Older Women

With women in the US living longer and postponing retirement, whether out of necessity or by choice, many face economic hardship and discrimination. Although illegal in theory, older women may, in practice, be excluded from job or promotional opportunities based on misconceptions about their abilities or customer preferences for youth. Dual discrimination on the job is evidenced by older women being denied access to training programs and being channeled into positions without upward mobility. Retirement benefits are being further eroded by a weakening of organized labor, economic restructuring and budget cutbacks.

Women and Social Security: Benefit Types and Eligibility

Spouse or family Social Security benefits are important for women because many women do not earn sufficient credits throughout their working career to be eligible for their own benefits due to caregiving for children or other family members. A recent analysis shows that 30 percent of women workers spent 4 or more years out of paid work during a 15-year period, compared with only 4 percent of men.  A larger percentage of women than men become eligible for Social Security benefits as spouses, caregivers of minor children, widows, surviving dependent parents, and so forth.

URL: 
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/D488WomenandSS.pdf

NCRW Policy Brief: Economic Security

To overcome economic hardship, women need opportunities to learn new skills and earn fair wages in order to support themselves and their families and lead healthy and productive lives. Women’s advancement and well-being also depend on access to basic services and safety nets, such as paid sick leave, affordable child care and elder care, portable health care, adequate housing and secure retirements, including social security.

Attachment: 

Gender Inequality, Growth and Global Ageing

Reducing gender inequality could play a key role in addressing the twin problems of
population ageing and pension sustainability. In countries where it is relatively easy
for women to work and have children, female employment and fertility both tend to be
higher.
 

URL: 
http://www.ftd.de/wirtschaftswunder/resserver.php?bloId=10&resource=globalpaper154.pdf

Women's Research and Education Institute

Contact

1828 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Ph. (202) 280-2720

http://www.wrei.org
wrei@wrei.org


Today WREI is a respected resource not only for federal legislators and administrators, but also for state and local government officials, women's advocates, corporate policy makers, the media, teachers and students, and a myriad of other individuals and organizations throughout the United States and in many foreign countries.

Recently Posted

Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Susan Scanlan, President
Ph. (202) 280-2718
E-mail: Scanlan@WREI.org

Lory Manning, Director, Women in the Military project
Ph. (202) 280-2719
E-mail: LManning@WREI.org

Bernice Sandler, Senior Fellow

Marjorie Lightman, Senior Fellow/Co-Director of “Connecting the Dots” a project on women, religion, and public policy

Anne Stone, Senior Research Associate

Areas of Expertise:

Access & Disparities, Advancing Women's Leadership, Awareness & Education, Barriers & Opportunities, Discrimination, Immigration & Migration, Leadership in Civil Society, Family & Society, Leadership in Government, Politics, and Business, Older Women, Legal Issues, Women in History, Women's Movements, Women's Networks, Communications, Culture & Society, Economic Development & Security, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Globalization, Human Rights & Security

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Economic and Social Status of Women

# The American Woman

This series of publications by WREI focuses on topics of concern to American women and provides data and analysis of women's contemporary position within society on a number of issues. The ninth edition, which will be available January 2003, focuses on younger women age 25-34 and how their lives compare to their baby-boomer mothers. The American Woman 2003-2004: Daughters of a Revolution-Young Women Today, like its predecessors, contains a comprehensive "Statistical Portrait" covering all ages. This section provides statistics on a wide range of topics, providing the reader with the hard numbers that underlie the trends shaping women's experiences. The portrait is organized into eight sections (demographics, education, health, employment, earnings and benefits, economic security, elections and officials, and women in the military) and has grown over the years to include over 140 tables and figures on the status of American women today.

# Women's Health/Healthcare

Women and Health. WREI aims to gather, analyze, and distribute information on women's health care, insurance, and policy. The initiative seeks to examine effective policy strategies to advance research on women's health and health care delivery to women and their families, as well as to ensure access to insurance. They work with existing networks of women's health organizations.

# Women in the Military/Veterans

Center for Women in Uniform. Established though a grant from the Ford Foundation, the Women in the Military project provides information to U.S. and foreign governments, scholars, students, the media, and the public on issues pertaining to women in the armed forces, as well as women in policing and firefighting. WREI sponsors a biennial conference for researchers and active duty/reserve service members to discuss and better understand the roles of military women. The Women in the Military program also maintains information about women's participation in the U.S. military since 1901. Such information includes statistics, occupations and training of military women, evolution of the legal status of women in the U.S. military, policy and issue threads, key documents, and women's participation in foreign militaries.

Women Veterans. In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, WREI works to ease the transition of women veterans, especially those seeking work in nontraditional occupations, into the private sector.                                           

# Connecting the Dots... Women, Religion and Public Policy

Women leaders in religious institutions joins feminists in public policy and academe to discuss issues issues affecting women's equality.

# Crossing Borders

WREI began Crossing Borders in 2002 to examine the effects of US immigration law and policy on women in America, especially in issues of citizenship and refugee status. The research revealed that females dominate many of the legal and illegal categories of immigration. Analyzing the past and present of US immigration, Crossing Borders seeks new ways of defining citizenship and the policy surrounding it.

# Women Writing Africa

A project of the Feminist Press of the City University of New York, Women Writing Africa is a literary venture producing a series of regional anthologies of African women's writing. A landmark project of cultural reclamation, this project brings the voices of African women to readers around the globe. WREI is the base for Washington promotion and programs in the Women Writing Africa project.

 

Reports & Resources

# Aging

Older Women: The Economics of Aging, Anne J. Stone and Jennifer Griffith (1998). A report on the economic status of older women in the United States, including household and personal income, the older single woman's annual expenditures, economic security, and labor force participation.

