An Underutilised Resource Available to Purchase

During the last few decades, most industries have seen a significant growth in the number and proportion of women, especially married women, in their labour force. Nevertheless, the cultural norms of many of these industries remain ambivalent about the employment of women. Political restraints reinforce social and cultural attitudes and generate resistance to the acceptance of the costs involved, and benefits to be gained, in adjusting society's structure to the changing roles of women and assisting the integration of women into the labour force without discrimination.