A comparative perspective on gender and accountancy

Different theoretical approaches have been used to examine the process of assimi-lation of women into professional occupations. A Franco-British comparative study of women's incorporation into accountancy is used to test the explanatory value of different bodies of theory. The research suggests that the integration of women into the profession may have progressed further in France than in Britain, and that the process is influenced by societal characteristics. Differences in the relationship between training, the role of professional associations, organiza-tional structure and the public policy environment are shown to affect women's choices and career opportunities.

The secretary as supporter, team worker and independent: a case for societal comparison

Recent developments in cross-national comparisons of women's work have led to some new and challenging findings. This article aims to contribute to this debate by presenting one study which examined secretarial work in three European countries. The methodological issues connected with cross-national research on gender are addressed, and it is suggested that the ‘societal’ approach offers the most potential for cross-national gender research. Findings are discussed in the areas of demographics, education and training, job content and mobility, and interlinkages between national institutions and the secretarial occupation are explored. Differences between the national samples highlight the importance of carrying out cross-national research in this area

Segregation and residential mobility: Spatially entrapped social mobility and its impact on segregation in Athens

Segregation patterns and trends are traditionally considered to be changing through residential mobility, while scant attention is paid to the social mobility of long-term residents. This paper explores first the origins of this unilateral attention and ultimately relates it to the context in which mobility, and residential mobility in particular, were conceptualized by the founders of Urban Sociology. The rest of the paper is an attempt to substantiate the context dependency of this relation through the examination of the social mobility of long-term residents and its impact on shaping local social profiles in Athens. The Athenian context, bearing important similarities to those of other large cities in Southern Europe and elsewhere, has been characterized both by comparatively reduced residential mobility and by increased social mobility in the process of rapid postwar urbanization and the massive conversion of rural masses to urban dwellers. The importance of spatially endogenous social mobility is discussed in particular with respect to social structures and institutions - such as the family or the housing system - that have been systematically impeding residential mobility. The conclusion is that the social mobility of the long-term residents has a varying, context-dependent importance for the analysis of segregation patterns and tendencies which in many cases is unwittingly neglected. © 2004 SAGE Publications

Analysing Territorial Policies in Western Europe. The Case of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain

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