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Back Matter

New England Journal of Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Front Matter: Trotter Review, Vol. 4, Issue 1

Trotter Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

The mass media can be a positive or negative force in the struggle for racial progress. Unfortunately, the black community faces media that provide many negative influences. Consequently, there is a continuing need to address this issue.

In the articles in this issue of the Trotter Review we examine the current representation of blacks in the news media and representations of blacks in history through the entertainment media.

Consequences Of Racial Stereotyping, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

What are the consequences of negative portrayals of blacks? As mentioned in the previous articles, the media help to provide definitions of social reality, of social situations. Attendant upon such definitions is an implicit action orientation, a recommendation as to action appropriate to the situation.

The media are a significant factor in the ongoing battle for racial progress. While some of the battles take place in official forums (i.e., governmental institutions), other battles take place in unofficial forums such as newspapers, television, radio, movies, books, and magazines. These should not be taken lightly; there is ample evidence that individuals act …

Providing Access To Power: The Role Of Higher Education In Empowering Women Students, Margaret A. Mckenna

New England Journal of Public Policy

Access to education opens the doors to future economic power — but are opportunities for women limited by the very way that institutions of higher education think about women students? Women comprise the majority of college students today, but the institutions they attend may not be serving their educational needs. This article explains that women's needs are different from those of men and illustrates how educators can respond to that difference, offering a "feminist environment" in which female students can meet their own educational goals.

Foreword, Rosabeth Moss Kanter

New England Journal of Public Policy

Two significant facts are apparent from reading this volume. First, the authors are themselves examples of women overcoming barriers, breaking into formerly all-male domains, succeeding against the odds, and exercising economic, political, and educational leadership — on behalf of other women as well as on behalf of the institutions they serve. Thus their own lives are eloquent rebuke to anyone who still thinks that women cannot manage effectively in any realm, or that women must always take second place to men, or that family responsibilities make women less serious about public responsibilities, or that women fail to help one another; …

Protest And Thrive: The Relationship Between Global Responsibility And Personal Empowerment, Sarah A. Conn

New England Journal of Public Policy

Economic empowerment is intricately linked to personal empowerment, which for many women starts with notions of caring and responsibility. When we care about ourselves, our family, our neighborhood, our community, and our world, we are often moved to action. Examples of women activists abound. This article examines the psychological forces that lead to individual empowerment and social change and warns us that to ignore our reactions to the world around us is to limit our own possibilities for personal growth. Personal power comes from taking responsibility for ourselves in a context of interconnectedness and interdependence. Awareness, understanding, direct experience, and …

Women, Leadership, And Power, Marilyn Swartz Lloyd

New England Journal of Public Policy

Women strive to attain power because it is the best way to achieve their personal and professional goals. This article describes how empowerment enabled its author to capture the vision of an ideal city in which education, culture, business, and industry all enjoy dignity and respect. Gaining acceptance for a light manufacturing zone in the city of Boston involved learning to build constituencies and rally support for a winning campaign.

Front Matter

New England Journal of Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Why Not A Fifty-Fifty Goal? Increasing Female Leadership In Higher Education, Sherry H. Penney, Nancy Kelly

New England Journal of Public Policy

One of the key factors determining the economic status and success of women is their level of education. Women have been turning to education in ever increasing numbers, and they now comprise the majority of students in our institutions of higher education. Yet women hold only 10 percent of the most senior positions — college and university presidencies. Clearly if institutions are to be responsive to the needs of all students, that percentage must change. Those who make up the ranks of this elite achieved their professional standing by overcoming inequities that linger in the academy even as we enter …

Another View Of The "Facts Of Life", Phyllis S. Swersky

New England Journal of Public Policy

The "mommy track" has entered the lexicon of women's career development, thanks to a controversial article in the Harvard Business Review in which Felice N. Schwartz recommended a dual career track for women. In this article, a senior executive, corporate director, and mother of three children offers another view of how working women might approach the demands of family and career.

Women As Managers: Myths And Realities, Carol B. Hillman

New England Journal of Public Policy

The negative myths about women in management are dying. The new reality is that women can and do manage men and women exceedingly well. Because of this, women clearly have the opportunity to attain economic power and security. But another new reality is raising its ugly head: women who refuse to work for other women or, worse yet, undermine their female managers. Mentors, training, and commitment on the part of institutions to employ them as managers will assure women the fair chance to succeed as managers.

The Boardroom: Still A Fraternity?, Dell Mitchell

New England Journal of Public Policy

Boards of directors of corporations may represent the last fraternity at the top of the economic power structure. Although they represent an important pool of candidates, highly qualified women are grossly underrepresented on such boards. This article describes the strategy behind the ongoing effort in New England to position women for appointment as corporate directors.

Women, Power, And Partnership, Elizabeth Graham Cook

New England Journal of Public Policy

As women in a community move into senior positions from which they can influence the economic advancement of women at all levels, commentators have examined factors contributing to their advancement. This article outlines data about the Women's Economic Forum, a Boston group formed in 1985. The degree to which interdependence or "partnership" is a positive element in achieving the group's objectives suggests that other communities could adopt the WEF model.

Women, Politics, And The Nineties: The Abortion Debate, Susan Estrich

New England Journal of Public Policy

The fight for political empowerment of women may finally break wide open over the issues of reproductive freedom. This article posits that while public attention has focused on courtroom attempts to limit Roe v. Wade, the issues will ultimately be decided in the political arena. Here, Estrich says, the framer of the question may be the ultimate victor. For those on the pro-choice side of the debate, the next election cycle may be their first real opportunity to vote as a bloc and wield real political power.

