APPENDIX A

The Survey and Its Results

Because the author was interested in obtaining some information about the women who had attended William and Mary between 1918 and 1945 which was not available from the resources at her disposal, she designed a survey to gather that information. Her chief interest was to learn something about the family background of the women, specifically what kinds of jobs their parents held and what the parents' educational background was. Other information, such as majors and minors, religion, jobs held by the alumnae after leaving college, and reasons for attending college, was also sought. The survey was sent to almost three thousand alumnae, and over 1300 were returned. A copy of the cover letter and the survey can be found in Appendix B, and a partial statistical summary of the results in Appendix C. The completed survey forms and a more complete statistical summary can be found in the College Archives.1 Some of the results have been discussed in the body of the thesis; this appendix will go into more detail with the answers to the other questions.

The question asking for factors which influenced the individual's decision for attending college was not on all surveys forms because it was added after a number of the forms had already mimeographed. Although only one answer was requested, many respondents marked more than one. Half of the respondents indicated that they wanted to prepare for a career, and almost half indicated a desire to be better educated. One-fifth applied to college because their parents expected them to go. Only 5% admitted they came for the social life and to meet people. One percent chose college because they could not think of anything better to do. A variety of other reasons were also given. Some said they had been raised to believe that going to college was just something one did or because good high school students always continued on to college. A love of learning and a desire to experience a new and interesting environment, to get away from home, and to prepare for life were other reasons.

As to why they chose William and Mary, the majority indicated that they or their parents were attracted by the academic program. The fact that friends or relatives had attended or that William and Mary was close to home were not very important reasons for most women. However, the location of the college in an historic area and the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg brought William and Mary to the attention of many potential students all over the country. Some women, mainly Northerners, were attracted to William and Mary because it was in a different part of the country from where they lived. A combination of location, small size, and its coeducational status was probably the most important factor in the decision making process. The physical attractiveness of the campus also figured in many decisions.

Money was another major consideration. For Virginians, the tuition was reasonable, much more so than tuition at the private colleges in the state. Scholarships and assurances of part-time jobs brought William and Mary within reach for others.

Principals, teachers, alumni, and family friends encouraged many of the women to attend William and Mary. One woman was told that a William and Mary degree "stood high in securing a teaching position." The fact that family or friends were in or near Williamsburg influenced some women, especially when the friends or family were working for the college or stationed at nearby military bases.

There were many other reasons for attending William and Mary. Some women wanted to return to their Virginia roots, others wanted to go somewhere different from the rest of their family and friends. Some were looking for a real college degree, not just a finishing school degreee. Some considered it an easy school at which to get accepted. Two women were attracted by the conservativeness of the school, while one woman was looking for a less restrictive social life than that of a girl's school. Some were attracted by certain classes; one came because there was a chapter of particular sorority on campus. Another woman thought Williamsburg would be exciting after her small town life. An admirer of Thomas Jefferson wanted to attend the same college he had. The list of reasons could continue.

The question seeking information about relatives who had attended William and Mary was poorly worded. Also, two stencils were made, and a typographical error occurred. Some alumnae were asked about relatives who had attended William and Mary, meaning before they came. Other alumnae were asked about relatives who have attended, whether before or after their college years. The author was trying to find out if the presence of alumni relatives was significant. Because the question was poorly worded and because there were two versions, the statistics are not very useful, other than in inquiring about relatives, such as parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, who are almost always older and would have attended before the alumnae. Although a number of the women had relatives who had attended the college, apparently this was not an influential factor in the decision to attend. Only 3.4% of the women had fathers who were alumni; less than 1% of the mothers had attended (most in this group had been summer school students). They were more likely to have had an uncle (6.5%)) or an aunt ( 1.8%) attend than a parent. Ten percent had brothers and 20% had sisters who attended William and Mary. Twenty-six percent had cousins who had attended the college. Several women mentioned that several generations of their families had been educated at William and Mary, and one woman counted eight ancestors among the alumni of the college.

The women who came to William and Mary formed a fairly homogeneous group. Most came from middle class or upper middle class homes; most were Protestant; more than half were from Virginia; and all were white.

William and Mary became a state school in 1906 and since then has sought to educate first the citizens of Virginia. Thus, 58% of the alumnae were from Virginia. Most of the rest were from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Massachusetts. With fifteen or more students from each of those areas, they account for 414 of the 548 non-Virginia residents who responded to the survey. Other Southerners comprised 12.5% of the total of non-Virginians; Midwesterners 11.5%, New Englanders 6%; and 4% came from the Great Plains and Western States. There were seven respondents who were living abroad at the time of their matriculation at William and Mary: four from the Philippines, and one each from the Panama Canal Zone, Haiti, and Japan. These were not natives of those areas, but were Americans living abroad.

Most of the Virginia women were from the Peninsula ( 18.7%), the Tidewater area, including Norfolk and surrounding cities (20.2%), the Southside region ( 17.5%), and the central and northern Piedmont regions, including Henrico County and Richmond ( 17.8%). Three-fourths of the Virginia women came from the areas closest to William and Mary. These numbers can be deceiving because the regions into which Virginia is divided are not equal in size or population. Although only 2% of the women came from the Eastern Shore, it is the smallest region and contributed almost twice as many students as the much larger Central Shenandoah area. The regions which contributed the most women are those that are either largest in size or most populous, with only two exceptions. The area just outside the District of Columbia, although small, was populous, but the women there had easy access to many other colleges, so William and Mary was not a popular choice among the women there. Second, Southwest Virginia is large in area, but far away from William and Mary. There were many women's colleges in the western part of the state which would attract the women there because of their proximity, even though they might be more expensive. Also, Virginia Polytechnic Institute was nearby; it began admitting women in 1921, although it was not very successful in attracting many female students.

Thus, the women at William and Mary represented a fairly small part of the country. Most of the Virginians were from the central or southeastern parts of the state. Most of the non-Virginians were from the mid-Atlantic area. Of course, considering the length of time it took to travel by train or automobile during the period under study, William and Mary probably had a fairly good mix of students.

Another indication of the homogeneity of the female student body is the religious background of the women. They were overwhelmingly Protestant, making up 92.5% of the women, with 2.5% Catholic, 1.8% Jewish, and 3% with no religion or no preference given. Half of the women were Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Baptist.

Almost 25% of the women had transferred to William and Mary. Although the survey did not ask from where they had originally come, many volunteered the information that they had transferred from William and Mary's branches in Richmond and Norfolk.

After leaving William and Mary, most of the women worked, married, and had children. Over half of the women had two or three children; about 15% had four or more. Almost 20% had none, and 13% had one child.

Over one-fifth of the women earned advanced degrees after leaving William and Mary, but only 10% of those degrees were earned at the College. Less than 3% of the mothers had attended graduate school, so clearly these women were advancing beyond the standards set by their mothers.

Five percent of the women had held a full-time job before attending William and Mary. A third of these had been school teachers. The others held a small variety of jobs, including saleswoman, secretary, and office clerk.

In retrospect, some of the survey questions could have been better worded, and the arrangement of questions could have been improved. More details about the women's lives after college should have been sought, not for the purpose of this study but for the benefit of other researchers interested in the post-collegiate careers of these women. Now that this information had been gathered about the alumnae, it would be interesting to gather the same information about the men and compare the two groups.

1Alumnae Questionnaires, Archives Acc. 1988.67.

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Last updated 16 February 1998