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BAUC*« 1 0 1 3 M,
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AN INVESTIGATION OF DETERMINANTS OF LEVELS OF
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT ATTAINED BY A GROUP
OF WOMEN ADMINISTRATORS EMPLOYED IN
SELECTED DIVISIONS OF CONTINUING
EDUCATION IN MICHIGAN DURING
THE YEARS 1960-1976

By
Lois M. Bauer

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Administration and Higher Education
1978

ABSTRACT
AN INVESTIGATION OF DETERMINANTS OF LEVELS OF
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT ATTAINED BY A GROUP
OF WOMEN ADMINISTRATORS EMPLOYED IN
SELECTED DIVISIONS OF CONTINUING
EDUCATION IN MICHIGAN DURING
THE YEARS 1960-1976
By
Lois M. Bauer

The study investigated the career progress of women
who attained professional administrative positions during
the years 1960-1976 within divisions of general university
continuing education in public four-year institutions of
higher education in the State of Michigan.

Specifically,

the purpose was to
1.

obtain information of division appointments of
women into professional administrative positions
during the years 1960-1976 inclusive.

2.

obtain information of certain personal and social
context characteristics of the women employed in
the professional administrative positions.

3.

obtain information of certain characteristics of
the employing institutions and the divisions of
general university continuing education.

Lois M. Bauer
4.

analyze the positions attained in terms of a
position hierarchy schema.

5.

examine relationships between characteristics of
the women, characteristics of the institutions,
the Equal Opportunity mandates and level of
position attained.
The population of organizations were the public

four-year institutions of higher education in Michigan.
The population of women consisted of all women who
attained a professional administrative position within the
divisions of continuing education in these institutions.
Fifty-one women were interviewed.
The position under study was the highest level
administrative position which a woman occupied while
employed in a division of continuing education during
the years 1960-1976.
Data were analyzed in terms of level of position
attained by the women in the divisions.
Findings and Conclusions
Forty-six of the fifty-one women were appointed
during the years 1960-1976 inclusive, twenty-nine in the
1970s.

Generally, divisions appointed only one woman

during a year.

However, in 1973, nine women were

appointed, four by a single division.

In 1976 one division

appointed the first woman to the position of Dean of
Continuing Education.

Lois M. Bauer
The position schema defined the positions occupied
at five levels: I, II, III, IV, V.

Nearly one-half of

the women occupied positions at Level V, the lowest level.
Fewer were located at each of the higher levels.
The characteristics of the women's age, level of
education, and years of employment experience had little
relationship to the level of position attained.

Neverthe­

less, women with the Doctorate Degree did occupy positions
at the three higher levels.
There was some indication that divisions may prefer
a certain level of education, and perhaps a certain age, of
the professional level employee based on the clusters of
women employed by individual divisions.
Nearly all of the women transferred to the con­
tinuing education position from another position in the same
institution or from another organization within the imme­
diate community.

It appeared that the appointment of many

women was related to their prominent visibility and to
their possessing the desired characteristics and attributes,
primarily, a certain level of education and outstanding
expertise.
The record of appointments suggested that divisions
were responding to the Federal Equal Opportunity mandates
to improve the status of women.

The responses of the

women appointed provided little support to this contention.

Lois M. Bauer
It also appeared that the majority of the women
were assigned to, or offered, professional administrative
positions that were not in a direct promotional line within
either the division or the institution.

The evidence from

the study is inconclusive to account for this situation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people are deserving of gratitude in the
course of a student's research and dissertation.

Special

acknowledgment is given to the members of my guidance
committee: to Professor Russell Kleis who served as
chairman; to Professor Melvin Buschman who served as
director of the dissertation; to Professor Mildred
Erickson and Professor Charles Press the other members of
the committee.
Special acknowledgment is also due the following
groups for provision of financial assistance at different
stages of my doctoral studies; The Adult Education Asso­
ciation of Michigan, The Graduate Student Affairs Office
of Michigan State University, The Mildred Erickson Fellow­
ship, and the P.E.O. Continuing Education Committee.
I express my appreciation also to Barbara Olson
who served as local chairman of the P.E.O. Continuing
Education Committee, to my mother and brother, and aunts
Elsa and Marie who lent helpful encouragement.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF T A B L E S .............. .........................

V

Chapter
I.

II.

III.

THE P R O B L E M ....................................

I

Introduction
................................
Purpose of the S t u d y .......................
Assumptions ..................................
Research Questions
.........................
Significance of the Study ...................
Limitations of the Study ...................
Definitions of Terms
.......................
O v e r v i e w ....................................

1
3
4
5
6
8
9
10

REVIEW OF RELATED L I T E R A T U R E .................

12

Introduction ................................
Section I: Background .......................
Section II: Related Literature from
Organization Theory ............... . . . .
Section III: Women in Administrative
R o l e s ......................................
Related Studies with a Focus on Attitudes
Toward Women in Administrative
P o s i t i o n s ..................................
Implications from Sociological and Psycho­
logical Studies Relating to Women in
Administrative Positions
.................
S u m m a r y ......................................

12
12
23
35
40
45
53

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ...............

57

Introduction ................................
Time Frame for the S t u d y ...................
Equal Opportunity Statutes
.................
Determining the Study Population
..........
Identifying Women in Professional
Administrative Roles
. . . . .............
Instrumentation .............................

57
60
61
64

iii

66
66

Chapter

IV.

Page
Pre-testing and Pilot Study of
Instruments ...............................
The Telephone Interview .....................
Research Procedures .........................
Other Data S o u r c e s .........................
Position Hierarchy Schema ...................
Typology of Women's Occupational
E x p e r i e n c e ...............................
Analysis of D a t a ...........................
S u m m a r y ......................................

78
79
81

F I N D I N G S ......................................

82

70
71
72
76
76

Introduction
...............................
82
Section I: The Institutions.................
83
The W o m e n ....................................
94
Section II: Analysis of Selected
Relationships .............................
143
S u m m a r y ........................................ 152
V.

CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND
IMPLICATIONS
...............................

153

Introduction
...............................
153
Purpose of the S t u d y ..........................153
Research Design and Methodology ............
154
Findings and Conclusions
...................
155
Implications
...............................
164
Recommendations for Future Research ........
168
F O O T N O T E S ............................................... 170
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................

176

APPENDICES
Appendix
A.

Letters and Forms to Division Directors

. . . .

180

B.

Letter and Forms to Women and Interview
Questionnaire
...............................

184

LIST OF TABLES
Table
1.

Page
The Public Four-year Institutions of Higher
E d u c a t i o n ....................................

85

Institutions of Employ of Fifty-one Women
1960-1976 ....................................

92

Current Location of Women Employed
E l s e w h e r e ....................................

94

Organization Mobility by Thirteen Women
Following Continuing Education
E m p l o y m e n t ..................................

94

5.

Present Age of R e s p o n d e n t s ...................

95

6.

Level of Position Attained by Women ...........

96

7.

Level of Position Occupied by Institution of
E m p l o y ......................................

96

Location of Fifty-one Women by Institution,
Entry Year, and Level of P o s i t i o n

98

Number of Women Entering 1960-1976

99

2.
3.
4.

8.
9.
10.

Age at Entry into Continuing Education
P o s i t i o n ...................................... 100

11.

Age of Fifty-one Women at Entry into Admini­
strative Position by Level of Position . , .

101

12.

Education of the W o m e n .......................... 102

13.

Major Areas of Degree Programs

...............

103

14.

Education Level at Entry into Continuing
Education Position .........................

104

15.

Education Level of Fifty-one Women at Entry
into Administrative Position by Level of
P o s i t i o n ...................................... 105
v

Table

Page

16.

Education Pursued While Employed in Continuing
E d u c a t i o n .......................................107

17.

Education after Leaving Continuing Education
E m p l o y m e n t .................................... 107

18.

Years Employment Experience Prior to Entry
into Continuing Education . . . . . . . . . .

108

Organizational Mobility Prior to Entry into
Continuing Education
.......................

109

19.
20.

Years Employment Experience Prior to Entry
into Position by Institution of Employ and
Level of P o s i t i o n .............................. 110

21.

Typology of Work Experience of W o m e n ........... Ill

22.

Employment Typology by Entry Age into
Continuing Education Position ...............

112

Residence of Women Prior to Employ with
Continuing Education .......................

118

23.
24.

Last Previous Institution Prior to Continuing
E d u c a t i o n ...................................... 120

25.

Available Positions Occupied by Women .........

121

26.

Source of Appointments by Institution .........

123

27.

Source and Year of Appointment by
Institution .................................... 125

28.

Entry Position into Institution of Employ . . .

127

29.

Position Mobility Within Institution Prior to
Occupying Continuing Education Position . . .

129

30.

Years Women Occupied Continuing Education
P o s i t i o n s ...................................... 135

31.

Years in Position by Institution of Employ and
Level of P o s i t i o n .............................. 136

32.

Location of Women no Longer Employed in
Continuing Education and Presently
E m p l o y e d ...................................... 138

vi

Table

Page

33.

Educational Aspirations of Fifty-one Women . .

14 0

34.

Higher Level Position Aspirations of
............................
Fifty-one Women

141

35.

Womens Aspiration in Five Y e a r s .............

144

36.

Responses of Women to: "Do (Did) You Consider
your advancement with the continuing educa­
tion division to be due to the affirmative
action efforts of your employing
institution?"
..............................

150

vii

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction

Women in significant numbers have never occupied
important administrative positions in any of the organiza­
tional sectors of our society.

This situation has per­

sisted in spite of some rather astounding advancements
in their legal and social position.

But there seems to be

little awareness that women are not permitted to rise in
our society as individuals.

What seems to happen is that

social expectations define what women are to do as they
mature.
One major outcome of this uncomfortable situation,
especially in the United States, is that the great majority
of women as workers are located in only certain traditional
occupations.

Such limitation of women to "female" jobs is

nearly as pervasive in the 1970s as it was in the 1900s.
By observing these trends at work, management in various
social institutions readily comes to the view that it is
the natural way of doing things.

1

In these circumstances

2

"equal chance for advancement" has little meaning.
whom is it equal?

To

To where is the advancement?

Women have also been hampered in the occupational
choices available to them, not by the level, but by the
type of education they receive.

Even with progressively

higher levels of educational attainment women have not
made inroads toward the higher level administrative
positions generally in all occupations, and more obviously,
in the most valued of occupations, the professions, for
which their high level of education is very appropriate.
Yet studies have shown that even when women do
attain the credentials to qualify for higher level positions
there is the strong implication that it is sex discrimi­
nation which accounts for their failure to achieve those
positions.
Increasingly, to remedy this condition it has taken
the legislative process to acknowledge women's right to
fair treatment.

Among the more visible consequences has

been the passage of Federal legislation designed to end
sex discrimination and thereby to end the persistent per­
petuation of the low status of women in our society.
Nearly all organizations, and universities in par­
ticular, are now confronted by these Federal laws specifi­
cally prohibiting discrimination by sex in employment.

The

general university continuing education divisions of uni­
versities and colleges are among such groups.

3
University continuing education agencies for
years, have with diligence and concern, promoted educa­
tional and cultural programs for women.

Evidence of such

humaneness and social responsibility might also be re­
flected in the development of the personnel selected to
conduct the varied programs.

Especially, in the recent

days of affirmative action there might be increasing con­
cern directed toward facilitating the professional growth
of the women on the staff.

In such an organizational

environment one might expect to find an improvement in the
status of the women employed.
A selected group of women employed in the general
university continuing education divisions in public fouryear institutions of higher education in the State of
Michigan are studied in this dissertation to discover the
extent of their career progress in these divisions and to
analyze some factors that seemingly have affected progress
to higher positions.
Purpose of the Study
The study investigated the career progress of
women who attained professional administrative positions
during the years 1960-1976 within divisions of general
university continuing education in public four-year insti­
tutions of higher education in the state of Michigan.

4
More specifically, it set out to
1.

gain information about division appointments of
women into professional administrative positions
during the years 1960-1976.

2.

gain information about certain personal and social
context characteristics of the women employed in
the professional administrative positions.

3.

gain information about certain characteristics of
the employing institutions and their divisions of
general university continuing education.

4.

analyze the levels of positions attained by women
in terms of a position hierarchy schema.

5.

examine relationships between characteristics of
the women, characteristics of the institutions
and the Equal Opportunity mandates and levels of
positions attained by the women.
Assumptions
The following assumptions were basic to this

study:
1.

Opportunities in America should be based on a
commitment to democracy.

2.

The status of women in American society is not
equal to that of men; women, at least in the occu­
pational world, hold inferior positions to men.

3.

Divisions of general university continuing educa­
tion, as units of higher education, should be

5
agents of these institutions in providing equal
opportunities in employment and advancement for
women as well as for men.
4.

Individuals are confronted with a myriad of in­
fluences affecting their many life roles, including
the decisions and choices they make in occupational
areas.

5.

Most individuals, including women, generally seek
to advance their careers and professional
competence.
Research Questions
The following set of research questions provided

the format to direct the investigation.

The questions were

framed to provide information on what were assumed to be
independent variables related in the advancement of
women— their personal characteristics, characteristics of
the institutions in which they were employed and statutes
of Equal Opportunity legislation.
1.

Are differences in the women's personal character­
istics of age, level of education and employment
history associated with the level of position
attained?

2.

Are differences in the women's institutional
experiences of entry level position occupied and
years employed associated with the level of
position attained?

6
3.

Are the years of entry into the position, and thus
the year the division appointed the women, asso­
ciated with effective dates of Equal Opportunity
laws?

4.

Are differences among the types of employing insti­
tutions associated with the levels of positions
attained?

5.

Do differences exist among the divisions in the
mode of appointment of women?

6.

Do differences exist in the circumstances by which
the women obtained their positions?

7.

What are the aspirations of the women for further
education, higher level positions and future career
activities?
Significance of the Study
Increasing efforts in the past decade have been

directed toward studies of evidence of equal opportunity
for women particularly in institutions of higher education,
rather than employment of a few in higher positions as a
form of tokenism.

A review of the literature suggests that

the response of general university continuing education
divisions to present federal requirements is minimal at
best.
Earlier studies of women who did attain positions
of administrative responsibility involved persons situated
differently in both time and space.

Given the present

7
circumstances of changing social and legal conditions,
generalizations from these earlier reports seem worth
examining further to test whether the findings have become
outdated or continue to remain valid.
The present study was designed to investigate the
status and progress of women in selected divisions of con­
tinuing education and on the basis of findings, draw con­
clusions about the levels of positions attained by the
women.
Additionally, the study was undertaken to provide
data:
1.

for those interested in trends affecting women in
one segment of higher education.

It provides a

data base for college administrators,

such as

continuing education directors and affirmative
action officials, to assess and analyze the prac­
tices followed in filling positions.

Professionals

involved in career counseling are provided with
updated information about this occupational area.
It can also suggest to women, interested in univer­
sity continuing education positions, the potential
and limitations of this area of employment.
2.

for students, professionals and practitioners
interested in theories and practices of organiza­
tions, especially the organizational unit of a
university division of continuing education at a
time of pressure for change.

8
3.

for other researchers who wish to incorporate new
findings and implications in their own studies
of the advancement of women.
Limitations of the Study

1.

The population of women included only those em­
ployed in professional administrative positions in
divisions of general university continuing educa­
tion in the public four-year institutions of higher
education in the State of Michigan during the years
1960 to 1976.

The population did not include women

administrators employed in continuing education
divisions in private institutions of higher educa­
tion in Michigan, nor did it include women admini­
strators employed with other extension or academic
units of the public institutions.
2.

It did not include women in non-university settings
such as other governmental agencies, private
business or professions.

3.

The study focused only on the career progress of
women employed in professional administrative
positions in these divisions, and has not attempted
comparison with the career progress of men employed
in the same divisions.

4.

Inquiries were not made into the motivations of
the women regarding the observed outcomes.

9
5.

The recall method was relied upon to obtain data
from the women respondents and, to some extent,
from university officials.

6.

Data supplied by the women respondents was not
generally subjected to further verification.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined to assist the

reader in sharing similar interpretations with the
researcher:
Division of general university continuing education:
a formally defined organizational unit located within the
context of a particular university or college, engaged in
the mission of administering credit and/or non-credit
educational activities for persons who, individually or in
various groups, participate for personal or occupationally
related purposes.
Public four-year institution of higher education:
an institution offering four years or more of higher edu­
cation study and whose principal governance and financial
support are responsibilities of publicly elected or
appointed legislative bodies at institutional and state
levels.
Professional administrative position: a position
within the defined "administrative-professional" or
"professional-administrative" structure of an institution
of higher education.

10
Equal Opportunity mandates; the recent series of
federal regulations requiring that equal opportunities
in employment become available regardless of sex or certain
other former bases of discrimination.

Inclusive are the

following statutes: 1963 Equal Pay Act, 1964 Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act, 1965 Executive Order 11246, 1967
Executive Order 11246 amended by Executive Order No. 11375,
1971 Revised Order No. 4, 1972 Amended Equal Pay Act,
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act as amended by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Act of 1972, Title IX of the Education Amend­
ments of 1972 as enforced under new regulations of 1975.
Career Development: total of the employment related
activities encompassed within an individual's life span.
Overview of the Dissertation
Chapter I introduces the problem investigated.

The

purpose and assumptions are presented; the research ques­
tions are stated.

The significance of the study and its

limitations are outlined.

Definitions of major terms are

stated.
Chapter II reviews the related literature and
presents the conceptual model for the investigation.
Chapter III discusses the design of the study.

The

population and sample are defined; the instruments and data
collection methods employed are described; and procedures
for analyzing the data are explained.

11
Chapter IV presents the findings and the analysis
of significant relationships.
Chapter V contains a summary of the findings.
Conclusions and implications are stated.
future research follow.

Suggestions for

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
The review of related literature included in
Chapter II is presented in three sections.
Section I provides a background of the status of
women in institutions of higher education and in the
general university continuing education divisions.
Section II reviews related literature from the
field of organizational theory and presents a theory of
organization mobility.
Section III reviews research reported about women
administrators in organizational settings.
Section I.

Background

Early in 1776, as patriots were demanding a
Declaration of Independence, Abigal Adams wrote her
husband John:
. . . in the new Code of laws . . . I desire you would
Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favour­
able to them than your ancestors . . .1
But he forgot.
Abigal Adams' letter spoke for the colonial women.
Decades after the Revolution a few women found expression
12

13
for their intellectual drives in early reform movements.
In 1848, for instance, two-hundred women gathered to high­
light their concerns in the Seneca Falls convention.

Here

they demanded opportunities for women in education, trade,
commerce, and the professions.

After much controversy,

they took the daring step and asked for suffrage.
In these early years few women were in leadership
roles.

The early history of the progress of women in our

society often refers to four who did achieve some promi­
nence in higher education.
In the early 1800s women often became administrators
by the direct expedient of establishing their own
schools: Emma Willard founded Troy Female Seminary
in 1821; Mary Lyon founded Mt. Holyoke in 1837;
M. Carry Thomas commanded continuing respect at
Bryn Mawr; Alice Palmer was an early president at
Wellesley.^
In the 1885-1915 era, early years in the develop­
ment of university extension, Woytanowitz reports that
continuing education programs at major institutions of
higher education were concerned about the women1s move­
ment but did little to involve them in top administration.
Extension leaders saw the women's movement for equality
as "an event of tremendous significance" for women,
who had been long denied equal opportunity in higher
education for social or financial reasons. The atti­
tudes of extension people toward the feminist move­
ment combined new ideas with an old emphasis on the
unique role of women. Men and women have not unequal
capabilities and identical interest; there was no
reason why a woman should not have a public life,
doing what she can do and leaving undone what she
cannot do. No one had produced evidence that pro­
fessional women had lost the three graces of good
breeding, good taste and good sense. Accordingly,
extension publications urged that women serve on

14
school boards, and that they engage in reform and
patriotic organizations.
But suffrage was not men­
tioned. Extension was useful for women because it
was a highly spiritual movement. Women still had a
special place in the world as conservators of those
beautiful and delicate things which give to life what­
ever bloom it has: love, charity, religion, children,
all are in their keeping.
They are the idealists to
whom the spiritual is real.
Despite these lofty sentiments, women did not play an
important role in the extension movement.
Although
they made up the majority of-the audience, there was
never a woman lecturer . . .
Observing from the proceedings of the 1915 con­
ference of the National University Extension Association
Woytanowitz again observes:
Extension . . . has significantly influenced American
educational society and history from 1915 to the
present. . . . It was different things to different
people. . . . To some it was a status-oriented search
for culture. This was especially true in the case
of the large numbers of women who filled lecture halls
in the afternoons.
They had not had the opportunity of
a college education due either financial difficulties,
early marriage, or the scarcity of women's colleges.
Now they seized the chance to learn those things which
middle class women were expected to know, such as his­
tory and the fine arts. . . .
In 1920, when the Republic was already 144 years
old, women did receive the basic right of all free-born
citizens— the right to vote.

Women then represented just

under fifty percent of the population, a staggering grant
of potential political power.

At the time many people had

anticipated that if energetically used, the right to vote
and its related potential political power would be a
serious challenge to the existing political order.

Yet not

even the most optimistic of individuals could begin to

15
translate the ensuing results into a record of progress
toward equality.
One can observe, for instance, that the expanded
participation of women in the labor force has not been
accompanied by the advancement of women to top administra­
tive positions.

During the 1940 war-time conditions

women were 45 percent of the professional and technical
workers;

in 1965 women's representation of professional

and technical workers dropped to 37 percent.

By 1970

women held about 40 percent of the professional and tech­
nical positions, but comprised only 10 percent of all pro­
fessional workers, and the 1970 Census reports only 3 per­
cent of all women in the labor force were "managers and
administrators" a ratio that has changed only slightly
5
since 1950.
One can observe too, that in the ladder of American
higher education the proportion of women steadily declines.
The percentage of the total advanced degrees earned by
women drops significantly.

This situation, explained

McGuigan, represents a decade of preferential treatment.
. . . the much remarked upon drop in recent years
from the pre-World War II high in the percentage
of women earning higher degrees and participating
in professional and academic roles is related to
the quotas set by institutions of higher learning
in the mid-forties to absorb men on the GI Bill.
Women were sent home from wartime jobs.
higher education was severely curtailed.

Admission to
Observing more

recent practices, Burstyn remarked, ". . . i n some cases

16

quotas remain to this day, sometimes as unwritten but well
7
understood barriers to the admission of women."
None
foresaw that in a few years there would be even fewer
models of leadership and smaller numbers of women who felt
justified in making a commitment to high achievement in
professional roles.

More subtly, the absence of women in

positions of power has done little to bolster women's
confidence in their abilities or to build their expecta­
tions of succeeding in competitive fields.
Astin's profile of the woman doctorate reveals that
women are only 10.8 percent of those receiving this ad­
vanced degree.

These highly skilled women seemingly dis­

pelled doubts of intellectual abilities in educational
achievement.

But they tended to specialize in only four

major academic areas: Education, Arts and Humanities,
Psychology, and Social Sciences.

Astin claims, that by

the choices women make regarding a field of specialty and
activity within it (if indeed they are free choices) they
often lose out on the benefits dispensed.

Highly skilled

women remain in the labor force as highly productive
workers even though the system has not assisted many and
g

has not regarded professional women equitably.

Moreover,

if a woman wants to be an administrator, the field is
very narrow.
Arter in a study of 118 state universities and
land-grant colleges made a similar conclusion.

Sixty

17
percent of these institutions of higher education had no
women at top-level positions; 21 percent had one; 19 per­
cent had from two to six.

Apart from these dismal figures,

65 percent had neither recruited nor placed any women at
upper level administrative positions during the years
1966 to 1971.9
Women, it appears, do not have much success in
higher education.

