Book reviews

Book reviewed: The Brain and Emotion by E. Rolls (2000). ix + 367 pp., ISBN 0-19-852463-3, Price £17.99, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anxiety, Depression and Emotion by R.D. Davidson (Ed.). (2000). ISBN 0-19-513358-7, New York: Oxford University Press.

Book reviews

Amor Technologiae: Marshall McLuhan as Philosopher of Technology – Toward a Philosophy of Human-Media Relationships, Yoni Van Den Eede (2012) Brussels, Belgium: ASP VUB Press, 517 pp., ISBN: 978-9057181870, p/bk, €29.95 Titanic Century: Media, Myth and the Making of a Cultural Icon, Paul Heyer (2012) Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 211 pp., ISBN 978-0-313-39815-5, h/bk, $48.00 Media Environments, Barry Vacker (ed.) (2010) San Diego, CA: Cognella, 546 pp., ISBN: 978-1935551348, p/bk, $142.50 Networked Reenactments: Stories Transdisciplinary Knowledges Tell, Katie King (2012) Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 392 pp., ISBN: 978-0822350729, p/bk, $25.95

Being female doing gender:narratives of women in education management

The paper explores gender relations in academia and discusses how gender is constructed within academic institutions. It is based upon the study of a business school, part of a British university. The construction of gender relations within this institution was of special interest because the majority of managerial roles were occupied by women. All female academic managers (dean, associate deans and heads of department) and a random selection of female and male academics were interviewed. The process of construction of gender relations is investigated through the analysis of the discrepancy between the ‘masculine culture’ of high education institutions and the dominance of women managers within this organization. It is suggested that the numerical dominance of women managers may create tensions between their individual identities as women and their managerial identities, due to the predominance of masculine practices and values within the organization. Additionally, it emerged that the maintenance of masculine ideals and practices is also associated with downplaying women’s achievements.

The work situation and class position of Brazilian engineers

This thesis analyses the work situation and class position of Brazilian engineers through a Marxist perspective. The research is based on two case studies, one focused on a large German steel company based in Brazil and the other on a large Brazilian energy corporation. The fieldwork involved 114 interviews, with engineers from different hierarchical positions in these two companies. Data was also gathered through interviews with representatives from the companies, the Council of Engineering, the Engineering Education System and the Engineers Trade Unions. The findings show that the engineering profession in Brazil has shifted from its initial condition as a liberal profession to an organizational profession, with the country's industrial deployment. Both companies consider all salaried workers as employees, including managers. Hence they are subject to the company's general personnel policies. The multinational company controls labour more rigidly than the national company, as well as reserving its top positions for its home country's executives. Although no deskilling process was found, engineers of both companies performed simple work, which required less engineering knowledge than they had learned from school. Engineers have little autonomy, authority and participation in decision making and are subject to direct supervision, performance evaluation, time control, overtime work, productivity and to poor working conditions in the multinational company. The majority of the engineers supervised other workers without being in a managerial position. They found that to move into management, was a good way to improve their autonomy, authority, prestige, salary, status, power and professional pride. Despite ideological divisions between capital and labour, most of the engineers were unionised and saw unions as the right way to deal with the employer.

The effectiveness of an organisations' equal opportunities policy for the role and training of women, particularly in the fire service

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