Women and Work: a Research Guide

 

 

Finding Books

 

The IRIS catalog is the gateway to all information resources located in the Rutgers University Libraries.  Use keywords to search for the appropriate materials.  Some examples:

 

Working women -- Women and labor movement -- Women and economic conditions

 

Searches using Library of Congress Subject Headings can yield more targeted results. Subject headings can be further narrowed by adding location (United States or Great Britain), occupation (chief executive or sex worker), or aspect:  psychological, social, economic or legal, etc.

 

* Work and family                                          * Minority women – employment

* Working class women                                * Sex discrimination in employment

* Women employees                                    * White collar women workers

* Sex role – economic aspects                   * Self-employed women

* Women executives                        

 

To find other Library of Congress Subject Headings, type in your key words (“women executives”) in the search box, select “Subject begins with” from the drop-down menu under the search box. “Women executives” will be the top choice.  Also look under the “related headings” in the list below.

 

Materials at other Rutgers Libraries can be retrieved through the Interlibrary Loan system by clicking the button marked [Deliver/Recall Book].  Materials needed from libraries outside the RUL system can be ordered through [Interlibrary Loan/EZBorrow].  EZ Borrow is usually your quickest option. Ask a reference librarian or assistant at a circulation desk if help is needed.

 

Finding Aids developed for the Douglass College Shaping a Life course are excellent sources for information on various topics relating to women and work.  Consult them at: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/f_aids/sal/sal.shtml.

 

General reference books at SMLR (try shelf browsing beginning with H6050)

Consult the following reference books for basic information and broad introductions to the topic of women and work.

 

Ferber, Marianne A. Women and work, paid and unpaid : a selected, annotated bibliography. New York : Garland, 1987

HD6053.F47 1987

General works. The family. Labor force participation. Occupational distribution. Earnings and the female-male pay gap. Discrimination. Unemployment. Women in individual occupations. Women throughout the world.

 

Paula Dubeck, Dana Dun, eds.  Workplace/women's place: an anthology.   Los Angeles, CA : Roxbury Park, 2002.

            HD6053.W678 2002

Readings about women's preparation for employment, difficulties encountered in the workplace, and home/life challenges.  Explores the impact of race, ethnicity and class on the work experience.

 

Journals

Browsing through the following journals might yield interesting articles on the topic of women and work. Links are provided for those publications that are available electronically. After clicking on the link, select the journal title from the alphabetized listing of electronic journals.

Gender, Work & Organization

Electronic Resource (available from Rutgers University Libraries)

Women in Business

Electronic Resource (available from Rutgers University Libraries)

 

Indexes

Rutgers has numerous electronic indexes and databases that may be used to locate journal and newspaper articles on the topic of women and work.

 

Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)

A multi-discipline, full-text database of 3,200 scholarly publications as well as abstracts and indexing for over 4,170 scholarly journals with some dating back to 1984. A valuable and large collection of peer-reviewed full text journals for nearly all academic areas of study.      

           

Business Source Premiere

Covers most business and management topics with thousands of scholarly and professional publications, academic journals, and trade magazines.

 

Contemporary Women's Issues

This database provides full-text access to global information on women. It includes coverage of journals, newsletters, and research reports from non-profit groups and government and international agencies.

 

SocioFile

This database indexes journal articles, books, and other publications, with coverage of topics in sociology and related disciplines.

There are also some databases which are only available from computers in the SMLR Library:

BNA:  Human Resource Library

Updated information on workplace policies, laws, regulations, and cases.

           

BNA Labor and Employment Law Library

Includes cases, guidance, and news in all major areas of the field: fair employment practices, individual employment rights, Americans with disabilities, wages and hours, etc.

 

BNA Occupational Safety and Health Reporter

For full news coverage and documentation of federal and state occupational safety and health programs, standards, legislation, regulations, enforcement, and court and agency decisions.

           

Websites

 

AFL-CIO
 http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/women/

A section on Working Women includes “quick facts,” topical papers on issues such as equal pay and women in the global economy. 

See also “Links of Interest to Working Women” at: http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/women/links.cfm

AFSCME LaborLinks: Women's Labor History

http://www.afscme.org/otherlnk/whlinks.htm

Outstanding source of online information on women’s labor history by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. 

 

Center for Women's Business Research
http://www.nfwbo.org/

Research and statistics regarding women business owners and their enterprises worldwide.

 

Institute for Women’s Policy Research

http://www.iwpr.org/

Research from a public policy organization focusing on issues important to women and their families: poverty and welfare, employment and earnings, work and family issues, health and safety and women’s political and civic involvements.

International Labour Organization

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/gender/gender.home

The ILO’s Bureau for Gender Equality is a good starting point for ILO publications and other links relating to women and work.


MBNet.com: Minority Business Network
http://www.mbnet.com/

Provides information to support minority and women-owned businesses.

 

UN Women Watch

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/

UN Women Watch is a central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system.  Provides a directory of UN publications, relevant websites, news and highlights of international events and issues relating to working women.

 

Women Working, 1890-1930

http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/

Digitized historical, manuscript, and image resources from Harvard's library and museum collections that cover working and home conditions, costs of living, policies and regulations governing the workplace, and social and other issues germane to working women of the period.


Women in the Labor Force: A Databook

http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2005.htm

Thirty-eight statistical tables from the US Department of Labor. Read the Technical Note for perspective on the how the statistics were compiled and interpreted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compiled by Kristen Fitzpatrick

August 2005

krisfitz@att.net