Gender Differences: Their Impact on Public Policy

(Hardback)

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Description

Gender differences touch all aspects of life, including the different impact public policy has on men and women. Inequalities persist in the areas traditionally treated as feminist concerns--day care, pay equity, equal access to credit--but they also abound in such issues as tax policy and plant shutdowns. This collection of essays illustrates the durability and complexities of existing inequities by examining the impact of gender differences in public policy outcomes. The book evaluates the manner in which public policy analysis and political theory can be used to gain increased insight into the major issues of the day. Using existing forms of public policy analysis, the chapters explore gender differences in a variety of subject areas. Following an introduction by editor Mary Lou Kendrigan, a survey of compensation for victims of crime examines criminal justice policy. Four separate essays address the topic of employment policy: manufacturing-job loss among blue-collar women; gender differences in the impact of a plant shutdown; women, employment, and training programs; and sex differentials in employment rates in male-dominated occupations during economic downturns. Tax policy and its treatment of women is the focus of an updated study; an analysis of the impact of American tourism policy covers economic development; and the neglected group of women veterans represents the area of veterans policy. A study of the social world and political community of the head injured characterizes the issue of family policy, and a concluding chapter by Kendrigan completes the volume. For courses in public policy analysis, women's studies, and contemporary political theory, this book will be a valuable references source. It will also be a significant addition to the collections of public, college, and university libraries.

Reviews

Kendrigan's previous book, Political Equality in a Democratic Society urges policy analysts to assess gender inequality by measuring outcomes. This idea holds that a system is gender fair if the results, not the opportunities, are equitable. These essays by professors of social work, and sociology, political scientists, and policy analysts in private practice, plus an introduction and conclusion by Kendrigan, continue her argument for "equality of results." The chapters concern compensation for crime victims, (women are undercompensated), various forms of job loss (women are disadvantaged because of family responsibilities), job training programs, taxation, tourism policy (women are trivialized), veterans' benefits, and the role of care-taker (women are expected to be care-takers). Invidious sexism permeates these policies and institutions in a way that readers ineffective the good intentions of individuals to avoid institutional sexism and racism. Essays both display hidden forces that promote gender inequality and suggest ways to remedy the situation. Endnotes, abstracts, select bibliography, integrated subject/author index, and identifying information for each contributor. Upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
Particularly significant for feminist scholars is her insistence on the utilization of empirical observation in the development of an understanding of equality. This challenging book will be useful in courses on public policy analysis, women's studies, and contemporary political theory.-Perspectives on Political Science
"Particularly significant for feminist scholars is her insistence on the utilization of empirical observation in the development of an understanding of equality. This challenging book will be useful in courses on public policy analysis, women's studies, and contemporary political theory."-Perspectives on Political Science
"Kendrigan's previous book, Political Equality in a Democratic Society urges policy analysts to assess gender inequality by measuring outcomes. This idea holds that a system is gender fair if the results, not the opportunities, are equitable. These essays by professors of social work, and sociology, political scientists, and policy analysts in private practice, plus an introduction and conclusion by Kendrigan, continue her argument for "equality of results." The chapters concern compensation for crime victims, (women are undercompensated), various forms of job loss (women are disadvantaged because of family responsibilities), job training programs, taxation, tourism policy (women are trivialized), veterans' benefits, and the role of care-taker (women are expected to be care-takers). Invidious sexism permeates these policies and institutions in a way that readers ineffective the good intentions of individuals to avoid institutional sexism and racism. Essays both display hidden forces that promote gender inequality and suggest ways to remedy the situation. Endnotes, abstracts, select bibliography, integrated subject/author index, and identifying information for each contributor. Upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice

Author Bio

MARY LOU KENDRIGAN is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science at Lansing Community College in Michigan. She is the author of Political Equality in a Democratic Society: Women in the United States (Greenwood Press, 1984), and Women, Political Equality, and the Military (Greenwood, forthcoming).