"NURSES' QUESTIONS/WOMEN'S QUESTIONS": THE IMPACT OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC REVOLUTION AND FEMINISM ON UNITED STATES WORKING WOMEN, 1946-1986 (WOMEN WORKERS).
Contributors: University of Pittsburgh.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 307
Subjects: History, United States.; Women's Studies.; Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations.
Description: This dissertation examines the impact of the demographic revolution and feminism on post World War II women workers. It analyzes the reasons why female workers, particularly college-educated women and those born after the war, came to identify strongly with work roles. It also explores their reaction to the reemerging women's movement and the ways they utilized feminism to solve work-related problems. Finally this study traces the rise of a conservative backlash and examines the reasons why traditionalist women found feminism threatening. Nursing, a historically feminized occupation, is the prism through which postwar working women are studied.

Trade journals and professional association materials were important sources of information on conditions within nursing, R.N.s' work behavior and attitudes, and nurses' reactions to feminism. Labor union publications and convention proceedings provided material on how R.N.s reacted to and utilized collective bargaining. Interviews with nurses in professional, feminist, and pro-life organizations gave insights into the experiences and values of both feminist, traditionalist, and middle-road women.

After World War II chronic personnel shortages and structural changes in the profession made paid labor both more acceptable and feasible for married, child-rearing nurses. During the 1950s and '60s the growth of college attendance among R.N.s encouraged women to both perceive themselves as professionals and challenge the status quo. By the early 1970s frustration with their salaries and lack of autonomy led college-educated and younger nurses to accept the re-emerging women's movement. During the '70s and '80s this feminist minority both redefined former strategies and adopted new tactics designed to win them higher wages and more independence. Feminism, however, had significant limitations for nursing. Both the initial insensitivity of the women's movement and the conservative backlash of the 1980s restricted the degree to which R.N.s mobilized their colleagues and affected change.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: A, page: 3345.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, 1992.

School code: 0178.