Unit information: Gender at Work (EXETER SOCM030) in 2020/21

Unit name	Gender at Work (EXETER SOCM030)
Unit code	GEOGM0052
Credit points	30
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Tranos
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

(University of Exeter - SOCM030: Gender at Work - Unit Director: Jane Elliott)

This module will explore the ways in which gender identities are established and maintained in British Society. There will be a specific focus on the interplay between gender, employment and organizations and on social change over the past five decades. The module is suitable even if you are a non-specialist students, and you are following an interdisciplinary pathway. It will draw on readings from social psychology, sociology, feminist and queer theory, history, and cultural studies. There are no formal pre-requisites although you will be expected to have graduate level experience of reading and summarizing key arguments from a range of academic sources. The module will provide you with an opportunity to work collaboratively with other students and to gain experience of writing and editing a blog as well as more formal academic writing.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. demonstrate in writing and orally a thorough understanding of the key conceptual debates on gender and sexuality and their applicability to the structure of, and practices within, the domestic sphere, work and organizations
2. demonstrate in writing an appreciation of the contribution of different disciplinary perspectives to the understanding of the gendered nature of work
3. interpret your lived experience of the social world informed by an appreciation of gender as a socially constructed category and by engagement with the testimony of others with a range of subject positions
4. demonstrate in writing and orally a well-developed capacity to understand and evaluate theories and arguments in the social sciences
5. demonstrate in writing and orally an understanding of the role and importance of different forms of empirical work to explore the value of theories in the social sciences
6. write clearly, succinctly and persuasively for a general audience
7. work collaboratively, providing constructive feedback for a peer
8. present complex information to a small group of peers with confidence and clarity
9. develop an appreciation of potential use and misuse of social media to generate debate on gender inequalities

Teaching Information

11 x 2 hour seminars

Assessment Information

750-word blog post (20%)

6000-word essay (80%)

Reading and References

Butler, J. (1990) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge.

Connell, R.W (1995) Masculinities. Polity: Cambridge.

Crompton R. (1999) Restructuring gender Relations and Employment: The decline of the male breadwinner. Oxford: OUP.

Crow G. and Ellis J. (2017) Revisiting Divisions of Labour: The Impacts and Legacies of a Modern Sociological Classic. Manchester; Manchester University Press.

Glucksman M. (2016) Completing and Complementing: The Work of Consumers in the Division of Labour. Sociology, Vol 50(5) 878-895.

Halford, S. Savage, M. Witz, A. (1997) Gender, Careers and Organizations: Current developments in Banking Nursing, and Local Government. Macmillan: Houndmills.

McCarthy, H. (2016) ‘Social science and married women’s employment in post-war Britain’, Past & Present 233: 269-305

Miller, D. (1998) A Theory of Shopping. Polity press: Cambridge.

Oakley, A. (1974) Housewife. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Offer, A. (2008), ‘British Manual Workers: From Producers to Consumers, c.1950-2000’, Contemporary British History, 22, 4: 537-71

Padios, J. (2017) Mining the mind: emotional extraction, productivity, and predictability in the twenty-first century. Cultural Studies 31 p 205-231.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2017.1303426

Scott, J. Dex, S. and Pagnol A (eds) (2012) Gendered Lives: Gender Inequalities in Production and reproduction. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Serano, J. (2016) Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Seal Press.

Siltanen J. (1994) Locating Gender: Occupational Segregation, Wages and Domestic Responsibilities. UCL Press: London.

West, C. and Zimmerman D.H. (1987) Doing Gender. Gender and Society, Vol. 1, No. 2. pp. 125-151

http://www.socresonline.org.uk/14/2/10.html: Crow et al short article revisiting Pahl’s work (2009) situated in the recession.