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Book People in Germany: A Study on the Professional Situation and Career Conditions of Men and Women in the German Book Publishing Industry and the Book Trade

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Abstract

This (online) survey sheds light on gender-specific aspects/particularities of the professional activity and career development of women compared to men in this professional field. The study applies principles of theoretical and empirical knowledge from other gender-sensitive studies of professional fields in the media sector. 1,234 people completed the questionnaire (87 % women). The data shows that the field is no exception when it comes to the (poor) conditions for women. Some of the findings however exhibit interesting deviations and show, that the growing proportion of women does not turn the professional field into one where career development is equally attainable for men and women.

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Notes

  1. Cf. Cushion [10]; for Germany see Weischenberg et al. [33], Fröhlich [11].

  2. Cf. for example Stanworth and Stanworth [26, 27], Stevenson [28], Carreiro [9], House [16].

  3. Betzelt and Gottschall [3, 258].

  4. Specifically for the book trade, see Altenheim [2].

  5. Cf. Nelson [21, 22], Lucius [20].

  6. Hömberg [15, 43].

  7. For Germany see some few works on the history of specific professions in book publishing and the book trade sector as for example Göbel [14], Schneider [23], Nickel [22], Siblewski [25], Hömberg [15].

  8. Wegner [30, 31].

  9. Kalmbach [17], Adrian [1].

  10. Hömberg [15].

  11. Cf. the respective annual reports “Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen” [Book and Book Trade in Figures] edited by Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.

  12. Braun and Hillebrecht [7, 8].

  13. Stöcker [29, 63].

  14. Weise [32, 10].

  15. Fröhlich [13].

  16. Cited in Böersenblatt.net [4, 5].

  17. Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels e.V. [6].

  18. Kamphuis [18, 19], in a similar survey on publishing and the book trade, has also shown that men generally take part in such surveys—those based on self-recruitment—less frequently than women.

  19. In any case, signs of boundary dissolution have become typical for another media profession: freelance journalism. There, it is certainly not a case of proactively sought flexibility and variety when, for instance, freelance journalists are moonlighting and work simultaneously for the mass media and in PR. This is generally rather a result of pure financial necessity [12].

  20. Cf. Hömberg [15, 49–50].

  21. The fact that seven times as many women as men were working in entry-level positions (including trainees) at the time the survey was conducted is also a sign of just how feminized the professional field is today.

  22. According to the the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, 28 % of female academics between the ages of 40 and 75 in Western Germany were childless in 2008.

  23. Scale from 1 (“very satisfied”) to 5 (“dissatisfied”); mean values: men 2.42, women 2.44.

  24. Weischenberg et al. [33].

  25. Braun and Hillebrecht [7, 8].

  26. The book trade can apply various tariff agreements: book trade tariff agreements, general retail tariff agreements or—according to the actual bookstore’s owner—also printing industry or church tariff agreements.

  27. Full-time employees in businesses with more than ten employees.

  28. Air traffic professions (−42 %), cooks (−39 %) and precision mechanics (−38 %). For information on this, see: http://www.destatis.de.

  29. Kamphuis [18, 19].

  30. Here, n (1,190) differs from N (1,234), since not all respondents answered questions regarding their salary.

  31. Schwenk [24].

  32. Cf. Hömberg [15].

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Acknowledgments

I like to thank the professional association “BücherFrauen—Women in Publishing e.V.” (Berlin), who initiated and fully financed this survey. The managing board of BücherFrauen e.V. also strongly supported our work throughout the whole project with their expertise. First and foremost it was Karina Schmidt who unremittingly supported the project with gusto. At the same time our sponsors did never interfere in our scientific decisions and allowed for utmost freedom of research.

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  1. Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Oettingenstr. 67, 80538, Munich, Germany

    Romy Fröhlich

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Fröhlich, R. Book People in Germany: A Study on the Professional Situation and Career Conditions of Men and Women in the German Book Publishing Industry and the Book Trade. Pub Res Q 30, 223–243 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-014-9361-8

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