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| Female Ivy League graduates have a duty to stay in the workforce | Female Ivy League graduates have a duty to stay in the workforce |
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| Recently Susan Patton provoked public ridicule for giving a piece of dating advice that would not have been controversial if doled out to a bunch of aspiring debutantes in the 1950s, but is debatable today. She encouraged young women currently attending her alma mater, Princeton University, to make the most of their time there, not by focusing on their grades, but instead focusing on coupling and marrying well. The idea that a mature, educated woman would counsel young, seemingly ambitious women to focus on pursuing a co-called "Mrs degree" was largely interpreted as antiquated and insulting. | Recently Susan Patton provoked public ridicule for giving a piece of dating advice that would not have been controversial if doled out to a bunch of aspiring debutantes in the 1950s, but is debatable today. She encouraged young women currently attending her alma mater, Princeton University, to make the most of their time there, not by focusing on their grades, but instead focusing on coupling and marrying well. The idea that a mature, educated woman would counsel young, seemingly ambitious women to focus on pursuing a co-called "Mrs degree" was largely interpreted as antiquated and insulting. |
| What has rarely been acknowledged during much of the ensuing fallout is a reality that appears to be confirmed by a new body of research: plenty of women that attend Ivy League and other elite institutions do marry well. Not only do they marry well, but at least in part because of doing so, many of them end up with the financial stability to leave the workforce. Here's a question more controversial than Patton's thesis: should they? More pointedly, do the best-educated women in America have a responsibility to use the tools they acquire at top educational institutions to stay in the workplace and shatter glass ceilings? | What has rarely been acknowledged during much of the ensuing fallout is a reality that appears to be confirmed by a new body of research: plenty of women that attend Ivy League and other elite institutions do marry well. Not only do they marry well, but at least in part because of doing so, many of them end up with the financial stability to leave the workforce. Here's a question more controversial than Patton's thesis: should they? More pointedly, do the best-educated women in America have a responsibility to use the tools they acquire at top educational institutions to stay in the workplace and shatter glass ceilings? |
| According to a paper published by Vanderbilt University economist Joni Hersch, titled "Opting Out among Women with Elite Education," women who attend the most selective colleges and universities in America are less likely than women who attend less selective institutions to work. When they do, they work fewer hours. Hersch told the New York Daily News: | According to a paper published by Vanderbilt University economist Joni Hersch, titled "Opting Out among Women with Elite Education," women who attend the most selective colleges and universities in America are less likely than women who attend less selective institutions to work. When they do, they work fewer hours. Hersch told the New York Daily News: |
| "There are several reasons. One of the reasons is in fact the spouse. Tier one graduates are more likely to be married to men who have higher earnings potential." | "There are several reasons. One of the reasons is in fact the spouse. Tier one graduates are more likely to be married to men who have higher earnings potential." |
Hersch was inspired to conduct her study of more than 33,000 married women with children under the age of 18 after meeting so many well educated women who were not in the workforce. | Hersch was inspired to conduct her study of more than 33,000 married women with children under the age of 18 after meeting so many well educated women who were not in the workforce. |
| Hersch's research may mark a new chapter in the so-called "Mommy Wars" between stay-at-home mothers and those who judge them. While most sane and fair people can agree that any woman has the right to make whatever choice she believes is best for her family – whether that is choosing to stay home full-time or work outside of the home – there is far less consensus on whether women have a definite responsibility to make choices for the good of all women, such as putting an elite degree to use outside of the home. | Hersch's research may mark a new chapter in the so-called "Mommy Wars" between stay-at-home mothers and those who judge them. While most sane and fair people can agree that any woman has the right to make whatever choice she believes is best for her family – whether that is choosing to stay home full-time or work outside of the home – there is far less consensus on whether women have a definite responsibility to make choices for the good of all women, such as putting an elite degree to use outside of the home. |
| According to an analysis by Forbes, more than a third of all US presidents, supreme court justices, and current members of the Senate attended an Ivy League school. These numbers merely confirm what many of us already knew: that elite institutions are training grounds for the future elite. Instead of acting simply as educational institutions they also serve as pathways to power. Obviously obtaining power requires more than just obtaining an a top tier degree. There are many stars that have to align for one to become a president, senator, or Fortune 500 executive. But the most important star that has to align for professional success is that one has to actively be in the professional workplace. Not enough women with such elite degrees are. | According to an analysis by Forbes, more than a third of all US presidents, supreme court justices, and current members of the Senate attended an Ivy League school. These numbers merely confirm what many of us already knew: that elite institutions are training grounds for the future elite. Instead of acting simply as educational institutions they also serve as pathways to power. Obviously obtaining power requires more than just obtaining an a top tier degree. There are many stars that have to align for one to become a president, senator, or Fortune 500 executive. But the most important star that has to align for professional success is that one has to actively be in the professional workplace. Not enough women with such elite degrees are. |