This static situation has persisted in

spite of astounding advances in the legal and social posi­
tion of women in the United States and throughout the w o r l d .
"Women regarded as successful in the United States are at
the bottom of the top . . .

in the university women . . .

fade into statistical obscurity as one goes to the top."1*3
The recent 1975 Ladd-Lipset Survey of the U.S. professoriate
concurs:

"Women constitute only 21 percent of all faculty

members."
Women, who constituted 19 percent of all faculty members
in 1969 and 20 percent in 1973, now make up 21 percent.
However, even after nearly a decade of ferment sur­
rounding their position in academe, women as a group
occupy very much the same status as they did in 1969:
. . . they earn less, publish less, receive less
research support than men.
They show a striking
pattern of 'segregation'. . . .
By all objective measures the female professoriate is
a deprived group, vis-a-vis male ac a d e m i c s . H
"Our best women— those in whom society has invested
most heavily— underperform, underachieve, and underproduce,"
deplores Epstein.

"We waste them and they waste themselves.

But no matter what sphere of work women are hired for, or

18
select, like sediment in a wine bottle they seem to settle
to the bottom.

The tiny minority of women in occupations

of high regard and reward— in the professions, for example,
are generally found at their lowest levels."

12

For women, the translation of the ideal of the right
to equality has been imperfect and unenthusiastic.

Higher

education has not taken leadership in the movement to
recognize the rights of women as individuals.

Increasingly,

the law of this country has been the major force in acknow­
ledging women's right to fair treatment, especially in
employment.

However, government action has been required

to press various institutions into compliance with current
regulations.
The past decade has seen significant emphasis on
Federal laws to eliminate sex discrimination, including
laws which specifically prohibit employment discrimination
in educational programs that receive Federal monies.

The

most recent of this series emerged as Title IX of the Edu­
cation Amendment of 1972, a broad scale bill covering a
range of Federal assistance programs.

Effective July 21,

1975, the final regulation prohibits, with certain excep­
tions, sex discrimination in education programs or activi­
ties which receive Federal financial assistance.

The law

underlying these regulations is based on the sound premise
that in a knowledge-based society equal opportunity in
education is fundamental to equality in all other forms of
human endeavor.

19
During the past decade other Federal statutes
have been authorized to promote the equality of opportunity
for women:
The Equal Pay Act of 1963, amended in 1972 requires
almost every employer to pay equal salaries and
wages for equal work without regard to sex.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 amended in
1972 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, prohibits
any employer, employment agency, or union from discri­
minating in any way on the basis of sex.
Executive Order 11246 of 1965 amended by Executive
Order 11375 in 1967, prohibits discrimination by
most employers who have contracts with the Federal
government.
Revised Order No. 4, issued in 1971 mandates that women
must be included in affirmative action plans required
of all Federal contractors.
There have been however, some vastly inordinate and
easily observable differences between the rhetoric to
advance the equal opportunity for women and what is actu­
ally happening in the organizational sectors of this
country.
The extension divisions of major universities are
illustrative.

If Extension leaders had visions of the

women's movement for equality as "an event of tremendous
significance" it was perhaps with a focus on their cultural
halls of history and fine arts.

The existing evidence

would imply somewhat less volition to effectively influence
any change in the political order.
Observing from the proceedings of the 1972
National University Extension Association Conference,

20
fifty-seven years after that first conference of 1915,
there were only three women among the seventy-two leader­
ship positions in this professional association— a four
percent representation.

No women were on the fourteen-

member NUEA Board of Directors.

13

At the National level, the National University
Extension Association reported.on the status of women in
the following manner:
1.

57th Annual Meeting 1972
Resolutions to the membership for consideration

at the Annual Business Meeting.
Whereas, there exists a national concern with the
unequal status of women in our society and with the
underutilized reservoir of talents of women, and,
Whereas, we note that there are now only three women
among the 72 leadership positions in NUEA, (a 4%
representation), and no women on the 19 member NUEA
Board of Directors, and,
Whereas, the federal guidelines for Affirmative Action
programs in higher education set forth in Order No. 4,
revised December 4, 1971, prompt recognition and com­
pliance, we urge that the long range goal of NUEA be
to take the lead in compliance by insuring that a
representational proportion of all decision-making
positions be held by women.
Be It Therefore Resolved.
1.

that there be such representation of women on
the NUEA Board of Directors;

2.

that women also be included as chairpersons of
their regions, councils, divisions, sections,
standing committees, administrative committees,
temporary and ad hoc committees, in more equitable
numbers than at this time.

3.

that officers and others in NUEA leadership posi­
tions make a concerted effort to encourage wider

21
official institutional representation through
the appointment of other than Deans or Associate
Deans (men or women) as official NUEA represen­
tatives.
2.

59th Annual Meeting 1974, Annual Report

Women have also flexed their muscles and have made
important progress in the Association although there
may be differences of opinion as to whether the changes
have been fast enough: there are now 5 women official
representatives, 2 women board members, 4 women regional
chairpersons or vice chairpersons, and 7 women council
and division chairpersons and vice chairpersons.
3.

60th Annual Convention 1975

. . . nine women (are now) official representatives,
four women are board members, one of which is on the
executive committee, three are regional chairpersons,
sixty-six as committee leaders or members. 15
It may be too early to tell whether officials are
really changing their attitudes towards women or are merely
using a new vocabulary which stresses equal opportunity.
Studies of a large number of professional societies indicate
that women are in fact, underrepresented in positions of
decision making.

There is a consistent tendency by women

to hold a smaller proportion of offices than their propor­
tion of the general membership.

They are less likely to

appear on programs or to present papers at national
meetings.

The existence of a Women's Caucus has in some

cases improved such representation.

In general,

it is con­

cluded, that women are underrepresented in positions of
influence within professions at the national level, in
addition to their relative exclusion from local institu­
tional channels of decision-making that affect departmental
and institutional policies.

22
The impact of the recent decade of "ferment and
legislation" upon selected individual extension divisions
might be gleaned from a survey reported in the June 1974
issue of the National University Extension Association
magazine, SPECTATOR.

Senior administrators of continuing

education and extension programs of the 100 colleges and
universities included in the NUEA's Golden Anniversary
Expanding Horizons publication were contacted to reflect
upon activities during the 1964-1974 period.
findings of the survey, designed " . . .

Among the

to gain a perspec­

tive of developments in continuing education and extension
during the past decade . . ,

was the following response

to the question about staffing pattern changes:
The most significant change in continuing education
over the past ten years was the upgrading and pro­
fessionalization of the staff members. They were
better qualified and better paid with more terminal
degrees. There were more specialists and women added
to the staffs. On the other hand thirty-nine percent
of the reporting institutions indicated little change
in their staffing patterns.
It remains for further investigation to determine
what impact the recent legislation designed to promote
equal opportunity for women has had on other continuing
education programs, such as the general university con­
tinuing education divisions in institutions within the
boundaries of a single state.

In such an environment many

of the political exigencies confronting institutions of
higher education would be somewhat similar.

The response

23
in staffing patterns by general university continuing
education divisions may be indicative of these new concerns.
Section II.
Related Literature from Organization Theory
The purpose of this section is to illustrate some
known causes and consequences of organizational mobility
and to advance a theory of mobility that builds upon present
understandings of the phenomenon.

The need for such a

theory derives from the limitations of existing findings
about the organizational career progress of women.

The

variables and propositions advanced, derived principally
from organization theory, have incorporated ideas and
findings of several authors.

They describe immediate

situations which are relevant to achieving mobility in
social organizations.

These are circumstances in which an

individual woman finds herself.
Research on female workers has for decades looked
for sex differences among men and women in work situations
to explain why women don't seek or find career success.
Presumed personality differences between the sexes were
often the focus of inquiry.

Women, such surveys indicated,

have lower job aspirations than men, less commitment to
work, and more concerns with friendships than with work
advancement.

Many people therefore assumed that women do

not make good leaders because their personalities do not
allow them to be assertive.

24
Others have looked at childhood experiences and
background variables to explain how women learn to limit
their ambitions and to hide their accomplishments.

This

theme announced that if women were ever going to make it in
a man's world and achieve positions of high status and power
women would have to receive proper and appropriate influence
when they were young to make sure that they did not pick
up any motives to avoid success.
Interestingly, however, while these assertions have
reached the status of conventional wisdom, this line of
inquiry tends to overlook a significant issue.

The conse­

quence of focusing on women's "unfortunate" attitudes
avoids confronting the "social institutions" that reinforce
and encourage such attitudes.
According to Naomi Weistein, social context, not
biological differences, is the crucial determinant of
human behavior.

She states:

The evidence is accumulating that what a person does
and who he believes himself to be will in general be
a function of what people around him expect him to
be, and what the overall situation in which he is
acting implies that he is. Compared to the influence
of the social context within which a person lives,
his or her history and traits, as well as biological
makeup, may simply be random variations, noise super-18
imposed on the true signal that can predict behavior.
Real people in real organizations behave in a social
environment and they behave in social contexts within this
environment.

One can therefore begin with the assumption

that organizational behavior is socially influenced.
Furthermore, in our society, organizations are generally

25
considered a major context for social mobility and status
striving.

To remain viable, organizations must offer some

kind of a career within their structure " . . .
status passage . . .

a type of

a passage from one status to another

through the type of social structure."

19

It has been established that organizations as entities frequently seek to avoid uncertainty.

20

One such

method is to develop collective structures whose functions
make behavior occurring among and within organizations pre­
dictable.

The development of a collective structure of

behavior has been called the essence of the organizing
process.

21

The development of organizational roles and their
related careers are examples of collective structures.

As

explained by March and Simon,
Roles in organizations as .contrasted to many other
roles that individuals fill, tend to be highly ela­
borated, relatively stable, and are defined to a con­
siderable extent in explicit and even written terms.
Not only is the role defined for the individual who
occupies it, but it is known in considerable detail to
others in the organization who have occasion to deal
with him. Hence, the environment of other persons
that surround each member of an organization tends to
become a highly stable and predictable one.
It is
this predictability, together with certain related
structural features of organizations . . . that
accounts for the ability of organizations to deal in a
coordinated way with their environments.22
Organizations are also known to develop the other
phase of this collective structure, the careers of the
workers.

This Glaser has reported.

The organizational career literally moves the person
through the organizational structure, or it freezes

26
him in one place.
Some organizations advance persons
to different work, some advance the career while the
work stays the same, and some make the work easier
or less skilled while advancing the career.23
Stinchcome, too, observed that certain structural
characteristics of a type of organization have been remark­
ably stable over time.
Organizational forms and types have a history . . .
(and) this history determines some aspects of the
present structure. . . .24
Moreover, he states, because they learn to function
effectively with those organizational forms, the forms then
tend to become institutionalized and the basic structure
of the organization remains relatively stable.
Traditions may become an important variable in the
performance of an organization in Stinchcome's viewpoint.
Operating by customary habits organizations are less
likely to change and might choose to maintain a status quo
unless an unusually strong external pressure is exerted,
as for example, some form of competition, a political in­
fluence, or a technological impact.

The implication is

that organizations as entities tend to be basically conser­
vative, to display a stabilizing and perhaps even a reac­
tionary influence on the society around them.
A second assumption could be introduced: planners
organize collective structures to maintain some ideal
image of stability while aiming to reach organizational
goals.

27
A theory of mobility should try to explain the vari­
ations that occur among organizations.
tions the minimum is almost no mobility.

In some organiza­
It is only

because most people generally at least receive pay increases
for longevity that they are not totally immobile.
Other organizations, it appears, allow occupants of
low-ranking positions to reach the upper echelons.

But

some have known or unknown barriers to particular status
levels.

The relative rate of mobility within an organi-

zation is often called the amount of openness.

25

Hage

contends that the greater the disparity in rewards between
status levels the lower the rates of mobility and the more
stratified the organization.
claims,

" . . .

In such organizations he

the stated policy may indicate a democratic

style of decision making with egalitarian distribution of
rewards,

(yet) the operational practices may show centrali-

zation and stratification."

26

Individual motivation is often believed to be
27
associated with mobility.
It is assumed that individuals
have certain interests and operate rationally to pursue
their preferences.

They logically act as efficiently as

possible to reach these goals.

Those individuals pursuing

their "self-interest" goals will be the ones to get ahead.
They are "the climbers."

But others who are not pursuing

self-interest goals are regarded to have rationally chosen
"altruistic ends," meaning they will not likely get ahead.

28
This explanation assumes that organizational mobi­
lity is the outcome of the choice behavior of individuals,
that mobility is entirely, or nearly, a matter of individual
choice.

Motivation in this context performs a crucial

role.
But individual motivation for organizational mobi­
lity is a pseudo problem for it can determine success
(mobility) only when it is possible for all contestants to
start at the same point and when they can proceed along
the same course.

The belief that motivation is consequen­

tial in achieving organizational mobility is firmly en­
trenched in the dominant ideologies of industrialized
societies.

It serves a profound stabilizing function, to

wit: if individuals are made to feel responsible for their
own fates, they will blame themselves rather than the socio­
economic system for their failure.

The real problem may

reside in interlocked social constraints that keep a group
down.
It may be that motivation will not be consequential
and may only become frustration.

Unless there are positions

available to which a person can move no amount of motivation
will be productive.

The availability of positions would
*
po p q
seem to be a vital aspect permitting mobility to occur.
'
Positions often become available because powerful
leaders are present.

Powerful leaders have more rewards

and resources to dispense.

Their system-granted power

comes from having high status and by developing influence

29
in the upper echelons of the organization through member­
ship in informal inner circles.
motable.

Powerful leaders are pro-

Their mobility could promise advancement for sub­

ordinates they select to bring along.

They may seek to

fill the vacancy created by their own advancement with one
of their appointees.
This avenue of sponsorship is a typical road to the
top for many men.

The protege system, whether in academia,

politics, or business, is an informal way of discouraging
outsiders, and assuring that particular insiders stay on
the fastest track.

For this reason it has been almost

impossible for a woman to succeed without sponsorship or
membership in the company's ruling family.
In the realm of powerless leaders there are fewer
organizational rewards to distribute.

At the extreme, with

fewer trade-offs available they may try to coerce employees
into supporting them.

Unable to move ahead themselves,

they hold everyone back, and praise conformity to rules.
Talent and innovation are conveniently ignored.
Kanter reported that there were dramatic differences
in the actual opportunities for promotion available to the
men and to the women in the same organizations.30

The

great majority of women held jobs that have short, dis­
couraging career ladders.

Kanter concluded that lack of

opportunity to succeed, not a personality style that shuns
success, is often what separates the un-ambitious from the
climbers— and the men from the women.

30
One can consider social context implications of
promotable opportunities such as working on challenging
tasks.

Graen's description of the role-making process

implies that supervisors, very early in the life of the
work group identify certain subordinates as superior to
others.

31

These subordinates, tagged as informal assist­

ants, are selected for more challenging and demanding
duties.

The assignment of women to significantly more

routine than challenging tasks seemingly implies an unwill­
ingness on the part of supervisors to select women as infor­
mal assistants.

Failure to be considered as an informal

assistant could affect the opportunity of the individual
to develop higher level skills due to the less challenging
experiences.

Subsequently, this could also lead to lower

performance evaluations as well as fewer benefits and
promotions.
The assignment to challenging jobs early in an
individual's encounter with an organization also has been
found to influence the possibility for later success in
the organization.

Hall

32

suggests that an employee's

career development is strongly influenced by psychological
success.

However, to experience psychological success,

the employee's job must possess a certain degree of
challenge so that the individual is encouraged to set
difficult goals.

To the extent that women are denied the

opportunity to experience psychological success, women may
be less likely than men to become committed to a demanding

31
career and less likely to set very difficult goals for
themselves.

The effects over time may lead to actual

differences in performance among the men and the women in
the same organization.
According to Kanter, people placed in dead-end
jobs seem to set a self-fulfilling prophecy in motion.
These workers cope with career limitations by giving up
hope; "like the frustrated fox, they decide they don't want
the grapes after a l l . " ^

Hence, when workers lower their

aspirations, employers conclude that they do not have
suitable attitudes for promotion.

The organization decides

to invest fewer resources to develop people who seem unin­
terested, and this decision reinforces the workers' percep­
tions of blocked opportunity.

The cycle of immobility

prevails.
Kanter, however, also found that women in jobs wellpaid and on the way to top management exhibited ambition,
high self-esteem and intense career commitment.

34

The

implication suggests that it is the job which makes the
person— the man or the woman.

Overlooked too frequently

has been the tremendous impact of an organization's struc­
ture on what happens to people once they are present.
Working women may react ambivalently to job discri­
mination, not often recognizing that opportunities for pro­
motions and opportunities for the big jobs had been cur­
tailed by her sex.

Given such circumstances one ingredient

32
for success is the courage to disengage from a situation
where others want to keep women in their place.
Cohen offers other explanations for mobility.

These

too allude to the influence of factors outside of the per­
son.

To answer:

"Why is there differential mobility?"

he suggests
one must account for variables assumed between the
origin and the outcome . . . (as) most social events
are in reality either sequences of events or come
after a sequence of e v e n t s . ^
Therefore, variables in the social environment might explain
much social behavior, especially the formal and informal
influences of people through interaction patterns.

Rates

of interaction provide the contacts among people through
which information passes, which could be useful to improve
skills.
Variables in the social environment could offer an
explanation of the availability of positions.

The avail­

ability of positions may not be merely spontaneous.

"It

is the consequence of decisions; decisions to hire or to
not fire; decisions to increase output in response to some
demand, decisions to stimulate demand, and so forth."3®
It is easily observed that the administrative
component often varies widely across organizations.

Pondy

asserts "that the number of administrative personnel
employed in an organization is chosen so as to maximize the
achievement of goals of the dominant management coalition."

37

A goal maximizing motive is imputed to the

33
management of the organization; managers are held respon­
sible to operate the firm to maximize this utility function
for the purposes of the organization or for those purposes
which are of more immediate interest to some sub-unit of
the organizational membership.
Barnard, it appears, was alert to the reverse
sequence when claiming "that the selection of persons for
top level executive functions is the concrete method of
establishing the means of communication that must immediately be followed by the creation of positions.

..."

38

The variables discussed suggest the basis for a
theory of mobility.

The availability of positions is an

essential before organizational mobility can take place.
The next variable, openness, refers to the distinctions
between levels in an organization.

When individuals are

unable to move from one related category to another without
a substantial change in qualifications, openness would be
restricted.

In universities,

for example,

such a schism

usually exists between clerical and professional workers.
A third variable,

sponsorship, is the favor of the superior

whose judgment is most important in assisting one to
advance in the organization.

This may be an individual's

immediate superior or another person.
Other variables are associated with characteristics
of the individual.
ability.

These include work-group status and

Status is accorded an individual by the peer

34
group often manifested by prestige or esteem granted.
Higher-ranking group members are usually more centrally
located in communication networks and have the advantage
of interacting more frequently with others, both inside
and outside the group.
Ability is the level of competence in the position
one is occupying.

While it is often acknowledged that any

position may require a variety of behaviors, some perhaps
performed more proficiently than others, measuring compe­
tence is not generally standardized and tends to be con­
tingent upon the vantage point of the person doing the
evaluating.

Level of skill could distinguish higher and

lower ranked members.

Skill or ability is included as an

attribute directly influencing an individual's opportunity
for mobility.

Skill also tends to influence one's social

position, indirectly contributing to further opportunities
for mobility.
It might also be assumed that an individual's rate
of interaction with certain elements of the social environ­
ment would be contributory to mobility.

Elements likely to

be influential could be interaction with the sponsor, inter­
action with a role model, interaction with the occupational
community, and, interaction with the work group.
The function of these variables is to suggest a
plausible explanation of mobility.

While it is possible

that other variables will also be valuable to explain
mobility, these appear to be highly efficient.

35
Section III.
Women in Administrative Roles
In reviewing the related literature interpreting
the position of women in American society it is most
often role theory that has received the major emphasis.
explained by Theordore: " . . .

As

the general area of female

roles has received considerable attention of recent times
by both sociologists and psychologists . . . (but) they
have not generally been studied in relation to occupations.
Studies concerning professional women tend to have been
lumped with males in the same profession or to consider
the female role with the family subsystem.

A more recent

trend in the research effort has been to study the socio­
economic role of the female within its multi-role dimensions."

39

However, O'Leary claims: "This is not so much a

comment on the inadequacy of research design employed as on
the recent state of the art relevant to this topic."

40

A few studies concerning women in administrative
occupations have been reported and these are briefly
discussed.
In the earliest periods in the United States
leaders were necessarily the founders or builders.

They

generally headed the concerns which they established
whether alone or with a small group of associates.

By the

1950s there was evidence of a trend toward increasing
management control.

The chief executives were now the

professional managers not the entrepreneurs.

Concurrent

36
with these changes has been a renewed interest in executive
functions and in the origins of the executives themselves.
Newcomer reported one such study.

41

At the outset

she states: "Insofar as there is discrimination in employ­
ment or business dealings on account of sex, race,
nationality, religion, and politics, it will probably be
most apparent at the top levels.

And it may be said

without further comment that no woman and no Negro has been
found among the top executives of this study."

42

Cussler, five years later did locate women execu­
tives and reported a study of fifty-five women residing in
five Metropolitan areas in the Eastern United States.

43

A

wide range of occupations were included, yet the study
under-represented women at the very top echelons, those
with little education, those who had not reached the status
of community recognition, and women executives residing in
other regions of the United States.

Using primarily the

interview method and reporting in the narrative, the study
focused on sociological factors in predicting advancement
opportunities for women.
Historically, Cussler noted, many of these women
had changed jobs throughout their years of employment.
However, it was "a particular crises that led to her ad­
vance."

It was not necessarily hard work, but periods of

rapid social change particularly those involving an expan­
sion in the economy which allowed these women to move
ahead to executive positions.

Cussler concluded, whereas

37
men are more likely to advance to higher level positions
during stable economic periods women must wait for some
"critical era."
she states.

"Any cataclysmic social disaster will do"

" . . .

war is good because it takes preferred

members out of the labor force and out of the market and
allows new patterns to appear."

44

After allowing for the "critical era," these women
achieved their positions with combinations of contributing
conditions including perseverance, merit, default, the
assistance of someone or something to give them a push, and
something that made them women of distinction.

Most did not

energetically seek the promotion, perhaps Cussler specu­
lates, due to a non-aggressive personality, being too
modest, and being uncomfortable in a competitive situation,
although all were equipped with a high education, excep­
tional technical skills and ambition.

Some did not advance

because of the very reasons attributed to their exceptional
talents.
When interviewing associates of these women execu­
tives, Cussler found that those women who men most preferred
working with had a childhood of growing up in a houseful of
brothers or played with boys of the neighborhood.

As one

recalled: "I can go back as a child and see that I wanted
to surpass even my brothers in sports, or anything of that
nature.

I was very athletically inclined . . . but I was

never satisfied to be less than the captain, or if it was

38
field hockey where I started out much younger than the
average . . .

I started out at left-wing.

Well, I noticed

that the focus of attention was in center field so I just
bucked for that position until I got it."

45

During the 1950s and the 1960s skepticism was
expressed about the advisability of training and utilizing
women in employment roles.

Career interests and aspira­

tions of women were presumed to be limited when compared to
those of men.

In response, Astin stated:

. . . problems of identifying, developing, and utili­
zing human resources of concern to this nation is
usually limited to only half of the country's popu­
lation— the men. As a result, the educational and
career aspirations of women are not so well understood
as those of men.4<>
Astin*s The Woman Doctorate in America

47

was under­

taken to explore the career development of highly educated
women.

The subjects of the study were 1,547 women who re­

ceived doctorate degrees in the United States in the years
1957 and 1958.

