The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, May 5, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

In November, 1969, all fourth year
women students who matriculated at the
University in September, 1968, were
surveyed to determine their attitudes and
opinions about the University and what
problems they thought first year women
students would encounter during the
1970-71 academic year.

Questionnaires were sent to 89 nursing
students, 41 education students and 6
students in commerce, architecture and
the college. Of the 136 women surveyed,
59 nursing students, 33 education
students, one student in architecture and
three students in the college returned
usuable questionnaires. The following is a
breakdown and summary of the responses
of the 96 students.

Sixty-one (64%) of the 96 students
answered yes to the first question: Have
you enjoyed your tenure at the
University of Virginia, academically? Their
primary reason for saying yes to this question
were the competition and standards and the
various required and elective courses they took
in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Restrictive Curriculum

Thirty-five (36%) women indicated that
they did not enjoy their academic tenure at the
University, giving as their primary reasons the
curriculum and courses they were required to
follow and take in their respective schools.

After answering the question about
academic satisfaction, the respondents were
asked if they had enjoyed the University,
socially. Seventy-one (75) indicated that they
had, giving as their primary reason the
opportunity to participate in a variety of
activities and to meet and know a variety of
people.

The primary reason given by the 25 (25%)
women who said they had not enjoyed the
University, socially, was the attitudes held by
the men students about women. One student
wrote "I found the U.Va. 'gentleman'
ungentlemanly."

After answering questions about their own
experiences at the University, the fourth year
women answered questions about the major
academic problems they thought first year
women would encounter in September, 1970.
Thirty-two (33%) students responded that the
biggest problems for the first year women
would be learning self-discipline and budgeting
their time.

Twenty-five (26%) respondents thought that
the first year women would probably be so
bright that they would have no problems,
academically speaking. However, 39 (41%)
other respondents indicated that the major
problem facing first year women students
would be the negative attitudes toward women
held by male professors and students in the
classroom.

No Social Problems

Thirty-four (35%) of the fourth year women
students surveyed indicated that the first year
women would have no problems at the
University socially. Most of the thirty-four felt
that the men-women ratio would be so good
that the women would have a grand time.

Thirty-one (32%) other fourth year
students, indicated, however that the first year
women would have a difficult time, socially,
because of the male students' attitudes toward
women. An additional 31 respondents felt that
the greatest problem first year women face next
year will be adjusting to the social environment
of the University, the drinking and sexual
behavior in particular. One fourth-year student
wrote, "the first year women will have a
difficult time adjusting to the drinking and to
the 'work' that the men expect of the women."

First Year Women Immature

The reasons given by the majority of fourth
year women concerning the social problems of
the first year women students relate to their
answers to the next question on the
questionnaire. When they were asked whether
they thought first year women should be in
their dorms at a certain hour every night, 78 or
81% of the 96 fourth year students answered
yes. Fifty-four of the 78 said they thought the
first year women students would be too
immature to handle the social problems they
must face.

Although 81% of the respondents felt that
the first year women should be in their dorms
at a certain time, only 40% indicated that first
year women should be denied visitation
privileges. Twenty of this 40% gave immaturity
as a reason why the first year women should be
denied this activity. Fifty-eight (60%) of the
fourth year women stated that the men have
visitation privileges and therefore so should the
women.