Middletown transcript., 1896-06-20
COLLEGE WOMEN.

/ The subject of college womer, " la
becomes of them after they leave col
lege and what effect higher educ3ti,r
has upon them is attracting earnest at
tention just now. Numerous maya
zine articles are being printed on th'
| subject and labor bureaus are collect
ing and publishing interesting Stats
tics to help on the discussion. All thi!
information will 60 to correct enron
eous ideas on the sub ject and help the
public to form correct judgment as
to the value of college education fol-
women.
The point which seems to interest
people most in this discussion is as to
the probability of college women mar
rying. The admission of women to
the higher institutions of learning is
too recent and information is too
meager to give conclusive answer to
this question, but if the figures given
are trustworthy women graduates have
fewer chances or less inclina tion to-
wards marrying than their sisters with
not so many educational advantages.
Taking two of the leading women,s
colleges in the country and it is found
at. Bryn Mawr only fifteen young wo-
men have married out Of the LAG grad
yates of that institution. But it should
be remembered that in this case
here are no graduates of
more than six years standing and that
it is a we'll known disposition of wo-
men graduates to marry later in life.
Bryn Mawr can hardly ther efore be
taken as fair index of the proportion
of college women marrying.
A better criterion is Vassar College,
because it has been in existence lon
ger and has larger alumnae. But as
the first class of that institution grad
uated in 1867 its history covers only
twenty EIGHT years and some of the
more recent grad uating classes can in
fairness hardly be taken into. account.
The whole number of graduates is 1882
and of these 400, Or 3S per cent, have
married. But the proportion of mar
riages in the older classes is much
greater than in the later classes. Of
the first class gradual ed rs per cent.
married, of the second class go per
cent. and of The third class SO per cent.
These large percentages of married d
Vassar graduates justify the remark Of
a speaker at the last alumnae luncheon
that: "Our matrons have allayed the
terrors of man lest he be left forlorn
bachelor wandering at the foot Of the
mountains of science and art while
woman in her maiden robes disappears
from sight in clouds of the summit
A wider view of the subject is taken
in recent article in the" Century Mag
aziae" which sums up the statistics
from fifteen leading colleges, coeduca- |
tlonal and separate, in this country.
Ut 1905 women graduates from all
these institutions 2S per cent. have
But as the classes become
older the proportion of marriages
steadily increases. After thirty years
Of age 43.7 per cent. of women college
graduates marry; after thirty-fve years
1877 per cent, and after forty years
a. 5 per cent. And it is concluded that
% per cent. is the ultimate probability
If college woman's marrying. AS
10 per cent. of other women marry 1t
nusti be concluded that there is one
'hird less chance of college women
graduates marrying than their less
highly educated sisters. But larger
proportion of American girls marry
han English girls. Out of 223 young
women who have taken classical,
and mathematical honors at In
triton College, England, only twenty II
hree have married and only one in i
zine or Ten of the Newnham Woman'S .
,ollege graduates marry.
For this falling off in the proportion IS
# graduates who marry several causes /
an be assigned. One is that women /
,raduates contain the larger percent j
age Of those-Hho would never marry a
whether they went to college or not.
Another reason is that by obtaining a
ollege education they secure better 4
nd higher paid employment and do q
lot have to look to marriage for sup /,
ert. A third reason is that college !,
ducation advances woman's ideal Of 3
that husband should be and restricts j
er field of choice and consequently Is
er chances of marrying. But no sta 4
istics yet gathered need excite fear 4
hat the higher education of women .,
ill seriously interfere with the home :,
fe OF the nation or restrict the in :
rease in population. ii
Papa, is the moon dead worldp" v =
= Yes, my boy. y :,
What killed it2,'.
Being up too much nights. Now
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