Family & Society

Gender roles are formed and reinforced from earliest childhood through family relations, social and cultural strictures and norms. Today, family structures are shifting as nuclear and extended families undergo transformations due to economic and societal changes. The traditional archetype of one father and one mother plus children reflects only 25 percent of families in the U.S. Parental roles are also evolving as single-parent, same-sex couples and adoptive parents become increasingly common. Laws and employment policies are gradually reflecting these changes but more effort needs to be focused on providing family-friendly support from affordable, accessible, quality child and elder care to flexible work arrangements.

The Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality

Contact

835 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Ph. (415) 817-4525

http://crgs.sfsu.edu/
crgs@sfsu.edu


The Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality (CRGS) is an interdisciplinary community of San Francisco State University faculty, students, and staff dedicated to studying innovative social science research questions, methods, and theories, and training new investigators. Frequently working in collaboration with community organizations, the CRGS is committed to producing new and useful knowledge about sexuality and gender. Our goal is to promote social justice and well-being by empirically challenging how inequalities undermine healthy sexuality.

CRGS is proud to be a part of the National Centers on Sexuality (NCS) at San Francisco State University. At the NCS, interdisciplinary sexuality science, advocacy, capacity building and training come together through the collaboration of three organizations:

CRGS, producing new knowledge to advance social justice and social change;

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Principal Staff

CRGS Faculty:

Dr. Colleen Hoff, Director
E-mail: choff@sfsu.edu

Dr. Héctor Carrillo, Research Faculty
E-mail: hector@sfsu.edu

Dr. Jessica Fields, Research Faculty
E-mail: jfields@sfsu.edu

Dr. David Frost, Research Faculty
Email: frost@sfsu.edu

Dr. Gil Herdt, Research Faculty
E-mail: gherdt@sfsu.edu

Dr. Rita Melendez, Research Faculty
E-mail: rmelende@sfsu.edu

Dr. Lynn Sorsoli, Research Faculty
E-mail: lsorsoli@msn.com

Dr. Deborah Tolman, Founder

Research Teams:


Adult Male Circumcision:

Héctor Carrillo, Principal Investigator
E-mail: hector@sfsu.edu

Michael Diaz, Research Assistant
E-mail: michaeldiaz06@gmail.com

Walter Gomez, Research Associate
E-mail: wgomez@sfsu.edu

Rachel Howard, Research Assistant
E-mail: rachelhoward1@gmail.com


Female Adolescent Risk Project (FARP):

Lynn Sorsoli, Principal Investigator
E-mail: lsorsoli@sfsu.edu

Gabriela Candelaria, Research Asst.
E-mail: gabyc@sfsu.edu

Allegra Hirschman, Project Coordinator
E-mail: allegra.hirschman@gmail.com


The Gay Couples Study Team:

Colleen Hoff, Principal Investigator
E-mail: choff@sfsu.edu

Brianne Amato, Research Assistant
E-mail: bamato@sfsu.edu

Sean Beougher, Project Director
E-mail: seancb@sfsu.edu

Deepalika Chakravarty, Statistician
E-mail: deepalika.chakravarty@ucsf.edu

Anthony Freeman, former RA
E-mail: afreeman@sfsu.edu

Carla Garcia, Research Associate
E-mail: ccgarcia@sfsu.edu

Walter Gomez, Research Associate
E-mail: wgomez@sfsu.edu


Trayectos Research Team:

Héctor Carrillo, Principal Investigator
E-mail: hector@sfsu.edu

Julia Sinclair-Palm, Research Assistant
E-mail: palmjulia@gmail.com


Honoring Leadership and Diversity - Women of Color and the CRGS (HOLD):

Sydney Seifert, Research Assistant
E-mail: sydney.seifert@gmail.com

Desiree Valdez, Research Assistant
E-mail: dc.valdez@gmail.com


Research on Inequality, Sexuality and Education (RISE):

Jessica Fields, Principal Investigator
E-mail: jfields@sfsu.edu

Lanice Avery, Research Assistant
E-mail: princessnicie@yahoo.com

Kendra Bloom, Research Assistant
E-mail: kbloom8@gmail.com

Allyse Grey, Research Assistant
E-mail: msgray86@yahoo.com

Sheerein Hosseini, Research Assistant
E-mail: activistforhumanity@yahoo.com

Christina Monroe, Research Assistant
E-mail: cmonroe@sfsu.edu


Women, Sexuality and Religion:

Rita Melendez, Principal Investigator
E-mail: rmelende@sfsu.edu

Allison Kirschbaum, Research Assistant
E-mail: akirschbaum@gmail.com

Alberto Rodriguez, Research Assistant
E-mail: alberto_rf@hotmail.com


Administrative Staff:

Liz McClelland, NCS Operations Manager
E-mail: lizm@sfsu.edu

Brianne Amato, CRGS Administrative Assistant
E-mail: crgs@sfsu.edu

Areas of Expertise:

Body Image & Wellness, Awareness & Education, Communications, Media & Gender, Culture & Identity, Disparities, Family & Society, Higher Education, Religion & Spirituality, Sexuality & Gender, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Communications, Culture & Society, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Research

CRGS at work
 
With the Gay Couples Study group joining CRGS in 2008, the research teams in CRGS became even stronger! The Gay Couples Study is now in the final stages of longitudinal data collection for both its qualitative and quantitative arms. Data collection for the qualitative interviews should finish by July, 2009 and the quantitative surveys should finish by February, 2010. Currently, the Gay Couples Study Team is working on several manuscripts for publication in profession journals, and will be presenting findings at the upcoming National HIV Prevention Conference in August.

The Girls' Risk Project, with PI Dr. Lynn Sorsoli at the helm, was recently completed. This study examined girls' decisions to engage in noncoital sexual behaviors, and the ways girls' narratives of those experiences differ by racial/ethnic group. It also explored the roles played by girls' health beliefs, gender beliefs, and behavioral contexts. Dr. Sorsoli and Project Coordinator Allegra Hirschman are now hard at work on an innovative new project that will examine the risks IRB members perceive regarding adolescent participation in sexuality studies, how adolescents perceive risk and experience study participation in sexuality studies and how the perceived risk and actual experiences of adolescents compare to the risks perceived by IRB members.

While wrapping up on his Trayectos Study, Dr. Héctor Carrillo began work on a new project focused on adult male circumcision. In the Circumcision Study, Dr. Carrillo will study the cultural factors of adult circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy for Mexican immigrants. After facing some initial recruitment challenges, the study is now just 5 participants away from reaching the desired sample size.

Dr. Jessica Fields and her research team recently capped off their Jailed Women and HIV Education project, a feminist analysis of incarcerated women's experiences of HIV education and risk, with culminating experience events at both the CRGS and the San Francisco County Jail. The Jailed Women and HIV Education study brings new attention, funding, and employment opportunities to the concerns of women of color locked up in San Francisco and other county jails. In addition, Dr. Fields continues to work alongside Drs. Rita Melendez and Amy Sueyoshi on H.O.L.D. (Honoring Leadership and Diversity) which involves interviews with administrators, faculty, and graduate students to investigate the barriers for women of color’s involvement at sexuality centers such as CRGS and within academia more broadly.

Dr. Rita Melendez is examining the relations between gender roles, religion, and HIV prevention among Latina and African-American women, and has recently begun work on the interview portion of her study.
 

Reports & Resources

Choi, K., Hoff, C., Gregorich, S., Grinstead, O., Gomez, C., Hussey, W. (2008), The Efficacy of Female Condom Skills Training in HIV Risk Reduction among Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial, American Journal of Public Health. 98(10). 1803-1813.


Hoff, C., Pals, S., Purcell, D., Parsons, J, Halkitis, P, Remien, R., Gomez, C. (2006). Is sexual risk behavior with main partners impacted differentially than risk with non-main partner in an HIV prevention trial targeting HIV-positive gay and bisexual men? AIDS and Behavior, 10(3).

Fisher, H., Purcell, D., Hoff, C., Parsons, J., O’Leary, A. (2006) Recruitment source and behavioral risk patterns of HIV-positive men who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior, 10 (4).

Center News

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Expert Profile

Location: 
United States
33° 44' 56.382" N, 84° 23' 16.7352" W
Member Organizations: 

Beverly Guy Sheftall, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Women's Research and Resource Center and the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies at Spelman College.  She is also adjunct professor at Emory University's Institute for Women's Studies where she teaches graduate courses. At the age of sixteen, she entered Spelman College where she majored in English and minored in secondary education.  After graduation with honors, she attended Wellesley College for a fifth year of study in English.  In 1968, she entered Atlanta to pursue a master's degree in English; her thesis was entitled, "Faulkner's Treatment of Women in His Major Novels."  A year later she began her first teaching job in the Department of English at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Location

Atlanta, GA
United States
33° 44' 56.382" N, 84° 23' 16.7352" W

WOMEN’S EQUALITY FORUM: Daddy, can a man be Prime Minister?

By Gwendolyn Beetham*

When I was in graduate school in London, one of my professors told a cute story about his daughter, born during the Thatcher era, who as a small child had asked him whether a man could be Prime Minister. The point that my professor was trying to make was that having more women in positions of power does make a difference in how women’s roles are perceived by society at large.


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Southwest Institute for Research on Women

Contact

925 N Tyndall Ave
Tucson, AZ 85721-0438
Ph. 520-621-7338
Fx. 520-621-1533
http://sirow.arizona.edu
sstevens@dakotacom.net
sirow@email.arizona.edu

The Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) is a regional research and resource affiliated with the Gender & Women's Studies Department at the University of Arizona committed to developing interdisciplinary research, professional development, and outreach programs. SIROW conducts research on projects centered around women and gender in the Southwest and Northwestern Mexico, including education, employment, health, history, literature, culture, and the advancement of women and girls in science and engineering. The institute is connected to 30 campuses in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, Wyoming, and with El Colegio de la Frontera Norte and El Colegio de Sonora in Mexico.

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Principal Staff

Admin. Staff:

Sally Stevens, Ph.D., Executive Director
Ph. 520-626-9558
Fax: 520-621-1533
E-mail: sstevens@email.arizona.edu

Erin Durban, Graduate Research Assistant
Ph. 520-626-4911
Fax: 520-621-1533
E-mail: durban@email.arizona.edu

Terry Mullin, Business Manager, Senior
Ph. 520-621-7339
Fax: 520-621-1533
E-mail: mullin@email.arizona.edu

Lupita Loftus, Accounting Specialist
Ph. 520-621-3839
E-mail: loftusm@email.arizona.edu


Program Staff and Grad Students:

Jeri Alexander, Research Technician
Ph. 520-670-9075
Fax: 520-670-9136
E-mail: jla3@email.arizona.edu

Thomas Bogart, Instructional Specialist
E-mail: tbogart@email.arizona.edu

Corrie Brinley, Research Specialist/Health Educator
Ph. 520-670-9075
Fax: 520-670-9136
E-mail: cbrinley@email.arizona.edu

Monica Davis, Health Educator
Ph. 520-295-9339
E-mail: midavis@email.arizona.edu

Linda Shaird, Research and Prevention Specialist
Ph. 520-670-9075
Fax: 520-670-9136
E-mail: llshaird@email.arizona.edu

Stephanie Springer, MPH, Program Coordinator
Ph. 520-295-9339
E-mail: stephks@email.arizona.edu

Andrea Verdin, Therapist
Phone: 520-670-9075
Fax: 520-670-9136
E-mail: averdin@email.arizona.edu


Areas of Expertise:

Barriers & Opportunities, Culture & Identity, Girls & STEM, Diversity & Inclusion, Family & Society, Higher Education, Women in STEM, Women in History, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Communications, Culture & Society, Education & Education Reform, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality, Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

The projects that SIROW undertakes either focus on women and gender in the Southwest and the Mexico-U.S. border region from a multicultural perspective, or are developed because they interest scholars in the region.  They are divided into the following topics categories:
 

 

Projects

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reports & Resources

Ruiz B., Stevens, S., Fuhriman, J., Bogart, J., & Korchmaros, J. 2009. "A juvenile drug court model in southern Arizona: Substance abuse, deliquency, and sexual risk outcomes by gender and race/ethnicity." Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. 

