LC 1756 
 .K4 
 Copy 1 
 
 S COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRIC 
 
 ULA FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 
 
 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 A THESIS 
 
 Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School 
 
 of Cornell University for the degree of 
 
 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 MARGUERITE WITMER KEHR 
 
 Reprinted from the Journal of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, 
 Vol. XIV, No. 3, December, 1920 
 
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRIC- 
 ULA FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 
 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 
 OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 A THESIS 
 
 Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School 
 
 of Cornell University for the degree of 
 
 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 1 1 "^o 
 
 BY 
 
 MARGUERITE WITMER KEHR J ^ ^ o - 
 
 Reprinted from the Journal of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, 
 Vol. XIV, No. 3, December, 1920 
 
i.C''! 
 
 
 1. IS- tt 
 
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRICULA FOR MEN AND 
 
 WOMEN IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES OF 
 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Marguerite Kehr, 
 
 The problems of education are 
 continually under discussion and 
 this is especially true at a time 
 when the critical spirit aroused 
 by the war is weighing the merits 
 of all our social institutions. The 
 education of women will . have a 
 large share in this criticism be- 
 cause women have demonstrated 
 during the war ability not only 
 to do their own work but also to 
 step into men's places when neces- 
 sary. The conditions of the war 
 and its aftermath "will constitute 
 a challenge to the colleges, force 
 us to analyze the place of women 
 in society and to draw conclusions 
 from this analysis as to the 
 methods and types of education 
 best adapted, not to the voca- 
 tional or the cultural needs of 
 women, but to the social contribu- 
 tions which they are expected to 
 make through every phase of 
 their contacts with the com- 
 munity, vocational or otherwise."^ 
 
 As a contribution to this dis- 
 cussion, the writer made a com- 
 parative study of the educational 
 opportunities open to women with 
 those of a similar kind open to 
 men, since it is a common assump- 
 tion that institutions for men set 
 the standard. The first part of 
 this paper is devoted to a brief 
 summary of method and results, 
 while the second part deals with 
 
 1 Mary van Kleeck: A Census of 
 College Women. Journal of the Asso- 
 ciation of Collegiate Alumnae, Vol. IX, 
 No. 9, May, 1918, p. 570. 
 
 the conclusions drawn from these 
 results. 
 
 Since there are three types of 
 higher educational institutions 
 open to women, it was necessary 
 to make a selection from each. 
 In order to choose colleges of the 
 highest grade, use was made of 
 the lists of accredited institutions 
 prepared by the Association of 
 American Colleges, the Associa- 
 tion of American Universities and 
 the Carnegie Foundation for the 
 Advancement of Teaching. A 
 further criterion employed was 
 the chapter list of the Phi Beta 
 Kappa honorary fraternity. 
 Independent Colleges for Women 
 Among the institutions of this 
 type the following were selected 
 as typical of the best schools in 
 the group and as representing 
 differences in size and nature : 
 
 Students 
 
 Smith 2,078 
 
 Vassal- 1,120 
 
 Holyoke 857 
 
 Goucher 712 
 
 Wells : 234 
 
 Students 
 
 Yale 1,391 
 
 Princeton 1,220 
 
 Williams 554 
 
 Bowdoin 456 
 
 Trinity 227 
 
 (In Connecticut) 
 
 The second column lists five 
 independent colleges for men 
 chosen on the same basis and ap- 
 proximating in some degree the 
 size of the women's colleges with 
 which they were compared. The 
 figures given are limited to the 
 undergraduate college of arts 
 
 3 
 
and sciences in the men's institu- 
 tions since that is most closely- 
 akin to the colleges for women. 
 All the latter named above are 
 members of the Association 'of 
 American Colleges; all in both 
 groups are listed by the Associa- 
 tion of American Universities^ 
 and by the Carnegie Foundation 
 (with the exception of Goucher) ; 
 and all but Wells have chapters 
 of Phi Beta Kappa. 
 
 The first step in comparing the 
 curricula of these institutions (as 
 described in their most recent 
 catalogues) was the separation of 
 required from elective work. The 
 unit used was the semester hour, 
 that is, one hour a week for a 
 semester. The amount of re- 
 quired work varies in the wom- 
 en's colleges from 36 hours (Vas- 
 sar) to 60 hours (Holyoke) and 
 in the men's colleges from 24 
 hours (Williams) to 84 hours 
 (Trinity).- The latter figures 
 should probably be smaller since 
 they include some preparatory 
 work. The required subjects 
 common to the majority of schools 
 in both groups' are the same, with 
 the addition of Economics and the 
 omission of History and Bible in 
 some of the institutions for men. 
 A comparison of the nature and 
 amount of required work, there- 
 fore, showed only slight differ- 
 ences which balance rather evenly. 
 Colleges for women tend to em- 
 phasize English and History, 
 
 1 Yale and Princeton are members 
 of the Association. 
 
 2 120 semester hours are required 
 for the degree in all the independent 
 colleges studied. 
 
 ■•Classics, Modern Languages, Eng- 
 lish, History, Mathematics, Science, 
 Philosophy (Psychology), Bible, Eco- 
 nomics. 
 
 while men's colleges give more 
 attention to Modern Languages, 
 Mathematics and Science. A fur- 
 ther difference is found in the B. 
 S. and Ph. B. courses in the latter 
 institutions which permit a stu- 
 dent to complete the course with- 
 out work in the Classics. 
 
 Since the number of hours re- 
 quired for major and minor 
 studies was found to be prac- 
 tically the same, it is evident that 
 both groups permit almost the 
 same freedom of election. The 
 next step was, accordingly, a 
 comparison of all courses offered. 
 Since four of the men's colleges 
 confer two baccalaureate degrees 
 (in the college of arts and 
 sciences), one would expect to 
 to find wider scope in their curri- 
 cula than in the colleges for 
 women. Such is nat the case, for 
 a comparison of the subjects 
 common to the majority of insti- 
 tutions in both groups* showed 
 that the colleges for women offer 
 a larger number of hours in most 
 of the subjects named. It is re- 
 markable that this should be true 
 of almost all the main divisions 
 into which the curriculum can be 
 divided: Classics, Modern Lan- 
 guages, English, History, Educa- 
 tion and its allied subjects. Math- 
 ematics and the Fine Arts. There 
 is approximate equality in Eco- 
 nomics-Political Science-Sociology 
 and in Science, but in none of these 
 divisions do the institutions for 
 men offer a larger number of 
 hours. This may in some degree 
 
 <■- Archeology, Latin, Greek, German, 
 French, Spanish, Italian, English, 
 Public Speaking, History, Economics, 
 Political Science, Sociology, Bible, Edu- 
 cation, Philosophy, Psychology, Math- 
 ematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, 
 Geology, Geography, Biology, Physiolo- 
 gy, Hygiene, Art, Music. 
 
be explained by the fact that the 
 women's colleges chosen are all 
 slightly larger, — both in number 
 of students and in total number 
 of hours in the curriculum — than 
 the corresponding arts colleges of 
 the men's institutions. 
 
 There remained, however, a 
 further comparison necessary for 
 a complete understanding of the 
 nature of the institutions in each 
 group, and it was here that the 
 difference between independent 
 colleges for men and for women 
 became evident. Many of the 
 former have developed schools or 
 colleges for professional training 
 while none of the latter provides 
 any organized work of this kind. 
 The nearest approach is found in 
 the Smith College Training School 
 for Social Work, open to college 
 graduates, which provides two 
 summer sessions at the college 
 and nine months of field work. 
 
 In order to make sure that the 
 above statement with regard to 
 omission of professional training 
 is true of independent women's 
 colleges as a group, the remain- 
 ing schools of approximately 
 equal rank were studied. Ean- 
 dolph-Macon Woman's College 
 provides no professional training. 
 Bryn Mawr has a graduate de- 
 partment of Social Economy and 
 Social Research which prepares 
 women for positions in social and 
 industrial work. There is also a 
 Graduate Department of Educa- 
 tion for the training of teachers, 
 of which the Phebe Anne Thorne 
 Model School is a part. Welles- 
 ley provides some work for pros- 
 pective kindergarten teachers and 
 also courses for the training of 
 teachers of hygiene and physical 
 education. From the foregoing, 
 it is evident that so far as under- 
 
 graduate work is concerned, the 
 colleges of this group offer prac- 
 tically no organized courses of 
 professional study. In this con- 
 nection it is of interest to note 
 that the program of the Connecti- 
 cut College for Women, founded 
 only about five years ago, incor- 
 porated at the outset professional 
 courses to prepare the way for 
 the establishment of various pro- 
 fessional schools. 
 
