In politics, medicine, law, entertainment, business and academe few women have reached the very top levels, although many women appear to be qualified and overt discrimination is illegal. The writer illustrates the far-reaching effects of subtle bias on women's careers. The workplace is still unfriendly to mothers, and men tend to be more comfortable working with other men. Women who do not aim for powerful positions themselves can help other women to advance and can bring about changes in society.
Women have tremendous power as voters and consumers and when they work together for a common goal.
Although females have achieved legal equality, more changes are needed for this equality to become reality. The only way to free the individual woman to become all that she can is for women to act as women, to wield power as women, so that as individuals we can be free. It is edited by Cynthia B. Costello and Anne J. Stone for the Women's Research and Education Institute, and includes chapters on women and leadership in higher education, in the corporate world, in politics, unions and in the military. About half of the volume is devoted to statistics on American women's health, employment, demographics, education, income, and military and political participation. The sources of this data include the Bureau of the Census, the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.