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The NWSA Project to Improve Service Learning in Women's Studies
Supported by a two-year grant from the Fund for the Improvement of
Post-secondary Education, NWSA's Project to Improve Service Learning in
Women's Studies is a clearinghouse for information about the current state of
field experience education in women's studies. Among activities generated
since it began in 1979, the Project has sponsored the Women's Studies Service
Learning Institute (a week-long faculty development seminar), seven regional
workshops (mini-versions of the Institute), and has offered program sessions
at the NWSA National Conventions.
Workshop Sites, 1980-81:
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon--October 24, 1980
De Anza Community College, San Jose, California--October 31, 1980
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado--January 30, 1981
Southeast Women's Studies Association Conference, Georgia State
University, Atlanta--March 6, 1981
New York Women's Studies Association Conference, SUNY/Buffalo--March 20,
1981
Mid-Atlantic Women's Studies Association Conference, Goucher College,
Baltimore--April 4, 1981
Great Lakes Women's Studies Association Conference, Mankato State
University, Mankato--April 10, 1981
The National Women's Studies Association
Founded in 1977, the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) is a
grassroots organization which draws its membership from all fifty states and
associate members from abroad. NWSA offers networking and support for
teachers, administrators, and students in women's studies programs, as well
as those involved in feminist education in the community. Members receive the
Women's Studies Quarterly, a publication which offers articles on teaching
women's studies in various settings; reports of Association activities; news
of jobs, conferences, institutes, fellowships, and new publications and
resources. The National Women's Studies Association meets at an annual
conference which brings together thousands of women and men to participate in
program panels, workshops, affiliated meetings, working sessions of NWSA
regions, caucuses, committees, and task forces. The conference provides
opportunities for networking, project development, and sharing among
participants.
Acknowledgements
The editors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of National
Women's Studies Association staff members Rebecca Fowler, Dorothy
Maxwell and Jan Meriwether. We would also like to thank Mary Scoggins
and her associates at Letter Perfect of Landover Hills, MD.
PROJECT ADVISORY BOARD
Elizabeth Downs, Executive Director, Washington Center for Learning
Alternatives
Ruth B. Ekstrom, Research Scientist, Educational Testing Service
Carol Eliason, Director, Center for Women's Opportunities
Kathryn Girard, Co-Director, Project TEAM (Teaching Equity Approaches in
Massachusetts)
Nancy Hoffman, Ex-Officio, Program Officer, Fund for the Improvement of
Postsecondary Education
Jane Kendall, Associate Executive Director, National Society for Internships
in Experiential Education
Morris Keeton, President, Council for the Advancement of Experiential
Learning
Jessy Leonard, Associate Professor, Counseling and Personnel Services,
University of Maryland, College Park
Carol Parr, Executive Director, Women's Equity Action League
Carol Pearson, Associate Professor, Women's Studies and American Studies,
University of Maryland, College Park
Sharon Rubin, Director, Experiential Learning Programs, University of
Maryland, College Park
CONTENTS
Introduction
Jerilyn Fisher and Elaine Reuben
REFLECTIONS AND FORMULATIONS
Women Thinking Together: The NWSA Service Learning Institute
Barbara Hillyer Davis
Service Learning: Three Principles
Robert Sigmon
Reflections on a Typology for Experiential Education
Thomas Haugsby
MULTIPLE MODELS
Service Learning and the Women's Studies Curriculum
Carolyn Shrewsbury
The Women's Studies Practicum at Loretto Heights: Case Study for Small
Colleges and Small Programs
Betsy Jameson
Integrating Theory and Practice in a Service Learning Co-Seminar
Nancy Schniedewind
Bridging Theory and the Practicum: A Course in Women's Studies
Melanie Kaye
The National Congress of Neighborhood Women: Education in the Community
Laura Polla Scanlon
Returning Women and Field Experience: A Preliminary Research Study
Sharon Rubin
The Congressional Internships on Women and Public Policy
Phyllis M. Palmer
An Internship in Science, Politics and Feminism
I. Description of a Pilot Project
M. Sue Wagner and Alwynelle S. Ahl
II. A Student Perspective
Amy N. Moss
Feminist Learning Opportunities in Experiential Education
Ann Simon
VARIOUS VIEWS
Setting the Stage for Field Placement
Appendix: Format for a Field Supervisor Manual
Marti Bombyk
The Internship Program at WEAL Fund
Maxine Forman
Student Impact in Two Community Settings
I. The Invisible Women
Carolyn Mulford
II. Raises not Roses
Ellen Cassedy
A Student Guide to Field Learning Experiences
Lizette Bartholdi, Laurie Bushbaum, Debra Horn,
Denise Johnson, Kimberly M. Reynolds-Heiam,
Karen Theiler, Robin Williams-Johnson
Coping with Difficult Placements: Two Case Studies
I. Frustration, Anger and Learning at a Rape Crisis Center
Stacey Zlotnick
II. Growth Through Conflict in a Student-Directed Project
Toni Johnson
Reflections on Surviving as an Intern
Judy Sorum
To Arm the Amazons: Students at Feminist Worksites
Kathryn Girard
Tools for Guiding and Evaluating Service Learning
Appendix: Inventory of Knowledge, Skills and Attitude
Objectives
Patty Gibbs
Assessment of Service Learning: Student Achievement and Program Effectiveness
Nancy Ashton
Evaluating Service Learning Programs in Women's Studies
Ruth B. Ekstrom
RESOURCES FOR SERVICE LEARNING IN WOMEN'S STUDIES
Additional References
Selected Bibliography
A Women's Studies Guide to Internship Directories
Media Resources for Women's Studies Service Learning Courses
Possible Goals for Service Learning in Women's Studies
Worksheets: Student Goal Analysis
Sample Course Descriptions, Syllabi and Learning Tools
Contributors' Notes
Response Form
Introduction
Links between community and campus, social action and research have always
been vital to pedagogy and curriculum development in women's studies.
Growing from the resurgent women's movement, still-expanding numbers of
women's studies courses and programs in postsecondary education maintain
connection to this community-based heritage. The integration of experience
and theory is made visible to women's studies students, for example, when
courses and program events include presentations by, and participation of,
community women. Many women's studies courses assign interviews with family
members or research about activists/professionals in related fields. Other
courses and program activities may involve individual or collective action
projects responsive to women's needs or interests on campus and in the
community.
Experiential learning courses make explicit these connections. Women's
studies internships, field placements and practica can play a critical role
in the feminist curriculum. They offer leadership skills development; they
structure opportunities for students to explore values and vocational options
while working on local or national "women's issues" or critically examining
sexist practices and attitudes within patriarchical organizations. The
service learning component of a women's studies program can, as well, provide
a framework for ongoing advocacy activities.
The National Women's Studies Association obtained support from The Fund for
the Improvement of Postsecondary Education in September, 1979, to assess
current practice and program needs in this area of women's studies
curriculum, and to make available materials for course development. A further
objective of the NWSA Project to Improve Service Learning in Women's Studies
was to link feminist educators who teach, supervise and administer programs
for fieldwork students with each other and with other networks of
experiential learning.
The Project sponsored a weeklong residential seminar in March, 1980, that
brought together faculty and program administrators experienced in women's
studies service learning. Participants in that Women's Studies Service
Learning Institute, and Institute consultants, represented a spectrum of
institutional settings for experiences of and perspectives on women's studies
service learning. Institute participants and consultants comprise the
majority of contributors to this Handbook; additionally, we sought and
included articles, case studies and materials from other faculty,
administrators, students and community workers.
The Women's Studies Service Learning Handbook thus provides many
approaches to women's studies service learning and an overview of the
dynamics of field experience education from a feminist perspective.
The first three essays, "Reflections and Formulations," deal with
experiential education generally, service learning more specifically, and
women's studies service learning most particularly--the latter through the
experience of one participant in the Women's Studies Service Learning
Institute. This section introduces service learning issues, rationales and
vocabulary that will recur throughout the volume.
"Multiple Models" is a series of case studies of institutional adaptations of
women's studies service learning, primarily presented from the point of view
of faculty and program administrators. We have tried to emphasize, through
the range of models here, that experiential courses in women's studies can be
designed and offered within various postsecondary educational settings, and
in relation to the needs of diverse student populations and community
networks.
"Various Views" of women's studies service learning features the perspectives
of students and agency supervisors as well as faculty and administrators.
These essays and related materials remind that there are many ways to
consider the practicum: in terms of student response, community involvement
and external evaluations.
The "Resources" section of the Handbook contains additional tools and
materials for establishing or developing service learning courses. More
information about particular courses or resources can be requested from the
programs and organizations indicated; readers should note that, over time,
some of these teaching materials will have been revised as the shape and
dimensions of women's studies and service learning continue to develop.
During its second year of activities, the Project contributed to that
development through sponsorship of seven regional workshops on women's
studies service learning. Just as the national and regional presence of the
National Women's Studies Association has helped empower academic feminists
creating or sustaining women's studies courses and programs, the presence of
an NWSA/FIPSE Project to Improve Service Learning in Women's Studies made
this area of curriculum development visible to its diverse participants and
lent credibility and support to internship courses still in "shaky" status
within their institutions.
Within a similar general format, these several 1980-81 regional workshops
naturally differed somewhat in their "flavor," and in the problems and issues
upon which the group attending chose to focus. Some factors were common,
however, both building upon and extending the Project's cumulative assessment
of practice and possibilities, need and problems in women's studies service
learning.
At most workshops, a panel of students and supervisors generated invigorating
discussion of the joys and stresses of field placement from the agency
perspective and from the point of view of working interns. In addition to
these invited presenters, the workshop groups overall included not only
faculty and administrators formally affiliated with women's studies programs,
but also academic and community-based feminist educators affiliated with
women's centers, re-entry programs et al. and with programs in social work,
the ministry, psychology, criminal justice, library science, etc., that have
traditionally placed and accepted students in work/learning courses.
While the Project, and this Handbook, were shaped with the experience of
women's studies programs in mind, we have been concerned to facilitate closer
identification and productive exchange between these establishing service
learning courses in women's studies and feminists in such applied, often
(numerically) female-dominated fields (*). At all the regional workshops,
participants were enthusiastic about this opportunity to concentrate on a
feminist perspective for experiential learning, and to share strategies and
suggestions with each other and with Project staff. On several occasions, the
group made plans to continue, within their regional structure or at the next
regional conference. We also expect dialogue in this area will be maintained
through the networks of women's studies program administrators.
The workshops highlighted the persistent and persisting need of women's
studies programs for institutional resources and administrative support for
their service learning curriculum development, an issue addressed only by
implication in this Handbook. Many of the programs now offering service
learning courses do so only through extra, often unpaid efforts of an
overworked director, graduate student or part-time faculty member,
hardpressed to coordinate its activities and outreach on and off campus, as
well as to advise, supervise and teach. We must urge that, as women's studies
service learning courses continue to be developed, greater institutional
support--even in these hard times--be forthcoming; we would expect that, as
well, programs will seek and find creative, collaborative structures on and
off campus, to support such development.
We would hope that the work of the Project, and this Handbook, will prove
useful to the advancement of feminist education, in the classroom and in the
community. The NWSA Project to Improve Service Learning in Women's Studies
will end, but not conclude, with the completion of activities outlined in our
FIPSE grant, August, 1981. After, the NWSA National Office will continue to
collect materials in women's studies service learning, to facilitate network
linkages and to coordinate national and regional service learning activities.
While we cannot, at this time, promise to continue subsidized workshops and
conference sessions, we will be able to suggest and refer to consultants,
workshop leaders and presenters from both national and regional pools.
We urge you to return the Reader Response Form included in this Handbook, and
to share other responses to the work of the Project. The Women's Studies
Service Learning Handbook will continue to be available as long as supplies
last, by which time it will be possible to consider a second printing or a
revised, expanded second edition.
Jerilyn Fisher Elaine Reuben
College Park, 1981
NOTE
(*) The postsecondary focus of The Project to Improve Service Learning
precluded direct attention to related curriculum development in public school
settings. The National Center for Service Learning, cited in the "Resources"
section, does offer workshops and materials for secondary school educators.
Some women's studies programs now work with public schools as settings for
service learning placements.
Chapter 1: REFLECTIONS AND FORMULATIONS
WOMEN THINKING TOGETHER: THE NWSA
SERVICE LEARNING INSTITUTE
Barbara Hillyer Davis
We met in a convent. As we arrived at the imposing marble entrance
of the National Mercy Center, a serene rural retreat house in
Potomac, Maryland, each of us wondered just what we had applied and
been accepted for. As we learned, it really was a retreat--a time
of meditation and intensive thought about community and learning,
about the engagement of women's studies students in social change.
Fifteen women had been chosen to participate in the NWSA Service
Learning Institute. We had in common a particular interest in the
relationship of feminist education to "experiential learning": in
other respects, we were very different from one another. On the
first evening we introduced ourselves and our reasons for
participating in the week-long seminar. One woman commented on the
variety of dress and physical appearance; it was a group of
individuals who were quite comfortable being themselves. We
didn't, as groups often do, begin to look more alike as the week
went on. We grew closer by learning to understand our diversity, to
foresee each other's concerns. It was, like other less academic
retreats, an illuminating experience.
The fifteen official participants came from women's studies
programs, professional schools, large universities and state
colleges, small liberal arts colleges, urban centers, rural
communities, hill country and plains, midwest, west, east, and
south. We were students and professors, between 20 and 50 years in
age, athletic and sedentary. All of us had administered some kind
of educational program for women. Most were directly involved in
service learning, practicum, or internship programs.
In "the convent"--a location which encouraged us to reexamine our
ideas about sisterhood--we were able to focus for a week on a
single subject, an unusual experience for all of us. A number of
others joined us for parts of the Institute; for their shorter
visits they, too, were focused on the one subject, the relationship
of service learning to feminist education. The resource people were
interested in one or the other of these--or both--but we were the
practitioners, we discovered, who had the collective experience to
connect their disparate insights. It was the first time that
feminist educators in service learning had come together
specifically and only to think through what we are doing.
Because of our own "field experience," our thinking was concrete,
based on realistic assessment of what is possible and what is not.
This was a "think tank" in a retreat setting, but not an ivory
tower. For five days, we met with resource people who presented us
with their perspectives on experiential education. Jerilyn Fisher
and Elaine Reuben, administrators of the NWSA Service Learning
Project, described its pragmatic structure and goals and raised
philosophical questions about service, about learning, about
women's studies--about feminist service learning. These questions,
increasingly emphasizing the word "feminist," preoccupied us during
the week.
The first group of speakers were people whose primary professional
work is in the field of experiential education, service learning,
or other intern/practicum experience. Morris Keeton from the
Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning, Alana Smart
from the National Center for Service Learning, and a panel, Debbie
Dana, Marcy Devine and Clare Guimondfrom the Washington Center for
Learning Alternatives, provided a variety of materials, descriptions
of their projects' goals and activities, and their own ideas about
how their work relates to women's studies. The illumination came, for us,
in the discussion periods after their presentations and in
our own working groups in which we compared our experience to theirs
and began to understand both similarities and differences.
A second group of resource people described for us their own field
experience of women studies service learning. A panel of field
supervisors of women's studies interns one evening was followed the
next morning by a panel of students who described their experience
of the same situation. Sharon Rubin, Director of Experiential
Learning Programs, University of Maryland, presented varieties of
the service learning teaching component, which could be used as a
forum to discuss and coordinate students and site supervisors
observations. These three presentations were less "inspirational,"
more focused on problems, than the first group of presentations had
been. Again, the discussion surrounding the sessions was where the
experience came together for us. The separate panels enabled us to
connect for ourselves from the three different perspectives what
students do and don't learn in field placements. The intersection
of the learning goals of teacher, student and site supervisor was
examined in terms of our experience as well as the panelists'. We
integrated our understanding of the complex process over lunch and
dinner and a heated discussion of a film on "women and careers"
which reflected a more conservative view of what workplace learning
is about.
On the third day of the Institute we had dinner with the Advisory
Board of the NWSA project. Here the "vision" of the project
connected with our realistic experience with students, colleges,
agencies and supervisors. As we talked about the Institute and what
women's studies and service learning are "really" like, we began to
see ourselves as the people who best know this new field--and the
Advisory Board members as those who understood the significance of
our getting together before we did.
Another series of Institute sessions focused on the practical
development of the field experience. There were sessions on
evaluation by Ruth Ekstrom of Educational Testing Service and by
our own work groups; on student-centered counseling by Georgia
Sassen of the Field Study Program of Hampshire College; on women as
workers, especially in feminist or sexist work sites, by Kathryn
Girard of the Women's Educational Equity Project of the University
of Massachusetts; and on coping strategies for women interns by
Judy Sorum of the Department of Labor. Here, especially in the
sessions with Girard and Sorum, we learned by identifying with the
student in the placement--and remembering our own working
experience--to consolidate our understanding ofwhat is different
about feminist service learning. A Friday morning visit to three
Washington, D. C. work sites was less effective in its goal of
enabling us to see the experience from the student's perspective
than were the sessions which called on us to remember our own
experiences in feminist organizations and in male-dominated
workplaces.
While all of these sessions were going on, and between and around
them, the creative work of the Institute was taking place in our
minds and the conversations among us. Small group working sessions
were scattered through the agenda, each followed by a lively
report-back session. We consumed large quantities of newsprint and
magic markers, to say nothing of coffee and ice water and healthy
convent food, as we integrated, evaluated, thought and rethought
the issues before us. On Thursday night we reviewed our
relationship to the NWSA Service Learning Project. On Saturday
morning, evaluating the Institute, we found ourselves arguing that
we, who came to learn from others, knew more than those others
about what we had come to learn. Somehow the process of learning
together had changed us.
