Most people are aware that women are still under‐represented in most professions, but it adds insult to injury to discover that though prominent women do exist in every profession and on every continent, their achievement is then overlooked by the compilers of many biographical dictionaries. The International Who’s Who of Women seeks to redress this imbalance. It contains details of some 5,500 women and has endeavoured not only to cover a wide cross section of professions, from heads of state to fashion designers, artists to economists, but also to do this on a world‐wide basis. Although the majority of entries come from western or westernized countries, in particular North America and Western Europe, there are also entries from Eurasia, Japan, the Caribbean, Africa and even Mongolia. These latter areas are under‐represented, though this is not a criticism of the book which is merely reflecting the reality of global society. It is, after all, more difficult for women to achieve prominence in a culture that discourages them from participating fully in educational programmes or in certain activities and careers.
The main directory is under name in the conventional fashion, but there is a useful additional listing under career headings. The headings themselves are very broad and only comprise 17 areas in total, but a more specific description of the person’s profession together with their nationality is given with each name. The entries are compiled in conventional fashion from questionnaires filled in by the entrants themselves and this has the usual disadvantages in that the entry contains only what the person wishes. The length of entries also differs quite considerably and does not necessarily correlate with the prominence or activities of the person concerned. This is, of course, characteristic of most Who’s Whos. In this second edition, the existing entrants were given the opportunity to update their entries and there are a considerable number of names included for the first time. In addition, the editors claim that additional research has been carried out to ensure that the entries are both accurate and up‐to‐date. The result is a source that will complement any collection of biographical dictionaries and will be particularly useful in any institution interested in any aspect of women’s studies.