Ruiz, B., Hedges, K., Greene, A., Arnold, A., Colonna, H., Stevens, S., Andrade, R., & O'Neill, S. 2009. "School and community counseling collaboration: A promising approach to address youth substance abuse." School Counseling Research and Practice.

Rabin, N. 2009. Unseen prisoners: A report on women in immigration detention facilities in Arizona. University of Arizona, SIROW.

Stevens, S., Andrade, R.A.C., Ruiz, B.S. 2009. Women and substance abuse: Gender, age and cultural consideration.
Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse.

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Get Involved!

SIROW is open to those who want to make a difference in the lives of women and families through collaborative and innovative research and the integration of new knowledge into policy and practice.

There are various way you can become involved with SIROW.   Including collaboration, financial contribution, internships, work study and volunteer positions, and participation on one our advisory boards. Please click on the links to the left to find out more about each of these valuable contributions.
If you are interested in developing further connections with SIROW, please contact Sally Stevens at sstevens@u.arizona.edu

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Alice Paul Center for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality

Contact

249 South 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
Ph. 215-898-8740
Fx. 215-898-1803
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/wstudies/
wstudies@sas.upenn.edu


The Alice Paul Center for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality conducts, supports, and disseminates applied policy research aimed at improving the lives of women, children, and families. The Alice Paul Center brings together leading scholars and researchers, policy makers, practitioners and advocates, to mobilize knowledge to effect change.

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Principal Staff

Rita Barnard, Director
E-mail: rbarnard@english.upenn.edu

Demi Kurz, Co-Director
Ph. 215-898-8740
Fax: 215-898-1803
E-mail: dkurz@sas.upenn.edu

Shannon B. Lundeen, Ph.D., Associate Director
Ph. 215.898.9607
Fax: 215.898.1803
E-mail: bshannon@sas.upenn.edu

Luz Marin, Program Coordinator
E-mail: lmarin@sas.upenn.edu

Areas of Expertise:

Family & Society, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Work - Life Balance, Communications, Culture & Society

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Policy Partnerships

APC's Policy Partnership Program is the centerpiece of its mission to apply research in the service of social change. APC sponsors collaborations between academic researchers and organizations that work on women and family policy and programs.

The goals of the Policy Partnership Program are:

1. To move research out of the "ivory tower" and into the hands of policy makers, advocates, and service providers

2. To provide organizations with a wide knowledge base to inform their work and strengthen their programs

3. To give graduate and undergraduate students experience with applied research and expose them to organizations working for change

Research Partnerships. Penn researchers work closely with organizations to design and conduct research projects that improve the organizations' work as advocates and service-providers. Penn graduate students are employed as research assistants in order to gain valuable experience and help finance their graduate training. Undergraduates also work as research assistants on Partnership projects.

Internship and Service Learning Partnerships. Students from across the University intern in local organizations addressing gender issues and take seminar courses that feature internship and research projects with policy partners. Alumni/ae interested in women's issues are enlisted as mentors and advisors to students and policy partners. The hands-on learning experience provides needed resources to community groups, and encourages students to explore careers in the public and non-profit sectors.

Some recent policy partnerships include:

Women's Way 25. "A Change of Pace: Accelerating Women's Progress." A major report that documents women's progress toward economic equality over the past 25 years, highlights remaining inequalities, explains the reasons for their persistence, and proposes specific strategies for change to accelerate the pace of women's progress.

Third Path Institute. "Gender and Work-Life Balance in the Professions" applies research and professional experience to design new templates for work in the professions that allow for better work-life balance. Phase one focuses on the legal profession and involves collaboration with the Penn Law School, the Wharton School, and Philadelphia Flex-Time Lawyers.

Arab-American CDC. Working with middle schools in Philadelphia to develop leadership programs and curricula for Palestinian girls.

Research Fellows

APC hosts post-doctoral and senior scholars from around the world who are conducting research on women and gender.

Public Lectures and Fora

APC, in collaboration with Women's Studies, sponsors two major public addresses by prominent scholars, writers, and activists on current issues affecting women. APC also sponsors and co-sponsors numerous other public programs thoughout the year. Information on past and upcoming events is available at our website: or by calling the office at 215-898-8740.


Integrating Gender into a Penn Education

APC is actively involved in the core educational mission of the University. The Center:

1. Contributes to course offerings and curricular development focused on the role of gender in the lives and opportunities of both women and men

2. Involves students in research, policy-making, and community service

3. Funds graduate students doing research on women and gender

4. Supports undergraduate and graduate networks for exchanging ideas, presenting works-in-progress, and designing research and action projects


Feminist Thought and Scholarship

Diversity of Language and the Structure of Power Seminar. Designed for Penn faculty and graduate students, this seminar focuses on the use of language and the intersections of race, class, and gender. The current seminar theme is feminist theory and its contributions to key areas of contemporary research and critique of the humanities and social sciences.

Penn Mid-Atlantic Seminar for the Study of Women and Society. The seminar provides a forum for research on women and gender issues in the Delaware Valley. The seminar is an opportunity for faculty, graduate students, and professionals to convene around and discuss the latest research on women and gender in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, led by academics from around the country as well as from Penn.

 

The Women's Studies Program and the Alice Paul Center facilitate faculty research in several ways. Find out more here: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/wstudies/research/faculty/ Works-in-Progress Seminars * Global Gender Seminars * Affiliated Faculty GASWorks Workshops * Note that these seminars are for Penn faculty. The Women's Studies Program and the Alice Paul Center facilitate graduate research in several ways. Find out more here: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/wstudies/research/graduate/ Graduate Conferences GASWork Workshops

Reports & Resources

The F-Word: A Collection of Feminist Voices is a new literary journal created to fill the feminist void here at Penn. Our mission is to provide an outlet for writing or art pertaining to feminism (broadly defined as respect for all individuals regardless of gender or sexual affiliation). Please visit our website by clicking here.

Annual News Letter - For Current Issue>>

 

 

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National Women's Law Center

Contact

11 Dupont Circle, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Ph. (202) 588-5180
Fx. (202) 588-5185
http://www.nwlc.org/
info@nwlc.org


The National Women's Law Center was founded in 1972 as a non-profit advocacy organization working to advance the progress of women, girls, and families with emphasis on employment, education, reproductive rights and health, and family issues. The Center has been at the forefront of the major legal and public policy initiatives in this country to improve the lives of women: educating state, local, and federal policy-makers as well as members of the public about critical women's issues; building and leading coalitions; litigating ground-breaking cases and informing landmark Supreme Court decisions. The Center is a sponsor of human rights, helping to resonate women's voices through the minds of public policy-makers, advocates, and the public alike.

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Principal Staff

Nancy Duff Campbell, Founder and Co-President
E-mail: campbell@nwlc.org

Marcia Greenberger, Founder and Co-President
E-mail: mgreenberger@nwlc.org

Nancy Boyd, Executive Assistant
E-mail: nboyd@nwlc.org

Emily Martin, Vice President

Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment

Neena Chaudhry, Senior Counsel

Kolbe Franklin, Program Associate

Holly Hemphill, Senior Counsel

Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel

Dina Lassow, Senior Counsel

Kavitha Sivashanker, Fellow

Harvey Zuckerman, Senior Law Fellow


Joan Entmacher, Vice President and Director of Family Economic Security

Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy

Jessica Heaven, Fellow

Holly Hemphill, Senior Counsel

Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel

Valerie Norton, Fellow

Regina L. Oldak, Senior Counsel

Rachel Peck, Fellow

Amy Quinn, Senior Policy Analyst

Caroline Rogus, Law Fellow

Rio Romero, Program Assistant

Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst


Judy Waxman, Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights

Micole Allekotte, Fellow

Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel

Lisa Codispoti, Senior Counsel

Brigette Courtot, Senior Health Policy Analyst

Kelli Garcia, Fellow

Julia Kaye, Health Policy Associate

Dina Lassow, Senior Counsel

Grace Lesser, Program Assistant

Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel

Jenifer Rajkumar, Fellow

Bethany Sousa, Senior Counsel

Steph Sterling, Director of Government Relations and Senior Advisor


Karen Schneider, Senior Communications and Marketing Executive

Lisa M. LeMair, Art Director

Andrea Maruniak, Program Assistant

Nicole Oxendine, Director of Outreach

Maria Patrick, Media Director

Robin Reed, Online Outreach Manager

Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager

Thao Nguyen, Outreach Manager

Megan Tackney, Program Associate


Kristin Robinson, Vice President of Development

Nancy Delahoyd, Director of Annual Giving

Kathryn A. Dixon, Manager of Foundation Relations

Carolyn Lisbon, Development Associate

Jodi Michael, Director of Foundation Relations

Katharine Potts-Dupre, Development Associate

Carolyn Rutsch, Manager of Foundation Relations


Betty Thomas, Vice President

Ayo Abraham, Controller

Patricia Byrams, Receptionist/Secretary

Daris Coleman, Director of Finance

Angela Day, Office Assistant

Julie Kemerer, Program Associate

Lakisha Matthews, Accounting Associate

Gloria Moses, Director of Human Resources / Administration

Areas of Expertise:

Access & Disparities, Awareness & Education, Economic Development & Microfinance, Employment & Unemployment, Family & Society, Population & Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Health, Economic Development & Security, Education & Education Reform, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Child Care

The Center on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy. The Center has formed a partnership with the Center on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy to foster better collaboration between the organizations when addressing the needs of low-income fathers and mothers on child support and related family law issues.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant ( CCDBG) and Dependent Care Tax Credit (DCTC). The Center appeals for the expansion of both the CCDBG and the DCTC which would better assist low-income families with their child care needs. The current Senate CCDBG and DCTC proposals offer relief for some low-income families, not affecting those between 133% and 202% of the poverty line. The Center's expansion proposal would support these poverty stricken families.


