 | American Women in Transition Subjects: Women -- United States -- Social conditions -- 1945–; Women -- United States -- Economic conditions -- 1945–; Women -- United States; This is the first in a series of eighteen projected volumes, to be published over the next two years, aimed at converting the vast statistical yield of the 1980 Census into authoritative analyses of major changes and trends in American life. A collaborative research effort, funded by public and private foundations, this series revives a tradition of independent Census analysis (the last such project was undertaken in 1960) and offers an unparalleled array of studies on various ethnic, geographic, and status dimensions of the U.S. population. It is entirely appropriate that the inaugural volume in this series should document trends in the status of American women. Dramatic social and demographic changes over the past two decades make American Women in Transition a landmark, an invaluable one-volume summary and assessment of women's move from the private domain to the public. Clearly and in detail, the authors describe women's increasing educational attainment and labor force participation, their lagging earning power, their continued commitment to marriage and family, and the "balancing act" necessitated by this overlap of roles. Supplementing 1980 Census data with even more recent surveys from the Census Bureau and other federal agencies, Bianchi and Spain are able to extend these trends into the 1980s and sketch the complex challenges posed by such lasting and historic changes. This definitive and sensitive study is certain to become a standard reference work on American women today, and an essential foundation for future scholarship and policy concerning the status of women in our society. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 1978. She is currently Professor of Sociology and Faculty Associate in the Center on Population, Gender, and Social Inequality, at the University of Maryland and also an Affiliate Faculty member of the Women's Studies Department and the School of Public Affairs. Prior to her current position, she was a U.S. Census Bureau demographer for 15 years and served as Assistant Chief for Social and Demographic Statistics in the Bureau's Population Division in 1993-94. She is currently directing research projects on American families' use of time and investigating inequality in parental investments in children. She served as President of the Population Association of America in 2000 and has chaired the Population and Family Sections of the American Sociological Association. 050 |