The evidence was an extraordinarily productive group of work
sessions on Saturday afternoon in which we developed practical
plans for future activities of the NWSA project. The diverse group
which had met for the first time less than a week before was
thinking together in a way that seemed almost magic, with ideas
flowing so easily between minds that they were genuinely
collective, belonging to no single individual. These plans, for
NWSA conference sessions, for regional workshops, and for this
handbook, all included the high value we placed on our own group
process and its potential as a model for the expansion of knowledge
about feminist education in service learning.
We learned from our retreat how much we already know about the
relationship between women's studies and service learning. And we
found that that knowledge lies not just in what we are individually
doing but especially in what happens when we think about it
together.
My own experience in the Institute illustrates the effect of this
group dynamic. The women's studies program which I coordinate does
not have a service learning course. Since I knew that many programs
consider field placement essential, we intended to institute a
service learning component assoon as possible. I came to the
Institute to learn how, believing myself to be an amateur with no
experience relevant to this goal.
Our Institute group was very practical, so that I did indeed learn
a lot about how to do it, but something else happened there as
well. Like many groups that live together, we became friends, but
the intimacy was much less personal and more idea-oriented than in
other groups I have known. Only occasionally was our conversation
not about women's studies or service learning; even our play (a
game called "feminist charades") focused on feminist thought. The
persistence of our shared interest enabled us to anticipate each
others' perspectives on new ideas and to think out of each
others'characteristic concerns.
As I saw the remarkable work the other group members were doing
with students and businesses and women's organizations, and
understood how difficult and sophisticated and rewarding that work
is when it is done as well as we agreed it should be done, I was
both inspired by their example and appalled by costs .
Everyone at the Institute who was involved with a women's studies
service learning course was doing it on a temporary or part time or
over-load basis (and in some cases all of the above). The actual
psychological costs and the potential monetary costs are very high.
As a program administrator, I became much more cautious about
implementing service learning than I had been before the Institute,
even though I was much more fully persuaded of its importance.
Because of the way the group worked, however, this discovery did
not reduce my commitment. Rather, it increased my interest in
thinking through with the group the importance of developing
adequate monetary and social support. These concerns informed many
of our discussions.
As we explored the issue I recognized certain aspects of my
experience that were closely connected to service learning whose
relevance had not been immediately obvious: I have been a "site
supervisor" for human relations interns and journalism interns;
students in my women's studies courses are often social work or
human relations interns and bring their field experience, good and
bad, into the classroom. Almost inadvertently I have been supplying
a women's studies component to these internship experiences.
At the end of the Institute I was not perceiving these things--my
administrative concerns about resources and my experience with
student interns--as "my" contributions to the Institute. Indeed,
looking back on the experience, I am able only with difficulty to
separate them from the experiences of all the other participants.
I do so because they illustrate an important fact about our
thinking together: it was very practical, involving a clear concept
of what is involved in the work of feminist service learning,of how
to do it, and what it costs. Sharing the details of our experiences
in co-seminars and other classes, in feminist or sexist workplaces,
in university administration and in lunch room conversations made
our "think tank" quite concrete.
To our rural retreat, we brought much experience of the world. We
were not "best friends" but intimate co-workers. Our learning, like
that we plan for students, was practical, realistic, experiential,
intellectual, and feminist. It certainly was a nice change from our
various male-dominated workplaces.
NOTES
1. The fifteen participants are Nancy Ashton, Women's Studies,
Stockton State College, New Jersey; Marti Bombyk, Women's Studies,
University of Michigan; Barbara Hillyer Davis, Women's Studies,
University of Oklahoma; Patty Gibbs, Social Work, University of
West Virginia; Betsy Jameson, Women's Studies, Loretto Heights
College, Colorado; Miriam King, Women's Studies, Michigan State
University; Heather Paul Kurent, Women's Studies, University of
Maryland; Pat Miller, Women's Studies, University of Connecticut;
Connie Noschese, National Congress of Neighborhood Women, New York;
Phyllis Palmer, Women's Studies, George Washington University, D.
C.; Deborah Pearlman, Goddard College, Massachusetts; Stephanie
Riger, Lake Forest College, Illinois; Nancy Schniedewind, State
University of New York New Paltz; Ann Simon, Cooperate Education
Program, Antioch College, Ohio; and Carolyn Shrewsbury, Women's
Studies, Mankato State University, Minnesota.
2. Field Supervisor panelists were Elayne Clift, National Women's
Health Network; Gigi Goldfrank, D.C. Feminist Law Collective; Sara
Jane Kinoy, Women's Equity Action League; and Claudia Schecter,
Women's Legal Defense Fund. The student panel was moderated by Lise
Blaes, intern, University of Maryland, and included Barbara
Schnipper, intern, National Women's Health Network; Nancy Marucci,
intern, D.C. Feminist Law Collective; and Stacey Zlotnick, intern,
Prince George's County Sexual Assault Center.
SERVICE LEARNING: THREE PRINCIPLES
Robert Sigmon
(This essay originally appeared in `Synergist', the Journal of
ACTION's National Student Volunteer Program, Spring 1979, Vol. 8,
No. 1, and is reprinted by permission.)
Service-learning terminology has emerged in the past 10 years,
and--as in the case of many traditional Christmas carols--the
authors are unknown. The great carols belong to the public, a
product of folk traditions at their best. Service-learning
represents the coming together of many hearts and minds seeking to
express compassion for others and to enable a learning style to
grow out of service.
The term service-learning is now used to describe numerous
voluntary action and experiential education programs. Federal laws
now use the phrase. Its diffusion suggests that several meanings
now are attributed to service-learning. If we are to establish
clear goals and work efficiently to meet them, we need to move
toward a precise definition.
The following notes indicate three fundamental principles of
service-learning and several tools for practitioners who are
involved with service delivery and learning programs.
My first contact with service-learning was in the late 1940's when
the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)--using federal
dollars--popularized a service-learning internship model.
Service-learning at that time was defined as the integration of the
accomplishment of a public task with conscious educational growth.
A typical service-learning activity was a 10- to 15-week full-time
experience in which students carried out work tasks in communities
while also receiving academic credit and/or financial remuneration.
Voluntary action and experiential education programs have grown
steadily in this country during the past decade. Service-learning
rarely has been examined carefully as a style and has been much
overshadowed by more popular program styles. These, in brief, are:
ù "Classroom-based experiential education" in the form of
simulations, games, programmed instruction, computerized learning
packages, group process techniques, and library-based independent
study;
ù "Career exposure and life-style planning programs", part of the
massive career education movement that has-been--popularized by the
writings of such people as Richard Bolles;
ù "Outward Bound" programs and their counterparts using outdoor and
wilderness settings for growth and learning;
ù "Cooperative education", an example of the vocational programs
placing students primarily in "for profit" settings;
ù Adult self-initiated learning exercises sustained without the aid
of educational institutions or professional teachers;
ù Programs rooted in public need settings, including voluntary
action programs, public service internships, academically based
field practica, and some work-study programs.
All six styles have in common an emphasis on individual
development. Programs based in public need settings add service to
others as a major dimension. The service-learning style is best
understood in this type of program, for it focuses on both those
being served and those serving.
Based on my work designing, managing, and evaluating programs with
service and learning dimensions, and with a spirit of inquiry about
how any of us serve well and are served well by our actions? I
suggest the following three principles for those in similar
positions.
Principle One: Those being served control the service(s) provided.
Principle Two: Those being served become better able to serve and
be served by their own actions.
Principle Three: Those who serve also are learners and have
significant control over what is expected to be learned.
Robert Greenleaf, author of "Servant Leadership, A Journey into the
Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness" (1) defines service as it
is used in this service-learning formulation.
One who serves takes care to make sure that other
people's highest priority needs are being served.
The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do
those served grow as persons; do they while being
served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more auto-
nomous, more likely them selves to become servants?
And, what is the effect on the least privileged in
society, will they benefit, or, at least, will they
not be further deprived?
Learning flows from the service task(s). To serve in the spirit of
the Greenleaf definition requires attentive inquiry with those
served and careful examination of what is needed in order to serve
well. As a result, learning objectives are formed in the context of
what needs to be done to serve others.
Unfortunately learning objectives may be superimposed upon rather
than derived from the service task even in programs that strive to
adopt the service-learning style. In the SREB service-learning
internship model of the 1960's, for example, the hyphen between
service and learning was highlighted because it illustrated the
link between the two. Unfortunately, the nature of the service
received limited attention; the focus was on the learning outcomes
sought. The proper emphasis in service-learning, in my view, is not
on the link between the two, but on the distinctiveness of a
service situation as a learning setting.
Over the years I have been exposed to people who teach and develop
tools that aid individuals and institutions in planning for and
carrying out service-learning activities in accordance with these
three principles.
An awareness-building exercise for prospective servers helps assure
that principles one and two are taken into account. The exercise is
a simple process of using guided questions based on a distinction
between "acquirers" and "recipients" of services. To be an
"acquirer" suggests active involvement in the request for and
control of a service. As an "acquirer" an individual or institution
is involved in some self-analysis of the situation and is active in
selecting the type of service and provider. To be a "recipient"
connotes limited, if any, active participation in seeking
assistance, treatment, or help.
To understand the distinctions between "acquirers" and "recipients"
and to plan activities, students can :
ù Describe one or more situations in which each has been an
"acquirer" of a service;
ù Describe one or more situations in which has been a "recipient"
of a service;
ù Describe one or more situations in which each has been a direct
service provider to an individual, organization (Were those served
viewed as "acquirers"or recipients"?);
ù Discuss these experiences with a partner or a small group;
ù List the key themes noted in the descriptions of services;
ù Examine these themes alongside the three service-learning
principles, or the Greenleaf definition of service, or within the
"acquirer"-"recipient" framework;
ù Move into various phases of discussion and planning for a
service-learning activity.
An analytical tool for looking at four basic constituencies in
service delivery situations has been helpful to me. The first
constituency is made up of those who acquire services; the second,
service providers; the third, technology developers (those who
budget, plan, manage, develop curricula, design, monitor and
generally run things); and the fourth, those who provide resources,
the policy makers .
Service learning projects can have as the "acquirer" of service any
of these four constituencies. The central question is: Does the
service being provided make any sense to those expected to benefit
from the services delivered? Will they be better able to serve
themselves and others because of it? Closely related is the
question of who are the individuals who fill the roles in any
service delivery activity. And how do they relate to one another?
The accompanying Service Task Check List is a practical tool for
examining program elements and actors in most voluntary action or
public service-oriented internships. Seven participants are listed
along the horizontal axis, and 10 program functions associated with
student projects are listed on the vertical axis.
The Check List can be used in several ways. The list across the top
introduces major categories of actors in a service-learning
activity and their distinctive expectations, roles, and
relationship patterns. The questions down the left side relate to
the development and implementation of a service project and can be
guides for planning an activity. Participants should be required to
be specific in the responses and encouraged to examine closely the
implications of who controls the services to be rendered.
A faculty member, an agency supervisor, and the student involved
can use the list to examine a student's service-learning activity.
Two avenues of analysis are possible: What are the similarities and
differences in perspective among the three participants, and who in
fact is in control of the services being provided? As a planning
tool for individual projects, the Check List canprovide a similar
overview of who will be in charge and how each participant views
the control issues in a proposed activity.
(page 15 table appears here)
In order to review a departmental or institution-wide
service-oriented education program either being planned or in
existence, different constituencies can complete the check list and
then note and discuss comparisons and contrasts. These profiles
also can be checked out against the Greenleaf service definition or
the three principles outlined earlier.
A project or service plan work sheet is another tool for helping
discover responses to "Who is to be served by this activity?" and
"How are those to be served involved in stating the issue and
carrying out the project?" Proposed categories for a model
worksheet are:
-Summary of situation to be influenced;
-Key individuals, organizations, and institutions involved in the
situation (the direct providers, technology developers, and policy
makers concerned about the dilemma);
-Proposed specific service objectives;
-Experiences (activities, resources, settings, methods, and the
like) to be used in conducting activity;
-Criteria for assessing service outcomes;
-Specific citizens and/or institutions to be served.
Providing services, in situations where "acquirers" speak in other
tongues--or speak from cultural perspectives unfamiliar to us--is
no easy task. There is a great need for the invention of tools and
exercises that help potential servers engage those to be served.
The chief tool for most of us will most likely be one we invent for
the unique situations we face.
Principle three--those who serve are also learners and have
significant control over what is expected to be learned--can have
many varieties of expression.
Since SREB days, I have viewed all the active partners in a
service-learning experience as learners. Not only the student, but
also the faculty counselor, the agency or community supervisor, and
those being served. This expectation strongly suggests that
mutuality is an important dimension in learning.
In a service-learning activity, the service situation allows ample
room for the coordinator to define some learning objectives (e.g.,
what skills andknowledge does the task require, what skills and
knowledge does the student possess, what still needs to be learned
for the students to have some of their own learning expectations,
for the program sponsoring the activity to have stated learning
outcomes, and for the acquirers of services to have learning
expectations. The critical task is making sure the services to be
rendered are not overwhelmed by the learning tasks. It is my
conviction that once an appropriate service activity is formulated
and checked out, learning potential becomes apparent.
Even in well planned service-learning programs with clearly defined
learning objectives, however, significant unplanned learning will
occur. Often it will challenge value assumptions and will require
thoughtful reflection and sharing with others.
A major need in service-learning is for educational researchers to
examine the distinctive learning outcomes associated with service
delivery. Where does service end and learning begin in a
service-learning setting? How is service delivery aided or
handicapped by learning expectations? Do the service-learning
principles stated here make any difference to the quality of
service and learning acquired?
Service-learning is called a utopian vision by some and too
demanding and impractical by others. Service-learning, as discussed
herein, is rooted in the belief that all persons are of unique
worth, that all persons have gifts for sharing with others, that
persons have the right to understand and act on their own
situations, and that our mutual survival on the planet Earth
depends on the more able and the less able serving one another.
Service-learning as formulated here is a partial corrective to the
self-deception many of us service providers practice. We spread
around our talents and knowledge because we have it to use and
enjoy sharing. We do research incommunities to justify our
positions or test a promising methodology. We do group-oriented
work because we are trained in group processes. We want clients to
come to us. We advocate for the handicapped, poor, young, elderly,
and minorities because we want to serve without realizing that they
may not be impressed.
As providers, our degree of control over services and service
systems is excessive in most instances. If we are to be measured by
the Greenleaf criterion of those served growing as persons,
becoming healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants, then we are called to invent ways to
engage those to be served, and that primarily has to be on their
turf and terms.
My hope for these notes is that they will stimulate dialogue on
what service-learning principles say to those using major
experiential education styles mentioned earlier.
A constant challenge those of us face who provide learning
opportunities for people in service settings is to be what
Greenleaf calls "servant leaders." "Servant leaders" are people who
formulate visions, arrange the structures, and manage the action
within the spirit of the service-learning principles. Green-leaf
pushes me and, I hope, many others to invent the distinctive ways
in which we all can better serve and be served.
NOTES
1. Servant Leadership, by Robert K. Greenleaf, Paulist Press, New
York, 1977 (330 pages, $10.95).
In the 1920's Greenleaf finished college and became a
groundman--post-hole digger--for the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company. In 1964 he retired as the company's director of
management research. Since then he has been active as a management
consultant to businesses, educational institutions, and social
service groups.
His concept of the servant as leader was developed over the years
and crystallized when he read Herman Hesse's Journey to the East,
a story that shows how a group disintegrates with the disappearance
of the servant who had sustained the members with his spirit as
well as his menial labor. Greenleaf contends that great leaders
are those who are servants first, i.e., who lead because of a
desire to serve rather than to gain power or personal
gratification.
Greenleaf cites historical examples of servant leaders, including
Thomas Jefferson, and predicts that in the next 30 years leaders
will come from the "dark skinned and the deprived and the alienated
of the world" rather than from elite groups who have not learned to
listen and respond to the problems of those to be served .
In his chapter on "Servant Leadership in Education," Greenleaf
returns to his theme of the need for secondary and post-secondary
schools to prepare the poor "to return to their roots and become
leaders among the disadvantaged." He states that the goal of a
college education should be to "prepare students to serve, and be
served by the current society."
Greenleaf also devotes chapters to "The Institution as Servant,"
"Trusteesas Servants," "Servant Leadership in Business," "Servant
Leadership in Foundations," "Servant Leadership in Churches,"
"Servant Leaders" (profiles of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Donald
John Cowling), "Servant Responsibility in a Bureaucratic Society,"
and "America and World Leadership."
Greenleaf shows a way of putting together two overworked words
(service and leadership) into a fresh perspective. In Servant
Leadership he offers experiential learning managers a holistic
framework for understanding the significance of service-center
learning for individuals and institutions.
REFLECTIONS ON A TYPOLOGY FOR
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
Thomas R. Haugsby
(This essay originally appeared in `Experiential Education: A
Publication of the National Society for Internships in Experiential
Education', Vol. 5, No. 3 (May-June 1980) and is reprinted by
permission.)
I was asked to develop or refine a new or existing typology of
experiential education. What follows is an effort to improve the
language and modestly expand the typology explained in the existing
literature and, later, to suggest another typology based on a
different construct.
A typology of programs was developed at the 1973 state-of-the-art
conference of the Society for Field Experience Education and later
in the CAEL handbook, `College Sponsored Experiential Learning'
(Duley & Gordon, 1977). With only modest revisions the eleven types
of programs are as follows:
Cross Cultural - "A student involves him or herself in another
culture or sub-culture of his or her own society in a deep and
significant way, either as a temporary member of a family, a worker
in that society, or a volunteer in a social agency, with the
intention, as a participant observer, of learning as much as
possible about the culture and his or her own." (Duley & Gordon,
pp. v-vi).
Cooperative Education - The basic features of the traditional
cooperative education model are:
1. There are multiple work and study experiences which are
alternating or "parallel" and which are part of the degree or
program requirements.
2. Work experiences are related to the educational and career
objectives of the student.