# Economic and Social Status of Women

The American Woman 2003-2004: Daughters of a Revolution - Young Women Today, edited Cynthia B. Costello, Vanessa R. Wright, and Anne J. Stone (2003). The ninth edition in The American Woman series addresses the status of young women between the ages of 25 and 35. Contributors—all experts in their fields—explore the opportunities and challenges confronting the young women who are the daughters of the baby boom generation. The focus on young women brings into sharp relief how much has changed since the 1970s. The volume also contains a comprehensive statistical portrait of women of all ages, including user-friendly tables and figures that provide readers with the hard numbers underlying the trends shaping the experiences of women of all ages. 

The American Woman 2001-2002: Getting to the Top, edited by Cynthia B. Costello and Anne J. Stone (2001). This eighth edition in WREI's acclaimed American Woman series documents women's different roads to success--the decisions they have made, the barriers they face, and the difference they make both at the top and to those women climbing behind them. The chapters in this volume tell of women's progress in reaching leadership positions in politics, higher education, business, labor unions, and the military. They look at the special difficulties faced by minority women rising to the top.

The American Woman 1999-2000: A Century of Change - What's Next?, edited by Cynthia B. Costello, Shari Miles, and Anne J. Stone (1998). Traces the changes in the condition of and opportunities for American women in the second half of the 20th century and evaluates the future status of women in the U.S. in the 21st century.

The American Woman 1996-1997: Where We Stand (Women and Work), edited by Cynthia B. Costello and Barbara Kivimae Krimgold (1996). Sixth in the series of reports prepared every other year by WREI to document the status of women in America. This edition features five chapters that address different dimensions of women's employment status.

# Health and Healthcare

A Guide to Federal Funding Opportunities in Women's Health, Cynthia B. Costello and Rachel Mears (2002). The "Guide" was prepared to assist state legislators and state health professionals to identify funding opportunities for women's health programs offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The guide is organized into several sections. The first describes federal search sites and publications that can direct users to important information about general funding opportunities. The second describes HHS agencies and offices that have information on federal funding opportunities for women's health programs. The appendix lists contact information for the agencies and offices described in the guide and provides a list of all the agencies within HHS.

Improving the Health of Midlife Women: Policy Options for the Twenty-First Century, Cynthia B. Costello and Vanessa R. Wight (2001). In January 2001, WREI convened a two-day experts' summit to identify the major gaps in women's health at midlife and to chart a federal health policy agenda for Congress. On the basis of the recommendations made at the summit, WREI selected 15 high-impact actions Congress should take to make a significant difference in promoting health and preventing disease in midlife women. The report outlines these actions. It also includes a paper prepared by WREI for the women's health summit, "The Health of Midlife Women: Gaps and Challenges" as well as the 10 gaps and 46 policy options identified at the summit.

The Health of Midlife Women in the States, Cynthia B. Costello, Jennifer E. Griffith, Angela Wilbon, and Ashley Redfearn (1998). Focuses on the health status of women between the ages of 45 and 65, when the normal aging process and lifestyle factors put women at risk for the onset of chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, as well as for osteoporosis.

Assessing and Improving Women's Health, Karen Scott Collins, Diane Rowland, Alina Salaganicoff, and Elizabeth Chait (1994). Presents an overview of women's health issues, including an explanation of conditions that concern women at different times in their lives and a discussion of measures that can be undertaken to prevent disease and disability; also examines how women interact with the health care system.

Women's Health Insurance Costs and Experiences (1994). Focuses on health insurance coverage and expenditures for reproductive and preventive services among women of childbearing age (ages 15-44) and measures the adequacy of women's health care services.

# Women in the Military/Veterans

Proceedings of the Conference: Women in the Military Today 19-20 May 2005, Lory Manning and Cynthia Enloe (2005). Includes thirteen of the papers and presentations from the WREI conference "Women in the Military Today" held in May 2005.

Women in the Military: Where They Stand (Fifth Edition), Lory Manning (2005). This new edition includes information on women in the Reserve and Guard forces and on women veterans as well as updated statistics and a chronology of important policy and legislative milestones. 

Women Veterans' Employment, Lory Manning, Brigid O'Farrell, Anne J. Stone, and Vanessa R. Wight (2001). A report on what we know (and do not know) about women veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce. This 78-page report assesses--with particular attention to differences by race--the available data and literature in five areas relevant to women veterans' employment: the effectiveness of veterans' employment programs; employment and unemployment status; nontraditional employment; earning and socioeconomic status; and veterans' preference.

Women in the Military: Where They Stand, Lory Manning and Vanessa R. Wight (2000). Third edition containing recent data on women in the U.S. military services, a chronology of legal and policy changes affecting military women from 1947 to the present, historic facts about women and their military roles, and facts and figures on the roles of military women in other countries.

Women in Uniform and the Changing World Order (2000). Papers from the December 2000 Women in Uniform conference.

Women in Uniform: Exploding the Myths, Exploring the Facts (1998). Papers from the 1998 Women in Uniform conference.

Women in the Military: International Perspectives (1992). Proceedings of the 1992 Women in the Military Conference.

# Work and Family

Managing Work and Families: Nonstandard Work Arrangements Among Managers and Professionals, Roberta M. Spalter-Roth, Arne L. Kalleberg, Edith Rasell, Naomi Cassirer, Barbara F. Reskin, Ken Hudson, David Webster, Eileen Applebaum, and Betty Dooley (1997).

Nonstandard Work, Substandard Jobs: Flexible Work Arrangements in the U.S., Arne L. Kalleberg, Edith Rasell, Naomi Cassirer, Barbara F. Reskin, Ken Hudson, David Webster, Eileen Applebaum, and Roberta M. Spalter-Roth (1997).