 Affiliated Colleges for Women 
 
 In this group of educational in- 
 stitutions are included those col- 
 leges for women which are under 
 the control of universities for 
 men. There are less than a dozen 
 such colleges, and the relation 
 between college and university 
 varies greatly even among this 
 small number. The selection of 
 Radcliffe and Barnard, however, 
 which are the two best known, to- 
 gether with the College for Wom- 
 en (at Cleveland), representing- 
 a different section of the country, 
 seemed to furnish a fair basis for 
 a study of the affiliated colleges 
 for women.^ In Radcliffe the 
 faculty is composed entirely of 
 men chosen from the Harvard 
 faculty and the courses are identi- 
 cal with Harvard courses. De- 
 grees, however, are conferred in 
 the name of Radcliffe College. 
 Graduates from Barnard and the 
 College for Women, on the other 
 hand, receive their degrees from 
 the university, though the course 
 of study and faculty are largely 
 under the control of the woman's 
 
 1 Columbia and Harvard Universi- 
 ties are members of the Association of 
 American Universities and Western Ee- 
 serve University is listed by the Asso- 
 ciation. All are listed by the Carnegie 
 Foundation and have chapters of Phi 
 Beta Kappa. 
 
college. For purposes of valid 
 comparison, only the undergradu- 
 ate college of arts and sciences 
 for men was considered, since 
 that is most nearly parallel to the 
 Avoman's college : 
 
 Students 
 
 Barnard College 664 
 
 Eadeliffe College 560 
 
 College for Women 542 
 
 Students 
 
 Columbia College 1,486 
 
 Harvard College 2,182 
 
 Adelbert College 365 
 
 (Western Eeserve University) 
 In considering the required 
 work in these colleges, it was 
 found that the members of the 
 two groups differ far more widely 
 among themselves than do col- 
 leges of the independent type. 
 The number of semester hours 
 required is approximately as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Barnard 56-62 (120) i 
 
 Eadeliffe 6-18 (102-105) 
 
 College for Women— 18 (120) 
 
 Columbia 39-45 (124) 
 
 Harvard 6-18 (102-105) 
 
 Adelbert 34 (120) 
 
 Differences between the sub- 
 jects required by Barnard and 
 Columbia are shown by the fol- 
 lowing lists : 
 
 Columbia: English, Mathematics, Sci- 
 ence, Latin, Greek or Modern Lan- 
 guages, Contemporary Civilization. 
 Barnard: English, Mathematics, Science, 
 Latin or Greek, Modern Languages, 
 History, Philosophy (Psychology), 
 Economics, Fine Arts. 
 
 The College for Women pre- 
 scribes no individual subjects 
 but requires distribution of work 
 among three groups: Language 
 and Literature, Mathematics and 
 Science ; History, Philosophy and 
 Social Science. Adelbert College, 
 on the other hand, makes definite 
 requirements of the following : 
 
 1 The figures in parentheses indicate 
 the number of semester hours required 
 for the degree. 
 
 English, Mathematics ; Bible ; 
 Chemistry, Modern Languages, 
 Ancient Languages or History. 
 Students at Radcliffe and Har- 
 vard must study English and 
 Modern Languages unless the 
 equivalents of certain courses are 
 passed in admission examinations. 
 The number of hours necessary 
 for the completion of major and 
 minor subjects is the same for 
 both parts of the same institution. 
 . When the total number of hours 
 in all subjects offered was com- 
 pared for the two groups, the re- 
 sults were far from uniform. 
 Taken as a whole, the differences 
 at Barnard and Columbia offset 
 each other — Barnard leading in 
 Classics, English, History, Math- 
 ematics and Art, while Columbia 
 is superior in Economics and its 
 allied subjects, in Education- 
 Philosophy-Psychology and in Mu- 
 sic. The College for Women 
 seems to have a slight advantage 
 over Adelbert College especially 
 in English, History, Education- 
 Philosophy-Psychology, Mathema- 
 tics, Art and Music. Harvard, on 
 the other hand, offers consider- 
 ably more work than Radcliffe in 
 all subjects except Education, 
 Geology, Geography and Biology. 
 Taken as a whole, the colleges 
 for men may claim some superiori- 
 ty in the extent of their curri- 
 cula. 
 
 In making a further compari- 
 son with reference to professional 
 training, differences between the 
 three universities were at once 
 apparent. Harvard does not ad- 
 mit women to any of its profes- 
 sional schools, which include the 
 Engineering School, Law School, 
 Graduate School of Business Ad- 
 ministration, School of Architec- 
 ture, School of Landscape Archi- 
 
 6 
 
tecture, Bussey Institution, Divin- 
 ity School, Medical School and 
 Dental School.^ At Columbia, the 
 School of Law and the School of 
 Mines, Engineering and Chemis- 
 try are not open to women, but 
 the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, the New York College 
 of Pharmacy, the School of Archi- 
 tecture, the School of Journalism, 
 the School of Business, and Teach- 
 ers College admit women students. 
 Moreover, certain courses in Co- 
 lumbia University, in Teachers 
 College, in the Union Theological 
 Seminary and in the New York 
 School of Philanthropy may be 
 counted toward a Barnard de- 
 gree. By these arrangements, 
 educational opportunities offered 
 by Columbia to the woman stu- 
 dent are greatly increased and it 
 is made possible for her to pur- 
 sue a course in arts and sciences, 
 a professional course, or a com- 
 bination of the two, and remain 
 at the same time a member of 
 the university community. West- 
 ern Reserve University admits 
 women to all of its professional 
 schools which include : The School 
 of Medicine, The Law School, The 
 Dental School, The Library 
 School, The School of Pharmacy 
 and the School of Applied Social 
 Sciences. Moreover, in addition 
 to the courses of study in the Col- 
 lege for Women leading to the 
 degree of Bachelor of Arts, there 
 is a four-year course in House- 
 hold Administration leading to 
 the degree of Bachelor of Science. 
 
 Coeducational Institutions 
 
 Coeducational colleges and uni- 
 versities present a wide variety in 
 
 1 Since this material was prepared 
 Harvard has opened its new graduate 
 school of Education for men and women. 
 
 size, in proportion of men to 
 women, in curriculum and in or- 
 ganization. For the purposes of 
 this study a division was made in- 
 to two groups — state institutions 
 and privately endowed institu- 
 tions, and an attempt was made 
 to include different types within 
 each group. Since the work 
 of these institutions is the same 
 for men as for women, no com- 
 parisons are necessary and a brief 
 summary will suffice. 
 
 Of the state universities, Cali- 
 fornia, Michigan, Vermont and 
 Texas were chosen from different 
 sections of the country. All of 
 these universities are listed by 
 the Association of American Uni- 
 versities,- all have chapters of 
 Phi Beta Kappa, and all, with the 
 exception of the University of 
 Texas, are listed by the Carnegie 
 Foundation. 
 
 Of the privately endowed insti- 
 tutions, the following were se- 
 lected as representing a variety 
 of types and sections of the coun- 
 try : Washington University, 
 Oberlin College, University of 
 Cincinnati, Swarthmore College, 
 Vanderbilt University and Pomo- 
 na College. These institutions 
 are all listed by the Association of 
 American Universities, and also 
 by the Association of American 
 Colleges (with the exceptions of 
 Washington and VanderbiltJ ; 
 they are listed by the Carnegie 
 Foundation (with the exception 
 of Pomona) ; and all have chap- 
 ters of Phi Beta Kappa. 
 
 Among the state universities 
 the required work in the college 
 of arts and sciences shows consid- 
 erable variation. The University 
 of Vermont offers six curricula : 
 
 2 California and Michigan are mem- 
 bers of the Association. 
 
Classical, Literary-Scientific, Gen- 
 eral Science, Chemistry, Educa- 
 tion, and Commerce-Economics. 
 The number of hours required 
 ranges from 38 to 62 and the re- 
 quired subjects common to most 
 of the curricula are English, 
 Modern Languages, Science, 
 Mathematics and Philosophy 
 (Psychology). The University of 
 Texas has five courses : Arts, Busi- ■ 
 ness Administration, Journalism, 
 Home Economics and Medicine, 
 the required work varying from 
 50 to 68 hours and having as sub- 
 jects common to all, English, 
 Mathematics, Languages, Science, 
 Economics-Co vernment - Sociolog}^ 
 and Philosophy (Psychology). 
 The only required study, aside 
 from major courses, at the Uni- 
 versity of California is English 
 Composition.^ The University of 
 Michigan provides courses of 
 study in Arts, Science, Chemistry, 
 Forestry and Medicine. In Arts 
 and in Science six hours of Rhe- 
 tortic are required and twelve 
 hours from each of the following 
 groups : Language and Literature, 
 Mathematics and Science, His- 
 tory and allied subjects. For the 
 two remaining curricula, the re- 
 quired subjects common to both 
 are English, Science, Mathematics, 
 and Modern Languages. "Wash- 
 ington and Vanderbilt are the 
 only privately endowed institu- 
 tions studied which confer more 
 than one degree in the college of 
 arts and sciences. 
 
 The total ratio of required sub- 
 
 1 124 semester hours are required for 
 tlie degree. 
 
 jects to total number of hours is 
 
 as follows : 
 
 Oberlin _J 48-56:120 
 
 Washington 39-45:120 
 
 Cincinnati 56:124 
 
 Swarthmore 43:124 
 
 Pomona ^— 54-60:126 
 
 Vanderbilt 50:128 
 
 The subjects common to the 
 majority of these institutions are 
 Ancient and Modern Languages, 
 English, History, Philosophy 
 (Psychology), Mathematics and 
 Science. 
 
