Outre-manehe/across the channel: Ongoing training and gender in France and Britain

The French state-levy system of ongoing training at work has not provided greater access for women than the laissez-faire British system. While headlines figures suggest that women receive more training than men in Britain and that the gap has also closed for well-qualified women in France, qualitative analysis shows that this does not indicate greater gender equity. The societal effect approach is useful for cross-national comparison within the sphere of economic organization but must be combined with analysis of the gender order to account for differences and similarities in social reproduction. The case of the insurance industry provides detailed empirical evidence of the issues underlying this, particularly women's availability for ongoing training at work. The situation of women in each country is inextricably linked to a complex interdependence of a multitude of variables, some of which are similar, such as the workings of patriarchy, and some of which are different, such as state configurations of childcare infrastructure. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005