3. Students are paid if they are doing work for which regular
employees are paid.
4. Life experiences, field trips, recreational experiences,
independent surveys, and travel are not appropriate.
Pre-Professional Training - Putting into practice the body of
knowledge so as to fuse the informational and practical aspects of
the profession--the practice of the profession having to do with
what knowledge is appropriate and how it may be applied. Such
practice is carried out under careful professional supervision most
often in the institutional settings organized as the professional
practice base, i.e. education-school, law-court/firm,
medicine-hospital. The purpose of such programs is as often to
familiarize a student with the institutional setting established as
the guardians of the profession in society as it is to develop
professional practice skill.
Institutional Analysis - A student has a temporary period of
supervised work that provides opportunities to develop skills, test
abilities and career interests, and systematically examine
institutional cultures in light of the central theoretical notions
in an academic field of study. (Zanderer, 1973,p. l)
Service-Learning - Service-learning has been defined (Sigmon,
`Synergist', Spring 1979, p. 9) as "the integration of the
accomplishment of a task which meets human need with
conscious-educational growth." A typical service-learning activity
is a 10-15 week full-time experience in which students carry out
work tasks in communities while receiving academic credit and/or
financial remuneration. The term is now used to describe numerous
voluntary action and experiential education programs. Principles of
responsible service-learning are that: (1) those being served
control the services(s) provided and become better able to serve
and be served by their own actions; and (2) those who serve also
are learners and have significant control over what is expected to
be learned.(Sigmon, 1979)
Social-Political Action - Students work under faculty sponsorship
for social change via community organizing, political research or
action projects, or work with groups seeking a reorganization of
societal structures or a response to social problems. Some form of
regular and consultative supervision usually occurs with faculty
and/or citizens.
Personal Growth and Development - A student engages in an
experience which is designed to enhance his/her individual growth
and development in programs such as Outward Bound, intentional
communities, or a mental health program. Although personal growth
and development may not be the intended outcomes of every field
experience program, research indicates students typically rate this
outcome high on the list of achievements (i.e. self-confidence,
self-reliance, emerging adult roles). This is true even in programs
which do not specifically promote personal growth and development.
In programs with this intended outcome the expectation often is for
some movement along a developmental continuum. The steps along this
line commonly include:
1. Increased sense of oneself as an active choice maker--a cause
rather than an effect--with a capacity for empathy and an
internalized responsibility for one's own actions.
2. Increased ability to tolerate the paradox and contradiction of
life; awareness of differences in process and outcome.
3. Greater awareness of interdependency and the autonomy of others;
the ability to conceive of actions governed by broad ideals.
(Loevinger, 1976, Chickering, 1969, Heath, 1968)
Field Research - A student or group of students engages in a
research project involving the application of the methods of
inquiry of an academic discipline and its body of knowledge on
traditional subjects of that discipline (i.e. geology-rock
formations, sociology-family structure).
Career Exploration - Occurs in a "supervised placement in a
business, government, industry, service organization, or profession
in order to provide a useful service, to analyze the career
possibilities of that placement, and to develop skills related to
employment. The educational institution provides the means of
structured reflection, analysis, and self-evaluation. The agency
supervisor provides an evaluation of the student's work and career
potential." (Duley, Gordon, 1977, p. vii)
Academic Discipline/Career Integration - "A student is employed in
a business, government, industry, service organization, or
profession prior to entry into the educational institution. The
faculty members and the educational institution provide the means
of structural analysis and evaluation based on the academic
discipline involved, integrating theory and practice and
heightening the student's awareness and understanding of the world
and his/her career in a conscious systematic fashion" (Cummins,
1974). This type of program may include adult degree completion
programs, assessment of prior learning, and portfolio programs.
Career or Occupational Development - A multiple, often alternating
sequence of work experiences which function in concert with
classroom instruction to advance a student toward a vocation or
career goal. Experiences are sorted and sequenced to move a student
through predictable stages of skill development related to a
specific career. This is particularly common in vocational or
technical programs.
The above eleven types of programs, although often overlapping,
help to distinguish those program goals pertinent to education
based in and sponsored by schools, colleges and universities. Yet
we know the history of experiential learning is found in the early
guilds through apprenticeships and on-the-job training. In an
effort to expand the boundaries of our conception of field
experience education, I suggest we consider the following partial
list of programs which exist outside the established educational
arena, yet share common goals with the approaches listed above.
On-the-Job-Training - A mixture of experiential and non-
experiential learning, these programs include the intentional
instruction and/or guidance given at the work site by experts to
learners in context. The provision of this guidance is an expected
part of the supervisor's overall responsibility. Examples include
a foreman showing and aiding the learner/worker to develop
proficiency in a task, professional post-schooling education such
as residency programs in hospitals, or military service wherein
soldiers are given training, instruction, and guidance "at the
workbench." In some cases this education is augmented by seminars,
classes or in-service programs.
Apprentice Programs - Commonly found in skilled labor organizations
which sponsor their own alternation or interaction of classroom and
job site, apprentice programs are wholly different from the
traditional structure of Cooperative Education except that they
occur outside the educational institution.
Career Pathing - An employee is routed systematically through a
variety of jobs requiring the on-site appreciation/understanding,
if not the acquisition of the skills and attitudes needed in
various department areas, professions, or wings of an organization.
This may be used by the organization to broaden the horizons of
narrowly prepared employees for more "managerial" responsibilities
in the future, to allow for a fluid work force, to promote
individual growth,or to make employees more aware of their
contributions to the overall effort.
Exchange Program - These encourage the cross-fertilization of
employees in different organizations. Examples are a professor who
spends a year in private industry or government service to expand
the understanding between theory and practice and an executive
loaned to a social service or public agency.
It may be time to stop. The temptation is to go on to
self-sponsored experiential learning such as the homemaker who
volunteers in an agency before deciding the merits of going back to
school or the self-taught hobbiest who seeks the advice and
assistance of others with similar interests. The expansion of this
typology to include self-sponsored learning should be debated
within the profession. It is my intent to begin that debate with
this article.
It may be useful to suggest, in conclusion, a typology different
from the above--one that focuses more specifically on the kind of
learning to be fostered by the experiential education program. This
model is a reorganization of the expanded Duley/Gordon model into
families according to the learning goal rather than the learning
strategy. This typology is not restricted in its point or origin to
an educational institution. The learning goals could be divided as
follows:
1. To put theory into practice, principally by learning ways to
apply, integrate, and/or evaluate the body of knowledge and the
method of inquiry of a discipline or field.
2. To acquire knowledge specific to a profession, occupation,
social institution, or organization.
3. To acquire and develop specific skills, competencies, and
attitudes pertinent to problem-solving, interpersonal interaction,
group process, inter-intercultural experience, lifestyle, and/or
coping.
4. To develop the competence of learning in a self-directed fashion
by using experiential learning theory or methods of inquiry.
5. To develop and use an ethical perspective or stance; to develop
moral reasoning or judgment, especially in using the concepts of
empathy or role-playing and a concept of justice.
6. To test careers by exploration or confirmation of career choices
leading to self-understanding and the use of career assessment
skills.
7. To become responsible citizens of the community by understanding
the political system and its variations, identifying issues of
social concern and developing skills for citizen participation.
Chapter 2: MULTIPLE MODELS
SERVICE LEARNING AND THE WOMEN'S STUDIES CURRICULUM
Carolyn M. Shrewsbury
Inclusion of service learning activities in the women's studies
curriculum benefits students, the women's studies program, the
university and the community. Comprehensive integration of service
learning concepts and practice, throughout the Women's Studies
curriculum, enhances those benefits, and may well be one key to the
growth and survival of strong women's studies programs in the
1980's.
Many of the attitudes and activities necessary for such an
integrated curriculum already exist in women's studies programs,
but need to be made explicit in their relationship to service
learning as a means and philosophy of feminist education. The
importance of service learning activities in the overall program is
demonstrated by reference to the criteria used to assess curricular
offerings: scope of the field covered; inclusion of different
ideological perspectives; adequacy of academic standards; relevance
to career preparation; balance between skills and substantive
concerns; attention to both theory and practice; extensiveness of
pedagogical alternatives; provision of research opportunities;
relationship to the community, broadly defined, and to different
feminist communities.
In an effectively integrated curriculum, service learning would
begin in the Women's Studies program's introductory course, and
continue as a coordinated aspect of all curricular offerings.
Introductory courses can introduce service learning in various
ways. Optional projects, for example, might involve occasional or
weekly site visits to potential service learning placements for
inquiry, observation or limited participation. Student papers or
presentations can be related to the concerns or projects of an
agency in which they have an interest. Speakers from campus or
community organizations can be invited to address the class.
In upper division and advanced courses, instructors can make
assignments that would be useful or appropriate for work-related
situations, as well as (or rather than) assigning traditional
academic research papers. In my feminist scholarship class, e.g.,
students prepare testimony for a hearing before a state legislative
committee or commission. In those courses with a public policy
emphasis, the potential for connecting research aspects of public
policy to service learning might be explored even further. Those
courses could put emphasis on the methodologies of needs assessment
and evaluation. Class projects could be developed in cooperation
with groups in the community that need assistance with grant
applications or have use for particular research.
Skills components of women's studies programs, e.g., assertiveness
training, career development, management and problem solving, could
be more integrated into the total curriculum if their usefulness to
students preparing for service-learning placement is clearly
articulated.
Many institutions offer sponsored experiential learning courses, in
which students devote a number of hours per week to a practicum
placement or field activity, with additional classroom time
provided to examine important issues centering around these work
and service experiences. For the student who has already been
involved in a variety of action projects through previous
course-work, a full-time internship (working hours measured by a
full course load) can help synthesize her program of study. For the
student without such previous exposure, full-time field work could
be an important entre to women's studies.
Collective action courses offer another curricular model for
providing practical experience. In one such course at Mankota State
University, the class worked as a group to research the issue of
sexual harassment on campus; students developed a brochure
explaining the situation they discovered and outlined possible
solutions. Instead of working with or at a particular agency, this
class worked to develop public awareness about an existing problem
and to suggest means for alleviating that problem.
Just as students can work collectively on projects that serve
public and community needs not otherwise being met, they can also
be involved in meeting needs within the women's studies program
itself. By developing orientation sessions for prospective service
learning students, they can share their own previous experiences.
By serving as part of a peer network, they can provide vital
support for students in field placements, particularly those in
stressful or conflictual work sites. By acting as leaders of
co-seminars and discussion groups they can make possible an
activity that small programs might otherwise have to forego.
To ensure that placement experiences are meaningful for both the
intern and the agency/program, formal mechanisms need to be created
by which students can give feedback to a women's studies program,
particularly so the curriculum can be strengthened to better
prepare students to participate in service learning. One way to do
this is to include field supervisors as members of women's studies
program advisory committees.
An ongoing evaluation plan will also help improve the service
learning component of the curriculum and maintain its consistency
with overall program philosophy. It will also indicate the efficacy
of women's studies to university administrators. Several questions
that were part of the original planning for service learning
activities might continue to be examined during evaluation
processes. For example, what kinds of internships are acceptable?
If internships in corporations are appropriate, how should they be
created and managed? What consideration should be given to the
impact of voluteerism on students, and what ways can be found to
ameliorate any negative financial impacts: encouraging agencies
eligible for work-study aid to make use of such funds for service
learning students; approaching women's groups for special
scholarships for service learning activities; urging groups who can
pay student interns to see the importance of such support? Are the
mechanisms for matching student and placement working for the
agency and the student? Are students adequately supported in this
placement? Is the evaluation of the student's work fair and does
that evaluation enhance the learning program?
Besides benefiting students, service learning activities benefit
community groups, women's studies, and the institution. Community
groups benefit by the greater visibility of the activities that
result from the involvement of excited students, by having access
to the resources of the university, by the "new blood" and skills
students bring with them. Both community and academe benefit from
active communication and healthy interchange between academics and
practitioners.
The women's studies program benefits by giving to the community as
well as getting from it. A natural support network for the program
that must be respected by university officials is enhanced, one
that will often result in new students, especially from previously
hard-to-reach groups. These new students and the demands they bring
will continue to enrich our programs and force us to continue to
challenge the status quo.
The institution benefits by having a stronger women's studies
program, excited and involved students, connections to the
community, and ultimately by the challenge these activities make to
other departments on campus.
Service learning, like women's studies, is a means of empowering
students and contributing to the growth of strong women's
communities on and off campus. The survival of prospering women's
studies programs in the '80s is important to the development of a
more humane society. Given the potential of student enrollment
declines in our universities and with the certainty that financial
resources will be limited, that survival may well depend upon the
ability to develop integrated, innovative programs that meet
students' needs, enhance the strengths and prestige of the
university within its service community and are potential models
for other disciplines. A strong service learning component could be
one key for the accomplishment of those tasks.
THE WOMEN'S STUDIES PRACTICUM AT LORETTO HEIGHTS:
CASE STUDY FOR SMALL COLLEGES AND SMALL PROGRAMS
Elizabeth Jameson
To be effective, a women's studies service learning program must
fit the circumstances of a particular campus. For other programs to
assess the applicability of the Loretto Heights model to their
situations, it is important to be aware of the controlling factors
which shape our Women Studies Practicum: the nature of the college
and its student body, the constraints under which the women studies
program operates, and the college's location in a large urban area.
If these particularities are taken into account, elements of the
Loretto Heights practicum may usefully apply to other small
programs.
College/Student Profile
Loretto Heights College is a private coeducational liberal arts
college with some 800 undergraduate students. Until 1968 it was a
Catholic women's college. Today, many faculty are nuns (who do not
live in a convent or wear habits and who have endorsed an
impressive statement on feminism and sexism), and the majority of
students are Catholic, many from rural parochial school
backgrounds. Roughly 80 percent of the faculty and students are
female, and many of the younger entering students have never been
in a predominantly male environment. These students are likely to
have highly romanticized visions of womanhood and of marriage.
The largest major is nursing, representing about 40-50 percent of
all graduates. Among the nursing students there are two major
groups: young, traditionally college age students, and some twenty
military nurses a year who are completing B.S. degrees, from whom
Women Studies draws a disproportionately high number of students
and of minors. In addition, we draw disproportionately from the
University Without Walls, an individualized degree program which
represents some 20 percent of all graduates, about 80 of whom take
LHC courses each year. UWW attracts many "older" women returning to
school and a number of feminists in their 20's and 30's.
The "average" Loretto Heights student is a woman in her mid-to-late
twenties, Caucasian, middle to upper class, interested in the
health sciences with a large number of available female role
models, and who frequently has had some work experience before
enrolling in the practicum. However, there is no really "average"
Women Studies student, and our interns tend to be young nursing
students with parochial school backgrounds, or older, more
independent women with some work experience and a sharper awareness
of sexism and of the feminist movement. Interns are either
developing awareness of feminist career opportunities and enhancing
growing feminist consciousness, or they are relatively new to the
worlds of work and of feminism. This lack of experience is somewhat
tempered by the clinical component of the nursing program, so that
some of the younger interns do have the hospital setting to compare
with their placement sites.
The internship is part of an 18-credit minor in Women Studies, 2-6
credits of which must be practicum. This requirement is consistent
with goals of feminist service learning generally; it is envisioned
as a place from which students can relate the academic skills and
interests of women studies to the "real world" of women's needs.
Like most of the feminist agencies in which we place women studies
interns, the women studies program is understaffed and over
committed. I am the only professional staff, and my half-time
position includes all aspects of running a research center and the
Women Studies Minor, teaching a course a term besides the
practicum, and non-curricular programming. In my copious free time
I administer the internships and meet with and advise practicum
students. Fortunately, given limited staff time, we have many fewer
minors than women studies students and tend, on the average, to
have only 1-3 interns per term. Therefore, we have no ongoing
internships (positions which are continuously staffed by a Loretto
Heights student) and an independent study format instead of a
formal co-seminar.
Ironically, given the problems of more geographically isolated
schools, we always have more potential placement sites than
interns. Denver is a large urban area with a rich variety of
feminist agencies and organizations eager to sponsor women studies
interns. There is, however, considerable instability of feminist
placement sites; our state Commission of Women was just unfunded by
the State Legislature, and several safe houses for battered women
were recently denied city funding and closed while new funding was
arranged. Given this instability and the unpredictable numbers and
interests of student interns, I tend to arrange placements each
term, using as a placement base my contacts with the Denver area
feminist community, and trying always to have a number of contacts
going with health-related agencies. Such a process might be more
difficult for one who was new to an area or who had fewer resources
on which to draw; however, community-based feminist agencies are a
good base for developing placements, and persons in one agency will
generally refer to other or more appropriate persons and agencies.
Our placement process begins when a student comes to me and
expresses an interest in the Women Studies Practicum. I talk with
the student to assess her/his needs and desires from a placement
experience, like specific work skills, exposure to a feminist work
setting, exposure to the corporate work world, interest in a
particular issue like rape or daycare, etc. I also try to assess
the student's previous experience and more intangible qualities
like maturity, level of feminist consciousness, need for
supervision, etc. It is extremely important to match skills and
motives to appropriate placement sites; a student who wanted
primarily to develop skills in non-hierarchical management would
not necessarily fit in well at the local Women's Bank, for
instance.
I then suggest several placement alternatives which might fit the
student's needs and describe what I know of the agency and the work
the student might be doing there. My guidelines for appropriate
placements are: the supervisor must be a self-identified feminist,
s/he must be willing to engage in ongoing contracting and
supervision and must be willing to act as a teacher, and the work
for the intern must be "real" work, not "busy work" which could be
learned in any office setting.
The student selects a placement or placements to explore, and
contacts the work supervisor to discuss the matter. When a student
and a supervisor have agreed to the internship, they negotiate a
contract, which may be renegotiated, regarding the student's
learning goals, the work to be done, the number of hours and work
time committed per week, the nature and frequency of supervision,
the criteria for evaluating the intern, and other matters
appropriate to the student's relationship to the placement site.
