ABSTRACT
The National Council for Research on Women was founded in 1981 as a network of twenty-eight diverse research and policy centers, differently structured, with the broad goal of producing feminist research to improve the lived experiences and status of women and girls and advance equality and social justice. The centers share progressive missions and forms of analysis and are variously concerned with issues such as economic security, violence against women, reproductive rights, and gender and racial inequalities within institutions and communities. The Council often plays a catalytic role in identifying new areas for research and change efforts while providing channels through which centers can develop collaborations. The Corporate Circle draws on research examining the brittle structures that envelop senior women and that cannot accommodate their life-cycle experiences and needs, as well as the cultural attitudes that support these structures and make negotiating advancement difficult.
