Evening star., 1932-10-02

cational guidance at one Of its most
strategic points. where the choice OF a
college education involving the expendi-
ture of some thousands of dollars is at
issue. At this point such questions as
these must be decided
Should college education be under
taken at all?
If SO, what kind Of college? Liberal
arts, professional, engineering, Co
educational, etc?
Having selected the type OF college,
should it be one with the highest schol-
aStic standing. or average, or low?
Many a child is hurt permanently By
being allowed to go to a college which
he cannot complete because Of it's high
standards and the severe competition.
Psychological tests, standardized on the
performance Of many thousands Of stu
dents in different institutions. make
possible a wiser decision in respect to
this question.
Peter, twenty years old. had been
persuaded by his father, who was a
lawyer. to go to liberal arts college
as a step in preparation for the legal
profession, The father had died just
before his sons graduation. Upon
graduation the son decided definitely
against the study Of law and began
work in a large advertising company.
Even though he had made a brilliant
record in college and was doing well in
his job, he was very unhappy regard
ing vocation.
Course in Secretarial Work.
He also had begun a night course in
secretarial work The tests given reveal
that obviously this young man should
have gone to an engineering school and
v,,,n I,t La,- - ltat rk,ar
cal engineer. The thwarting of his in
terests and aptitudes in this respect,
and his subsequent forced development
of other activities. were sufficient to ac-
count for his marked tendency toward
a worry and concern about himself
The problem then became one OF
evolving the best compromise between
his abilities and his altered financial
circumstances.
In considering fields involving ma
chinery but not an engineering degree.
the one which aroused an immediate
response was aviation. Peter. at one
time keen about aviation. had given
up his dream after his fathers death
because he had considered aviation
only from the standpoint of being a
pilot. He now decided to enter avia-
ton at the bottom. becoming in turn a
mechanics helper and then mechanic,
looking forward ultimately toward a
executive position in traffic or sales pro-
motion. a phase of aviation which his
aggressive and dynamic personality
warranted him in considering possible.
This analysis and the course planned
was submitted by Peter to several offi-
cials in aviation who gave it their ap-
proval and made additional suggestions,
Vocational guidance for girls and
young women presents somewhat more
difficult problems than exist in the
case Of men. This is due partly to the
fact that our educational system for
girls rests largely on the assumption
that woman's place is in the home.
This is particularly true Of our larger
colleges for women. in which the OPP
portunities for specific vocational
preparation are decidedly limited. To
obtain a college education with voca-
tional emphasis. girls must go either
to co-educational university where
their opportunities are equal to those
of the male students. or they must 60
to a girls school specifically devoted
to vocational courses.
Margery Case Illustrative.
The case Of Margery illustrates this
problem in characteristic fashion.
Margery was a high school senior who
wanted to go to college. but whose
parents were unwilling to make the
necessary sacrifice unless this educa
tion involved some specific vocational
preparation. Margery, being level