I need help finding the number of women CEO's in the U.S. and political events that created an opportunity for women in management for an essay on Women and Work. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

You're in luck. There is a great organization—Catalyst—in NYC that works directly with women executives and CEO's. They have also done numerous studies on this. Their number is #212-777-8900. —Amy

Other ideas from members of Feminist.com:

9to5, National Association of Working Women
414-274-0925
Department of Labor, Women's Bureau: 202-219-6667
Heidrick and Struggles (they do surveys on women and work): 212-867-9876
Reports: "Corporate Women Officers" 1986
"New Diversity: Women and Minorities on Corporate Boards" 1988

NAFE (National Association of Female Executives):
212-477-2200
National Commission on Working Women: 202-737-5764
NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners): 301-608-2590 NYC chapter: 212-779-7504

National Foundation for Women Business Owners:
301-495-4975
SBA (Small Business Administration): 202-606-4000
Women in Financial Development: 212-501-9354

According to Working Women Magazine (1996), there are only two female CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies. They are listed because they own their own business. They are Linda Wachner (Warnaco) and Marianne Sandler (Golden West Financial). In other words, they are the only two women who head up large publicly traded companies in the U.S. (This poll did not count women-owned businesses per se. Only Fortune 1000.)

According to NAWBO, there are nearly 8 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. so far in 1996. They generate $2.3 trillion in sales and employ 1 in 4 U.S. workers—that's 18.5 million Americans.

As far as your question on political events that helped women in management. Hmmmm, that's a VERY broad topic. You might want to make your scope a little narrower. Do you mean purely political events? Or do you mean how specific legislation, public policy, current events and/or social-justice movements helped women? In any case, good luck with your essay!—Amy

Thanks for your note to Feminist.com. For books on Fair Pay, I recommend the following:

• The American Women's Almanac. It's published every other year and documents many industries and the pay breakdown.
• 9to5, The National Organization of Working Women—has published a book the covers this topic.
• If Women Counted by Marilyn Waring
• Arlie Hochschild has written two books related to this topic.

We have these books at the Feminist.com Bookstore (under "Work/Career"). That's a start. You might also contact the National Committee on Pay Equity for their suggestions. Good luck. —Amy

I would be so appreciative if you could point me in the direction of some resources for finding the kind of employment I desire at this time in my life. My son will only be a baby once. I don't want to miss it. Thanks for listening. —Terri

Thanks for your honest note to Feminist.com. Unfortunately, I don't think that your experience or your frustration are uncommon. I was raised by a single mother, who always struggled with working and raising a child. The good news is that although my mother always worked, my memory is that she was always there for me. I think that this was mostly due to the feeling she left me with—and her encouragement to call for anything and everything.

The most immediate companies to come to mind are Patagonia and Smith & Hawkin, but these are from memory only and I'm not sure where they are located and what is even available. For more specific information about "family friendly companies"—I suggest that you access the follow resources:

1. Working Woman and Working Mother—just did stories on the "100 best companies for women to work." I'm not sure what their criteria is, but it's worth investigating.
2. Catalyst (212-777-8900)—which works to get executive women on boards and into corporate America—also honors "great companies for women." Again, I'm not sure about their criteria.
3. Co-op America —which has a whole list of "socially responsible companies."
4. Feminist.com's Women Owned Businesses section
5. The Feminist Dollar: The Wise Woman's Buying Guide by Phyllis Katz and Margaret Katz; Plenum Trade, New York/London 1997, which includes a rating system and details about how they rated the companies. They cover a number of industries and seem to give a good sense of who the good guys are. Visit the Feminist.com Bookstore for this books and other ideas.

I hope these suggestions are of use and that you can find an employer who knows—and respects—that parenting is also a full time job. —Amy

It never ceases to amaze me how blatantly unjust this world is. Through my work I, unfortunately, see so many cases that are similar to this one. Situations where power takes precedence over fairness and where people are valued by a skewed scale and not a just one.

I am not an attorney or a legal expert, so I am not in a position to tell what is best in the case. Instinct tells me that a contract shouldn't make a difference. In racial and sexual discrimination cases they don't--they do help, but they aren't the end-all be-all. The evidence seems to exist without the contract, so I can't imagine that that would be the determiner.

Obviously the first step would be to find an attorney. The best ones usually come through personal referrals. The next step would be to approach advocacy groups--especially those dealing with "older peoples' issues." For starters, there is the Gray Panthers, founded by Maggie Kuhn. Their phone # is 202-466-3132 and their address is: Gray Panthers, 2025 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 821, Washington, DC 20006.

There is also the Older Women's League which has offices in many places and a national office in Washington, DC (202-783-6686). These advocacy groups are usually familiar with other cases on similar topics and on the best way to proceed.

I hope this helps. Good luck to your friend—and thank you for being such a great friend —Amy

By dual-burden theory I assume you are talking about the fact that the majority of women (and a few men) have two full-time jobs—one outside of the home and one inside? Working under this assumption, I think you can ask almost any mother this and get a personal experience. In general, while more women are working outside of the home, only a few men work inside the home. Whether it is early training or society—who knows, but taking care of children and the home still falls under the heading of women's work. Have you ever heard a man talking about how he is going to combine his career with child rearing?

What I see more and more--are men who do the work, but the responsibility to ask and to keep track remains the woman's. I sat the other night with a group of couples--all without children. They talked about how great their husbands were because they did the laundry and paid the bills (it varied for each person). The husbands were very proud—and good for them, but I didn't hear one husband say how great their wives were for doing the cooking; the cleaning and the grocery shopping. For women to do it, it's life—for men, it is a great act to be rewarded. I think we are getting there—slowly.

I hope this is want you needed—sorry if I am talking about a totally different subject —Amy