RUS Releases Survey Results

Sexism on campus and in the class-room are the most widely cited problems that undergraduate women at the University face, according to the results of a survey taken by the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS).

RUS members surveyed 224 female upperclass students over the last three weeks and plan to distribute the results of its questionnaire in the house dining halls Friday. This number represents approximately 10 percent of the female student body, said RUS secretary Annabella C. Pitkin '90.

In the survey, 70 percent of the women surveyed cited sexism on campus and in the selection of faculty as a problem currently facing female undergraduates.

"I think it is easy going to Harvard to get the idea that it is a male school with only male alums," one woman wrote.

RUS officers said the ambiguous relationship between Harvard and Radcliffe is also a primary concern because it leaves women unsure of their place in the University.

In addition, almost one-third of the students surveyed said campus safety as major concern.

Only about seven percent of the women surveyed said the "old-boy network" was a problem. Caroline M. Corbin '90, RUS' representative to the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, said, "It is hard to be more specific about sexism today because it tends to be more subtle."

To make sure the survey's results have some impact, RUS has met with both Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 and Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson. In those meetings, RUS also discussed several recommendations they made based on the survey.

Aware Week for Women

Among those proposals are an awareness week for women's issues, a new women's center, more gender sensitivity in course material and more female appointments to the faculty.

RUS is the old Radcliffe student government that remained after the "non-merger merger" of Harvard and Radcliffe.

The role of the group on campus, the RUS constitution states, is to "enrich the lives of undergraduate women." Yet while every female student at Harvard is technically a member, only about 50 regularly attend meetings, Pitkin said.

Pitkin said she hopes the administration will address the role of the Women's Center, one of two organzations recently made part of RUS.

The survey analysis says the Women's Center could help combat the message conveyed by the nine all-male final clubs and provide a space for women and their concerns.