Citation

Fuchs Epstein C. Int. Soc. Sci. J. 2008; 59(191): 17-26.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, UNESCO, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2451.2009.00674.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The USA has undergone extraordinary changes over the past 35 years with respect to women's access to equality in education, employment and participation in political life. This has come about because of the introduction of anti‐discrimination legislation and because of the activities of professional organisations in activating the implementation of these laws and pressing for a wide interpretation of their meaning. The work of social scientists in documenting disparities in women's access to education and employment and the use of such research in developing agendas for social change were central to this process. This article reflects on the early days of the second wave of the women's movement in the USA in the late 1960s, of which I was a part, with a focus on its use of research and the subsequent research that informed political agendas. I explore the context in which the woman's movement was developed and the establishment of rights in the USA, concentrating on women's access to employment, particularly, but not entirely, in the professions.