The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-11
LACK PRIVILEGES OF MEN.
WOMKN NOT SERIOUS RIVALS TO
THEM ~ HIGHER STUDY.
Although They Are Earnest They Fail to
Obtain Close Personal Relations He.
tween Instructor and student-A Grad
uate Girl student Explains II.

ate student, sinking into the green cushioned
wicker chair and deliberately drawing On her
castor gloves.
"Not n word Of what asked Ann, bringing
her a cup Of tea.
AN this stun about women having the same
privileges as men" replied the graduate student,
pushing up her veil and accepting the cup
There was a stir Of interest among the girls
who had met in the graduate clubrooms for their
afternoon tea. The Fellow in Mathematics &C.
cepted the challenge implied in the graduate
students words.
Why mott" she asked belligerently. At the
same time she put her empty cup on the table near
her, with a dangerous emphasis that came near
10 u~psetting IT,
Now, Jane, that's not fair, protested the grad
uate student. waving a peanut butter sandwich
vaguely in her direction. You have got an
advantage over me because you are through
eating and can give your whole mind TO the sub
jet Wal, until get caught up"
III you weren't ready, what made you start
with such an outrageous sentiment" asked
Ann, proiIering the fudge, and evidently trying
to hasten the graduate students tea drinking
no, thank you" said the graduate student,
ssee,ly. Not now, II you please. More sand
w h'' ui'i ~ 'iF W '''N's ~
come down from Boston today, and I've only
JUS, got here. ! haven't even been TO my room,
I've been thinking Of this subject all the way
on the train, and ! JUS, casually mentioned l., TO
Gu, out other topics. ! thought you might all
agree with me"
The graduate student was the picture Of limo
cence There was an impatient murmur, how
ever, that warned her to quit teasing
uIfn .,.ta NM p,npoeitiop " cba said Woman
never have the same educational advantages
as men. whether they 20 TO cutoff women's col
leges, like Bryn Mawr, Smith or Nassar, or To
anne1es connected with universities, like Rad
clife and Barnard, or to coeducational insti-
tutions like Chicago University and Ann Arbor
The education Of women, wherever they are,
differs in important respects form that Of men,
The result is thai, women do not and can not ac-
complish either as much or as good work as men
wait a minute" continued the graduate stu
dent to Jane, who ves bristling with con'radic-
ton I've got TO go a little beyond my propo-
sition. You understand that what say applies
to the so called higher education Of women, and
refers almost exclusively to their work in scholar
ship am not making any statement about
woman's natural ability. Her brain may be just
as good AZ a mans brain But the process Of
her education is different, and so are the results
Il do not care to discuss ordinary college work
preparatory To an A, b. degree. All the ques-
lions connected with that are settled, although
the world is not aware Of II yet Indergradu-
ate work for women differs very little from the
seminary work that was the rule fifty years ago
College is either q finishing school or a training
school for teachers. II IL an advance over the
old seminaries, but hardly more than the advance
OF education In every department would lead you
TO expect. The A. B is o commonplace, scarcely
more unusual than a high school diploma. Ny
proposition refers to women who are doing really
advanced work. graduate students like ourselves
We are not here for the kind Of an education that
will help US to shine in society, or 70 teach In sec.
ondary schools. We aim directly at com peting
with men In the life work Of scholarship The
question is, DO we do it, and. Can We do 1t under
the present "Reminiscences
"Unkind people. you know, say that women
graduate students can be divided into two classes,
the homely girls who can never succeed in mar.
rying, and the stupid girls who can never sue
coed in teaching. In hort. they say that We are
a collection Of failures Now we know that Is
who are not failures are farces OF whit-d s@pulchres.
You can take your choice among the words. We
pretend that We can do the work Of men and We
IN HlffnuOUNINs WV uil We w pIliutf
n single piece Of good, honest research work.
But il is closely modelled on some mans work
and inspired by some mans work, II is sci
dom truly original, either in method OF in result.
Nevertheless, such as II is, We all stand of and
admire il, and We say, There, wouldn't you think
n man did t. Could q man do II better" That
is what ! shall say when ! ge, my thesis done
work is as good as a mans. Here is another
proof Then you will poin, to my thesis You
all knew. didn't you, that went to cambridge
sible here | have been working in the
Harvard Library for a week. Doesn that sound
fine ] am spsring no effort TO make my thesis
correct. am working consciously for my sex.
| say. There shall be no sloyenliness that men
may call feminine, no sntimsntaity. no state
ments unsupported by authority. But II is all
negative merit, and my labor has been d~ispropor-
tionate TO the results. Even ii | &c, this one
thesis good, II is ten 10 one | never write another
A woman seldom does a second piece Of research
work. And | do not know Of a single woman
who is really an authority on her subject, SO that
her name attracts eager attention from her col
leagues, Who matches Zupitva, or Shtat, or
CASTOR Pans
The graduate student paused for breath. Then
she changed her tone and said TO Jane:
1T is your turn. tontradict me, while have
another cup of tea and the fudge and almonds
Il do contradict you, absolutely, in every asser-
ton, said Jane, without stopping 10 minCe words
There IL nothing a man studies that a woman
cannot study, somew here In this country. Every
day more institutions open their doors. We
read the same books, in the same way. In some
places We are taught by the same men, and II not
by the same men. by other men Just A. good. for
the professors in a wOman's college often have
had experience in other colleges, or GO to other
colleges later. The women who teach have had
the same training that the men have had, both
in this country and abroad, and are their equals.
4 girl can get exactly the same instruction that
her bro,hert gets. When II comes 10 passing
examinations She always Ouistrps him, That
shows her work Is better. Look Al Radcliffe, The
percentage Of girls who get a Summd rum idude
Is larger than the percentage Of men in Harvard.
In proportion 10 the numbers, Radcliffe takes
more honors. The professors say that the girls
invariably stand oral examinations better than
themen. II that isn I a test
oh, Jane, don't quote Radcliffe IN me- inter
rupted the graduate student. YOU are cnbhing
all thosa facts from what ! have told you, Don't
forget the rest Of the story, one 81 the inslrc
tors in English said that the average Of correct
writing was much higher in Radcliffe than in
Harvard. but that, on tho other hand, in wears
of experience, he had never got work much above
the average in Radcliffe, while in Harvard he did
constantly.
Still, persisted Jane, 81 do not see what grounds
you have for saying that women do not have the
they do not accomplish as good work. Grad
tlate study fr women IL a much later institution
Than the 4 Is training, grant, 50 there may
not tie such a considerable amount OF work in
their favor But II increases every year, and
! have never heard anything against its quality
You haven'tT' said the graduate student,
Indignantly How about the man | heard look
ing over u list OF publications who found a book
on the subject that he was working on, and started
Ia send for IT, but when he saw that the author
was a woman, exclaimed. Huh. ] don't need to
- ~ -. nth "A .. = T.. 49, = ,,n .,-- -