Advances in explaining womens employment patterns

Abstract

This paper provides a multidisciplinary review of research aimed at explaining the substantial differences in womens employment trajectories that still exist within and across countries. It covers research that emphasizes economic and normative rationalities in womens employment decisions and work that focuses more on the structural constraints to womens employment. It discusses recent research developmentsconceptual and methodological advancesand based on the identification of central research gaps and methodological challenges, it indicates avenues for future research. Finally, the paper casts a critical view on the oexplanatory power' of contemporary research on womens employment and discusses appropriate research designs for the evaluation of policy effects on womens employment.