Women Still at Work: Professionals Over Sixty and On the Job

(Paperback)

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From Betty White to Toni Morrison, were surrounded by examples of women working well past the traditional retirement age. In fact, the fastest growing segment of the workforce is women age sixty-five and older. Women Still at Work tells the everyday stories of hard-working women and the reasons theyre still on the job, with a focus on women in the professional workforce. The book is filled with profiles of real women, working in settings from academia to drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, from business to the arts, talking about the many reasons why they still work and the impact work has on their lives. Women Still at Work draws on national survey data and in-depth interviews, showing not only the big picture of older women advancing their careers despite tough economic conditions, but also providing the personal insights of everyday working women from all parts of the country. Their stories showcase some of the key themes women choose to stay at workincluding job satisfaction, diminishing retirement savings, the need to support children or parents longer in life, exercising the hard-won right to work, and more. Women Still at Work shows employment to be a positive and rewarding part of life for many women well beyond the expected retirement age.

Reviews

Fideler tells the stories of older working women, backing them up with comparisons to national data and the latest research. Her stories are particularly compelling as they document the lives of a group of women who have been rejecting social norms all along the way, with working in retirement being the latest iteration. Hers is just the kind of groundbreaking work that spawns more theory and research for a new stage of life that is yet to be fully delineated. -- Jacquelyn B. James, director of research, Sloan Center on Aging & Work; research professor, Boston College
In exploring the phenomenon of older working women, Elizabeth Fideler weaves together substantive interviews and contemporary statistical data to create a very optimistic work. The strong, vibrant older women who shared their stories with Fideler are compelling examples of the benefits of staying on the job and 'off the shelf' in later life. Fidelers evident empathy with her subjects allows her to unveil the 'personal truths' of their lives in an even-handed and comprehensive manner. While the high-powered women interviewed here are by no means typical, they provide wonderful examples of the importance of mentoring, persistence and positivity for women who have the opportunities to stay active and engaged in the workplace well beyond modern thresholds of old age. -- Susannah Ottaway, Carleton College
Elizabeth F. Fideler has provided an extraordinary study on older women who continue to work in the labor force of this nation. The case studies of these women are beautifully written and presented, as if the author is having a conversation with the subjects and the readers. -- Charles V. Willie, Charles William Eliot Professor Emeritus, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Thanks to Liz Fideler for profiling our cohortmiddle class women over 65 still at work. Its good to know that the graying of female professionals is no barrier to continued employment. I enjoyed reading about the interesting women Fideler introduces and learning how they manage their lives in and out of work. -- Sharon Feiman-Nemser
This book challenges assumptions about why women work after the age of sixty, and thoughtfully explores how such women manage the boundaries between their professional and personal lives. Most importantly, the authors research shows that women can have real agency in structuring long and productive careers, and can help institutions shape more responsive policies and environments for all older workers. -- Mary Deane Sorcinelli, University of Massachusetts Amherst
A book for every woman for whom traditional paradigms of work are falling away. Match the map in your head with those of different women depicted in the book and consider what's next for you. -- Mary Kay Thompson Tetreault, provost emerita, Portland State University
Engagingly written, Fideler's book illustrates a relatively new and largely positive trend among older women in the workforce. The women Fideler profilesmany of whom have seen doors open to them in the second half of their lives that were closed when they came of ageoffer examples for all of the necessary qualities to remain productive, vital, creative and fulfilled in their work lives at later and later ages. -- Tatjana Meschede, Brandeis University
Fidlers narrative is not the dry, ridged prose of a scientific article. It is, instead, lively, hopeful, and even emotionalshe is speaking directly to women, particularly to us older women, sparking our confidence and encouraging us through the eyes of others. * Monthly Labor Review *

Author Bio

Elizabeth F. Fideler is research fellow at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. She lives in Framingham, MA.