Gendered Trajectories

"Wei-hsin Yu's Gendered Trajectories: Women, Work, and Social Change in Japan and Taiwan, compares two countries with intertwined political histories, similar religious traditions, and shared patriarchal cultures... Yu takes a long-term view. Women in Taiwan, she argues, are likely to benefit from the country's increased economic growth, in contrast to Japan, where hierarchical work structures likely will continue to exclude women from 'good jobs.' She predicts that Taiwan's pattern - which is repeated in a number of formerly socialist countries - will have a long-term positive impact on gender equality in employment." - Christine L. Williams, Contemporary Society "Yu's rigorous, engaging, and thought-provoking analysis will make an important contribution to the study of gender, work, and the life course will be welcome addition to the required reading lists for graduate courses in these areas." - Deborah Carr, American Journal of Sociology. "Yu addresses puzzling differences between Japan and Taiwan clearly and thoroughly. Her reasoned consideration of the many factors behind observed cross-national differences makes an important contribution to the study of employment, gender, and the life course in these two societies." - James Raymo, University of Wisconsin-Madison "Gendered Trajectories presents an extraordinarily complete picture of women's employment patterns in Japan and Taiwan. Yu succeeds in providing a convincing explanation of why women's employment histories are so different in the two societies." - Annemette Sorensen, Stanford University "Gendered Trajectories is a valuable contribution to our understanding of gender and social change. Combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, the author links institutions to individuals' experiences to explain why there is greater gender inequality in Japan than Taiwan, despite their similarities in patterns of industrialization." - Arne L. Kalleberg, President, American Sociological Association (2008)