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Vol. LXV No. 5
0
alcmtte
March 1985
On The Inside. . .
Bennett Proposes Aid Cutbacks p. 3
Rainbow News Review p. 5
Purpose of College Examined p. 4
Results of Coalition's Grad Survey Not So Surprising
By; Barbara Teates
Last month the Women's
College Coalition published the
results of a survey of the lifestyles
of women's college graduates from
the classes of 1967 and 1977.
Forty-eight women's colleges,
including Salem, participated in
the survey. Participants were
questioned about their careers,
families, campus and community
involvement, and their attitudes
toward women's colleges as
learning institutions.
Over three-quarters of those
surveyed are currently working for
pay. More than half (59.3%) of
those are employed fulltime, 18.2%
work part-time, and 16.7% are full
time homemakers. ( The percent
age of homemakers among 1977
graduates is half that of the 1967
graduates).
Almost half of the currently
employed graduates have careers
in areas that have been traditional
ly dominated by men, such as
medicine, law, management, and
computer-related fields. The
percentage of women in the class of
1977 who work in male-dominated
fields is nearly twice that of the
class of 1967. The number of
women's college graduates who
have careers in health-related
fields, research, non-retail sales,
law, finance, and accounting has
risen dramatically while the
number of graduates in areas like
education and administration has
declined.
Of all the full-time, employed
graduates surveyed, the majority
earn between $15,000 and $30,000
per year. There is a high percentage
(13.9%) who earn less than $15,000
yearly; however, an equal percent
age earn OVER $40,000 annually.
Comparing the classes, 19.5% of
the 1967 graduates earn over
$40,000 per year compared to 9.8%.
of the class of 1977, which has not
been in the work force as long.
In comparing undergraduate
degrees and salaries, most of the
women who earn over $40,000 are
science majors; the majority of
those earning less than $20,000
have professional degrees. Thirty-
four percent of the women who
earn from $20,000 to $30,000 have
science degrees, 32% have social
science degrees, 32.5% humanity
degrees, and 40.6% professional
degrees.
Dr. Litzenburg is "not at all
surprised at the dramatic increase
in the number of graduates of
women's colleges who will immed
iately enter the work force."
"Indeed," he comments, "among
the ranking women's colleges,
something in excess of 95% of the
graduating seniors will do just
that. However, in coeducational
colleges the percentage is MUCH
lower, and there are some very
obvious reasons why that is so.
Some would say that those reasons
are not very complimentary to the
self-esteem of women."
It is also interesting to compare
the percentages of graduates in
both classes who were married by
age 23: over half of the class of
1967 were married by age 23; one-
fourth of those who graduated ten
years later was married by that age.
Over three-fourths of all the
women surveyed are currently or
have been married; the percentage
of 1967 graduates who have been
married is almost 25% higher than
that of the class of 1977.
Of those surveyed, 73.3% of the
1967 graduates have had children,
while 26.8% of the 1977 graduates
have had children. Sixty-three
percent of both classes plan to have
at least one child.
A majority of those graduating
with the two classes surveyed have
participated in various orgariiza-
tions both on campus and after
graduation. Over four-fifths
participated in at least one campus
organization; over half were
involved in two or more. Almost
half held some type of leadership
position on campus.
Over 87% of the alumnae said
they had participated in some type
of organization after graduation,
whether in relation to their careers,
in their communities, or in other
areas. The 1967 graduates were
more likely to be involved in their
communities, in organizations,and
in leadership positions than were
the 1977 graduates.
A great majority of both classes
are politically active. Ninety-one
percent of the graduates surveyed
are registered voters; over 90% of
both classes voted in 1980 and
planned to vote in 1984. Over half
of the alumnae have contributed to
a political organization or cam
paign since graduation.
When questioned about their
attitudes toward women's colleges
in general and their individual
colleges, 71% of the alumnae felt
they would attend the same college
they graduated from if they had to
repeat their undergraduate exper
ience. Over two-thirds said they
would attend a women's college.
The class of 1977 seemed to
support women's colleges more
than did the 1967 graduates.
Dr. Litzenburg again said he
was "not at all surprised that 71%
of the graduates of women's
colleges as recently as seven years
ago say that if they had the choice
to make all over again, they still
would have attended a college for
women. 1 am only surprised that
the percentage isn't higher!"
The results of the survey of
Salem alumnae from the two
classes will be available within the
next month.
Women's Colleges' Future Bright
Says Scholar in Residence
I’halo b> .\Iltn \>cock
Dr, Elizabeth Tidball, Scholar in Residence
By: jvialinda McCall
This year's Scholar in Residence
is Dr. Elizabeth Tidball. She was
on campus for the all-too-short
span of Sunday, March 17th to
Tuesday, March 19th, and during
this time gave several informative
talks that were beneficial to Salem
students. Her presentation Mon
day night, "Women's Education
Over the Past Seven Decades," will
be used in a text on education in
the United States.
Dr. Lidball is a native of Indiana
and an alumna of both Mt.
Holyoke and the University of
Wisconsin. She completed a post
doctoral fellowship at the National
Heart Institute, as well as a year's
work as staff pharmacologist at
Hazelton Laboratories, and she
has been associated since 1962 with
the George Washington University
Medical Center where she has
shown herself to be "an educator
and researcher of talent." Not
content to take life slowly, she also
served on various committees and
as a consultant for various
educational and scientific groups.
She is a trustee of two colleges.
Dr. Marianne Triplette sent the
Salem community a short "broc
hure" concerning Dr. Tidball two
weeks or so prior to her arrival. Dr.
Triplette described Dr. Tidball as
"a truly outstanding scholar of
national reputation." she also
claimed that she often "combines
wit with academic craftsmanship,"
a prediction which proved accur
ate during Dr. Tidball's short stay.
She has a M.S. and a Ph. D. in
physiology and is particularly
concerned with the processes
involving platelets and histamine
in addition to her study of the
institutional background of men
and women who are scholarly.
She has found that the "under'
graduate institutions producing
high-achieving women are differ
ent from those producing high
achieving men, with the womens'
colleges playing an exceptionally
prominent roll for women,"
She also has found that alumnae
of womens' colleges are "twice as
likely to be cited for achievement
as are women graduating from
coeducational institutions" and
that "success for women is directly
proportional to the number of
women faculty of the single sex
and old institutions."
There was a veiled reference on
Monday to W & L as she
mentioned a particular, previously
all-male -college that felt that
women "would not compromise
their illustrious history;" how sad
it was, she thought, that women
would like to attend a school where
they would be thought of in that
manner -as not "compromising"
their new alma mater.
Recently she has discovered that
faculty at womens' colleges are less
likely to believe that "male
students comprehend material
better" and that they are generally
more supportive of women than
are the faculty members (mostly
male) at men's and coed colleges
and universities. She was suppor
tive of Salem, adding that she was
pleased with the current state-of-
affairs here.