 The number of hours required 
 for major and minor subjects in 
 state and privately endowed insti- 
 tutions is much the same. State 
 universities show greater varia- 
 tion in required work and a wider 
 range of subjects included in 
 their complete curricula. More- 
 over, with the exception of Ver- 
 mont, they offer more courses in 
 practically all subjects common to 
 the two groups. This is particu- 
 larly noticeable in Modern Lan- 
 guages, English (especially at 
 California), Economics and its 
 allied subjects, and Science. 
 
 The professional training pro- 
 vided by coeducational institu- 
 tions as a group, both in special 
 curricula and in professional 
 schools and colleges, is varied in 
 nature and quite extensive li 
 amount. This will be enumerated 
 in detail in the second part of this 
 paper. 
 
 The foregoing descriptive 
 study of colleges and universities 
 representing the three types, — in- 
 dependent, affiliated and coedu- 
 cational, has shown that in the 
 first two there is but little dif- 
 ference between the curricula for 
 men and for women if the com- 
 parison is limited to work in arts 
 and sciences. There is a tendency 
 among the colleges for women to 
 
emphasize Literature, Languages 
 and the Fine Arts, although this 
 is by no means at the expense of 
 Mathematics, Science, or History 
 and its allied subjects. The dif- 
 ference lies in the fact that in- 
 stitutions for men have developed 
 professional training while col- 
 leges for women, with the excep- 
 tion of some institutions of the 
 affiliated type, have made almost 
 no progress along this line. 
 
 When women's colleges came 
 into existence, it was still neces- 
 sary to demonstrate that women 
 were capable of performing men- 
 tal work of the character provided 
 for men and the course of study 
 was therefore closely modelled 
 after that of institutions for men. 
 With the passing of time, men's 
 colleges have broadened and di- 
 versified their curricula, but thus 
 far women's colleges have made 
 little effort to follow their ex- 
 ample. With the increasing com- 
 plexity and specialization of our 
 business and professional life, a 
 higher degree of preparation is 
 demanded of the college gradu- 
 ate, and this pressure has led to a 
 corresponding development with- 
 in the institutions for men. The 
 opportunities for women in the 
 professions and in business are 
 not so numerous as for men, and 
 according to the prevailing opin- 
 ion of college authorities, home- 
 making and teaching, which 
 claim the majority of women 
 graduates, require no special 
 preparation. For these reasons, 
 there has not been so insistent a 
 demand for change and expansion 
 in the course of study. 
 
 Coeducational institutions ad- 
 mit men and women on equal 
 terms to all departments, so that 
 the problem here is different; for 
 
 women have the same opportuni- 
 ties for professional training that 
 men have. Whether this practice 
 is sound in principle and success- 
 ful in execution is a question 
 which will be discussed in a later 
 section. 
 
 In considering the general prob- 
 lem of professional training for 
 women, the first question which 
 naturally arises is how to justify 
 the inclusion of any training of 
 this kind in their college educa- 
 tion. Do not the curricula of the 
 independent and affiliated colleges, 
 as at present constituted, offer all 
 that is necessary for the higher 
 education of women? With this 
 question we raise the general 
 problem of so-called "cultural" 
 as opposed to ''vocational" edu- 
 cation. This is one of the great 
 storm-centers in the field of edu- 
 cation today. Even the human- 
 ites and pure sciences have de- 
 clared a truce in order to join 
 forces against a common enemy, 
 — the vocational and technologi- 
 cal interests. Any attempt to 
 reach a solution of this much ar- 
 gued question would carry us too 
 far afield. In many respects the 
 antithesis between vocational and 
 cultural is largely verbal because 
 it is impossible to draw a clear 
 dividing line between them. For 
 instance, the study of Latin or 
 Mathematics may be for a purely 
 vocational purpose, that is, as a 
 preparation to teach them. On 
 the other hand, if the term voca- 
 tional is used in its broadest sense 
 as the training of an individual 
 toward the work for which he or 
 she is best fitted, there is no rea- 
 son why such an education should 
 not be cultural as well. For ex- 
 ample, the woman who plans to 
 enter the business world needs a 
 
broad literary and scientific train- 
 ing as a foundation for any tech- 
 nical preparation which she may 
 find necessary. These two aspects 
 are not mutually exclusive, as 
 would appear from a great deal of 
 the discussion concerning them, 
 since, whenthe success of a woman 
 is measured by her contribution 
 to society as a whole, we see that 
 both are essential and the barrier 
 between them falls away. While 
 it is impossible within the limits 
 of the present study to give ade- 
 quate consideraton to this prob- 
 lem, certain considerations may 
 be urged in favor of the develop- 
 ment of professional training for 
 women in institutions of higher 
 learning. 
 
 Any study of professional 
 training for women is complicated 
 at the outset by the fact that the 
 average woman looks forward to 
 two vocations — that of home- 
 making and that of the profession 
 chosen as a means of support or 
 of service. Whichever one is un- 
 dertaken first, the other is at least 
 a possibility. Sometimes the two 
 come into conflict and a choice 
 must be made between them. 
 
 Let us consider first the need 
 of professional training for the 
 home-maker. Until the movement 
 for their higher education began, 
 women usually regarded marriage 
 as their only possible career. 
 With the opening of schools to 
 women and with the extension of 
 their world into professional, 
 business and political spheres, 
 this career has seemed to lose its 
 pre-eminence. Perhaps one rea- 
 son for this is the entire exclu- 
 sion from the average college 
 curriculum of any reference to 
 home-making as a profession, al- 
 though in the census made by the 
 
 Association of Collegiate Alum- 
 nae,^ the percentage of those 
 who married (39.1%) was found 
 to be greater than the percentage 
 of those engaged in all occupa- 
 tions other than teaching (22.8%). 
 
 The first figure mentioned is 
 not an accurate index for it does 
 not include many members of 
 the younger and larger classes, 
 since there is an average period of 
 five years between graduation and 
 marriage. So long as the colleges 
 give no recognition to the import- 
 tance of this occupation, so long 
 will the college graduate fail 
 to see its vital necessity and real 
 dignity. Yet failure or success 
 in this career involves far-reach- 
 ing consequences. The efficiency 
 and happiness of all the members 
 of a household are to a large ex- 
 tent in the hands of the wife and 
 mother, and this puts upon her a 
 heavy responsibility which can- 
 not be shifted to the shoulders of 
 servants, no matter how numer- 
 ous or how well-trained. More- 
 over, society as a whole is vitally 
 concerned in the vocational fit- 
 ness of every mother, for the 
 home is a fundamental social in- 
 stitution and, if its rightful posi- 
 tion is to be maintained, the pro- 
 fesson of home-maker must be as 
 dignified and resourceful as any 
 other calling. 
 
 At the present time the opinion 
 seems to prevail that a general 
 education is all that is necessarj^ 
 for the efficient housewife. Ap- 
 parently some kind of intuitive 
 or instinctive knowledge should 
 come to the aid of the home- 
 maker. Yet in such a complicated 
 and varied activity as that of 
 managing a household, it is hard 
 
 1 op. cit. p. 578. 
 
 10 
 
to believe that either intuition or 
 instinct of this kind will be suf- 
 ficient, were their existence not 
 often disproved. It is true that 
 the college graduate usually has 
 the ability to attack new prob- 
 lems in a way to bring about a 
 tolerable solution; but it is hard- 
 ly fair for this reason to expose 
 her to the hardship and heart- 
 ache of learning by experience, 
 even if that learning is subject to 
 intelligent guidance, when she 
 might be prepared in advance 
 with some knowledge of the rudi- 
 ments of her new profession. It 
 may be suggested that the stu- 
 dent's o%vn home should furnish 
 the necessary training, but the 
 summer vacation does not always 
 offer a verj^ favorable opportuni- 
 ty, especially if no thought has 
 been directed to the vital and 
 educational significance of such 
 problems during the college year. 
 Moreover progress in domestic 
 pursuits, like progress in anything 
 else, depends upon keeping abreast 
 of the scientific aspects of the 
 matter at hand, and a girl who 
 learns from her mother does not 
 always learn the most efficient 
 methods. With the increasing 
 difficulty in securing servants, 
 prospective home-makers need to 
 be acquainted with all the most 
 modern mechanical devices for 
 supplanting human labor. More- 
 over, the colleges should do their 
 share of research in discovering 
 more labor-saving methods and 
 machinery. There is the further 
 possibility of high school courses 
 or cooking school lectures. These, 
 however, are likely to be ele- 
 mentary and concerned more with 
 the technique of household science 
 than with the broad foundations 
 
 and cultural aspects of the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Nor is the value of training in 
 home economics limited to the 
 woman who marries, for many 
 unmarried women find themselves 
 with the conduct of a household 
 on their hands. They, too, might 
 be freed from anticipation of a 
 good deal of drndger}^ and un- 
 happiness by some knowledge of 
 home management. Furthermore, 
 with the increase in the number 
 of wage-earners, there is a corres- 
 ponding proportion of women who 
 must live away from home and 
 who would benefit by one of the 
 man}^ forms of modern co-opera- 
 tive housekeeping. In these days 
 of the high cost of living, women 
 who know something about dress- 
 making and millinery are at a 
 great advantage, not only with 
 respect to the saving of money 
 but also with respect to the possi- 
 bility of wearing more individual 
 and artistic dress. Home eco- 
 nomics, prosaic as it may seem, 
 affords, nevertheless, opportunity 
 for real creation and an expres- 
 sion of personality which might 
 otherwise be impossible. And 
 since, if the course be soundly* 
 planned and taught, it must rest 
 upon such fundamental subjects 
 of instruction as Economics, 
 Sociology, Biology, Chemistry, 
 Psychology, Ethics and Esthetics, 
 there is no reason why the appli- 
 cation of these to the specific 
 problems of the home should not 
 be creative and cultural in the 
 highest degree. 
 