Economic Development

Women and Bankruptcy. The Center is currently fighting the S. 625 bill which if passed, would intensify the adversity facing women who file for bankruptcy, making the filing process more complex than ever before. Over 500,000 women were expected to file for bankruptcy in 1999, making bankruptcy a central issue challenging many of today's contemporary women.


Law and Legal Issues

Title IX. The Center is working to uncover and reconcile the injustices that accompany the Title IX compliance. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination on every level. Most often, Title IX is exercised within academic walls, requiring an equal distribution of women and men's organizations. On the collegiate front, Title IX has been used to more fully develop female athletic programs. Still, there is room for improvement. Most women's athletic teams are experiencing a unevenly distributed finances, receiving one dollar for every three dollars spent on their male counterparts.


Reproductive Rights

Women's Health Report Card. The Center has extended a new partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Medical School's program on women's health to develop a Women's Health Report Card. The Report Card documents the happenings in public policy addressing local and national women's health issues, keeping the public informed of public policy.

 

Social Security

Women and Social Security Reform. The Center is working to strengthen the current social security system, which was implemented to specifically benefit the elderly. Since statistically, women usually live longer than men, social security seems to benefit more women than men. That the system remains strong, is an important issues for the women's movement.

 

Click here to learn more about the Center's Program Areas. 

Reports & Resources

Child Care

Be All That We Can Be: Lessons from the Military for Improving our Nation's Child Care System. This report tells the story of the military's success in transforming its child care system into a model for the nation and offers valuable lessons for policy makers and others on how similar improvements can be made in civilian child care. To view or download a copy of this report, visit the Child Care section of this site.

Making Care Less Taxing: Improving State Child and Dependent Care Tax Provisions. Geared toward state policymakers and advocates, this report analyzes and provides recommendations on ways to improve state tax assistance for child and dependent care.

Making Ends Meet: A Woman's Guide to Collecting Child Support. This is a convenient brochure that provides women with an overview of their child support rights and information on how to exercise those rights through state child support offices. To view or download a copy of this brochure, visit the Child and Family Support section of this site.

Como Hacer Alcanzar El Dinero: Guia de la Mujer el Cobro de P

ensiones de Manutencion Infantil. This is a convenient Spanish-language brochure that provides women with an overview of their child support rights and information on how to exercise those rights through state child support offices. To view or download a copy of this brochure, visit the Child and Family Support section of this site.


Health Care

Hospital Mergers and the Threat to Women's Reproductive Health Services: Using Antitrust Laws to Fight Back. A first-of-its-kind resource guide, this publication is designed to provide health care advocates and others seeking to preserve access to reproductive health services with an understanding of how to use the nation's antitrust laws to challenge proposed hospital mergers that threaten to reduce or eliminate these services.


Law/Legal Issues

Career Education

Putting the Law on Your Side: A Guide for Women and Girls to Equal Opportunity in Career Education and Job Training. For girls in middle or high school, or women in post-secondary or job training programs, this publication explains the laws that apply to career education and offers advice about how to deal with sex discrimination in such programs.


Sports and Fitness

Breaking Down Barriers: A Legal Guide to Title IX. This detailed guide includes comprehensive analyses of Title IX's legislative history and regulatory framework as it relates to athletics, as well as settlement agreements and other legal issues.


Sexual Harassment

Righting the Wrongs: A Legal Guide to Understanding, Addressing, and Preventing Sexual Harassment in Schools. Directed at attorneys and advocates, this manual focuses on sexual harassment of students and the legal obligations placed on schools to address it.

Do the Right Thing: Understanding, Addressing, and Preventing Sexual Harassment in Schools. Designed for teachers, parents, and other non-lawyer types, this manual focuses on sexual harassment of students and the legal obligations placed on schools to address it.

 

Annual Reports

National Women's Law Center Annual Report 2007-2008 

 

National Women's Law Center Newsletter

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Fellowships

The National Women’s Law Center is seeking a college graduate with excellent quantitative,  research, and communications skills and relevant experience for a one-year paid public policy fellowship starting September 2010 in its Family Economic Security and Education and Employment programs.

Pro Bono Opportunities 

The Center will consider applications from lawyers who are available for a sustained period of time, whether through a law firm program or a fellowship program sponsored by an organization such as Equal Justice Works or Georgetown’s Women’s Law and Public Policy, or who are otherwise interested in supporting the Center’s work on a volunteer basis.

Pro Bono Opportunities and Fellowships Education and Employment Program

The Education and Employment program of the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) is looking for a lawyer who is available for at least six months, whether through a law firm program or a fellowship program sponsored by an organization such as Equal Justice Works or Georgetown’s Women’s Law and Public Policy, or who is otherwise interested in supporting the Center’s work on a volunteer basis.

Internships:

Communications Intern

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) seeks an energetic, detail-oriented intern with an interest in media and public policy to provide support to NWLC’s Communications department. The intern would work with Communications staff on media monitoring and analysis, maintaining press lists and expanding social networking.

Online Outreach Intern

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) seeks an energetic, detail-oriented intern to provide support to NWLC’s Outreach team. The intern’s responsibilities would focus on social networking and blog outreach.

Outreach Intern

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) seeks an energetic, detail-oriented intern to provide support to NWLC’s Outreach team.

 


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The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc.

Contact

80 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
Ph. (212) 951-8300
Fx. (212) 481-7196
http://www.ajli.org
info@ajli.org
sdanish@ajli.org

The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

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Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Susan Danish, Executive Director
Ph. (212) 951-8322
Fax: (212) 696-4243
E-mail: sdanish@ajli.org

Anne Dalton, Chief Officer for Strategic Initiatives
Ph. (212) 951-8340
Fax: (212) 679-4583
E-mail: adalton@ajli.org

Martha Ferry, Chief Financial Officer
Ph. (212) 951-8364
Fax: (212) 481-6206
E-mail: mferry@ajli.org

Laurie Dodge, Director of Marketing and Communications
Ph. (212) 951-8347
E-mail: ldodge@ajli.org

Jean Lubas, Director League Services
Ph. (212) 951-8312
E-mail: jlubas@ajli.org

Dolores (Dee) Brinkley, Director Meeting Management
Ph. (212) 951-8327
E-mail: dbrinkley@ajli.org

Areas of Expertise:

Awareness & Education, Family & Society, Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Childhood Obesity / Healthy Eating
Junior Leagues' Kids in the Kitchen: An international project for participating Leagues to raise awareness about childhood obesity and the diseases that arise from it. The program focuses on educating both children and their parents at the grassroots level. We have established a special website for this initiative www.kidsinthekitchen.ajli.org.


Community Service
Local programs: AJLI's member Leagues have developed a wide variety of local programs that serve the specific needs of their communities. These programs address the many areas of expertise listed above.

 

 

 

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Join a Junior League:

Junior League women make things happen -- they form strategic partnerships, create innovative programs and raise funds for exciting community initiatives. So what sets Junior League volunteers apart from the rest? They are not only women who want to improve communities, they are women with the training and skills to make it happen!

Since Mary Harriman convened the very first Junior League in 1901, The Junior League's emphasis has always been on learning. Members benefit from extensive training in leadership and organizational development, community needs assessment, strategic planning, communications, advocacy and fundraising. Through this unique training, League members learn to manage and train volunteers, unite communities and form partnerships. AJLI organizes regular conferences and meetings to create opportunities for networking, collaboration and shared learning among Leagues.
 
 
 
Partnerships:
 
The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. welcomes inquiries from organizations seeking to partner with our member Leagues. Junior League women are highly motivated, educated, influential women who transform their communities through advocacy, direct service, public education, fundraising and sheer hard work. As such, they are a highly desirable group for corporate sponsors and nonprofit organizations seeking marketing and partnership opportunities.
 
 

Multimedia

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Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Contact

1200 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Ph. (202) 785-5100
Fx. (202) 833-4362
http://www.iwpr.org
iwpr@iwpr.org


The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) is a public policy research organization dedicated to informing and stimulating the debate on public policy issues of critical importance to women and their families. IWPR focuses on issues of poverty and welfare, employment and earnings, work and family issues, the economic and social aspects of health care and domestic violence, and women's civic and political participation.

Recently Posted

Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., President
E-mail: hhartmann@iwpr.org

Research:

Barbara Gault, Ph.D., Executive Director & Vice President
E-mail: gault@iwpr.org

Ariane Hegewisch, Study Director
E-mail: hegewisch@iwpr.org

Jane Henrici, Ph.D., Study Director
E-mail: henrici@iwpr.org

Cynthia Hess, Ph.D., Study Director
E-mail: hess@iwpr.org

Jeffrey Hayes, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate
E-mail: hayes@iwpr.org

Kevin Miller, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate
E-mail: miller@iwpr.org

Layla Moughari, Research Program Associate
E-mail: moughari@iwpr.org

Claudia Williams, Research Analyst
E-mail: cwilliams@iwpr.org

Allison Helmuth, Research Assistant
E-mail: helmuth@iwpr.org

Frances Zlotnick, Mariam K. Chamberlain Fellow
E-mail: zlotnick@iwpr.org

Sunhwa Lee, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher
E-mail: lee@iwpr.org

Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher
E-mail: jones-deweever@iwpr.org

Lois Shaw, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher
E-mail: shaw@iwpr.org

Lynette Osborne, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher
E-mail: osborne@iwpr.org


Development and Communications:

Ryan Koch, Development Director
E-mail: koch@iwpr.org

Elisabeth Crum, Communications Manager
E-mail: crum@iwpr.org

Jennifer Clark, Development Assistant
E-mail: clark@iwpr.org


Administration:

Ashley English, Special Assistant to Dr. Heidi Hartmann
E-mail: english@iwpr.org

Elisa Garcia, Office/Program Assistant
E-mail: garcia@iwpr.org

Areas of Expertise:

Disparities & Access, Employment & Unemployment, Family & Society, Entrepreneurship & Small Business Development, Poverty, Safety Nets, Economic Development & Security, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality, Violence

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Activism and Organizing

Models for Action: Making Research Work for Women (Resource Book). The Insitute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) presents this resource as a way of helpig state-based advocates, researchers, and policymakers utilize The Status of Women in the States reports to further their policy agendas by drawing attention to issues critical to the status of women in their states.

Aging

How the Elderly Become Poor. The IWPR study, "How the Elderly Become Poor: The Economic Circumstances of Aged Women with Special Attention to Widows and Divorcees," analyzes why elderly widowed and divorced women have a high risk of poverty. The report additionally looks into how redesigning couple benefits may leave more to surviving spouses.


Dialogue with Women -- Work and Family

On Common Ground: Prominent Women Talk About Work and Family. This IWPR publication is based on interviews and dialogues with prominent women who are balancing work and family. The report includes perspectives on combining the two roles, personal decisions, perceptions of the larger problems plaguing working mothers, as well as personal and institutional recommendations for change.


Family

Work & Family covers:

Education and Job Training Build Strong Families (Fact Sheet) This Fact sheet demonstrates that improving the home life of children begins with expanding the opportunities and skills of the parents.

The Widening Gap: A New Book on the Struggle to Balance Work and Caregiving (RIB) This Research in Brief is based on selected findings from a new book by Jody Heymann, The Widening Gap: Why America's Working Families are in Jeopardy and What Can be done About It. The book reveals the failure of our nation's employer-based support system to help families meet their caregiving responsibilities.

