Women鈥檚 involvement in the 探花直播 printing industry and allied trades in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
The main purpose of this study is to establish the extent to which women were involved in the 探花直播 printing industry and allied trades and ascertain factors that contributed or constrained their participation as owners, employees, contributors or consumers.
It is concerned with the extent to which cultural and social preoccupations, trade unions, lack of agency, the availability of and access to education and training steered women into gender 鈥榓ppropriate鈥� and normally low-skilled and low-paid trades, and impeded women鈥檚 admittance to more highly skilled occupations within the printing industry.
It is in this context that this study explores the extent to which 探花直播鈥檚 diverse economy, based primarily on the small workshop tradition, may have helped female entrepreneurship and how the composition of printing and allied trades changed throughout the nineteenth-century either through mechanisation, workplace legislation or the organisation of employees and owners into trade unions and professional bodies.
A greater understanding of these changes will help to determine the degree to which women鈥檚 participation was further restricted while at the same time, new opportunities became available to them.