 Leaving for later discussion 
 the practical applications of the 
 above conclusions to the curricula, 
 let us see what reasons can be 
 advanced for the training of col- 
 
 li 
 
lege women in professions other 
 than home-making. 
 
 In the first place it may be 
 noted that the woman who later 
 marries very often has need for 
 some kind of professional train- 
 ing. In the census already men- 
 tioned which was taken by the As- 
 sociation of Collegiate Alumnae 
 in 1915 among the alumnae of 
 Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Holyoke, 
 Kadcliffe, Smith, Vassar, Welles- 
 ley, Wells and Cornell, it was 
 found that the median age at 
 graduation was 22 years, while 
 the median age at marriage was 
 27 years and 3 months,^ thus 
 leaving an average period of 
 more than five years during 
 which the college graduate seems 
 likely to pursue an occupation of 
 some sort. Moreover after she 
 marries, sickness or death of the 
 bread-winner may throw upon 
 her the burden of supporting her- 
 self and her children, with no op- 
 portunity for preparation at the 
 time. It should be a source of 
 satisfaction to most women to feel 
 themselves ready to meet such an 
 emergency. 
 
 Possibly the best argument for 
 the inclusion of some kind of pro- 
 'fessional training in the curricula 
 of colleges for women is the fact 
 that so large a proportion of col- 
 lege graduates enter upon some 
 profession. In the census to 
 which reference has been made, 
 it was found that 69.7% of the 
 number reporting ^ were engaged 
 in gainful occupations at some 
 time after they left college. The 
 number of women entering upon 
 some vocation has been steadily 
 increasing, with a considerable ac- 
 
 1 op. cit., pp. 576, 579. 
 
 2 Out of 23,582 Hving graduates, 
 16,739 or 71% reported. 
 
 celeration more latterly produced 
 by the war; for many wom- 
 en have been obliged to under- 
 take work which had hitherto 
 been performed only by men, and 
 this has widened . the range of 
 their opportunities also in the 
 after-war period. Moreover, 
 many women of the so-called lei- 
 sure class, in order to share 
 America's effort, undertook work 
 of some kind, and they will not 
 all be content to return to their 
 former manner life. 
 
 A further argument for the in- 
 clusion of professional training is 
 the fact that specialized training 
 is more and more demanded and 
 the college graduate without such 
 preparation finds her field for 
 choice of a career becoming lim- 
 ited. It is also true that posi- 
 tions calling for expert knowledge 
 and executive ability are being 
 constantly opened to women and 
 the possibility of securing such 
 positions depends upon training. 
 
 For these reasons many women 
 will be forced to forego the ad- 
 vantages offered by colleges for 
 women and enter institutions af- 
 fording only a narrow and purely 
 utilitarian professional training. 
 Yet the results of this step may 
 be harmful both to the individual 
 and to the college; for it can- 
 not but strengthen the position of 
 a type of school which offers only 
 a limited and a more or less me- 
 chanical training. The profes- 
 sional school is feared by the col- 
 lege, because it so often falls into 
 a superficial pandering to popular 
 demand, but if the college has the 
 strength of its convictions, it 
 should be glad to humanize, ra- 
 tionalize and make good and 
 beautiful every vocation and pro- 
 
 12 
 
fession to which men or women 
 are called. 
 
 It may be urged that all pro- 
 fessional training should follow 
 graduation from a college, and 
 there are undoubtedly many ad- 
 vantages in this plan. Unfortu- 
 nately the majority of women 
 cannot afford so great an expendi- 
 ture of time and money, but must 
 often begin to earn immediately 
 after a four year college course. 
 This is indicated by the figures 
 obtained from 3,203 college grad- 
 uates between 1910 and 1915 ; ^ 
 for of this number 2,351 began 
 work in less than one year after 
 graduation; 559, after less than 
 two years; 183 after less than 
 three years ; and only 70 later 
 than three years after graduation. 
 
 Finally, a preparation for some 
 calling in life guards one against 
 wasted or scattering effort, since 
 it tends to provide both a stand- 
 ard of choice, and a means of or- 
 ganized effort. Moreover a defi- 
 nite career relates the individual 
 more closely to her environment 
 and thus makes her more truly 
 a social being. Both of these 
 functions are of the greatest 
 worth to college students. 
 
 The value of professional train- 
 ing, however, is not limited to 
 students as individuals ; the whole 
 college community is benefited. 
 Perhaps the chief criticism of col- 
 leges for women is that they cre- 
 ate a limited and artificial envi- 
 ronment often quite out of touch 
 with the everyday Avorld. There 
 could be no better antidote for 
 this than the atmosphere of reali- 
 ty and far-reaching interests 
 brought about by a more intimate 
 relation of the college world to 
 
 1 op. cit., 13. 575. 
 
 life outside, through the medium 
 of courses of study which give 
 a cultural and scientific training 
 for future vocations. In addition 
 to this broadening and vitalizing 
 effect upon the student, the col- 
 lege is likewise enabled to extend 
 its sphere of influence far more 
 widely, since it can definitely af- 
 fect many fields of human en- 
 deavor. Ths is needed to help 
 check the mercenary and short- 
 sighted policy of much of our 
 business and industrial life; and 
 if the colleges will not take these 
 matters to heart, what institu- 
 tions will? 
 
 Society as a whole benefits 
 whenever it is touched with the 
 spirit and ideals of institutions 
 for higher learning, and this 
 would be a necessary consequence 
 were there a closer relation be- 
 tween college curricula and the 
 life of the world. One of our 
 most pressing social problems is 
 the cleavage and ill-feeling be- 
 tween the leisure and labor 
 classes. This opposition finds an- 
 other expression in our disputes 
 over vocational and cultural edu- 
 cation. In lesser degree the same 
 cleavage is found between the 
 learned professions and manufac- 
 turing, for instance. These are 
 but the current forms of the di- 
 vision made by Plato between 
 men of the laboring and the mili- 
 tary classes, and those who are 
 capable of governing ; and by Ari- 
 stotle between those individuals 
 who exist as means for the ends 
 of others, and those who are ends 
 in themselves. Since the former 
 classes were usually slaves in the 
 Greek state while the latter en- 
 joyed freedom, the gulf between 
 them was wide and almost im- 
 passable. Yet the survival of an 
 
 13 
 
older aristocracy still continues 
 its harmful influence in a society 
 which is avowedly democratic, 
 and this artificial distinction lies 
 at the root of many of our present 
 seemingly insoluble problems. If 
 the colleges and universities are 
 to maintain a position of leader- 
 ship they must exert their influ- 
 ence against this unnatural con- 
 dition by teaching that every in- 
 dividual should be capable of 
 self-support, that labor of all 
 kinds is noble, and that leisure 
 and the things which make for 
 culture rightfullj^ belong to all. 
 To this end a desire to share in 
 the world's work should be en 
 couraged in college students and 
 in no way can this be better ac- 
 complished than by developing 
 suitable parts of the curriculum 
 to furnish a professional training 
 which shall be truly cultural. A 
 further contributio nto this end 
 might be made hy research con- 
 nected with various occupation-;, 
 thus helping to afford them a 
 more scientific basis and to lift 
 them out of the realm of mere 
 technologies. 
 
 Let us now see to what extent 
 colleges and universities of thi- 
 thre-e types offer work which may 
 be used in preparation for some 
 of the vocations upon which the 
 largest number of women gradua- 
 ates enter, using the census al- 
 ready mentioned as an index. 
 
 The first occupation opened to 
 women was teaching', and this 
 now claims about half of the col- 
 lege graduates, as is shown by the 
 folloAving figures. ^ Of the 11,663 
 graduates (69.7% of those report- 
 ing) who were engaged in gainful 
 occupations at some time after 
 61 
 
 1 op. cit., p. 560. 
 
 they left college, teaching claimed 
 83.5% (58.2% of all the graduates 
 reporting). Since so large a pro- 
 portion of college graduates be- 
 come teachers, it would seem that 
 more attention should be given to 
 their preparation. Yet the pre- 
 vailing opinion is that such a call- 
 ing requires no specific training — 
 that any college graduate who 
 knows her subject is capable of 
 teaching others. But the person 
 who has the ability to master a 
 subject may not be able to pre- 
 sent it in such a way as to appeal 
 to those who are less mature. 
 She may not have the personality 
 to win respect and affection from 
 her pupils and thus succeed in 
 discipline. That these statements 
 are true is shown by the lamen- 
 table failure of some of our col- 
 lege-trained teachers, and by the 
 inadequate preparation of fresh- 
 men who enter our colleges and 
 universities. 
 