These women, though only ten percent of the

total number of doctorates awarded during these years,
were viewed as a sizable group of highly skilled personnel
available for advancement.
Specific goals of this study were: to determine how
the talents of highly trained women are utilized, to in­
vestigate the patterns of career development among women
doctorates, and to assess the women doctorates* career
interests, commitment to work and professional contribu­
tions.

39
The study dispelled many myths.

Joseph Katz

writes in the foreward: "It shows conclusively that time
and expenditures for the professional education of women
are not wasted because# as the argument goes, women do not
use their training."

48

Ninety-one percent of all women who

received their doctorates in 1957 and 1958 were employed in
1965.

These women were also very stable in their employment

patterns: almost half remained with the same employer, an
additional 30 percent changed jobs only once since they
received their degrees, less than one-fifth of the fully
employed had ever interrupted their postdoctoral careers,
and these interruptions have been for an average of about
fourteen months.

These women doctorates were found in a

great variety of important and productive jobs.
Examining how the talents of these highly educated
women were utilized, Astin may have been somewhat dismayed.
She reported:
1.

Sixty-one percent of the subjects reported re­
maining in the same major work activity over the
seven or eight years since receipt of the doctorate.

2.

Thirty-nine percent reported making some change
during this period, one-half of these shifted from
teaching to administration.

3.

Women, whose major in the doctorate program had
been education or humanities {and not those with
majors in the sciences, or psychology) tended more
often to move into administrative work.

Generally,

40
Astin concluded, the shift overtime is in the
direction of greater administrative responsibili­
ties.

Yet she poses the speculation that this

occurs
. . . especially where competition with men for promo­
tion to administrative ranks is not so severe , . .
(also) . . . a large proportion of the women in educa­
tion devoted more time to administrative functions than
others, partly because of their age and longer career
experience.49
On the basis of this study Astin portrays the
career pattern of women.
. . . the typical career pattern of women is charac­
terized by two phases: (1) the initial entry into a
career and (2) re-entry into the world of work
following a period of withdrawal from the labor
force . . . (and) . . . it is indeed true that the
higher a woman's educational attainment, the more
likely she is to be in the labor force.50
Related Studies with a Focus on Attitudes Toward
Women in Administrative Positions
Early in the 1970s researchers searched for facilitative conditions presumed conducive to the progress of
women in organizations.

A frequently studied topic was

"changing employer attitudes."
such study.

51

Forgarty et al., is one

Subjects were women in private and public

sector business, professions, and civil service in Great
Britain.

The study was comparable to the earlier 1958

study reported by Cussler.
The major finding revealed that only under unusual
conditions, and not under the normal state of affairs,
did many of the women become appointed to their top level

41
administrative positions.

Among the others, only when

they were able to secure positions of significant respon­
sibility were they able to realize the opportunity to
improve upon their abilities.

Fogarty viewed the apparent

"non-traditional" practices of women arriving to top admin­
istrative positions as the result of an obvious system of
non-career planning by management, thereby putting the onus
of initiating and managing career advancement on the
individual, or allowing it to develop in an "ad hoc" way.
Over and above differences arising from different
occupational environments, the studies highlighted certain
common factors in the women and in the employer’s and
colleagues' attitudes to them.

Essentially, there were no

basic differences between the level, style, or the range
of levels and styles of work performance of the women who
reached top jobs and that of men in similar positions.
These findings support results of studies of highly quali­
fied women in other fields: the abilities and interests
of men and women overlap considerably.
In the analysis Forgarty recommends,
. . . given the characteristics which well-qualified
women are perceived as having, many more of them
should be holding posts at middle-management and
corresponding professional levels than are in fact
doing so . . . (however, as) women seem to be as
capable as men of filling a top job if promoted
into it, they may need more than men to be pulled
up to it rather than be left to find their way to
it themselves.52

42
It could be contemplated therefore, as O'Leary
reports in a review of related research on women's achieve­
ment and motivation:
It appears that in order for a highly competent female
to gain recognition for her accomplishment, these
accomplishments must be regarded as demonstrably
exceptional (out of role or within a context requiring
unusual drive and dedication) and their worth supported
by the positive evaluation of an authoritative source.53
In this regard she continues,
Research findings lend support to the contention that
the aspirations and motivations of workers of each
sex are more similar than societal stereotypes would
lead us to believe.
Yet women workers continue to be
plagued by myths and half myths which to the extent
they are accepted by those involved in making promo­
tional decisions, may adversely affect their opportu­
nities for advancement.
Thus it is plausible to
assume that such attitudes reflect societally held
sex role stereotypes.
Insofar then as promoters per­
ceive the characteristics of women workers as dis­
crepant from the predominate criteria inherent in
the managerial model to which they adhere, it is rea­
sonable that such attitudes may constitute barriers
to higher occupational attainment for women. ^
In 1972 Basil reported an "attitude study" whose
premise was explicit: little doubt exists that there is
discrimination against women in advancing them to managerial positions.

55

The focus of the study was on the

attitudes expressed toward women in management by both men
and women, as indicated in response to a questionnaire.
The majority of the respondents rejected the
premise that women were less interested in their jobs than
men.

However, the responses from the women executives took

a more optimistic view of women's advancement possibilities.
Yet those men who had worked with women, either as

43
non-management subordinates, as management subordinates,
as peers, or as supervisors tended to be more positive in
their attitudes toward women.

The basic difference between

the masculine and feminine opinions appeared to be in degree
of intensity rather than in kind.

But the realities to

be faced were expressed in the following statement:
While many women may indicate a dislike of serving
under women, surveys show that most women do not
care much one way or another.
It's the men, though,
who control (the many organizations) and any woman
trying to break into management ranks has to contend
with masculine attitudes.56
Basil interpreted that women have received more
acceptance into those management fields where "the woman's
point of view" is considered important.

But in industries

and organizations where male workers predominate there is
prejudice against women which prevents full utilization of
their talents.

Negative attitudes toward women's place in

the lower levels of management persist far less strongly
than in the upper ranks.
Basil suggests that whether women reached the top
depended to a large extent on opinions of women's inherent
intellectual and psychological characteristics.

If they

do not possess the personality traits considered essential
to top level management then the rationale for their ex­
clusion appears sound.

As was expected, the stereo-typed

thinking about women's personality traits was confirmed by
the majority of both male and female respondents.
other hand, when asked to rank a series of personal

On the

44
characteristics as requirements for upper management posi­
tions there was a high degree of similarity of response
between men and women managers.
However, another group of women executives had more
favorable environments avoiding two problems which fre­
quently hold women back.57

They did not start out in jobs

with limited futures, and they did not have to work their
way through a corporate hierarchy that discriminated
against them.
Three were cofounders, while four are members of
families owning big blocks of stock in the companies where
they work.

Claims the author, they likely " . . .

not have had careers without the family tie-in."

58

would
Two

made it to the top by moving up in the existing corporate
hierarchy without family sponsorship, but did receive some
exceptional opportunities within their respective companies.
These women agreed that despite the women's move­
ment, and an abundance of supportive rhetoric, some rather
appalling forms of discrimination remain.

Even as atti­

tudes change, women will still be hampered by the kind of
education they are getting and the more subtle forms of
discrimination will not be easy to overcome.
In 1973, Stevenson studied the employment levels of
women administrators in Big Ten Universities.

59

Con­

cerned with the problem that women have never occupied
significant numbers of important administrative positions
in co-educational institutions, Stevenson determined that

45
employing officials in universities operated on the
assumption that a significant number of qualified women
were not visible, thus not present and therefore it was
not possible to fill positions of responsibility with
w omen.
Furthermore, she noted in the findings:

(1) There

was considerable ambiguity in titles and positions of the
administrative roles held by women.

(2) The evidence of

employment of women in administrative positions was incon­
sistent with the reports of employing officials about the
inclusion of women in these roles.

(3) There was more

occupational mobility by these women than had been anti­
cipated on the basis of studies of women executives in
other types of organizations.

(4) Only ten women were

identified as administrators in continuing education
services.
This study summarized and generalized the data
reported and did not attempt to relate specific variables,
as for example, education level, age, or mobility to any
specific respondent, or to any specific institution
included in the study.
Implications from Sociological and Psychological
Studies Relating to Women in
Administrative Positions
It is worthwhile to consider, as some researchers
have surmised, that factors other than attitudes may
determine the degree and the direction of organizational

46
involvement.

The impression is often created that certain

other elements are causally related to hierarchial involve­
ment.

Discussions have been reported suggesting correla­

tions between organizational advancement and variables as
socioeconomic status of the participants, the nature of
their early socialization, their basic personality struc­
tures, and some of their religious and political beliefs.
It is important to recognize that many of these variables
temporally precede organizational participation, and hence
precede both peer cohesion and involvement in the organi­
zation.
Socioeconomic Factors
Solomon identified socioeconomic characteristics
in analyzing self-reported life histories of a selected
group of twelve professional w o m e n . S o m e ,

she observed,

had advantages of membership in established affluent
families: they were born into European professional fami­
lies in which there were expectations for women as well as
men.

A lesser number were daughters of immigrants who

lacked economic and social advantages but who believed that
if they and their children worked hard they would get ahead
in America.

All had middle-class and upper-class back­

grounds irrespective of their diverse ethnic and racial
origins.
Hennig,

62

in a study of twenty-five top level

women executives, analyzed their early experiential

47
activities and family environments.
all-girl families, or the only child.

All were first-born in
Thus, Hennig states,

these cases encompass a "first-born" syndrome.

The women

were members of upward-aspiring middle-class families
living in the eastern parts of the United States.

Their

fathers were primarily in middle-management or professional
educators; most mothers were home (non-working).

All were

American-born Caucasions and reported no distinctive
religious patterns.
Early Patterns of Socialization
Several researchers interested in alternative
interpretations of correlates in the career progress of
women professionals have focused on the distinction of
early patterns of socialization.

"Non-biological explana­

tions for sex differences of participants in various acti­
vities often center on early socialization," states Bo o t h . ^
Some researchers contend that patterns of interaction
learned during early youth affect later interaction.
One such theme proposes that girls are generally
rewarded for conformist behavior, for sitting quietly
and patiently at tasks until they are completed.

During

childhood girls receive, what Cynthia Epstein refers to
as, "docility training."

This pleases their fathers who

want them to be 'feminine' and it also helps them do well
in school because they learn to follow instructions and
carry out assignments.

Good grades and good behavior win

48
approval from teachers as well as from parents.

64

But they

are discouraged from being competitive, self-assertive,
independent and dominant in their interaction with other
children (traits shown to be crucial in raising IQ's).
These later traits it is claimed play a crucial role in
fostering creativity in intellectual tasks.

6^

Risk-taking is another important component of
original creative thinking.

Young boys far more than

young girls are apt to be encouraged to take risks in both
physical and mental endeavors.
Longitudinal Study, " . . .

According to the Fels

a young child's interest in

games and activities characteristic of the opposite sex
is positively correlated to IQ," which determined that
brighter girls are more likely to enjoy baseball and other
boy's games.

When asked what kind of a developmental his­

tory would be necessary to make a girl into an intellectual
person . . . the reply: " . . .

the simplest way to put it

is that she must be a tomboy at some point in her child­
hood.”66
Maccoby, an early proponent of this theme, suggests
a further explanation for women's lack of intellectual
creativity:
. . . since those girls who show qualities of dominance
and active striving are engaging in sex-role inappro­
priate behavior, they pay in high psychic costs for
their intellectual success by suffering high anxiety
levels.67
Maccoby links a high anxiety level to lower levels
of productivity among academic and professional women.

49
Some psychological research does suggest that anxiety
" ...

is especially damaging to creative thinking for it

narrows the range of solution efforts, interferes with
breaking set and prevents scanning of the whole range of
elements open to perception."

68

Indeed, some writers have been inclined to stress
that the very traits women are encouraged to develop— risk
avoidance, dependency and low assertiveness or non-competi­
tiveness— contribute to an observed tendency to perform
poorly in the classroom.

Thus, under these conditions

women may be less likely to be perceived as outstanding
young scholars.

Concurrently then as Bettleheim observed,

In these early years, it is rare indeed for girls
to hear the slightest suggestion that they might
one day do the interesting work of this world
quite as well as many men, or even better.®9
McDonald proposes an explanation that has a more
extensive impact:
If women have been conditioned from birth to adjust
their human potential and aspirations to a socially
approved 'feminine' life-style which is narrower
than, and considerably beneath their potential, it
is not surprising that many of them will settle for
that and call it satisfaction. For many, the ad­
justing continues into college years and beyond. . . .
Women who are excited in the freshman year by the
possibility of entering professional and research
fields, by the time they are juniors lower their aspira­
tions to more 'practical' fields (teaching, nursing,
social work, secretarial-administrative work) which
may be far below their abilities.

50
According to Jane Torrey, a psychologist at
Connecticut College, reluctance to perceive oneself as
victim is a real psychological barrier for women.

She

states:
People like to think they have done as well as possible
in life; nobody enjoys being told that she might have
been happier, richer or more successful if it weren't
for some injustice. . . .71
As interpreted by Booth, early independence
training and team activities develop social imitation, coor­
dinate the normative structures, foster and provide social
conditions favorable to friendship formation and the
learning of group procedures and practices applicable to
later leadership role performance.

72

Hennig utilized an extensive interpretation of this
theme in her study of twenty-five women executives promi­
nently positioned in nationally recognized eastern-based
business firms.

73

She concluded that the early experiential

activities of these respondents was convincing evidence
that the presence of a certain type of family dynamics was
conducive to their ability to exhibit a positive achieve­
ment motivation.
Hennig explains, that in developing their inte­
grated personalities these women in their early youth did
not appear to reject either of the classic sex-stereotypes.
They explored both with the presence of two-parent-rolemodels who actively supported the daughter's explorations
and expansiveness of role-testing activity choices.

The

51
mothers tended to represent the traditional feminine role
model but also supported their child's freedom to explore
what were considered male roles.

The fathers, who were

actively participating with their daughters in activities,
encouraged them to engage in competition with boys and
girls.
In Hennig's view such a family constellation pro­
vided for these individuals the climate to develop feelings
of mastery and success in a variety of settings.

They

had learned early to connect achievement and self-esteem.
When there was awareness of gender-role taboos, their anger
was placed on the perceived contraints of the choicelimi tations.

Furthermore, she contends, " . . .

their early

experience with competitive achievement with males,
beginning with the father helped them to overcome and feel
comfortable in such settings in the future."

74

Related to this issue of the significance of certain
patterns of early socialization is the interest of partici­
pation in associations and in competitive team activities.
As reported by Booth, boys, particularly from the middleclass, compete ii. teams far more than girls.

In team acti­

vities a member learns group procedures and practices
which can later be applied to role performance in organi­
zational settings.

Thus early independence training and

team activities are seen as assisting to develop social
initiative in males.

"Such early socialization is probably

52
reinforced by later experience," claims Booth, "(as) many
white-collar occupations use committees, task forces, and
buzz groups extensively, activities which sharpen the skills
necessary to cultivate friendships."

75

In observing the

effect of the differential levels of opportunities available
for participation in such early-youth activities, Booth
surmises that the discriminatory attitudes toward women
contributed to differences in their later participation in
social and work groups.
But critics demur.

Loring argues that components

of background factors do not guarantee the development of
achievement motivation nor is it the only background in
which such motivation for aspiration to higher admini­
stration can develop.

She states that

. . . many women who have been concerned with filling
traditional feminine roles begin at about age forty
to move rapidly to the Maslovian idea of self-actuali­
zation, motivated by previous frustration in feminine
roles . . . displaying latent natural capabilities
that come into use in the challenge of increases in
responsibilities . . . perhaps with life-styles that
are different but not necessarily less valuable.7®
Traits
It is also often argued that a woman's repertoire
of behavior does not include those traits considered essen­
tial for administrative success.

But a considerable body

of research exists which indicates that women do possess
qualifications required of top-level administrative posi­
tions.

Women have been reported as being similar to men

in vocational interest, sources of job satisfaction and

53
motivation, leadership ability, problem solving, cooper­
ation and competition, and potential managerial capability.
Tyler,

77

after a comprehensive review of individual

differences, concluded that when examining research sup­
porting the existence of sex differences, one must keep
in mind that there is a large amount of overlap among the
distributions by sex on any given variable.
differences outweigh sex differences.

Individual

On the basis of

these extensive findings, she suggests that if personnel
access or personnel advancement decisions are made on
group basis rather than on individual attributes, discri­
mination may exist.
And again, as recently as 1974, Maccoby and
Jacklin apparently found it advisable to reaffirm, after
reviewing much of the research related to sex-role stereo­
types, we
. . . conclude from our survey of all the data that
many popular beliefs about the psychological char­
acteristics of the two sexes have little or no basis
in fact. . . . Yet people continue to believe, for
example, that girls are more 'social' than boys, or
are more suggestible than boys, ignoring the fact
that careful observation and measurement show no sex
differences. As a result, myths live on that would
otherwise rightfully die out under the impact of
negative influence. '8
Summary
The literature review of Section I indicates that
women have been denied equal opportunities of participation
in many of the socio-economic sectors of this country.

54
Despite the progress of industrialization with technological
innovations, voting privileges and expanded entry in the
work force there remains a conspicious absence of women in
top level administrative and professional positions.
Neither the institutions of higher education nor general
university continuing education divisions have taken leader­
ship to recognize the rights of women as individuals nor
have they generally assisted to change the political order.
The result has been to effect the legislative process to
advance equal opportunities for women and to seek govern­
ment action to force compliance with the statutes.

The

adherence by educational institutions to the legal require­
ments contained in these statutes promoting equal opportu­
nities for women in employment has been inattentive.
Implications from the concepts of organization
theory in Section II suggest that existing social structures
located within organizations severely influence the oppor­
tunities of upward mobility available to most women
employees.

Among such structures is the apparent need of

organization officials to maintain and preserve consistency
whose effect is to generally preclude women from normally
participating in the career development process.
The theory of mobility advanced is grounded on the
premise that positions must first be available before
mobility can begin.

Characteristics of openness and

sponsorship are identified as variables of organization

55
structure facilitating upward mobility of personnel.
Individual characteristics of high visibility in the work
group and a valuable level of competence are variables
likely to influence opportunities for advancement.

An

individual's rate of interaction with significant elements
in the social environment seem to be additional contribu­
tory factors leading to favorable selection.
The review of extant research relating to women
administrators discussed in Section III report a variety
of factors which have been examined for clues indicative of
(associated with, if not causally related to) hierarchial
involvement.

Variables residing in the social environment,

specifically, rapid social change and economic crises have
been important in certain circumstances.

Examination of

other presumably essential factors included characteristics
residing in the individual such as socioeconomic status,
early socialization, structures of personality, age,
education and belief systems.

But the validity of these

variables has generated controversy and debate among
critics.
Even with the evidence of studies repeatedly veri­
fying that no general differences exist between men's and
women's performance, style, and traits of leadership con­
sidered essential for administrative success, myths seem to
die hard and employer's attitudes based on sex stereotypes
appear to prevent qualified women from reaching top level

56
positions.

The evidence of discrimination against women

becomes more profound at the higher levels in an organi­
zation’s hierarchy.
The conclusion which emanates confirms that most of
the rhetoric to promote equal opportunity for women is
only that.

The data indicates minimal change despite a

decade or more of legal advances.

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This study was designed to investigate the career
progress of women employed in professional administrative
positions in selected general university continuing educa­
tion divisions in the State of Michigan during the years
1960-1976, and to analyze certain variables as likely
determinants of the levels of position attained.
This chapter presents the design of the research
study.

It reports the population of institutions and

the population of individual women, the instrumentation,
and procedures adopted for the investigation, and the
method of analysis and interpretation of the data.
For the purposes of this research the position under
study is the highest level administrative position which
a woman occupied while employed in a division of continuing
education during the years 1960-1976.
The methodological framework was designed to inves­
tigate variables from three sets of factors:
existing within the individual,

(1) those

(2) those existing within

the organization, and {3) those existing outside both the

57

58
individual and the organization, therefore residing in
the social environment.

Information was collected on

selected characteristics of the women, on selected char­
acteristics of the employing institutions and divisions of
general university continuing education, and on selected
legal statutes identified as the significant equal oppor­
tunity statutes in effect during the years 1960 to 1976.
The study was designed to focus on the following
questions:
I.

What changes have occurred during the years
1960-1976 with respect to the employment of women
in administrative positions in the division of
continuing education?
A.

How many women were employed?

B.

In which years did they enter their position?

C.

In which divisions were they employed?

D.

What positions did they occupy?

E.

What is their employment record with the
divisions: how many are still employed?
many retired?

II.

how

how many changed employment?

What are certain characteristics of the institu­
tions and of the divisions?
A.

What is the age and size of the institutions?

B.

What year did the general university continuing
education division begin?

C.

What institutional types do these institutions
resemble?

59
D.

What is each division's record of appointment
of women in professional administrative posi­
tions during the years 1960-1976?

III.

What are certain characteristics of the women?
A.

What has been their previous employment
experience?

B.

What has been their post-secondary education
experience and level of formal higher education?

C.

What are their ages?

D.

What has been their employment experience

with

the division of continuing education?
E.

What types of career patterns are depicted by
the employment sequences of the

F.

What are the aspirations of the

women?
women for fur­

ther education, higher level positions, and
future career activities?
IV.

What relationships can be identified as factors
likely to be influencing the level of position
attained by these women?
A.

Is there a relationship associated with the
Equal Opportunity mandates of the 1960s and
1970s and level of position?

B.

Is there a relationship associated with selected
institutional characteristics and level of
position?
1.

Type of institution.

2.

Mobility within the institution.

60
3.
C.

Years of employment in the position.

Is there a relationship associated with selected
personal characteristics of the women and level
of position?
1.

Age at entry.

2.

Level of education at entry.

3.

Years of previous occupational
experience.

4.

Type of previous occupational
experience.

Time Frame for the Study
During the decades of the 1960s and the 1970s the
United States has experienced the passage of several
Federal statutes designed to facilitate equal opportunities
for women, including equal opportunity in employment.

All

institutions of higher education have been apprised to
generate action plans in response to these statutes which
is generally denoted as affirmative action.

Theoretically,

divisions of continuing education, as units of institutions
of higher education, would be expected to be responsive to
their institution's affirmative action program.
To observe the compliance with, or neglect of,
discharging the requirements of these statutes and thus
inferring any influence upon the career development of
women employed in professional administrative positions in

61
these continuing education divisions, an extended period
of time would be imperative tomerit

a validevaluation.

Based on the assumption that thefollowing

guide­

lines are directly significant to the careers of women
employed in organizations covered by these laws, and
thereby equally salient to women employed in divisions of
continuing education, a period of years to encompass these
guidelines was established as the time-frame for the study.
A beginning date of the year 1960 precedes the statutes.
ending date of the year 1976 would allow a reasonable
length of time to record the transaction of interest.
Equal Opportunity Statutes
1963

The Equal Pay Act.

1964

Title VII of the Civil

1965

Executive Order 11246.

1967

Executive Order 11246 amended

Rights Act.

by Executive Order

No. 11375.
1971

Revised Order No. 4.

1972

Amended Equal Pay Act.

197 2

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

1972

Amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by
the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

1975

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
enforced under new regulations.

An

62
Equal Pay Act of 196 3, as amended.
Generally, for non-professional employees as of
June 1964, and for executive, administrative, professional
and outside sales employees as of July 1972.
Prohibits discrimination in wages {including
overtime, sick and vacation pay) and fringe benefits
(including health and life insurance, pension and other
retirement benefits, profit sharing and bonus plans, credit
union benefits) which are based on sex.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.
Effective July 1965 for nonprofessional and pro­
fessional workers in the private sector, and March 1972
for employees of state and local governments and educa­
tional institutions.
Prohibits any discrimination based on sex in
hiring, firing, promotion, wages, classification, employ­
ment referrals, or assignment, extending or assigning the
use of facilities, training, apprenticeships, fringe
benefits, including medical, maternity benefits, life
insurance, pension and retirement programs, and any other
conditions or privileges of employment.
The enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Act of 1972 extended coverage to teachers and administrators
in educational institutions.