# Crossing Borders/Immigration

Crossing Borders: A Report of the Working Group on Immigration & Women, Marjorie Lightman, Ronald Cluett, Jeffrey A. Heller, Kimala Price, Anne J. Stone, and Bonnie H. Weinstein (2004). In a six-part examination of the changing nature of citizenship, the Crossing Borders report takes a unique look at United States immigration from a holistic perspective that makes clear the need to rethink our most fundamental assumptions about immigration, law, policies, and practices. It integrates issues of gender and citizenship with the evolution of institutional structures. In a diverse group of essays, the six authors argue that we are approaching a breakdown of administrative processes, despite the shift of the old INS to the new Department of Homeland Security.   

#WREI UPDATE is an electronic newsletter featuring information on our projects, publications, upcoming events, fellows, and general bytes of interest.

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Congressional Fellowships on Women and Public Policy. WREI identifies and trains new leaders through its Congressional Fellowship program, which is open to graduate students with strong academic skills and a proven commitment to equity for women. Established in 1980, this program enhances the research capacity of Congressional offices, especially with respect to legislation's implications for women, and has given scores of promising women hands-on experience in the federal legislative process. 

The American Woman AwardEvery year, WREI honors individuals who have achieved great distinction and who, by conscious effort and example, promote equity for women with the American Woman Award.

 


Multimedia

Video

Photos

Audio


Issue Brief: "Strengthening Income and Work Supports"

Included in "A Platform for Progress: Building a Better Future for Women and Their Families/Building Economic Security" A policy summary on Earned Income Tax Credit and reform of welfare policies and administration.

URL: 
http://www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=3318&section=infocenter
Member Organization: 

IN THE NEWS: Special Healthcare Reform Edition

November 6, 2009 posted by Vivienne Heston-Demirel


<< Back to the Full Blog

Institute for Research on Women and Gender

Contact

204 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290
Ph. (734) 764-9537
Fx. (734) 764-9533
http://www.umich.edu/~irwg/
irwg@umich.edu


The Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) at the University of Michigan was established to promote and support gender-related research endeavors by faculty at the university. Specifically, IRWG aims to facilitate and monitor ongoing interdisciplinary research efforts, to offer support and coordination for these projects, and to heighten the presence and impact of the University of Michigan in the field of gender scholarship. The institute also supports study groups centered on topics of interest to a self-defined community of scholars.

Recently Posted

Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Carol Boyd, Director
E-mail: caroboyd@umich.edu

Deborah Keller-Cohen, Senior Associate Director
E-mail: dkc@umich.edu

Janet Malley, Associate Director
E-mail: jmalley@umich.edu

Debra M. Schwartz, Public Relations
E-mail: schwarde@umich.edu

Beverly Kissel, Financial & HR Specialist
E-mail: bkissel@umich.edu

Lisa Parker, Research Administrator
E-mail: wooliver@umich.edu

Patricia Smith, Business Administrator
E-mail: pssmith@umich.edu

Terri Torkko, Event Coordinator
E-mail: torkko@umich.edu

Tammy Culler, Computer Support Specialist
E-mail: tammy@umich.edu

Nicole Perry, Secretary to the Director
E-mail: msnicole@umich.edu






Areas of Expertise:

Access & Disparities, Advancing Women's Leadership, Body Image & Wellness, Globalization, Arts & Activism, Barriers & Opportunities, Diversity & Inclusion, Communications, Media & Gender, Culture & Identity, Educational Leadership of Women & People of Color, HIV/AIDS, International Organizations, Diversity & Inclusion, Higher Education, Mental Health, Older Women, Globalization, Sexuality & Gender, Women in History, Communications, Culture & Society, Globalization, Human Rights & Security, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

null

Reports & Resources

Adolescents and Girls

Children's Time with Fathers in Intact Families, Pamela Davis-Kearn.

Gender, Puberty, and Objectification, Karin Martin.

 

Arts

Tharp, Feminism, and Postmodern Dance, Sally Banes.

Art/Girl: Graffiti, Femininity, and the Career of Lady Pink, Kristina Milnor.

No Place for a Woman? Critical Narratives and Erotic Graffiti from Pompeii, Kristina Milnor.

Family Stories/Family Pictures: Mothers With Cameras, Joanne Leonard.

Representation of Women in Art History: An Overview, Patricia Simons.

 

Censorship

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Law, Abigail Carter.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Sociology, Susannah Dolance.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Literature, Leslie Dorfman Davis.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Feminist Theory and Philosophy, Troy Gordon.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Education, Edwina Hansbrough.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in the Mass Media, Edwina Hansbrough.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Psychology, Zaje Harrell.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Visual and Performing Arts, Libby Otto.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in Economics, Lucie Schmidt.

Studies in Gender Based Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography in American History, Chris Talbot.

 

 

 

Feminist Thought and Scholarship

Objectification Theory: Emotional Consequences of Sexual, Barbara Fredrickson.

Feminist Foundations: Practicing Feminism in the Community. A transcript of a panel at the conference, Feminists at Work: Multicultural, Feminist Influences on Practice, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Program in Feminist Practice, The University of Michigan, October 16-17, 1998.

Giving It Up: Disrupting White 'Innocence,' Re-Educating White Feminism, Gail Griffin.

 

International Issues - Religion

The Home and Garden are a Small Paradise for Women: Men and Women Gendering Bosnjak Nationalism in Muslim Bosnia-Hercegovina, Elissa Helms (1997).

 

Health and Health Care

Dual Autobiography and AIDS Witnessing, Ross Chambers.

Improving Pregnancy Outcomes during Imprisonment

Initial Exposure to Nicotine in College-age Women smokers and Never-smokers, Cynthia Pomerlau.