Family Leave for Low-Income Working Women: Providing Paid Leave Though Temporary Disability Insurance - The New Jersey Case (RIB) summarizes a research project that examined the proposals in New Jersey for paid family and medical leave programs. It discusses the policy context in which these programs are being considered and details the technical considerations behind estimating the cost of providing family-leave insurance.

Paid Family and Medical Leave: Essential Support for Working Women and Men (Fact Sheet) Women's employment patterns are becoming more like men's, but public policies and employers have not filled in the gap between the time and care that families need and the time workers have available to meet those needs.

Paid Family and Medical Leave: Supporting Working Families in Illinois (Testimony) Testimony to the Subcommittee on Unemployment Insurance for the New Workforce on the issue of paid family and medical leave.

Equal Pay for Working Families (RIB) An investigation into the size of the wage gap in the United States, as well as is in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Economic & Social Status of Women

Why Privatizing Government Services Would Hurt Women Workers (Report) Analyzes the implications of privatization for women workers, especially those employed in low-end occupations. Data analyzes show that women disproportionately depend on the public sector for jobs that pay decent wages and offer benefits. The evidence suggests that privatizing government services will have a negative impact on the women workers, especially those workers who are most vulnerable.

The Gender Wage Ratio: Womens and Men's Earnings (Fact Sheet) Examines the gender wage ratio from 1955 through 2000. The Gender wage ratio, which had remained virtually constant from 1955 through the 1970's, began to increase in the 1980's. Over the 1990's, the wage ratio moved up and down slightly.

The Gender Gap in Pension Coverage: What Does the Future Hold? (Report) Part of an on-going research project conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research to analyze the economics of women across the generations. This report documents pension coverage among male and female employees and examines voluntary and involuntary reasons why women and men do not participate in pension plans.

The Gender Gap in Pension Coverage: Women Working Full-Time Are Catching Up, But Part-Time Workers Have Been Left Behind (RIB) IWPR finds that women are participating in pension plans in greater numbers than ever before. Based on data from the Pension Topical Module of the Survey of Income and Program Participation collected in 1995 by the Bureau of Census, IWPR found that 60 percent of full-time female workers participate in a pension plan, compared with 62 percent of full-time male workers. However, part-time workers, who are disproportionately women, remain much less likely to participate in an employer-sponsored pension plan.

Why Privatizing Government Services Would Hurt Women Workers (RIB) Using data from the 1998 Current Population Survey, this Research-in-Brief documents job growth in the public and private sectors and examines the quality of jobs in terms of wages and benefits. Overall this research finds that the public sector offers considerably better wages and benefits for women workers than does the private sector.

Strengthening Social Security for Women: A Report from the Working Conference on Women and Social Security (Report) This report documents three days of discussions among approximately 60 leaders of women's organizations and policy analysts. Aiming to develop proposals that would inspire women activists to engage in the public debate on Social Security reform. This report presents possible proposals for a women's agenda for Social Security reform based on the conference as well as earlier meetings of the NCWO Task Force on Women and Social Security.

Why Privatizing Social Security Would Hurt Women: A Response to the Cato Institute's Proposal for Individual Accounts (RIB) Both advocates for and against the privatization of Social Security claim their proposals benefit women. Among privatizers, The Cato Institute has been particularly vocal in courting women's support. The Cato institute claims that its proposals meet the National Council of Women's Organizations' (NCWO) "check list" for Social Security reform and hence deserve NCWO's support. This research in brief refutes this claim, drawing attention to four central problems with privatizing Social Security.

Part-Time Opportunities for Professionals and Managers: Where Are They, Who Uses Them (Report) Reports on a three year IWPR research project undertaken to assess reduced-time opportunities for professionals and managers throughout the economy. This study indicates that, compared with other U.S. employees, very few professionals and mangers are employed part-time and very few careers offer financial incentives to work part-time.

Part-Time Opportunities for Professionals and Managers (RIB) While it is often assumed that part-time work in professional or managerial jobs would provide parents with increased flexibility to juggle work and family responsibilities while also earning a good income, a recent study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) show that few professional and managers are employed part-time.

Employment Issues

Equal Opportunity of the Skill Standard System. An upcoming IWPR report, Enhancing the Equal Opportunity Capacity of the Skill Standard System, analyzes how to address the current biases in skill evaluation systems that disadvantage women and minorities. The study looks at characteristics of occupations held by women and members of minority groups, earnings by industry cluster and education level compared to their white male counterparts. The research additionally analyzes how skill standards can be implemented to increase workplace diversity and also act as a barrier to hiring and promotion.

Equal Pay for Working Families: A National Overview. IWPR and the AFL-CIO have completed work on the size of the wage gap in the United States, demonstrating the costs of pay inequity to both individuals and working families. Findings indicate how much family income drops as a result of the wage gap and unequal pay for comparable work in the case of women and minority workers.

Glass Ceiling and Structural Changes. IWPR's report on The Impact of the Glass Ceiling and Structural Change on Minorities and Women, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Glass Ceiling Commission, provides a review and synthesis of how women workers fared in the 1980s during extensive industrial restructuring. Suggestions in the report include the improvement of enforcing equal opportunity laws and regulation; developing new ways to encourage corporations to adopt longer-term perspectives over short-term profits; and considering new "family-friendly" workplace policies.

Unemployment Insurance. IWPR has completed research on the likelihood that women and part-time workers receive unemployment compensation, with support from the National Commission for Employment Policy. Findings, published in An Analysis of Unemployment Insurance Benefits Recipiency Rates with Special Attention to the Barriers Faced by Women and Part-Time Workers, identifies those women and men disqualified from insurance due to seven screening factors and concludes that women are much less likely than unemployed men to receive UI benefits.

Family

Education and Job Training Build Strong Families (Fact Sheet) This Fact sheet demonstrates that improving the home life of children begins with expanding the opportunities and skills of the parents.

The Widening Gap: A New Book on the Struggle to Balance Work and Caregiving (RIB) This Research in Brief is based on selected findings from a new book by Jody Heymann, The Widening Gap: Why America's Working Families are in Jeopardy and What Can be done About It. The book reveals the failure of our nation's employer-based support system to help families meet their caregiving responsibilities.

Family Leave for Low-Income Working Women: Providing Paid Leave Though Temporary Disability Insurance - The New Jersey Case (RIB) summarizes a research project that examined the proposals in New Jersey for paid family and medical leave programs. It discusses the policy context in which these programs are being considered and details the technical considerations behind estimating the cost of providing family-leave insurance.

Paid Family and Medical Leave: Essential Support for Working Women and Men (Fact Sheet) Women's employment patterns are becoming more like men's, but public policies and employers have not filled in the gap between the time and care that families need and the time workers have available to meet those needs.

Paid Family and Medical Leave: Supporting Working Families in Illinois (Testimony) Testimony to the Subcommittee on Unemployment Insurance for the New Workforce on the issue of paid family and medical leave.

Equal Pay for Working Families (RIB) An investigation into the size of the wage gap in the United States, as well as is in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.


Global Issues

Why Gender Matters in Understanding September 11: Women, Militarism, and Violence This paper analyses women's roles as victims, supporters, and opponents of violence, terrorism, and militarism and proposes policy recommendations from its findings. It outlines important links between economic development, violence, women's activism and peace-building efforts.

Health and Health Care

Making Birth Control More Accessible to Women: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Over-the-Counter Oral Contraceptives (Briefing Paper) A cost-benefit analysis to determine whether switching oral contraceptives to OTC status is more beneficial to women and society than continuing to regulate them as prescription drugs.

Disability Insurance. The IWPR report, An Assurance of the Potential for Extending Temporary Disability Insurance," funded by the Ford Foundation, looks into the technical feasibility and the costs and benefits of extending Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) to additional states. TDI can be used to pay for family care in addition to illness and disability, pregnancy, and childbirth. Findings were presented at a hearing of the U.S. Commission on Family and Medical Leave.

Preventive Health. An IWPR study, Preventive Health Services for Women: Benefits and Cost Effectiveness, uses financial and other data to measure the costs and benefits of eight preventive treatments for women. A resource kit of information for policymakers and activists emphasizes the need and effectiveness of preventive treatment and recommends that such measures be included in health care reform efforts.

Silicone Breast Implants.IWPR research in the area of silicone breast implants demonstrates the need for systematic, long-term studies that expand research to investigate other side effects and symptoms of implants to ensure that this surgical procedure is indeed a safe and healthy option for women.

Microenterprise and Small Business -- Poverty

Microenterprise and Poverty. IWPR, with help from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, has completed a study on self-employment as a strategy for alleviating poverty. The report, Microenterprise and Women: The Viability of Self-Employment as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty, analyzes the income earned through microenterprise and identifies the barriers to self-employment in past and current welfare regulations. A forthcoming new study, Microenterprise and Low-Income Families: Enhancing Income Packages as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty, further explores the strategy of microenterprise for self-sufficiency for low-income women and men.


Politics

Women's Status and Social Capital Across the States (Briefing Paper) This Briefing Paper analyzes the relationship between social capital and indicators of women's status. Using data from Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone and data collected by IWPR for its Status of Women in the States project, the paper assesses trends across the states on both dimensions. Overall, findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between levels of social capital and women's status.

Does Women's Representation in Elected Office Lead to Women-Friendly Policy? (RIB) This Research-in-Brief analyzes whether having more women in elected office is, in fact, associated with more women-friendly policy in the United States. It does so by examining whether variations in women's levels of elected representation coincide with trends in women-friendly policy across the 50 states, based on an evaluation of data from IWPR's work on the The Status of Women in the States.

Come Together: Progressives After 9-11 (Speech Pamphlet) Remarks given to the Fourth Annual EARN (Economic Analysis Research Network) Conference in Lisle, IL on October 18, 2001 by Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation.

Women's Community Involvement: The Effects of Money, Safety, Parenthood, and Friends (RIB) This Research-in-Brief suggests that gender plays an important role in determining who participates in the United States. Women choose to participate, or not to, for different reasons than men. Efforts to increase civic participation by both sexes need to take these differences into account if levels of civic and political participation are to increase in the United States.

The Political Glass Ceiling: Gender, Strategy and Incumbency in U.S. House Elections, 1978-1998 Using data collected from primary and general House elections from 1978 to 1998, this paper analyzes trends in women's representation and explores factors related to the rate of integration of women into elected office.

2000 Status of Women in the States (Report) This report is part of an ongoing research project conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research to establish baseline measures of the status of women in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This report presents data for each state on 30 component indicators as well as five composite indices that capture the states' rankings in each of the five domains: Political Participation, Employment and Earnings, Economic Autonomy, Reproductive Rights, and Health and Well-Being.

Overview of Status of Women in the States (RIB) This fact sheet describes how selected measures of women's rights and equality vary among the states. It summarizes data from the IWPR report, The Status of Women in the States, 3rd edition, which presents data for each state on 30 component indicators as well as five composite indices that capture the states' rankings in each of the five domains: Political Participation, Employment and Earnings, Economic Autonomy, Reproductive Rights, and Health and Well-Being.

