Women's work in offices and the preservation of men's 'breadwinning' jobs in early twentieth-century Glasgow

Citation

Guerriero Wilson R (2001) Women's work in offices and the preservation of men's 'breadwinning' jobs in early twentieth-century Glasgow. Women's History Review, 10 (3), pp. 463-482. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020100200296

Abstract
As Britain's industrial economy matured and the volume of administrative work increased, different kinds of clerical jobs and clerical careers became possible. Using examples from a variety of small- to medium-sized enterprises in Glasgow, this article will describe how the main functions of administrative work - financial, secretarial and managerial - were divided both horizontally and vertically in order to preserve secure, well-paid, 'breadwinning' jobs for men, leaving routine secretarial work for women. The isolation of women in all-women enclaves carrying out shorthand and typing work and the subsequent devaluation of these as kinds of work were of primary importance in the creation of office work that was explicitly women's work.

Journal
Women's History Review: Volume 10, Issue 3