Women in retailing Available to Purchase

Women have always worked: whether unrecognised, at home, or more recently, as part of the paid work‐force. Their contribution to the economy has always been significant, if unsung. But how far can women go within our present work‐structure; how do they fit into the existing career patterns; do they really have equal opportunity? Retailing has been one of the areas of employment where women have traditionally predominated — in numbers, at least. So what has the female work‐force done for retailing, and what are the retailers doing for the women themselves? At a time when many people are talking of a crisis of management, and looking at the pool of female labour as a largely untapped source of new talent, what part are women playing in retailing today, and what are the limitations placed on them, and why?