This publication is part of the study materials for the distance education course, Adults Learning: The Changing Workplace B, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University. Section 1 looks mostly at male-dominated trades work and at some historical modes of the flexing of political muscle in struggles over the definition of work and skill. It examines ideas about the male body as an integral part of skill, the way bodies are related to machine and work design and how 'difference' becomes 'male advantage' at work. Section 2 looks primarily at female-dominated work in the public service and also at contemporary bureaucratic modes of 'flexing political muscle' through highly rationalized methods of defining work and skill. It examines the lessons of a major pay equity project that failed, and shows how women's skills are systematically understated by the gendered nature of hierarchical work organization. The third section looks briefly at how training becomes the battleground for many of these conflicting interests in the design of working life. Contains 29 references at the end of these three sections. The following papers constitute approximately 70% of the document: "The Talents of Women, the Skills of Men: Flexible Specialisation and Women" (J. Jenson); "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organisations" (J. Acker); "Technology and the Redesign of Work in the Insurance Industry" (E. Appelbaum); and "New Technology, Training and Union Strategies" (H. Rainbird). Concluding the document is a 10-item annotated bibliography. (MN)