The act does not require

63
affirmative action unless discrimination is found and
affirmative action is ordered.
The Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Sex
emphasizes "the principle of non-discrimination requires
that individuals be considered on the basis of individual
capacities and not on the basis of any characteristics
generally attributed to the group."
Executive Order 11246 of 1965 as amended in 1967 by
Executive Order 11375.

Effective October 1968.

These Orders impose equal employment opportunity
requirements on Federal contractors.

They prohibit dis­

crimination in employment including wages, hiring, pro­
motion, and benefits, by employers and institutions which
have contracts with the Federal government in excess of
$10,000, and their subcontractors.

All divisions or

branches of the contractor are covered.
The Order contains two basic conditions that must
be accepted by a Federal contractor.

The first is a

policy of non-discrimination which covers all employees
of the contractor.

The second condition requires that the

contractor undertake a policy of affirmative action to
ensure that equal employment practices are followed.
Revised Order No. 4 issued in 1971 is applicable to all
nonconstruction contractors and was the first set of

64
regulations requiring an affirmative action program
for women.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended.
Effective July 1973 for admissions provisions, and
July 1972 for all other provisions.
Title IX and the implementing regulations pro­
hibit discrimination based on sex including admissions,
financial aid, rules governing behavior, access to courses
and training programs, extracurricular activities, other
educational programs and employment discrimination
including wages, recruitment, hiring, job classification,
and most fringe benefits.
Covered are all educational institutions which
receive Federal money including preschools, elementary,
secondary and vocational schools, colleges and universities
which receive Federal money for educational programs.
Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 effec­
tive July 21, 1975, with new regulations, prohibits with
certain exceptions sex discrimination in education programs
or activities including employment, which receive Federal
financial assistance.
Determining the Study Population
The Organizational Sector
The public four-year institutions of higher educa­
tion within the boundary of the State of Michigan were

65
selected as the universe of organizations for the study;
and the divisions of general university continuing educa­
tion of these institutions were designated as the sub-unit
within which to investigate the career progress of women
employed in professional administrative roles.
A review of The National Center for Educational
Statistics Educational Directory Colleges and universities
1975-76 indicated thirteen public four-year institutions
of higher education existed in the State of Michigan.
The following institutions comprise the organiza­
tional population of this study:
Michigan State University
The University of Michigan
Wayne State University
Eastern Michigan University
Central Michigan University
Northern Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Michigan Technological University
Oakland University
Grand Valley State Colleges
Saginaw Valley State College
Lake Superior State College
Ferris State College

66
Identifying Women in Professional
Administrative Roles
To assess the roles of women within the organiza­
tional unit under study requires knowledge of the types of
positions and an identification of the incumbents occupying
these positions.
For the purposes of this study, data could be
collected from the Deans or Directors of each of the
thirteen public four-year institutions of higher education.
It was assumed that individuals in this position would have
access to current and historical records of personnel
employed within their respective divisions.
From the data of personnel supplied by each of the
divisions women employed could be identified by name.

The

organizational role held by women could be determined by
title and by the rank assigned to the position by the
employing institution.
The professional administrative position in this
study is defined to be a category higher in rank than
clerical-technical, or clerical-secretarial.

Additionally,

to be eligible for the study, the professional administra­
tive position is assigned in the administrative-professional
(A-P) or professional-administrative (P-A) category of the
employing institution.
Instrumentation
The instruments used in this study were both a
written and interview questionnaire.

The rationale for

67
the techniques employed were similar to suggestions
offered by noted research authorities such as Babbie,
Dexter, and Oppenheim, who state that the research design
demands balancing the possible strategies and tactics in
light of the overall purposes.

It requires reflection as

to what is the most promising and the least costly tech­
niques for obtaining the desired information.

"Interviews

should be undertaken , . . when it is clear that . . . al­
ternative techniques have been seriously considered,

(and)

the research issues have tended to determine the selection
of the techniques.

. . ."

79

Oppenheim adds that through

the interview
. . . there remains the undisputed advantage that the
richness and the spontaneity of information collected
by interviews is higher than that which a mailed
questionnaire can hope to obtain. . . . Many re­
searchers will take a chance on the possibilities of
bias for the sake of the richness of the information
that only the interview can give. . . .80
With regard to data collection Oppenheim notes
that
the greatest advantage of the interview in the hands
of a skilled interviewer is its flexibility . . .
ensuring that the respondent has understood the
question and purpose of the research, and probing
further when particular responses are encountered.
It was anticipated that Deans or Directors could
best respond to the research inquiry seeking information
of the division's professional positions and occupants
via a mailed questionnaire.
and utilized.

Such a form was developed

68
Data pertaining to and about each woman in the
study, it was estimated, would better be obtained through
the use of both a mailed questionnaire and an interview
following receipt of the written responses.
The questionnaire and interview format were devised
on the basis of the review of literature outlined in
Chapter II and a review of questionnaires developed for
similar previous studies.
these instruments:
women, and

Two major sections comprised

(1) personal characteristics of the

(2) individual's organizational experience in

the employing institution of higher education and in the
division of continuing education.
In the first category respondents were invited to
provide information of education accomplishments since
high school graduation, major occupational experiences,
dates and location of employment, age, current address,
community activities, and aspirations for further education,
higher level positions, and future career plans.
The second category consisted of inquiries of the
title and description of the position occupied in continuing
education division, length of time in the position, previous
positions held in the institution, previous positions held
in the division, individual's explanation of the circum­
stances resulting in attaining the position, individual's
perception of the influence of the institution's affirma­
tive action plans upon her career.

69
The research questions on the written form included
the items about formal education, employment history and
general information.
The other elements of data desired from the women
potentially requiring elaboration and expansion, sponta­
neous and qualified answers were deemed more suitable for
inclusion in the interview to attain the high level of
information desired.

Therefore, in the interview were

inquiries of positions held in the division and in the
university or college, length of time employed in this
location, circumstances of attaining the position, percep­
tion of the affirmative action efforts, aspirations for
career development, age, and involvement in community
activities.
A format of research questions was constructed to
serve as the model for the interview.

Both "opened" and

"closed" questions were incorporated.

The order of the

series of items were considered to avoid putting ideas
into a respondent's mind early in the questioning period
as spontaneous responses were desired on some later items.
Respondents were advised that accuracy was desired; that
negative responses, if appropriate should be supplied,
as well as appropriate positive responses.

Respondents

were assured of confidentiality of their replies in that
their names would not appear in the research nor were the
interviews recorded on tape.

Filter questions were

70
utilized to

(a) exclude a respondent from a particular

sequence if it was irrelevant, and

(b) allow the response

of a low prestige answer to be equally as possible as a
higher prestige answer.

All interviews were conducted

using the same form, and all interviews were conducted in
English.
Pre-Testing and Pilot Study of Instruments
Following suggestions of Oppenheim, subsections of
the data instruments were piloted in small operations to
see whether the responses "tell us what we need to know."

82

Initial forms designed to obtain the data of posi­
tion titles and names of personnel from the divisions of
continuing education were submitted to review by continuing
education professionals currently on the staff of one
higher education institution.

With minor adjustments the

final version was prepared.
Similarly, preliminary forms developed to obtain
the information of the individual women were pretested in
sections.

Several women currently employed in professional

positions completed initial drafts of the planned written
questionnaire,
items.

and commented on ambiguities and difficult

The sections intended for inclusion in the inter­

view were then submitted to alternative "in-person" and
"telephone" procedures.

On the basis of revisions the

instrument was subjected to a "pilot test."

71
Respondents in the "pilot study" were chosen on
the basis of similarity to those in the main study as it
was anticipated that the total "population would be very
small and highly specific so that," as Oppenheim advises,
"we cannot afford to 'use up' any part of it for pilot
samples,

(thus) we must seek some alternative samples

that should be above all comparable in their knowledges
and ways of thinking."

83

Professional women in the Lansing Metropolitan
area, currently employed in administrative positions in
organizations that were not to be in the research study
comprised the "pilot group."

The written questionnaire

was first completed followed by the telephone interview.
This phase was concluded in August 1976.
The most significant change in procedure after the
"pilot test" was incorporating the option of using a VITA
or RESUME, as the source of some data about the research
subjects.

This technique proved valuable in, generally,

abbreviating the time of the interviews and in supple­
menting the responses of the subjects.
The Telephone Interview
To avoid travel costs and subsistence expenses at
interview sites the telephone interview was employed in
this study.

The earlier "pilot testing" phase had con­

firmed that this method would provide the desired

72
information.

A WIDE AREA TELEPHONE SYSTEM (WATS)

line or

a private telephone line was used.
The same researcher conducted all of the interviews
and recorded on individual data sheets the responses of
the women.

Where respondents rendered generous comment,

the interviewer-researcher selected and condensed what
seemed the most important of what the respondent wished
to convey.
occurred.

Some bias and loss of information perhaps
Responses were coded by the researcher after the

interviews were completed.
Research Procedures
The operations employed to gain the required data
were executed in several phases.
Deans of Directors of each of the divisions of
general university continuing education in the thirteen
institutions of higher education were contacted explaining
the study in September 1976, first in a "Dean's" meeting,
followed by a letter.

Each was asked to aid the research

by providing the names of professional positions and the
names of individuals occupying these positions in their
respective divisions during the years 1960-1976.
forms were supplied.

Data

(Appendix A)

Twelve divisions responded to the research inquiry.
The one non-response was a division known to have no women
employed in professional administrative positions during
these years.

Ten of the twelve responding divisions

73
supplied the data desired.

Officials of the other two

divisions indicated that it was not possible to forward
such information.

After further communication with these

officials about the research project, one division provided
the current year1s roster plus the names of the women
previously employed in professional administrative posi­
tions in their division.

Similar data was later obtained

from the other division when the researcher traveled to the
institution and discussed the research project with the
designated representative.
On the basis of the data supplied by each of the
continuing education divisions, ten divisions were iden­
tified as having one or more women employed in professional
administrative positions during the years 1960 to 1976;
three divisions did not have women employed in such posi­
tions during these years.
The data provided by the ten divisions indicated
that sixty-eight women would be in accord with the defini­
tion of occupying the type of position under study and thus
eligible for the research.

Several ambiguous cases re­

quired investigation for clarification and were subse­
quently excluded.

For example, several women who were

listed on one division's roster as adjunct or teaching
personnel were found to have their major assignment with
an academic unit as faculty.
research population.

These were excluded from the

Likewise, women occupying positions

as executive-secretary were excluded.

74
Inaugurating the next phase were attempts to locate
the sixty-eight women.

Eight were unable to be located

because they no longer had forwarding addresses, and one
was deceased.

The potential number of cases then for the

study was fifty-nine women.

Ultimately, two women indicated

that they did not wish to participate in the study; six
could not be included because of difficulties in completing
the necessary contacts.

The final number of respondents in

the study was fifty-one.

These fifty-one women were (a)

currently employed in a professional administrative posi­
tion in a continuing education division, or (b) had been
employed in such a position at one time during the years
1960-1976.
Women occupying professional administrative
positions during the years 1960-1976

=

Women unable to locate
Women deceased

68
8
1

—

Women eligible for the study

59

Women not wishing to participate
Women unable to be contacted

=

2
6

Respondents included in the study

=

51

Response rate for the study

=

86

In October 1976 women currently employed in divi­
sions of continuing education were contacted at their
institution by letter explaining the research.

(Appendix B)

Each was asked to assist by completing and returning the
brief written forms.

Upon receipt of these forms

75

interviews were completed, if possible on the date and at
the time of the respondent's first or second choice.
Subjects who had not responded within eight weeks
were sent a second copy of the introductory letter and
data forms.

Those unable to return either the first or

second copies were later contacted by telephone.
Reaching the women no longer employed in the divi­
sions of continuing education and those associated with one
division required modification of tactics.
location had first to be available.

Their present

Inquiries were made

of several sources including personnel directors, executive
secretaries, professors, and other administrators.

In some

cases a series of clues were pieced together to obtain a
point of contact.
The location of the subjects in this group did not
become available until after January 1, 1977.

At this

point the urgency of expediting the data collecting phase
made it advisable to reduce the time expended in this pro­
cess.

Therefore, individuals whose location became known

after January 1, 1977 were immediately contacted by tele­
phone and provided explanatory details of the research.
Each subject was informed of the general categories about
which further data was desired, and asked to review her
recollection of the events, or her VITA.
was made for the interview to follow.

An appointment

As the mode of

inquiry relied heavily upon subjects ability to recall

76
details about past events it was believed that some
prior knowledge of certain of the topics to be queried
would improve the accuracy of the data.

These topics

were those contained on the forms mailed to others.

All

data collection of and about the women included in the
study was completed by April 30, 1977.
Other Data Sources
To supplement the data provided by division offi­
cials, other sources were utilized to describe the insti­
tutions and the divisions of general university continuing
education.

These included catalogs of the institutions,

particularly the pages of historical details, a booklet
titled A Story of Adult Education in Michigan 1876-1976 by
Robert E. Sharer, and personal communication with university
administrators and faculty.
The details of the Federal statutes of Equal Oppor­
tunity mandates were obtained from the Federal Registrar,
supplemented by the elaboration in the Congressional
Quarterly, and from the publication To Form A More Perfect
Union compiled by the International Womens Year Conference,
printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,
D.C.
Position Hierarchy Schema
One outcome of essential concern in the study was
the highest level position attained by each of the women

77
while they were employed in the continuing education divi­
sion.

As position-titles of employees within organizations

are often not indicative of a similar hierarchial rank, a
schema was developed to classify in a uniform manner the
continuing education positions occupied by the women.
Only the highest-level administrative position which a
respondent occupied in a continuing education division is
included in this schema, even though some individuals may
have occupied more than one position in the division.
The schema developed is described as follows:
LEVEL ONE: a position encompassing the responsibilities to
execute the functions of the office of the Dean or
Director of the Division.
LEVEL TWO-STAFF: a staff position attached to the office of
the Dean or Director of the Division; responsibilities
include the administration and execution of program
services to this office and to the entire department.
LEVEL THREE-LINE: a line position responsible to, and re­
porting to, the Dean or Director of the Division;
responsibilities include executing the program opera­
tions of a unit or department within the division,
usually with additional line or staff personnel.
LEVEL FOUR-STAFF: a staff position, attached to a Level
Two-Staff position, or to a Level Three-Line position;
responsibilities include assisting in the administra­
tion and execution of program services.

78
LEVEL FIVE-LINE: a line position responsible to a Level
Three-Line position; responsibilities include execu­
ting program operations by direct contact with client
groups and client-group programs.
A diagram of the schema of positions follows:
LEVEL ONE
LEVEL TWO-STAFF

LEVEL THREE-LINE
LEVEL FOUR-STAFF

LEVEL FIVE-LINE

Typology of Women's Occupational
Experience
The occupational experiences of the women in the
study were systematized in relation to their involvement in
continuing education employment.

Utilizing the concepts

(a) continuous-discontinuous employment sequence/ and (b)
involvement in continuing education employment— and,
involvement in other areas of employment, four elements of
a typology emerge.
These are described as outlined below:
A.

Continuous Employment— all in Continuing Education:
individual has been continuously employed since
completing high school graduation except for the
time engaged in further formal education, and all

79
of the employment has been in the area of continuing
education.
B.

Discontinuous Employment— all in Continuing Education:
individual with one or more durations of non-work
any length, but all of the employment has been in
area of continuing education.

C.

of
the

Continuous Employment— in Continuing Education and Other
Areas.
individual has been continuously employed since com­
pleting high school except for time engaged in further
formal education, who had at least one period of
employment in continuing education and has also been
employed in other areas.

D.

Discontinuous Employment— in Continuing Education and
Other Areas.
individual with one or more durations of non-work of
any length, who had at least one period of employment
in continuing education and has also been employed in
other areas.
Analysis of Data
Responses to the questionnaires were hand-coded and

key-punched on computer cards.

Research consultation was

provided by the Office of Research Consultation, College
of Education, Michigan State University.
Package for the Social Sciences

The Statistical

(SPSS) system of computer

programs was used in the interpretation of the data.

All

processing was completed at the Computer Center, Michigan
State University.

The computer output for this research

consisted of frequency charts and contingency tables with
the associated statistical tests.
Additionally, a few answers are reported verbatim
to convey some of the flavor of the replies.

80
Frequency distribution and
accompanying statistics.
After examining the distribution of variables,
sets of relationships were examined among two or more
of the variables.

A contingency table analysis

tabulation) was employed.

This program " . . .

(crosscomputes

and displays two-way to n-way crosstabulation tables.

. . .

A crosstabulation is a joint frequency distribution of
cases according to two or more classificatory variables.
These joint frequency distributions can be statistically
analyzed, as with the chi square statistic, to determine
whether or not the variables are statistically independent;
and these distributions can be summarized by a number of
measures of association . . . which describe the degree to
which the values of one variable predict or vary with those
of another."®4
Analysis
As extensive use of statistical procedures such as
the chi-square has severe limitations in an analysis of a
non-probability sample, and in an analysis of a study with
a small number of cases, as in the present study, the chisquare is not included in this report and the sets of
relationships among the selected variables are analyzed
more fully by means of discussion.

81

Summary
This chapter has reported the procedures imple­
mented for the investigation, including the selection of
the population of organizations and of individual women,
the instrumentation and the design.
The rationale for the time frame chosen was dis­
cussed.

The schema developed to differentiate Levels of

positions occupied was outlined, as well as a description
of a typology of career employment experience.
The methods employed in the analysis are frequency
charts, contingency tables, and examination of the sets
of relationships among the selected variables.

CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS
Introduction
This chapter presents the detailed findings of the
empirical data obtained from the Continuing Education
Division reports and from the questionnaires and inter­
views conducted for the study.

Principal data of the

employing divisions and of the respondents is introduced.
The data are further examined and certain relationships
are analyzed.
Section I includes the data of selected characteri­
stics of the institutions followed by data of selected char­
acteristics of the respondents.

Section II presents an

analysis of the relationships examined.
The thirteen public four-year institutions of higher
education in the State of Michigan were the population of
organizations surveyed in this study.

Ten of these insti­

tutions had employed women in professional administrative
positions during 1960-1976.

These ten institutions com­

prise the organization-group in this study.
Sixty-eight women occupied professional administra­
tive positions during the years 1960-1976 in the ten

82

83
divisions of continuing education.

The names of nine

women were removed from the study population because they
could not be reached.

Of the remaining fifty-nine sub­

jects, fifty-one women were respondents and comprise the
subject-group in this study.
The specific position under investigation for this
research was the highest level administrative position
occupied by each of the fifty-one women while employed in
a division of continuing education during the years
1960-1976.

The position was to be designated "admini­

strative-professional"

(or "professional-administrative")

by the employing institution and is the current position
occupied, or the highest-level position occupied, in a
division of continuing education.
Section I
The Institutions
The population of organizations in this study were
the public four-year institutions of higher education in
the State of Michigan.

The National Center for Educational

Statistics Educational Directory Colleges and Universities
1975-76 reports that thirteen such institutions exist in
the state.

All thirteen schools, thus the entire popula­

tion, were surveyed for the study.
The ten divisions which reported having employed
women in professional administrative positions during the
years 1960-1976 and the institutions in which these

84

divisions are located comprise the organizational-group in
this study.

These are briefly described.

Table 1 acquaints the reader with several indices.
The institutions are not uniformily similar, but rather
characteristic of several institution types, each type
unique by some distinctive features.
In one class are three large comprehensive univer­
sities: Michigan State University, The University of
Michigan, and Wayne State University.

While the early

history of these institutions is different, each was
founded with the mission of providing educational programs
to all of the citizens of the entire state, and they have
continued this plan.
The University of Michigan, now in its one-hundredsixtieth year was created in the territorial days by a
legislative act as "catholepistemiad of University of
Michigana" August 26, 1817 and included provisions for
instruction in medicine as well as in the arts and sciences.
After admission of this new state to the union on January
26, 1837 one of the first acts of the legislature esta­
blished The University of Michigan.

In 1841 the legisla­

ture defined its status as a public university.

In 1850

Michigan's newly adopted constitution provided for the
election of a Board of Regents of the University of
Michigan as the governing agent.
This second state constitution called for the
establishment of a state agricultural school chartered as

Table 1.— The Public Four-year Institutions of Higher Education.

Founding
Date

Student
Enrollment
1976

The University of Michigan

1817

35,346

1911

Michigan State University

1855

46,794

19511

Wayne State University

1868

34,706

19652

Eastern Michigan University

1849

20,033

1921

Central Michigan University

1892

16,744

1919

Northern Michigan University

1899

8,188

Western Michigan University

1903

22,848

Michigan Technological University

1885

5,366

Oakland University

1958

10,216

1958

Grand Valley State Colleges

1963

6,677

1973

Name

Beginning Date of
Continuing Education^

19453
1907
19453

Institutions which did not employ women in professional administrative positions in
Divisions of Continuing Education during 1960-1976:
Ferris State College

1884

9,264

Lake Superior State College

1946

2,064

1958

Table 1.— Continued.

Founding
Date

Name

Saginaw State College

1963

Student
Enrollment
1976

Beginning Date of ^
Continuing Education

2,638

^Beginning of Kellogg Center as the general university continuing
education program.
2

Beginning of the Division of Urban Extension.

^Division of Field Services.
4

Titles often changed with reorganization.

1972

87
Michigan Agriculture College which eventually received
appropriations to operate in 1855.
1857.

The school opened in

When President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act of

1862 this school became the prototype of land-grant institu­
tions in this country.

This act promoted a revolutionary

educational theory, a uniquely American educational philo­
sophy.

Institutions of higher education now, for the first

time, turned their attention not only to scholarly needs
but additionally to the practical educational needs of the
common man.

This idea was transformed into practice most

intensely by the land-grant colleges.

The legal governance

awarded this school was a Board of Trustees, similar in
scope to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan.
The early history of Wayne State University involved
a conglomerate of essentially unrelated colleges and schools
which were united in 1933 under the auspices of the Detroit
Board of Education.

The Detroit Medical College of 1868

was the forerunner of the School of Medicine; the Detroit
Normal Training School of 1881 became the four-year degree
granting Detroit Teachers College in 1923, the forerunner
of the College of Education; the Detroit Junior College of
1817 offering a two-year program in general education be­
came the College of the City of Detroit in 1923 with fouryear degree programs.
Subsequently, the College of Pharmacy (1924) ,
Liberal Arts (1930), Education (1930), Engineering (1933),

88

and the Graduate School (1933) were formed by action of the
Detroit Board of Education into a university temporarily
called Colleges of the City of Detroit, and later Wayne
University.

Still more schools were established and

authorized.

In 1956 Wayne University became Wayne State

University by Act 183 of Michigan Public Acts.

In 1959

Wayne State University became constitutionally established
by popularly adopted amendment to the Michigan Constitution.
The legal governance is vested in a Board of Governors of
eight popularly elected members each serving eight-year
terms.
Presently each of these large comprehensive univer­
sities support many academic units, enroll a large cosmo­
politan student body and employ staff and faculty from
state, national and international locations.

The educa­

tional programs are services to the entire state's citi­
zenry plus a variety of international interests.
The continuing education programs, while not struc­
turally similar among the schools, offer credit and non­
credit programs throughout the state.
A second class of institutions are four medium­
sized comprehensive schools: Eastern Michigan University,
Central Michigan University, Northern Michigan University,
and Western Michigan University.