| I am not someone who believes that every woman should be made to feel as though they must choose between being committed to their children or committed to the sisterhood of women's advancement. But I do consider any Harvard Law School degree obtained by a woman who then chooses not to use it in any sort of professional capacity throughout most of her life a wasted opportunity. That degree could have gone to a woman who does want to spend her entire life using it to advance the cause of women – or others in need of advancement – not simply advancing the lives of her own family at home, which is a noble cause, but not one requiring an elite degree. | I am not someone who believes that every woman should be made to feel as though they must choose between being committed to their children or committed to the sisterhood of women's advancement. But I do consider any Harvard Law School degree obtained by a woman who then chooses not to use it in any sort of professional capacity throughout most of her life a wasted opportunity. That degree could have gone to a woman who does want to spend her entire life using it to advance the cause of women – or others in need of advancement – not simply advancing the lives of her own family at home, which is a noble cause, but not one requiring an elite degree. |
| Of course this brings me back to the elephant in the room, the elephant Ms Patton, of Princeton dating advice fame, raised. Here's the politically incorrect reality: some women do select institutions of higher education, and certain degree programs, based on the likelihood of such programs to introduce them to men. Specifically men who are likely to become more than just dates, but potential mates – ones who may just have extra potential for professional success based on their ability to get into an elite school. | Of course this brings me back to the elephant in the room, the elephant Ms Patton, of Princeton dating advice fame, raised. Here's the politically incorrect reality: some women do select institutions of higher education, and certain degree programs, based on the likelihood of such programs to introduce them to men. Specifically men who are likely to become more than just dates, but potential mates – ones who may just have extra potential for professional success based on their ability to get into an elite school. |
| Anyone – feminist or otherwise – who tries to deny this is either lying or extremely naïve. I attended an Ivy for graduate school and while I certainly didn't select it because I considered it an alternative to Match.com, I had plenty of candid conversations with friends who discussed their goals of marrying by a certain age and who hoped that attending the right graduate school might introduce them to a pool of men who would help them achieve their goal accordingly. | Anyone – feminist or otherwise – who tries to deny this is either lying or extremely naïve. I attended an Ivy for graduate school and while I certainly didn't select it because I considered it an alternative to Match.com, I had plenty of candid conversations with friends who discussed their goals of marrying by a certain age and who hoped that attending the right graduate school might introduce them to a pool of men who would help them achieve their goal accordingly. |
| This is not necessarily wrong on its face. After all, our peers play a bigger role than we like to admit in determining what job we choose, and ultimately what school we select. But in the long run, degrees from competitive institutions should serve as more than modern day charm school or debutante diplomas. Sadly, it appears some women and men see them as such, simply a piece of paper to affirm that a woman is good spouse material for yet another man to use his Harvard Law degree to make partner at a law firm, while his wife stays home, never using hers. | This is not necessarily wrong on its face. After all, our peers play a bigger role than we like to admit in determining what job we choose, and ultimately what school we select. But in the long run, degrees from competitive institutions should serve as more than modern day charm school or debutante diplomas. Sadly, it appears some women and men see them as such, simply a piece of paper to affirm that a woman is good spouse material for yet another man to use his Harvard Law degree to make partner at a law firm, while his wife stays home, never using hers. |
| Perhaps instead of bickering over whether or not colleges and universities should ask us to check boxes declaring our racial identity, the next frontier of the admissions should revolve around asking people to declare what they actually plan to do with their degrees. There's nothing wrong with someone saying that her dream is to become a full-time mother by 30. That is an admirable goal. What is not admirable is for her to take a slot at Yale Law School that could have gone to a young woman whose dream is to be in the Senate by age 40 and in the White House by age 50. | Perhaps instead of bickering over whether or not colleges and universities should ask us to check boxes declaring our racial identity, the next frontier of the admissions should revolve around asking people to declare what they actually plan to do with their degrees. There's nothing wrong with someone saying that her dream is to become a full-time mother by 30. That is an admirable goal. What is not admirable is for her to take a slot at Yale Law School that could have gone to a young woman whose dream is to be in the Senate by age 40 and in the White House by age 50. |
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