Study Results Show Compromised Goals

Thirty per cent of Harvard-Radcliffe students who filled out surveys for the Seven-College Study last spring said their career goals were a compromise and not the careers they would most like to pursue, the director of the study said yesterday.

Students surveyed said they would compromise their career plans because of financial problems, societal and parental expectations or marriage plans, Diana Zuckerman, the director of the study, added.

These preliminary results are from questionnaires filled out by the Class of '84 last spring. The study, given to all women and approximately 1000 randomly selected men in Harvard classes from '81 to '85, surveys students' attitudes toward education and life in general.

The results also show that these men and women have different family goals. While almost all of the students would like to marry, more men than women reported that they would like to have children--92 per cent compared to 84 per cent.

Zuckerman said she thinks the difference exists because "more women are deciding to put their career first," even if this means they must give up having children. In contrast, more men think it is possible to balance both a career and a family, she added.

Almost one-quarter of the women who reported a compromise in their career plans indicated that this was because they believed their preferred career would be incompatible with marriage plans, Zuckerman said, adding that none of the men indicated such a concern.

However, Martha P. Leape, director of the Office of Career Services and Off-Campus Learning, said yesterday that changing attitudes have affected both sexes. "We're seeing increasing numbers of both men and women who are concerned about managing careers and families at the same time," she added.

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In addition to more than 2000 Harvard-Radcliffe students, about 5000 students from Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Vassar and Wellesley are participating in the study, funded by a $685,000 grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation.

The study is scheduled to continue for three and a half more years until the Class of '85 graduates.