About

Dana Britton is a Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. She received a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas-Austin. Professor Britton served as the Director of the Center for Women and Work at SMLR from 2012 to 2018. Her research interests focus on gender, work, and organizations, and she is a widely-cited authority on gendered organizations. She has published extensively on topics related to gender and social control in work settings, including her first book, 'At Work in the Iron Cage,' which examines how gender shapes work in men’s and women’s prisons. Britton has also authored and edited books on gender and prisons, gender and crime, and women’s leadership. She has been involved in projects funded by the National Science Foundation aimed at promoting gender equity and organizational change in higher education institutions. Her work includes research on working conditions for women warehouse workers, paid leave and family-friendly policies, women’s participation in corporate board membership, and programs for undergraduate women in STEM fields.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Criminology
• Gender studies
• Archaeology
• Social psychology
• Law
• Psychology
• Telecommunications
• Engineering
• Geography

Selected publications

• The National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Program

  Women in engineering and science · 2026-01-01 · 1 citations

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• Frontmatter

  Rutgers University Press eBooks · 2021-09-10

  book-chapterOpen access

  The books in this series explore decisions women leaders make in a variety of fields. Using the case study method, the editors of each volume focus on strategies employed by the women profiled as they face impor tant leadership challenges in business, vari ous social movements, the arts, public health and health care, and other sectors. The goal of the series is to broaden our conceptions of what constitutes successful leadership in these changing times.

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• 3. From Turnkey to Officer

  New York University Press eBooks · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Engineering
  • Geography
  • Archaeology
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• Index

  New York University Press eBooks · 2020-12-31

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• 2. Penology in America Men’s and Women’s Prisons as Gendered Projects

  New York University Press eBooks · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Criminology
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• At Work in the Iron Cage

  New York University Press eBooks · 2020 · 2 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Gender studies

  When most people think of prisons, they imagine chaos, violence, and fundamentally, an atmosphere of overwhelming brute masculinity. But real prisons rarely fit the “Big House” stereotype of popular film and literature. One fifth of all correctional officers are women, and the rate at which women are imprisoned is growing faster than that of men. Yet, despite increasing numbers of women prisoners and officers, ideas about prison life and prison work are sill dominated by an exaggerated image of men’s prisons where inmates supposedly struggle for physical dominance. In a rare comparative analysis of men’s and women’s prisons, Dana Britton identifies the factors that influence the gendering of the American workplace, a process that often leaves women in lower-paying jobs with less prestige and responsibility. In interviews with dozens of male and female officers in five prisons, Britton explains how gender shapes their day-to-day work experiences. Combining criminology, penology, and feminist theory, she offers a radical new argument for the persistence of gender inequality in prisons and other organizations. At Work in the Iron Cage demonstrates the importance of the prison as a site of gender relations as well as social control.

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• 4. Paths to Prison

  New York University Press eBooks · 2020-12-31

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• 1. Engendering the Prison

  New York University Press eBooks · 2020-12-31

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• Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh: Changing the World through Participatory Design

  Rutgers University Press eBooks · 2019-12-31

  book-chapterSenior author

  Jane Ni Dhulchaointhigh is the inventor of a material called sugru and CEO of the company FormFormForm, which makes and markets the product. Sugru is a silicone substance that was designed to stick to most materials - including aluminum , steel, ceramics, glass, wood, and some plastics. It has the moldable quality of children's modeling clay, and it can be shaped in virtually any form before it cures into strong yet flexible silicone rubber. The range of its use is unlimited, as the ever-growing online community of sugru users testifies. This community is filled with people who share their projects and ideas about how to fix or "hack" things with sugru. Storyes on the company's website testify to the product's almost unlimited uses-users send in hacks that range from mending changing cables to fixing snow boots and wheelchair joysticks to creating glow-in-the-dark tent pegs. In 2010, Time magazine named sugru one of the top fifty inventions of the year-ranking it ahead of the iPad.

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• Roseline Marston: Navigating Transition in an Employee-Owned Firm at A. D. Marble & Company

  Rutgers University Press eBooks · 2019-12-31

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Frequent coauthors

• Judith K. Brodsky

  2 shared

• Ferris Olin

  2 shared

• Lisa Hetfield

  Rutgers Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

  2 shared

• Mary K. Trigg

  2 shared

• E. D. Moorhead

  1 shared

• Christa A. Smith

  Clemson University

  1 shared

• Laura Lovin

  1 shared

• Beth A. Montelone

  Kansas State University

  1 shared