 The necessary training of a 
 teacher may be given by the vari- 
 our departments of the college 
 which deal with high school sub- 
 jects, by a Department of Educa- 
 tion, or by both. The former 
 gives the student special assist- 
 ance in teaching a particular sub- 
 ject; the latter furnishes her with 
 a historical background, and a 
 knowledge of the educationalj 
 psychological and philosophical 
 principles involved. Both are de- 
 sirable if one is to have a fit prep- 
 aration for this vocation. Since 
 most college graduates teach in 
 high school and deal with the dif- 
 ficult period of adolescence, it 
 ought to be obvious that knowl- 
 edge of the psychology and peda- 
 gogy of adolescence is indispens- 
 able. It is also necessary that 
 the prospective teacher should 
 learn the place of education in 
 
 14 
 
the world's progress and be able, 
 in the light of history, to compre- 
 hend more fully the significance 
 and value of present educational 
 theories and movements. She 
 should also know something of 
 systems of education of various 
 kinds and in other parts of the 
 world. In order that her work 
 may have a scientific basis she 
 should understand and be able to 
 make use of the psj^ehological 
 principles underlying the educa- 
 tional process. Moreover she 
 should realize the philosophical 
 implications of education and its 
 place in the hierarchy of learning. 
 With this kind of background 
 the prospective teacher comes to 
 feel the dignity of her profession 
 and has at her command a wealtli 
 •of knowledge and experience 
 from which she may draw to meet 
 her OMai peculiar problems. This 
 preparation gives her a sense of 
 power as well as a sense of her 
 responsibility to mankind, present 
 and future. 
 
 The colleges offer some work of 
 this kind, although by no means 
 so much as might be provided 
 without destroying the balance of 
 the curricula. Most of the insti- 
 tutions of all three types offer 
 courses in History and Principles 
 of Education, Administraton and 
 Method, Educational Psychology 
 and Mental Tests. Several make 
 provision for observation and 
 pratice teaching, two give courses 
 in Elementary Education, while 
 a number list additional courses 
 of various kinds. In methods and 
 subject-matter, courses in the 
 various high school subjects are 
 provided in the following order: 
 Science, History, German, Latin, 
 English, French, Mathematics, 
 Music, Home Economics, Greek. 
 
 In addition to these courses, the 
 following institutions have schools 
 of Education or special four year 
 courses for prospective teachers: 
 
 Columbia University — Teachers College. 
 
 College for Women— Special four year 
 course for teachers of household 
 arts. 
 
 Michigan — Course in Education leading 
 to Teacher's Diploma. 
 
 California — School of Education. 
 
 Vermont — Curriculum in Education. 
 
 Texas — Department of Education com- 
 prising four schools. 
 Special four year course in Home 
 Economics for teachers under the 
 Smith-Hughes Act. 
 
 Cincinnati — College for Teachers. 
 
 Oberlin — Teachers' courses in Physical 
 Education open only to men and 
 women doing major work in that 
 department. 
 
 Pomona — Prescribed courses of study 
 in preparation for teaching music or 
 art in the i)ublic schools. Candi- 
 dates for the B. A. degree must or- 
 dinarily spend an additional year to 
 complete one of these courses. 
 
 Provision is made b.y the follow- 
 ing to aid graduates in obtaining 
 the necessary state teachers' cer- 
 tificates: Holyoke, Goucher, Bar- 
 nard, Michigan, Texas, Oberlin, 
 Vanderbilt, Swarthmore, Cincin- 
 nati and Washington. 
 
 The cejisus already referred to 
 indicates by the following figures 
 the fact that the number of wom- 
 en graduates engaged in gain- 
 ful occupations other than teach- 
 ing is increasing : 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 1880-1890 27.5 
 
 1890-1900 29.2 
 
 1900-1910 33.7 
 
 1910-1915 34.5 
 
 Since this growth is likely to 
 continue and to be hastened by 
 the effects of the war, training in 
 a variety of occupations is of in- 
 creasing importance. 
 
 At the time of the census the 
 vocation of the group second in 
 
 15 
 
number to that of teaching was 
 social service. The 471 women in 
 
 this «>Toup were occupied as fol- 
 lows : charity organization and 
 work with families (114), indus- 
 trial and vocational work (86), 
 health (67), settlement work 
 (67), child welfare (45), correc- 
 tion and treatment of delinquency 
 (33), recreational and club worlc 
 (17), propaganda — peace, suf- 
 frage, temperance (15) civic im- 
 provement (14) housing (3), 
 rural social service (2), miscel- 
 laneous (8). 
 
 The colleges make some contri- 
 bution to training for this work, 
 though here, too, much more 
 might be done in the way of or- 
 ganizing groups of studies help- 
 ful toward some specific form of 
 social work. Among the large 
 number of courses which may be 
 used in preparation for sociil 
 service are the following, offered 
 by most of the colleges : econom- 
 ics, sociology, applied psycholo- 
 gy, statistics, social work, labor- 
 problems, business and industrial 
 organizations, city problems. Pro- 
 vision for field work in social ser- 
 vice is made by the following: 
 Goucher, Smith, College for Wom- 
 en, Michigan and Swarthmore. 
 
 Closely related to social service 
 is the work of the woman who in- 
 terests herself in city, state or 
 national affairs. The number in 
 this class is increasing rapidly by 
 reason of capacities developed 
 during the war, and also because 
 of the broadening public duties 
 of women. Courses in city, state 
 and national questions are well 
 represented in the college curri- 
 cula. Since we have learned from 
 the war that national policies are 
 inextricably linked with those of 
 other countries, study of interna- 
 
 tional problems is also necessary 
 for one who desires to take any 
 real part in American affairs. 
 Training in Public Speaking is al- 
 so of value, as Avell as the poise 
 and ability to handle people 
 Avhich usually result from college 
 activities outside the class-room. 
 The general success of the college 
 woman as a leader is too well- 
 known to need discussion here. 
 
 In addition to the courses al- 
 ready listed, some of the institu- 
 tions studied have special coar\es 
 of study, or professional colleges, 
 which give training for social and 
 public service: 
 Western Eeserve University — The 
 
 School of Applied Social Sciences. 
 College for Women — Four-year course 
 
 in Home Economics for social 
 
 workers. 
 California — College of Commerce. 
 Vermont — Curriculum in Economics and 
 
 Commerce. 
 Michigan — Curriculum in Municipal Ad- 
 ministration. 
 Course of study for Mental Testing 
 
 in Social Clinics. 
 Washington — School of Commerce and 
 
 Finance. 
 Cincinnati — College of Commerce. 
 
 The next largest group (293) 
 reported in the census taken by 
 the Association of Collegiate 
 Alumnae was engaged in library 
 work as organizers, superintend- 
 ents, librarians, cataloguers, clas- 
 sifiers and indexers. For library 
 work no technical preparation is 
 provided in the independent col- 
 leges or in the affiliated colleges, 
 with the exception of the College 
 for Women, where students may 
 receive the degree of Bachelor of 
 Science and the certificate of the 
 Library School at the end of four 
 years. Among the coeducational 
 institutions, Texas and California 
 offer a few courses in library sci- 
 ence and Oberlin gives work in 
 bibliography. 
 
 16 
 
The next group in the census 
 consisted of 260 women who held 
 positions in the business world, 
 some as executives and some as 
 assistants. The varieties of work 
 listed are of interest in showing 
 the many fields which have al- 
 ready been entered by women: 
 mercantile — ^buyers, clerks, own- 
 ers, manufacturers (53), publish- 
 ing (37), manufacturing — execu- 
 tives, forewomen, secretarie ;, 
 translators (24), banking (18), 
 advertising (14), insurance (14), 
 public utilities (8), public type- 
 "writing (2), miscellaneous (90). 
 Business occupations listed as mis- 
 cellaneous include in part: ac- 
 countancy; management of apart- 
 ment house, laundry, hotel, club, 
 employment bureau, cemetery as- 
 sociation, detective agency, pub- 
 lic market ; electrical contracting ; 
 dressmaking; industrial engineer- 
 ing; real estate. 
 
 No technical training for work 
 in the business world is provided 
 in either the independent or af- 
 filiated colleges with the excep- 
 tion of Barnard where a student 
 may, upon completion of two 
 years of college work, transfer tJ 
 the School of Business in Colum- 
 bia University. In the group of 
 coeducational institutions, there 
 is considerable opportunity for 
 work preparatory to business : 
 MicMgan — Curricula in Business Ad- 
 ministration and in secretarial work. 
 California — College of Commerce. 
 Texas — School of Business Administra- 
 tion. 
 Vermont — Curriculum in Economics and 
 
 Commerce. 
 Washington — School of Commerce and 
 
 Finance. 
 Cincinnati — College of Commerce. 
 