Mental Illness and Substance abuse: Implications for Women's Health and Health Care Access, Beth Glover Reed and Carol Mowbray.

Representations of Women's Bodies and Birthing, Carolyn Sampselle.

Women and Stress, Elizabeth Young.

 

Mental Health

Rumination and Depression in Women, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema.

Serious Mental Illness: Women and Parenting, Carol Mowbray.

 

History

Telling An Untellable Story: White "Daughter" Black "Mother" After the Cuban Revolution, Ruth Behar.

Prison Discipline, Reform and Debate: Negotiating the Female Prisoner in Nineteenth-Century England, Susanna Calkins.

The Figure of the Adulteress in the Construction of the "Cult of True Womanhood" in the19th-Century American Moral Reform Literature, Lisa Cochran.

Remembering a Forgotten Past, or Why Have We Only Heard of Ballerinas, Lynn Garafola.

The Pasha's Prostitutes: Rethinking Women, the State, and Female Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Egypt, Mario Ruiz.

 

International Issues - Prostitution

Making A Spectacle: The Nightly Transformations of Egyptian Nightclub Performers in a Conservative Age, Katherine Zirbel.

Contraband Women, Immigration Tricks of the Sex Trade, and State Visions of Migrant Women Workers' Rights? The 1997 Toronto Massage Parlour Raids, Cheryl Harrison.

 

Politics

Institutional Gender Analysis: Running for the Russian Duma, Janet Johnson.

Visions of Citizenship: Questioning the Liberal Promise of Equality, Elizabeth Wingrove.

 

Reproductive Rights

Informed Consent Issues in Assisted Reproduction, Nancy Reame.

Recent Trends in Abortion Legislation in Central Europe, Eleonora Zielinska.

Rural Women - International Issues

The (Wo)man in the Cashew: Gender and Development in Rural Belize, Melissa Johnson.

 

Sexuality

Images of Fashion: Constructing the Visible Body, Olga Vainshtein.

 

Sports and Fitness

Your Hair is Caked, Your Limbs are Sore: Gender, "Roughing It," and Class in Early Yosemite Tourism, Stephanie Palmer.

Violence Against Women

Assessing Sexual Harassment among Latinas, Lilia Cortina.

Domestic Violence Against Women in Serbia, Zorica Mrsevic.

Offender Interventions to End Violence Against Women, Daniel Saunders.

 

Women of Color

Dis/Arming the Black Champ: Joe Louis and the Legacy of Racial Uplift in the Post-Civil Rights Movement, Marlon Ross.

 

Violence

Seng, Julia, and Mickey Sperlich. 2008. Survivor Moms: Women’s Stories of Birthing, Mothering, and Healing after Sexual Abuse.

 

IRWG Newsletter 

Click here to download the latest newsletter.

 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Visiting Scholar Program

The Institute for Research on Women and Gender invites applications for Visiting Scholar positions from post-doctoral scholars and researchers whose work focuses on women or gender. The goal of the Visiting Scholar program is to enhance disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship on women and gender at the University of Michigan. Visiting Scholars will have full access to the Institute’s community, and will be automatically affiliated with the Women’s Studies
Program.
 
 
The Institute encourages new scholarship by offering seed money for new research ventures, housing visiting scholars and encouraging the work of graduate students. Developing relations with the media contributes to the public discourse on important issues affecting women and gender.

Multimedia

Video

Photos

Audio


Wellesley Centers for Women

Contact

106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481-8203
Ph. 781-283-2500
Fx. 781-283-2504
http://www.wcwonline.org
newswcw@wellesley.edu


The Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College is one of the largest gender-focused research-and-action organizations in the world. Scholars at the Centers conduct social science research and evaluation, develop theory and publications, and implement training programs on issues that put women's lives and women's concerns at the center. Since 1974, our work has generated changes in attitudes, practices, and public policy

 

 

Recently Posted

Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Layli Maparyan, Ph.D.
Amy Banks, M.D.
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.
Julie A. Dennehy, M.M.
Monica Ghosh Driggers, J.D.
Sallie F. Dunning, Ed.M.
Sumru Erkut, Ph.D.
Alice Frye, Ph.D.
Ellen S. Gannett, M.Ed.
Tracy R.G. Gladstone, Ph.D.
Jennifer M. Grossman, Ph.D.
Georgia Hall, Ph.D.
Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D.
Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D.
Rosanna Hertz, Ph.D.
Amy B. Hoffman, M.F.A.
Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Ph.D.
Judith V. Jordan, Ph.D.
Erika Kates, Ph.D.
Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D.
Nancy MacKay, B.A.
Nancy L. Marshall, Ed.D.
Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D.
Sally Engle Merry, Ph.D.
Laura Pappano
Flavia C. Peréa, Ph.D.
Michelle V. Porche, Ed.D.
Susan M. Reverby, Ph.D.
Joanne Roberts, Ph.D.
Wendy Wagner Robeson, Ed.D.
Michelle Seligson, Ed.M.
Nan Stein, Ed.D.
Wendy B. Surr, M.A.
Allison J. Tracy, Ph.D.
Maureen Walker, Ph.D.

Areas of Expertise:

Advancing Women's Leadership, Body Image & Wellness, Domestic and Workplace Violence, Awareness & Education, Glass Ceilings & Barriers, Human Rights & Security, Trafficking and Prostitution, Discrimination, Early Childhood, Funding STEM, Leadership in Civil Society, Violence Against Women, Global, Educational Leadership of Women & People of Color, Girls & STEM, Leadership in Education, Mental Health, Older Women, K-12, Reproductive Health, Women in STEM, Sexuality & Gender, Title IX, Women's Leadership, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Economic Development & Security, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality, Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Projects:

# Human Rights
International Issues
Violence Against Women

Women's Rights Network. A project of the Wellesley Centers on Women, the Women's Rights Network was founded in 1995 as an international human rights organization working to end domestic violence and sexual abuse worldwide through organizing, training, research, and public education. The network comprises the Global Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse and the Human Rights Education and Advocacy Initiative, and focuses on the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project.