Women And Power: Women In Politics, Cathleen Douglas Stone

New England Journal of Public Policy

Are women making progress in the political arena, or are their frustrations at access to elective office severe enough to warrant their own political party? This article examines the statistics and argues that women should seize political power by voting as a bloc. As loyalty to traditional parties declines while their interest in and sensitivity to social issues grows, the moment is right for a real increase in women's political power.

The Third Stage: An Economic Strategy, Dawn-Marie Driscoll

New England Journal of Public Policy

If the first stage of the women's movement raised consciousness, changed statutes, and proposed the Equal Rights Amendment, and the second stage broadened the debate to include family, workplace, and societal issues, the third stage may focus simply on giving women economic power and independence. Issues for women in the 1990s will center on economics; this article suggests strategies for achieving these goals.

Women And Economic Empowerment, Kitty Dukakis, Vivian Li

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article proposes a women's economic agenda to help fulfill the needs of working women. The first component outlined is the appointment of women who are sensitive to the needs of all women, including the poor, to key decision-making positions. The agenda then calls for employers to recognize changing workforce demographics by initiating programs that can accommodate the needs of single-person as well as dual-income households. The final component is an argument for the implementation of pay equity.

A Feminized Work Force, A Humanized Workplace, Evelyn Murphy

New England Journal of Public Policy

Enhancing the opportunities for women in the workplace in the next decade will become an economic imperative, not just an issue of social justice. In this article Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Murphy sets forth recommendations for policymakers in both the public and private sector that begin to change our notions of what constitutes a humanized workplace. If the economy is to remain strong, these initiatives will be required to improve business productivity as well as the life of all family members.

Employment Leave: Foundation For Family Policy, Mary Jane Gibson

New England Journal of Public Policy

Women and men in the workforce face difficult dilemmas during family crises. Can one be a responsible family member and a responsible employee when an elderly parent is ill, a spouse is disabled, a baby is born or adopted, a child is sick? Employment leave with insurance for wage replacement is a cornerstone of family policy proposed in a workable format in H. 2191 now before the Massachusetts legislature. It can be a model for other states and, someday, the nation.

Alcoholism: A Barrier To Empowerment For Women, Marion Brink

New England Journal of Public Policy

Women's increasing economic power has encouraged the promotion of their drinking as fashionable. However, women are more vulnerable to the impact of alcohol, and the stigma attached to alcoholism is greater for them than it is for men. As a consequence, a woman — and those around her — will deny her alcoholism until she has lost much more than her male counterparts. When, or if, she seeks help for this devastating disease, she finds a lack of woman-specific programs and facilities. This article notes the barriers to recovery for women and offers some suggestions for breaking them down. Two …

Women And Money: Getting Money And Using It, Sheryl R. Marshall

New England Journal of Public Policy

The author of this article has spent her career in the world of finance. Here she examines the way women make economic decisions. The article centers on attitudes concerning women, money, and financial independence; the availability or lack of capital for women who want to start businesses; and a strategy for using their economic clout to forward the agenda of the economic empowerment of women.

Women And Philanthropy: New Voices, New Visions, Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article examines the growing presence and influence of women in American contemporary philanthropy. Based in part upon structured interviews conducted with leaders in the women's funding movement, it identifies how the voices and visions of women — within older, more traditional foundations as well as newer "women's funds" — are having an impact on the way the needs of human community are met. It also sheds light on how these voices and visions serve to reconceive the connections among morality, money, and power, thereby contributing to an understanding of economic morality.

A Critique Of "Women And Philanthropy: New Voices, New Visions", Micho F. Spring

New England Journal of Public Policy

The debate is classic: should women work within existing institutional systems and organizations to help shape them, or should they establish their own? Micho Spring offers her own views about Marcy Murninghan's study of alternative philanthropies.

Reel Blacks: A Kinder, Gentler Fbi, Patricia A. Turner

Trotter Review

Revisionist interpretations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) role in enforcing civil rights legislation and its monitoring of black activists have proliferated during the last decade. Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement by Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, Racial Matters by Kenneth O'Reilly, and The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. by David Garrow are just a few of the numerous books to chronicle the FBI's somewhat embarrassing record on race-related issues. Given this wealth of documentation in print, it is even more startling that in the …

Media Images Of Boston's Black Community, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

In their efforts to report on the forces that affect Boston's racial climate, the local media have typically focused on the more obvious institutional actors: businesses, city hall, school boards, churches, the courts, neighborhood groups. Rarely have the media themselves been subjected to the same scrutiny. This study represents one such effort. It is an analysis of the images of Boston's black community that are conveyed through the local news media. It asks the question: If a Bostonian relied solely on the local news for information about local blacks, what impressions would he or she be left with, and how …

Tainted Glory: Truth And Fiction In Contemporary Hollywood, Patricia A. Turner

Trotter Review

In the earliest days of cinema, the image of the African American on screen matched the off-screen image. When a 12-minute version of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1903) was filmed, "Tom" shows were the most popular stage shows, the Stowe novel was still a top-seller, and the notion that white southerners were the real victims of the peculiar institution was gaining increasing acceptance in academic circles. When D.W. Griffith's epic and revolutionary Birth of a Nation (1915) depicted a set of stock African-American movie characters — the subservient overweight domestic servant; the indifferent, coquettish mulatto; the savage, sexually driven buck; and …