 The 203 women engaged in 
 literary work represented the fol- 
 lowing occupations: author, bibli- 
 ographer, lecturer, editor, re- 
 
 porter, correspondent, critic, 
 reader, reviewer, press agent, 
 translator. For some of these 
 there is no specific professional 
 preparation, although depart- 
 ments of English can give valu- 
 able assistance to those who look 
 forward to such careers. The 
 only organized preparation for 
 literary work found among the 
 independent and affiliated col- 
 leges is at Barnard where a stu- 
 dent may, upon completion of two 
 years of college work, transfer 
 to the School of Journalism in 
 Columbia University. Among in- 
 stitutions of the third type, Texas 
 has a School of Journalism; Mich- 
 igan has curricula in the subject ; 
 and California and Vermont pro- 
 vide certain courses. 
 
 The next group (195) were de- 
 voting themselves to religious 
 work as deaconesses, missionaries, 
 nuns, pastors' assistants, Y. W. 
 C. A. secretaries, and so on. Of 
 the total number, 162 were work- 
 ing in the United States and 33 in 
 foreign countries. Most of these 
 occupations require special train- 
 ing and because of the variety of 
 religious organizations there 
 would be little possibility of of- 
 fering college courses which 
 would be generally acceptable. 
 However, training in social ser- 
 vice is of value in all work of this 
 kind and the colleges for women 
 provide a considerable number of 
 such courses, as has been shown 
 already. Barnard students have 
 the privilege of taking certain 
 courses in Union Theological Sem- 
 inary. The College for Women 
 provides a course in The Social 
 Institutions of Religion. More- 
 over, Western Reserve University 
 of which the College for Women i? 
 a part, has established an Insti- 
 
 17 
 
tute for Eeligioiis Education. 
 Among the coeducational insti- 
 tutions Vanderbilt has a School oi; 
 Religion and Oberlin a Graduate 
 School of Theology. 
 
 Administrative work in the 
 field of education claimed 170 
 women, who held positions as 
 lieads of houses, advisers, regis- 
 trars, secretaries. Some of these 
 demand business training and 
 others require executive ability 
 and social gifts. The former has 
 already been considered. For the 
 latter the many activities of col- 
 lege life afford excellent training. 
 
 The next group (162) were giv- 
 ing personal service as private 
 secretaries, companions, and 
 mother's hel.oers. The '(ualifiea- 
 tions are much the .-^ame as those 
 mentioned for the preceding 
 group. 
 
 Professional pursuits claimed 
 149 graduates, distributed as fol- 
 lows: medicine (84), nursing (30), 
 law (22), miscellaneous (7), ar- 
 chitecture (4), engineering (1), 
 and the ministry (1). The inde- 
 pendent colleges offer almost no 
 Avork of this nature. Smith, Holy- 
 oke and Goucher list certain 
 courses as helpful to those who 
 plan to study medicine ; and a 
 few courses in Architecture are 
 given at Smith, Vassar, and 
 Goucher. Among the affiliated 
 colleges Radcliffe provides no in- 
 struction for these professions. 
 At Barnard, a student who com- 
 pletes two or three years of work 
 in arts and sciences may transfer 
 without examination to the Col- 
 lege of Physicians and Surgeons 
 or to the School of Architecture 
 of Columbia University. More- 
 over, certain courses in the School 
 of Architecture are open to regu- 
 lar students in Barnard College. 
 
 The College for Women permits 
 its students to elect all of their 
 senior work in the Schools of Law 
 or Medicine of Western Reserve 
 University. That coeducational 
 institutions as a group are par- 
 ticularly well equipped to give 
 preparation for these professions 
 may be inferred from the follow- 
 ing list showing the number of 
 professional schools incorporated 
 in the institutions studied : chemi- 
 cal engineering (8), mechanical 
 engineering (8), civil engineering 
 (8), medicine (7), electrical engi- 
 neering (7), law (5), dentistry 
 (4), pharmacy (4), nursing (4), 
 architecture (4), mining engi- 
 neering (2), ministry (2). Most 
 of these colleges and universities 
 permit election of certain studies 
 in the arts and science curriculum 
 which will shorten later work in 
 one of the professional schools. 
 
 The remaining groups in the 
 census are small and need not be 
 considered in detail : scientific 
 pursuits (85), art (50), household 
 arts and management (47), mu- 
 sic (32), agriculture (30), the- 
 atrical pursuits (21), museum 
 work (16), miscellaneous (31). 
 The independent and affiliated 
 colleges for women offer inciden- 
 tal training for a few of these 
 occupations, such as scientific 
 pursuits, art, music, theatrical 
 pursuits, and museum work. In 
 addition to this general prepara- 
 tion, the College for Women pro- 
 vides a special four year course 
 in Household Administration and 
 thus fits students for positions 
 listed under Household Arts and 
 Management. Moreover, by an 
 arrangement with The Cleveland 
 School of Art, a six-year course 
 of study is offered, leading to the 
 degree of Bachelor of Science. 
 
 18 
 
Special work of this nature of- 
 fered by coeducational institu- 
 tions may be enumerated as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 California — College of Agriculture. 
 
 California School of Fine Arts. 
 Vermont — College of Agriculture. 
 Washington — School of Fine Arts. 
 Cincinnati — School of Household Arts. 
 Courses may be elected in Art Aca- 
 demy of Cincinnati. 
 Oberlin — Courses in the Conservatory of 
 Music. 
 
 This exhausts the list of pro- 
 fessions recorded by the census of 
 the Association of Collegiate 
 Alumnae, but leaves for consid- 
 eration the kind of preparation 
 provided for the home-maker by 
 the three types of institutions. A 
 brief summary will show the num- 
 ber of hours offered in Home 
 Economics by schools of the three 
 kinds : 
 
 Independent — Goueher 33 
 
 x4ffiliated — College for Wom- 
 en 72 
 
 Coeducational — Vermont 12 
 
 " —Texas 72 
 
 " —California .--90 
 
 The foregoing pages have at- 
 tempted a brief summary of the 
 preparation afforded by the three 
 types of institutions for those pro- 
 fessions which are most largely 
 chosen by women college gradu- 
 ntes. We shall now, in conclu- 
 sion, endeavor to draw from 
 these facts some suggestions for 
 the further development of pro- 
 fessional training by colleges 
 and universities which admit 
 women students. 
 
 In the first place we may note 
 that in all institutions, for men 
 as well as for women, there is ur- 
 gent need for vocational guid- 
 ance. ^ There should be in each 
 
 iJolm M. Brewer: The Need for 
 Vocational Guidance in Colleges. School 
 and Society, Vol. XI. No. 279, pp. 511- 
 517. 
 
 school some person, committee or 
 bureau, in possession of informa- 
 tion about all kinds of occupa- 
 tions which are suitable for col- 
 lege graduates.- By this means it 
 would be possible for a student 
 to survey the field before making 
 a decision and thus avoid a more 
 limited choice among the profes- 
 sions which are . best known. 
 Moreover there should be avail- 
 able expert advice about the edu- 
 cational and personal qualifica- 
 tions necessary for each occupa- 
 tion. This would help the stu- 
 dent in planning his or her col- 
 lege course and would prevent 
 some of the misfits due to lack 
 of the kind of personality re- 
 quisite for success in a certain 
 profession. 
 
 Secondly, it is suggested that iu 
 all instruction given by the col- 
 leges an attempt be made to re- 
 late the subject-matter to life and 
 to the practical needs of the stu- 
 dents, in order that the influence 
 of higher institutions of learning 
 may extend as widely as possible. 
 
 In the third place, since the 
 average woman can profit by some 
 training in Home Economics, it 
 would seem that all institu- 
 tions training women should pro- 
 vide work of this kind from which 
 a student may elect according 
 to her needs and desires. A 
 general training may be sup- 
 plemented later if necessary and 
 the initial course need there- 
 fore not be excessive in its de- 
 mands. A woman might well 
 know how to buy, how to plan 
 and prepare wholesome food, how 
 to provide suitable and artistic 
 clothing and how to make her 
 
 ^ Bulletin on Vocations for Business 
 and Professional Women compiled bv 
 the Bureau of Vocational Information. 
 Mav, 1919. 
 
 19 
 
home comfortable aud beautiful. 
 Her education should also include 
 training in handling the bugbear 
 of household finance, some knowl- 
 edge of the care of children, some 
 training in first aid and simple 
 nursing for the many emergencies 
 of the home, and above all the 
 power to co-ordinate and expedite 
 the working of the household ma- 
 chinery so that the home-maker 
 herself may have time for rest 
 and for the pursuit of her own 
 interests. 
 
