Women in the Workforce
Exhibit curated by Suzanna Denison, ’09
Published Fall 2008
Women have always contributed to the workforce in formal and informal ways, but their labor has not always been recognized. Karl Marx stated that “[women’s] labor appears to be a personal service outside of capital.” From the social issues concerning sexual harassment to the policy reforms surrounding the wage gap, this exhibit showcases a variety of materials from the BCRW collection that relate to women’s participation in the workforce. These documents chronologically span three decades, starting in the early 1970s with documents from MIT’s significant conference “Women in Science and Technology,” which sparked a discussion of women in higher education and skilled professions, to materials that showcase 1990s women-run, women-owned businesses. This exhibit also contains a slideshow of photographs documenting women’s labor and activism.