Female Occupational Achievement and Marital Status: A Research Note

Abstract

literature which identifies conceptual difficulties in traditional stratification theory (e.g., Acker, 1973), at least four major themes in the research literature may be identified. The first encompasses the various descriptive accounts which depict (usually within a historical context) the relationship between female labor force participation and various demographic characteristics (e.g., Sweet, 1973; Oppenheimer, 1973; Waite and Stolzenberg, 1976). A second body of literature is closely related to the first, but is less demographic and more explanatory. It concerns the manner in which various aspects of family life are affected by the married woman's employment (e.g., Hoffman and Nye, 1974; Bernard, 1975) and the effect of family roles on the career development of women (e.g., Astin et al., 1971; Epstein, 1970; Poloma and Garland, 1971). The other two bodies of literature are more consistent