Placement and Career Planning at Barnard, October 1971, page 2

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fields with outside speakers, we have initiated a variety of small informal
meetings, which deal with some vocational issue in such a way as to heighten
student consciousness of their role as women. We have learned how important
it is to have women speakers, particularly women who are opening new doors
for other women and who can talk honestly about the problems of change. We
lean heavily on alumnae and young women faculty members as well as members

of women‘s associations in graduate and professional schools. We have found
that the sharing of experiences between different age groups can create a
climate condusive to honest dialogue that can be far more important than the
presence of eminent or acknowledged authorities. Here we have sometimes found
that our young women even react negatively to women who unquestioningly pride
themselves on having achieved success by "being twice as good as a man.”

Recognizing that one of the main stumbling blocks for young women is
confusion about themselves as women led us to initiate several series of small
and continuing group meetings for undergraduates beginning well before the
senior year. In this way students have a chance to share their vocational
concerns and expectations and raise questions about the pressures and ambi~
valences they feel as women. It was gratifying to find that after a few
meetings many were able to see that their confusions about their role as
women were often blocking them from making appropriate career plans.

We have set up a vocational library which speaks to the needs of today's
women. It includes good, up-to-date vocational material with particular
emphasis on descriptive information on fields where women have not been
represented. We have a full collection of graduate and professional school
catalogues as well as newsletters and fact sheets of professional women's
groups and women's caucuses of professional organizations. We have added
subscriptions to a few new feminist newsletters as well as current news
articles describing the broadening of horizons for women in many fields. In
addition, we have included material on many of the important economic, social,
and legal changes affecting women.

We are careful not to use recruitment literature or accept job listings
which are directly or indirectly discriminatory. When we receive such material,
we write to employers explaining why we cannot use their literature or accept
their job orders and ask that they withdraw the recruiting literature from
general circulation and prepare new acceptable career material. We also
suggest that employers list all their permanent jobs for liberal arts graduates
not just their secretarial and other low level jobs traditionally reserved
for women.

We have been fortunate in being able to attract to our professional staff
highly gifted and sensitive young women, committed to effecting fundamental
changes for women. Often recent graduate students themselves, they have been
able to share the concerns and experiences of our students in an immediate way.
Although they generally stay with us for only two or three years before going
on for further training or higher responsibilities, they make unique contri-
butions to our values and our style of work. In addition each year we provide
field work experience for at least one graduate student in the Student Person-
nel Program in Higher Education at Teachers‘ College.

We realize that it is important to take an aggressive position about
tracking down good job openings and training programs for our graduates. In
doing this we use all of our ingenuity. In addition we seek out employers in