Researchers have challenged the stereotype that farm women's roles and
influence are primarily domestic by documenting the number of women's
on-farm roles. This study extends this approach by considering the in
terrelationships among women's roles and influence in reproductive and
productive domains. A qualitative research method was used to investi
gate women's ways of describing the range of their on-farm roles and t
he process of entry into and exit from those roles. Participants were
farm women from south island, New Zealand. Findings showed women's wid
e range of involvement in household and farm labor, management, and ow
nership of their farms. Levels of involvement differed throughout the
three phases of their farm careers: making a place, getting into it, r
etirement. Hypotheses were developed from the findings for further del
ineation of the range of women's on-farm involvement and barriers and
opportunities to the development of women's on-farm careers.