Despite the dominance of discussions about the need for unions to address the changing socio-demographic characteristics of members and the need to develop credible strategies that attract and represent the interests of diverse groups, gender diversity in unions remains largely underexplored in academic literature. Kirton and Healy's edited book shows the centrality of gender to union dynamics, and in doing so challenges the androcentrism prevalent in the field of industrial relations that has historically shaped discussions about trade unionism. Their book is based on comparative research conducted in the UK and the US to explore the barriers affecting women's progression into union leadership and women's agentic efforts and strategies to navigate these barriers. Three features highlight the timeliness, relevance and originality of this book: (a) the aim to gender discussions about unions, which responds to recent calls for literature to problematise diversity in relation to changes in membership characteristics and imperatives for union renewal; (b) the comparative nature of the work reported ‒ the UK and the US are considered to be part of ‘the oldest and longest-established labour traditions of the Western capitalist world’ (Colgan and Ledwith, 2002:xiv); and (c) the way in which the research itself was conducted – as part of the study, the authors organised two exchange programmes on ‘women and union leadership development’, one in the UK and one in the US, where they were able to speak to a diverse group of women that included those in leadership positions within unions.

The book is organised into ten chapters, taking the reader through a series of discussions that address different dimensions of the interplay between gender, leadership and unions, and using the findings to show the barriers women face in relation to their involvement in unions but also their agentic efforts to deal with these barriers. In the first chapter, the editors introduce the book and provide a thorough justification for the need for gender in industrial relations, as well as the socio-demographic data of the participants in the study, and a brief explanation of the multistrategy approach adopted. For the authors, the key starting point is the invisibility of women in the field of industrial relations, which they contend has pervaded industrial relations research, policy and practice, and has been perpetuated primarily through the centrality of class as a defining category within trade unionism as well as the analytical focus on the systems approach. The authors go on to argue that it is fundamental to recognise that ‘the labour markets of industrialised countries and the characteristics of the typical unionist have altered beyond recognition and there is therefore a need to explore and understand working lives using multiple lenses and concepts’ (p. 5). Following up from the introduction, the second chapter positions the UK and the US comparatively in social and economic terms. This chapter presents a good overview of the inequalities persistent in global labour markets, referring to the structural features that underpin these inequalities, which unions have not been able to address in relation to women. The authors situate both countries within the global gender gap, discussing gender in the labour market in terms of employment participation, gender segregation and the gender pay gap. They also map the cross-national similarities structurally by looking at the legal environment, political ideology and union decline, finally providing an overview of women in unions, their reasons for joining, participation, leadership and strategies. In Chapter 3, the authors explore the underlying factors that explain women's lack of representation in unions, arguing that the gender democracy deficit in unions is the result of unions not necessarily understanding or engaging with the problems faced by women as a distinct member group, which is both the result of and reinforced by unions’ male-gendered-centric oligarchical structures and more generally the lack of attention to leadership itself as a gendered concept.

In the subsequent chapters, the authors focus on the empirical findings, exploring the experiences of women at different stages of their careers and their involvement with unions, and identifying ways forward. In Chapter 4, the authors focus on the material and structural dimensions of women's journeys as union members, discussing how they navigate their roles through a combination of coping strategies (e.g., overworking themselves) and family support (e.g., husbands assuming primary childcare duties). Nevertheless, it is highlighted that despite this union leadership remains elusive primarily due to a combination of aspects, such as unions’ reticence to change the historical structures that have limited both women and other minority groups; the negative impact of intersectional discrimination that sees women face hostility due to the gendered and racialised nature of unions; and women's perceived lack of competence that results in an over-scrutiny that does not allow them to gain legitimacy and progress to leadership positions within unions. These issues are expanded in Chapter 5, where the authors pay particular attention to gendered understandings of power and leadership. Drawing on Harriet Bradley's (Reference Bradley1999) forms of gendered power resources, they argue that due to the nature of their experiences, women have a particular understanding of power and leadership in a democratic context. They craft the analysis very effectively in this part of the book and the narratives by the women who participated in the study compellingly show that it is challenging for women to speak the language prevalent in unions. A thought-provoking point made by the authors is that the women articulated an alternative conceptualisation of power and leadership that drew on feminist discourses and was oriented to ‘a collective project of gendered social change’ (p. 139). The authors argue that this ‘feminist leadership is less egocentric and individualistic than masculine and perhaps more outcome-focused than feminine leadership’ (p. 139). In Chapter 6, the authors turn to the experiences of women in senior leadership positions, focusing on ten women (five from each country) tracing their involvement not only in relation to the family history of union involvement but also touching on mentorship and delving into the personal dimensions of leadership style. In this chapter, the authors focus on two analytical dimensions ‒ political and feminist consciousness ‒ and the intersection between political ideology and leadership vision.

Chapters 7 and 8 present the ‘moving forward’, discussing how the findings show the important role for women in transforming unions and exploring separate organising of women as a viable strategy to support their interests. These chapters provide yet more compelling evidence that despite the constraints in pushing an equality agenda, women's voice within unions can be strengthened by the role of women's separate organising as a form of agentic efforts to create a legitimate space for themselves. The two final chapters offer an interesting mix of methodological assessment and reflexivity, and a conclusion. In Chapter 9, the authors consider the usefulness of women-only union/labour education, such as the cross-national programme they conducted as part of their research in supporting developing women's leadership. They discuss the benefits and challenges of the programme: on the one hand, women reported gaining confidence, finding a voice and valuing the opportunity to discuss ways to support the mobilisation of women into union membership, activism and leadership. Moreover, an outcome of the programme was the creation of an e-network of UK and US women union leaders. On the other hand, cross-national differences presented a challenge to identify cross-national common ground as did working with intersectionality, in particular discussing race and gendered class differences openly. Finally, in Chapter 10 the authors finish the book arguing that there is ‘universality of the gender order and of inequality regimes in [both] British and American unions and [a] strong resilience of such gender orders over time’ (p. 260). The authors recognise that as much as it is necessary for women to keep on fighting, unions also need to keep their side of the bargain, practicing what they preach on equality to gain credibility with those groups who have remained invisible for so long: women and minority groups.

In the context of rapidly changing labour, work and employment dynamics, this book offers evidence that expands our understanding of women in trade unions making the ‘fruitful future terrain’ referred to by Pocock (Reference Pocock and Bramble1997: 535) perhaps a bit closer. More importantly, the arguments in the book provide a good starting point for a re-conceptualisation of the relationship between market, class and society (Hyman, Reference Hyman2001) to understand trade unions. That said, there are two issues that could have strengthened discussions in the book. More salience could have been given to the socio-demographic differences between the women, perhaps engaging more comprehensively with the intersection between gender and race to show how intersectional inequalities for women shape not only their positioning within unions but also their developmental trajectories to union leadership. This was mentioned but not scrutinised to the extent that showed the positioning of the women within the dynamics of both privilege and disadvantage. In addition, the book focused solely on the experiences of women when gender dynamics are co-constructed through interactions between women and also men as well as women with other women. In that respect, the gender order also relates to the way masculinities are enacted by women, especially by those in positions of leadership. More scrutiny of these dynamics would have enhanced the analysis presented. Nevertheless, these criticisms do not overshadow the merits from what is a timely, interesting and thought-provoking book for anyone interested in women and unions and/or seeking to broaden their understanding of issues that remain unresolved within the field of industrial relations.