Example 3

Introduction
1.1
Why, given all the problems associated with part-time employment, do women work part-time at all? This remains a major question in research into women's employment despite increased awareness of the existence of heterogeneity in part-time work, both in terms of the quality of jobs labelled as part-time and in the types of women who enter these jobs. Gender-based answers have been dominant. One argument has been that female part-timers are particular types of women who prefer to work part-time as it means that they can prioritise their homes and still earn a small wage. An opposing argument has been that many women with family responsibilities have no choice, they are forced into jobs of short hours. This paper is located within these debates but it is also stimulated by an interest in diversity amongst part-timers. It argues that dominant gender based analyses are vital to develop an understanding of why women work the hours they do. However crucially, in order to understand diversity amongst part-timers and, in particular, why some are in low status jobs whereas others enter higher paid and higher status occupations, a new factor comes into play in addition to gender: women's class.