Access & Disparities

Despite recent progress, women do not have equal access to educational opportunities. Socio-economic and racial disparities persist, particularly for immigrants and women of color. More effort needs to be focused on improving access to college preparatory and post-secondary education for low-income girls. Efforts need to include comprehensive sex education and teen pregnancy prevention as well as extended and flexible degree programs for single mothers. More focus is needed on making “hard sciences” (physics, chemistry, engineering) and technology more appealing to girls both in the classroom and as part of after-school activities.

A Measure of Equity: Women's Progress in Higher Education

Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 12:51pm

The Association of American Colleges and Universities has released a report that compiles the latest data on women and gender equity in higher education. The report, "A Measure of Equity: Women's Progress in Higher Education," made its debut in Seattle during the association's annual meeting, which ended on January 24, 2009. The report updates a 1995 "data-driven" overview of women in higher education published by the American Council of Education, the association said in a written statement. It concludes that women have made strides in higher education, but the progress isn't across the board. Among the topics explored in "A Measure of Equity" are inequities for women in specific fields, how the careers of female faculty members are affected by families, and the growing pool of women in contingent faculty positions with no chance of being promoted.

URL: 
http://chronicle.com/news/article/5847/report-looks-at-how-far-women-have-come-in-higher-education
Member Organization: 
The Association of American Colleges and Universities

University of Arizona Southwest Institute for Research on Women

Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 12:50pm

Established at the University of Arizona in 1976 the University of Arizona's Women in Science and Technology (WISE) program encourages women to become leaders in the fields of science and technology. More information can be found here: http://ws.web.arizona.edu/people/staff/powell.pho

URL: 
http://ws.web.arizona.edu/people/staff/powell.pho
Member Organization: 
Southwest Institute for Research on Women

The Center’s program Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS)

Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 12:49pm

The Center's program Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) was featured in a recent addition of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The front-page article featured Inman Middle School's GEMS club. The middle schoolers work with students from Georgia Tech's Center for the Study of Women, Science & Technology. The article can be found here:

URL: 
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2009/02/09/girlscience0209.html

“Understanding Plyler’s Legacy: Voices from Border Schools,” Nina Rabin Mary Carol Combs, and Norma Gonzalez, Journal of Law and Education (2008)

Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 12:34pm

"Understanding Plyler's Legacy: Voices from Border Schools," Nina Rabin Mary Carol Combs, and Norma Gonzalez, Journal of Law and Education (2008) concerns the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that prevented states from denying undocumented immigrant children a free primary and secondary public education on the basis of their legal status.

URL: 
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/ewi/RabinCombsGonzalezJLEDarticleonPlyler.doc
Member Organization: 
Southwest Institute for Research on Women

National Council of Women's Organizations

Contact

714 "G" Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Ph. (202) 293-4505
Fx. (202) 293-4507
http://www.womensorganizations.org
ncwo@ncwo-online.org
eanderson@ncwo-online.org

The National Council of Women’s Organizations is the leading coalition that makes fighting for women’s rights more effective by working together.  Every day, NCWO highlights and promotes the diverse work of our more than 200 member organizations representing 11 million women through our list serve, briefings, conferences and policy work. 

Recently Posted

Employment Opportunities

Principal Staff

Elizabeth Anderson, Program Director
E-mail: eanderson@ncwo-online.org

Areas of Expertise:

Access & Disparities, Advancing Women's Leadership, Human Rights & Security, Women's Networks, Economic Development & Security, Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality, Women's & Girls' Leadership

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

The Church Ladies Project

NCWO and the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW) established the Church Ladies Project as a strategic program of African American women in religious auxiliaries and professional organizations to conduct electoral engagement including voter registration, turnout, and education linking issues to the vote. NCWO, NCBW and affiliate organizations will bring together Black women from all sectors, regions, and demographic backgrounds to provide information and resource tools to take electoral action. The Church Ladies project works with partner organizations having a membership pool of approximately 2.4 million Black women. 

 

The Women's Equality Summit and Congressional Action Day bring together hundreds of women leaders and their allies in the nation's capital for a day of training sessions and face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress.

 

New Faces, More Voices is a summer leadership training institute offered to interns from our member organizations.  The leadership training program covers a variety of topics including advocacy and coalition building, networking, and lobbying skills.  Participants are also given background on the women's movement from the leaders who've paved the way.  To learn more about New Faces, More Voices and how to apply to next years program click here.

 

Task Forces

NCWO’s Task Forces bring together the leading women’s experts for strategy and policy discussions concerning:

 
•Younger Women, which continues to expand with 11 chapters and 4,000 members around the country under the leadership of National Director, Shannon Lynberg;
 
• Domestic Priorities, which meets monthly and has four upcoming Congressional Briefings on various timely issues of importance to women;

• Global Issues, which is working with Ambassadors and Embassies from around the world on promoting women’s issues;

• Corporate Accountability, and its “Women on Wall Street” project, which recently won a major class action suit under the leadership of Martha Burk;

• Older Women and Economic Security (OWES), which is actively working to protect Social Security from privatization and other issues;

• ERA, which is now focused on the new Women’s Equality Amendment;

• Women’s Health, which exists to help support the work that NCWO member organizations are doing to advance women’s health, as well as to promote NCWO’s health care policy agenda;
 
• Media and Technology, our newest Task Force, which led the charge during the Don Imus scandal and continues to work on racism and sexism in the media and new technologies.
 
 

Center News

Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

NCWO: Summer 2010 Program Internship

  • Attending hearings, briefings, and conferences on progressive issues
  • Managing the Membership Database
  • Assisting with conference and event planning
  • Conducting research on new legislation pertaining to women’s issues
  • Assist with NCWO newsletter
  • Administrative assistance as needed

This is an unpaid internship, but can be performed for college credit. 

Application Deadline: May 15, 2010


Multimedia

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Expert Profile

Location: 
United States
33° 44' 56.382" N, 84° 23' 16.7352" W
See map: Google Maps
Member Organizations: 
Women's Research & Resource Center

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
See map: Google Maps

The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)

Submitted by admin on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 11:06am
URL: 
http://www.nwlc.org

WOMEN’S EQUALITY FORUM: Looking back and moving forward

Submitted by ncrw on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 3:13pm

By Terry O’Neill*

Today, August 26, marks the anniversary of the end of the 72-year fight for women’s right to vote. That’s right – our forebears faced 72 years of ridicule, ostracism, abuse, imprisonment … and also hope, determination, courage, and eventually, victory.


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

Submitted by ncrw on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 1:54pm

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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WOMEN’S EQUALITY FORUM: Steps to Political Equality from Gloria Thomas

Submitted by Amazzeo on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 12:29pm

By Gloria Thomas*

Women will not have achieved political equality until critical societal changes have taken place. First, women’s successes in being elected and appointed to political positions, corporate and non-profit executive leadership roles, as well as significant public and private boards must no longer be an anomaly to demonstrate equality has been accomplished. When we reach this point, there will no longer be a need for organizations like The White House Project to inspire women to run for public office. Nor will there be a need for other leadership programs designed to provide women with the skills and networks necessary to pursue various executive level positions and to provide the staying power to succeed once they are in these roles.


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