This group is distin­

guished by the original initial mission to educationally

89
prepare and certify teachers in specifically defined geo­
graphical regions of the state.
The primary mission of the operation at Central Michigan
was to provide course work through the School of Edu­
cation to the certified and non-certified teachers in
the northern 38 counties of lower Michigan.
Western Michigan established in 1903 initially to pre­
pare teachers in 16 southwestern Michigan counties.
The emphasis on teacher education was also conveyed
by early titles of "Normal School."
At the time of the founding of Eastern in 1849 only
five Normal Schools existed in the United States.
Eastern was the first 'normal' school west of Albany,
N.Y.
Teacher preparation was the primary purpose for
the first 100 years but other academic areas were
available.
Northern Michigan Normal School was established in
1899 as a two-year state-supported teacher training
institution.
In recent years teacher education emphasis has
remained a central focus of these institutions even
through continued expansion and a succession of newly
acquired academic programs.
The legal governance of these schools differs from
the three larger universities.

By constitutional mandate

each is governed by an eight-member board appointed by the
governor, each member serving an eight-year term.
The continuing education component which generally
began as "field services" to serve the region's teachers,
later became more structured as Division of Field Services.
In recent years these departments have re-organized in

90
structure and mission, assumed new titles, and now admini­
stratively house a broad spectrum of services.
The third class of institutions are the remaining
schools: Michigan Technological University, Oakland Univer­
sity, and Grand Valley State Colleges.

Schools in this

class are uniquely differentiated in mission as each was
established by the legislature to provide a particular
educational program for a citizenry in a localized geo­
graphical area.
Michigan Technological University began in 1885 as
Michigan Mining School to educate mining and metallurgical
engineers operating the copper and iron mines in the Upper
Peninsula.

Only recently were business and liberal arts

academic programs added.

Early continuing education

efforts were extension and in-service programs for the
engineers and technologists.

Recent continuing education

simulates the Michigan State model.

As a result a more

comprehensive program is offered to serve new clientele
in the region surrounding the locale of the university.
Oakland University originated in the more recent
year of 1958 within the state's largest Metropolitan
complex amidst the suburbs of Detroit and Pontiac.

The

central mission was to provide the citizens in this urban
community an educational curriculum in liberal arts and
humanities.

A graduate program was soon available.

design, the continuing education component began

By

91
simultaneously with the academic units.

As the school

expanded so did the continuing education department.

How­

ever, the continuing education program at Oakland provides
only non-credit courses held on the campus and in sur­
rounding off-campus sites.
Grand Valley State Colleges, based on the clustercollege concept, set out to offer the city and the suburban
area of Grand Rapids with a liberal arts undergraduate
degree curriculum.

Almost immediately were affixed busi­

ness, education and graduate degree programs.

In the next

few years, as older students were enrolling to complete
unfinished degrees, the continuing education component
appeared, first as a part-time counseling service, and later
with full-time staff providing a variety of services.
Institutions of Employ
The ten institutions were classified into three
types.

Three institutions in Class "S" are identified as

SI, S2, S3.

Four Class "M" institutions are identified as

M 4 , M 5 , M 6 , M7.

Three institutions in Class "L" are

identified as L8, L9, L10.
Table 2 reports the location of employment of the
fifty-one women respondents in the ten divisions of
continuing education.
Divisions in institutions L 9 , and L10 employed the
greatest number, thirteen and fourteen respectively.

This

total of twenty-seven is more than one-half the total group.

92

Table 2.— Institutions of Employ of Fifty-one Women
1960-1976.
INSTITUTION
Number of women
employed:

SI

S2

S3

M4

M5

M6

M7

L8

L9

L10

4

1

9

1

3

1

3

2

13

14

1

1

5

1

1

1

2

2

6

6

3

4

3

1

1

3

Present Location
of Women
A. Number
currently
employed in
continuing
education:
N = 26
B. Number
Formerly
Employed:
N - 25
1. Working
Other
Employment:
N = 13

3

3

2. Retired
From
Continuing
Education:
N = 5
3. Not
Presently
Working:
N = 7

1

1

1

1

93
S3 was the next largest employer of nine.

Each of

the other divisions employed four or less.
Present Location of Women
At the time the interviews were conducted about an
equal number of women were currently employed in divisions
of continuing education, twenty-six, as were in other
employment situations, twenty-five.

When viewed by employ­

ment situation, the two largest employers have the greater
number of women currently on the staff, as well as a greater
turnover of personnel.
Among the twenty-five women no longer employed with
the divisions of continuing education seven presently were
not working, five women had retired from continuing educa­
tion employment, and thirteen women were employed else­
where .
Among the thirteen women employed elsewhere, ten
were in new organization-types departing from their pre­
vious university setting, Table 3.
rently employed in higher education.

Only four were cur­
Seven of the thirteen

were located in administrative positions.
The present location of this group of thirteen
women was not in all cases the next immediate employment
after leaving continuing education.

Table 4 indicates that

eight women engaged in two or more organizational changes
since leaving continuing education employment.

94
Individuals presently not working and those retired
were located at their residences.

Ten were residing in

Michigan, two were in out-of-state cities.
Table 3.— Current Location of Women Employed Elsewhere.

Organization
Type:

Position Type
Admini strative

Self Employed

Staff

State
Government

2

1

University

2

1

Community
College

1

High School

2

1
2

Private Firm

1

Table 4.— Organization Mobility By Thirteen Women Following
Continuing Education Employment.
Number of
Organi zations:

1

2

3

4

5

6

Number of
Respondents:

5

3

1

2

1

1

The Women
Information is reported on the present age of the
women, the Level of position occupied and the year of entry
into continuing education.

This is followed by their age,

educational level, employment experience, and residence at
entry to the continuing education position.

The section

95
concludes with the employment experience of the women
within the institution and their aspirations.
Present Age of the Respondents
At the time the interview was conducted, thirtyfour, or more than one-half of the group were 40 years
of age or over.

Only 17 were under 40 years of age.

The

oldest women to be interviewed were in their seventies, one
was age 70, the other age 73.
26.

The youngest woman was age

Table 5.

Table 5.— Present Age of Respondents.
Age-Group:
Number:

20-29
7

30-39

40-49

10

14

50-59
13

60-over
7

Level of Position Occupied
The distribution of Level of Position occupied is
presented in Table 6.

Twenty five women occupied Level

V-Line positions, which represents nearly one-half of the
total group.

Fourteen women occupied positions at Level

Ill-Line, while one woman occupied the top Level I position.
Eight women occupied a Level IV-Staff position and three a
Level II-Staff position.
Level of Position in Continuing
Education Division
The Level of position occupied with the respective
divisions is reported in Table 7.

96

Table 6.— Level of Position Attained by Women.
LEVEL:

I

II-S

Number:

1

3

2.0

5.9

Percent:

III-L

IV-S

V-L

14

8

25

27.5

15.7

49.1

Table 7.— Level of Position Occupied by Institution of
Employ.
INSTITUTION
LEVEL:
SI

S2

S3

M4

M5

I

M6

M7

L8

L9

L10

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

1

4

2

8

8

1

II
III

6

IV

1

V

4

1

1

2
1

2

L9 and L10, employers of the greater number of women
placed most in Level V positions.

In these divisions the

highest position attained was Level II by two women.
S3, third in number of women employed, placed six of
nine women in Level III positions.

This group of six was

also a large percentage of all Level III occupants in the
study.
SI and S2 employed women only in Level V positions.
The remaining divisions employed women at one or two
levels.

97
The one woman to occupy a Level I position, in M6,
assumed a continuing education position titled Acting
Director of

(continuing education)

that was held jointly

with her other position, Director of

(another program)

at

the same university.
Year of Entry Into Continuing
Education Positions
The fifty-one women were employed by ten divisions
of continuing education from the year 194 3 through the
year 1976.

Table 8 displays the year of entry into these

positions.
Forty-six women entered their position during the
years 1960-1976, only five in the preceding seventeen years.
Years not included in the sequence of years from 194 3 to
1962 indicate that no one of the respondents entered into
any administrative position in any of the divisions.

The

largest number to enter in a single year was nine in 1973.
The first woman to enter, in 1943, was employed by
L9 at Level III.

With the exception of M5 who employed one

woman at Level III in 1948, L9 and L10 were the only divi­
sions to employ women in professional positions during the
twenty-years 1944-1964.

Three divisions, S3, SI, and L8

began in 1965 and 1966 to place several women with their
divisions.
With few exceptions most divisions generally
employed only one woman during any one year.
however, L9 did employ four.

In 1973,

98
Table 8.— Location of Fifty-one Women By Institution, Entry Year,
and Level of Position.

ENTRY
YEAR:

INSTITUTION
SI

S2

S3

M4

M5

M6

Total =
51

M7

L8

1943
1948

III

L9

L10

III

1

II

2

1957

V

1

1959

V

1

1960

1

III

1962

V
V

2

1963

IV
V

2

1964

V

1

III

4

1965

III
III
IV

1966

V

1967

V

II

2
V

2

1968

V

1

1969

V

1970

V

1971

IV

1
2

III
III

1972

V

1973

V

2

V
V

V

III

III

IV

III
IV
V
V

II

5

V

9

99

Table 8.— Continued.

ENTRY
YEAR:

INSTITUTION
---

SI

S2

1974

1975
1976

Total =

S3

M4

III

V

M5

M6

M7

L8

L9

IV V
IV

IV

V
III

I

III

51

L10

5

V

3

V

4

But not until 1976 did one woman attain the top
Level I Dean of Division position/ in M6.
As summarized in Table 9/ a greater number of women
entered each five-year period after 1960.

Six women entered

during the first five years, eleven during the second five
years, twenty-two in the first five years of 1970, and
seven in the last two years included in the study.
Table 9.— Number of Women Entering 1960-1976.
Year
1960-1964
1965-1969
1970-1974
1975-1976
(two-years)

Number
6
11
22
7

Age at Entry into Continuing
Education Position
Table 10 reports the age women entered their con­
tinuing education position.

The numbers are fairly evenly

100
distributed among each five-year age-group.

The youngest

woman was age twenty-one at entry, while the oldest was
fifty-nine.

The twenty-eight women entering under the age

of forty is a slightly larger number than the twenty-three
who entered at age forty or over.
Table 10.— Age at Entry into Continuing Education Position.
AgeGroup:
Number:

2024

2529

3034

3539

4041

4549

5054

5

9

7

7

8

8

5

55over
2

Age of Women at Entry by Level
of Position
Table 11 indicates that while the numbers per agegroup are reasonably uniform, clusters of Levels are
evident at certain ages within the divisions.

L9 and SI,

for example, employed women in their twenties for Level V
positions.

L10, on the other hand, employed most Level V

occupants from older age groups.

S3 selected more women

who were in their forties than any other division.
Among these divisions, women from each age group
occupied Level III, IV, and V positions.

Women in the

30-39, and 40-49 age-groups occupied Level II positions.
The Level I occupant is in the 40-49 category.
Educational Attainment of Women
The educational levels of the women is presented in
Table 12.

As a group, these women are well-educated.

101
Table 11.— Age of Fifty-one Women at Entry into Administra­
tive Position by Level of Position.
INSTITUTION
GROUP: SI
20 29

30 39

S2

S3

M4

V

V
V
V
V

V

40 49

III
III
III
III
III
IV
V

50 over

III

III

M5

L9

L10

IV

V
V
V
V
V
V

III
V

N=14
1=0
11=1
111=1
IV=1
V=12

III

II
III
III
III
V
V

II
IV
IV
V
V
V

N=14
1=0
11=2
111=4
IV=2
V=6

IV

IV

N=16
1=1
11=1
111=7
IV=3
V=4

IV
V

N=7
1=0
11=0
111=2
IV=2
V=3

III

M6

M7

II

L8

II

IV
V
V

III

102
Forty-three have attained the Bachelors Degree, and
thirty-eight have completed one or more graduate degrees.
When viewed by highest degree attained, six have
received the high-school diploma, seven the Bachelors
Degree, thirty-two the Masters Degree and six the Doctorate
Degree.
Table 12.— Education of the Women
Degrees Attained:

Bachelors

Masters

Doctorate

43

38

6

Number:
Highest Degree
Attained:
Number:

High School
Diploma
6

Bachelors
Degree

Masters
Degree

7

32

Doctorate
Degree
6

Women completing the higher education degrees re­
ported many areas of academic study.

In Table 13 is the

composite of the majors of these degrees.

Most major

fields pursued by these women would seem to be those gen­
erally considered quite traditional of women's education.
Less frequently reported were majors in Economics, Politi­
cal Science, Science, Business, and Administration.
The majors of the Masters Degrees are equally
diverse.

At this level, however, the larger number, nine,

studied in Guidance and Counseling.

The next most fre­

quently reported areas were Adult Education and English,
four each.

Table 13.— Major Areas of Degree Programs.

Doctorate Degrees

Masters Degrees

Bachelor Degrees
1

Business & Commerce

1

Communication Arts
Journalism
Speech

1
1

Education
Business
Elementary
Physical Education
Recreation

Communication Arts
Broadcasting
Communication
Radio-TV

Communication Arts
& Education

1
2
1

1
4
1
2

1
1
1
1
1

8
1
1
1

1
4
1
1
9
1
1
1
2

Humanities
Art History
English

Humanities
English
English Literature
French
Music

Education
Administration
Adult Education
Comparative
Elementary
Guidance & Counseling
Recreation
Secondary
Social-Philosophical
Special

Education
Comparative
Guidance & Counseling
Research

Human Medicine
Medical Technology
Nursing

1
1

Natural Science
Science

2

Social Sciences
City Planning
Economics
General
History
Political Science
Sociology

1
2
2
1
2
1

Business & Commerce

Humanities

English
English Literature

4
1

Natural Sciences
Micro Biology

1

Social Science
Political Science
Social Work
Sociology

1
1
2

1

104

Education Level at Entry
The women entered continuing education positions
with unequal levels of education as well as with the diver­
sity of academic majors.

Forty-two women had completed the

Bachelors Degree or additional education upon entering
their highest level position.

Nine women did have a lesser

amount of formal higher education, while the Doctorate
was the highest degree of four.

Table 14.

Table 14.— Education Level at Entry to Continuing
Education Position.
Education Level:

Number

High School Diploma

2

Some College or Post Secondary

7

Bachelors Degree
Bachelors Degree plus
additional courses
Masters Degree

18
1
16

Masters Degree plus
additional courses

3

Doctorate Degree

4

Education Level of Women at Entry
by Level of Position
While most of the divisions employed women with
higher education degrees, several did employ some women
with less than the Bachelors degree as is reported in
Table 15.

Two women with no further formal education

105
Table 15.— Education Level of Fifty-one Women at Entry
in Administrative Position by Level of Position.

EDUCATION
LEVEL:

INSTITUTION
SI

S2

S3

M4

M5

M6

High
School
Diploma:

L8

III
III
III
III
IV
V
V
V

IV

III
V
V

IV

III

II
III
V
V

III
IV
IV
V
V
V
V

V

V

V

III

III
IV

II

Masters
Degree plus
Courses:
Doctorate
Degree:

L10
V

Bachelors
Degree plus
Courses:
Masters
Degree:

L9

V

Some
College
or Post
Secondary:

Bachelors
Degree:

M7

V

III

I

III

III
III
V
V
V
V

IV
IV
V
V

V

V

II

106
beyond a high school diploma were employed in Level V posi­
tions in M7 and L10.

S3 however, employed more women with

less than the Bachelors Degree than
many at Level

any other division,

III.

On can observe that the level of education of the
women was not a consistent factor related to the Level of
position attained.

For example, most divisions employed

women of several education levels in Level V positions.
In L10 Level V occupants ranged from the High School
Diploma to beyond the Masters Degree.

The education level

of Level III occupants ranged from less than the Bachelors
Degree to the Doctorate Degree.

Women with the Doctorate

Degree are among the occupants of the Level I, II, and III
positions.
Twenty women reported initiating or completing a
graduate degree program during the time they were employed
in the continuing education position.
they enrolled

in one or two courses

Table 16.

Generally,

per term and often

received support from the university in the form of finan­
cial reimbursement for course fees or benefitted with
"time-off" to attend classes.

No one reported that pur­

suing the graduate degree in any way affected her continuing
education position.

Several mentioned receiving unequivocal

encouragement from superiors to continue the completion of
the degree program.

107
Table 16.— Education Pursued While Employed in Continuing
Education.
Education Program

Number

Masters Degree completed

11

Doctorate Degree completed

1

Enrolled in Degree Program
and taking courses

8

Six women completed an educational degree after
leaving continuing education employment, four completed
the Masters Degree and two the Doctorate Degree.

Table 17,

Four other women indicated that they were currently
enrolled in degree programs at the Doctorate level.
Table 17.— Education After Leaving Continuing Education
Employment.
Degree Attained

Number

Masters

4

Doctorate

2

Degree in Progress
Doctorate

4

Employment Experience
The women of this study generally arrived to con­
tinuing education positions with substantial number of
years previous employment experience.

As Table 18 indi­

cates, only six women reported one-year-or-less employment

108
experience.

Eleven reported two-to-five years prior

experience.

Thirty-five reported more than five years

prior employment.
Additionally, among this group several women
fashioned employment changes late in their careers.

One

woman entered a continuing education position after twenty
years of employment experience, two entered after twentyfive years, and another after thirty years experience.

A

larger number, however, entered continuing education at an
earlier point in their careers.
Table 18.— Years Employment Experience Prior to Entry into
Continuing Education.
Years Employment Experience

Number:

1 or
less

25

610

il­
ls

6

10

13

10

1620

2125

26BO

8

1

2

31over
1

Employment experience generally is attained through
association with an organization, except when an individual
chooses a self-employed status.

As Table 19 reports most

of the women had prior work experience with one or more
organizations.

Only nine reported no previous organiza­

tional employment.

Sixteen women reported working for one

previous organization and fourteen reported two.

It is

perhaps noteworthy to observe that a sizable number, twelve
women, reported working for three or more organizations.

109
Table 19.— Organizational Mobility Prior to Entry into
Continuing Education.
Number of
Organizations:

0

1

2

Number of
Women:

9

16

14

3

4

1

5
4

6
5

7
1

1

Years Employment Experience At
Entry By Level of Position
As with age and the education level of the women,
the amount in years of prior employment experience seemingly
is unrelated to the position level attained.

Table 20.

Level V positions were occupied by women with
one-year-or-less experience, by others with 26-3 0 years
experience, and by some with an intermediate amount of
experience.

This situation seems more prevalent in L10.

In SI and L9 however, 6-10 years is the maximum of
experience associated with a Level V position.
The extensive range of prior years experience is
also associated with Level IV positions.

It is most

obvious in L10 where four women were employed at this
level, but somewhat less in S3, M7, and L9 where fewer
were employed.
Level III positions were associated with 2 to 20
years experience, as in S3, but associated with a smaller
range of experience in the other divisions.

110

Table 20.— Years Employment Eaqperience Prior To Entry Into Position
By Institution of Employ and Level of Position.

YEARS
PRIOR
EMPLOYMENT:

1 year
or less:

INSTITUTION
SI

i
; S2
1
1

S3

M4

M5

M6

M7

L8

v :

L9

L10

V
V

V
V
IV

V
V
V
V
V

III

«

2 TO 5
years:

V

6 TO 10
years:

V

V

III
III

11 TO 15
years:

III
III

16 TO 20
years:

III
IV
IV

21 TO 25
years:

26 TO 30
years:

31 years
& over

IV

V
III

III

III

V

V
II

II
IV
V

III

IV

III
III

IV
V
V
V

III

V

IV

V

I

V

III

II

IV

Ill
The variance in prior years experience associated
with Level II is 6 to 10 years in L9 and L10, 21 to 25
years in M7.
The Level I occupant in M6 entered with 20 years
experience.
Typology of Work Experience
The number of women whose employment career re­
sembled each category of the "employment typology" is pre­
sented in Table 21.

The evidence indicates that most of the

women, forty-six, have been employed in other areas in
addition to their employment in continuing education.
Also, twenty-five women reported having been "continuously"
employed, while twenty-six reported "discontinous"
employment.
Table 21.— Typology of Work Experience of Women.
Category of Typology
A.

B.
C.

D.

Number of Respondents

Continuous Employment—
all in Continuing
Education:

3

Discontinuous Employment—
all in ContinuingEducation:

2

Continuous Employment—
in Continuing Education
and other areas:

22

Discontinuous Employment—
in Continuing Education
and in other areas:

24

112
When entry age is matched with the employment
typology as shown in Table 22, one observes that a slightly
larger number, twenty-three, entered their highest level
continuing education position during their middle career
stage, Ages 36-50.

Twenty-one women entered during their

early career years, and only a few, seven, entered after
the age of fifty.
Table 22.— Employment Typology By Entry Age Into Continuing Education
Position.

ENTRY AGE
EMPLOYMENT
TYPOLOGY:

Early Career
Age 20-34

A. Continuous
Employment
All in Continuing
Education

Middle Career
Age 35-49

Late Career
Age 50-over

3

B. Discontinuous
Employment
All in Continuing
Education

1

1

C. Continuous
Employment
Other areas and
Continuing Education

12

7

3

D. Discontinuous
Employment
Other Areas and
Continuing Education

6

15

3

21

23

7

TOTAL

113
Sub-types of the employment typology are described
by several examples typical of employment patterns taken
from the work history of the respondents.
TYPE I (continuing education in early career)
Case #5
Seminar director with an international organization,
Teacher of English as a second language for U.S.
government.
Level V position in continuing education.
(Entered 1973, Age 26)
Case #8
Level V position in continuing education,
Member of staff development with a county branch
of a state government unit,
Director continuing education with an academic department
of same university.
Administrator of state-wide staff development of same
state government unit.
(Entered 1970, Age 21)
In these examples women entered continuing education early
in their employment career in the recent years.
TYPE II (continuing education mid-career)
Case #4
Non-work years,
Program director, part-time university continuing education,
Assistant director continuing education department same
university,
Level III continuing education position same university,
Staff position continuing education same university,
Teaching and consultant, part-time continuing education,
self-employed.
(Entered 1965, Age 43)
This is one example of an individual who entered employment
during her mid-career years and has remained in the field
of continuing education.
TYPE III (continuing education in early career)

114
Case #23
Level V continuing education position,
Faculty member at another university,
Faculty member at another university,
Faculty member at another university,
Faculty member at a high school,
Assistant principal at the same high school.
(Entered 1957, Age 22)
Case #17
Faculty member at a high school.
Level V continuing education position,
Administrator of department with teaching responsibilities
at another university.
(Entered 1973, Age 22)
Case #19
Teaching at a university,
Teaching another department of same university,
Level V continuing education position.
Director of staff development of a community hospital,
Faculty member at a community college,
Dean of department of same community college.
(Entered 1967, Age 28)
In these examples the women had been continuously employed,
and the continuing education employment was only one inter­
lude in the employment career.
TYPE III (continuing education in mid-career)
Case #11
Supervisor of personnel at a university,
Supervisor of secretaries at same university,
Assistant Director of Branch continuing education
same university,
Level III continuing education position same university,
Retired from continuing education.
(Entered 1943, Age 36)
Case #15
Writer for a U.S. government agency,
Instructor at a university,
Writer for local broadcast company,
Writer-producer another broadcast company,
Assistant to executive secretary local television company,
Writer-producer university broadcast media,
Level II continuing education position same university.
(Entered 1966, Age 46)

115
These examples are typical of women who have remained
continuously employed and, who, after a variety of
other employment entered a continuing education position.
At the time of the interview the continuing education
position was the current of the last employment position,
to date, in the career.
TYPE III (continuing education in late-career)
Case #22
Owner of news enterprise,
Writer with U.S. government agency,
Editor with a state government agency,
Editor with a city newspaper,
Editor with a different state government agency,
Level IV continuing education position.
(Entered 1963, Age 51)
Case #25
Teacher in a high school,
Faculty and teacher in a university,
Faculty and counselor in same university,
Assistant director continuing education program same
university,
Interim director continuing education program same
university,
Level III continuing education position.
(Entered 1976, Age 50)
These examples are typical of women who have been contin­
uously employed and after some considerable number of years
of other type of employment are presently in a continuing
education position.
TYPE IV (continuing education in early career)
Case #26
Director of a branch of a business firm,
Secretary in department in a university,
Special assignment with continuing education same
university,
Level V continuing education position,
Non-work years.
(Entered 1966, Age 27)
Case #27
Teacher elementary education public school,
Non-work years,
Counselor— part-time continuing education,
Level V continuing education position same university.
(Entered 1975, Age 32)

116
In these examples all types of employment and interludes
of non-work have occurred in the early career.
TYPE IV (continuing education in mid-career)
Case #31
Teacher in high school,
Non-work years,
Substitute teacher another school system,
Teacher in high school same school system,
Level III continuing education position,
Retired from continuing education.
(Entered 1948, Age 39)
Case #32
Teacher in high school,
Non-work years,
Clerical-technical position in a university,
Level V continuing education position.
(Entered 1959, Age 40)
Case #33
Secretary with a religious organization,
Non-work years,
Graduate assistant,
Instructor at same university,
Level III continuing education position same university.
(Entered 197 3, Age 41)
Case #34
Non-work years,
Private business in home,
Program coordinator continuing education in a university,
Non-work and self employed,
Coordinator education program of a state government agency,
Level III continuing education position at same university.
(Entered 1976, Age 49)
In these examples continuing education employment occurred
in the mid-career years, and at the time of the interview
this was the current or the last employment.

