International Women's Day
In New South Wales , honour went to
Prof. Sandra Eades for IWD.
I went to the event at
Marrickville Council, which was fun and engaging with good entertainment from Indigenous women, and women of all ages. Outreach ran a few workshops which were well attended.
But later in the week , on Saturday, I noticed that the march was not well supported. Note to self , must organise a group for next year.
Great Article on Modern Feminism
Personally I get worried about older feminists criticising younger women. It sounds to me as if they have become a bit stuck in their ways. Not that I necessarily subscribe to the younger womens' versions either, but I believe we should be listening to each other. Read
Maureen Dowd from the NY Times
Sidebar Links
Check the sidebar links from time to time.
Oxfam- because we care.
Anne Summers-because she has been a leading light in writing about women in Australia for a few decades, and her light is not dimmed.
Barbara Pocock is an academic who researches and publishes extensively on gender and work topics and Work/Life collision.
There are many good links on both these sites.
Barbara Ehrenreich
Ms Ehrenreich is a social and political journalist who has written extensively on the topic of women & work. Recently I read her book "Global Woman:Nannies, Maids & Sex workers in the New Economy", co-edited with Arlie Russell Hothschild. It is very sobering, as was "Nickel & Dimed".
Barriers that women face
With thanks to Nicholson of "The Australian" newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
It is not just issues of sex discrimination at work that women have to deal with. Lack of skills and experience can inhibit a woman's economic capacity, being a migrant or an indigenous woman brings other challenges. Education holds the key for us all to be able to improve our circumstances and those of our families. An educated woman leads to an educated family.
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The
ABS produces Australian Social Trends each year with information that many organisations use in planning public policy. Information on the gender gap in pay is available here , amongst other facts about us!
Security4Women
Security4Women is an excellent website recommended by my colleague , Eva. Especially recommended is the summary paper "What Women Want".
Education and women and girls
Women continue to do well in all levels of education with more girls than boys completing Year 12 and more women than men undertaking higher education. There has been a steady increase in the participation of women in non-traditional areas of study. For example the number of women participating in vocational education and training is rising much faster than for men, and women now make up 49.0 per cent of students in this education stream. This year's Budget recognises that women are still not equally represented in science and technology and, in addition, places a new emphasis on increasing women's access to post graduate qualifications. The Budget also recognises the need to be at the forefront in areas where women are highly represented with a review of current arrangements for the education and training of nurses. (Extract from 2001-2002 Budget: Women, Education and Technology)
Equal Pay? No Way!
Years of legislative change have still not resulted in a
complete catch upEven women in the professions earn less on average than their male colleagues, this includes Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers.
What could be the reason for this?
Negotiation skills?
Indirect discrimination?
Structural discrimination?
Inflexible work places for women who are primary carers?
And there are still plenty of EQUITY issues to resolve. Do you remember the case for
librarians?
A question of balance
The Discussion paper 'Striking the Balance;
Women, Men, Work and Family' opens the debate beyond the topic 'Women & work'
The
paper can be downloaded here.
When working in Human Resources Management many years ago , I would argue, in the male dominant organisations in which I worked, that equality for women would result in equality for men as well, but it has taken until now for the debate to become more popular. I suspect because we are all working longer hours in our jobs and we know that we and our families are missing out on time together & time to relax.
Women Who Work
This blog has been established for:
1) a Presentation in class at UTS
2) for use when I teach the Work Opportunities for Women course at TAFE
3) Women Who Work. Isn't that all of us?
And here is a good link
HREOC to start with!