# Violence Against Women

National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. Another project of the Wellesley Centers on Women is the Prevention Research Center. Funded in 1998 from the Centers for Disease Control, the center is a consortium of researchers dedicated to the prevention of all types of violence against women through the fostering of research-practitioner and interdisciplinary collaboration. The goal is to improve the ability of the field to conduct research that is relevant to the prevention of violence against women, is interdisciplinary, builds on prior research, is conceptually and methodologically sound, and is designed to address violence issues over the life-course.


RECENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

# Adolescents and Girls

Adolescent Sexuality Project. Funded by the Ford Foundation, this project seeks to develop models of sexual health for girls and boys which extend beyond pregnancy and disease. Based on Brofenbrenner's ecological model of social experience.

Learning Circles. This project examines the Patriot's Trail and Plymouth Bay Girl Scouts Council Learning Circles in an effort to create Learning Circles for mentoring girls ages 10-12. These circles will provide an opportunity where girls can meet regularly with adults to discuss personal issues of importance.

Raising Confident and Competent Girls. This longitudinal study looks at middle girls' perceptions of their competencies, actual school performance, and perceptions of social support in the following categories: race/ethnicity; social class; acculturation; and residence urbanization.

Sports as Protective of Girls' High-Risk Sexual Behavior. Researchers are conducting secondary analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health dataset to examine the protective effects of sports involvement on adolescents' likelihood of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors.


# Child Care

The Early Childhood Connection. Aimed at children up to 5 years old, the Early Childhood Connection project provides resources for parents, providers, and policymakers by running workshops devoted to topics such as finding quality child care, curriculum for children, using the Internet, combining work and family, and more.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. This NICHD undertaking is the most comprehensive child care study conducted to date in the United States. It analyzes the impact on child development and family functioning of child care and maternal employment from one month of age through first grade. Ten nationwide sites have been selected; the study includes 1,300 infants and their families.

National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST). The National Institute is located at the Wellesley Center for Research on Women and conducts policy-oriented and basic research on issues that affect women. The mission is to improve the quantity and quality of school-age care programs nationally by concentrating on research; education and training; consultation; program and community development; and public awareness. The following are undertakings of NIOST:

Cross-Cities Network (CCN).The CCN brings together leaders from 25 citywide after-school initiatives in major cities across the United States. The three primary goals of this project are to increase the capacity and knowledge of high-level leaders, to improve the effectiveness of citywide after school initiatives, and to contribute to the development of a coherent vision for the field at the national level.

Strategic Planning: Building a Skilled and Stable Workforce for After School Programs. The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), in collaboration with the AED Center for Youth Development and Policy Research (the Center) is engaged in a 9-month, national strategic planning process for workforce development across the after school field.

Evaluation of Jacksonville Children's Commission's (JCC) After-School Program Initiatives. TEAM UP is a solution of the Jacksonville community to help its families meet the challenges of raising youth in today's society by providing a safe, structured, positive learning environment during the after school hours.

Puerto Rican Young Fathers' Involvement with Their Children. The research team aims to describe what predisposes Puerto Rican young men to become the kind of fathers they are by interviewing a random sample of 300 Puerto Rican young fathers (aged 18 to 26).

The Empathy Project. One of the major developmental tasks of preschoolers is to develop empathy (the ability to understand and share in waht others are feeling), sharing and cooperation, and othersocial skills they will need as they mature. Empathy is a building block for other kinds of "prosocial behavior"- that is, helping, sharing, and comforting- and one of the cornerstones of later social competence.

# Education

Women in Community Development (WICD) Higher Education for Lower-Income Women: A Real Route Out of Poverty. Begun in 1997, WICD is a joint venture of Project Hope, the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development, and the College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. With funding provided by the Nellie Mae Foundation, Senior Research Scientist Fern Marx consulted with WICD staff, program participants, and an evaluation advisory group in order to help the program better understand its work and establish in-house monitoring, accountability, and evaluation activities to guide future program development.

# Education
Curriculum

Shaping a Better World: Global Issues Teaching Guide. A guide for middle school teachers designed to help them teach about the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the critical issues discussed at that conference.

Bringing Yourself to Work: Caregiving in After-School Environments. A new training model for after-school program staff that places emphasis on the importance of self-awareness among caregivers.

Higher Education Resource Services. HERS, New England now provides an unusual in-service model of administrative training- The Management Institute for Women in Higher Education.

National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). The SEED Initiative is a staff-development equity project for educators. It establishes teacher-led, faculty development seminars in public and private schools to promote gender-fair and multiculturally equitable materials and curriculum.

Summer Institute (for Science Teachers) on Gender Equity. This institute works to help teachers devise gender-equitable teaching methods and materials.

# Employment
Aging

Assessing the Relational Resources of Older Workers (ARROW). A project of the Center for Research on Women, ARROW received funding from the National Institute on Aging in 2001. This study is investigating the workplace-relevant relational beliefs of older workers and is developing a measure to assess relational beliefs among this population. Project staff are collecting data through in-person, semi-structured interviews with Boston-area workers aged 55+ both female and male.


# Global Issues
Economic & Social Status of Women

Experiencing Globalization: The Construction of Gender and Ethnicity in the TNC Workplace. This project focuses on Korean immigrant women workers' experiences of globalization in the workplace. Because work and identity are central features of modern life, this study enhances our understanding of the globalization process and how it intersects with the specific features of the workplace to configure many dimensions of identity.


