Women's and Gender Studies - Shippensburg University

05/26/2026

Boston, 1896. A young woman walks past a textile mill, her head down, her future already decided. She'll marry, disappear from the workforce, and spend her life managing a household. This isn't just her story. It's the story of millions.

But something strange was happening in America's labor data. Women's participation in the workforce wasn't following a straight line. It curved. It dipped. It rose again in ways that didn't make sense to traditional economic models.

Claudia Goldin noticed what others missed. While most economists treated women's work as a footnote, she spent decades digging through census records, payroll ledgers, and forgotten archives. What she uncovered rewrote our understanding of economic history.

Here's what she found: When America shifted from farms to factories in the 1800s, married women actually left the workforce in massive numbers. This wasn't about capability. It was about compatibility. Factory work demanded rigid schedules that clashed with running a household. Social norms made it shameful for a married woman to work outside the home. Her husband's reputation depended on it.

Then came the 20th century. The service sector exploded. Offices, schools, hospitals. These jobs offered something factories never could: flexibility. Slowly, married women returned to work. But they still earned less. Much less.

Goldin didn't just document this gap. She explained it. She showed how career interruptions for childbearing created lasting wage penalties. How certain professions punished any deviation from constant availability. How the problem wasn't just discrimination, but the very structure of how we value time and presence.

In 2023, the Nobel Committee recognized what she'd been saying for decades. Claudia Goldin became only the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. She won it alone, not shared with male colleagues. A fitting recognition for someone who spent her career making women's economic lives visible.

Her work doesn't just explain the past. It illuminates the present. Every conversation about pay equity, parental leave, or flexible work arrangements stands on the foundation she built. She turned invisible patterns into undeniable evidence.

Image Credit to Eric Unverzagt / Claudia Goldin (Wikimedia Commons) (Restored & Colorized)

05/10/2026

Congratulations!

04/29/2026

04/29/2026

Today is . 👖 This day began after the Italian Supreme Court overturned a r**e conviction in the 1990s because the victim was wearing tight jeans. They assumed that the victim must have "helped" the ra**st remove her jeans, thereby implying consent.

Outraged by this victim-blaming, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Inspired by this activism, Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in 1999.

What started as a local event in Los Angeles has grown into a worldwide movement to bring awareness to victim-blaming and the destructive myths that surround s*xual violence.

R**e is NEVER a victim or survivor’s fault. Force, violence, and coercion NEVER "imply" consent.

Learn more and join us in wearing denim today: http://denimday.org/why-denim



[Image description: A blue-toned image of four people, all standing, wearing jeans, and pictured from the waist down. White text overlaid reads: "Denim Day" with NNEDV logo below. The NNEDV logo consists of 66 small house shapes arranged in a large house shape, and text reading: "NNEDV National Network to End Domestic Violence."]

04/29/2026

A big CONGRATULATIONS to one of our amazing volunteers for receiving the Cumberland County Crime Victims’ Rights Rally Exceptional Volunteer Award!

Susan Mayhew’s dedication, compassion, and commitment to going above and beyond for those impacted by domestic violence is truly inspiring. This honor is so well deserved, and we are incredibly thankful for the time, energy, and heart she brings to our mission.

Please join us in congratulating Susan and thanking her for the impact she continues to make in our community! 💜

04/10/2026

04/01/2026

We are seeking a dependable and compassionate individual to serve as Resident Advocate, providing direct, front-line support to survivors of domestic violence and s*xual assault in a confidential shelter setting.

Learn more and apply at winservices.org/about/employment

03/18/2026

March 18, 2026

Today, civil rights leader Dolores Huerta issued the following statement:

“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.

I have encouraged people to always use their voice. Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into s*xual misconduct by Cesar Chavez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences.

As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate s*xual encounters with Cesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having s*x with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.

I had experienced abuse and s*xual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret. Both s*xual encounters with Cesar led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies secret and, after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to develop a deep relationship with these children, who are now close to my other children, their siblings. But even then, no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago.

I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.

I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of s*xual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control.

I am telling my story because the New York Times has indicated that I was not the only one — there were others. Women are coming forward, sharing that they were s*xually abused and assaulted by Cesar when they were girls and teenagers.

The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement.

The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.

I will continue my commitments to workers, as well as my commitment to women’s rights, to make sure we have a voice and that our communities are treated with dignity and given the equity that they have so long been denied.

I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here."

If you are a survivor or if you have been impacted by any type of s*xual violence, please visit the Dolores Huerta Foundation website, where you will find a list of resources for support. https://doloreshuerta.org/s*xual_assault_resources/

Read the full statement and Spanish-language version here: https://medium.com/p/e74c20430555?postPublishedType=initial

MEDIA CONTACT

Fenton Chief of Issue Advocacy & Crisis Management Lead Erik Olvera | [email protected] | 415-994-3242

Lara Berthold | [email protected]

03/18/2026

Shippensburg University’s Pride and Gender Equity (PAGE) Center announced the recipients of the Gero Awards at its International Women’s Day event on March 4 in the CUB MPR.