Nia Lane Chester Pine Manor College

Hildreth Y. Grossman Harvard Medical School

Current estimates are that 55% of all woman over the age of 16 are in the labor force, with about 70% at work in the 20-44 age range and 65% in the 45-54 age range (U.S. Department of Labor, 1986, Table A-4). Certainly many millions of woman participate in unpaid work in addition to, or instead of, their paying jobs. the majority of the nonpaying work involves nourishing and maintaining a stable family center for members (their husbands) and future members (their children) of the paid work force. the majority of women function in both capacities.

Due to the rapid expansion of women into all strata of the work force, and in particular in the social sciences, increasing interest and research has been devoted to women's work experiences. It has become clear from these studies that social scientists have relied predominantly on traditional models of work to understand women's experiences. These models, however, have been based on men's occupational experiences, which have been assumed to be the same for women. More recently, researchers and theorists from a variety of disciplines have begun to challenge earlier assumptions as inaccurate reflections of women workers' realities.

A majority of these newer studies have concentrated on the reasons for women's employment and career choices, including changes in economic, family and social conditions (Astin, 1984; Fitzgerald & Crites, 1980; Oppenheimer, 1982; Osipow, 1973, 1975). These studies suggest that women, contrary to traditional mythology, work for much the same reasons that men . . .