Transforming the Political Agenda: Gender Differences in Bill Sponsorship on Women's Issues (RIB) This Research-in-Brief summarizes an article by Michele Swers, Ph.D., Mary Washington College, presented at Women Transforming Congress: Gender Analyses of Institutional Life, a conference sponsored by the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma, April 2000. Dr. Swers analyses bill sponsorship patterns during the 103rd and 104th Congresses in order to examine gender differences in attention to legislation concerning women's issues. Dr. Swers finds that willingness to support and advocate for women's issues bills is constrained by characteristics of the political and institutional context.

Women's Political Participation. Forthcoming research by IWPR will center around women's political participation and representation. Potential topics include: factors that determine whether women will vote; factors influencing gender differences in political attitudes and choices, otherwise known as the "gender gap," and how these differences influence voting behavior or governing decisions; the effects of women's voting behavior on electoral outcomes; the impact of female elected officials on electoral politics; and factors shaping the effectiveness of commissions on women and other women's policy groups and coalitions.

Social Security

Social Security Reform and Women. IWPR research notes that women are heavily reliant on social security benefits due to different patterns of labor force participation and thus especially vulnerable to reform. IWPR reports highlight the importance of safeguards for women and the effects that even moderate reforms will have on women's ability to collect benefits. New IWPR research is also investigating social security benefits and spousal benefits in other industrialized countries, including Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.


Socioeconomic Status of Women

The Status of Women in the States. The Status of Women in the States is part of an ongoing research project to assess baseline measures of the status of women in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The effort is part of a larger IWPR Economic Policy Education Program, funded by the Ford Foundation, which aims to enhance the ability of advocates and policymakers at the state level to address women's socioeconomic status.
Women's Economic Policy Agenda. IWPR's major educational campaign, the Women's Economic Policy Agenda, addresses women's economic issues and targets the administration, Congress, women's leaders, and the media. Funded by the Ford Foundation, IWPR activities include, but are not limited to: IWPR Director Heidi Hartmann co-chairs the Commission on Women's Voices for the Economy, which brings together women leaders working on economic issues affecting women at the state level; Hartmann participates in the Economists' Policy Group on Women's Issues, which unveiled a welfare reform plan, Help for Working Parents; and IWPR participates on the affirmative action, labor law, and welfare task forces of the Council of Presidents of national women's organizations.


Socioeconomic Status of Women
Health and Health Care

Socioeconomic Status and Health. Currently, IWPR is analyzing the Commonwealth Survey of Women's Health data to study the impact of poverty, income, education, and work status on the health of low-income women and the extent to which income level, educational attainment, and employment status predict women's health.


Violence Against Women

Domestic Violence. IWPR research on domestic violence, conducted in collaboration with Victim Services and the Domestic Violence Training Project, aims to assess the social cost of domestic violence. The analysis will assess direct and indirect costs to society and the cost-effectiveness of intervention. The project will also consider that the range of problems and services contributing to the existence and costs of domestic violence.


Welfare Reform

Marriage Promotion & Low-Income Communities: An Examination of Real Needs & Real Solutions (Briefing Paper) This analyses points out various obstacles that may arise when using marriage promotion as a means of poverty elevation and suggests alternatives to moving women and their families out of poverty, such as income and work supports and education and job training.

Disabilities Among Children and Mothers in Low-Income Families (RIB) This Research-in-Brief presents selected findings from an IWPR analysis examining disabilities among children and low-income families. The findings indicate that single mothers receiving TANF are more likely than other low-income mothers to have a child with a disability. Furthermore, they themselves are more likely to have a disability.

Life After Welfare Reform: Low-Income Single Parent Families, Pre- and Post-TANF (RIB) This Research-in-Brief is based on selected findings from a forthcoming Institute for Women's Policy Research study, Life After Welfare Reform: The Characteristics, Work, and Well Being of Low-Income Single Parent Families, Pre- and Post-PRWORA. The findings in this study underscore the need to make improvements to the welfare system to address gender and racial inequities and focus on poverty reduction.

Marriage and Poverty: An Annotated Bibliography (Bibliography) This annotated bibliography is designed to provide researchers, policymakers, advocates, and the general public with an overview of the debate and research surrounding the promotion of marriage as a solution to reducing poverty. In addition to newspaper articles familiarizing the reader with the current debate, topics covered in this bibliography include: economic insecurity and single motherhood, child welfare and single motherhood, factors that influence marital decisions, race and family formation, the conservative and feminist perspectives, and current policy proposals.

Job Training and Education Fight Poverty - Fact Sheet The current federal welfare law limits the availability of education and training programs. The reauthorization of the federal Temporary Assistance to Need Families Block Grant offers an opportunity to make job training and education a central focus of welfare. This Fact Sheet is a synthesis of the data about benefits of these programs and makes recommendations on incorporating them into the current law.

Utilizing Workforce Investment Act Programs & TANF to Provide Education and Training Opportunities to Reduce Poverty Among Low-Income Women (Testimony) This transcript of Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness discusses the importance of coordination of the Workforce Investment Act and TANF programs.

Feminist Perspectives on TANF Reauthorization: An Introduction to Key Issues for the Future of Welfare Reform (Briefing Paper) The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the key issues and goals that are emerging in TANF reauthorization discussions and to consider what a feminist agenda for TANF reauthorization might look like. The paper begins with an overview of the key elements and impacts of TANF, followed by a discussion of some critical TANF reauthorization issues and advocacy goals, and closes with some thoughts on how these issues and goals relate to feminist understandings of women's poverty and welfare reform.

Working First But Working Poor: The Need for Education and Training Following Welfare Reform (Report & Executive Summary) This report by IWPR, funded by the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, reveals a pattern of gender segregation in referrals to job training programs that could increase women's hourly wages by as much as a third.

Today's Women Workers: Shut Out of Yesterday's Unemployment Insurance System (Fact Sheet) This Fact Sheet discusses two aspects of the UI system that prevent many women from receiving the UI benefits they have earned. It also reviews policy changes that would extend support of this fundamental employment-based program to more working women.

The Georgia Unemployment Insurance System: Overcoming Barriers for Low-Wage, Part-Time & Women Workers (Report by NELP & IWPR) This report examines both the "benefits" side and the "financing" side of Georgia's UI program. In addition, the report surveys the specific feature of the Georgia laws that contribute to the problems of access to the UI program.

Unemployment Insurance and Welfare Reform: Fair Access to Economic Supports for Low-Income Working Women (RIB). Unemployment Insurance is not fully accessible to women and low-wage workers, and this unequal access particularly disadvantages welfare recipients. Because former welfare recipients tend to get unstable jobs, equitable access to UI will be critical to preventing excessive hardship between spells of employment.

Women and Unemployment Insurance (Fact Sheet). This fact sheet describes the UI system and discusses specific features of the system that tend to deny benefits to low-income women. It also proposes a set of recommendations for changing UI to provide better income security for unemployed women.

Unemployment Insurance Reform for the New Workforce (Report). This report is intended to capture the exchange of ideas and strategies discussed at a forum of over 50 unemployment insurance advocates, researchers and policymakers brought together to discuss improving unemployment insurance policies for women, low-wage and contingent workers.

The Effects of Welfare Reform on Housing Stability and Homelessness: Current Research Findings, Legislation, and Programs (RIB). Early findings on the effects of welfare reform suggest that benefit loss makes it more difficult for families to pay rent and can worsen hardship. Improved access to affordable, safe, and stable housing would decrease hardship and improve families' chances of moving successfully from welfare to work.

Low-Wage Work and Welfare Reform. IWPR, with help from the Ford and Russel Sage foundations, continually investigates the survival strategies of single mothers through various stages of welfare reform. A 1995 report, Welfare that Works: The Working Lives of AFDC Recipients, illustrates that nearly half of women who receive welfare during a two-year period also work, and that welfare functions as a supplement to income.

Welfare Reform Research Coordination Project. In response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, IWPR is coordinating a research project to investigate potential barriers to employment and self-sufficiency and the impact of reform on women's access to higher education and job training. A team of researchers, service providers, advocates, and policymakers will develop a research agenda and comparable projects to study the effects of welfare reform on women. IWPR also produces a monthly newsletter, IWPR Welfare Reform Network News, that reviews topical issues and summarizes current research and policy.

Click here for more information on recent projects. 

 

 

Reports & Resources

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action in Employment: An Overview - A Briefing Paper, Jodi Burns (1996). An analysis of the employment and wages of white women, black men, and black women during the time period in which affirmative action policies were implemented.

"The Effectiveness of Equal Employment Opportunity Policies," Heidi Hartmann and M.V. Lee Badgett (1995). A chapter published in Economic Perspectives on Affirmative Action, edited by Margaret C. Simms, it reviews the major quantitative research literature assessing the effectiveness of federal equal employment opportunity policies; reviews federal policy and legal requirements for firms; discusses papers that examine how policies affect firms' performance and profits; and suggests questions for further research.

Child Care

The Economic Realities of Child Care, Heidi Hartmann (1988). Testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources suggesting an analysis of public subsidies for child care and public regulation of child care providers.

Tax Benefits for Low-Income Families with Children: Two Competing Proposals, Parts I and II - A Briefing Paper, Heidi Hartmann and Celia Star Gody (1990). Reports that low-income families with child care expenses are likely to receive greater benefits from the Senate bill, the Act for Better Child Care, than the House bill, the Early Childhood Education and Development Act.

Wages and Salaries of Child Care Workers: The Economic and Social Implications of Raising Child Care Workers' Salaries, Diana M. Pearce (1988). Testimony before the Subcommittee on Children, Drugs, and Alcoholism, describing who are the child care workers, their salaries, reasons the salaries are so low, and the effects of low salaries.

Economic Literacy

The Impact of Social Security Reform on Women (1998).

Arlington Hill Working Paper, Arlington Hill Working Group (1993). Working paper on a meeting of 50 women leaders who crafted an economic agenda for President Clinton, including demands for a flexible work schedule, equal pay for equal work, expansion of women's entrepreneurship, and a restructuring of the nation's income support system.

A Feminist Perspective on the Federal Budget: A Summary - A Briefing Paper, Heidi Hartmann (1996). Argues for an adjustment in public policy to match the new realities of a narrowing economic gap between men and women and includes a feminist analysis of federal expenditures.

Research-In-Brief:
Transition Documents and Economic Agendas (1993).

Employment Issues

IWPR. 2010. Gender Wage Gap Narrows only Slightly Even though Women’s Earnings are More Important than Ever to American Families.

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C350.pdf

IWPR. 2010. Women and Men's Employment and Unemployment in the Great Recession.

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C373womeninrecession.pdf

IWPR. 2010. The Workforce Investment Act and Women's Progress: Does WIA Funded Training Reinforce Sex Segregation in the Labor Market and the Gender Wage Gap?

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C372WIA.pdf

Improving Employment Opportunities for Women, Heidi Hartmann and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1991). Testimony describing the importance of women's earnings for family survival; wage and job discrimination; and the effectiveness of civil rights and anti-discrimination policies.

