In Race and Gender Discrimination at Work Samuel Cohns provides a fascinating, unorthodox account of the causes of discrimination at work. The book is packed with statistics, yet witty; rigorous, yet light. Cohn introduces readers to the fundamental realities of race and gender barriers in the workplace, and he goes beyond these as well by introducing startling new reinterpretations. Cohn is tactful enough to appeal to the conservative student, but honest enough to appeal to the feminist student. In the first several chapters, Cohn provides a description of the historical and current states of race and gender inequality and explains how employers persist in seemingly irrational actions, even in the face of more profitable alternatives. Cohn then turns to an introduction of the five primary social and economic theories of wages: marginal productivity theory, human capital theory, dual sector theory, union strength theory, and internal labor market theory. He follows with a review of the implications for pay differentials between blacks and whites. In subsequent chapters, he explores racial and gendered theories of wages for employment and unemployment. Finally, Cohn concludes with a review of the trends and causes of white male exclusionary attitudes towards blacks and women. This book is ideal for gender courses at all levels. Cohn's compelling, non-standard reformulations of traditional explanations of workplace inequalities make the book important for all serious scholars of gender studies.
