Future of Work Programme, provides the much needed evidence and theoretical advances to enhance our understanding of the critical developments most likely to impact on people's working lives.