Business Case Studies & Business Publications

A Servant, a Secretary, and a Consultant...

Debaere, Peter, El...

Case

A Servant, a Secretary, and a Consultant: Women’s Changing Labor Market Status and the Writings of Claudia Goldin

Debaere, Peter; Elias, Allison

GEM-0230 | Published October 14, 2024 | 16 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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This case contextualizes the evolving role of women in the workforce, and pushes students to examine the extent to which they have agency to shape their own career path amid historical, economic, and political trends in the broader environment. We focus primarily on the question of female labor market participation, and to a lesser extent on wage inequality. We offer tangible examples of the phases Claudia Goldin distinguishes in her history of female labor force participation. This case is taught at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in “Women, Gender, and Work,” a second-year MBA elective. It draws on an in-depth interview and longitudinal data regarding Darden MBA students' careers, as well as on the authors' books. The case is best taught together with Goldin's very clear 30-minute Nobel Prize lecture, which provides the conceptual and analytical framework for the case.

- Situate the contemporary discourse on gender and work in a historical context. - Highlight the influence of macroeconomic and sociological trends on individuals’ career stories, in terms of both the choices and the constraints that individual women have faced when deciding whether to participate in the labor market. - Elucidate the influence of nonwork pursuits and demands (including the role of parenting) on work preferences, choices, and outcomes.