Pay Equity as a Remedy for Wage Discrimination: Success in State Governments, Heidi Hartmann and Stephanie Aaronson (1994). Testimony concerning the Fair Pay Act of 1994 before the Subcommittee on Select Education and Civil Rights that argues that the Fair Pay Act would be an effective way to raise women's wages to a level comparable to men's and would provide a better standard of living for women workers.

Looking Toward the Workplace of the 21st Century: Closing the Policy Gap for Working Women, Heidi Hartmann (1996). A lecture given at George Washington University, Washington, DC, March 28, 1996, as part of the Annual Nancy Yulee Lecture Series on women's labor force participation, women's educational attainment, the wage gap, and family roles, as well as public policy changes that could help to alleviate gender inequities.

Pay Equity and Women's Wage Increases: Success in the States, A Model for the Nation, Heidi Hartmann and Stephanie Aaronson. A paper summarizing the results from The Economic Effects of Pay Equity in the States, a multi-year project that examined pay equity programs in 20 states' civil services.

What Do Unions Do For Women?, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Nancy Collins (1994). Presented at the conference Labor Law Reform: The Forecast for Working Women, this report explores the impact of union membership on wages and job stability.

Why Privatizing Government Services Would Hurt Women Workers (Report) This report analyzes the implications of privitization for women workers, especially those employed in low-end occupations. Data analyzed show that women disproportionately depend on the public sector for jobs that pay decent wages and offer benefits.

The Benefits of Unionization for Workers in the Retail Food Industry (Report and RIB)This report is an analysis of the benefits of unionization in the retail food industry. This project compared the wages and benefits of unionized and nonunionized workers in the retail food industry, particularly for women, single mothers, cashiers, part-time workers, and part-time women workers.

The Impact of the Glass Ceiling and Structural Change on Minorities and Women, Lori B. Shaw, Dell P. Champlin, Heidi Hartmann, and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1993). Discusses the problems and opportunities for minorities and women as a result of corporate restructuring.

Increasing Working Mothers' Earnings, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1991). Viewing working mothers as primary earners, this study finds that the best indicators of women's wages are human capital and job characteristics.

Increasing Working Mothers' Earnings, Executive Summary, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1991).

Women in Telecommunications: Exception to the Rule of Low Pay for Women's Work, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann, with Linda Andrews and Taleria Fuller (1992). Analysis of women in telecommunications, including racial and gender comparisons of wages and union membership.

Raises and Recognition: Secretaries, Clerical Workers, and the Union Wage Premium, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1990). Describes strategies to increase wages, secure work and family leave, provide flexible scheduling, and encourage career development.

Low Wages for Secretaries and Clerical Workers in Indiana: A State Without a Collective Bargaining Agreement, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1990). Examines the wages and family incomes of secretarial clerical workers, women's largest occupational category.

Unemployment Insurance: Barriers to Access for Women and Part-Time Workers, Young-Hee Yoon, Roberta Spalter-Roth, and Marc Baldwin (1995). Discusses the findings that only 30 percent of unemployed women received unemployment insurance and that women and part-time workers were most likely to be excluded from eligibility as a result of high quarter earnings requirements.

Mothers, Children, and Low-Wage Work: The Ability to Earn a Family Wage, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Linda Andrews (1990). Describes women's wage levels by race, ethnicity, and family responsibilities, and receipt of government income support by family type.

Research-In-Brief:

How Women Can Earn a Living Wage: The Effects of Pay Equity Remedies and a Higher Minimum Wage (1997.
The Wage Gap, Updated Tables (1995).

Pay Equity and the Wage Gap: Success in the States (1995).

Restructuring Work: How Have Women and Minorities Fared? (1995).

What Do Unions Do For Women? (1994).

Increasing Working Mothers' Earnings: The Importance of Race, Family, and Job (1992).

Part-Time Opportunities for Professionals and Managers, Shannon Garrett (1998).

Raises and Recognition: Secretaries, Clerical Workers, and the Union Wage Premium (1990).

Unemployment Insurance: Barriers to Access for Women and Part-Time Workers (1995).

Women and the Minimum Wage (1995).

Mothers, Children, and Low-Wage Work: The Ability to Earn a Family Wage (1991).

Low-Wage Work, Health Benefits, and Family Well-Being (1990).

Temporary Work (1990).

Entrepreneurship/Microenterprise

Contingent Work: Its Consequences for Economic Well-Being, the Gendered Division of Labor, and the Welfare State, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1995). Paper discussing findings that single mothers are the group most likely to be contingent workers and the most likely to receive AFDC.

Micro-Enterprise and Women: The Viability of Self-Employment as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Enrique Soto, and Lily Zandniapour, with Jill Braunstein (1994). Discusses the use of micro-enterprise as a strategy to enhance the income packages of AFDC recipients and other low-income women.

Exploring the Characteristics of Self-Employment and Part-Time Work Among Women, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Lois Shaw (1993). Compares male and female workers' job schedules and economic well-being, and examines how well alternative forms of employment meet women's increased needs to support themselves and their families.

Exploring the Characteristics of Self-Employment and Part-Time Work Among Women: Executive Summary, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Lois Shaw (1993).

Research in Brief:

The Economic Impact of Contingent Work on Women and Their Families (1995).

Micro-Enterprise and Women - The Viability of Self-Employment as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty, Quantitative Findings (1994).

Self-Employment Versus Wage and Salary Jobs: How Do Women Fare? (1993).

IWPR Study Examines the Economic Benefits of Alternative Employment Patterns for Male and Female Workers (1993).

Feminist Thought and Scholarship

Third Annual Women's Policy Research Conference Proceedings (1994). A collection of papers from the conference on topics such as the social construction of race, gender, and nativity; globalization and immigration; the policy challenges of gender, diversity, and international exchange; strategies for meeting women's basic needs; and employment opportunity and economic restructuring.

Second Annual Women's Policy Research Conference Proceedings (1992). A collection of papers from the conference, including topics such as health care issues from a feminist perspective; marriage, reproduction, and the family; health care and public policy; employment issues; and the public policy process.

First Annual Women's Policy Research Conference Proceedings (1990). A collection of papers from the conference addressing issues such as feminist theory for feminist advocacy; changes in the status of women; welfare reform, family budgets, and child support; international human rights and women's rights; employment equity; family care; the changing structure of poverty; economic development and women's employment; and work and family interconnections.

Health and Health Care

Costs to Women and Their Families of Childbirth and the Lack of Parental Leave, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1987). Testimony before the Subcommittee on Children, Families, Drugs, and Alcoholism, U.S. Senate, using research from IWPR's study, Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave.

Women's Access to Health Insurance, Heidi Hartmann with Young-Hee Yoon, Stephanie Aaronson, Lois Shaw, and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1994). Testimony before the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, on the research showing that women use and pay for health care services more and are more responsible for ensuring their families' health, but women also fall through the cracks of the current health care system.

Safety of Silicone Breast Implants, Diana Zuckerman (1998).

Women's Access to Health Insurance, Young-Hee Yoon, Stephanie Aaronson, Heidi Hartmann, Lois Shaw, and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1994). Discusses the paradox that, compared to men, women use and pay for health care services more and are more responsible for ensuring their family's health, but many women have no health insurance.

Women's Access to Health Insurance, Executive Summary, Young-Hee Yoon, Stephanie Aaronson, Heidi Hartmann, Lois Shaw, and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1994).

Women of Color and Access to Health Care - A Briefing Paper, Young-Hee Yoon (1994). Examines the disparities in access to health insurance and the barriers women of color face in the current health care system.

Preventive Health Services for Women: Benefits and Cost-Effectiveness, Stephanie Aaronson and Nicoletta Karam, with Ellen Cutler (1994). An analysis of existing medical literature and an overview of the benefits and cost-effectiveness of eight preventive health services for women.

Women's Health in the United States, Heidi Hartmann (1991). Presented at a Congressional staff briefing by the Campaign for Women's Health, "Women and Health Care in the United States - A Women's Health Agenda for Health Policy of the ‘90s," and includes tables on causes of mortality by gender, race, and age.

Research-In-Briefs:
Measuring the Costs of Domestic Violence Against Women (1996).

Summary Charts of Documented Cost Savings of Selected Women's Health Services (1994).

Health Services Fact Sheets:

Sexually Transmitted Disease Screening (1994).

Prenatal Care (1994).

Osteoporosis Screening and Treatment (1994).

Mental Health Screening and Treatment (1994).

Family Planning Services (1994).

Domestic Violence Screening (1994).

Cervical Cancer Screening and Treatment (1994).

Breast Cancer Screening (1994).

Microenterprise and Small Business

Micro-Enterprise Catalysts and Barriers: Voices of Low-Income and Poor Women (1994).

Micro-Enterprise and Women - The Viability of Self-Employment as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty, Quantitative Findings (1994).

Micro-Enterprise and Women: The Viability of Self-Employment as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Enrique Soto, and Lily Zandniapour with Jill Braunstein (1994). Discusses the impact of micro-enterprise as a strategy to enhance the income packages of AFDC recipients and other low-income women.

Statistics on Women -- Socioeconomic Status of Women

The Status of Women in the States (1996). This IWPR report, funded by the Ford Foundation and part of a larger IWPR Economic Policy Education Program, establishes baseline measures for the status of women in each state to improve the ability of advocates and policymakers at the state level to address women's economic issues.

The Status of Women in California (1996). An IWPR individual state report resulting from the above project.

The Status of Women in the District of Columbia (1996).

The Status of Women in Georgia (1996).

The Status of Women in Illinois (1996).

The Status of Women in Maine (1996).

The Status of Women in Maryland (1996).

The Status of Women in Michigan (1996).

The Status of Women in New Jersey (1996).

The Status of Women in New Mexico (1996).

The Status of Women in New York (1996).

The Status of Women in North Carolina (1996).

The Status of Women in Texas (1996).

The Status of Women in Virginia (1996).

The Status of Women in Washington (1996).

Status of Women in the States: Fact Sheet (1996).

The Status of Women in California: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in the District of Columbia: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Georgia: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Illinois: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Maine: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Maryland: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Michigan: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in New Jersey: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in New Mexico: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in New York: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in North Carolina: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Texas: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Virginia: Highlights (1996).

The Status of Women in Washington: Highlights (1996).

Reproductive Rights

Resources for Reproductive Rights Research, edited by Stephanie Aaronson (1993). A directory of researchers in the areas of abortion rights, access to family planning, involuntary sterilization, and prenatal care.


Violence Against Women Measuring the Costs of Domestic Violence Against Women and the Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions: An Initial Assessment and Proposals for Further Research, Louise Laurence and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1996). Designs a research strategy and develops an economic model for measuring the direct and indirect costs of domestic violence to society, and assesses the cost-effectiveness of intervention.
Welfare Reform

The Labor Market, the Working Poor, and Welfare Reform: Policy Suggestions for the Clinton Administration, Heidi Hartmann and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1992). Suggests strategies for alleviating poverty by focusing on the low-wage labor market and government transfers.

