‘Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders’ by Jane Robinson

'Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders' by Jane Robinson focuses on the lives of pioneering women forging careers in the fields of medicine, law & academia, among other professions.

The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 was one of the most significant pieces of legislation in modern Britain. It should have marked a social revolution, opening the doors of the traditional professions to women who had worked so hard during the War, and welcoming them inside as equals.

But what really happened? Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders focuses on the lives of pioneering women forging careers in the fields of medicine, law, academia, architecture, engineering and the church. In her startling study into the public and private worlds of these unsung heroines, Jane Robinson sheds light on their desires and ambitions, and how family and society responded to this emerging class of working women.

This book is written in their honour. Their shared vision, sacrifice and spirited perseverance began a process we have yet to finish. Their experiences raise live questions about equal opportunity, the gender pay gap, the work/life balance – and whether it is possible for women to have it all.

Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders: The Pioneering Adventures of the First Professional Women
by Jane Robinson
Published in Hardcover (23 January 2020)
Publisher: Doubleday (23 Jan. 2020)
Language: English, 368 pages
ASIN: B07V7VD82K (Kindle Edition)
ISBN-10: 0857525875 (Hardcover)
Guide Price: £9.99 (Kindle Edition) | £15.89 (Hardcover)
Click to buy Kindle Edition | Hardcover

About the Author

Jane Robinson is also the author of Hearts and Minds: The Untold Story of the Great Piligrimage and How Women Won the Vote and Bluestockings: the Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education. She was born in Edinburgh and brought up in Yorkshire before going to Oxford University to study English Language and Literature at Somerville College.

She has worked in the antiquarian book trade and as an archivist and is now a full-time writer and lecturer, specialising in social history through women's eyes.

She is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, member of the Society of Authors, and founder member of Writers in Oxford. She is married with two sons and lives in Buckinghamshire. Ladies Can't Climb Ladders is her eleventh book.