West African and Black American Working Women: Historical and Contemporary Comparisons

Abstract

Black American women and African women share a common cultural heritage, including a long tradition of working. In this paper, African working women are discussed in terms of their historical and contemporary working contexts in comparison with those of Black American working women. Observations of and interviews with seven working women were conducted in three West African countries. Information was sought concerning economic independence, education, employment, family background, marriage, and social support groups. The results of this study indicate a number of future research directions in the areas of alternative family models, self-image, increased economic independence, education, and training.