Managing to Discriminate

Despite the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation and significant changes in the nature of gender relations throughout the 20th century, men and women continue to be segregated into different kinds of jobs within the UK labour market. This book provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the ways in which sex discrimination can be reproduced within the recruitment process. It also examines the rationalization provided by those who perpetrate these unlawful practices and some of the forms of resistance which can be mobilized in order to challenge and even eliminate sex discrimination.;"Managing to Discriminate" is a theoretical development of a research project sponsored by the Equal Opportunities Commission designed to examine whether, and if so, how, the recruitment process can contribute to the continuation of gender divisions and inequalities in employment. The EOC was acutely aware of the absence of evidence concerning the specific methods and procedures or organizational recruitment and of the particular ways in which sex discrimination could characterize this process.;The recruitment process is especially vague, nebulous, and indeterminate and can be shrouded in secrecy. Equally, since sex discrimination is illegal, its observation can be very difficult. By examining particular recruitment exercises as they actually happened, and at every stage of their process, this book presents rich, detailed qualitative material that makes it a landmark in the research of the recruitment process and sex discrimination in employment.