The student then contracts with me, the Practicum Instructor,
regarding her more analytic and personal learning goals, reading
and written assignments, a regular meeting time, and evaluation
criteria. Essentially we structure an independent study which is
the rough equivalent of the co-seminar in a larger program. For
each credit, the student must work the equivalent of 2.5 hours a
week for a 16-week term, or perform roughly 40 hours or work per
credit. In addition, s/he keeps a journal or other record of the
work experience, does some related reading and short written
assignments analyzing the placement experience, and writes a final
evaluation of the internship, taking into account the goals
outlined in the original contracts with the instructor and the work
supervisor. I assign the final grade, after consulting with the
placement supervisor and the student.
What sorts of jobs have LHC Women Studies interns held? The
majority have been health- or service-related, including rape
counseling, and doing a survey of resources for battered women in
the area. (In this instance, I was the placement supervisor and the
directory produced is used by our women's center.) One student who
had trained in sexuality counseling ran a sexuality workshop for
her practicum, supervised by a local feminist therapist. Other
internship possibilities have included doing research on day care
available at Colorado work sites for the state Commission on Women,
interning as a legislative lobbyist for NOW, and working as a
legislative intern for a feminist State Senator.
In addition, there are potential placements at non-feminist
worksites, if the student is placed with a feminist supervisor.
These may be one solution for programs with fewer potential
feminist placement sites. For instance, a business major will do
her practicum in the near future with a feminist who is a Public
Relations Director for Mountain Bell Telephone Company. The
supervisor helped to form a group called Women in Management at
Mountain Bell, and I fantasize that the student will learn
something about establishing feminist support networks in the
corporate world, as well as learn about public relations.
Considerable responsibility falls on the independent study
component of the practicum to encourage feminist learning from the
work experience. Students are encouraged to see their internships
in relation to others' by using as a frame of reference their
previous work experiences. Although there is a disadvantage to
students in the lack of exchange with other interns, there is some
advantage in the individualized approach of the small program: I
can create assignments to fit the student's particular needs.
Who Makes the Coffee?
Strategies for Encouraging Feminist Learning
In Programs Without Co-Seminars
A small service learning program which runs essentially as an
independent study cannot provide the same rich exchange of
experience which students in larger programs may gain through
co-seminars, and it can become an imaginative exercise to encourage
each student's feminist learning throughout her internship. This
possibility of meeting each individual student where s/he is and
moving from that place can also provide a nourishing learning
situation; the strategies for learning designed to complement a
placement are limitless, and some exercises might be useful in
co-seminars as well.
The exact knowledge, skills, and attitudes I try to encourage vary
with each student, depending on her level of development in job
skills, interpersonal skills, analytic skills, and feminist
consciousness. Until a student has, for example, recognized the
existence of subtle and overt job discrimination, it is relatively
meaningless to encourage her to develop skills to combat sexism at
the worksite. Until she is aware of differences in hierarchically
and non-hierarchically structured offices, it doesn't mean much to
suggest she grapple with the difficulties and advantages of each
structure. I have sponsored interns who did not particularly need
individually designed exercises to encourage their learning, but
who were ready to devote their major energy to exploring a career
or issue. With these students, I generally assign related reading
and ask for a journal and a reflective paper for processing the
experience. But for other students, newer to the worlds of work and
of feminism, I have tried to devise exercises to enhance feminist
awareness through the internship.
I realize that I rely heavily on my own experience, asking myself
how I became aware of the existence of sexism, how that manifested
itself in my early job experiences, what models I had of feminist
coping strategies, etc. My academic background as a cultural
historian prompts some of the exercises, both in terms of what I
ask students to observe, and in my concept of student as
participant/observer at the placement site. I find it useful to
employ a non-feminist work setting as a frame of reference; if the
student is interning at a feminist agency, I rely on past work
experiences in more traditional settings, or on interviews which
the student conducts with women working in traditional settings, to
provide this contrast.
If the intern works at a traditional work situation (always, in my
program, with a feminist supervisor), then the task is, broadly, to
enhance consciousness of sex-typed roles and behaviors, and to
increase awareness of survival strategies for women in "the regular
work world." If the work site is a feminist agency, then the
student may analyze how "feminist" the work structure is, how
women's roles differ in feminist and in traditional settings, how
feminist goals, processes, and interpersonal contacts contrast with
those of the dominant business world. The following suggestions are
some exercises I have used in the independent study component of a
women studies internship; each person can probably devise countless
others that fit a personal teaching style and individual student
needs.
1. Analyze the decision making and work structure of the office.
Who sets goals, makes policy? Who implements policy? What
distinguishes persons who do the "scut" work from persons in
policy-making positions (race, gender, age, volunteer status,
etc.)?
2. In agencies trying to develop non-hierarchical structures, how
is policy made? How are responsibilities determined? What are
the long- and short-term hassles and benefits of consensual
decision making, in terms of both making and implementing
policy?
3. Observe informal decision-making patterns and interactions, to
distinguish sexist, classist, agist, and racist behavior. Who
talks with whom? About what? How often? What names do various
personnel call one another by? (Is it Janey and Mr. Smith?) Who
stands in whose presence? Are there language or touch patterns
which reinforce hierarchy at the worksite? For instance, since
many Loretto Heights students are student nurses, I ask them to
use hospital etiquette as a reference (and to compare the roles
of nurses in traditional hospitals with, say, a rape counseling
situation). Students generally observe that doctors initiate
touch with nurses, but not vice versa, and that doctors talk
medical slang ("cutting") until nurses join them, and then they
switch to technical language ("Appendectomy").
4. Interview other workers at your placement about their duties,
compensations, how they cope with childcare and housework
responsibilities, what place work has in their lives, etc. (Do
all co-workers consider themselves responsible for household and
family duties? Who does their laundry, gets dinner, etc.?)
5. Talk with co-workers about why they work and what satisfaction
they derive from it. How does the meaning of work differ for you
(the intern), for women, and for men in traditional and in
feminist work-sites?
6. Analyze the job classifications and, if possible, the pay scale
for the occupations at your agency. Analyze jobs by job title,
duties, and pay, and by who performs them. Question: How is an
executive secretary different from an administrative assistant?
Answer: She does everything he does for half the pay and makes
the coffee besides.
7. Have lunch with the managers and with the secretaries. How long
does each group take for lunch? Where do they go? How much, on
the average, do they spend for lunch? If there is an employees'
lunch-room, who eats there? What does each group talk about? How
do members of the group relate to one another? (This exercise
could be translated to joining other employees in off-work
activities, of finding out what they do after work or on
weekends, comparing by job, marital status, parental status,
etc.)
8. If the supervisor is a feminist in a traditional worksite,
compare her supervisory style with other persons in similar
positions. Does her secretary have a different feeling/working
relationship than other secretaries have with their bosses? Who
makes the coffee in the office?
The possibilities are infinite and can draw on other resources. For
instance, a quick look at the U.S. Department of Labor Women's
Bureau publication, "Handbook on Women Workers", provides an
excellent introduction to jobs aggregation, pay discrimination,
etc., and may be a good starting point before asking a student to
analyze the conditions at her placement. Or a business student
might be encouraged to read _Games_Mother_Never_Taught_You_ and then
to consider the adequacy of male metaphors (football, the military)
for her in relating to the corporate world, and to develop new
metaphors to suit her situation. When the student starts devising
her own exercises and analytic frame-works, it is a good sign that
the service learning experience has effectively heightened her
awareness of choices and implications she will continue to face as
a working woman.
Conclusion
The Loretto Heights Practicum appears to accomplish most for those
who have had some prior work experience and for the more mature,
self-motivated student. The discoveries of younger, previously
sheltered students are often more basic (jobs are sex-segregated)
and more emotionally wrenching (identification with rape victims).
The basic advantage of a small program is that individualized
programming can take these differences into account. The basic
disadvantage is that younger students, especially, have no exchange
with others dealing with a variety of feminist issues. The interns
are very much dependent on my quirks, community contacts, and on
the limits of my time, energy and creativity.
The practicum clearly impacts both the students and the larger
feminist community. Students gain knowledge of ways to develop and
apply skills in feminist contexts, and begin to imagine ways to
create new careers for themselves. Most of the placements are in
agencies, like Safe Houses, which did not exist ten years ago, and
which were created out of women's needs and energies. This is a
useful realization for career-panicked students. The student who
ran a sexuality workshop is now a counselor in an abortion clinic
and she runs some women's sexuality groups. So one impact of the
internship is the proliferation of feminist services in the long
run. For the agencies, the benefits are broader than receiving work
assistance; less tangibly, exposure to the concerns of a variety of
students, including those just encountering feminist awareness, is
an important input for the agency staff.
The placements provide a variety of learning possibilities, from
basic skills (communication, budgeting, advertising, etc.), to an
introduction to differences between feminist and sexist work
settings, to philosophies of feminist organization and
communication. Students may encounter new strategies for developing
their own support networks, develop new skills (rape counseling)
and begin to imagine ways to use skills for other women. Besides
educating students regarding feminist issues like battering and
credit and daycare, our biggest success appears to be helping
returning students transfer skills to the workworld and increasing
their self-confidence, introducing students to feminist agencies
and networks, and helping women who have worked primarily in the
health fields imagine new ways to use these skills within a women's
community. At Loretto Heights, I think our largest long-term impact
for women will be in the fields of nursing and the healing arts.
Students begin to question the medical hierarchy and to find ways
to transform it or to use skills differently within it. For
instance, one military nurse who graduated with a Women Studies
minor has developed a program for raped and battered women at her
current military base. As one colleague recently told me, "Your
practicum makes you into a Jenny Appleseed for the military." It is
not a goal I would have imagined for myself or for the program, but
it may be a significant achievement.
INTEGRATING THEORY AND PRACTICE IN
A SERVICE LEARNING CO-SEMINAR
Nancy Schniedewind
The ability to apply feminist theory to personal and social change
efforts, and in turn to use that practical experience to evaluate
and recreate theory, is an important process goal for women's
studies students. A field-work course is an excellent context for
this learning to take place.
"Fieldwork in Women's Studies," an upper division, three credit
course,is required for women's studies majors, taken toward the end
of their program of study. This course, which usually enrolls from
6 to 8 students each semester, is also open to other upper-division
students who have had two women's studies courses. Students work in
a field placement for a minimum of six hours a week and must also
participate in a two hour seminar once every three weeks.
There are many ways to define service learning in women's studies.
At New Paltz, fieldwork is a three to six credit experience that is
one part of a student's full course load and is completed at a site
in commuting distance from campus. An internship is a 15-18 credit
experience that is, itself, a student's full course load, and is
often taken in another geographical area; this latter experience is
more intensive, and we recommend it for students who have already
taken fieldwork. My focus in this paper is on what we define as
fieldwork, which necessitates that students come together as a
group for a seminar every three weeks.
The overriding intent of "Fieldwork in Women's Studies" is to
provide students an opportunity to learn to integrate feminist
theory and practice, encouraging them to see their own potential to
foster change. The specific goals of the course are for students
to:
- Gain practical experience and skills by working in
feminist organizations and projects
- Make a positive contribution to women's program or
activity in the community
- Analyze various approaches for creating personal and social
change
- Develop skills for integrating theoretical knowledge and
practical experience to promote feminist goals
A series of "relevant questions" that reflect these goals are posed
on the syllabus at the beginning of the course. These provide a
framework for thinking, discussion, and journal entries as we
proceed through the course. They include:
- What are our goals for the feminist movement?
- How do various projects we work with promote these, or
other, goals?
- What are the approaches to change that women have and do
utilize? On what assumptions are these based?
- How can theory instruct practice in the feminist movement?
In the organizations we work with? In our lives?
- How do issues of class and race affect our theory and
action strategies?
- How is personal change related to social change? How can the
two be synthesized most effectively?
- How can we overcome feelings of helplessness and work
effectively and cooperatively for change?
Our focus on creating personal and social change through the
fieldwork experience has implications for the choice of placement.
It has been argued that women's studies students can do fieldwork
in any setting--from a major corporation to a fast food shop--and
learn to apply a feminist perspective to their experience. To a
degree, that is true. Nevertheless, we have a choice about the
total experience we-want our students to have. If our goals are to
use fieldwork to instruct students in the theory and practice of
catalyzing change for women, I believe it is important to place
students in organizations with similar goals--to the extent it is
possible in a given community--so that way the process and content
of what we are teaching is consistent with their work setting, and
their learning is therefore more powerful and integrated. Our
students have, and will have, many chances--for better or worse!-
-to work within institutions whose goals are to serve the status
quo. This is one opportunity for them to experience an alternative,
as part of an organization that advocates other values and visions.
Experiential knowledge of an alternative enables students to know
that such a reality is possible again for them in the future.
In addition, students are resources as well as learners. We must
ask ourselves where we want to direct our woman power and that of
our students. At New Paltz we have decided that it is into those
feminist and progressive organizations struggling for social
change. Usually these are organizations that have meager resources,
money, and personnel. In these settings students' energy can make
a significant difference to the group's effectiveness, and women's
studies continues to empower the women's movement that spawned it.
The theory/practice focus in the fieldwork course also has
implications for the nature of the co-seminar. Rather than teach
skills, the seminar is the arena in which we collectively attempt
to apply issues raised in the readings to field experiences. Since
most of the upper division students at New Paltz who take this
course have had solid skills, we have not faced the need for a
skills component. It is, however, very important that students have
job-related competencies before beginning a placement. These might
include: writing, speaking, public communication, interviewing,
data gathering, assertiveness with supervisor, role-taking ability,
and group skills. Should it be necessary to teach these
competencies, I'd propose a one credit modular course,
"Introduction to Fieldwork in Women's Studies," to meet the need.
Such a short-term, intensive course would prepare students for
their fieldwork and enable the co-seminar to focus more directly on
analysis.
As students wish or need to, they see me independently concerning
their particular placement. I meet with the entire group of field
work students six times during the semester for two hours. The
requirements for the course include: (1) completion of all assigned
readings, (2) a detailed journal documenting learning from their
fieldwork and analysis of their reading; and (3) a final paper
describing learnings regarding the synthesis of theory and practice
to foster change. Their final grade is based on their self
evaluation, their supervisor's evaluation, and the quality of these
assignments. Through the course it is my aim that students become
active participants in a fieldwork experience, reflect upon it,
generalize about it, and apply the generalizations to the
experience to better understand it and/or change it. The seminar
provides the forum for reflection, conceptualization, and
discussion of application.
In the first co-seminar session, students get acquainted, describe
their fieldwork placement to each other, and discuss their
expectations for the semester. I share my expectations and
delineate the requirements for the course.
We begin all subsequent sessions with time for each student to
share an experience, excitement or a problem from her fieldwork
situation. Students learn more about others' projects, and get
support or problem solving strategies, as needed; I can identify
any students having difficulties, and arrange time for a follow-up
conference. While we spend no more than thirty minutes on this
process, it is valuable for sharing brainstorming solutions to
common--or not-so-common!--problems, renewing energy, and
validating the personal change students experience.
Sessions two and three, titled "Feminist Frameworks," are devoted
to analysis of various theoretical perspectives from which to view
woman's oppression and strategies for change. Students read
selections from "Feminist Frame-works: Alternative Theoretical
Accounts of the Relations between Women and Men" by Alison Jagger
and Paula Struhl, and `Anarchism: The Feminist Connection' by Peggy
Kornegger in "Reinventing Anarchy", edited by Howard and Carol
Ehrlich. We discuss liberal, Marxist, radical feminist, socialist
feminist, and anarchist-feminist theories. Concurrently, students
are making observations in their field settings and recording
responses to these questions in their journals:
- What are the explicit and implicit goals of the
organization or project you work with?
- How do their practices support or differ from their goals?
- From what framework--or combination thereof--is your
organization working? How do you know?
- What feminist framework(s) do you feel most reflects your
beliefs?
In the seminar, we discuss not only the theoretical perspectives,
but also the way in which students applied these frameworks to the
reality of their fieldwork. We compare and contrast the modus
operandi and values of various groups. Students compare their
perspectives with each other, and to the organizations represented.
It is important to note that in talking about feminist frameworks
in relationship to field placements, I encourage a norm of
acceptance for every organization involved. We consistently affirm
the valuable work all do, and analyze practice from different
points of view. Sometimes these critiques are brought back to
students' placements to impact practice; students are encouraged to
share issues they're dealing with in the seminar with persons in
their placement. About one third of the students work with a
campus-based organization, like the birth control clinic, so there
are often opportunities for critical suggestions to be discussed
and implemented because students feel more power to foster change
in groups organized by peers. At all times, however, I expect
support and respect for all organizations.
Session four is titled "Theory in Action." Students read: "Toward
a Political Morality" by Barbara Ehrenreich; "The Reform Tool Kit"
by Charlotte Bunch; and "The Women of Williamsburg" by Carol
Brightman. We discuss how theory is put to work in feminist
projects. The focus for students' observations and journal entries
is Charlotte Bunch's discussion of non-reformist reforms. Bunch
describes a reform as any change that alters the condition of life
in a particular area, noting it can be conservative or
revolutionary. She defines reformism as a particular ideological
position--basically liberalism--and puts forth five criteria for
distinguishing a non-reformist reform. Students are asked to
examine their organizations with these criteria in mind. In the
seminar we discuss not only the content of these articles, but the
application of Bunch's thinking. We formulate specific ways
organizations could change, should they want to, to be more in tune
with those criteria. These questions enable students to carefully
examine their organizations, their impact and outcomes, and the
ways they're part of, or a challenge to, the status quo.
A student who worked in a birth control clinic made the following
journal entry, which I quote with her permission.
