Survey Seeks to Find How Montana Women Are Fairing in Today’s Workforce

The Interagency Committee for Change by Women is conducting a voluntary survey to find out how women are fairing in today’s workforce. The survey is a replica of a survey done by the former Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor and Industry in 1977.

Nearly all the 2009 survey questions remain as they were in 1977. Original survey language has been modified to include many things that were not part of school or the workplace in 1977 such as computers, online job ads and applications, home schooling, tribal colleges, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), etc. Income levels are also tied to current day federal poverty guidelines and ethnic backgrounds will dovetail with the 2010 Census. The survey can be found online at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/iccw/surveys/wwork.shtml.

ICCW discovered the Montana Women and Work survey results in archives at the Montana Historical Society in 2006. The group agreed that resurrecting and redistributing a slightly updated survey could provide valuable insight and comparison about women’s strides in the Montana workplace.

The 1977 survey revealed that Montana women with the least amount of education and/or college education said, "They did not need much in the way of work-related services." Respondents in the "educational middle" reported needing the greatest amount of work-related services. Those surveyed also reported their greatest problem was "the responsibility of both family and home." During that time transportation to and from work was also a barrier for many of the women surveyed. Women additionally expressed great dissatisfaction with their earnings and opportunities for promotion in 1977.

ICCW was created by executive order in 1976 as the Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee for Women under then-Governor Tom Judge. Judge assembled a committee of exceptionally able, dedicated and thoughtful individuals to share some common concerns, discuss mutual goals and advance employment of women in state government during a time when women nationally were viewed as members of a dependent class whose individual rights were subservient to their class position.

Casey Kyler-West

Communications Director

Department of Labor & Industry

406-444-1520

[email protected]