New Book Examines Working Women's Lifetime Disadvantage

SAN DIEGO, CA, 9/20/16 – Thomas Jefferson School of Law is proud to announce a forthcoming book co-authored by Associate Dean for Faculty Research/Scholarship and Law Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp. The book, entitled "Lifetime Disadvantage, Discrimination and the Gendered Workforce," is scheduled to be released on October 15th by Cambridge University Press.

In many countries, including the United States, women are significantly more likely to fall into poverty in retirement than are men. Understanding why this is so and what can be done about it is the aim of this new book.

"Susan Bisom-Rapp's scholarship tackles some of the most pressing real world challenges facing the modern workplace," said Thomas Jefferson School of Law Dean and President Thomas F. Guernsey. "I am delighted about the publication of her latest book."

Beginning in girlhood and ending in advanced age, "Lifetime Disadvantage, Discrimination and the Gendered Workforce" examines each stage of the lifecycle and considers how law attempts to address the problems that inhibit women's labor force participation. Using their model of lifetime disadvantage, Professor Bisom-Rapp and her British co-author Malcolm Sargeant show how the law adopts a piecemeal and disjointed approach to resolving challenges with adverse effects that cumulate over time.

"The problem unfolds over the working lives of women," said Bisom-Rapp. "Women's experiences with education, stereotyping, characteristics other than gender like race and age, caregiving, glass ceilings, occupational segregation, pay inequality, part-time work, and career breaks over a lifetime make it difficult to amass the resources necessary for a dignified retirement."

In order to achieve true gender equality, Bisom-Rapp and her co-author recommend a more holistic approach. Employing the concept of resiliency from vulnerability theory, the authors advocate changes to workplace law and policy, which acknowledge yet transcend gender, improving conditions for women as well as men.

"One must know the end goal – decent work and dignified retirement – and monitor progress towards it in order effectively address the problem," noted Bisom-Rapp.

The book is the culmination of nearly a decade of collaboration between Professor Bisom-Rapp and Professor Sargeant, who teaches at Middlesex University Business School in London. Beginning with a project that examined the plight of older workers during the global economic crisis, they have been struck by differences in workplace law and protections in their respective countries; the United Kingdom is far more protective.

Equally noticeable, however, are similarities in outcomes, including women's economic disadvantages in retirement. By examining why more protective law in one country coexists with comparable outcomes to the other country, the book reveals lessons for understanding a problem that is global in nature. At a time in which an aging population makes a retirement crisis a distinct possibility, and employment has become increasingly insecure, they recommend a regulatory approach that would enhance work life and retirement for all.

Professor Bisom-Rapp is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of comparative workplace law, who has published widely. A member of the American Law Institute, she also serves on the Academic Advisory Board of the Marco Biagi Foundation at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, and on the Editorial Board of the Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal.

Thomas Jefferson School of Law offers a comprehensive legal education to a nationally-based, diverse student body. The non-profit law school is consistently ranked as one of the most diverse law schools in the nation, with 52 percent of its most recent class being students of color. Located in Downtown San Diego, Thomas Jefferson Law has evolved into an innovative, cutting-edge law school, devoted to the individual needs and success of its students. More information is available at www.tjsl.edu.


—- END —-

CONTACT: Thomas Jefferson School of Law Director of Marketing and Communications Edgar Hopida, 619-961-4314 or 619-913-0719, ehopida@tjsl.edu