Women in politics: A global reviewFemmes en politique: Une revue globaleLas mujeres en la política: Un punto de vista global

At the end of the 1970s, discrimination against women as political participants continues, but it is being challenged and, in some countries, steadily eroded. There are only eight countries in the world today in which national law excludes women from political processes that are open to men. While in most countries that have elections, women lag behind men in exercising the franchise; the tendency is for the difference in men's and women's voting rates to narrow over time in stable electoral systems. However, there is an enormous disparity between women's attainment of formal political equality and their real exercise of political power. The numbers of women in public office remains low in most countries; in very few do women fill even 10% of such positions. Yet there are scattered signs of improvement, with slowly rising numbers of women in elective and appointive offices. The real centers of political power are still overwhelmingly dominated by men, but the fact that women in most countries can enter the political contest on a routine basis is a sign that exclusion based on sex roles is diminishing.     

The effects of time and practice upon culture assimilator trainingLos efectos del tiempo y la practica en el entrenamiento de asimiladores de culturaEffets du temps et de la pratique sur l'entrainement avec l'assimilateur culturel

The culture assimilator is a technique for training persons from one culture to better understand the behavior of persons from another culture. A laboratory test, using 35 white female college students, of an assimilator for teaching Whites about black culture revealed significant improvements in trained subjects' knowledge of black culture and in their enjoyment of an interpersonal interaction with black confederates. Support was found for the hypothesis that assimilator training heightens subjects' anxiety with regard to interpersonal encounters with members of the target culture, but that the anxiety decreases over time. Results suggest a small positive effect of a supportive practice interaction with a target culture member prior to the behavioral measures. Some of the attitude measures were significant in the hypothesized direction, but others were significant in the opposite direction. Possible causes and implications of these results are discussed.     

Contrasting roles: Eastern and Western European womenRoles en contrast: Femme d'Europe de l'est et de l'ouestRoles contrastantes: Las mujeres orientales y occidentales

The article presents an overview of the status of women in Western and Eastern Europe during the last decade. Relevant research in English is reviewed. Four indicators of women's status are treated: (1) equality before the law, (2) educational opportunities for women, (3) position in the labor force, and (4) level of leadership in social institutions. Successes and shortcomings in each division are cited; problem areas with presently incomplete information are indicated. The paper makes several recommendations for further research and better dissemination of information.     

Rural women in development: Veil of invisibility,world of workFemmes rurales et le developpement: Voile d'invisibilite,monde de travailLas mujeres rurales en el desarrolo: El velo de las invisibilidad,en mundo del trabajo

Over the last decade, evidence has been accumulating that the process of development has resulted more frequently in greater economic marginalization than benefits for poor rural women in much of the Third World. Yet recent efforts aimed at incorporating these poor non-urban women into development have been hampered by the “veil of invisibility” hiding their past and present conditions and contributions. This article formulates some hypotheses concerning female invisibility as well as productivity, and then contrasts the extant view of rural Third World women as relatively unproductive with (1) evidence drawn from evolutionary history, and (2) data from new micro-level and UN studies. The former indicates that women were the primary producers in most pre-agrarian human groups. The latter indicate that women continue to produce approximately half the world's food, although there is dramatic regional variation. The article concludes with an analysis of the statistical biases and stereotypes that obscure these contributions and briefly indicates the cost of this invisibility to the countries involved as well as to the women themselves.     

The adaptation of African students to American societyLa adaptación de estudiantes Africanos a la educacion NorteAmericanaL'adaptation d'etudiants Africains a l'education Americaine

This report summarizes the results of a questionnaire study involving 296 sub-Saharan African students from a representative set of nine American campuses. Some of the results suggest that African students in this country in the middle 70s: are predominantly Christian and middle-class in origin. coming mostly from cities of over 10,000; Nigerians vastly outnumber those from any other country; are two-thirds undergraduates and one-third graduate students, with at least a third having started their American education in a community college; are mostly supported by their families or themselves. Their major problems at first are in the areas of climate, communication with Americans, discrimination, homesickness, depression, irritability, and tiredness. Only a minority feel comfortable with the basic elements of American culture, though the vast majority are pleased with the education they arc receiving. It was possible to identify several correlates of adjustment, defined as happiness and freedom from various problems. Students have a more positive attitude toward American values if they are from more prominent families, have attended an orientation to American education, and spend time with Americans rather than other Africans. Contact with the foreign-student office on campus seems to he an effective bridge to American culture and also engenders positive attitudes toward American education.