I've been looking for examples from fiction to illustrate the  5 Paula Principle factors: discrimination; child/eldercare; psychology/self-confidence; vertical networks; and choice.  I've sought help from friends who are much better read than I am, and here's the curious thing:  it is quite easy to find examples from classics from C19 or earlier - but not from contemporary novels. An obvious example: in Middlemarch Dorothea's intellectual ability is put humiliatingly at Casaubon's service - she acts as his note-taker and amanuensis but does not dare to aspire to anything greater (though eventually the frustration bursts out, in a heart-rending scene).   Helpful friends pointed to various examples from Dickens, Austen etc.  I've found good…