Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis addressed the impact of "women's work" on the quality of women's lives in a lecture entitled "Women's Work is Never Done: Themes from Women's Lives" Thursday evening before a crowd of 60 women.
Meleis discussed her current research, in which she's been engaged for 10 years. "The goal is to describe significant predictors for perceived health for women," she said.
Meleis and her team of international scholars focused on women in such countries as the United States, Egypt, Kuwait and Colombia, who were wives as well as mothers. She chose to feature women with low economic status because they "have never been studied before and they are disenfranchised and lack solidarity," Meleis explained.
She dispelled the assumption of work as paid employment and urged the exploration of work as it relates to women's health in its broadest sense.
"We must understand a woman's life first to understand what keeps her well," Meleis said.
Meleis shared two case studies about a maid in Colombia and a housewife in Egypt. Both accounts elucidated the great deal of work that the women had to do. The work of the housewife was so great that she had no time to take her sick child to the doctor.
Despite the workload, Meleis claimed that society marginalized these women with such sayings as Colombia's "servants are a necessary evil."
"It's a stereotype that women are unproductive in the workplace," said Meleis, pointing to the examples of under-valued teachers and nurses.
With low-income women receiving few, if any, benefits and little pay, Meleis said one wonders how they cope with such additive stresses.
"It was amazing because a definite theme was first turning inside, thinking it over and processing it, weighing different options and problem solving on one's own. Then they would turn to outside help," Meleis said.
Meleis redefined work using such parameters as the measure of expended energy, level of activity and amount of time spent.
Audience members said they were impressed with Meleis' research.
"These are important dimensions to the way you think of women's work -- or don't think of it," said Peggy Curchack, associate director of Career Services.
Sponsored by the Association of Women Faculty and Administrators, FOCUS on Health and Leadership for Women and the Penn Women's Center, the event took place in Houston Hall.