# Health and Health Care
Mental Health

Women Involved in Living and Learning (WILL)/Westhampton Reports: A Research Agenda for the WILL Program. Westhampton College and WCW attempt to address low self-esteem through a three-pronged attack: women's studies coursework; co-curricular programming on gender issues; and collective action that fosters self-awareness and confidence. This project is based on successful work completed by Westhampton and seeks to create a new agenda to improve self-esteem and confidence.


# Literature

Women's Review of Books. A publication that reviews the latest books on or by women, in addition to offering comment and criticism.

# Sexual Assault/Harassment


Project on Teasing and Bullying. The Project on Teasing and Bullying seeks to examine and counteract the effects of the culture of bullying on children and youth. Central to this work is the impact of societal messages about gender and gender roles on the development of aggressive and violent behavior. The project addresses these complex issues through a combination of research, action, and advocacy.

Sexual Harassment in the Schools. Addresses gender violence and the need for acknowledgment and information about gender violence in the schools and curriculum.

# Welfare Reform

The Effects of Maternal Welfare on Children's Outcomes. Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, this project investigates the effects of partial welfare receipt on things like the well-being of children, measuring development, health, education, and fertility behavior.

# Work and Family

The Changing Workforce. The U.S. workforce is changing, with rising rates of employment in service industries, diversification of the workfroce with respect to gender and race or ethnicity, and rising rates of employment among workers over the age of 50.


RECENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE STONE CENTER

# Communication
Mental Health

Gender Relations Project. This project seeks to promote healthy, mutually enhancing connections between women and men and boys and girls, and in couples, families, schools, and organizations.

The Jean Baker Miller Training Institute. The institute follows the Relational/Cultural Model developed by the Stone Center, which advocates that growth-fostering connections are the central human necessity and disconnections are the source of psychological problems. Jean Baker offers residential and training programs for people with master's degrees in clinical areas, RNs, MDs, and PhDs.

Wellesley Relational Model Instrument Development. The Relational Model was developed in 1991 as a theoretical feminist paradigm for the assessment of women's psychological development and well-being. It is distinguished due to its emphasis on gender difference and on the power of caretaking and relationships in women's lives.


# Education
K-12

Reach Out to Schools: Social Competency Program. This program is a comprehensive social and emotional learning program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, their teachers, and their parents. It features an Open Circle Curriculum, which aims to foster positive relationships in a cooperative classroom environment and enhance the necessary skills to solve interpersonal problems. Additionally, it offers training programs for parents, teachers, and staff.

Reach Out to Schools: Social Competency Program Assessment Project. The goal of this initiative is to improve the social skills of children, encourage problem resolution, increase relationship building, and foster a caring and respectful environment for elementary aged school children.


# Education
Mental Health
Higher Education

Assessment of Relational Health and Psychological Development Among College Women. In conjunction with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute and Office of Counseling Services, this project aims to address relational health and the psychological development of college-age women.


# Violence Against Women
Mental Health

Adult Memories and Consequences and Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse. Currently being undertaken by center staff, this longitudinal study looks at adult memories, negative outcomes, and resiliency of women and men who were sexually abused as children.

Longitudinal Research on Partner Violence, Child Physical Abuse, and Child Sexual Abuse. A comprehensive follow-up study, this project studies families in which physical and/or sexual abuse has occurred with the aim of creating programs and policies that will prevent and treat family violence and promote child safety and family functioning.

 

 

Reports & Resources

de Alwis, Rangita de Silva. 2010. New and Emerging Developments in Gender and Law in China.

The Stone Center and Center for Research on Women publishes the WCW Publications Catalog annually in January/February. This catalog contains working papers, works-in-progress, special reports, curriculum, books, and tapes of current Center work.

In the News is an insert published twice a year in the membership newsletter, Memberlink.

WCW Progress Report details project information, funding, major research findings, lists of events, conferences, colloquia, institutes, workshops, etc.

Research Report is published twice a year in the spring and fall and updates readers on the status of the center's projects and programs.


PUBLICATIONS OF THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

Links to Learning: Supporting Learning in Out-of-School Time Programs, NIOST (2002). This lively video, aimed at practitioners and policy makers, delivers a clear message about the unique role after-school programs play in supporting children's learning and development.

New Perspectives on Compensation Strategies for the Out-of-School Time Workforce, Gwen Morgan and Brooke Harvey (2002). In this paper we touch briefly upon the unique characteristics of the out-fo-school time workforce that contribute to inadequate compensation and we explore workforce compensation more deeply from the perspective of economics.

Working Together for Children and Families: A Community's Guide to Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time, MOST Initiative (2001).

Fact Sheet on School-Age Children's Out-of-School Time, NIOST (2001).

A Place of Their Own: Designing Quality Space for Out-of-School Time, NIOST (2001).

The Road to SAC Professionalism: Emerging Models, Trends, and Issues in Credentializing, Liz Nilsen (1999). This paper presents and discusses results from a nation-wide survey conducted on current state efforts toward establishing school-age credentials.

Literacy: Exploring Strategies to Enhance Learning in After-School Programs, Kathryn Hynes, Susan O'Connor, An-Me Chung (1999). This paper explores different ways that after-school programs can support children's literacy development.

MOST Initiative: Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time: The Human Side of Quality (1998). A short video discussing the importance of the relationships that children develop in out-of-school programs, with ideas on how to support children's social and emotional needs.

SACC Project Fact Sheet on School-Age Children (1998). A fact sheet providing demographics of how children use their out-of-school time.

