By Linda Grace-Kobas
Models of alternative pathways exemplified in the lives of Cornell women who graduated in the decade between 1953 and 1963 will become more common even for men as the workplace changes and the population ages, sociologist Phyllis Moen told a group of alumnae April 26.
There was no traditional life pattern shared by this group of Cornell women, now in their 50s and early 60s, Moen found in a survey of about 5,800 alumnae that drew in almost 800 responses.
"I saw the meaning of diversity," she commented at her presentation to the President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW). "No two women followed the same life course."
Moen, director of the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center in the College of Human Ecology, presented an analysis of the choices made by women university graduates who reached young adulthood before the feminist movement got under way.
Five years after graduation, about half the women were full-time homemakers, 31 percent were exclusively career women, 7 percent combined jobs and home, and the remainder put themselves in a "neither" category. Of the job holders, about 41 percent were teachers, 27 percent in health services, 11 percent in business and 11 percent in a "clerical" category that included executive assistant positions.
By 1995, the range of roles had changed: 14 percent were exclusively homemakers, 45 percent were exclusively career women, 12 percent combined home and career, and 27 percent described themselves as "neither," which Moen concluded could refer to active volunteers or retired persons.
"Women who graduated in the 1950s and '60s are pioneers not only for women but for men," Moen said. "There's a real sense of not being able to guess what future choices would be."
Men and children were primary forces directing women's lives, Moen said, commenting that she found many survey responses "very moving and meaningful" in what women revealed about their lives. Other turning points came with the deaths of parents or with health issues.
"In almost every response, Cornell was a turning point that shaped the lives of these women," Moen said, adding that a large number returned to school at some point. "It gave them the flexibility to deal with adversity and to change their lives when necessary."
A majority -- 64 percent -- of the Cornell alumnae described themselves as "very satisfied" with their lives; 68 percent are still "very healthy." Most of them volunteer for community service, and up to 90 percent regularly vote.
The diverse patterns seen in the lives of this group will increasingly become the norm for both men and women, Moen predicted.
"Jobs are created as if everyone had a full-time homemaker at home," she said. As there is less security in the workplace and more people change jobs, and even careers, several times in their lives, new patterns will evolve for men, women and the workplace.
Moen expressed concern about the expectations of her current students. "My young students think they can do everything," she said. "They don't realize there are tradeoffs. I fear they will be disappointed."
There is still a sense of expanding opportunities among the women of the classes of 1953-63, Moen said. Looking to the millennium, about 20 percent see themselves tackling new careers, either paid or volunteer.