117
TYPE IV (continuing education in late-career)
Case #41
Non-work years#
Volunteer in a university continuing education program,
Staff member same program,
Assistant director same program,
Associate director same program,
Level III continuing education position same university,
Intern and graduate student at another university,
Counselor and staff member with a private firm.
(Entered 1971, Age 53)
Case #42
Substitute teaching,
Secretary at a university,
Personnel department U.S. government department,
Teaching in a university,
Non-work years,
Research projects and administration at another university,
Non-work years and temporary secretary,
Administrative assistant to a Dean at another university,
Level V continuing education position same university,
Non-work years.
(Entered 1972, Age 59)
These examples are typical of women with varied types of
employment and with interludes of non-work years.
They
entered continuing education in the late-career stage and
have discontinued that employment for other alternatives.
Residence of Women
The residence of most of the women immediately
before entering their continuing education position was in
the same locality as the institution of employ.

As Table 23

indicates, only two women moved from another state to the
state of Michigan for the express purpose of employment with
a continuing education division.
In addition to (1) being residents of the local
community, these forty-nine women had one or both of two
other characteristics related to their presence in the

118
community:

(2) they had acquired significant contact with

the institution of employ due to certain of their earlier
choices/ and (3) they had acquired significant personal
visibility in their community and were highlighted rather
frequently in the local media.
Table 23.— Residence of Women Prior To Employ With
Continuing Education.
Local Community
Out-of-state

49
2

Illustrative of significant prior organization con­
tact include former or current employee in another depart­
ment of the university, undergraduate or graduate student
of the university often with part-time employment, an
enrollee in a university sponsored continuing education
program.
In fourteen instances women were employed by the
institution they had attended as undergraduate or graduate
students.

Some were also employed in the university as

graduate assistants, secretaries, administrative assistants,
or part-time professionals.
Other women had previous employment experience as
clerk-technicians, administrators, or faculty members in
other departments.

119
Individual's visibility tended to arise from one of
two sources: from former employment, and, from membership
in professional and volunteer groups.
Among the women who achieved prominence in- former
employment roles were: an outstanding high school teachercounselor, a director of a very successful adult education
program, a programmer and host with a local broadcast
company, an editor and writer for local publications, and
a director of a university's international programs.
A number of women reported maintaining memberships
in one or several professional or volunteer groups.
were eminently visible.

Some

As members of boards of directors

they became officers, chairpersons, and presidents in a
succession of organizations.

Their high visibility in one

group was enhanced with an equally high status in another
group.

Such impressive exposure in community roles can be

placed in perspective through several profiles where mem­
berships included: Case #__ , Hospital Auxiliary, AAUW,
Federated Garden Club, Center for the Arts, Church trustee,
advisory to youth groups.

Case #__ , Fine Arts Association,

Advisory Committee United Foundation, Public Relations
Society of America, American Women in Radio and Television,
Press Club, Athletic Club, Alumni Association, Who's Who.
Case #__ , Business and Professional Women, City Council on
Aging, AAUW, NOW, Women's Equity Action League, Michigan
Municipal League, State Planning Committee International

120
Women's Year, City Commission and Mayor of the City.
Case #__, League of Women Voters, AAUW, Cultural Arts
Association, Political Party of County, Sorority, and
Service Clubs.
Organization Mobility
When the women described the sequence of organi­
zational employment, thirty-seven indicated their last
position of employment prior to occupying the continuing
education position was with the same institution.

Thus a

large number of women moved from one position in the uni­
versity to a continuing education position within the same
university.

As set forth in Table 24, only fourteen women

reported that the preceding position was with another
organization.
Table 24.— Last Previous Institution Prior To Continuing
Education.
From another position within the
university to a continuing education
position in the same university:

37

From a position with another organi­
zation to a continuing education
position:

14

Available Positions
A major impetus for mobility requires the avail­
ability of positions.

Twenty-two women reported entering

positions which became available when the previous

121
incumbent departed, thus they were entering previously
existing positions.

A slightly larger number, twenty-nine,

accepted new positions, thus were serving as the first
incumbent.

Table 25.

Table 25.— Available Positions Occupied by Women.
New Positions

29

Continuing Positions

22

Most new positions were created to initiate new
programs or to expand an existing one.

A few emerged with

enlargement and re-definition of duties and responsibilities.
(Secretarial to administrative assistant, part-time to full­
time .)
Six of the new positions became available through
the auspices of "grant funds."

Three of these positions

were terminated when the grant expired compelling the women
to choose other employment.

Two positions were absorbed

into the operating budget of the sponsoring university at
the end of the grant allowing the occupants to continue.
The other program continues to operate on a cycle of sub­
mitting proposals for financial support to national foun­
dations and conducting programs on the basis of the awards
received.
In addition to the three terminated positions men­
tioned above five other positions were withdrawn upon the

122
departure of the last occupant.

There were no known

plans to resume them.
Location of Personnel for Appointments
As indicated in Table 8 the divisions made five
appointments prior to 1960, and forty-six appointments
during the years 1960-1976.

Table 26 reports on the

forty-six appointments identifying the source of personnel
from within the institution:
from outside the institution:

"internal promotions," or
"new personnel."

During this period divisions made thirty appoint­
ments via "internal promotions" and sixteen via "new per­
sonnel."

Sixteen of the women receiving "internal pro­

motions" occupied new positions, fourteen occupied contin­
uing positions.

Those who were "new personnel" filled in

equal numbers continuing and new positions.
Most divisions made internal promotions rather than
selecting new personnel.
present staff.

S3 chose eight of nine women from

S2, M 4 , M6, M 7 , and L8 each appointed one

or two women from current staff.

L9 selected seven women

from present staff and only four new personnel.

L10,

however, chose to appoint six women who were new personnel
and six from among present staff.
Some divisions created new positions which women
occupied.

All appointments in SI were for new positions.

At the other extreme were eight of eleven appointments in

123
Table 26.— Source of Appointments By Institutions.

SOURCE
OF
APPOINTEE:

INSTITUTIONS
SI

S2

S3

M4

1

1

5

1

M7

L8

L9

2

1

2

3

16

1

1

5

3

14

1

1

3

8

1

3

3

8

M5

M6

L10

Internal
Promotions:
New
Position:
Continuing
Position:

3

1

New
Personnel:
New
Position:

3

Continuing
Positions:

1

TOTAL:

46

L9 to fill continuing positions.

Five women, in fact,

were, in succession, occupants of the same position in L9.
Year of Appointment by Institution
Five divisions made appointments in the first tenyear period— 1960-1969, four by L9, seven by L10; S3
appointed three in 1965 and a year later, in 1966, SI and
L8 each made one appointment.

Table 27.

One can also observe which appointments were
"internal promotions"

(I) and which were "new personnel"

(E).

After a modest record of one or two appointments per year,

124
a slight# but moderate momentum produced an increase among
these divisions after 1970.

During the seven year period

1970-1976 twenty-nine women were appointed,

twenty-three

were "internal promotions, six were "new personnel."
Year

Source of Personnel
I

E

1960-64

(6)

2

4

1965-69

(11)

6

5

1970-74

(22)

17

5

1975-76

(7)

6

1

Positions Occupied Within
the Institution
As previously noted, many women reported trans­
ferring from one position in the university to the con­
tinuing education position, indicating thait institutions
made "internal" appointments.

The positions occupied by

the women within the institutions is next examined.
Table 28 reports the entry positions.
L9 and L10 selected more former students, while
S3 selected more from the clerical and part-time categories.
SI, S3, M5, L9, and L10 were employers of women from
other organizations.
The range of position Levels attained from most
entry locations has considerable variance.
attained Level II, III, IV, and V positions.

Former students
Women be­

ginning as clerks or secretaries were later in Levels III,

Table 27.— Source and Year of Appointment by Institutions.

S2

SI

S3

M4

M6

M5

M7

L9

L8

L10

YEAR:

TOTAL
I

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

I

1960

E

I

E

I

E

1

1

1961

0

1962

2

2

1963

2

2

1965

3

1966

1

1967

1

1

1

4

1

2
2

1

1968

1

1969

1

1970

1

1

1
1

2
1

125

1964

Table 27.— Continued.

S2

SI

M4

S3

M5

M6

L8

M7

L9

L10

YEAR:

TOTAL
I

E

I

1971
1972
1973

1976

I

E

I

E

1

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

I

E

2
1

2

1

2

1

1

1974
1975

E

1
1

1

3

1

1

I = "Internal promotions"
E = "New Personnel"

5

1

9

2

1
1

1

1

1

1

1

5

1

3

1

4

127
Table 28.— Entry Position into Institution of Employ.
I

I

|
POSITION:

INSTITUTION
SI

S2

S3

Graduate
Student:

ClericalSecretarial :

M4

M5

III

III

M6

M7

L8

L9

L10

III

II
III
III
V
V

II
IV
V
V
V
V

IV
V

IV
V

IV
V

IV
III
III

V

Administra­
tive
Assistant:
Part-time:

V

V

V

III
V
I

Faculty:

III

Assistant
Director:
Other
Department:

III

V

Other:

From Other
Organiza­
tions

II

III
V

III
III
V
V
V
V

III

III
IV

V
V
V

IV
V
V
V

128
IV, and V.

The other entry positions, of only a few cases,

do not seem to present any pattern of position Level
attained.
Similarly, one observes that most divisions employed
women in Level V positions, who previously were in a variety
entry categories.

The next largest group, Level III occu­

pants, entered from seven different entry positions.
The sequence of positions occupied within the insti­
tutions is presented in Table 29.

The numbers assigned to

each category in this table are not exclusive as some women
occupied several of the positions.
Fourteen women reported their first position was as
undergraduate or graduate student; nine women reported a
clerical-secretarial position as the first, while five indi­
cated this to be the second.

The administrative assistant,

part-time and positions in other departments were other
common locations.
Five women had prior positions as 'administrative
assistant' which in some contexts is considered a spring­
board to higher level administration.
Two women, one in M6, and L8 proceeded in the
1faculty-to-administrator' direction often endorsed as
the acceptable route to top level administration in higher
education.

Another woman, after completing a graduate

degree, began with the dual status as 'faculty' and as
'director' of a continuing education program.

129
Table 29.— Position Mobility Within Institution Prior To
Occupying Continuing Education Position.
SEQUENCE OF POSITIONS
POSITION:

lgt
Position

Undergraduate
or Graduate
Student:

2nd
Position

3rd
Position

4th
Position

3

1

14

ClericalSecretarial:

9

5

Administrative
Assistant:

2

3

Part-time:

4

2

Faculty:

1

2

Assistant:

1

6

Associate
Director:

1

Interim
Director:

1

Other
Department:

4

4

3

Other:

3

1

1

1

130
Mobility within the institutions tended to follow
three patterns:

(1) from graduating student to the pro­

fessional position in continuing education;

(2) from a

clerical-secretarial position to a low-level "administra­
tive-professional"

(A.P.) position to the position in con­

tinuing education;

(3) from another department of the uni­

versity to the continuing education position.
Even as Table 29 indicates position mobility within
the employing institution, with one exception, there was no
mobility within the division of continuing education by any
of the women in this study.

No one, for example, reported

moving from one professional position in a continuing edu­
cation division to any other professional position within
the division.

Thus, absent from the table are continuing

education positions as Conference Consultant, Conference
Director, Editor, department assistant, or department
director.

In essence, for these women, while they may have

negotiated some position changes prior to entry into con­
tinuing education, there were no changes or advancements
within the division.

The position at which they entered is

the same position which they continued to occupy in that
division.

Neither were any of the women employed in any

other division of continuing education.
The one exception involves the progress of women
associated with one division.

Each entered the university

131
within the division of continuing education.

Each, in

succession, held positions of increasing responsibilities.
Four succeeded through such definitive posts as
staff member to assistant director to Director of a program.
Two entered as clerical-technical, advanced to administra­
tive assistant then to Director.

Two began in part-time

professional positions, through expansion of duties and
responsibilities made a transition to full-time program
director.
The focal point at this division may well have
emanated from one, perhaps unique, department designed to
focus on the concerns of women.
at least two entry opportunities:

This department provided
(1) through enrollment

and program participation, and (2) through staff member
involvement.
Seven women employed with this division reported
having been associated with this program.

Some were at

first enrolled in the program and at a later time moved
into staff roles.

Others initially entered as members

of the professional staff and proceeded each year to
advance in administrative rank and office.
Position Attainment
How the women acquired their jobs is also revealing.
Only twelve initiated employment inquiries through esta­
blished institutionalized hiring channels.

Even these

132
procedures were not always routine as indicated from
several brief sketches.
I mailed an application to the personnel office
which was forwarded to the director who had an
opening.
The Director called me to schedule an
interview upon arrival to the city.
I had the
job within three days.
I was selected from 130 applicants probably
because two professors from whom I had taken
courses for the Masters degree were on the
selection committee to fill the vacancy.
The others, it appears, acquired the job because
they were known to the employing official.

When the

position became available this individual was sought out
and asked to take the position.
tions.

There were some varia­

Clearly, some women received direct invitations.

The Dean called to inquire if I might transfer
from another department of the same university to
head up a new program of services planned for the
continuing education division.
The President of the university called me upon my
return from (another state) to interview for the
opening.
Two days later I had the position.
'Just out of the blue' I received a phone call from
the Provost about the vacancy as my name had been
recommended to him.
I went for the interview and
accepted the position on the basis of a limited
appointment.
With the retirement of the Director I was asked by
the President of the university to take on a dual
role.
Of course I did not refuse.
The Director read of my resignation in the minutes of
the last Board meeting of another organization.
He
called to inform me of an opening at the university
and I took the position.

133
More than a few reported circumstances which
suggested, if but with the slightest hint, the presence of
an obscure intermediary.
Another person suggested that I schedule an interview
which I did, but there were no openings at the time.
Several weeks later I was called when an opening
occurred and I took the job.
I received a transfer from assistant to supervisor of
another branch.
I guess they thought I was good
enough.
I just walked in the door.
They needed a clerk-typist.
Shortly after that I was a staff member and then the
Director of a program.
There was no competition, no
other applicants.
But living three miles from the
Dean didn't hurt.
I was next door when the present incumbent left.
Others
would probably come in with higher education now.
The advancement of my successor was orchestrated by
those of us involved to assure her obtaining the posi­
tion when I left.
For at least two, a former position may have been
nearly indistinguishable from the later in an easy tran­
sition:
I grew into this position; more responsibilities were
added and I was working more hours. Finally, the job
and position were redefined and the part-time position
advanced to full-time status.
I created this job.
It expanded out of former acti­
vities performed as a secretary.
Advancement by default was mentioned by several
as illustrated in the following comments:
A few years after I had been in the department the
Director was fired and I was offered his position
'overnight' which I accepted.

134
My title changed to Branch Supervisor when the boss
left to take a campus position.
I expected that they
would send a man director but they never did.
Some
added responsibilities were shoved my way from time-totime so I guess they thought I could do it.
I become the Director when, for one reason or another,
the man in charge leaves.
This has happened three
times so far since I have been here.
Re-organization within the university placed some
of the women in circumstances to search for a future.
Our program was being phased out in the former
department, thus we went looking for another sponsor
within the university and eventually were absorbed
into the division of continuing education.
Our college was to be discontinued and being on
tenure I sought another job as did all of the
faculty of this (discontinued) college.
There
was a preference for someone "inside the university
academic community" to fill this position, but I
assume recruitment was also conducted outside of
the university.
Year in Continuing Education
Positions
Table 30 displays the distribution of respondents
on the basis of the length of time they reported occupying
their position in continuing education.
The time ranged from a brief one-year-or-less to
over twenty-five years.

Thirty-eight women occupied their

position five years or less, only thirteen occupied posi­
tions more than five years, and a very small number, four,
remained more than fifteen years.
Twenty-six of the thirty-eight women occupying
their positions five-years-or-less are the most recent
occupants, entering in years 1972-1976.

The other twelve

135
of this group, while entering in earlier years also
remained for only a few years.

Thus, the majority have

not been in their continuing education positions for a
very long period of time, or did not remain for any great
number of years.
Table 30.— Years Women Occupied Continuing Education
Positions.
Years in
Position:

1 or
less

25

610

N =

8

30

4

il­
ls
5

1620
1

2125

2630

2

1

Years In Position By Level
In Table 31 one observes that the thirty-eight
women who occupied their positions for five years or less
are distributed over all of the divisions, the greater
number having been employed by S3, L9, and L10.

The four

women with sixteen or more years of occupancy were employed
in M5, L9, and L10.
Also evident is the Level of position occupied.
Twenty-two of those occupying positions five years or less,
were in Level V positions.

But other Levels were also

occupied for short periods of time (five years or l ess):
five in Level IV, nine in Level III, one in Level II, one
in Level I.
Those women no longer with continuing education but
who are presently employed are working in a variety of

136
Table 31.— Years in Position by Institution of Employ and Level
of Position.

YEARS
IN
POSITION

INSTITUTION
SI

1 year
or less

V

2 to 5
years

V
V
V

S2

S3

M4

III

V

III
III
III
V
V

6 to 10
years

III

11 to 15
years

III
IV

III

M5

M6

III

I

IV

M7

L8

L9

L10

III

V
V

V

III
IV
V
V
V
V
V
V

II
III
IV
IV
V
V
V
V

IV
V
V

IV
V

II

III

16 to 20
years
21 to 25
years
26 to 30
years

IV
V
V

III

III

II

137
organizations rather evenly distributed among familiar and
traditional organization-types.

Table 32.

From these few

examples it would not seem that one organization was more
attractive than another for employment subsequent to con­
tinuing education.

However, no one returned to university

continuing education.

Those in universities chose subject

discipline areas with faculty status and administrative
responsibilities.

This choice was viewed more favorably,

as expressed in the comment of one who said:
This seems much better than the $3.00 per hour
position with ________ where I also had to
recruit students to fill my classes.
I have
very good administrative skills and here I
can use them.
A variety of explanations accounted for individual1s
decisions to leave continuing education.
conditions of limited opportunity.

Many dealt with

Such circumstances

i

leading to discontent were evident in several comments.
I felt that it was time to protest via leaving
when it became impossible to get approval to
expand programs.
The position had only minimal opportunity for
program development for which I have expertise.
It was mostly setting up coffee, tables, and
chairs.
There was an unwritten assumption, discussed at
the time of the interview, that one must continue
in this position for three years before any merit
increases are considered or awarded.
The responsibilities were at first challenging; but
I had worked out the challenge by the time that I
left.
There was no career ladder at the division
and no other position for me to consider.

138

Table 32.— Location of Women No Longer Employed in Continuing
Education and Presently Employed.

Type of Present Position
Level in
Continuing
Education:

Staff

Administrative

Self-employed

Cont. Ed.

Other

Cont. Ed.

Other

Cont. E d .

Other

Level III
(N = 3)

1

0

0

1

1

0

Level V
(N = 10)

2

5

0

3

0

0

Type Present Organization
Level m
Continuing
Education:

State
Govt.

Univer­
sity

Commun.
Coll.

High
School

Level III
(N = 3)

1

0

0

0

1

1

Level V
(N = 10)

2

3

1

3

1

0

Once a ____ , always a ____ .
as ____ forever, or leave.

Business
Firm

SelfEmployed

The women either stay on

There is no career ladder for women in continuing
education.
Aspirations of the Women
It is possible that experiences within the univer­
sity environment of higher learning plus living in the
conditions of the 1970s would be conducive toward the

139
encouragement of personal aspirations of higher attainment.
The women were asked about such plans in their future.
Aspirations for Higher Education
The interests of the women in further education is
reported in Table 33.

Eleven did not see further education

as a choice they would take.

Twenty-one# however# were

more certain and named specific degree programs they
planned to pursue# twelve with aspirations to complete the
PhD degree.
The three in the 'o t h e r ' category were interested
in professional degrees in law and medicine.

The 'unde­

cided' group represented women who did not have definite
plans about their further education.
A sizable number of women currently employed stated
aspirations for further education.

One might contemplate

that the employment situation is conducive toward encour­
aging educational pursuits whether for the purpose of acce­
lerating a career or for the purpose of preparing for a
career change.
Aspirations for Higher Level
Positions
Table 34 reports the interests of the women for
higher level positions.

Fourteen of the twenty-six women

currently employed in continuing education divisions indi­
cated interest in higher level positions in a university
setting.

These women felt well-qualified to assume the

140
Table 33.— Educational Aspirations of Fifty-one Women.
PRESENT EMPLOYMENT SITUATION
Interest
in
Further
Education:

No Further
Education:

Working
Other
Organi­
zation

Presently
Not
Working

2

3

Retired
From
Continuing
Education

1

B.A.
Degree

Presently
Employed
Continuing
Education

5

3

M.A.
Degree

1

PhD
Degree

4

Other

2

Undecided

3

1

No
Information
Offered

1

2

1

2

1

6
1
3

3

5

duties and responsibilities for positions at a level higher
than they were occupying.

Nine felt qualified and inter­

ested in the position of Dean or Director of a Division of
Continuing Education.

Two others, perhaps more realistic,

were willing to consider "any higher level position" in
higher education.

Admittedly, these women with interests

in higher education employment were dismayed with the

141

Table 34.— Higher Level Position Aspirations of Fifty-one
Women.
i

PRESENT EMPLOYMENT SITUATION
in Higher
Level
Position:

Do Not
Know:

Working
Other
Organi­
zation

Presently
Not
Working

Retired
From
Continuing
Education

2

Presently
Employed
Continuing
Education

5

Never
Thought
About A
Higher
Level
Position:

1

Maybe A
Higher Level
Position
Considered:

1

Program
Director

3

Division
Director

1

6

Dean

1

3

2

Any Position
In Higher
Education

2

1

Other

7

1

2

5

No
Information

2

3

1

2

142
opportunity structure for women and felt that only 'an
unusual circumstance* would open a position for them.
As one exclaimed:
I would be interested and am qualified to be a Dean,
but that would only happen if they restructure
this university.
The situation at another university was apparently
similar:
This is a very sexist university.
There is little
or no opportunity for a woman like myself to move
into central administration.
But this is not just a current phenomenon.

