The Status of Women in Rhode Island

Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2002).  The Status of Women in Rhode Island.  Providence, RI: Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Though not solely a resource on Economics, The Status of Women in Rhode Island written and published by the Institute of Women’s Policy (IWPR) is still relevant for Economics students, especially those interested in the role of women in our economic structure.  With women making up almost 46% of the workforce (it is imperative to understand the contributions of women to the economy - based on the figures from the US department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001 (IWPR, 2002, 34).

Initially I reviewed this source because it has shown up on my three catalog searches for the past three modules.  I finally decided that it was destiny that I review the source. I realized that it was available digitally so I ignored it each time.  However, after the third time, I decided to look at the book from the shelf.  I viewed the book while in the library. It is a non-circulating reference book.  At home, I reviewed the electronic version, which is available by free download. I could find no difference between the two sources, except that the free download is available in PDF format. The new Adobe Reader allows readers to highlight and make notations.  In this week’s reading, Information Overload, the study showed that “…an overwhelming number of participants choose free Internet resources, (545, 94%).” (Melgoza, Mennel, and Gyeszly, 2002, 35).  This report was written in 2002, I assume that the availability of economics resources has grown in the eleven years since this article was published).  

Scope: This report from 2002 measures the status of women in the state of Rhode Island in five categories, “political participation, employment and earnings, social and economic autonomy, reproductive rights and health and well being.” ( 2002, iii).  While not strictly an economic resource, like politics and history, economics does not exist solely on its own. It is a composite of all the other social sciences.  This book addresses the status of women in the state of Rhode Island.  It compare the women within RI to the women within the other New England States and nationally. 

The Status of Women in Rhode Island states that the publication of these state reports every ten years (in 2002, nine other states received similar reports, with each state receiving a report within the decade) have three main goals:

1.     To analyze and disseminate information about women’s progress in achieving rights and opportunities.

2.     To identify and measure the remaining barriers to equality

3.     To provide baseline measures and a continuing monitor of women’s progress throughout the country (2002, 1).

Audience: Written to be understood by the public, the audience of The Status of Women in Rhode Island is chiefly those who are involved in Women’s Policies. This includes politicians, historians, economists, educators, as well as those who work within government agencies such as the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health.  It is also of interesting note to those

Timeliness:  This is the most recent report for the state of Rhode Island. Each state is reviewed once within the decade.  The reports started in 1996.  There is additional information reviewed annually by different organizations to which this information can be compared.

Authority:  The president of the IWPR is Heidi Hartman, Ph.D.; she has an Economics degree from Swarthmore and her Ph. D. is from Yale.  (IWPR, b) and is a recipient of the McArthur award. (IWPR, a).    Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D. is the chair of the Rhode Island Advisory Committee and is the Mittleman Family Director of Human Development at Brown (IWPR, 2002, iv).  Other members of the board are involved in higher education in RI as well as State departments, such as Human Services, Corrections) and other social services in the state of RI (IWPR, 2002, iv).

Documentation:  There are eleven pages of references at the end of the report; referencing such agencies as the National Center for Health Statistics, National Committee on Pay Equity, Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance, The US Bureau of Economic Analysis, The US Department of Commerce,

Secondary Source:  It is a secondary source comprising many reports from different departments that collect information on women. 

Relevance:  On page 34 of the report, there is a table that indicates that according to a report by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001 a., there are 64,855,000 females in the United States workforce.  There are 74, 512, 000 males in the work force. In RI, there are 240,00 females in the workforce and 263,00 men.  67.9% of the female workforce in RI is employed full time.  These statistics tell the story that women are a driving force in the economy of our country and yet they do not receive equal pay and face different obstacles than do men.    It is important to consider women in the study of economics and until there is equity between the genders, one must always consider the female aspect separately to gather a fuller understanding.  Aspects of education, politics, employment of women affect the economics of all members of the State of Rhode Island. Comparing the data from each state helps to determine where states and departments need to make improvements and allows each state and department to look to other states/departments for additional information for improvement.  It is also a valuable resource for those studying economics that would like to factor in or separate the role of women in economics.

This resource is also available online: http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-status-of-in-rhode-island.

References:

Institute for Women’s Policy Research. (n.d.a).  About us—IWPR.  Retrieved from http://www.iwpr.org/about.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research. (n.d.b).  Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., President—IWPR.  Retrieved from http://www.iwpr.org/about/staff-and-board/heidi-hartmann.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2002).  The Status of Women in Rhode Island.  Providence, RI: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Melgoza, P., Mennel, P.A., and Gyeszly, S.D. (2002).  Information overload.  Collection Building, 21(1), 32-42.  Retrieved from http://lis60621-09f.iwiki.kent.edu/file/view/Econ%20Module%20article%20Information%20Overload.pdf/356238258/Econ%20Module%20article%20Information%20Overload.pdf.