A not-so-gentle invasion: Changes to women's participation in public service workforces in the 1970s

Colley, Linda (2010). A not-so-gentle invasion: Changes to women's participation in public service workforces in the 1970s. In: Greg Patmore, Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of AAHANZBS. History in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools: The Second Annual AAHANZBS Conference, Sydney, NSW, Australia, (). 16-17 December 2010.

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Author Colley, Linda
Title of paper A not-so-gentle invasion: Changes to women's participation in public service workforces in the 1970s
Conference Paper Type Fully Published Paper
Conference name History in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools: The Second Annual AAHANZBS Conference
Conference location Sydney, NSW, Australia
Conference dates 16-17 December 2010
Convener Academic Association of History in Australia and New Zealand Business Schools (AAHANZBS)
Proceedings title Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of AAHANZBS
Editor Greg Patmore
Place published Sydney, NSW, Australia
Publisher Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney
Publication date 2010
ISBN 9781742102085; 1742102085
Total pages 13
Collection year 2011
Language eng
Formatted Abstract/Summary The increase in women’s workforce participation is one of the most significant changes to labour markets in recent decades. This research considers the timing, circumstances and effects of the policy changes that affected the participation of women in the Queensland public service (QPS). It traces the construction of the barriers to women’s participation in the early 1900s, and the dismantling of those barriers in the 1970s. It argues that the Queensland government had effectively created secondary labour market conditions for its female employees, through policies such as the marriage bar, restrictions on the quantity of female recruits and different career structures for women. Decisions to relax or remove these decisions required more than social acceptance, but also conducive labour market and economic conditions. Once the Queensland government removed demand-side barriers in the early 1970s and offered female employees the same pay and opportunities as male employees, women flocked into the Queensland public service – not slowly and gradually in response to preferences and supply-side choices, but dramatically in a short period. The proportion of female employees in the QPS increased disproportionately compared to the increases in the broader Australian labour market. By 1975, women comprised 60 per cent of all recruits to QPS, providing an early forecast of the proportion of women in the QPS today.
Subjects 940501 Employment Patterns and Change
220201 Business and Labour History
Q-Index Code E1
Q-Index Status Confirmed Code
Institutional Status UQ
Additional Notes Presented during Session 1.

Document type: Conference Paper
Sub-type: Fully Published Paper
Collections: Institute for Social Science Research - Publications
Official 2011 Collection
 
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Created: Mon, 15 Nov 2010, 14:39:19 EST by Dr Linda Colley on behalf of ___Unknown Unit