Prospects for Women’s Equality in a Global Economy

Winter 2004, Volume 26, Number 1

“Women’s prospects for employment and equality are shaped in nationally—and sometimes regionally—specific contexts defined by political-economic institutions and policies,” said Ann Orloff, professor of sociology and IPR faculty fellow. “Scholars of gender analysis and political economy have looked at the same problem, inequality, but from different vantage points—gender relations vs. economic institutions.”

To explore the issue, Orloff invited leading scholars from these two academic communities to “Prospects for Women’s Equality in a Global Economy: Varieties of Labor, Gender, and Capitalism,” on October 10-11. IPR co-sponsored the workshop.
Varieties of Capitalism

David Soskice of Duke University, who pioneered the “Varieties of Capitalism” approach with Peter Hall, was a keynote speaker. Their approach analyzes how development in political economies can vary between nations, particularly in differences in social and income inequality.

Labor Markets and Gender Inequality
In this panel, Paula England, professor of sociology and IPR faculty fellow, emphasized the sex segregation of jobs and the sex gap in pay. She argued that segregation arises from discrimination in job assignments as well as from the different socialization of men and women. The sex gap in pay arises because employers faced with segregation pay less in predominantly female jobs, even when they require as much, but different kinds of, skill as male jobs. She stressed the need to combine economic, sociological, and feminist thinking to understand this complex reality.

“The workshop made me think a lot about what we, political scientists, focus on that sociologists, economic sociologists, and labor economists may not—and how other disciplines proceed differently,” said Margarita Estevez-Abe, assistant professor of government at Harvard University and a presenter. “Gender issues are definitely one area in which very productive cross-fertilization can take place.”

Other IPR faculty who participated include sociologist and law professor Robert Nelson, historian Nancy MacLean, and political scientists Michael Wallerstein and Kathleen Thelen.

To view the program and workshop presentations, please consult the Web site: www.cas.northwestern.edu/cics/projects.html#conferences.