Women's Sociological Research and Writing in the "AJS" in the Pre-World War II Era

• Published in: The American sociologist Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 69 - 91
• Main Authors: Grant, Linda, Stalp, Marybeth C., Ward, Kathryn B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Secaucus, NJ Transaction Periodicals Consortium 01-10-2002; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: American Journal of Sociology; Author affiliation; Evidence-based practice; Females; Feminism; Feminist theory; Gender; Gender roles; Grants; History and organization of sociology; History and present state; History of Sociology; History, theory and methodology; Men; Philanthropy; Scholarship; Sex Differences; Social reform; Social research; Sociological Research; Sociologists; Sociology; Twentieth Century; U.S.A; United States of America; Women; Womens education; Womens studies; World War II; Writing; Writing for Publication; United States Of America; Sociology of sociology; Scientific Press; History of Sociology; Research; Woman; World War II; Sociologist
• ISSN: 0003-1232; 1936-4784
• DOI: 10.1007/s12108-002-1012-4

Recent revisionist scholarship on the history of sociology suggests that women scholars in the pre-World War II era made distinctive contributions to the development of the field of sociology. Most research, however, has focused on women prominent in their era, whose works might or might not be typical of all women who published during the same periods. Furthermore, few studies have made explicit comparisons between works by women and by men writing in this same era, so it has been difficult to sort out gender effects from historical era effects. This study explores writings by women and men in the first volumes of the "American Journal of Sociology", from 1895 through 1940. As the oldest continuously published sociology journal in the U.S., "AJS" played a central role in the development of American sociology. We find that women authors were present in "AJS" from the earliest days, though their share of authorships never was large, and fluctuated year by year. Women's work was distinctively different from that of men, with more women than men writing empirical, evidence-based articles, focusing on women, children, immigrants, the poor, and other have-not groups, and advocating for social reform. Writings of rank-and-file and prominent women sociologists were similar in methods, content, and form, and their distinctive contributions to sociology paralleled many of the concerns of feminist sociologists today.