Education Book Review

AUTHOR:  Brooks, Ann 

TITLE:  Academic Women. 

DATE:  1997  EDITION:     PAGES:  174  PRICE:  $85.00 

PUBLISHER AND ADDRESS:
	Society for Research into Higher Education
	Open University Press
	Celtic Court, 22 Ballmoor 
	Buckingham,  MK18 1XW

ISBN:  0335 19599 7  LC:  96-47866  OCLC:

DESCRIPTION/EVALUATION:
	Enlarging the work she did for her doctoral dissertation, Brooks
takes an in-depth look at women academics in Britain and New Zealand.
Through statistical analysis, questionnaires, and interviews, she 
investigates not just the presence, but also the status of women. She
looks at how women's roles within the university are different from those
of men.  The book makes extensive use of quotation, both from previous
studies and from interviews, giving the text a choppy character.   In 
addition the scholarly language used, while not unreadable, does make 
for some difficulty.  For example:  "Direct comparison between the 
empirical data from the UK and New Zealand cannot be made.  However, 
there are parallels, comparable differences and similarities in patterns 
of discrimination and disadvantage based around the diverse and 
differentiated experience of academic women in two countries..." 
There is certainly ample content here, but the combination of high price 
and rough reading may tip the balance for some readers.  

SUBMITTED BY:  Kate Corby, Michigan State University