B-School Issues Placement Guidelines

The Business School recently established formal, sex-blind guidelines for its student and alumni placement services in response to a six-year-old sex discrimination complaint.

Susanne S. Paul, a 1961 graduate of a now defunct Business School program for women, who filed the complaint, said yesterday that she is "dissatisfied" with the formalized guidelines because they do not alter what she termed the "totally inadequate" practices of the school.

Paul, who won a 1970 suit charging the Harvard Business School Club of New discrimination in its placement services, said yesterday she will file suit against the Business School unless it agrees to "take affirmative steps to investigate the placement of women graduates."

Hope for EEOC Monitoring

James A. Paul '63, her husband, said last night that he and his wife are hoping that the school will set up a women's placement committee and will allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor all placement offices connected with the school "for some period of time."

Edward D. Rowley, assistant director of placement for alumni, said yesterday that his files don't indicate whether a person is "black, white or female," adding that "we treat the women graduates as we treat the men graduates."

Joan B. Pinck '50, assistant dean for educational services at the Business School, said last night that the new guidelines "differ in only very small ways" from past practice since "most of the things are things we're already doing."

The Business School has affirmed its non-discriminatory placement policy by changing the name of the Alumni Placement Office to the Graduate Placement Office and by sending a copy of its guidelines to each business school club which does job counselling or which provides placement services, Pinck said.

James Paul called the Business School guidelines "insufficient" and said that the school is pressuring him and his wife to accept them to avoid a suit.

Susanne Paul said the guidelines show that after six years the school "continues to hedge on women's rights."

The Business School needs to affirm its policies by investigating them "in fact" she said, by comparing the current status of Harvard-placed women to that, of men placed by the school.

Lawrence E. Fouraker, dean of the Business School, yesterday refused to comment on the new guidelines or the assertions of the Pauls.