Homework Assistance and Out-of-School Time: Filling the Need, Finding a Balance, Susan O'Connor and Kate McGuire (1998). A research paper designed to help out-of-school programs design their role in providing homework assistance.

Homework and Out-of-School Time Programs: Filling the Need, Finding a Balance, Susan O'Connor and Kate McGuire (1998). A booklet summarizing the main points from the paper on homework assistance.

Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time: Technology's Role in Collaboration, Lilian Coltin and Kate McGuire (1997).

Growing Together: Connections Between School-Age Care and Youth Work Professionals, Marie E. Esposito (1997).

Twelve Key Elements for Higher Education Training: A Conceptual Framework for the Field of School-Age Care, Marie E. Esposito and Joan Costley (1997).

I Wish the Kids Didn't Watch So Much TV: Out-of-School Time in Three Low Income Communities, Full Report, Beth Miller, Susan O'Connor, Sylvia W. Sirignano, and Pamela Joshi (1997). Describes the findings of a study of children's out-of-school time.

#4 Out-of-School Time: Effects on Learning in the Primary Grades, Beth Miller (1995). Describes some of the major issues raised by research on the effects of out-of-school time on children's learning and discusses possible responses to the issues raised by the literature.

SACC Project National Study of Before-and After-School Programs, Executive Summary, U.S. Dept. of Education (1993). An assessment of the prevalence, structure, and features of formal programs that offer enrichment, academic instruction, recreation, and supervised care for children between the ages of 5 and 13 before and after school, as well as on vacations and holidays.


Older Women in the United States, Betty Greenfield, Nancy Emerson Lombardo, and Rosalind C. Barnett (1999). Conference report discussing the changing context for older women in the U.S. and examining some of the outdated and restrictive ideas embedded in society about older women's physical abilities, relationships, and economic options.

Relational Resources and Older Adults, Anne E. Noonan (2001). This paper suggests areas in which relational/cultural theory can inform more mainstream gerontological research.

Parting Company: Understanding the Loss of a Loved One, Cynthia Pearson, Margaret L. Stubbs (1999).

The Cost and Quality of Full Day, Year-round Early Care and Education in Massachusetts: Preschool Classrooms, Nancy L. Marshall, Cindy L. Creps, Nancy R. Burstein, Frederic B. Glantz, Wendy Wagner Robeson, Steve Barnett (2001). This report reveals what key factors are related to better-quality early care and education for peschoolers.

The Relevance of Self at Work: Emotional Intelligence and Staff Training in After-School Environments, Michelle Seligson and Marybeth MacPhee (2001). This paper examines how adult educators in after-school programs can mobilize their inner-resources and social-emotional aptitude to achieve good relationships with their coworkers and with the children in their care.

Parent Involvement as a Predictor of Student Achiveement for Low-Income Children, Michelle Porche (2000). This paper investigates the relationship between parent involvement over time and children's academic achievement for a sample of low-income families participating in a longitudinal study of language and literacy development.

How Do You Advance Quality Child Care? SACC (1999).

Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care Services in Massachusetts, Magaly Queralt, Ann Dryden Witte (1999). In this paper the authors propose a novel way of conceptualizing unmet need for social services as well as a systematic and unique method of identifying the geographic areas where it exists, using a child care illustration.

After-School Programs and the K-8 Principal: Standards for Quality School-Age Child Care (Revised), National Association of Elementary School Principals (1999). This publication was developed to provide practical assistance with: guidelines for administration and programming; resources for information, collaboration, and funding; checklists for program evaluation and improvement planning.

A Resource Guide for School-Age Child Care, Kathryn A. Wheeler (1998). A listing of books, videos, and organizations that would be of interest to after-school providers.

Child Care in Massachusetts: Where the Supply Is and Isn't, Magaly Queralt, Ann Dryden Witte (1997). This publication uses sophisticated graphics and statistical modeling to examine the availability of child care to low-income families.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE STONE CENTER

Drug and Alcohol Abuse

The Relational Model of Women's Psychological Development: Implications for Substance Abuse, Stephanie S. Covington, Janet Surrey (2000). This paper describes the basic tenets of the Stone Center's Relational Model of women's development and considers the model's implications for the etiology, treatment, recovery, and prevention of substance abuse in women.

Videotapes and Manuals of Project W.A.I.T. (Wellesley Improv Theatre):

 

  • Education

  • Employment Issues

  • Family

  • Health and Health Care

  • Lesbian and Gay Studies

  • Mental Health

  • Sexual Harassment
       Violence Against Women
       Mental Health

 

Gender and Race Patterns in the Pathways from School-Based Sports Participation to Self-Esteem, Allison J. Tracy and Sumru Erkut (2001). This working paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on Caucasian and African American girls and boys.

The Skin We're In: Teaching Our Children to Be: Emotionally Strong, Socially Smart, Spiritually Connected, Janie Victoria Ward (2000). In 1990-1991 the author received a Rockefeller Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to design and implement a research project on raising balck adolescents around issues of race in the post civil rights era. IN 1996-1997, as a Visiting Research Scholar at the Wellesly Centers for Women, her analysis of that data became the foundation of this latest work.

Protective Effects of Sports Participation on Girls' Sexual Behavior, Sumru Erkut, Allison Tracy (2000). Based on secondary analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this paper shows that among high school girls, participation in sports is associated with a later age of becoming sexually active.

Raising Confident and Competent Girls: How Middle Schools Can Support Girls, Fern Marx, Sumru Erkut, Jacqueline Fields, Jacklyn Blake Clayton (2000). This is a facilitators' training manual for conducting a research-based workshop for middle school educators, staff of youth-serving organizations, and parents.

