Gaslighted : how the oil and gas industry shortchanges women scientists / Christine L. Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Christine L., 1959- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Oil industries--United States--Employees.

Oil industries.

Gasoline industry--United States--Employees.

Gasoline industry.

Women Earth scientists--United States.

Women Earth scientists.

Sex discrimination against women--United States.

Sex discrimination against women.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (262 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021]

Summary:

The oil and gas industry is one of the richest and most powerful industries in the world. In recent years, company avowals in support of diversity, much-touted programs for "women in STEM," and, most importantly, a tight labor market with near parity in women pursuing geoscience credentials might lead us to expect progress for women in this industry's corporate ranks. Yet, for all the talk of "the great crew change," the industry remains overwhelmingly white and male. Sociologist Christine L. Williams asks, where are the women? To answer this question, Williams embarked on a decade-long investigation--one involving one hundred in-depth interviews, a longitudinal survey, and ethnographic research--that allowed her to observe the industry in times of boom and bust. She found that when the industry expands, women may be able to walk through the door, but when the industry contracts, the door becomes a revolving one, whirling ever faster, as companies retreat to their white male core. These gendered outcomes are obscured by firms' stated commitments to diversity in hiring and the language of merit. The result is organizational gaslighting, a radical dissonance between language and practice that Williams exposes for all.

Contents:

Cover

Gaslighted

Title

Copyright

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

1. Gender, Geology, and the Oil and Gas Industry

2. The Oil and Gas Pipeline

3. The Stayers

4. Voluntary Separations

5. Corporate Downsizing

6. Organizational Gaslighting

Methodological Appendix

Notes

References

Illustration Credits

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780520385290

0520385292

OCLC:

1249713110