Class Survey Report

In preparation for the 50th reunion of the Radcliffe Class of 1957, detailed surveys were sent to all 205 alumnae known to be living and for whom there was an address. There were 107 responses. The results were presented during the class meeting at the reunion and the results are summarized here.

In the survey the characteristics of the class were documented. Seventy-five percent of the class reported they were Democrats, 14 were Independents, 9 Republicans, 2 had no party affiliation and 8 did not answer the question. Sixty-one percent said they were unchanged over the years, 33% had become more liberal, 5% more conservative and 9% did not answer.

Religion was reported as Protestant in 47 (45%), Jewish in 13, Catholic in 6, other in 4 and none in 35 (33%). Of those indicating a religion, 59% attended services regularly. Ninety-three percent were computer literate and used internet and email, while 5 did not use a computer. Currently 75% live with a spouse, 21 % live alone and the remainder with a partner, children or other.

Ninety-seven percent had been married at least once, with 73 having one marriage, 27 two and 4 three marriages. Only 3 had never been married. Twenty-one married prior to graduation, 40 within the year of graduation, 25 classmates married two to 5 years, 8 six to 10 years and 6 more than 11 years after graduation. Thus approximately 87% married prior to the age of 26 or 27. These marriages resulted in divorce 33% of the time.

A very high divorce rate (62%) was noted in those marrying prior to graduation and when these were not included the divorce rate was 25%. Nearly two-thirds (62%) married a graduate of Harvard University. It was noted that many were married for a long time; 57 have celebrated 30 years of marriage, 49 celebrated 40 years and 27 either already have or are about to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Eleven were widowed during the first marriage on average after 30 years.

In keeping with the standard at the time of their marriages, 90 of our classmates changed their names at marriage, 9 did not change their names, and 3 used both names. Not enough information was available to determine the frequency with which classmates changed their names on subsequent marriages.

Of the 104 married, 13 had no children and of the 91 with children there were a total of 269 excluding stepchildren. On average from the entire class reporting, there were 2.5 children per alumnae. Fifty-seven of these children attended Harvard/Radcliffe, the off-spring of 35 of our classmates. There were 64 step children among 20 alumnae including 3 with no biologic children of their own.

All alumnae had been employed at some time although three stated they never really had a career and mostly did volunteer work. The most common (87%) reason to stop working was the arrival of children although marriage, ill health, looking after parents and moving to a new location were also cited.

Ninety-four percent worked when the youngest child was less than 18 years of age and 59% worked while a child was still pre-school age. After childbirth, 31% returned to work within the year, 21 % by 5 years, 22 % between 6 to 10 years, 7% between 11 to 15 years and 2% after the child was age 16. The earliest return to work reported was "immediately" and another said one week.

There were 32 who had worked full time until the present or until retirement. Of these; 69% have children, 24% were married without children and 6% were unmarried. At the time of the 50th reunion there were still 42 % of alumnae reporting still working, many self employed in the arts or as consultants. Those who gave their time commitment reported that 64% were part time and 36% were full time.

Seventy-nine of the 107 (74%) surveyed had received at least one post graduate degree, 29 (27%) had received two degrees and 4 or 4% had received three degrees. Of those reporting the location of these degrees, 19% were granted by Harvard. The type of degree was most often Masters (79), and also included PhD (15), JD (5), MD (4) and MBA (3). This search for continued education was not limited to the immediate post graduate years with 32 degrees earned in the period 1958 1963, 11 each in the 1964-1969 and 1970-1974 periods, 10 during 1975-1979, 7 during 1980-1984, 3 during 1985-1990 and 4 1990-2007.

Comparison with the rate of postgraduate degrees on 50 year college surveys from our sister schools show that others graduating around 1957 usually only had postgraduate degrees in about 50 to 60% of the class. This demonstrates the high value placed on academic education by the class of 1957.

Alumnae were asked "What did you like about Radcliffe?" and were asked to check as many items as they wished from a choice of about 20 items as well as a write-in section. Their choices reflected their seriousness of purpose and value placed on academics. Eighty-nine percent chose academic experience, 84% intellectual stimulation, 69% friendships, 59% inspiring teachers and 57% proximity to Harvard.

What would they have changed to make their experiences even better? Inadequate advising was chosen by 72%, lack of closer access to professors (57%), Harvard resources inaccessible (53%) and aloof professors (47%).

When asked if they experienced discrimination as an undergraduate, only 24% noted this, as a graduate student, again 23% but when asked about their experiences as an employee, 61% felt they were discriminated against nearly all on gender basis. The fields of graduate study and employment reporting no or rare discrimination were those primarily involving women at that time; teaching, social work, arts, secretarial and philanthropy.

The fields of graduate study and employment with most reports of discrimination were law, medicine, architecture, urban planning, journalism, intelligence, finance, computers, engineering, diplomacy, business and rarely education at the university level.

Alumnae were asked "In what ways did attending Radcliffe influence your life?" In their answers 37% said it made them a more intellectually curious, more academic and more inquiring while 13% said they met their future husband and 9% noted it gave them more confidence and 6% said it helped them get to graduate schools, jobs and careers. Only 3% stated it had no influence at all. When asked if they would go to Harvard/Radcliffe again 63% said they would although many added they would not likely be admitted again. An overwhelming majority (70%) stated they would never go to an all women's college.

When asked about the most significant things since their graduation affecting life in general or affecting women in particular, 44% pointed to the feminist movement, 29% to information technology and computers, 27% to various wars, 24% birth control, 24% civil rights, 15% abortion rights and 13% chose 9/11.

"What has been your greatest disappointment?" generated three main responses; 32% listed some very personal disappointment concerning their families, children, divorce, premature deaths etc, while 19% listed society in general, politics, the world situation, wars or man's impact on the environment. There were 32% who felt that they had not accomplished as much as they could have, they had not established a career, they had not gone to graduate school, and they did not make full use of their capacity or did not make an impact on the world. When asked if they felt "old", only 12% said "yes", 62% gave a resounding "no" and 21% a more cautious "it depends" not just on the weather or their health but also on what needed to be done.

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