Working Women Count

Throughout history, women have struggled to change the workplace, change government, change society. So what’s next? It’s time for women to change the world! Whether on the job, in politics, or in their community, there has never been a better time for women to make a difference in the world, contends author, mentor, and corporate pioneer Susan Bulkeley Butler in Women Count: A Guide to Changing the World. Through her experience as the first female partner of a major consulting firm and founder of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Institute for the Development of Women Leaders, Butler’s unique insights have changed the lives of countless women. In Women Count, she shows readers how to change the world through a series of inspiring case studies that chronicle how she and other pioneering women in a range of fields have done so in years past. Women represent half of the country’s population, half of the country’s college graduates, and around 50 percent of the country’s workforce. Butler envisions a day when they will also make up their fair share of elected and appointed positions, including in corporate boardrooms. Amid financial meltdowns, wars, and societal struggles, never before has the world so greatly needed the unique abilities of women to lead the way. But as history has shown, to make change, women must step into their power and become “women who count,” Butler contends. Then and only then, she argues, can women truly change the world.

This inspiring report features a collection of successful programs and policies that promote work-life balance, equal pay, and opportunities for working women in the United States. The report is based on extensive research conducted by the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, and includes case studies, best practices, and recommendations for employers, policymakers, and advocates. Whether you are a working woman, a HR professional, or a policy maker, this report is a valuable resource for improving the workplace and advancing gender equality. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Erroneous government-generated "data" is more problematic than it would appear. This book demonstrates how women's history has consistently been hidden and distorted by 200 years of official government statistics. Much of women's history has been hidden and filtered through unrealistic expectations and assumptions. Because U.S. government data about women's lives and occupations has been significantly inaccurate, these misrepresentations in statistical information have shaped the reality of women's lives. They also affect men and society as a whole: these numbers influence our investments, our property values, our representation in Congress, and even how we see our place in society. This book documents how U.S. federal government statistics have served to reveal and conceal facts about women in the United States. It reaches back to the late 1800s, when the U.S. Census Bureau first listed women's occupations, and forward to the present, when the U.S. government relies on nonprofit groups for statistics on abortion. Objective and accurate, When Women Didn't Count isn't focused on numbers and census results as much as on recognizing problems in data, exposing the hidden facets of government data, and using critical thinking when considering all seemingly authoritative sources. Readers will contemplate how the government decided that a "farmer's wife" could be a farmer, how the ongoing battle over abortion has been reflected in the numbers the government is allowed to keep and publish, the consequences of the Census Bureau "correcting" reports of women in unusual occupations in 1920, and why the official count of women-owned businesses dropped 20 percent in 1997.