Supporting Work: The Relation Between Employment Opportunities and Financial and Other Support Programs, Roberta Spalter-Roth with Beverly Burr (1993). Testimony before the Working Group on Welfare Reform, Family Support, and Independence on the employment patterns of single mothers with a history of AFDC receipt.

Welfare that Works: Increasing AFDC Mothers' Employment and Income, Roberta Spalter-Roth (1995). Testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, on research on the economic survival strategies of single mothers who receive AFDC.

How Much Can Child Support Provide? Welfare, Family Income and Child Support, Kristine Witkowski (1999).

Welfare Reform Research: A Resource Guide for Researchers and Advocates (1998). A guide for researchers who are interested in how women and their families are affected by welfare reform policies, and for advocates who want to use research to improve policies affecting low-income women.

Combining Work and Welfare: An Alternative Anti-Poverty Strategy (1990). Discusses the concept of "income packaging," combining paid employment, welfare receipt, and income from other family members.

Food Stamps and AFDC: A Double Life-Line for Low-Income Working Single Mothers, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Enrique Soto (1996). Examines the importance of food stamps in the income packages of single mothers.

Welfare That Works: The Working Lives of AFDC Recipients, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Beverly Burr, Heidi Hartmann, and Lois Shaw (1995). Analyzes the factors that increase the likelihood that single mothers receiving AFDC also engage in paid employment, the kinds of jobs they obtain, and their ability to escape poverty through a combination of work and welfare.

"The Clinton Round: An Analysis of the Impact of Current Proposals to ‘Free' Single Mothers from Welfare Dependence," Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann with Beverly Burr and Jill Braunstein (1994). An IWPR paper presented at the meeting of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles, CA. Contains estimates and analysis of AFDC recipients.

"Income Insecurity: The Failure of Unemployment Insurance to Reach Working AFDC Mothers," Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Beverly Burr (1994). An IWPR paper presented at the Conference on Employment Law and Unemployment Compensation, Washington, DC. Discusses the idea that Unemployment Insurance as currently structured is not an effective substitute for AFDC in providing income security for single mothers.

"Making Work Pay: The Real Employment Opportunities of Single Mothers Participating in the AFDC Program," Roberta Spalter-Roth (1994). An IWPR paper and Congressional briefing using IWPR's research on income packaging of work and welfare to evaluate time-limited welfare reform proposals and their effect on women.

"AFDC Recipients as Caregivers and Workers: A Feminist Approach to Income Security Policy for Women," Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1994). An IWPR paper published in Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State, and Society; using IWPR's research on the economic survival strategies of single mothers who receive AFDC, it examines whether current employment-based welfare reform proposals will aid AFDC recipients in bringing their families out of poverty. "Dependence on Men, the Market, or the State: The Rhetoric and Reality of Welfare Reform," Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1993). A paper published in the Journal of Applied Social Science, it examines the dichotomy of welfare reform rhetoric - the negative moral implications of receiving AFDC vs. the positive implications of income dependence on the labor market or child support, and critiques the underlying assumptions of current welfare reform proposals that AFDC and paid employment are mutually exclusive and that the proper goal of policy should be to enforce transition of welfare to work.

"The Real Employment Opportunities of Women Participating in AFDC: What the Market Can Provide," Heidi Hartmann and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1993). An IWPR paper presented at Women and Welfare Reform: Women's Poverty, Women's Opportunities, and Women's Welfare, A Policy Conference to Break Myths and Create Solutions, it presents findings and policy strategies based on the ongoing IWPR research of "income packaging" by single mothers in the AFDC program and of the effect of time-limited welfare reform proposals.

Combining Work and Welfare, An Alternative Anti-Poverty Strategy, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Linda Andrews (1992). Discusses myths about welfare recipients and the consensus that welfare perpetuates dependence.

"Mothers, Children, and Low-Wage Work: The Ability to Earn a Family Wage," Roberta Spalter-Roth, Heidi Hartmann, and Linda Andrews (1990). A paper presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Session on Women and Public Policy, August 1990, and published in Sociology and the Public Agenda, it describes women's Resources, U.S. Senate, arguing that public policy assumes a predominantly white male wage levels by race, ethnicity, and family responsibilities and receipt of government income support by family type.

Women and Welfare Reform: Women's Poverty, Women's Opportunities, and Women's Welfare Conference Proceedings, edited by Gwendolyn Mink (1994). Sixteen papers focusing on welfare myths and women's lives, welfare reform proposals, women's employment opportunities, and alternatives to welfare.

Research-In-Brief:

What the United States Can Learn From France: A Summary of an Important New Book on Child Poverty (1997).

Child Care Usage Among Low-Income and AFDC Families (1996).

Food Stamp Participation and the Economic Well-Being of Single Mothers (1995).

Welfare to Work: The Job Opportunities of AFDC Recipients (1995).

Few Welfare Moms Fit the Stereotypes (1994; updated January 1995).

Combining Work and Welfare, an Alternative Anti-Poverty Strategy (1992).

How Much Will a Public Service Employment Program Reduce Welfare Costs? (1991).

Mothers, Children, and Low-Wage Work: The Ability to Earn a Family Wage (1991).

Work and Family

Women's Work, Family Diversity, and Employment Instability: Public Policy Responses to New Realities, Heidi Hartmann (1991). Testimony before the Committee on Labor and Human workforce, traditional families, and stable employment patterns, and suggests policy to reflect the increasing diversity in the workforce, family structure, and instability in employment.

The Dual Disadvantage of Displaced Homemakers: Findings from the Study, Low-Wage Jobs and Workers: Trends and Options for Change, Roberta Spalter-Roth (1989). Testimony before the Subcommittee on Employment and Productivity examining trends in the low-wage workforce including characteristics of low-wage workers, their relation to family poverty, and factors of upward mobility to provide a basis for policy development.

Improving Women's Status in the Workforce: The Family Issue of the Future, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1991). Testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Productivity, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, on research showing that women's wages are becoming more, not less, important for families' economic well-being.

Providing Paid Family Leave, Stephanie Aaronson (1995). Testimony before the U.S. Commission on Family and Medical Leave estimating the cost of expanding California's Temporary Disability Insurance Program and the feasibility of using the model as a means for paid family leave to workers.

Equal Pay for Working Families: A joint research project by the AFL-CIO and the Institute for Women's Policy Research (1999).

On Common Ground: Prominent Women Talk About Work and Family, with introduction and interviews conducted by Diana Zuckerman (1999).

"A Feminist Approach to Policy Making for Women and Families," Heidi Hartmann and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1994). Presented at the Seminar on Future Directions for American Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, this paper argues that public policy has not responded to an increasingly "androgynous worker/nurturer" in which women gain in education, work, and financial responsibility, and men take on more family roles.

Women, Work, and Households in Ciudad Juarez, Gay Young and Beatriz E. Vera (1993). A study of women's empowerment focusing on why women choose to work in the maquilla industry, why they decide to leave, and how the decisions are made within the context of their households.

Raising Women's Earnings: The Family Issue of the 1990s, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1992). Explores the impact on women's lives of the increase in women's economic responsibility for their families and the increase of women with children living poverty.

"Working Parents: Differences, Similarities, and Implications for a Policy Agenda," Heidi Hartmann and Roberta Spalter-Roth (1990, revised 1991). Presented at Women, Work, and the Family: Advancing the Policy and Research Agenda at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Columbia University, this paper describes working parents and their children in the U.S.; compares the economic situation, race, and ethnicity of the families; and explores their needs to consider how they may best be addressed by private and public policies.

Demographic and Economic Trends: Implications for Family Life and Public Policy, Heidi Hartmann (1990). Explores the history and implications of growing labor force participation by women and argues that this demographic trend is a result of women actively seeking greater economic autonomy and responsibility.

Children and Families in the District of Columbia: Child Care Needs, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Enrique Soto, and Teeshla Morgan (1995). Information on general trends in child care use and costs, an overview of the need for child care facilities, an examination of the number of children served, the cost and types of services, funding sources, and characteristics of child care workers.

Temporary Disability Insurance: A Modal to Provide Income Security Over the Life Cycle, Heidi Hartmann, Young-Hee Yoon, Roberta Spalter-Roth, and Lois Shaw (1995). Argues for the need to change the traditional social welfare system to allow for demographic changes and family diversity, and to take into account women's needs for income replacement across the life cycle.

Science and Politics and the "Dual Vision" of Feminist Policy Research: The Example of Family and Medical Leave, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1988, revised 1991). A discussion of using standards of mainstream social science for validity, reliability, objectivity, and replicatibility while guided by the principles of a feminist methodology with the example of a cost-benefit study on parental leave and childcare by IWPR.

Improving Employment Opportunities for Women Workers: An Assessment of the Ten-Year Economic and Legal Impact of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Claudia Withers, and Sheila R. Gibbs, with Linda Andrews and Celia Gody (1990). A report using a multi-method, cross-disciplinary research effort to study the economic, legal, and political effects of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave, Roberta Spalter-Roth and Heidi Hartmann (1990). Estimates of the costs to workers and to taxpayers of the lack of a national family and medical leave policy, and of the differential effects on workers by gender and race.

Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans in the States of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave. Summaries for each state.

Research-In-Brief:

Do Mothers Stay on the Job? What Employers Can Do to Increase Retention after Childbirth (1996).

Are Mommies Dropping Out of the Labor Force? NO! (1992).

Using Temporary Disability Insurance to Provide Paid Family Leave: A Comparison with the Family and Medical Leave Act (1995).

What is Temporary Disability Insurance? (1993).

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978: A Ten-Year Progress Report (1992).

Unnecessary Losses to African American Workers (1991).

Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave (1990).

Briefing Papers on Social Security:

Women and Social Security: Benefit Types and Eligibility (2010)

Social Security: Vital to Retirement Security for 35 Million Women and Men (2010)

Fact Sheet on Social Security:

“Who Are Social Security Beneficiaries?” (2010)

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

 

Internships

Fall 2010 & Spring 2011:

  • Research Internship
  • Communications and Outreach Internship
  • Development Internship
  • Administrative Internship

*Applications for Fall internships are due August 23 and due December 14 for Spring internships.

 

Staff Position

Director of Research

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) seeks an experienced social science researcher with excellent management, program and business development, and public presentation skills to strengthen and lead the strategic growth of its policy research portfolio.

*Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

 

 

 

 


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515 South Street
Waltham, MA 02453
Ph. (781) 736-8100
Fx. (781) 736-8117
http://www.brandeis.edu/centers/wsrc
jparlon@brandeis.edu
reinharz@brandeis.edu

The Women's Studies Research Center is an interdisciplinary think-and-action tank of faculty, staff and affiliated scholars. The WSRC provides researchers and artists with the opportunity to conduct studies, produce works of art, write books, and experiment with ideas, all of which address the basic concerns of women in the home, the workplace, the media and the economy. The goal of the WSRC is to build a self-governing community of feminist scholars - women and men - who enhance the university while undertaking research and initiating thoughtful cross-disciplinary projects of the highest quality.

