Dear Friends,

I am delighted to announce that in just two short month, the National Council for Research on Women will be hosting our signature Annual Conference June 20-22 in Washington, D.C. at the Georgetown University Conference Center.

The dual focus of this year's Conference will be on strengthening...

What is the status of women worldwide in 2012? Join the National Council for Research on Women as we explore the gains and gaps in different regions with international and national experts. Panelists and audience members will share their vision, insight, strategies, and action steps needed for unlocking women's and...

Many of us are still reeling from Congress's down-to-the-wire agreement on the debt ceiling that may have averted, at least temporarily, a catastrophic downgrade in US creditworthiness. The compromise consisted of USD one trillion in budget cuts and the creation of a new congressional committee to oversee an additional one...

'These are tough times.' We've all heard the phrase time and time again -- especially now during the fierce battles over public spending -- to justify the lack of progress in attaining equality, or prosperity, or a more level playing field. We can't pay workers fairly or offer benefits, or...

President Obama's State of the Union address was heartening for its forward looking focus on collaboration, innovation, and sustainable growth but there was a missed opportunity to pay attention to those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, especially women of color and their families, who are being...

Friday was Human Rights Day, a day established in honor of the General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Each year, our calendar is filled with such commemorative dates -- World AIDS Day, Equal Pay Day, Women's Equality Day, International Day for the...

Hanna Rosin's cover story "The End of Men" has created quite a stir (The Atlantic July/August 2010). Attention-grabbing title aside, Rosin makes the case that women surpassing men in the labor force and in academic achievement is the tidal wave that will finally change the dynamics of power between the...

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In its first year, ARRA has provided tax cuts to individuals, fiscal relief to states, and aid to those most directly hurt by the recession. According to the Council of Economic Advisors, the Recovery...

This Valentine's Day, skip the chocolates and the teddy bears. Don't bother with expensive flowers or that revealing lingerie you've been eyeing. Quite frankly, many of us are just not in the mood. What women really want, in these volatile times, is greater economic opportunity and security.

It may not...

The recent New York Times Magazine feature on women's global rights did not include any mention of key women's organizations such as WEDO, MADRE, or AWID, underscoring the importance of raising the visibility of women's political work. As we all know, suffrage laws in the...

Last week, we heard that Citigroup, like so many other financial companies in peril, is going to raise base salaries by as much as 50 percent in order to discourage the culture of excessive risk-taking in pursuit of big bonuses. Newsflash! Citigroup: there's a foolproof way to shift away from...

Speculation about who would be nominated to replace Supreme Court Justice Souter came to an end last Tuesday with the announcement of Sonia Sotomayor as President Obama's pick to fill the vacancy. For many of us in the women's research and advocacy community, it's a promising choice that hopefully...

Suddenly, it feels like Spring! Supreme Court Justice David Souter is expected to resign as we hold our collective breaths for the appointment of a female legal eagle! President Obama just marked his first 100 days in office looking back on many initiatives aimed at boosting economic security, including his...

On Sunday, an estimated 90 million Americans will gather around their television sets (many of them newly purchased $1,000 flat screens), consume copious amounts of food and drink (more than at any other time of year, other than Thanksgiving), and watch Superbowl XLIII--complete with commercials that run $3 million for...

In little over a week, the Obama transition team has made two nominations that will potentially affect the lives of every woman, man and child on the planet. The proposals of Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury and of Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State have generated...

As President-elect Obama meets with his top advisors and begins to build his leadership team for a new administration, we hope he will show a little gender sensitivity and recruit significant numbers of women to key positions. Here is the open letter I wrote that was published in Alternet earlier...

By Linda Basch, PhD

What happened this week is historic. We have elected a new administration, and change is definitely in the air. Our anticipation is great, but we also have many big issues to tackle.

The economic crisis brings particular urgency to the issues foremost on our minds....

By Linda Basch, PhD

With the election only a day away, we asked members of our network based in states like Ohio, Michigan, and Idaho to weigh in on the key issues facing women in their region as they get ready to vote. We asked them to tell us the...

By Linda Basch, Ph.D., President, National Council for Research on Women

If women ran Wall Street, would there have been a financial meltdown?
Maybe not. According to a recent study by Harvard researchers in the
journal of Evolution and Human Behavior, higher levels of testosterone
...

The home-owning middle class was the muse of both presidential candidates in Tuesday's town hall-style debate.

Within minutes of Tom Brokaw's introduction, Senator Barack Obama argued that, "The middle class needs a rescue package. And that means tax cuts for the middle class." Senator John McCain didn't waste any time...