sonnel and the U.S. military as women pushed for
gender integration to reflect the reality of their roles
in combat. The 1990’s equal rights platform in the
armed forces has been the stage of triumph and loss.
Further Reading
De Groot, Gerard J., and Corinna Peniston-Bird,
eds.A Soldier and a Woman: Sexual Integration in
the Militar y. New York: Longman, 2000. Surveys
women’s roles in the military worldwide from the
late medieval period to the 1990’s.
Grossnick, Roy A., ed. “The First Half of the
Nineties: 1991-1995.”United States Naval Aviation,
1910-1995. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Depart-
ment of the Navy, 1997. Provides month-by-
month naval history from 1990 to 1995, including
the role of women in the Navy.
Gutmann, Stephanie.The Kinder, Gentler Militar y:
Can America’s Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win
Wars?New York: Scribner, 2000. Journalist’s anal-
ysis of the way the military changed its gender out-
look during the 1990’s.
Herbert, Melissa S.Camouflage Isn’t Only for Combat:
Gender, Sexuality, and Women in the Militar y. New
York: New York University Press, 1998. A personal
interview-driven assessment of women in the mili-
tary.
Weinstein, Laurie, and Christie C. White, eds.Wives
and Warriors: Women and the Militar y in the United
States and Canada. Westport, Conn.: Bergin &
Garvey, 1997. Examines the lives of female mili-
tary personnel and military wives to show the pre-
vailing sexism in U.S. and Canadian armed
forces.
Zeigler, Sara L., and Gregory G. Gunderson.Moving
Beyond G.I. Jane: Women and the U.S. Militar y. Lan-
ham, Md.: University Press of America, 2005. Use-
ful for its presentation of solutions to 1990’s gen-
der and military issues, this collection covers a
range of relevant topics.
Ami R. Blue
See also Bosnia conflict; Bush, George H. W.; Clin-
ton, Bill; Don’t ask, don’t tell; Flinn, Kelly; Gulf War;
Homosexuality and gay rights; Kosovo conflict; Lib-
eralism in U.S. politics; Space exploration; Tailhook
incident; Women in the workforce; Women’s rights.
Women in the workforce
Definition Women employed in a specific activity
or enterprise during a specific periodWomen made considerable progress in their careers in the
1990’s, consolidating the trends that preceded the decade
but still faced a glass ceiling.Women have always worked, but in an agricultural
society, the work was done at home. With the indus-
trial age, women in greater numbers began to
work outside the home, but it was normally out of
necessity. At the beginning of the twentieth century,
only 20 percent of American women worked for
pay. By the end of the century, 60 percent worked
for pay. As women became better educated, they
sought to use their knowledge both in the work-
place and in the upbringing of their children. In
the 1930’s and 1940’s, women were employed in a
variety of occupations, especially during World
War II, when women stepped up to replace men
who had departed for war. After World War II,
women were encouraged to return to the home to
make way for men who were returning from war
and needed jobs. Education for women continued
to expand, and beginning with the 1960’s, women
expressed their dissatisfaction with the “back to
the home” movement that prevailed after World
War II.
Women made slow and steady progress in the
workforce during the 1960’s and 1970’s, and that
progress continued into the 1980’s and 1990’s. The
number of women in the workforce is an important
indicator. In 1950, only 33.9 percent of women were
in the workforce. By 1998, the percentage had
grown to 59.8 percent; between the ages of twenty-
five and fifty-four, over 76 percent of women were in
the workforce at the end of the century. The prog-
ress was steady but gradual, with an occasional pla-
teau at times of economic recession or corporate
cutbacks.
Despite these impressive statistics, the highest po-
sitions have eluded women. A Catalyst study in 1998
revealed that women constituted only 3.8 percent of
individuals holding titles such as chief executive offi-
cer, chairman, executive vice president, or chief op-
erating officer. Women often found that they were
respected for their work but often invisible when
promotions and bonuses were rewarded.The Nineties in America Women in the workforce 925