One of the great things about working at an organization like The Women’s Foundation is the opportunity to consistently grow and develop as a professional and as a member of this community.  We recently had a guest in the office who spoke on a topic about which we’re all passionate: helping women improve their lives.  But the conversation took some unexpected turns as we discussed the dimensions of success and how we help women and girls.

Travis Wright is an assistant professor at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.  If you attended our annual Stepping Stones Research Briefing back in May, you probably heard Travis talk about findings from a four year study he did in a presentation called “Mother Matters: Making It vs. Satisfaction in the Lives of Women Raising Children in Low-Income Environments.”  Travis came to The Women’s Foundation to tell us more about his study, some of the policy recommendations he had based on that study and plans he has to open a school that is both culturally and economically diverse.

The overview of Travis’s study was fascinating and unique for a number of reasons, but what I liked best about it were his suggestions that social service providers focus on what women want, instead of what they assume women need.  Travis started his study by asking the participants who they wanted to be.  He asked about what kind of lives these women wanted to have and what success looked like from their point of view.

Below are some clips of Travis’s presentation at The Women’s Foundation.

In this first clip Travis introduces his study and talks about the unique way in which he started his research:

In this clip Travis talks about “mother blaming” — social policy that views mothers as problematic:

In this third clip Travis discusses the major findings from the study, including how women define success and where happiness factors into their lives:

Doesn’t everyone have the right to be happy? In this clip Travis suggests that organizations need to take happiness into account when helping low-income women:

Clip 5 is about significant findings from the study, including the factors associated with life satisfaction and social policies:

And in clip 6 Travis suggests that social service providers as women what they want and need rather than making assumptions.  “Satisfaction,” he says, “has to matter.

If you’d like to read more about Travis Wright’s study, click here to see the Power Point presentation he made at the research briefing.

And feel free to leave a comment below about your feelings on the presentation.