The birth control clinic is being quite effective at what its
goals are. I would hope that those who work for it, as well as
other reform type organizations, will not merely stop at them
and feel they have created the solutions. What I've learned
from working for this type of agency is that to stop and
"settle" for it is in a sense defeating a purpose of fighting
for social change. This is not to say that those who work
there are not making enormous contributions to society and
women. I feel now I owe it to women and myself to struggle for
social change that will hopefully some day eliminate the need
for reform organizations to begin with--i.e., rape crisis
centers and so on. I want to change the society that killed
women who were used as guinea pigs to test the pill and the
IUD, I want to change the society that doesn't bother to do
any further research for more humane methods of birth control
and expects women to be thankful for what methods they've
got...
This student, a superb practitioner in the birth control clinic,
could affirm the significance of her project's work, and at the
same time increase her critical consciousness in light of the
theoretical issues raised.
The fifth session of the seminar focuses on class issues. Students
read "Class and Feminism" by Charlotte Bunch et al. They observe
and record issues about class as they relate to themselves and to
their placement.
- What is the class background of the people you work with?
The people your project serves/empowers?
- What class values are reflected in the goals and procedures
of the group?
- How does your class background affect the way you view
yourself, women's oppression and strategies for social
change?
Given the way we're taught not to discuss class difference, this
session tends to be a very powerful learning experience. Students
have sometimes returned to their fieldwork settings to raise basic
issues generated in this session.
In the final session, "Social Equality: Visions, Goals and
Strategies," we discuss Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time".
Students respond to these questions in their journals.
- Describe the reality and the vision that Piercy presents.
- Compare that to the reality of our society and the vision
of your field placement.
- Compare Piercy's vision and yours.
This class, too, is powerful, because of the clarity and strength
of Piercy's writing. Students talk of their visions, and we share
what we've learned about strategies for social change. At this
session a final paper is due in which students detail what they've
learned from integrating theory and practice with an emphasis on
fostering personal and social change. Since these themes are fresh
in their thinking, discussion is often rich.
Throughout the semester students have: been part of a feminist
action project; reflected upon their experience in journals and
seminars; used writings of feminists as the basis for further
conceptualization; applied these theoretical views to their field
experience; suggested new action for themselves and their
organizations based on that process. By participating in a social
change effort, students change as individuals. They learn new
competencies, acknowledge skills they already had, and gain a sense
of personal power by working in a collective effort toward feminist
goals. The seminar reinforces this personal change with support and
constructive criticism: sharing their personal development in a
group setting, students feel their individual and collective
empowerment more deeply.
A student in my course made the following summary statement, which
I quote with her permission.
I really must say that I've learned a great deal from this
entire experience. I feel stronger about my own abilities now
that I've proven to myself that I can do it. Therefore,I feel
now I'm ready for a change...l finally realize that sitting
back and merely intellectualizing about oppression in society
is not enough and that only through action will things change.
Now I'm willing and ready to devote my energies to doing that.
I've gained through the course the courage as well as the
realization to admit this, and to act upon it.
In reflecting on this model for a fieldwork course and seminar, I
see several developments that could reinforce its goals. In the
context of the course as described, I intend to have students work
in pairs or small groups in as many organizations as possible.
While this may cut down on the number of feminist projects we
connect with in a given semester, it will provide students a
built-in support group in which to discuss issues raised by the
experience: Further, it will give them a cooperative experience as
activists and reinforce the idea that it takes people working
together to effect change.
A second semester course, "Fieldwork in Women's Studies II" could
also be developed, to enable students to apply their learning from
the basic course more consistently and cooperatively. Students
would work together as a group to choose a receptive organization
to work with, or to define a problem affecting women in the
community. They would develop a theoretical framework for
addressing a problem in the context of that framework. For example,
if part of their working theory involved the negative influence of
class bias and racism on women's liberation, the group might work
with the local health care center to survey the effectiveness of
their services for low-income and minority women. If they found
areas for improvement, the group could cooperate with the health
center to develop strategies to try meet those needs. In this
second course they would even be more actively formulating theory
and applying it in praxis. The process of the working group itself
would be an equally important area for learning.
During the Women's Studies Service Learning Institute, Marti
Bombyk, another participant, made a distinction between feminist
consciousness and conscience: the former an awareness of women's
oppression which can then be limited to the quest for personal
liberation, the latter the combination of consciousness with
action, which seeks to empower women as a group. Surely a valid
goal for service learning in women's studies is the movement of
feminist consciousness toward conscience. It is my hope that this
description of a fieldwork course with a co-seminar that encourages
dialectical process has been helpful, and will catalyze us all to
renewed consciousness and conscience.
REFERENCES
Brightman, Carol. "Women of Williamsburg," Working Papers for a New
Society, Jan./Feb., 1978.
Bunch, Charlotte. "The Reform Tool Kit," Guest: A Feminist
Quarterly, Vol. 1, 1974.
(For a list of Bunch's five criteria for reform, see p. in this
volume.)
Bunch, Charlotte, et al., "Class and Feminism". Baltimore: Diana
Press, 1974.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Toward a Political Morality," Liberation
Magazine, July/August, 1977.
Ehrlich, Howard, and Ehrlich, Carol, eds. Reinventing Anarchy.
London and Boston: Routledge, Kegan, Paul, 1979.
Jagger, Alison, and Struhl, Paula. Feminist Frameworks:
"Alternative Theoretical Accounts of the Relation between Women and
Men". New York: McGraw Hill, 1978.
Piercy, Marge. "Woman on the Edge of Time". Greenwich, Conn.:
Fawcett Books, 1976.
BRIDGING THEORY AND THE PRACTICUM:
A COURSE IN WOMEN'S STUDIES
Melanie Kaye
(This essay was originally delivered as a talk to the annual
convention of the MLA in December 1977. It appeared in the "Women's
Studies Newsletter", Summer 1978, Vol. VI, No. 3, as "Feminist
Theory and Practice," and is reprinted by permission of The
Feminist Press.)
I want to talk about why we should include training in feminist
theory and practice in women's studies programs; and to describe
the sequence of courses designed at Portland State University to
provide this training, in particular the segment I teach called
Feminist Theory and Practice.
Let me begin by looking back to the origins of women's studies, in
the context of a burgeoning movement. Women's studies programs came
into being because of women's power to demand these programs.
Because women did demand these programs. Because in the turmoil of
the sixties and early seventies, campus administrators were under
pressure to make concessions, pressure which we had helped to
create and which we were astute enough to increase in various ways,
from writing polite letters to sitting in. Because even our polite
letters were backed by the existence of an activist movement and
the possibility of more militant action.
The existence of women's studies thus testifies to women's power.
This fact suggests one reason why we should provide women with
political training; like all sound political reasoning, it is at
least partly selfish. In the current economic crunch, women's
studies programs are in danger. If we don't help women to
articulate collective power, learn how and where to act, we will
not have women's power supporting women's studies. Feminist
activity made women's studies possible. Women's studies must in
turn help make feminist activity possible, if we are to survive as
women's studies teachers, or as teachers, for that matter (some of
us, like myself, have already been axed), or even as women.
But granted that political training is necessary, why should
women's studies provide it? Because inside and outside the
universities and colleges, opportunities for acquiring political
skills are hard to come by. Let me use my personal history, for I
think my experience fairly common. I learned about feminism and the
need for an autonomous women's movement through my participation,
in other movements, especially the civil rights and antiwar
movements. Like many women with this background, I was a student in
the late sixties and early seventies, and my first feminist work
was directed toward the university. I was part of the women's
caucus (in comparative literature at the University of
California/Berkeley) that demanded a class and the choice of
instructor; and I was blessed with teaching that first class,
digging out books from my friends' collections, devouring the first
issues of "Female Studies" for titles. Looking back, I am
overwhelmed by the naivete and starvation of those early efforts.
I actually typed up a list for my class called "Books by Women"
that was less than a page long. All of this work--from the struggle
to get the class, to the creation of curriculum, to the
trial-and-error invention of new classroom structures--included
political training.
In that first class, politics was clearly part of the subject, and
would have been whether I wanted it there or not. Many of the
students also considered themselves part of the women's movement.
Literature and politics clasped hands as women defined the
parameters of common experience; or clashed noisily as women argued
their preference for Nin over Lessing, or Lessing over Nin. Some
wanted less politics, some wanted more; but everyone knew that what
we were doing was in fact political, slightly outside the law, and
precious. The explosive growth that was happening to so many of us
was happening in the context of a larger whole -a vital, ornery
women's liberation movement. Many of us were reading passionately
on our own time and in our nonacademic women's groups the feminist
theoretical writings which were just then appearing and which,
along with actual events, were urging us to new edges, new
possibilities.
Looking for the Women's Movement
Now we see a different picture. The women's movement is fragmented
and under attack, still vital in some places (Portland being one),
but thriving in particular projects and counter institutions:
coffee houses, health clinics, rape hotlines, bookstores -and
women's studies programs. These projects tend to be highly specific
and task-oriented, rather than broadly political. Besides, having
been around for a while, they have tended to solidify into a
particular way of functioning, especially since the essential task
of maintaining them usually requires all available energy. They are
often not open to absorbing the energy of new women (which, barring
unusual coincidence, is bound to be different energy).
Moreover, the movement now has a history almost ten years long and
a body of theory. One problem the women's movement, like the Left,
has reeled under is our difficulty in learning from what has
happened before us, even a few years before us. Some knowledge of
the history and existing traditions of feminism should at least
make it possible for us to avoid rehashing the same issues, and to
ground ourselves in a common context.
In addition, many women now coming to college have never
experienced how movements can win victories. Even the women's
studies classes we meet them in are givens. Women students--
especially at an urban working-class public institution like
Portland State--bring a wealth of experience with them; and I am
sure all schools have felt the impact of returning women students.
But while consciousness of feminist issues has spread widely, a
sense of possible break-through, of modes of resistance and
activity, has not. "What can I do?" people say. Everything in this
society, from the threat of rape to having social security numbers
to unemployment to being put on hold, seems designed to make us
feel helpless; or, at best, we seek individual solutions. In a time
when there are not many places to learn how to think and act
politically, the need for women's studies to provide such training
becomes all the more pressing, especially since in many towns and
cities, women's studies is the most visible aspect of feminist
activity. Last spring about half the thirty women who enrolled in
my course on Feminist Theory and Practice were nonstudents. They
weren't looking for credits; they were looking for the women's
movement.
A Core Curriculum
At Portland State, an incremental unit has been developed to
provide training in feminist theory and practice, a core curriculum
which women's studies minors are urged to take whether their field
of concentration is biology or literature, structural engineering
or law. The curriculum begins with an introduction to women's
studies, oriented toward issues and designed to acquaint women with
the existing feminist activities and institutions in Portland.
The second course is an introduction to feminist theory, which
covers ovular second wave texts in such a way that women can not
only absorb the tradition(s), but also assess, evaluate, and
synthesize what seems useful and accurate. The third course on
theory and practice was invented to bridge the gap between the
theory course and the last course in the sequence, which is
practicum-fieldwork in a feminist institution or on a project for
women's use. Some favorite examples of practicum work include:
creating and maintaining a women's gallery; organizing a series of
women's readings in the gallery (both of which projects have the
double function of providing women makers with space to be seen and
heard, and giving women the chance to see and hear women's work -
and not incidentally support to become makers themselves); lobbying
in the Oregon State Legislature for legislation which forces the
police to arrest men who beat women, and which makes marital rape
a crime; writing a book on climbing for women and teaching a group
of women to climb; as well as working in such places at the women's
bookstore, women's resource center, or shelter for battered women,
The Germ of the Course
I'll focus now on the course I was asked to teach, since it's
especially odd. It was offered through the Department of
Philosophy, but in truth it seems to me outside academic
categories, nondisciplinary. In the sixties it would have been
called "Now That We Know What We Think, How Do We Figure Out What
To Do?" This practical emphasis separates it from most university
disciplines. And, infact, a problem I had with this course is that
there are almost no appropriate readings for it, a situation
reminiscent of those early days I was talking about. What we need
to read hasn't been written yet.
On the other hand, also reminiscent, I was forced to be inventive.
The Women's Studies Program asked me to design a course that would
connect theory with practice. I was first delighted, then stumped.
I knew what I did not want. I knew I did not want to spend time and
blood on sterile questions like, "Are men the enemy? Are lesbians
the vanguard? Can change happen within the system? Is armed
revolution essential?- Possible? What is the primary
contradiction?" etc. These questions have helped tear our movement
to pieces, yet no one knows the answers - because at this point in
our history, they're unanswerable. There are some theoretical
points we cannot move beyond because we don't have enough practice
yet to assess and understand the multifaceted and rapidly changing
reality we confront in the late seventies. Questions that seem more
useful--like "What do we need? How can we get it? What do we want?
How can we get it?"--these questions can be answered, if at all,
through problem-solving, trial and error: that is to say, through
practice.
But how could I teach that? Either I was the wrong person for the
course (a possibility I considered) or I had something to offer
besides books and the already named questions. One morning I was
circling around my brain trying to think up a course outline, and
I got hungry. I took out a loaf of bread and noticed that the label
said, "No preservatives added." This was not hippie 47,000-grain
bread, this was commercial supermarket bread. Now I am 32 years
old, and I remember that not very long ago "No preservatives added"
would not have been considered an asset. What pressures forced
Northridge Bread to leave out preservatives? And how interesting it
was that Northridge Bread had turned the ecology movement into a
selling point. Where upon I realized that I had the germ--at least
a germ--of the course.
So I constructed the course out of my thinking process, what I am
aware of in the world, trying to analyze how I problem-solve, how
I assess situations and figure out how to act and what is possible.
I defined the goal of the class as providing necessary skills to
attack the institution of helplessness. I also wanted the course to
arm women against some of the destructive phenomena I, along with
many women, had experienced working in the movement: guilt-tripping,
trashing, avoidance of conflict, alienation, ignoring differences
or exaggerating them.
Here are some things we did. I began on the first day by asking
women to note one way in which they felt different from everyone
else in the room, and to share that perceived difference. The point
was to learn our commonality: older, younger, mother, lesbian,
working-class, rural, married; and where the difference was
genuine--in the case of the one Asian woman, or the one instructor
and assumed power-center (me)--that difference got articulated
straight off.
I asked women to write their vision of an ideal future - if
everything were possible. The point was to tap our desires, to
think as big as possible, to loose the visionary component which
inspires and encourages political activity.I asked women to make a
list--this class was largely composed of lists--of five things
(books, people, ideas, movies, whatever) they thought of as
pseudo-feminist, and to justify their choices. Based on these lists
we tried to reach a consensus on what we meant by "feminist."
The next and probably most crucial step in the course, according to
student evaluations, was to appropriate the dialectical method. I
chose to include this component because for me learning to think
dialectically was a slow but dramatic break through confusion.
After a presentation on dialectics from a woman familiar with Hegel
and Marx, the assignment was for each student to analyze
dialectically a problem she was dealing with right at that moment.
We went over the problems in class, contradiction by contradiction:
problems like how much to let kids watch TV, men not sharing in
housework, raising boy children to be strong and non-oppressive to
women; many indecisions about living situations, jobs, and school.
Interestingly, several women resolved their selected problem
through this exercise. Problems about immediate choices were
particularly amenable to this approach. With others the blocks to
solution became apparent: as in how to raise boy children. The
point was not to work magic, an instant cure, but to teach an
approach that could incorporate the flux and crash of phenomena, a
way of seeing that was not static; moral, artificially
compartmentalized or polarized, but rather could apprehend
conflicting aspects as part of the same whole.It was a way of
figuring out what we can and cannot solve, and at what level--
internal, familial, communal, societal, global--solution is
possible.
We talked about consciousness, about what had made changes in our
consciousness possible, about the relationship between changing
consciousness and a changing world, how they make each other
possible or not, how we make them both possible and how they have
made/continue to make us. We dealt with the muddy hole into which
entire movements have fallen of explaining behavior that doesn't
make sense to movement participants as "coming from false
consciousness." Thus the Old Left has explained the racism that
keeps white workers from uniting with their Black working-class
brothers (sic) without asking what concrete privileges whites
obtain, regardless of class, from the institution of racism
(without, for that matter, questioning whether the white working
class is any more racist than the white middle class).
In the women's movement, "false consciousness" mostly comes dressed
as "role conditioning." We've all read about it in `Ms.', not to
mention a fair amount of what is being written under the rubric of
feminist scholarship. Thus women's consumption habits--or makeup,
or clothing which seems degrading to the "liberated" woman with her
"true" consciousness (i.e. the woman who has dispelled her
conditioning), or female opposition to the ERA--get written off.
(This idea has been with me for years, but I think its source was
Ellen Willis' article on "Women and Consumerism," one of the best
examples of the Redstockings' analysis. The fullest critique of the
"role conditioning" approach can be found in "Feminist Revolution"
by the Redstockings women, now available from Random House for
(alas) $6.00.) What gets left out of this analysis is the real
pleasure we get from exercising our limited power to choose among
products; the fact that women who dress to appeal to men may be
surviving rather than backward; or that women feel sensibly
threatened by the idea of losing some of the scanty protection we
have.
Changes You Have Seen, Changes You Want to Make
We made more lists. Fifty changes you have seen in your own
lifetime (a spinoff from Northridge Bread). Fifty, a large number,
so that no one would spend time puzzling over which changes were
most important: any fifty. The point here was to sensitize
ourselves to the astonishing flux we live through and with, in
order to counter our sense of immutability, and especially our
sense that social movements do not, for example, help stop wars in
Viet Nam, or force bakeries to put out a "health" line. We focused
on a few changes. How did they come about? What has happened/could
have happened/could still happen from them?
Another list, this time of changes you want to make in your life:
any ten. Divide into changes you can make by yourself; changes you
can make with one other-friend, lover, child, therapist; changes
you need a group for. Pick one change that requires a group. Define
the group. Make a plan. List the pre-requisites for each step of
the plan. What keeps you from making the change?
