MIT Libraries Digitize Professional Papers from Former MIT Ombudsperson Mary Rowe

Significant portions of the professional papers donated to the MIT Libraries’ by former MIT ombudsperson Mary P. Rowe (pictured above) have now been digitized, making material about her pioneering work as an ombuds more available to researchers.

Rowe, who is an Adjunct Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a faculty member in the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER), served for almost 42 years as an organizational ombuds reporting directly to five presidents of MIT.  Her work in that role contributed to MIT having one of the world’s first anti-harassment policies and one of the first organizational ombuds offices.

“We’re thrilled to be able to make this collection available,” said Alex McGee, interim head of public services and Women@MIT project archivist for Distinctive Collections at MIT Libraries, in an announcement from MIT News. “Not only will it be a valuable resource for any researcher interested in issues of conflict management, discrimination, gender equity, sexual harassment, and a systems approach to all workplace issues, but it also sheds light on a pivotal period for women at MIT and the work involved in documenting and improving conditions for them.”

In addition to making professional papers available through the MIT Libraries, Rowe has organized her personal faculty website provided via MIT Sloan to make many of her articles and working papers available to the public. To make it easier for visitors to Rowe’s website to find articles on a particular topic, the site organizes her publications into ten categories:

• The Organizational Ombuds’ Role: Functions, Standards of Practice, and Effectiveness and Value

• Integrated Conflict Management Systems (ICMS) and the Organizational Ombuds’ Role Therein
• Micro-inequities (including Micro-aggressions) and Micro-affirmations
• Bystanders and the Bystanders of Bystanders
• Harassment and Bullying
• Negotiation and Conflict Management
• Mentoring and Mentoring Frameworks
• Androgyny and Gender Roles
• Promoting Equity in Organizations
• Early Research: Child Care Economics and African and Black Entrepreneurship.

Support for the digitization of Rowe’s professional papers and the reorganization of her website materials was provided by Jean-Jacques ( SM' 93 and PhD '02) and Valeria Degroof.