In March, 1965, seven hundred and seventy seven (i.e. almost two-thirds of the total) Minneapolis elementary school teachers completed a questionnaire expressing agreement or disagreement with each of 186 statements about disadvantaged children. The modal respondent was white, female, married, from the Midwest, of middle-class origins, of average…

This collection of papers reflects varied aspects of the female condition. Each documents a perspective on that condition: "Woman as Artistic Innovator" comments on female choreographers; "City Women and Religious Change in Sixteenth-Century France" explores the impact of the Reformation on one particular group of women; "Women and the Jural…

Using primary source documents, this teaching unit focuses on changing women's roles, growing awareness of gender inequities, and activist responses to these conditions in the United States between 1820 and 1860. Teacher background materials include a unit overview, correlation to National Standards for United States History, unit objectives, a…

Using a questionnaire, this study investigates what representatives of the American English and Mandarin cultures say when they want to refuse a request. Findings stress the differences between the strategies of refusal such as expressing or avoiding an expression of a positive attitude, or giving external or personal reasons for refusing. (18…

Describes the development and expansion of formal education for women in Saudi Arabia since 1960. Discusses girls' curriculum in elementary and secondary schools, the influence of conservative attitudes toward sex roles, and the growth of female higher education despite a lack of female employment. Contains 20 references. (SV)

Gifted adolescent females (N=122) in a seminar on careers and intellectual opportunities for women were surveyed for attitudes toward gender equality. Although 75 percent of the sample strongly agreed that women should expect equality in professional and academic domains, belief in equality in dating, marriage, and etiquette was far more variable.…

In-depth interviews with 10 working-class lesbians, aged 16-22, examined how they envisioned their lives, their experiences related to sexual orientation growing up and in school, meanings and consequences of being poor and working class, and additional difficulties for minority-group lesbians. Most interviewees had goals of partaking in the…

The beliefs of 356 Jordanian women about wife-beating were investigated, using a self-administered questionnaire. The participants showed a strong tendency to justify wife-beating, to believe that women benefit from violence against them, and to blame women for their beating. Furthermore, the participants expressed clear opposition to formal…

This article considers Bourdieu's concepts of "social capital" and "social fields", comparing and contrasting his use of these concepts with that of James Coleman and Robert Putnam. It examines how Bourdieu's ideas offer a different way of understanding the lives of economically disadvantaged young women designated as "at…

This conference proceedings focuses on structuring classrooms to optimize learning among Alberta (Canada) gifted students. The first paper, "Optimizing Parent Potential" (Trudy A. Harrold), describes a model and a process for helping parents acquire knowledge, organize their thinking, and act from a realistic base when dealing with their gifted…

This study presents a summary of the major research findings on the factors that constrain girls' schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa. The factors are discussed under three categories: (1) sociocultural and socioeconomic factors; (2) factors related to the school environment; and (3) political and institutional factors. The study provides an outline…

This study examined similarities and differences in attitudes between men and women full-time administrators, faculty, staff, and students on various advocacy issues such as harassment, victims' rights, equity, educational funding, and politics. Surveys (N=210) were mailed to faculty, administrators and staff at Bowie State University (Maryland),…

Focusing on the changing roles and consciousness of women currently living in the Federal Republic of Germany, this report is organized under seven topical headings. The first section, "Women and Politics," comments on the increasing influence of women in local politics, with 36 women currently occupying the posts of Lord Mayor, Mayor,…

This introductory guide to sex role attitude measures used in the United States was designed to aid researchers in finding items for surveying sex role attitudes. Measures devised or published after July, 1974, or those used only in foreign surveys are not included. The compendium focuses on measures of peoples' attitudes rather than their…

In the realm of continuing education, synergy, when used to mean a working together on all phases of human rights, implies the promotion of an adult education vehicle to eliminate the cultural lag in the status of women. Recent United Nations actions (such as the establishment of International Women's Year and the World Plan of Action's pressing…