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A Review of Women’s Experiences of Three Dimensions of Underemployment

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Underemployment

Abstract

Concerns about the prevalence of underemployment have grown with rising educational attainments and economic slowdowns in most industrialized countries. However, women have been facing underemployment for some time. Familiar terms abound to describe the experiences unique to women in the paid labor market (e.g., glass ceiling, sticky floor, old boys club, pay equity, occupational ghetto, pink collar, double day, and second shift). These denote the reasons for women being more at risk of underemployment. Systemic discrimination, occupational and job segregation, wage inequality, the sexual division of unpaid labor, and more limited returns to education and experience all challenge a woman’s ability to achieve labor market equity with her male counterparts because they prevent the full usage and recognition of her knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs).

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Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at Saint Mary’s University and the research assistance of Matthew Higgs.

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  1. Department of Management, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Johanna Weststar

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  1. Johanna Weststar
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  1. Psychology Dept., State University of New York, New Paltz, Hawk Dr. 600, New Paltz, 12561, New York, USA

    Douglas C. Maynard

  2. Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, Brooks Hall, Athens, 30602, Georgia, USA

    Daniel C. Feldman

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Weststar, J. (2011). A Review of Women’s Experiences of Three Dimensions of Underemployment. In: Maynard, D., Feldman, D. (eds) Underemployment. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9413-4_6

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