Women

in each of the other categories likewise indicated that at
the time of their employment in continuing education they
could easily have assumed the responsibilities of higher
level positions within the university.
The five women responding "Do Not Know" generally
did not see any possibilities for themselves, as women, to
advance to higher level positions in their university.
They, however, were not yet planning to change their present
employment.
Another five women responding "Other" also did not
see any further opportunities in higher education.

But

unlike the group planning to remain, they had formulated
some strategies for the next employment sequence:
(a) positions in other organizations as government,
community agency, community college, business, any
other than university administration.

143
(b)

higher level position in the same professional
area but not administration.

Aspirations In Five Years
When queried about plans as far into the future as
five years, twenty-eight women responded with definite
preferences: twelve would remain in the same kind of work,
sixteen would change to another type of work situation.
Table 35.
Added to the group contemplating change, might also
be included those responding "Do Not Know."
implied to be considering several options.

These ten women
It was unclear

whether they were searching for options, or deciding upon
those coming to them.
Section II
Analysis of Selected Relationships
Although in this study there is no direct evidence
to confirm that divisions either do or do not select
applicants on the basis of certain requirements, one can
examine the outcomes to identify patterns that may be
present.

Each of the position Levels is comprised of women
of several age categories.

Among the divisions women of

each age-group occupied Level III, IV, and V positions.
Women in the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups were in Level II

144
Table 35.— Women's Aspirations in Five Years.
Plans
Five
Years
From
Now:

Present Employment Situation
Working
in other
organi­
zation

Not
Presently
Working

Retired

Presently
Employed
in
Continuing
Education

Same kind
of work
as now.

4

Other
work
than
now.

5

2

9

Do Not
Know.

2

3

5

8

Plan to
be
retired.
NO
Informa­
tion

3

2

2

5

1

positions, and the one occupant of Level I is in the
40-49 category.

However, more women entered Level V

positions at younger ages.
V occupants were ages 20-29.

Eighteen of twenty-five Level
On the other hand, more

women entered Level III at age 40 or over.
Level III occupants were age 40 or above.

Nine of fifteen
One could

conclude, therefore, that among this group there is little
data to support the hypothesis that older age per se is

145

related to a higher level position.

One might conjecture,

with reservation, that it could occur at Level I.
Nevertheless, divisions may have certain age pre­
ferences as indicated by the clusters of women of similar
age groups employed by individual divisions.
SI and L9 appointed most Level V occupants from the
20-29 age group.
L10, on the other hand, chose the majority of the
women on its staff from those at least 30 years of age.
M7 appointed three women who were each 50 years of
age or above at entry.
S3 is principally visible with the appointment of
more women who were in their forties or older.

Further­

more, most of the women in S3 attained Level III positions.
Education

The range of position Levels occupied appears
greatest among the Bachelors and Masters Degree holders who
were located in Levels II, III, IV, and V.

Doctorate

Degree holders were located at Levels I, II, and III, but
did not occupy Level IV or V positions.

Only at the Doc­

torate level of education therefore, is there an indication
of a relationship with a higher level position.

Yet this

statement is qualified as other positions at Level II and
III were occupied by women with Bachelors and Masters
degrees.

146

Divisions may have discernable preferences for
level of education of employees.

S3 primarily employed

women with the Bachelors Degree or less, whereas L9 and
LlO appointed, with few exceptions, women with at least
the Bachelors Degree and many with a Masters or Doctorate
Degree.

Similarly, except for M 7 , the other divisions

also appointed women who attained academic degrees.
The presence or absence of certain academic
degrees appeared to be a characteristic of the individual
divisions regardless of Level of position.

It is possible

to suggest that the division or the institution generally
required a specific level of formal education of employees
in professional positions.
Women with less than the Bachelors Degree expressed
themselves as being truly astonished to have been selected
on the basis of their limited higher education.

However,

many women with the Masters Degree indicated that they did
not think their degree was a very significant factor among
the qualifications for the position.
It should be noted, that, contrary to some
assumptions, women with less than the Masters Degree do,
and did, occupy professional level positions in some higher
education institutions.
Employment Experience
The amount, in years, of previous employment exper­
ience seemingly is unrelated to the position level attained.

147
Women attained Level V positions with different amounts of
prior work experience.

Likewise, Level III and IV positions

were occupied by women with similar years of experience.
The few occupants of Level I and II reported numbers of
years of experience resembling that of women occupying
positions at other Levels.
Most women entered the continuing education position
during their early or middle career stage.

Twenty-one

entered during their early career stage, twenty-three
during their middle career stage, but only seven during
their late career stage.

Under a variety of circumstances

most of the women also engaged in employment episodes
in other organizations in addition to that of continuing
education.
The evidence is less precise in suggesting whether
a particular type of career pattern is related to attaining
a continuing education position, or if the sequence of
employment episodes was a factor in selection.

Nearly

an equal number of women were "continuously" employed,
twenty-five, as were "discontinuously" employed, twenty-six.
Locale
Forty-nine women were residents of the local commu­
nity prior to their continuing education employment.

This

factor of proximity placed them within the environment of
the employing institution.

In such a setting many of the

women had knowledge of the institution or division,

148
generally through employment or enrollment.

Thirty-seven

women reported having been employed in another position at
the same institution.

Twelve women had been associated

with other organizations in the same community.

Only two

women moved from another state to accept an appointment with
a continuing education division.

In these circumstances

the women were provided the opportunity to become known to,
or acquainted with, a top-level university official who in
one of his role activities was charged with the responsibi­
lity of securing personnel.
It appears, that at the occasion of filling a posi­
tion, a particular woman who had been identified to the
employing official as superbly qualified was contacted and
offered the position.

The women in this study were these

candidates.
The characteristic of proximity becomes significant
in another perspective by observing that thirty of the
forty-six women attaining positions during the years
1960-1976 were already employed by the institution, thus
they were negotiating "internal" moves.
There were some minor variations to this theme.
Yet the presence of this phenomenon was so frequently
encountered that it would probably qualify to be placed
among the normally accepted practices of each institution.

149
, Entry Position
A variety of entry positions eventually led to
occupancy of Level II, III, IV, and V positions in con­
tinuing education divisions.

The most frequent was via

clerical-secretarial work or having been a student of the
university.

The only woman at Level I entered as a

faculty member of the same university.
Year of Entry
A greater number
in the

1970s than in the 1960s or

important factor related
is the

of women

to these

attained their position
in previous decades.

An

years ofthe seventies

series of Federal Equal Opportunity laws impinging

upon institutions of higher education.

It seems feasible

to suggest that the divisions in this study were responding
to these pressures by increasing the number of appointments
of women to positions at professional administrative levels.
During the five-year period 1972-1976 inclusive, twenty-six
women attained new positions which represents a sizable
increase over former years.

Moreover, twenty of these

women were selected from among the present employees of the
universities and might be presumed to have advanced to
higher level positions.
It seems possible therefore, to put forth the pro­
position that these divisions of continuing education were
indeed responding to the exigencies of Federal legislation
by both increasing the numbers of women appointed, and by

150
advancing to higher level positions some of the women
members of the present staff.
Responses of the women however, offer weak support
on the same issue.

When the women were queried about the

likely impact of Equal Opportunity legislation upon their
career with continuing education, most replied to be unable
to identify any relationship.

In reviewing comments of

only those entering in the last decade, the larger number
too did not believe their advancement to be due to the
employing institution’s affirmative action efforts.
Table 36.
Table 36.— Responses of Women to: "Do (Did) you consider
your advancement with the continuing education
division to be due to affirmative action efforts
of your employing institution?”
All Respondents:
Yes
8

No

Uncertain

Could Not Respond

2

7

34

Respondents entering 1967-1976 decade:
Yes

No

7

23

Uncertain
1

Could Not Respond
2

Representative of the comments of the women were
these regarding the effect of institutional affirmative
action efforts:
I assumed the President of this university was under
pressure to appoint women to administrative positions.
Entered 1975.

151
I am the only woman among thirteen members of this
professional staff department . . . but it was
probably the interview which accounted for my
getting this position.
I have been here three
years and I am still the only woman on this staff.
Entered 1974.
I was the first woman in this position with this
department, part-time at first and later full-time,
and I continue in the same position.
Entered 1959.
Do we have one?
I do not feel that whatever insti­
tutional affirmative action plans exist reach to
the continuing education department.
Entered 1973.
There are only two other women in administrative
positions in this university, one is Vice-President
of students, the other is the Dean of Nursing.
Entered 1976.
When this university chooses to recognize and
acknowledge affirmative action they "roll out
the Women's Center again" and then we are in
the limelight for a while.
But they have not
appointed any women to high level administra­
tive positions for a long time.
The highest
level woman here is in a position of Administra­
tive Assistant and just happens to be the secre­
tary to the President.
Entered 1973.
Tenure In Position
The pattern of tenure in position in all divisions,
over the years of the study, indicates the majority of
women occupied their positions five years or less.

This

is most common among Level V occupants but also characteri
stic of occupants of the other levels.
It is of course possible that the factor of short
tenure in position would be offered as an explanation to
account for a woman's lack of further upward mobility
within the division.

Notwithstanding this possibility

one can observe that women who did remain for a longer

152
period of time, six years or more, also did not advance to
higher level positions.

One might assume that such a

length of time would indeed be adequate to develop valuable
skills for advancement.
However, to the date of the interviews, the organiza­
tional careers of these women within divisions of continuing
education seemed to have reached a ceiling and plateaued
at the one professional administrative position occupied.
Summary
Chapter IV has presented data compiled on the study
population of the divisions of general university con­
tinuing education located in the public four-year institu­
tions of higher education in the State of Michigan.

This

is followed by data of the women respondents employed in
professional administrative positions in these divisions
during the years 1960-1976.
In Section II as a discussion of selected relation­
ships associated with the level of position attained by
the women while in the employ of these divisions.
Responses to questions in the form of comments made
by the women are included to amplify and elaborate signi­
ficant issues.
A summary of the findings and conclusions are discussed
in Chapter V.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS,
AND IMPLICATIONS
Introduction
Chapter V is an overview and summary of the study.
The findings and conclusions of the study are discussed
followed by recommendations and implications for future
research.
Purpose of the Study
The study attempted to investigate the career pro­
gress of women who attained professional administrative
positions during the years 1960-1976 within divisions of
general university continuing education in public four-year
institutions of higher education in the State of Michigan.
More specifically the study set out to gain information
of
1.

division appointments of women into professional
administrative positions during the years
1960-1976.

2.

certain personal and social context characteri­
stics of the women employed in the professional
administrative positions.
153

154
3.

certain characteristics of the employing insti­
tutions and the divisions of general university
continuing education.

4.

levels of positions attained in terms of a
position hierarchy schema.

5.

relationships between characteristics of the
women, characteristics of the institutions and the
Equal Opportunity mandates and the levels of
position attained by the women.
Research Design and Methodology
For the purpose of this research the position under

study was the highest level administrative position which
a woman occupied while employed in a division of continuing
education during the years 1960-1976.
The methodological framework was designed to inves­
tigate variables from three sets of factors:
residing with the individual,

(1) those

(2) those existing within the

organization, and (3) those existing outside both the
individual and the organization, therefore, residing in the
social environment.

Information was collected on selected

characteristics of the women, on selected characteristics
of the employing institutions and divisions of general
university continuing education, and on significant Equal
Opportunity mandates in effect during the years 1960-1976.
Questionnaires and interviews were utilized to
secure data from the thirteen divisions and from fifty-one

155
women who occupied professional administrative positions.
The data was analyzed in terms of Levels of position
attained by the women in the divisions.
Findings and Conclusions
In the summary, an attempt is made to provide
responses to the research questions of the study.
1.

Division appointments of women into professiona

administrative positions during the years 1960-1976.
Thirteen divisions of general university continuing
education in the thirteen public four-year institutions
of higher education in the state of Michigan were surveyed
for their record of employment of women in professional
administrative positions during the years 1960-1976.

Ten

divisions had employed sixty-eight women in professional
administrative positions during these years, three divisions
had not employed women in such positions during this time.
Fifty-one women were respondents in the study.
These respondents supplied some of the data base for the
study.

The first appointment of a woman into a professional

administrative position was made in 1943.

Three women were

appointed during the 1940s, two in the 1950s.

Forty-six

of the fifty-one women were appointed during the years
1960-1976, seventeen during the 1960s, and twenty-nine in
the years 197 0-1976.
With few exceptions most divisions generally
appointed only one woman during any year.

The largest

156
number to enter in a single year was nine, in 1973.

Four

of these nine appointments were made by a single division.
In 1976 the first woman was appointed to the position of
Dean, the top level position in a division.
At the time of the study twenty-five of the fiftyone women were no longer employed in these divisions.
The remaining twenty-six were currently on one of the con­
tinuing education staffs.

Among the women who left con­

tinuing education employment, five had retired, thirteen
were in other type employment, and seven were not working.
2.

Information on Selected Personal and Social

Context Characteristics of the women.

The ages of the women at entry to continuing edu­
cation positions ranged from twenty-one to fifty-nine.
Fourteen were 20-29 years of age, fourteen 30-39 years,
sixteen 40-49, seven 50 years and over.

More than one-half

of this group, twenty-eight, entered when they were under
the age of forty.

The remainder of twenty-three entered

at age forty or over.
Education
The education level of the women ranged from the
High School Diploma to the Doctorate Degree.

At entry to

the continuing education position nine women had less than

157
the Bachelors Degree, nineteen had the Bachelors Degree,
nineteen had a Masters Degree, and four had the Doctorate
Degree.
The majors of the higher education degrees were
generally in areas viewed as traditional of women's edu­
cation.

At the Masters level the most frequently reported

major was Guidance and Counseling.
In this respect the women in this study are similar
to the majority of women graduates, such as reported by
Astin, who pursue degrees primarily in a limited range of
fields.
Twenty women reported initiating or completing a
graduate degree program while employed in the continuing
education position, six others reported completing either
a Masters or Doctorate Degree after leaving this employment.
The few women in this study with doctorate degrees
lend further support to the accumulated evidence reported
in the writings of Burstyn and Astin that only a small
percentage of women complete this advanced professional
degree.

But importantly, as indicated by the women's

aspiration for higher education, the pool of women with
more highly specialized training will likely increase.
Employment Experience
The employment experience of the women was sub­
stantial.

Forty-five women entered continuing education

positions with two years or more previous employment

158
experience.

Twenty-two women had more than ten years

experience, and four, more than twenty years previous
employment.

Only six reported one year or less prior

employment.
The occupational experiences of the women was
analyzed in relation to their employment with continuing
education and with other areas, and in relation to their
continuity of employment.

Forty-six women had been

employed in other areas in addition to their employment
with continuing education.

Only five women indicated

employment solely in continuing education.

Twenty-five

women reported their work careers to encompass "continuous"
employment, whereas nearly an equal number, twenty-six,
reported "discontinuous" employment sequences.
Residence of the Women
Most of the women, prior to assuming the continuing
education position were residents of the same community as
the institution of employ.

In this context the women had

prior knowledge of the institution most often arising
through previous employment in the institution or because
they had been students and graduates of the institution.
Their employment career, or their volunteer activities
in the community, or both, contributed to their visibility
and subsequent identification for the continuing education
position.

159
Experience in Institution of Employ
In describing the sequence of organizational
mobility thirty-seven women reported moving from one
position within the institution to the continuing educa­
tion position at the same institution.

Fourteen women

reported changing from a position with another organi­
zation to accept the continuing education position.
The women often had their first experience with
the institution as students, as clerical and secretarial
workers, and as part-time employees.

Mobility within

the institution tended to follow three patterns.

Grad­

uating students tended to move directly into the continuing
education positions.

Former clerical and secretarial

workers most often moved to a low-level "administrativeprofessional" position and at a later time into the con­
tinuing education position.

Part-time employees, and

employees with other departments of the same institution
usually transferred directly into the continuing education
division.
The women occupied their positions from a brief
one-year-or-less, as reported by eight, to over twenty-five
years, as reported by one woman.

Thirty-eight women

occupied their positions five years or less, four remained
six-to-ten years, and nine continued more than ten years.

160
Aspirations of the Women
Women who were currently employed, whether in
continuing education or in other areas were more likely to
indicate aspirations for further higher education.
Twenty-one women reported plans to complete an academic or
professional degree.

Twelve had goals to complete the

Doctorate Degree.
Women currently employed in the continuing education
divisions were generally interested, and probably qualified,
in advancing to higher level positions.

But most viewed

the possibilities of such an opportunity in their institu­
tion to be nonexistent.

Therefore future plans were often

indefinite and the women contemplated changing to other
type of employment.
3.

Information on selected characteristics of th

employing institutions and the divisions of general uni­
versity continuing education.
The ten divisions of general university continuing
education and the institutions in which they are located
were categorized into three institutional types.

Michigan

State University, The University of Michigan, and Wayne
State University comprised the category of large compre­
hensive institutions.

Eastern Michigan University, Central

Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, and
Western Michigan University were in the category of medium­
sized institutions.

The third class of small-sized

161
institutions are Michigan Technological University/
Oakland University, and Grand Valley State Colleges.
Aspects of continuing education programs generally
began shortly after the institutions were founded.
Through the years most programs periodically undergo reor­
ganization and in this process new titles, structure, and
missions appear.

The beginning dates of continuing edu­

cation within these institutions is often associated with
a particular formal structure such as "Division."
Divisions in two Class "L" institutions, L9 and
L10, were employers of the greater number of women of
this study, thirteen and fourteen respectively.

One

Class "S" institution, S3, employed nine women, and
another SI, employed four.

The remaining divisions each

employed only one, two, or three women during the years
1960-1976.
4.

Levels of Positions Attained by the Women.

The positions attained were analyzed by a "position
hierarchy schema": Level One is the top level position
of Dean or Director of the Division; Level Two is a staff
position attached to the Dean's office; Level Three is a
line position reporting to the Dean; Level Four is a staff
position reporting either to a Level Three line position
or to a Level Two staff position; Level Five is a line
position responsible to a Level Three position.

162
The largest number of women occupied Level V posi­
tions.

Twenty-five were located at this level.

Eight

women were in Level IV staff positions/ fourteen in Level
III line positions, three in Level II staff positions, and
only one woman occupied a Level I position as Dean of the
Division.

The case of the one woman occupying the Level I

position seemed more unique than conventional.

The posi­

tion was titled "Acting Director" and was occupied jointly
with her other position as Director of another program at
the same university.
5.

Relationships between characteristics of the

women, characteristics of the institutions, the Equal
Opportunity mandates and levels of position attained by
the women.
The ages of the women, their education level, and
their years of previous employment experience seemingly
were unrelated to the level of position attained.
Among the divisions, each of the position levels
is comprised of women of several age categories.

Even

though more women entered Level V positions at younger
ages and more entered Level III at age 40 or over, there
was little data to support the hypothesis that older age
per se is related to a higher level position.

The possi­

bility that divisions preferred certain age-groups of
employees is suggested by the clusters of women of similar
ages employed by individual divisions.

163
Women with the Bachelors and Masters Degrees were
in position levels II, III, IV, and V.

Doctorate Degree

holders were located at Levels I, II, and III.

There was

a slight indication that the Doctorate level of education
was associated with a higher level position.

Some divi­

sions also, however, appeared to have discernable prefer­
ences for level of education of employees regardless of
level of position.

S3 employed more women with the Bache­

lors Degree or less whereas L9 and L10 most often appointed
women with graduate degrees.
The amount in years of previous employment exper­
ience appeared unrelated to position level attained.

Most

women though entered the continuing education position
during their early or middle career years, few during their
late career stage.

The type of career pattern was not

indicative of attaining a position.

Nearly an equal number

of women were "continuously" employed as were "discontinuously" employed.
The women attained their position because of deci­
sions arising from the institution's desire to fill a
vacancy.

The appointment of the women in this study is

related to their prominent visibility and to their possess­
ing the desired characteristics and attributes, primarily
a certain level of education and outstanding expertise.
Twenty-nine of the women attained their positions
in the 1970s.

Moreover, twenty-three of these positions

164

were filled by women who transferred from another position
in the institution, implying that institutions made more
"internal promotions" rather than select "new personnel."
The record of appointments suggests that divisions were
responding to the pressures of the Federal Equal Opportu­
nity laws impinging upon institutions of higher education.
The responses of the women who were appointed however,
offered weak support to this contention.
Implications
It appears that the majority of women were assigned
to, or offered, professional administrative jobs that are
not in a direct promotional line within either the division
or the institution.

The evidence from this study is incon­

clusive to state a single explanation to account for this
situation.

Nevertheless, several possibilities could be

considered.
1.

Perhaps most positions in continuing education
are primarily "developmental" as occupants at
each of the Levels seem to arrive from locations
outside of the division.

2.

The women may have accumulated satisfactory levels
of rewards from continued employment in the posi­
tion, perhaps in combination with other role
activities performed within the institution or in
their community environment.

165
3.

The women were living within constraints which
prevented consideration of alternative positions.

4.

Sex discrimination is present as manifested by the
institutional habits of appointments.

Sex discri­

mination is perpetuated by hiring women into dead­
end positions from which advancement is highly
improbable.
For all of the talk of egalitarianism however, what
seems more in evidence is the consistent impact which
custom has on women's roles.

It is just beginning to be

understood the degree to which seemingly "emancipated"
industrial societies engage in sex-differentiated practices.
One can not have an egalitarian society which supports
organizations that say women can get to Level III, or II,
but not to Level I.

But to keep up appearances and to

demonstrate good faith a few women are promoted.

There­

after the system continues doing what it always has done.
The placement of several women in more dominant positions,
or the appointment of another woman as Dean must presumably
be seen as uncomfortable for the provost or president.
The effect of differentiated practices upon women
is also notable.

If left to themselves, it appears, many

will self-select into only a few occupations thus leaving
unchallenged traditionally masculine fields.

By this pro­

cess women do not see other women in higher level posi­
tions, so they may not think the door is open to them.

166
Most women are thus less likely to try for top level
positions and the complex circle continues.
It also appears likely that the socialization of
women has influenced many into accepting lesser jobs not
justified by their high level of education, talents and
skill.

This suggests a major reason for the inclusion of

particular forms of preferential treatment programs.

Posi­

tive support from others, equitable salary and benefits,
and occasional adaptation of rules are a few examples of
procedures that could be implemented to attract and keep
talented women.

Officials, too, could structure challeng­

ing work experiences for women employees whereby they
acquire those specific skills required and valued for the
next one or two positions up the ladder.
At least some women in the study appeared to be
making contributions to the job and institution far beyond
normal requirements of the position.

Especially notable

were extra hours of work and performing duties more appro­
priate for a higher level position.

The idea that women

have to do more work, and work longer hours "just because
you are a woman and ought to be grateful" might better be
discarded.
deserve.

Women might consider asking for what they
This may be a redefinition of the job, additional

staff, an increase in salary, or all three.

Doing the

job of the next level entails that all accoutrements of the
office, such as title, rank, and salary, be present.

167
Great effort will still be required to change
existing inequities.

The vast majority of women still

face a system of status quo, dead-end jobs and discrimi­
nation that in some ways is more pernicious than a decade
ago.

A potential impact exists through greater numbers

of women engaging in the political process both within the
employing organization and in the larger social arena.
Professional women also need networks of communication with
others in similar positions.

They will need to understand

the values of the sponsorship system, and women presently
in top-level positions could begin to undertake the spon­
sorship of women at lower levels.
Few women in the study expressed concern with
intentional efforts to plan their career.

