Gendertraps

In this forthright guide for working women, Briles (The Confidence Factor) pinpoints 10 major workplace problems that she calls gender traps, traces their sources and proposes solutions. The traps, identified through a survey (1270 of 5000 responded) and refined after 130 follow-up interviews, range from prejudice to sabotage. Underlying the book as a whole is the concern that women be paid fairly for what they do, a matter of greater importance here than more publicized issues such as sexual harassment. Some women create their own problems through apathy, lack of confidence or unwillingness to confront injustice, the author notes. She responds to these situations head-on, urging women to assert themselves, complain when necessary and rid themselves of mannerisms that betray low self-esteem. She tells how to outwit back-stabbers, who are very often other women, and how to move with change. A general surgeon, for instance, swept ahead in her career when she became a specialist in vascular procedures. (Feb.)