Doing Research in a Disadvantaged Population: Methods of Obtaining and Retaining Samples, Sumru Erkut, Cynthia Garcia Coll, Odette Alarcon (1999). Drawing on two studies of community-based samples of minority youth, this paper describes methods used to increase volunteering and retention that are important for the validity of results obtained in longitudinal studies.

The Femininity Ideology Scale: Development and Validation of a New Measure of Gender, Deborah L. Tolman, Michelle V. Porche (1999). This paper describes the development and validation of the Femininity Ideology Scale (FIS) through three studies with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse early, middle, and late adolescent girls.

Normative Study of Puerto Rican Adolescents- Final Report, Sumru Erkut, Odette Alarcon, Cynthia Garcia Coll (1999). This final report of the longitudinal study of Puerto Rican adolescents' development includes a discussion of the methodological advances and notable findings generated by the research team as well as the results of the cross-sectional and longidudinal hypotheses that guided the study.

Raising Confident and Competent Girls: Implications of Diversity, Sumru Erkut, Fern Marx, Jacqueline P. Fields, and Rachel Sing (1998). A study of African-American, Caucasian, Chinese-American, and Puerto Rican middle school girls' self evaluations.

Stereotyped Perceptions of Mainland Puerto Rican Adolescents' Behaviors, Sumru Erkut, Odette Alarcón, Cynthia García Coll, Laura Szalacha, and Wanda Guzman (1996). Describes two studies, one that examines the extent of Puerto Rican youth's self-reported risk taking and another that investigates community perceptions of the risk-taking of Puerto Rican youth.

Books for Boys and Girls Today: An Annotated Bibliography of Non-sexist Books for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers, Carrie Spillane, and Maureen Crowley (1996). A list of books for infants, toddlers and preschoolers; also includes publisher information for each book.

Mutual Psychological Development Among Latina Girls, Nancy P. Genero (1996). A video in which the speaker discusses Latina adolescent girls' perceptions of their close relationships.

Language Development from Birth to Six Months, Wendy Wagner Robeson (1996). Discusses stages of language development through which infants pass before speaking their first words. It outlines activities that adults and others can use to promote and encourage early communication efforts in infants, and explains why they enhance linguistic development.

Raising Competent Girls: An Exploratory Study of Diversity In Girls' Views of Liking One's Self, Sumru Erkut, and Fern Marx (1995). A study of middle school girls' understanding of what it means for a girl to like herself and what advice they would give new parents on how to raise their baby girl so she will grow up to have a positive regard for herself.

Engaging in Culturally Sensitive Research on Puerto Rican Youth, Odette Alarcón, Sumru Erkut, Cynthia Garcia Coll, and Heidie A. Vázquez (1994). A description of two culturally sensitive longitudinal studies of normal development of Puerto Rican adolescents and Puerto Rican children growing up in the U.S.

Girls in Schools: A Bibliography of Research on Girls in U.S. Public Schools (Kindergarten through Grade 12), Susan McGee Bailey (1992). Books, reports and journal articles listed by topic headings, including sex and gender socialization, teen pregnancy and parenting, vocational education, sexual harassment, and women in educational leadership.

New Economic Trends for Women's Employment: Implications for Girls' Vocational Education, Lynn C. Burbridge (1992). Reviews literature on the effectiveness of secondary level vocational education programs and on the impact of these programs on girls and young women.

Body Talk, Margaret L. Stubbs (1990). A set of four pamphlets designed to help early adolescents find answers to their questions about pubertal growth.

After School Programs for Low-Income Young Adolescents: Overview and Program Profiles, Fern Marx (1989). Discusses the incidence and consequences of self-care for young, low-income adolescents, provides criteria for developing good programs, and profiles 18 programs that are successfully serving this population.

Becoming a Woman: Considerations in Educating Adolescents About Menstruation, Margaret L. Stubbs, Jill Rierdan, and Elissa Koff (1988). Reviews findings on the psychological significance of menstruation and offers recommendations for improving menstrual education for both girls and boys.

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Sign up for the The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) 2013 Summer Seminars:

http://niost.org/Summer-Seminars/summer-seminars-2013

Apply for the 2013 SEED Leadership Training (Deadline May 15, 2013):

http://www.wcwonline.org/Projects-Extra-Information/join-us-for-seed-training

Earn 5 CEUs >> JBMTI Conference: Raising Connected and Competent Boys: New Models of Strength and Resilience:

http://www.jbmti.org/Upcoming-Events/raising-21st-century-boys-connected-competent-thriving

 

 

 

 

 

 


Multimedia

Video

Photos

Audio


Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)

Contact

1146 19th Street, N.W.
Washington , DC 20036
Ph. (202) 393-5452
Fx. (202) 393-5890
http://www.wiserwomen.org
info@wiserwomen.org


The Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement works to provide low and moderate income women (aged 18 to 65) with basic financial information aimed at helping them take financial control over their lives and to increase awareness of the structural barriers that prevent women’s adequate participation in the nation’s retirement systems.

Although women have entered the labor force in record numbers, their access to retirement benefits has not followed at the same level. As the only project to focus exclusively on the specific inequities that disadvantage women, WISER seeks to improve the opportunities for women to secure retirement income.

 

Recently Posted

Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Cindy Hounsell, President

Lara Hinz, Program Manager

Carol Seifert, Program Development

Areas of Expertise:

Caregiving, Human Rights & Security, Employment & Unemployment, Older Women, Economic Development & Security

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

Research

WISER has compiled a list of research documents that provide valuable information regarding financial security, retirement, aging, and related issues.

Topic Categories:

Nurses' Project

A three-year partnership between WISER and the Center for American Nurses, funded by a grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, to identify nurses’ specific financial information needs.
 

 

Center News


Multimedia

Video

Photos

Audio


Syndicate content