Background
Schwartz was born Felice Nierenberg on January 16, 1925, in New York, to businessman Albert Nierenberg and his wife Rose Irene née Levin.
Schwartz was born Felice Nierenberg on January 16, 1925, in New York, to businessman Albert Nierenberg and his wife Rose Irene née Levin.
Bachelor, Smith College, 1945. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Pace University, 1980. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Smith College, 1981.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Marietta College, 1989. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Chatham College, 1990. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), City University of New York Graduate Center, 1993.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Mount Holyoke College, 1994.
During her career, Schwartz founded two national advancement and advocacy organizations. In 1945, she established the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students (NSSFNS), an association committed to placing African Americans in institutions of higher education. In 1962, she founded Catalyst, a national organization dedicated to advancing women in the workplace, where she served as president for three decades.
Schwartz is also well known for her controversial article, "Management Women and the New Facts of Life," published in Harvard Business Review in 1989.
The article pitted her against other feminists, such as Betty Friedan, for pointing out the differences between men and woman and their functions in the workplace. After graduation from Smith in 1945, Schwartz sought to address the extremely low ratio of African American students at the college.
Because she was one of only a few Jewish students at her high school, Schwartz empathized with the isolation of African Americans at Smith. That same year she founded the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students.
The organization petitioned colleges and universities to open their doors to African American applicants and matched qualified students with available scholarship money.
In 1951, Schwartz left the organization to help manage the family business. She had a third child and ultimately was out of the workforce for nine years. During this time, she became frustrated by the obstacles preventing educated mothers such as herself from entering or re-entering the workforce.
At the time, Catalyst"s mission was "to bring to our country"s needs the unused capacities of educated women who want to combine family and work." Schwartz went on to lead Catalyst as its president for 30 years until her retirement in 1993.
Over her career, Schwartz was a prolific writer The piece that she is probably best known for, entitled "Management Women and the New Facts of Life," was published in the Harvard Business Review in 1989.
The article was interpreted as suggesting that companies create two career paths to accommodate women who wished to balance career and family and women whose career was their primary concern. lieutenant sparked a heated debate after The New York Times ridiculed Schwartz"s idea, dubbing it the "Mommy Track." Schwartz, however, maintained that her article was misinterpreted, saying, "I violated the politically correct thing by saying that women are not just like mentor
What I said then and still say is that women face many, many obstacles in the workplace that men do not face.
I was saying to that group of men at the top, "Rather than let women"s talents go to waste, do something about it"."
Schwartz died on February 8, 1996 in Manhattan.
(One of the country's most accomplished and controversial ...)
(Starting with the premise that woman and men are in fact ...)
Member advisory board National Women's Political Caucus, National Network of Hispanic Women. Board visitors City University of New York Graduate Center. Member advisory board Foundation for Student Communications.
Fellow National Academy Human Resources. Member Women's Forum, Inc., Global Business Network (Woodrow Wilson visiting fellow).
Married Irving L. Schwartz, January 12, 1946. Children: Cornelia Ann, Tony, James Oliver.