 The amount of work necessary 
 for a broad foundation in this 
 science could be included in the 
 number of hours required for a 
 major or a minor, or it could be 
 included in the free electives 
 without in any way interfering 
 with the subjects which are at 
 present required of all students. 
 As an example of what the course 
 of study in such a department 
 might cover, it may be of interest 
 to enumerate the courses offered 
 at Goucher : 
 
 Semesters. 
 The Foundations of Home 
 
 Economies 1 
 
 The House 2 
 
 Textiles and Clothing 2 
 
 Foods 2 
 
 Home Management and Die- 
 tetics 2 
 
 The Chemistry of Foods and 
 
 Nutrition 2 
 
 Finally, it is suggested that 
 suitable parts of the curriculum 
 be developed to afford some de- 
 gree of preparation for a few of 
 the occupations which large num- 
 bers of graduates undertake. The 
 demand for such a step is most 
 urgent in the independent col- 
 leges, for they provide no organ- 
 ized professional training. Since 
 so large a proportion of women 
 graduates become teachers and 
 since this profession is so vital a 
 
 20 
 
 necessity, the most obvious iieed 
 of training lies here. Most of the 
 colleges of this group have already 
 developed some work of this 
 character. The requirements for 
 proper training of teachers may 
 be stated as follows: (1) the gen- 
 eral courses usually offered by de- 
 partments of Education should be 
 given such as History, Principles 
 and Philosophy of Education, 
 Educational Psychology, Mental 
 Measurements, Administration and 
 Method. (2) In addition to 
 these, the number of "teachers' 
 courses" should be increased so 
 as to embrace all the subjects 
 generally taught in a high school. 
 Moreover, it is necessary that 
 these courses should not only give 
 knowledge of the subject, but 
 also real assistance in its peda- 
 gogy. To this end the instructor 
 should, wherever possible, be one 
 who has had experience in high 
 school work, so that the college 
 student may be brought face to 
 face with some of the concrete 
 problems concerned with the 
 presentation of the subject-matter 
 in a manner comprehensible to 
 those of high school age and 
 under the conditions of high 
 school instruction. (3) Practice 
 teaching and observation are of 
 the greatest importance since by 
 this means the student may have 
 actual experience in teaching and 
 thus learn whether she has the 
 necessary qualifications for this 
 profession. (4) It should also be 
 the purpose of the college to as- 
 sist students to plan their work 
 so as to secure the necessary 
 teachers' certificate. (5) For the 
 supervision of athletics, publica- 
 tions, plays and other activities, 
 which are a part of the work re- 
 qured of a high school teacher. 
 
the woman's college affords valu- 
 able training through its college 
 life. But these activities might 
 be more definitely pointed, toward 
 a future career than is often the 
 case. 
 
 Preparation for social and pub- 
 lic service is also well within the 
 power of the independent col- 
 leges. In order to form an idea 
 of the extent of training for 
 social service already provided by 
 the women's colleges it will be of 
 assistance to compare it with the 
 program of Simmons College 
 which is, by the will of its 
 founder, a vocational college for 
 women. The four-year course of 
 the School of Social Work leads 
 to the degree of Bachelor of 
 Science and consists of the fol- 
 lowing studies : 
 
 FIEST YEAE Hours 
 
 English 6 
 
 French or German 6 
 
 Inorganic Chemistry 8 
 
 History 6 
 
 Physical Training 
 
 SECOKD YEAE 
 
 English 6 
 
 Modern Language 6 
 
 Economies 6 
 
 Biology 3 
 
 Bacteriology 3 
 
 Sanitary Science (Public 
 
 Health) 1 
 
 Psychology of Child Life__ 2 
 
 Sociology (The Family) 2 
 
 History 6 
 
 THIED YEAE 
 
 Psychology 3 
 
 Social Service 5 
 
 Sociology (Social 
 
 Institutions) 3 
 
 Dietetics 3 
 
 History of Education 3 
 
 Principles of Teaching 2-3 
 
 Institutional Accounts 3 
 
 Economics of Consumption 6 
 
 Elective 
 
 FOUETH YEAE 
 
 Statistics 2 
 
 Theory and Practice of Social "Work: 
 
 class instruction, practice, special 
 toi^ic in connection with field work. 
 
 If this course of study is com- 
 pared with the required work 
 of the independent colleges for 
 women it will be seen that, with 
 the exception of Latin and Greek, 
 the academic work required at 
 Simmons is quite as extensive as 
 in the other colleges studied. 
 Most of the women's colleges 
 offer the general work in Eco- 
 nomics, Sociology and Statistics 
 which Simmons requires and also 
 the more specialized studies such 
 as Biology, Bacteriology, Public 
 Health, Psychology of Child Life, 
 History and Principles of Educa- 
 tion; and Goucher has in addition 
 a course in Dietetics. The gen- 
 eral course in Social Service at 
 Simmons includes the courses 
 listed as Social "Work in the 
 women's colleges. The chief dif- 
 ference, then, lies in the prac- 
 tical experience which is gained 
 through the work of the fourth 
 year, and even here one or two 
 of the colleges for women pro- 
 vide some field work. If the 
 women's colleges would permit 
 sufficient freedom of election, 
 would organize the courses al- 
 ready offered, and would provide 
 a greater opportunity for field 
 work, perhaps during vacations, 
 the girl who wishes to enter the 
 field of social service would have 
 little difficulty in securing the 
 necessary training during her col- 
 lege life. 
 
 Almost two-thirds of the re- 
 quired and elective work in the 
 course at Simmons in preparation 
 for library work consists of 
 academic work which is given in 
 all the colleges. Since none of the 
 independent colleges offers any 
 technical work in library science, 
 the girl wishing to enter this field 
 would do well to plan her college 
 
 21 
 
course with a view to securing 
 her specialized training after 
 graduation. Simmons and other 
 schools provide a one-year pro- 
 gram for college graduates. Vaca- 
 tions may also be utilized to gain 
 practical experience in the work. 
 
 Training: for the business world 
 
 must of necessity be varied since 
 there are so many kinds of occu- 
 pations included under this term. 
 For this reason, anything more 
 than a general introduction would 
 be impossible in a woman's col- 
 lege. The School of Secretarial 
 Studies at Simmons includes 
 about 60 hours in English, Modern 
 Languages, History, Economics 
 and Science. The professional 
 studies include Penmanship, 
 Shorthand and Typewriting. In 
 the fourth year the course is 
 differentiated in order to prepare 
 for several types of work. By 
 choosing the proper college 
 courses and by doing practical 
 work in Shorthand and Type- 
 writing during the college year 
 or in vacations, the student of a 
 woman's college might approx- 
 imate the course given at Sim- 
 mons, with the exception of the 
 more highly specialized work. 
 
 It is doubtful whether the in- 
 dependent colleges for women 
 would be able to offer any organ- 
 ized training for the other occu- 
 pations listed in the census, but 
 if they should develop sufficient 
 preparation for teaching, social 
 service and business, they would 
 minister to the needs of the great 
 majority of their students. In ad- 
 dition they ought to be in a posi- 
 tion to give students contemplat- 
 ing other professions expert 
 guidance in planning courses of 
 study so as to shorten later spe- 
 cialized training. 
 
 The foregoing suggestions ap- 
 ply in the main also to colleges 
 for women of the affiliated type. 
 These institutions as a group 
 offer better training for the pro- 
 spective teacher than do the in 
 dependent colleges, but there is 
 still room for improvement. The 
 same is true of preparation for 
 social service and for business. 
 This type also affords a better 
 training for literary work and the 
 professions, such as medicine and 
 law. The affiliated colleges stud- 
 ied have the advantage of loca- 
 tion in or near a large city which 
 provides opportunity for field 
 Avork and likewise that of addi- 
 tional courses in various subjects 
 offered by the universities of 
 which they are a part, or by 
 neighboring institutions. 
 
 With regard to professional 
 training, the affiliated colleges 
 hold a position intermediate be- 
 tween the independent colleges 
 for women and the coeducational 
 institutions. Radcliffe provides 
 no professional training, with the 
 possible exception of preparation 
 for teaching, and is thus like the 
 independent colleges. Students at 
 Barnard and the College for 
 Women, on the other hand, have 
 opportunities practically the same 
 as those for men and thus resem- 
 ble the coeducational institutions. 
 Because of this similarity these 
 colleges must also be included in 
 the consideration of the chief 
 problem presented by the coedu- 
 cational institutions : namely, 
 whether it is sufficient to provide 
 for women the same kind of pro- 
 fessional training as for men. 
 
