Women & Equality

Women & Equality. Daedalus.  Winter 2020

One hundred years ago, the United States ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote. The publication of the Winter 2020 issue of Dædalus “Women & Equality,” guest edited by Nannerl O. Keohane (Academy Member; Princeton University; Stanford University) and Frances McCall Rosenbluth (Academy Member; Yale University), at the centennial is a celebration of this victory for women’s rights. Yet while the inclusion of women in the electorate was a momentous occasion, it notably left behind most Black women, and while women have made incredible strides toward equality since, there is still a long way to go. This collection of essays, which is only the third to explore this topic in Dædalus’s sixty-five-year history, therefore is not only a celebration of the accomplishments of women around the world toward equality, it is also an invitation to further reflection and a call to action, assessing remaining obstacles and pointing a way toward workable solutions. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 256 pages].

Smaller Share of Women Ages 65 and Older Are Living Alone

Smaller Share of Women Ages 65 and Older Are Living Alone. Pew Research Center. Renee Stepler. February 18, 2016.

After rising steadily for nearly a century, the share of older Americans who live alone has fallen since 1990, largely because women ages 65 to 84 are increasingly likely to live with their spouse or their children. The likelihood of living alone has grown since 1990 for older men and for women ages 85 and up. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 27 pages, 513.09 KB].

Women and Violent Extremism: A Growing Threat Demands Concerted Action

Women and Violent Extremism: A Growing Threat Demands Concerted Action. U.S. Institute of Peace. Fred Strasser. August 3, 2015.

The extremist organization ISIS manipulates gender dynamics far better than its opponents often understand. It recruits young men with promises of control over women and uses mass rape as a form of cohesion. At the same time, it lures isolated women with appeals to enlarge their lives by joining a cause. Policymakers seeking to address the role of women in countering violent extremism must take an equally layered, multi-pronged approach to gender, according to experts from government, the United Nations and civil society. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[HTML format, various paging].

Death Rates for US Women Ages 15 to 54

Death Rates for US Women Ages 15 to 54. Urban Institute. Nan Astone et al. March 5, 2015.

Recent trends in death rates among US women ages 15 to 54 reveal that rates among non-Hispanic whites are rising for many causes of death. These rising causes include accidental poisoning, suicide, and obesity- and smoking-related diseases. Specific changes in behavior might reduce some of these death rates, but the range of rising causes of death among white women suggests a need for a broader perspective on the social determinants of health. Unhealthy behaviors often arise and persist within certain social and economic contexts, and such behaviors resist improvement or are replaced by other unhealthy behaviors unless those contexts change. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 12 pages, 286.63 KB].

How Financially Literate are Women?

How Financially Literate are Women? National Bureau of Economic Research. Tabea Bucher-Koenen et al. Web posted on January 28, 2015.

Women are less likely than men to answer correctly questions that measure knowledge of basic financial concepts, the authors report. Young and old women and those for whom financial knowledge is likely to be important, such as widows and singles, all have lower financial literacy than men, and these gender differences are strikingly similar across countries. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 33 pages, 525 KB].

Battlefields and Boardrooms: Women’s Leadership in the Military and the Private Sector

Battlefields and Boardrooms: Women’s Leadership in the Military and the Private Sector. Center for a New American Security. Nora Bensahel et al. January 2015.

The end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan marks the close of the first era where women rose through the military ranks into significant leadership roles. As the first female graduates of the service academies from the class of 1980 approach the 35th anniversary of their commissioning, the moment offers an opportunity to eflect upon the individual and institutional characteristics enabling the rise of women into senior leadership roles across the services.

Similarly, significant changes in legislation and social trends throughout the 1970s produced an expanding cohort of female executives within the private sector. While their experiences are clearly different from those of their military counterparts, comparing the experiences of women in these two distinct communities permits an assessment of the challenges and opportunities that women face throughout their careers that lead to or hinder their success – and, ultimately, the success of their institutions, by enabling them to draw on the full range of the nation’s talent. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 44 pages, 3.8 MB].

Long-Term Answer to Border Crises: Empower Women

Long-Term Answer to Border Crises: Empower Women. YaleGlobal. Marisol Ruiz. August 19, 2014.

Policy proposals to end the flow of children streaming across the southern border of the United States too often focus on enforcement, including increased military presence along the border or warehouse-like detention centers in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the three nations that so many try to flee. Such proposals miss the major challenge behind many border crises, that is, minimal attention to a gender perspective on issues that contributes to lingering poverty, violence, inequality and lack of opportunities, argues Marisol Ruiz. According to Ruiz, televised Investing in education and family-planning programs to reduce birthrates could reduce poverty. The policies known as “gender mainstreaming” offer a sustainable approach to ending the massive, tragic migratory influxes that also pose humanitarian and moral crisis. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[HTML format, various paging].

The G20 and Gender Equality: How the G20 Can Advance Women’s Rights in Employment, Social Protection and Fiscal Policies

The G20 and Gender Equality: How the G20 Can Advance Women’s Rights in Employment, Social Protection and Fiscal Policies. Oxfam International. Shawna Wakefield. July 14, 2014.

Across G20 countries and beyond, women are paid less than men, do most of the unpaid labor, are over-represented in part-time work, and are discriminated against in the household, in markets and in institutions. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/the_g20_and_gender_equality-summary_en.pdf Executive Summary [PDF format, 4 pages, 239.59 KB].

http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/the_g20_and_gender_equality_en.pdf Full Text [PDF format, 36 pages, 505.15 KB].

Lessons from the States: Responsible Prison Reform

Lessons from the States: Responsible Prison Reform. Urban Institute. Nancy G. La Vigne. July 15, 2014.

In the testimony before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, Urban’s Director of the Justice Policy Center, Nancy La Vigne, highlights the lessons learned from responsible prison reform in the states and discusses the federal prison system, its challenges and opportunities for reform. She also discusses the importance of both front- and back-end changes to yield meaningful and lasting reforms. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 17 pages, 273.02 KB].

Women’s Work: The Economic Mobility of Women Across a Generation

Women’s Work: The Economic Mobility of Women Across a Generation. The Pew Charitable Trusts. April 2014.

The study demonstrates that women’s increased labor force participation and earnings have enabled some families to maintain their places on the economic ladder or, particularly among families at the bottom, to move up. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 19 pages, 3.78 MB].