Some other topics, briefly: some dealt with, some touched on, some
passed over because as usual there was not enough time: feelings
and experiences about working in groups, masses, individualism vs.
individuality; rigid rules of conduct, guilt vs. responsibility;
contemporary theories of social change; spotting political
assumptions; survival - your work and its relationship to your
politics, where you can work for change in your present or future
job; process vs. product; self-activity (the politics of fun).
So much for the academic quarter. During the assignment on "changes
you want," every woman in the class had listed "stopping rape," a
striking commonality. A smaller core of women from the class has
continued to meet as an action group--again reminiscent of early
women's studies--and this fall helped plan a wonderful anti-rape
event, the Women's Night Watch, in which two hundred women marched
in the rain to reclaim the night. The Night Watch was an energy
boost, the effects of which are still being felt. Activity
generates awareness generates more activity. Night Watch helped
create a climate of activism about violence against women. And
Night Watch happened in part because of the focus provided by this
class.
I don't take credit for this. The women in the class were
remarkable -although one suspects that most women are remarkable
when they get the chance to be. And clearly fighting rape and other
violence against women is an idea whose time has come. Nor am I
offering a six-month plan to revitalize the movement. I simply mean
to suggest the possibilities of encouraging women to think
seriously about change as something we can make, and to experiment
with various forms of group activity.
Now you may be wondering what this has to do with you. My
experience with teaching and with political organizing tells me
that these are basically similar activities. The task: to create a
situation in which people can mobilize their own energy, in which
people use their experience and the materials on hand to make
something new. The function: to clarify, offer options, supply
information. The goal: to make oneself ultimately unnecessary to
the group. The approach: highly empirical, allowing ourselves and
our students to risk failure. I know women who teach women's
studies who have said to me, "But I know something about literature
(or psychology, or history). I don't know enough about politics."
It is true that in the women's communities of many towns and cities
there are competent women who could teach political theory and
practice on a wage-section basis (which is how I teach). But I also
want to suggest that women who have been part of the struggle for
and development of women's studies, who have experimented with
different kinds of classroom structures, studied the process of
group dynamics and power, discovered new materials and disciplines
and combined old materials and disciplines in new ways - women who
have done these things have learned a great deal about feminist
theory and practice. One of our tasks now should be to teach women
what women's studies and the women's liberation movement have
taught us.
THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF NEIGHBORHOOD WOMEN:
EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY
Laura Polla Scanlon
(Acknowledged are the efforts of Terry Haywoode and Connie Noschese
who contributed to portions of this essay.)
There is a real need for locally-based higher education
opportunities for women who are limited by the demands of family,
work and community responsibilities. The impersonal and
bureaucratic nature of many large institutions makes them
culturally inaccessible to many neighborhood people.
Ridgewood-Bushwick, Williamsburg-Greenpoint and Carroll Gardens are
multi-ethnic, working class communities in Brooklyn, New York,
fighting to survive as viable neighborhoods. They need strong,
articulate grassroots leaders who are able to understand and deal
with both local issues and the broader social realities which they
reflect. Higher education for leadership requires both a strong
liberal arts base and specific training for confidence and skills.
The National Congress of Neighborhood Women (NCNW) has developed a
two year Associate in Arts degree program to provide locally-based
access to higher education for community women in these low and
moderate income neighborhoods. Designed primarily for adult women
who are neighborhood leaders, the program curriculum focuses on
neighborhood issues and concerns in the context of traditional
liberal arts courses. Leadership development is emphasized, both in
course work and in the process of shared decision-making,
advocacy-counseling and peer support through which the program is
administered; NCNW's curriculum combines aspects of ethnic studies,
women's studies, labor history and community dynamics into an
integrated course of study directly related to students' lives.
The project is staffed by a combination of professional educators,
neighborhood women, students and alumnae of the program plus other
volunteers, with neighborhood women taking on an increasing share
of the responsibility for both administrative and educational
policy and implementation. It is a goal of the program to have it
run mainly by its constituents and to maintain a working
relationship between professional and neighborhood women. Students,
staff and faculty collaborate in curriculum development; regular
academic liberal arts courses have an experiential or practical
base, generating services, information and products to enhance the
life of the person, the family and the neighborhood. It is this
last feature, NCNW's experiential base, that this essay will
address.
One of our original principles was that, since empowerment of women
was the primary goal of the Congress, the students should
participate as fully as possible in the design and implementation
of their learning program. Thus, one component of the program was
serving on the committees that constituted, alongwith the staff,
the decision-making mechanisms for the congress. It should be noted
that this NCNW program is co-sponsored by LaGuardia Community
College of the City University of New York. Curriculum and faculty
are traditionally the province of the academic community and, in
fact, the college makes final decisions according to its
institutional mandate; student participation in this aspect of
their own program design provides a unique opportunity for them to
learn how to communicate with college faculty and administrators as
peers. This is a valuable kind of learning experience, particularly
for working-class and poor people who tend to be mystified by the
processes and rationales of institutional decision-making. Working
to keep the college program going continues to be a source of solid
learning and empowerment for students.
Another principle was that the rich life experiences of adult
students could provide a practical basis for theoretical learning
on several levels--that of the individual woman's personal, perhaps
private, relation to the world, her relationship to her family, and
her relationship to the larger community. As we developed
curricula, we explored those aspects of women's individual lives
for practical and theoretical links. In most cases these links were
to be found in all three aspects of the students' lives: personal,
family and community. Our process was to work with faculty to
develop courses combining theory and practice, incorporating
women's experiences and concerns.
For many students, learning creative expression was important. Art
and creative writing courses, inherently experiential, have proved
extremely successful. The service component of these courses
ensures that art work is shared with the community. Visual art is
exhibited at banks, for example, and writing is contributed to
local newspapers, the student newsletter, and local radio programs.
It is interesting to note that for the NCNW students the world of
work is not necessarily where they lack experience. Rather, it is
the world of their own creative expression. For example, students
in a media arts class produced a half-hour video-tape about the
college program, showing changes women and their families had
experienced as a result of their going back to school. The students
had to master video technology; they also had to learn and apply
interviewing techniques and other communication skills. This
experiential learning was balanced by theoretical discussions about
communications and media.
Family relationships and women's role in the family have been a
good source for melding theory and practice. Students in a labor
and immigration course produced fascinating family histories as
their term projects. In another course public schools' values and
general attitudes of the staff were contrasted with observations of
children and interviews with teachers and children. Students saw
this research as work which added a more sophisticated dimension to
their roles as family women.
Often students elect to do research which has some specific value
to them. One woman who was trying to decide which of two schools to
send her child to, became an action researcher, interviewed
parents, teachers, staff as part of her college work for a course
in Social Change and Community Development. Another student, mother
of a disabled son, developed recommendations on how the school
system could better serve the needs of children with similar
handicaps. Another, frustrated by the maze of financial aid forms
confronting college students, did an analysis of the socioeconomic
context of financial aid and prepared a manual for sister students
and their college-age children. Looking toward completing her
Associate in Arts degree, one student began organizing community
women and negotiating with colleges for a Bachelor of Arts program.
In these instances, the specific courses must determine the
emphasis--a communications course will emphasize style and form,
while a social science course might emphasize methodology or
research design. Still, experiential learning is the common base.
Because development of women's leadership skills and improvement of
community life is a goal of the program, students are provided with
many opportunities to use the neighborhood as their laboratory.
Sometimes these take the form of internships. For a cooperative
education course, students engaged in community work in areas that
were new to them, serving, e.g., in a day care center, senior
citizens' center, or a program organizing activities for youth. In
other cases, students already active in neighborhood activities
expanded or altered the scope of their volunteer work into a new
experience, requiring mastery of skills such as speech-making,
proposal writing or working more sensitively with people. Learning
took place in the context of meeting actual neighborhood needs,
from the service internships mentioned above to more unusual
projects. One student provided a cultural event for the
neighborhood by producing and directing a play written by a
neighborhood resident and set in her community. Another developed
a presentation about breast feeding; her internship involved making
this presentation to local women's groups and to school parents'
associations.
In a course in leadership and community control, students assessed
pressing community needs and, working in groups, gathered data
around specific issues. They then used this data to develop a
program and write a proposal about the needs of youth to be
funneled through the local planning board. Other proposals covered
issues like, "Wheels for Senior Citizens," and "Scholarships for
Students."
Community pride was enhanced, and useful information generated,
when students researched neighborhood history. One project showed
immigration patterns in the neighborhood, its evolving architecture
and the contemporary effects of gentrification, calling attention
to serious contemporary community problems. This particular history
was presented by students at a city-wide neighborhood history
conference. Other projects based on historical research dealt with
the history of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and its effect on
neighborhood life.
While all of the courses have some experiential component, a unique
pilot program was the Williams-Greenpoint colloquium which tested
and synthesized the experiential goals of the college. For this
experimental project students put aside theory to participate
wholly in the hands-on aspect of their learning. Five workshops
were formed, led by a mentor: law, health, oral history, creative
writing and video techniques.
The law and health groups assessed neighborhood legal and health
services from a woman's perspective and designed alternative
structures for delivering these services, structures more tuned to
people's real needs rather than bureaucratic social service
restrictions. The creative writing group shared their experiences
in poems and stories. The oral history group researched family and
neighborhood history and wrote up their findings. During the two
quarters the video group mastered video technology. At the end of
the 6-credit, two quarter sequence, a neighborhood history fair was
held where women shared their work with community residents while
the video team recorded the event. At this point in their college
program the students were ready to take what they had learned in
their theoretical courses and engage in totally experiential
learning as neighborhood advocates.
At NCNW we believe that true participation in community life and in
the process of planning for the future of neighborhoods has become
increasingly difficult and demanding. Our research has indicated
that neighborhood women all over the United States want an
opportunity for higher education that will enrich and empower them
as individuals and as community leaders. Our program is designed to
meet these needs. The accomplishments of our alumnae are eloquent
testimony both to the need for this type of experiential program
and for its effectiveness in providing accessible higher education
for community women.
RETURNING WOMEN AND FIELD EXPERIENCE:
A PRELIMINARY RESEARCH STUDY
Sharon Rubin
(Information in this paper was originally developed for a
presentation at the National Society for Internships and
Experiential Education annual meeting, 1979. The author wishes to
thank Beverly Greenfeig and Barbara Goldberg of the Returning
Students Program, University of Maryland, who participated in the
original research.)
Volunteer Opportunity: Staff representative trainee with local
council of union representing employees in six federal
agencies. Opportunity to be involved in all phases of running
a union, including organizing, research, arbitration and
grievance investigation, congressional hearing attendance.
Prefer student in personnel/labor relations, economics, or
government and politics, but willing to consider others.
Paid Internship: $8.00 per hour to organize and help conserve
a collection of documents relating to the first woman
president of a large retail corporation. Students in the
fields of women's history, cultural history, and business
especially encouraged to apply.
Cooperative Education Placement: Full-time paid positions fall
semester with large federal agency in areas of administration,
economics, accounting, chemistry, or computer science.
Opportunities for permanent employment after graduation.
At the University of Maryland College Park, the Office of
Experiential Learning Programs coordinates about 1300 volunteer
activities, internships for credit, and cooperative education
placements like the ones above. Such opportunities provide an
alternative to classroom learning, help students see the ways in
which theories have practical applications, and offer low-risk
career testing. Over 300 students a semester register for the
special internship course numbers available for use by faculty
members in any department, and over 500 register for special
departmental internship courses as well.
Women's studies students generally obtain field placements through
our office or through listings that go directly from organizations
to the Women's Studies Program office. While some returning women
students major in women's studies and participate in women's
studies internships, most returning students pursue traditional
majors and seek field experience within those majors.
Over the past several years, our staff and staff members of the
Returning Students Program have become aware that few returning
women, of about 1900 on campus, seem to take advantage of field
experience opportunities, or even to use the Experiential Learning
Programs office as an information resource. In order to determine
why a group supposedly more aware than typical eighteen-year-olds
of the relationship of education to work and of theory to practice
seem so hesitant to participate in a program emphasizing these
linkages, we questioned returning and college-age students by
questionnaire and informally, we analyzed enrollment data, and we
consulted our counterparts on other campuses. What we learned is
worth sharing not because it provides easy answers but because it
emphasizes the need for those involved with returning women
students to ask more sophisticated questions.
To find out whether our experiences were comparable to those of
experiential educators on other campuses, we developed a
questionnaire (Appendix A), which we hoped would distinguish
between male and female college-age and returning students and
their needs and practices, and which would help enumerate ways of
interesting returning women in field experience. The questionnaires
were sent to 238 internship coordinators, field experience offices,
cooperative education directors, and others involved in
experiential learning. The return rate, 21%, was disappointing, but
the results of the meager return were illuminating.
The level of response and the type of response made us aware that
many of our hypotheses were questionable. For instance, we assumed
that most internship coordinators could provide statistics on age
and sex of interns. Nineteen respondents noted that they do not
keep any statistics on the sex or age of student interns, and some
even replied that they do not keep any statistics at all on
students doing field experience. Ten respondents noted that there
were very few returning students at their colleges, but
twenty-three returned some information. Of the twenty-three,
approximately a third felt that returning students participate in
field experience more than traditional college-age students, about
a third felt that they participate equally, and about a third
suggested that they participate less than college-age students.
Almost all respondents admitted that their beliefs were based on
anecdotal information and impressions. For instance, one respondent
commented that women participate less because they are "charged
with rearing children." Another commented that returning students
participate more because they have stronger feelings of who they
are and where they belong.
Another of our hypotheses was that most colleges provide a
returning students program like the one on our campus, which
includes one-to-one counseling by peer advisors, workshops on a
range of subjects from time management to examination skills, and
a "College Aims for Returning Women" course which emphasizes career
planning, reading and study skills, and multiple role management.
Only 18% of the respondents mentioned special programs, ranging
from a special advising office to continuing education for
displaced homemakers.
Our third assumption was that there would be a number of special
programs to encourage returning women to participate in
internships. Only 20% mentioned any special efforts, mainly
orientations or brochures.
Finally, we assumed that most administrators who deal with
internships, volunteer service-learning, or cooperative education
would be aware of the need to think about the special requirements
of returning women. However, several coordinators noted, "I've
never thought about this before." It seems likely that as
experiential educators become more oriented to seeking out and
encouraging diverse populations of students rather than serving
those who happen to walk in the door, their understanding of
returning women and their characteristics will become even more
crucial. The less/same as/more split in the perceptions of those
who do deal with returning students illustrates this clearly. The
"returning woman" is no more certainly a homogeneous category than
the "black student" or the "handicapped student." Internship
coordinators must ask, "Who are our returning women students, and
what do they need?"
In an attempt to answer that question for our campus, we first
analyzed enrollment data provided by our Data Research Center. The
campus is fortunate to have good records and a research unit to
make them available to campus offices. The data we collected are
for one representative semester, but similar figures exist for
others.
Of 29,500 undergraduates, 53% are male, 47% are female. In the
returning student population, the percentages are just about
reversed, with 48% male and 52% female. Despite such reasonably
equal percentages of adult learners, returning women are
considerably more visible on campus, perhaps because of media
attention or because of special campus events for them. Another
explanation may be that at College Park, 60% of male returning
students are between 26 and 29, while only 35% of returning women
are below the age of 30. Understandably, there are slightly more
juniors and seniors among the returning student population than
among the general college population.
Because of the many different options for experiential learning--
campus-wide internship options, departmental internships for
majors, practica, fieldwork, and field laboratories, both optional
and mandatory--and because volunteer service/learning is not
recorded by the registrar at all, it is difficult to accurately
assess the number of students involved in experiential learning.
However, statistics on both the campus-wide internship courses and
on departmental internship courses seem to indicate two things:
returning students participate in experiential learning about 25%
less than traditional college-age students, and very few returning
students do internships before senior year.
We questioned students both informally and formally about their
views of experiential learning. Most returning women warmly
embraced the concept of experiential learning and mentioned that
their past experiences had persuaded them of the value of doing
additional field work. However, in the "College Aims" course for
returning women, our discussions often elicited a set of responses
that can best be characterized by the description, "But I'm Not An
Expert!" Students, who were mainly in their first semester back in
college, were dubious about why anyone would want to offer them an
internship or other placement. Over and over, in many different
ways, we heard women say, "I'll practice when I'm good enough."
Instead of considering experience as a method of learning, they
considered experience as practice to perfect knowledge obtained
through classes. When our staff explained that organizations were
well aware that they were getting motivated but amateur workers,
the women refused to see themselves as learner/workers. Perhaps
they feared that the expectations of a supervisor would be
different when working with an adult student, or perhaps they had
grown used to devaluing their own competence. In any case, they
continued to express enthusiasm about doing internships sometime in
the future when they would feel prepared.
The formal questionnaire (Appendix B) did not elicit exactly the
same response. 42% of the returning students indicated a
willingness to consider participating in field experience
immediately or the next semester, while only 30% of the traditional
college-age students did. However, returning students did indicate
more concern with having enough expertise and confidence than did
college-age students. In answering the question, "If I have not and
do not plan to participate in field experience, it is
because ______," returning students chose the following answers most
frequently: "I don't have any information about field experience,"
"I have never thought about it," "I don't know how to get started,"
and "I need a job that pays well ," closely followed by, "I don't
have enough knowledge and skills in any particular area," "I don't
know anyone who has done it," "I don't have any contacts to help
me," and "I don't have the time." The answers that we expected to
be prevalent, "I need a job that pays well, and "I don't have
enough time," were no more popular than any of their other concerns
or than those concerns among college-age students .
We have no explanation for the discrepancy between the information
we received in questionnaires and the information we received by
talking with students. However, we did note a high degree of
anxiety in returning women who were worried about giving the
"right" answer, and that may have led some to respond in a positive
way to what they thought we expected. Also, because some of those
answering questionnaires were seniors, they did feel more positive
about their participation in experiential learning.