 A comparison of the occupa- 
 tions chosen by women with the 
 nature of professional education 
 provided by institutions of this 
 
type shows that the greater part 
 of such training is directed 
 toward occupations which com- 
 paratively few women choose. 
 The professional schools or curri- 
 cula common to at least four in- 
 stitutions of this group are 
 the following:^ Engineering (8), 
 Medicine (7), Business (6), Law 
 (5), Pharmacy (4)j Dentistry (4), 
 Architecture (4), Fine Arts (4), 
 Nursing (4), Education (4). Of 
 these professions, Business and 
 Education rank high in the list of 
 college women's occupations but 
 all the others, with the exception 
 of the Fine Arts, are included un- 
 der the title of Professional Pur- 
 suits which was ninth on the list of 
 occupations in the census. Thus 
 we see that the problem of the na- 
 ture of professional training for 
 women in coeducational institu- 
 tions is a very real one. Unfortu- 
 nately it is difficult and perhaps 
 impossible to solve it in view of 
 the present status of our knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 There are, indeed, certain sta- 
 tistical studies, such as the census 
 already referred to, which show 
 the occupations chosen by women 
 graduates. But these are not so 
 reliable an index as might be sup- 
 posed. In the first place, in many 
 cases a woman's choice of a ca- 
 reer may not be made as intelli- 
 gently as it would be under more 
 expert vocational guidance; for it 
 is true that many students select 
 one of the better known occupa- 
 tions by way of experiment, in- 
 tending later to discover where 
 their real interest lies. It is to 
 remedy this condition of affairs, 
 with its consequent waste of time 
 and effort, that vocational guid- 
 
 1 — The figures represent the number 
 of institutions studied which have such 
 schools. 
 
 ance for college students is being 
 promoted.^ Moreover, graduates 
 tend to choose professions for 
 which their college training has 
 prepared them, and, on the other 
 hand, to plan their courses with a 
 view to finding places in occupa- 
 tions already open to women. 
 This is a circular process and 
 gives no indication of what their 
 choice would be under ideal con- 
 ditions. For such reasons studies 
 of this kind are not an absolutely 
 reliable guide to the real voca- 
 tional tendencies of college wom- 
 en. Much the same criticism 
 may be made of the use of figures 
 concerning the subjects which 
 women elect in college as an in- 
 dex to their interests. This fact 
 was brought out in a study" made 
 in 1917 among the students of six 
 colleges for women. The follow- 
 ing list shows the order in which 
 courses in various departments 
 were elected : 
 
 JL — English. 
 
 2 — ^Political Science. 
 
 3 — Economics and Sociology. 
 
 4 — Eomance Languages. 
 
 5 — German. 
 
 6 — Education (Psychology). 
 
 7 — Social and Political Science. 
 
 8 — History. 
 
 9— Arts. 
 10 — Music. 
 11 — Biology. 
 12 — Mathematics. 
 13 — ^Latin. 
 
 14 — Philosophy (Psychology). 
 15 — Chemistry. 
 16 — Botany. 
 17 — Physics. 
 18 — Biblical Literature. 
 19— Greek. 
 20 — Astronomy. 
 21 — Geology. 
 22 — Physiology. 
 23 — Economics. 
 
 1 Compiled by the Bureau of Vo- 
 cational Information, May, 1919. 
 
 2 H. L. Dealey: College Curricula 
 and Interests of College Women. School 
 and Society, Vol. X, No. 245, Sept, 6, 
 1919, pp. 294-299. 
 
 23 
 
In questioning the value of 
 these figures as a trustworthy 
 estimate, the author points out 
 the following considerations: (1) 
 " . . The real interests of students 
 do not mature until one, five or 
 ten years after graduation, for 
 not until then does the apparent 
 unanimity of collegiate 'interests' 
 dissolve into a variety of individu- 
 al applications/'^ (2) Students 
 are attracted to courses in litera- 
 ture and languages because these 
 are better known and more 
 strongly intrenched than the sci- 
 ences which were a later addition 
 to the curriculum. (3) Other fac- 
 tors which influence election are 
 geographical location, and envi- 
 ronment, popularity of the facul- 
 ty in certain departments, college 
 tradition, and any number of 
 chance factors. 
 
 A study of the kind just de- 
 scribed is, however, a valuable in- 
 dication of present conditions and, 
 if it be repeated from time to 
 time, the results would undoubt- 
 edly show in what directions wom- 
 en's interests are trending; but 
 this information would never 
 fully answer our question whether 
 they are developing in the right 
 direction. 
 
 Nor does the voluminous litera- 
 ture concerning the abilities of 
 men and women give much assist- 
 ance- in solving the problem, for 
 the usual treatment of the subject 
 is not based upon experiment and 
 ranges all the way from careful 
 observations upon the work and 
 achievements of women to the- 
 oretical comparisons based on a 
 priori assumptions. It is to be 
 noted also that the latter are 
 often neither scientific nor dis- 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 298. 
 
 passionate. In fact some degener- 
 ate into mere wrangling, with 
 the author's conclusions deter- 
 mined in advance. The chief 
 value which this so-called litera- 
 ture of opinion possesses is found 
 in the suggestions it may offer 
 concerning new aspects of the 
 problem or new points of attack. 
 The hope of a real solution 
 rests mainly upon scientific ex- 
 periment, but since this is a com- 
 paratively new field, work has not 
 yet been carried far enough to 
 justify any sweeping conclusions. 
 A summary of such experimental 
 results as have been secured is 
 given by Dr. Leta S. Holling- 
 worth in a chapter on the voca- 
 tional aptitudes of women.- The 
 following statements summarize 
 her conclusions: (1) "So far as 
 the literature of fact tells us, we 
 know of no considerable sex dif- 
 ferences in average mental abili- 
 ty, .which would call for dif- 
 ferentiation of vocations on the 
 ground of sex."^ (2) "There 
 is little or no agreement among 
 those best qualified to speak, as 
 to what constitutes the scientific 
 method of measuring compara- 
 tive variability. But according 
 to the methods now deemed the 
 most reliable, and according to 
 those studies wherein presumably 
 correct methods of measurement 
 have been employed, there is no 
 reason to suppose that there is 
 any sex difference in variability, 
 so far as the numerous traits 
 
 - H. L. HoUiiigworth: Vocational 
 Psychology, 1916. Chap. X. 
 
 Cf. also L. S. HoUing'worth : Com- 
 parison of the Sexes in Mental Traits, 
 Psych. Bull, Vol. 15, No. 12, pp. 427-432. 
 
 ^iJbicl., p. 228. 
 
 24 
 
tested are concerned."* (3) To 
 the qiiestioii whether there are 
 any special causes of intellectual 
 inefiBiciency among women (in par- 
 ticular, functional periodicity) 
 "we must answer. . : There is very 
 little experimental evidence on 
 which to base a reply, but the few 
 data which we do possess show 
 no influence, either detrimental 
 or beneficial."' (4) "Are there 
 Siny innate sex differences in af- 
 fective or instinctive equipment 
 that would naturally lead to a 
 vocational differentiation of the- 
 sexes? Here we must acknowl- 
 edge ourselves to be entirely with- 
 out a literature of fact." ' 
 
 The last question raised is the 
 most fundainental and the lack 
 of experimental data is therefore 
 a great handicap. In view of 
 physiological differences between 
 the sexes one would naturally 
 suppose that there would be some 
 corresponding psychological dif- 
 ferences, — perhaps in the organi- 
 zation of abilities com'mon to both 
 sexes, perhaps in the abilities 
 themselves. In the first case, it 
 might be discovered by experi- 
 ment that the interests of women 
 focus about concrete situations 
 and problems; in the second, it 
 might be demonstrated that wom- 
 en excel in some specific ability or 
 abilities, such as memory. This 
 need not argue a general inferi- 
 ority or superiority of woimen 
 over men, but it would point to 
 a differentiation in vocation which 
 might take several forms : (1) the 
 choice of different kinds of pro- 
 fessions; (2) the development of 
 new professions for women, be- 
 
 4 Ibid., p. 233. Cf. L. S. Holling- 
 worth: Variability as Belated to Sex 
 Differences in Achievement. Amer. J. 
 of Sociol., 1914. Vol. 19, pp. 510-530. 
 
 cause such a large proportion of 
 present vocational training is di- 
 rected toward occupations which 
 a comparatively small number of 
 women choose, for example, law 
 and medicine; (3) differentation 
 within the professions, for in- 
 stance, in business — secretarial 
 work for women, executive work 
 for men. The foregoing is, of 
 course, only a suggestion since 
 experiment may show that there 
 are no marked psychological dif- 
 ferences between men and wom- 
 en. This will be a difficult prob- 
 lem to solve experimentally since 
 it is complicated by the existence 
 of individual differences and by 
 the marked effects of training and 
 social convention which early 
 inake their mark on the individu- 
 al. 
 
 The whole question of the na- 
 ture of the professional training 
 best adapted to the needs of col- 
 lege women can be answered only 
 by the carefully studied results 
 of wide experience and by direct 
 experimentation. Toward this 
 end all institutions which provide 
 college or university training for 
 women should co-operate with 
 one another and with the various 
 outside agencies already at work. 
 The independent colleges for 
 women are in a particularly favor- 
 able position to do this since they 
 need to consider the problem in 
 the interests of but one of the 
 sexes and have therefore greater 
 freedom for experimentation. 
 But the affiliated and coeduca- 
 tional institutions are also vitally 
 concerned. "Theoretically", says . 
 Dexter, "the same instruction for 
 both sexes is right, only if the 
 aim of education is identical for 
 the two, i. e., if they are to be 
 
 1 op. cit. p. 237. 
 
 25 
 
eompetitoi's in the same kinds of 
 work. "^ But until the truth 
 or falsity of this is demonstrated, 
 institutions of this type cannot 
 
 1 E. G. Dextev: History of Educa- 
 tion in tlic United States. 1904. p. 450. 
 
 claim to give equal educational 
 rights to men and women. What 
 they really give to women is the 
 right to share equally in a kind 
 of education which was developed 
 originally to meet the needs of 
 men.