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Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Shulamit Reinharz, Founding Director
E-mail: reinharz@brandeis.edu

Jessica Parlon, Assistant to Shulamit Reinharz
E-mail: jparlon@brandeis.edu

Sarah JM Hough-Napierata, Assistant Director
E-mail: shough@brandeis.edu

Rosa Di Virgilio Taormina, Scholars Program Director
E-mail: rdivir@brandeis.edu

Michele L'Heureux, Curator and Director of the Arts
E-mail: mlheur@brandeis.edu

Kristen Mullin, Student Scholar Partnership Program Coordinator
E-mail: mullin@brandeis.edu

Abby Rosenberg, Librarian
E-mail: asr@brandeis.edu

Areas of Expertise:

Access & Disparities, Advancing Women's Leadership, Arts & Activism, Awareness & Education, Barriers & Opportunities, Human Rights & Security, Discrimination, Culture & Identity, Family & Society, Religion & Spirituality, Women in History, Women's Movements, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Women's Networks, Work:life Balance

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

* The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute 

The WSRC houses The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) - the world's first university-based research institute devoted to the study of Jews and gender. The mission of HBI is to produce and promote scholarly and artistic projects and to build a strong, international network of Jewish women.

* Student-Scholar Partnership Program

The goal of the Student-Scholar Partnership is to match undergraduate women and men with scholars at the WSRC and faculty affiliated with the Women's Studies Program to work collaboratively on research or artistic projects. The emphasis of the program is to enable students and scholars/faculty to work collectively on projects that focus on women and women's issues in many different fields. Two unique aspects of the program include emphasis on mentoring and students' contributions to the projects. The program supports the important work that the scholars/faculty are conducting on women's lives and provides Brandeis undergraduates with a unique opportunity to work closely with established professionals in their field of interest.

* The Arts Program

The Arts Program creates a space for the display of and education about women's art. The Program presents exhibitions in the Kniznick Gallery with a particular focus on the display of women's artwork, and provide information on women artists and their achievements. The program also makes studio space, "a space of one's own," available to women artists, and offers educational opportunities and programming to Brandeis students, outside schools, and adult groups.

* The Scholars Program

The Scholars Program of the WSRC is an innovative and mutually supportive community of qualified scholars engaged in significant research and artistic endeavors. Working in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences and their intersections, our mission is to focus on questions related to women's lives and gender dynamics. The scholars make intellectual contributions to the local, national, and international communities and advance the social justice mission of the University.

* C-Change: National Initiative on Gender, Culture, & Leadership in Medicine 

The Women’s Studies Research Center, in partnership with five of the country’s leading medical schools, the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), and Brandeis’ Sociology Department is conducting a landmark study to better understand the intransigent under-representation of women and minority faculty in leadership and senior roles in academic medicine, and to develop effective solutions to the long-standing problem.  Recognizing the under-representation of women in leadership positions to be a problem in its own right but also a model for the marginalization of others in academic medicine, the study also examines lack of advancement for under-represented minority and generalist medical faculty.  The study is led by Dr. Linda Pololi, Senior Scientist and Scholar.
 
 
Founded and directed by WSRC Scholar, Paula Doress-Worters, The Ernestine Rose Society works to revive the legacy of "America's first feminist leader."  Recognizing Ernestine Rose's pioneering role in the first wave of feminism, the Society is committed to raising awareness about Ernestine, who did so much to promote women's rights in the United States and internationally. For more information about Ernestine Rose or the Ernestine Rose Society, please visit our website.
 
 
Founded by WSRC Resident Scholar, Liane Curtis, The Rebecca Clarke Society honors the life and work of composer and violist Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979). The Society encourages and supports performances, recordings, publications, writings, and scholarship concerning Clarke and her music.
 
 
The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, the nation’s first independent reporting center based at a university, was launched in September 2004.  Here, seasoned journalists (including WSRC Resident Scholar E.J. Graff, who heads the Institute’s Gender & Justice Project) investigate suspected injustices—and then take our results public, via mainstream and thought-leader publications, broadcasts, and web magazines. We identify, investigate, and cover urgent social issues that aren’t reported, are under-reported, or are mis-reported. We thereby help shape the nation’s public policy agenda. 
 
 
The WAGE Project, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to end wage discrimination against women in the American workplace in the near future.  Our nickname, WAGE, reminds us of the goal we pursue: Women Are Getting Even.  WAGE inspires and helps working women take the steps needed so that every woman is paid what she’s worth.  The organization is led by WSRC Scholar Evelyn F. Murphy, author of Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It
 

Reports & Resources

ReSearch - the e-zine of the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, where research, art and activism converge.

Adelman, Penina, Ali Feldman, and Shulamit Reinharz.The JGirl's Guide: The Young Jewish Woman's Handbook For Coming Of Age. 2005. Jewish Lights Publishing.

Reinharz, Shulamit. 2004. American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise. Brandeis University Press.  

 

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Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Scholars Program

The mission of the Scholars Program of the Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center is to be an innovative and mutually supportive community of Scholars engaged in research and artistic activity. Working in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences and their intersections, these researchers and artists focus on questions related to women’s lives and gender dynamics. Advancing the social justice mission of Brandeis University, Scholars contribute intellectually to the University as well as to the broader local, national and international communities.

Student Scholar Partnership

The WSRC Internship Program: Student-Scholar Partners (SSP), currently coordinated by Kristen Mullin, was launched in the spring of 1997 as a project of the Women’s Studies Program at Brandeis University.  Today, the Program continues as an important component of the Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC).  This paid internship opportunity is designed to give undergraduate students a unique learning experience by allowing them to work side by side with a Scholar or faculty member in an interdisciplinary environment.

 


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Pullman, WA 99164-4005
Ph. (509) 335-6849
Fx. (509) 335-4377
http://www.women.wsu.edu/
kim_barrett@wsu.edu


The Women's Resource Center is an integral part of Washington State University's commitment to equity and diversity. The Center works to promote a safe and supportive climate that enables women to engage as full and active participants within the university community. The Women's Resource Center helps transform the educational environment into a more inclusive and progressive institution by assisting, supporting, and mentoring women at Washington State University.

The Women's Resource Center develops programs to celebrate women's diversity and contributions, while actively confronting societal challenges and obstacles through activism and working for change. Our programs address gender, race, class, and their intersections, recognizing the relevance of these inter-related social issues. Offering resources and educational programs to members of our university, we engage the larger constituencies to act as change agents for a more diverse and inclusive educational system.

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Principal Staff

Turea Erwin, Director & NEW Leadership Inland Northwest Coordinator
Ph. (509) 335-8200
E-mail: turea_erwin@wsu.edu

Kim Barrett, Program Support Specialist
Ph. (509) 335-4386
E-mail: kim_barrett@wsu.edu

Mary Anderson, Safety Advocate and Volunteer Coordinator
Ph. (509) 335-1856
E-mail: mpanderson@wsu.edu

Suzanne Hamada, YWCA Coordinator
Ph. (509) 335-2572
E-mail: sdhamada@wsu.edu

Areas of Expertise:

Access & Disparities, Advancing Women's Leadership, Domestic and Workplace Violence, Awareness & Education, Barriers & Opportunities, Diversity & Inclusion, Culture & Identity, Family & Society, Mentoring, Title IX, Women in History, Women's Movements, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Women's Networks, Violence

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Coalition for Women Students

CWS has been the leader in making relevant social and political issues prominent at WSU. Programming has been intended to educated students on foreign and domestic affairs since the 1920s. CWS has always focused on events for students and has become involved in political activities and advocating for safety, equity, and diversity on campus. Currently, CWS is comprised of five groups: The Association for Pacific and Asian Women, Black Women's Caucus, Mujeres Unidas, Native American Women's Association, and the YWCA of WSU. CWS also funds two other organizations: the Women's Transit Program and the NEW Leadership Summer Institute. CWS symbolizes unity and diversity by representing the interests of women from diverse cultural background. CWS and its coalition groups sponsor programs and activities that heighten students' awareness of issues pertaining to class, race and gender.

Take Back the Night 

The Take Back the Night march is an annual event, bringing together the Pullman and WSU Community in solidarity against violence. It begins on the Glenn Terrell Mall and winds around campus, ending near the Coliseum. A short candle-light vigil will follow the march, giving us a moment to reflect on the effects of violence on the lives of victims, survivors, family, friends, and the larger community. 

Women Making History

The Women's Resource Center assumes responsibility for coodinating the Women's History Month Celebration at Washington State University. A wide range of activities are organized and supported by many colleges, departments and student organizations. The Women's Resource Center also presents the Women's Recognition Luncheon during which the WSU Women of Distinction and Women of the year are honored. 

Commission on the Status of Women

Appointed by the President, the Commission on the Status of Women gathers data and makes recommendations on issues relevant to women at Washington State Unversity. The Commission prepares a five-year report, which serves as a framework for institutional change. As member of the Commission Executive Board, the Center provides guidance and on-going support for the Commission.

New Leadership

National Education for Women’s (NEW) Leadership Inland Northwest is a residential institute designed to empower college women to become involved in the political process. Participants interact with women from a variety of political and policy-making positions to develop their own concepts of leadership. To achieve full impact of the program and meet program graduation requirements, participants are expected to attend and actively engage in all scheduled activities and sessions.

Mom's Weekend

Mom's Weekend is a fun-packed tradition for families and friends of Washington State University students to honor their mothers and showcase their contributions to the University.

Women's Transit

Women's Transit Program is funded through the Coalition for Women Students with Student Services and Activities Fees. It is a program under the direction of the Women's Resource Center with Turea Erwin, Director, Mary Anderson, Program Coordinator, and two Student Assistants and around 160 Volunteers.

 

Reports & Resources

Commission on the Status of Women. 2000. The Staus of Women at Washington State University: Commission on the Status of Women Report to the President, 1995-2000 .The Commission prepares a five-year report, which serves as a framework for institutional change.

Women's Resource Center. 1999. HECB Gender Equity Report. The HECB Gender Equity Report assesses institutional compliance with TitleIX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in education programs receiving federal funds. At two-year intervals the Center prepares an assessment of the progress made in nine key areas including: access to higher education, athletics, career education, student employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassement/sexual assault, counseling services, parenting students.

Women's Resource Center. Sexual Assault Prevention Resource Guide. The Women's Resource Center publishes a Sexual Assault Prevention Resource Guide to provide general information about policies, programs, and services pertaining to sexual assault prevention, educational outreach, and survivor support. It is our intention to inform members of Washington State University and Pullman communities of the serious nature of sexual violence and its impact on our society. Sexual assault affects people regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, physical ability, ethnic origin, and economic status.

National Statistics on Women. 2007.

Women's Resource Center Newsletter

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Graduate Women in Science

The first GWIS chapter, Alpha, was started in Cornell, NY, while the second chapter (Beta) was in Madison, WI. These chapters are still in existence today, along with 16+ other chapters in the US and international. Members include graduate students, post docs, as well as the professionals in industry, or higher education. Disciplines are numerous, ranging from social scientists to basic scientists in all areas of science.

 

 


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