As I often ask students, what do we know now that we know this? Our
research has helped us recognize that returning students as a group
are more heterogeneous than we assumed, although on our campus they
are, as a group, considerably older than returning male students.
We discovered that returning students who have "been around"
through volunteer work and paid employment still recognize the
value of field experience for themselves in a number of ways, and
do not intend to let past experience suffice. We realized that
while many students responded positively to a question about intent
to immediately participate in field experience, virtually all of
them wait until senior year to participate. Finally, we found that
although time and money are concerns for returning women, their
participation or lack of it depends on a much broader and more
complex set of variables, including self-concept .
It seems likely, from what we have learned, that our present
sponsorship of workshops in conjunction with the "College Aims"
course and presentations to the University Returning Students
Association are insufficient. We are considering a number of
alternatives that might substantially improve our services to
returning students. First, we plan to train peer advisors in the
Returning Students Program so that they are aware of student
uncertainties about experiential learning and can learn techniques
for effective counseling. Second, we might develop a "road show"
which uses returning students who have done internships to answer
the concerns of returning women about learner/worker roles.
Finally, we might, in the long range, use the University of
Kentucky's Project Ahead as a model (1). Project Ahead combines a
one-semester paid internship (with business, government, or the
non-profit sector) with academic credit, a leadership and career
planning seminar, individualized assistance, ongoing support from
other interns, and interaction with community and business leaders.
Such a combination of approaches would make good sense developmentally
as well as educationally.
Whatever our choices, our goals will be to answer the questions of
returning women about what field experience is and how to
participate, to address returning women on the variety of issues we
now know concern them, and to provide programming to move them from
the point of intending to participate to using field experience as
an alternative style of learning throughout college. By attempting
to reach these goals, we will not only serve returning women more
effectively but we will, in turn, be learning to serve all our
students with more knowledge and consciousness of their needs.
NOTES
Project Ahead, a University of Kentucky internship program, is
designed primarily for women over 25 who have been out of the
educational and employment mainstream for several years before
returning to college. The program, supported by the Fund for
Improvement of Postsecondary Education and administered by the
Office for Experiential Education, provides individualized
assistance to women in making the transition from education to
work. Further information can be obtained from Project Ahead, Ligon
House, 658 South Limestone St., University of Kentucky, Lexington,
Kentucky 40506.
Appendix A
NAME______________________________________TITLE____________________
COLLEGE___________________________________TWO OR FOUR YEAR_________
ADDRESS____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
DEFINITIONS: For purposes of this questionnaire, a returning
student is over 24 years of age and either did not enroll as a
college student immediately after high school or did so and dropped
out for at least one year before returning to college. Field
experience is an off-campus learning experience that is usually
unpaid and credited but that may be paid and/or non-credit, as, for
example, in the case of cooperative education.
1. What is your male undergraduate enrollment?_____________________
What is your female undergraduate enrollment?___________________
2. What is your male returning student enrollment?_________________
What is your female returning student enrollment?_______________
3. What percentage of male returning students attend full-time?_____
What percentage of female returning students attend full-time?___
4. How many students in all participate in field experience each
semester?
Males_____________ Females_________________
5. Do returning male students participate less/as much as/more than
traditional college age males in field experience?___________________
Do they participate less/as much as/more than college age
females?_______________
Do returning student females participate less/as much as/more
than traditional college age females in field experience?____________
Do they participate less/as much as/more than college age males?_____
6. Do returning male students seem to be particularly interested in
a specific type of field experience? If so, please describe:
Do returning female students seem to be particularly interested
in a specific type of field experience? If so, please describe:
7. Do you have statistics to support your answers to questions 4,
5, and 6? If so, please attach. If not, what is the source of
your information?
8. Do you have any possible explanations or suggestions about your
answers to questions 5 and 6?
9. Does your school have any special program for returning
students? If so, please describe:
10. Does your school have a clearing house or special office that
coordinates field experience? Yes___ No___. If no, is it
handled by departments? Yes___ No___. If no, how is it
coordinated? Please describe:
11. Does your school or office make any special effort to interest
returning students in field experience? Yes____No____ through
orientations_____workshops______courses________other_________
12. Is there anything you'd like to share about returning students
and their use of field experience?
Appendix B
We are attempting to find out what students know about field
experience, how they feel about it, and how they make use of it, in
order to improve our service to you.
Please take a few minutes to fill out all four sides of the
following questionnaire.
Check as many choices in each item as you wish.
If you are not sure about some choices, please do not worry; just
do the best you can.
1. What is field experience?
___Practical work experience in my major
___Volunteering
___Internship or practicum for credit
___Laboratory accompanying a course
___Visits to work sites
___Clinical training
___Extra-curricular activities such as student organizations or
sports
___Career exploration
___Employment
___Teaching assistantship
___Travel
___Experience related to agriculture or farming
___Requirement for my major
___Learning by doing
___Credit for prior work experience
___Cooperative education
___Any class on the College Park campus
2. I have participated in field experience:
___Not at all (PROCEED DIRECTLY TO QUESTION 4 IF THIS IS YOUR
CHOICE)
___Once
___Twice
___Three or more times
3. I participated in field experience by:
___Volunteering
___Registering for 386 and 387
___Registering for another course (please describe)____________________
___Taking a cooperative education position
___Other (please describe)_____________________________________________
4. I would consider participating in field experience:
___This semester
___Next semester
___Sometime in the future
___After I graduate
___Not sure
___Not at all (PROCEED DIRECTLY TO QUESTION 6 IF THIS IS YOUR
CHOICE)
5. I have chosen the response referred to in Question 4 because:
___I'll have more time
___I'll have more expertise
___I'll have more confidence
___I'll have a better sense of what I want to do
___I'll have a lighter class load or I will have met my major
requirements
___I'll be ready
___Other (please describe)___________________________________
IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED QUESTIONS 2,3 AND/OR 5, PROCEED DIRECTLY TO
QUESTION 7.
6. If I have not and do not plan to participate in field
experience, it is because:
___I don't have the time
___I don't want to use credits on field experience
___I don't have enough knowledge or skills in any particular
area
___I don't know how to get started
___I have heard it is difficult to find a faculty member to
sponsor my credit
___I have heard it is difficult to find an organization that
wants students
___I have heard it is difficult to register
___I need a job that pays well
___I don't know anybody who has done it
___I don't have any contacts to help me pursue a field
experience
___I don't have any information about field experience
___I have never thought about it
___Other (please describe)____________________________________
Whatever your answers to the previous questions about your
participation, please answer the following questions about whether
or not field experience is valuable to you:
7. Field experience is valuable to me because:
___It will look good on my resume
___It relates theory to practice
___It's a good way to try out a field of interest
___It helps me make up my mind about a major
___It helps me get out of the classroom
___It's good to have experience in my field
___It allows me to meet people in my field
___I can get credit for the experience I'm having
___It makes me aware of the different ways people learn
___It helps me organize my time
___It increases my confidence in my ability to work
___It improves the way I work with others
___It expands my world view
___It makes me more competent in my profession
___It teaches me about the concerns of the work world
___It adds meaning to my classroom experience
___It expands my vocabulary
___Other (please describe)__________________________________
8. Field experience is not valuable to me because:
___It takes too much time
___It is no help to me in getting a job
___Credit for classroom learning is more legitimate
___Employers don't care about student work experience
___It's not a good way to learn
___It doesn't pay a salary
___I don't plan to seek employment
___Other (please describe)__________________________________
9. My status is:
___Freshman
___Sophomore
___Junior
___Senior
___Special student
___Graduate student
10. I have been a student at the College Park campus for:
___one semester or less
___two semesters
___three semesters
___four or more semesters
11. My major is:
___undecided
___list major_______________
12. My age is:
___below 18
___18
___19
___20
___21
___22
___23-25
___26-30
___31-35
___36-40
___over 40
If you would like the results of this questionnaire, or more
information about field experience, please fill in the following:
Name_______________________________________________________________
Address____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________Zip Code____________
Or, stop by Experiential Learning Programs, 0119 Undergraduate
Library, 454-4767.
Thank you for your help!
THE CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIPS
ON WOMEN AND PUBLIC POLICY
Phyllis M. Palmer
In September, 1980, a research task force of eleven graduate
interns began work for the Congresswomen's Caucus: sponsored by
women members of Congress, placed in offices and on committee
staffs under their aegis members and that of their male
Congressional allies, and supervised academically by the Women's
Studies Program and Policy Center at the George Washington
University. The Congressional Internships on Women and Public
Policy are funded by a grant to the Women's Studies Program from
the Charles H. Revson Foundation. Each legislative intern receives
a stipend of $8,000.00 for the academic year.
This legislative internship program is the culmination of a
three-year discussion about the structure and goals of GWU's
graduate program in women's studies.
When I came to Washington, D. C., to become academic coordinator of
the program in 1977, intent on applying theories and ideas
developed teaching women's history at Mount Holyoke College, I very
quickly learned I was ignorant about contemporary women's political
efforts and that I was naive about the world of lobbying, trading
legislative favors, tracking federal legislation through adoption
and appropriation processes, and commenting on the administrative
regulations needed to implement legislation.
My need for practical knowledge of federal policy making was
highlighted by contrast with the political expertise of two
colleagues who had also just joined the program, hopeful of
developing an academic base there for women's movement activists.
Virginia Allan, a former chair of the 1970 President's Commission
on the Status of Women and advocate for the National Women's
Conference in Houston, wanted to see academic work that was
pertinent to the lobbying efforts and publicity needs of women's
groups; Charlotte Conable, an alumna of the Women's Studies Program
and wife of an influential Republican Congressman, sought to make
the academic program more responsive to the political issues she
saw raised in Congress. As we three discussed skills women need to
function effectively as lobbyists, office-holders and political
activists, I began to see how thoroughly academic feminists can
avoid issues of power and legislative persuasion, and how
completely activists can ignore feminist research and theory.
Another impetus to the shaping of our legislative internship
program was the need of a graduate program in women's studies to
provide professional skills and competencies that would be
recognized by potential employers of our graduates. The GWU Program
had been giving academic credit for 1OO-hour a semester internships
(practica) since its inception in 1973, with students placed in a
variety of settings serving women. The record of alumnae employment
indicated that most students found post-graduation jobs through the
internship placement: the internship allowed students to do a
project pertinent to the needs of a sponsoring organization, and
thus to demonstrate the practical adaptability of training in
women's studies. Internships also made students a known quantity,
persons recognized as reliable by those who might offer jobs in the
future; students were assured that they would know and be known by
some employers. Given our location in Washington, and our interest
in training students who could be effective advocates and analysts
of federal policies, the idea of placing interns in legislative
offices in a structured fashion was a natural outgrowth of previous
internship activities.
A final concern, and one that became most salient in our subsequent
planning, was the provision of financial assistance to students for
the period of their internship.
In order to have an integrated training program that allowed
substantial time to learn the legislative process and to critique
and analyze its results, more than the 100 hours per semester
allotted to the practicum course would be required. Graduate
students, many of whom support themselves and children, could not
take a prolonged internship away from their half- and full-time
jobs. Both the responsibilities of our adult students and the
intellectual requirements of integrating academic and political
work necessitated finding financial support for interns.
Further, it seemed to me, Women's Studies could never produce
theoretically sophisticated and politically astute graduates until
we could provide students with time and freedom to think leisurely
and systematically. We may not be able to give women a life-time
annuity, as Virginia Woolf had advocated, but we might be able to
give them a one-year stipend.
The desire for funding led us into a series of negotiations with
various institutions and between various institutional interests.
We had to locate potential funding sources; we had to find a
non-partisan medium through which to guarantee that funders were
not directly supporting partisan legislators, and we had to assure
the sponsoring university that its students would be doing work
deserving academic credit.
Fortunately, the Congresswomen's Caucus, the coalition of women
members of Congress, had just created a non-profit research entity,
the Women's Research and Education Institute (WREI). The Institute
was looking for research assistance for itself and for the women
members. Together, we began to negotiate with the women members to
determine how we could place students in congressional offices
under the joint auspices of the Women's Studies Program and the
Institute, and how we could provide guarantees that the students
would develop research useful to the Congresswomen without, at the
same time, becoming involved with partisan, political election
issues.
The Congresswomen's Caucus proved amenable to our needs. It agreed
to provide office space and supervision for students, who would not
be expected to do political campaign work, but would be expected to
organize their research around the substantive interests and
legislative concerns of the office. The students' function would be
to enhance the members' and committees' knowledge about women's
issues, to be a "surplus benefit" to the office, rather than just
extra staff. They were to work at least 30 hours per week, since
any smaller commitment could not reimburse the office for the space
and supervisory time it was contributing. Even the Caucus,
established in 1977, suffers the classic women's group problem:
little money and shortage of staff. With only 17 women in that
Congress, their resources had to be used for constituent interests
as well as in support of research and action on women's issues.
Once we had agreed on the form of congressional placements, we
turned to the university's interests. The pertinent administrators
set two requirements to ensure that students would not be
performing partisan work and that they would deserve academic
credit for the work performed: all students accepted into the
internship had to be degree candidates, and their work had to be
evaluated by an interdisciplinary committee able to review an array
of projects and topics. The guarantor for academic merit became the
Women's Studies Steering Committee, and I was given released time
to meet with students in a weekly seminar.
With all these negotiations completed, we went back to our
potential funders, mainly larger foundations. Our primary funder
became the Charles H. Revson Foundation, whose president, Eli N.
Evans, a former program officer at the Carnegie Foundation, had had
a great deal of experience with intern and student development
projects for Southern Blacks during the 1960's and early '70's.
Evans had persuaded the Revson board to adopt, as one of its
principal goals, the development of women in leadership roles, and
he helped us conceptualize more clearly the goals of our
internship: to develop a "hybrid" who could move comfortably and
confidently between the research and legislative realms, and to
encourage women to think systematically as they are acting in
legislative arenas. Evans also encouraged us to think about the
internships a long-term project. With initial funding from Revson
to support us through academic year 1982-83, we anticipate that we
will be able to build a reputation for solid work; the benefits of
the program thus demonstrated, we should be better able to attract
small chunks of support from corporate donors and foundations that
have shown willingness to support training programs for women but
are unlikely to make the large commitment necessary to start and
test a major program.
Our next, and most pleasant task, was to select the first interns.
Two considerations directed our selection. First, we had to balance
the substantive interests of the Congresswomen with the interests
of the graduate students. Congresswomen were polled, and gave us a
list of "timely" topics they wanted researched for 1980-81; these
included women and credit, women and social security, women and
pensions, women and health care, women in the military,
occupational hazards and safety, and women and the federal budget.
We then sought students in appropriate fields: women's studies,
economics, sociology, health care, psychology and public
administration. Applicants completed a standard form, indicating
academic background, interests, and competence in writing and
research.
The second important consideration, from our perspective, was that
students have some demonstrated interest in women's issues,
interest in political activities, and tolerance for the exigencies
of being an elected official. We interviewed applicants, and talked
with them about their assessment of the political value of research
they had done. We looked both for feminist understanding of social
organization and a flexible approach to political bargaining: a
major concern of the congressional offices was that the interns not
be ideologues unable to understand that Congresswomen must
sometimes represent their constituents' desires rather than their
own, and that an opponent on one issue can be a friend on another.
Students selected for the first group of internships reflected our
concern for a balance of research ability with personal maturity.
Most are in their late twenties; one is in her mid-forties. Two are
raising children, and all have worked at full time jobs along with
graduate study. Many have political experience (working for Common
Cause, NOW, in battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers);
one has finished law school, and another is in her third year.
These interns began meeting together in mid-July 1980, to learn
about the legislative and administrative organization of the
Congress before beginning work in their assigned offices in
September. Their five-week course on "Women and Public Policy" was
directed by a specially appointed faculty member with both academic
experience in women's studies and political experience working on
social security reform at the Department of Health and Social
Services.
The interns will continue to meet weekly throughout the year in a
3 credit intern policy seminar. The weekly seminar is designed to
provide essential cohort support for the interns, protecting them
from becoming wrapped up in the intense electioneering atmosphere
of many of their offices, and to magnify their concentration and the
effectiveness of their feminist research by enabling them to share
resources, insights and analyses. It will also enable interns to
meet with leaders of women's political organizations to exchange
information gleaned from and about the federal system and to learn
about the work of these groups that support legislation and
critique regulations.
By the end of the academic year, students should have completed
papers and projects (such as organizing hearings) that entitle them
to 12 hours of research credit in women's studies and related
disciplines. Their assignments are to include two research
projects: a review of research/administrative action on some
long-term topic of interest, and legislative monitoring and review
of a current piece of legislation. As much as possible, students'
hours in their offices will have been devoted to their research
assignments, but they will also have been called upon to give
briefings, write speeches and answer constituent mail.
It is not easy to put together political exigencies and academic
requirements. There are undoubtedly many problems remaining to be
solved as the internship project unfolds, but such efforts are one
embodiment of what feminists and women's studies theorists have
always advocated: the application of systematic intelligence to the
process of social change. We hope that the alliance between the GWU
Women's Studies Program and the Women's Research and Education
Institute of the Congresswomen's Caucus will be a model for other
such alliances, between women's studies programs and feminist
legislators in state and municipal government across the country.
AN INTERNSHIP IN SCIENCE, POLITICS AND FEMINISM
I. DESCRIPTION OF A PILOT PROJECT
M. Sue Wagner and Alwynelle S. Ahl
Politics, particularly legislative action, has long been of concern
to feminists. In recent years, some of the most controversial
political issues have been those affecting women. Many of these
issues have dealt with the role of biology in the lives of women,
particularly concerns about reproductive health. The pilot project
described here was designed as an attempt to provide a research
resource to those in politics and government concerned with
feminist issues, to provide women's studies students an opportunity
to learn more about the legislative process first-hand, and to
expose students to the potential for careers with state and local
governments.
