Helpful Books & Articles

If you have questions about how to obtain any of these resources, please contact us at Vermont Works for Women.

 

Nontraditional Careers and Women at Work

• Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. American Association of Undergraduate Women, 2010.
  The AAUW report Why So Few? presents the evidence for the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics exists, and provides recommendations for increasing girls’ and women’s interest and participation in these fields.

• Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-being. U.S. Department of Commerce & Executive Office of the President, 2011.
  This report compiles information that currently position women nationally in patterns of education level, employment, health, family structures, crime and violence.  The current trends in women’s enrollment in and graduation from nontraditional education programs, and their employment in nontraditional careers are discussed.

• A Diversity of Gifts: Vermont Women at Work. D’Ann Calhoun Fago, 1989.
  This book follows 47 Vermont women from a wide variety of occupations along their paths toward becoming financially independent.

• A to Z of Women in Science and Math. Lisa Young, 1999.
  Written with young women in mind, this encyclopedia contains the stories of 150 women who contributed to the fields of math and science.  Entries are organized in a number of ways, including geographically and chronologically.

• Hard-Hatted Women: Stories of Struggle and Success in the Trades. Edited by Molly Martin, 1988.
  Women’s passion for trades work, and experiences of cooperation in the trades, are explored in this collection, through their stories of difficulty, and of success.

• Talking 9 to 5: How Women’s and Men’s Conversational Styles Differ. Deborah Tannen, Ph.D, 1994.
  In this easy to read guide, Deborah Tannen describes women’s and men’s styles in workplace communication, and the effect of these communication styles on how women and men are perceived on the job.

• We’ll Call You if We Need You: Experiences of Women Working in Construction. Susan Eisenberg, 1999.
  This book explores the challenges faced by women in the trades and the humor     often used to overcome them through interviews with women electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters and ironworkers.
• Women Police: Portraits of Success. Patricia Lunneborg, 2004.
  Fifty female women police officers were interviewed about experiences in police work.  This book contains those interviews, and their answer to why they chose police work, why they’ve stuck with it, how it has challenged them, and how they would improve the police force if they could.

Transitioning into the Workplace from Incarceration

• The Ex-Offender’s 30/30 Job Solution: Your Lifeboat Guide to Re-entry Success. Neil McNulty, 2009.
  Looking for a job?  Need a hand?  This guide gives step by step advice on finding a job no more than 30 miles of home within 30 days, while transitioning out of incarceration.

• The Ex-Offender’s Job Interview Guide: Turn Your Red Flags Into Green Lights. Caryl Krannich, 2008.
  Focusing on the importance of job interview skills, this guide walks you through every step of the way from interview preparation through to following up on an afterwards.

• Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders: Overcoming Barriers to Employment Success. Wendy S. Enelow, 2006.
  This excellent guide gives advice on writing, distributing, and following up on resumes and cover letters, and includes 100 examples of great resumes and letters written for ex-offenders.

• The Ex-Offender’s Re-Entry Success Guide: Smart Choices for Making It on the Outside for Good. Ron Krannich, 2008. Considering both the mental and the everyday challenges of re-entry, this guide offers a seven-step guide to overcoming these challenges, and achieving reentry                 success.

Sexual Harassment:  How to Recognize and Address it

• Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.  Mary L. Boland, 2005.
  This comprehensive, practical guide explains how to identify workplace harassment, understand its causes, and understand the effects of sexual harassment on victims, and other personnel.  The changing standards for proving sexual harassment claims are also discussed.

• Sexual Harassment on the Job: What It Is & How to Stop It. William Petrocelli & Barbara Kate Repa, 1998.
  This how-to guide gives practical suggestions on recognizing and dealing with sexual harassment on the job and preventing the need for legal action, as well as explains legal definitions, policies and available courses of action.

• Back Off!: How to Confront and Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers. Martha Langelan, 1993.
  Back Off! offers direct action tools for addressing harassment everywhere, from various workplace settings, to school, to public settings.

Supporting Women Personally and Professionally

• Under Her Wing: The Mentors Who Changed our Lives. Barbara Quick, 2000.
  Based on interviews and feminist texts, this book explores the confidence and creativity women have experienced with mentors, and other benefits of mentoring relationships.  Advice is included on how to mentor by listening, teaching, and supporting well, and how to grow together in a mentoring relationship.

Women’s History

• Feminine Ingenuity: How Women Changed America. Anne L. MacDonald, 1999.
  Beginning at the turn of the century, and flowing up through to the present, Feminine Ingenuity describes the work of women inventers, their inventions, and the social context in which they were made.

• Timelines of American Women’s History. Sue Heinemann, 1996.
  Over the course of U.S. history women have influenced significant changes in society, culture, politics, economics, and science.  This book investigates those changes and the women behind them.
• Women’s World:  A Timeline of Women in History. Irene M. Franck & David Brownstone, 1995. 
  This chronology includes important art and literary exhibitions and publications,  events, and biographical information of important women in history from pre-history to the early 1990s.