Women, and all

employees, will recognize that others generally will not
have their career advancement as a main priority.

More

women will probably find it necessary to do their own
planning for career advancement.

A few principles seem to

appear which could enhance the process.
Unless one sees otherwise, consider any position as
developmental.

Do not plan that it will lead to a higher

level position in the same organization.
many others do not.

Some do, but

To negotiate an advancement acknow­

ledgment must usually be given to changing organizations.
"Move out to move up."

169
There tends to be an inverse relationship with
tenure in the same position and ability to manage a role
change.

There is the possibility that too long at the

same job at the same rank may hinder a change.

Often one

or two years in a position is enough, but it depends upon
the situation.
It is necessary to become recognized and let one's
accomplishments be known.

Newspapers are good media, but

so are conferences, television, and professional articles.
Give away ideas.

Engage others.

Contacts made with other

people appear to be best sources of information.
Consider the need for further education.

The

early education of most women appears not to provide the
type of skills important to higher level positions.

There

are presently many more options in academic programs avail­
able to women.

Enrollment in and completing a formal

academic degree-granting program seems to be the most effi­
cient means to acquire new skills and knowledges.

Further­

more, some employers, seemingly, are very supportive of
such efforts.
Recommendations for Future Research
The present study attempted to gather information
about the career progress of a group of women in selected
divisions of continuing education during the years 19601976.

It is but a microcosm of a total picture of personal

and personnel development.

To understand and appreciate

169
the comprehensive impact emanating from just these divi­
sions of continuing education further study of the career
development of other groups within these divisions is
advised.

Comparisons,, for instance, could be made with

the progress of a like group of men professional admini­
strators who were employed in these divisions in identical
years as the women in this study.

The effects of employ­

ment in continuing education upon other categories of per­
sonnel, as clerical-technical, executive secretaries, or
students, could illustrate the developmental potential of
this occupational experience.
To gain the larger view of cultural and societal
constraints which impose upon women engaging in careers in
continuing education in higher education similar research
could extend to the private colleges and universities in
the same state, or to like categories of public institu­
tions in other regions of the United States.
The present study focused primarily upon one
episode of employment of fifty-one women, in a division of
continuing education.

The basis for a longitudinal study

of this select group is already formed.

Follow-up studies

of these women would provide valuable information.

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTES

^To Form A More Perfect Union (Washington, D .C .:
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1976).
2
Florence Stevenson, "Women Administrators in Big
Ten Universities" {Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State
University, 1973), p. 1.
3
.
.
.
.
George M. Woytanowitz, University Extension in
the Early Years in the United States 1885-1915 (National
University Extension Association, and the American College
Testing Program, 1974), p. 136.
^Ibid., p. 153.
5

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census,
A Statistical Portrait of Women in the U.S., Current Popu­
lation Reports Special Studies, Series P-23, No. 58,
April 1976.
£

Dorothy D. McGuigan, "A Dangerous Experiment— 10 0
Years of Women at the University of Michigan," cited in
Rossi (ed), Academic Women on the Move (New York: Russell
Sage Foundation, 1973) p. 93.
7

Joan N. Burstyn, "Striving for Equality, Higher
Education for Women in the U.S. Since 1900," University
College Quarterly, Michigan State University (January
1973), p. 22.
a

Helen Astin, The Woman Doctorate in America
(New York: Russell Sage Goundation, 1968) .
9
Helen Arter, "Role of Women Administrators in
State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges" (1972) in
Stevenson, op. cit., pp. 24-27.

170

171

Cynthia Epstein, Woman's Place: Options and
Limits On Professional Careers (Berkley: University of
California Press, 1971).
^Ladd-Lippset, "Faculty Women: Little Gain In
Status," The Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 September
1975, p. 2.
12
13

Epstein, op. cit., p. 2.
Proceedings 1972 NUEA Conference.

14NUEA Annual Report 1974.
^ N U E A Annual Report 1975.
16SPECTATOR, NUEA Magazine, June 1974, pp. 20-26.
^ I b i d . , pp. 20-26.
18

Donald McDonald, "The Liberating of Women," The
Center Magazine 5 (May/June 1972), p. 35.
19

B.
Glaser and G. Strauss, Organizational Ca
A Sourcebook For Theory (Chicago, 111.: Aldine Pub. Co.,
1968), p. 14.
20

R. M. Cyert and J. G. March, A Behavioral Theory
of the Firm (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1964) .
21

Karl E. Weick, The Social Psychology of
Organizing (Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.,
1969).
22

J. March and Simon, Organizations, John Wiley
(1967), p. 4.
23

Glaser, op. c i t . , p. 14.

24
Arthur Stinchcombe, "Social Structure and the
Founding of Organizations," in M. B. Brinkerhoff and
P. R. Kunz, e d . , Complex Organizations and Their Environ­
ments (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co., 1972).

172
25

J. Hage, "Axiomatic Theory of Organizations,"
Administrative Science Quarterly 10 (1965): 289-320.
26Ibid.
27

Michael Cohen, "An Empirical Foundation for an
Explanation of Organizational Mobility," Human Organiza­
tion 31 (Fall 1972): 291-302.
28Ibid.
29

Rosabeth Kanter, "Why Bosses Turn Bitchy,”
Psychology Today, May 1976, p. 56.
30Ibid.
31

James R. Terborg and Daniel R. Ilgen, "A Theo­
retical Approach to Sex Discrimination in Traditionally
Masculine Occupations," Organization Behavior and Human
Performance, 1975, pp. 352-376.
32Ibid., p. 371.
33

Kanter, op. cit., p. 59.

34T, . .
Ibid.
35

Cohen, op. cit., p. 294.

36

L. R. Pondy, "Effects of Size, Complexity, And
Ownership On Administrative Intensity," in W. V. Heydebrand, ed., Comparative Organizations (Englewoods Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1973), p. 410.
37Ibid.
38

C.
I. Barnard, "The Executive Functions," in
D. S. Pugh, e d . , Organization Theory (Baltimore: Penguin
Book, 1973), pp. 167-169.
39

Athena Theordore, e d ., The Professional Woman
(Cambridge, Mass.: Schenckman Pub. Co., Inc., 1971), p. 1.

173
40

Virginia O'Leary, "Some Attitudinal Barriers to
Occupational Aspirations in Women," Psychological Bulletin
81 (1974): 809-826.
41

Mabel Newcomer, The Big Business Executive 19001950 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1955).
42Ibid., p. 42.
43

Margaret Cussler, The Woman Executive
Harcourt Brace and Co., 1958).

(New York:

44Ibid.
4^Ibid., pp. 6 9-70.
46
47

Astin, op. cit., p. 1.
Astin, The Woman Doctorate in America.

48,
A s t m , op. cit., p. v n .

Move

49
H. Astin
in Rossi, ed., Academic Women on
the
(New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1973),pp. 139-161,
"^Astin, op. cit., p. 2.

51Michael Forgarty et a l . , Women In Top Jobs
(London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971).
52Ibid., p. 15.
53

O'Leary,

^40'Leary,
55
Dunellen,

op. cit., p. 812.
op. cit., pp. 812-813.

Douglas C. Basil, Women In Management (New York:
1972).

56Ibid., pp. 90-91.
57 ,
Wyndham Robertson, "The Ten Highest-Ranking Women
In Big Business," Fortune, April 1973, p. 81.

174

58Ibid., p. 83.
59

Stevenson,
Universities."

"Women Administrators in Big Ten

60Amitai Etzioni, Complex Organizations
The Free Press, 1961), p. 183.

(New York:

81Barbara Solomon, "Historical Determinants and
Successful Professional Women," in Ruth B. Kundsin, e d . ,
Women and Success, The Anatomy of Achievement (New York:
Wim. Morrow & Co., Inc., 1974), pp. 185-193.
62
Margaret Hennig, "Family Dynamics and the
Successful Woman Executive," Woman and Success, pp. 88-93.
63
Alan Booth, "Sex and Social Participation,"
American Sociological Review 37 (April 1972): 183-193.
64

Epstein, W o m a n 1s Place: Options and Limits
on Professional Careers.
65
Eleanor Maccoby, "Woman's Intellect," in
Seymour M. Farber and Roger H, L. Wilson, e d s . , The
Potential of Women (New York: McGraw Hill Book Co., Inc.,
1963).
66Ibid.
67Ibid.
68Ibid.
69

Burno Bettelheim, "Growing Up Female," Harpers,
October 1972, cited in Epstein, Woman's Place, p. 28.
70McDonald, op. c i t . , p. 25.
71

Margaret V. Higgenson and Thomas L. Quick, The
Ambitious Woman's Guide to a Successful Career, AMACON,
Division of American Management Association, T975,
pp. 20-21.
72

Booth, op. cit., p. 184.

175
73
74
75

Hennig, op. c i t . , pp. 88-93.
Hennig, op. cit., p. 92.
Booth, op. cit., p. 18 5.

76

Rosalind Loring and Theodora Wells, Breakthrough;
Women In Management (New York: Van Nostrant Reinhold C o . ,
1972), pp. 41-42.
77

Terborg, op. cit., p. 355.

78

Eleanor E. Maccoby and Carol Nagy Jacklin, "What
We Know and Don't Know About Sex Differences," Psychology
Today, December 1974, pp. 109-112.
79

A. N. Oppenheim, Questionnaire Design and Atti­
tude Measurement (New York: Basic Books, 1966), p. 13.
80Ibid., pp. 29-32.
81Ibid., pp. 29-32.
82I b i d ., pp. 29-32.
83Ibid., pp. 29-32.
84

Nie et a l . , Statistical Package for Social
Sciences, Second Edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 1975).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Astin, Helen. The Woman Doctorate.
Sage Foundation, 1968.

New York: Russell

Babbie, Earl R. Survey Research Methods. California:
Wadsworth Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.
Basil, Douglas C. Women in Management.
Dunellen, 1972.

New York:

Brinkerhoff, M. B. and Kunz, P. R. (ed). Complex Orga­
nizations and Their Environments. Dubuque, Iowa:
Wm. C. Brown Co., 1972.
Cussler, Margaret.
The Woman Executive.
Harcourt brace and Co., 1958.

New York:

Cyert, R. M. and March, J. G. A Behavioral Theory of the
Firm. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1964.
Dexter, L. A. Elite and Specialized Interviewing.
Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970.
Epstein, Cynthia. Woman's Place: Options and Limits on
Professional Careers. Berkley: University of
California Press, 1971.
Etzioni, Amitai. Complex Organizations.
The Free Press, 1961.

New York:

Farber, Seymour M. and Wilson, Roger H. L. (ed). The
Potential of Women. New York: McGraw Hill Book
Co., Inc., 1963.
Forgarty, Michael et al. Women In Top Jobs.
George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971.

176

London:

177
Glaser, B. and Strauss, G. Organizational Careers: A
Sourcebook for Theory. Chicago, 111.: Aldine
Pub. Co., 1968.
Heydebrand, W. V. (ed). Comparative Organizations.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1973.
Higgenson, Margaret V. and Quick, Thomas L. The Ambitious
Woman's Guide to a Successful Career. AMACON.
Division of American Management Association, 1975.
Kundsin, Ruth B. (ed). Women and Success.
The Anatomy
of Achievement. New York: Wm. Morrow & Co., Inc.,
1974.
Loring, Rosalind and Wells, Theodora. Breakthrough;
Women In Management. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold Co., 1972.
March, J. and Simon H.
Wiley, 1967.

Organizations.

New York: John

Newcomer, Mabel. The Big Business Executive 1900-1950.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1955.
Nie, et al. Statistical Package for Social Sciences.
New York: McGraw Hill, 1975.
Oppenheim, A. N. Questionnaire Design and Attitude
Measurement. New York: Basic Books, 1966.
Pugh, D. S. (ed). Organization Theory.
Penguin Books, Inc., 1973.

Baltimore:

Rossi, Alice (ed). Academic Women on the Move.
Russell Sage Foundation, 1973.

New York:

Theordore, Athena (ed). The Professional Woman. Cam­
bridge, Mass.: Schenckman Pub. Co., Inc., 1971.
Weick, Karl E. The Social Psychology of Organizing.
Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1969.
Woytanowitz, George M. University Extension in the Early
Years in the United States 18 85-1915. National
University Extension Association and The American
College Testing Program, 1974.

178
Journals
Booth, Alan.
"Sex and Social Participation." American
Sociological Review, Vol. 37 (April 1972), 183-193.
Cohen, Michael.
"An Empirical Foundation for an Explanation
of Organizational Mobility." Human Organization,
Vol. 31, No. 3 (Fall 1972), 291-302.
Hage, J.

"Axiomatic Theory of Organizations." Administra­
tive Science Quarterly, Vol. 10 (1965) 285-320.

Kanter, Rosabeth.
"Why Bosses Turn Bitchy."
Today (May 1976), 56-65.

Psychology

Ladd, Everett Car11, J. and Lippset, Seymour Martin.
"Faculty Women: Little Gain in Status." The
Chronicle of Higher Education (September 29, 1975)
2

.

Maccoby, Eleanor E . , and Jacklin, Carol Nagy.
"What We
Know and Don't Know About Sex Differences."
Psychology Today (December 1974) 109-112.
National University Extension Association, SPECTATOR.
(June 1974) 20-26. Reported by Stanley J. Drazek.
O'Leary, Virginia.
"Some Attitudinal Barriers to Occupa­
tional Aspirations in Women." Psychological
Bulletin, Vol. 81, No. 11 (1974) 809-826.
Robertson, Wyndam.
"The Ten Highest-Ranking Women In
Big Business." Fortune (April 1973) 81-89.
Terborg, James R. and Ilgen, Daniel R.
"A Theoretical
Approach to Sex Discrimination in Traditionally
Masculine Occupations." Organization Behavior
and Human Performance (1975) 352-376.
Burstyn, Joan.
"Striving For Equality, Higher Education
for Women in the U.S. Since 1900." University
College Quarterly, Michigan State University,
January 1973.
Unpublished Materials
Stevenson, Florence.
"Women Administrators in Big Ten
Universities." Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan
State University, 1973.

179
U.S. Government Publications
A Statistical Portrait of Women In The U.S.
Current Population Reports, Special Studies, Series P-23,
No. 58. U.S. Bureau of Census, Department of
Commerce, April 1976.
To Form A More Perfect Union. U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C., 1976.
Association Annual Reports
National University Extension Association, 1972, 1974, 1975.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A
LETTER AND FORMS TO DIVISION DIRECTORS

APPENDIX A
LETTER AND FORMS TO DIVISION DIRECTORS
To: Deans or Director of Division of Continuing Education.
June 6, 1976
Dear Dean

(Director):

A current dissertation research in progress in
the Department of Adult and Continuing Education at Michi­
gan State University has as one of its prime objectives:
to gain a perspective of certain developments in general
university continuing education divisions in public insti­
tutions of higher education during the years 1960-1976.
You may have been present when Dr. Buschman introduced
this topic at one of your recent meetings.
More specifically, the objective is to gain a
perspective about program-position development and staffing
patterns during these years.
It is at point that you as a
director could be helpful to the research.
Responses are
desired concerning the professional positions and staffing
patterns which occurred in the division at your institu­
tion. A set of forms is enclosed for your use for this
purpose.
This inquiry may be completed by you or another
individual knowledgeable with the events and records of
the professional personnel of the division.
In the manner of standard procedures in disserta­
tion research the institution identification would be
coded in the analysis and final report and would not be
identified by name.
A report of the results could be provided to you
if you indicate interest in receiving such a copy.

18 0

181
To meet the dissertation time-schedule the in­
formation concerning your division can be most useful if
returned within one-week to ten-days.
Please accept a
deadline date of June 17 and return your data on or
before June 17 in the stamped addressed envelope provided.
Sincerely,

Lois Bauer
Dissertation Researcher

Dr. Buschman, Dissertation Advisor

182

List the Professional Positions and the Professional
Personnel Occupying Each Position in Your Division for
the Year 1960.
YEAR 1960
Professional Position

Name of Individual
Occupying This Position

Dean or Director
Other Positions

(Identical pages for each year 1960 through 1976.)

183

Please complete these items about your division and
university.
1.

What is the beginning date of this division of contin­
uing education at your university? _____________________

2.

What is the official date of the founding of your
university? __________________________________

3.

What is the official name of your university?

4.

What is the name of the present chief administrator
of this division of continuing education?

5.

What is the office address of the present chief
administrator of this division of continuing education?

6.

Would you be interested in receiving a copy of the
findings of this research in abstract form? ______

Please sign: Individual completing form
Official approval: _______

APPENDIX B
LETTER AND FORMS TO WOMEN
AND
INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX B
LETTER AND FORMS TO WOMEN
AND
INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear
As a professional woman associated with a division
of continuing education you have enclosed a unique
opportunity to participate in a research study which has
as its main focus the careers of professional women.
The professional literature tells us little about
women who have had careers in organizations.
This
research assisted by your participation will provide
valuable information to help understand circumstances
surrounding the careers of professional women.
The
study is conducted as a dissertation to complete re­
quirements for the PhD degree with the Department of
Adult and Continuing Education at Michigan State Univer­
sity.
The purpose of this research is to obtain infor­
mation about you as a professional women presently asso­
ciated with a division of continuing education.
The enclo­
sures were designed to obtain your responses with a mini­
mum of effort.
They were tested this summer with women
who had various career histories.
All reported interest
and enthusiasm in participating and indicated no difficul­
ties with the items in reporting and discussing their
careers.
One enclosure seeks information of interest to the
research about your employment experiences, another about
your education.
A VITA or Resume may be provided for
these facts.
The goal is to obtain factual information
of your specific and unique circumstances with as many
details as you can offer.
Your responses should then
be accurate of your situation.
184

185
A third enclosure will ask you to provide a pre­
ferred choice of time when I can reach you to complete the
research with a brief telephone interview. You may indi­
cate either a home phone or office phone number, perhaps
at a location and a time when you are free of distractions
and interferences and would be at ease in responding.
While there will be no monetary cost to you for the tele­
phone interview, we can observe that rates are less after
five o'clock and in the later evening, and I could arrange
to call you during these times.
The time which other respondents have been able to
share for the interview has varied, but generally 30
minutes seems to be an average.
As with standard procedures of this type research
your responses will not be identified by name in the
dissertation.
If you would like a copy of the findings
in abstract form please indicate on the enclosure.
A return in tomorrow's mail would be ideal, and
a return within one-week would be the preferred deadline.
It is with much eagerness and interest that I
look forward to receiving your reply and hearing about your
career and concerns.
Sincerely,

Lois M. Bauer

P. 1.

QUESTIONNAIRE SCHEDULE

The purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain
information about YOU as a professional woman associated
with a division of continuing education. The items are
intended to obtain factual information of your specific
and unique circumstances and with as many details as
you can offer.
This portion seeks information in two areas of
interest: (1) prior experiences, (2) education activities.
A prepared VITA or resume may be provided in lieu of the
items on page 1 and 2.
In the following section please indicate your work
experiences, including (a) any other positions which you
may have held with the institution with which you are now
associated, and (b) work experiences which you may have
held with other institutions and organizations. Please
begin with your current or most recent position.
YOUR NAME:
NAME OF INSTITUTIONS
OR ORGANIZATIONS
OF EMPLOYMENT

DATES OF
POSITIONS

TITLES, DUTIES,
RESPONSIBILITIES

(If further space is required to provide the history of
your work experiences, please include such information on
additional pages and return with this questionnaire.)

Please complete the next section

P. 2.

QUESTIONNAIRE

In this section are research items of interest about your education since high
school graduation.
Please list below information about your education, beginning with the
most recent.
NAME(S) OF INSTITUTION(S)
ATTENDED

DATES
ATTENDED

MAJOR
EMPHASIS

DEGREE, AND
DATE RECEIVED

{Please attach additional pages with details of your education if more space is needed.)

188
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
To fully complete this research— concerned with the careers
of professional women— you are asked to indicate several
time-periods when you are very likely to be able to parti­
cipate in a telephone interview. You may indicate either
a home phone or an office phone number.
It is suggested
that you choose a location and a time when you will be at
ease in responding.
To assist with the research, please consider your timeperiods for the interview between today's date and
NAME:
1st
Choice: Date

Time:

Phone:

2nd
Choice: Date

Time:

Phone:

3rd
Choice: Date

Time:

Phone:

Other
Alternative:

(please specify)

Would you be interested in receiving an abstract of this
research?
Yes ______________
No______________
If YES, please indicate name and address to which such a
copy could be sent:
NAME:
ADDRESS:

189
Interview Format: Guideline for Inquiry.
Remarks enclosed in parenthesis ( ) would be directed to
women no longer employed in the divisions of
continuing education.
Regarding your present position as ________________
(Regarding your former position as _______________with_____ )
1.

What is (was) the title of the position? ______________

2.

How many years have you occupied this position? ______
(did you occupy this position? _________ )

3.

Is (was) your appointment:
Full-time _____
or Part-time_____
Tenured ______
orNon tenured_____
Permanent _____ or Temporary_____

4.

Does

5.

Do you have any other rank in the institution?
Yes ___ No____
If Yes, which rank ___________

6.

Is (Was) your position considered an "administrative"
position? Yes ___ No____

7.

What responsibilities do (did) you have in this posi­
tion?
What are (were) your main duties?
What do (did) you spend most of your work hours
doing?

8.

How many levels are (were) there between your position
and that of the top administrator of your division?

9.

When you first occupied this position, was it a
new position ___ , or a continuing position ___ ?

(Did) the position have an "AP" rank? Yes __ No__
If Yes, which "AP" rank? ____
If No, explain. _______________

If a New position, was it created to
serve new clients
initiate a new program
assist the director
implement new technology
conduct a joint program with___________________ __
another group __
other, specify reason _______________________

190
10.

Is (Was) this position primarily an experimental
program?
Yes
No
. Explain circumstances ________________

11.

How is (was) the position financed?
Grant funds ___
Institution budget ___
Other, explain ____________________

12.

If the position no longer exists:
What were the circumstances which resulted in dis­
continuing the position? __________________________

13.

Are (Were) you a member of any boards or policy-making
groups at your university or college? Yes
No__
If Yes, which group ________________

14.

Are you, or have you been, a member of any boards of
policy-making groups in your community? Yes
No__
If yes, which groups __________________
Any of the following? NOW ___
AAUW
_
League of Women Voters
Women's Commission____
National Women’s Political Caucus ___
Any others? __________________

15.

Have you ever run for elective governmental office?
Yes
No
If Yes, which office ______ :__________
What were the circumstances?_______________________

16.

One of the interests of this research is your inter­
pretation of the circumstances and events that made
it possible for you to attain the position which
you presently occupy (formerly occupied).
How did you find out about this job?
How were you selected for this job?
What do you believe were the factors that made it
possible for you to get this position rather than
another candidate?

A copy of respondent's VITA or RESUME could substitute for
the following two inquiries.
17.

Secure educational experiences as P. 2 of question­
naire.

18.

Secure employment record as P. 1 of questionnaire.

19.

What additional education would you like to pursue?
none
Degree
, which degree_____________
other, explain _____________
undecided_____________

191
20.

Which higher level positions are you presently
qualified to occupy? ________ _________________
(were you qualified to o c c u p y ) ______

21.

What do you expect to be doing five years from now?
same work
other work
what type ____

22.

What do you see as the likely routes to your career
advancement?
with your present organization __________________
with your present profession ____________________
with your present position ______________________
other, explain ___________________________________

23.

Has your career been positively advanced due to the
affirmative action plan at your institution?
Yes
No
Other, explain ________________

24.

Has your career been influenced by any of these media?
Newspaper articles of your activities? Yes
No___
Appearances on television? Yes
No___
Public relation releases about you? Yes
No
Articles in professional journals? Yes
No___

25.

What is your present age?