In order to have good laws there must be a background of reliable
and current information with which to develop legislation.
Recognizing the increasing importance of biological knowledge to
legislation being drafted in Michigan, the NOW (National
Organization for Women) legislative liaison sought to develop a
resource base of scientific information pertinent to present
political issues. In order to accomplish this goal, the NOW
lobbyist sought help from several faculty members in the Department
of Natural Science at Michigan State University. The result of this
collaboration was an independent study internship program titled
"Issues of Science and Society, Science and Politics."
In the fall of 1979, women's studies students at MSU were given an
opportunity to participate in this program. In the pilot project,
selected students worked with a supervising professor from the
Department of Natural Science and the liaison lobbyist for Michigan
NOW. Students worked on political problems involving a substantial
scientific component, usually a topic concerning women's health.
The research done by the students and faculty was useful to NOW and
to some legislators in a variety of ways. It provided background
information for pending legislation, defined and clarified
biological and medical terminology, provided data which could be
used for legislative floor debate, provided background information
and recommendation for future legislation, and provided an
historical framework regarding issues in politics and women's
health. In each case the student worked closely with a faculty
advisor, the NOW representative, and in certain instances with
members of the legislature. Students earned from two to four
(quarter) credit hours of independent study which was applicable to
their Women's Thematic Program, toward elective credit, or as
science credit.
The projects were varied. One student defined the diseases which
could endanger a woman's health during pregnancy. This information
was used to write amendments to a bill which seeks to prohibit
Medicaid funding for abortions unless the life of the woman is
endangered. Another student researched the history of the
anti-abortion movement in America and its relation to the
nineteenth century professionalization of medicine. Another student
studied the effects of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs on women,
especially pregnant women. Then, based on her research she made
recommendations for possible legislative action. Another student
did research on the impact of lead poisoning in the workplace.
Particularly examined were the levels of lead in the workplace that
affect fertility. He suggested legislation which would improve such
hazardous working conditions.
There were benefits from this program for students, for NOW, for
participating faculty, and for legislators. The students learned
about the political process as involved participants rather than as
observers. They learned to translate the results of scientific
studies into information necessary for legislative action. The
students' viewpoint on science and the legislative process was
considerably broadened. In the process students learned how the
work of scientists affects society. In addition the experience
pointed out potential employment opportunities. In fact one student
is now working for a legislator met in the course of this
internship. Another student is now working for the county agency in
which the intern research was done last term.
The information provided by student and faculty research is a new
resource available to legislators. Furthermore, the growing data
base permits Michigan NOW to do background work for new legislation
as opposed to merely reacting to it. A potential result is that
feminists can become an integral part of the inner workings of the
legislature rather than only an outside pressure group.
The benfits for faculty included close work with superior students
in supervised independent study. It was gratifying to watch
students develop an appreciation for the practical uses of
seemingly abstract scientific ideas. Several of the papers
completed to date are being jointly published by the student and
faculty member.
The internship program has been offered again during winter term of
1980, and the fall term of 1980-81. Following that semester a
complete evaluation of the program will be undertaken, a decision
made as to whether the program should be enlarged and how
administrative details will be handled, etc. At this point the
program seems to have a number of benefits for all involved, but it
is a time-consuming administrative chore for certain faculty. It is
possible that this internship will be incorporated formally into
the Women's Studies Program at MSU, expanding to include faculty
from the social sciences as well as the natural sciences. This
would broaden the scope of research undertaken and thus the
resource base available to legislators.
State legislatures, city councils and county commissions are
increasingly called upon to make laws regarding our biology and our
health. They often do not have staffs with sufficient expertise to
address these questions as carefully as they should be addressed.
Thus, for legislators, this program provides a means of tapping
scientific expertise in order to improve the quality of
legislation; it provides students with practical experience with
science and politics and feminism; it provides NOW with a valuable
database for present and future activity. We consider that the
initial trial of the project has been a success.
II. A STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
Amy N. Moss
In September of 1979 I enrolled in a one-term Internship
(independent study in the Department of Natural Science) in
Science, Politics, and Feminism. Initially I enrolled because the
course fulfilled a natural science requirement and counted toward
my Women's Studies Thematic Program at Michigan State University
(MSU). In this internship I worked with a faculty member (Alwynelle
Ahl), the Michigan NOW lobbyist (Sue Wagner), and a member of the
state legislature (Senator Doug Ross, D-Oakland).
My chosen assignment was to research how some specific diseases or
conditions in pregnancy affect women's present and future health.
In particular I worked on Senate Bill 157, which reads as follows
"...An abortion shall not be a service provided to a recipient of
medical assistance under this act except if the abortion is
necessary to save the life of the mother." The latter part of this
statement was to be my primary concern. What health conditions
pre-existing before pregnancy pose special health hazards in
pregnancy? It was important that these facts be added as amendments
to this Bill to prolong deliberation on it, to diminish its impact
on poor women, or to cause the Bill to be withdrawn or killed.
Pregnancy always poses some threat to a woman's health and life.
Certain pre-existing diseases, such as diabetes or sickle cell
anemia, increase the risk of pregnancy for a woman. With excellent
medical care, that threat can be minimized. However, for women who
have not had excellent medical care before conception or who do not
have excellent care during pregnancy, the threat is greater. My
task was to research specific health conditions (some 20 of them)
in which abortions might be necessary to save the life of the
woman. The research was made into a packet of amendments that could
be used against this Bill and against similar legislation in other
parts of the country.
Medical texts and journals from the MSU science library provided my
basic information. In weekly meetings with my professor we reviewed
the material collected for each disease or condition. I also
maintained contact with the Michigan NOW lobbyist who was
responsible for arranging the political end of the internship.
Senator Doug Ross and his staff director, Robert O'Leary, directed
my work at the legislature. They kept me apprised of where the
Bill stood, and made sure I was writing the amendments properly.
The outcomes of this project were all positive for me. Most of all,
it was satisfying to see my work used. Of all the papers I have written
for college credit, this was by far the most meaningful. When I
enrolled in this internship, I was a disillusioned psychology
major, and had recently added social work as a second major. I had
been disappointed with the psychology courses at MSU and I hoped
the social work courses would be more applicable to real life. My
desire was to work on a one-to-one basis with people, perhaps as a
feminist-therapist. However, I was really without a definite career
goal when I began this internship.
Several very important things happened to me as a result of my work
in this internship. The first was that I grew more confident of
myself as a writer and researcher. It meant a great deal to me that
my material would be used by professionals in the political arena
and as a starting point for further research by my professor. What
was especially significant about the uses of my work in the
political arena was that it coincided so completely with my own
feminist political beliefs.
Had I researched the same material for a traditional science course
as a term paper, the information probably would have never gotten
any further than the professor's desk, my personal satisfaction no
further than a grade. Because the information being researched was
needed for policy development purposes, and because I was working
with legislative policy makers, my research was much more valuable
to me.
Out of this experience came a much greater understanding of the
political process. I had never realized before how much a
legislator must trust the members of his/her staff to provide them
with adequate information. I learned very quickly that it would be
impossible for a lawmaker to know all the facts about every issue
that comes up; his or her staff is invaluable in providing facts
about key issues, and thus, in contributing to political decisions.
Since last fall, I have changed my major and developed a career
goal; it is apparent that the internship experience influenced
these choices. Before the internship, my knowledge of policy makers
and administrators was so limited that I had not considered a
career in public policy. I had never met a female policy maker, but
I had met and admired several female counselors or therapists. So
in a way, I was scared away from even considering a non-traditional
career because of my ignorance, my lack of female role models, and
my lack of confidence in my own abilities. It took me a while to
realize that I had drifted into my majors probably because I was
female, a difficult thing to admit for someone who prides herself
on awareness of sexism.
This internship has helped me see that there is a need for female
decision makers in the political process, and that I would like my
"place" in the whole scheme of things to be in the decision-making
area rather than in the distributive area as a social worker or
therapist. Perhaps I would be good as a therapist or a social
worker, but my ability to influence others would be limited to a
relatively few clients. My wish now is to have a career in which I
can achieve more power, status and influence. My reasons for
wanting this are not totally selfish ones: if more women achieve
power positions in government and industry, there is some hope that
major changes can be made regarding policies that affect women. If
we don't do for ourselves no one will do for us!
STUDENT INTERNSHIP
IN
ISSUES OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, SCIENCE AND POLITICS
Students selected will work with a supervising professor and an
individual in state politics. In this pilot project, the political
liaison will be the registered lobbyist for NOW (National
Organization for Women). Students will plan and organize their
independent study projects with these two supervisors. Topics for
research are wide and varied with opportunity for students to work
on projects close to their own personal interests. Some suggested
topics are listed below.
ABORTION
THERAPEUTIC ABORTION
DES AND DRUGS IN PREGNANCY
STERILITY
CONTRACEPTION
SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS IN PREGNANCY
FERTILITY AND PRE-CONCEPTION HEALTH
FERTILITY AND PRE-CONCEPTION HEALTH
RISK OF MORTALITY IN PREGNANCY
EDUCATION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
For Fall 1979 and Winter 1980, we would like to have some interns
who are interested in researching guidelines for maternal health in
pregnancy as related to therapeutic abortion.
Students chosen for this Internship may earn up to 4 credits in
Natural Science 300 for each term of participation (total credits
in NS300 must not exceed 12).
MICHIGAN NOW
National Organization for Women .....NOW's purpose is to take
action to bring women into full porticipation in the mainstream of
American society now, exercising all the privileges and
responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men.
CODE OF CONFIDENTIALITY
As an intern for the National Organization for Women (NOW),I
understand that I will have certain responsibilities which may
expose me to situations where I will hear information about public
officials which should not be revealed.
Furthermore, this signed statement means that I also understand the
importance of confidentiality of political strategies of NOW and
legislators who advocate NOW's political positions. I am, however,
free to discuss my project with others so long as it has no long or
short term negative ramifications for NOW.
Therefore, this statement is to assure NOW that I understand
the importance of my position and that I represent NOW; I then
agree not to disclose any information which I might hear about
someone in either the political or personal domain.
SIGNED:_______________________________
DATE:
FEMINIST LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
IN EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
Ann Simon
For over fifty years Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, has
required a field experience program of cooperative education for
all students in this small, private liberal arts college. Antioch
students alternate quarters of study on campus with quarters of
full time paid employment or equivalent activity off-campus
throughout the United States. To meet requirements for graduation
they must complete at least six different field placements.
The coop program is integral to the Antioch curriculum; some work
experiences are considered essential to the students' general
education, while others serve as part of their preparation in a
major academic field. In addition, the coop program is seen as an
opportunity for students to seek first-hand experience in deciding
on a course of study and in preparing for post-graduation
employment or graduate school. Each quarter, coop students are
placed on one of several hundred jobs regularly available through
the Center for Cooperative Education; placements are based on
students' preferences, an assessment of their skills, coursework
and previous experience. Before leaving campus for the field
placement, students determine their learning objectives with a
member of the coop faculty. When they complete their fieldwork,
they are evaluated by the employer; students also write a
description of their work, produce a paper or project documenting
and evaluating what they learned, and have a final conference with
their coop advisor to discuss the extent to which their educational
objectives were achieved. Credit is awarded on the basis of
documented learning as well as responsible and successful
performance on the job. Within the context of this program, there
are three major areas in which I have sought to create feminist
learning experiences: encouraging women undergraduates to approach
their own lives with a feminist perspective as they make decisions
about their futures; making available placements with organizations
working on feminist issues; assisting students to utilize tools of
feminist observation and analysis in a variety of job settings.
Similar efforts could be made in many different types of
experiential education programs whose on-going responsibility is to
arrange off-campus learning experiences, such as a coop or service
learning program on campus, a department of experience-based
education, a public policy internship program, pre-professional
training opportunities (student teaching, social work practica,
internships in the ministry, law, nursing, etc.), an urban semester
program, an off-campus project during a winter term or even summer
employment arranged for credit independently by students. Here we
may find experiential educators and placement professionals whose
interest in feminism motivates them to design special opportunities
within existing programs to meet the specific needs of women's
studies students.
Feminist Life/Career Planning
Field placement professionals--explicitly or implicitly--help
students make decisions about their future life work through direct
experience in preparation for a specific career. With feminist
consciousness-raising in mind, I have identified the following
assumptions or expectations (geared primarily to this 18-21
year-old college population) that I encourage each student to make
about herself. I view these assumptions as a statement of what each
woman fundamentally deserves, a starting point from which she can
then deal with race, class and/or sex barriers she may encounter.
1. She will have an adult work life of forty years or more.
2. She can spend her years of employment at work she chooses.
3. In selecting a direction for her life work, she begins with the
belief that she is competent, and takes into consideration all
possible options open to her. She is careful to sort out her own
interests from expectations that other people may have for her. She
has the right to determine what she wants, and to take appropriate
action to achieve it. She is free to take risks, and she may change
her mind.
4. She will be able to support herself by her labor, and to support
other people--adults and children--whom she may choose to include
in her life.
5. She can live where her work and interests take her.
I usually present these assumptions to students in the context of
individual conversation in my office, while discussing how the coop
program works, what a student learned during a recent field
placement, what job to select for the next coop quarter, what she
intends to major in, and what she'll do when she graduates. Women's
studies faculty can also raise these same issues in individual
conversation with advisees as well as in the classroom.
When I present these expectations to students I am careful never to
make sex-stereotyped assumptions, such as encouraging a young woman
to work as a teacher's aide because she lists child care experience
on her resume (perhaps the only money-making option she was able to
pursue before entering college), or assuming that a woman who says
she's interested in science means biology or botany rather than
graduate work in astrophysics.
I also point out to a student any stereotyped assumptions she may
be making about herself, and urge her to broaden her perspective.
For example, a student may have the impulse to withdraw from
candidacy for her preferred field placement if she learns that an
acquaintance wants the same job, saying she is sure the other
person is better qualified. I suggest that she may not be giving
herself credit for the ability she has, noting that women
habitually underrate our skills and even apologize for our
achievements by attributing them to good fortune. In this case I
present her with evidence of her competence from my knowledge of
her previous work or from employer ratings in her file. I also
discuss her desire to avoid competition, noting how women are
taught that it's "too selfish" to give more importance to our own
wishes than to those of a friend and it's "too pushy" to stick up
for what we want. I submit that it might be a positive experience
to"practice" competing with a student she knows, even if the other
person does get the job.
The assumption that adult women can take charge of their lives can
be very powerful. At times--even on the Antioch campus where
feminist values are part of the dominant campus climate--students
find it difficult or conflict-producing (as well as thrilling and
intoxicating) to fully internalize and act upon this premise. As
feminist educators, we can help students think about life/career
issues to sort out and deal with their changing values, doubts and
conflicts, as well as their growing confidence.
Feminist Work
Experiential learning programs can utilize existing resources to
create feminist field placements. My definition of feminist field
work includes any field experience with an organization that
addresses women's issues and works to further feminist aims.
Organizations where feminist field placements are possible can be
described or categorized in several ways: according to the kind of
work they do, the issues or clientele they address, their
long-range goals, and their organizational structure. The following
impressionistic continuum of the field experiences available to
Antioch students over the past several years, takes into account a
combination of these factors.
Radical Feminist Organizations: characterized by an effort to
create a non-hierarchic organizational structure, collective
decision-making process, shared responsibility for routine tasks;
also the commitment to working for fundamental change in the life
experience of women while building new, all-women, feminist
structures. Students have worked in the following settings of this
nature: feminist counseling collective (Georgia); women's land
(Oregon); feminist theater (D.C.); shelter for battered women
(Florida); women's health center (California); and lesbian resort
community (Florida).
Organization With Explicit Feminist Goals: characterized by a
commitment to working for fundamental change in the life experience
of women, maintaining a moderate or minimum degree of hierarchy in
staff structure and decision-making. Students have worked with many
groups that fall into this category: rape crisis center (Georgia),
feminist-oriented monthly newspaper (Texas), projects organizing
women office, factory, domestic workers (Massachusetts, North
Carolina), and various women's rights activities including ERA
campaign (Illinois), monitoring vocational education legislation
compliance (Georgia), providing hot-line information service about
Title IX regulations regarding athletics (D.C.).
Women's Issue Organizations: characterized by a concern for
improving conditions and opportunities for women, with traditional
hierarchic organizational structure. Feminist goals may be achieved
through some of the efforts of such organizations, while such goals
may or may not be their central focus. In this grouping, students
have been assigned to a city government commission on the status of
women (Georgia), a project for increasing access of women to
management-level corporate jobs (Georgia), a recreation program for
women prisoners (Michigan), and a home for pregnant teenagers
(California); an assignment in an affirmative action office of a
university, business or government agency would also fall into this
grouping.
It is interesting to note that in some instances, the type or
content of the work has little bearing on the organization's place
on the continuum. I have had contacts with different battered
women's shelters, for example, which fit into each of the three
categories--according to their organizational structure, their
stated purpose, and their analysis of the problem they are working
on or the services they offer.
While organizations which fall anywhere on the continuum can offer
students an opportunity to do feminist work, there is a unique
learning opportunity available at placements in "radical feminist"
settings. Here a student may also observe and participate in the
process established by organizations whose structure is a
non-hierarchical alternative to the "mainstream" projects or groups
she's likely to participate in more frequently throughout her life.
Feminist Perspective in a Non-Feminist Setting
Because of my involvement in a campus-wide experiential education
program which sends every student on six or more different field
placements, I have given considerable thought and attention to the
experience of feminist students who inevitably spend some of their
coop quarters in entirely non-feminist settings. From my work with
these students, I have concluded that field experiences which do
not provide opportunities for feminist work can nevertheless serve
as important sources for feminist education. Women's studies
students can learn a great deal by applying tools of feminist
observation and analysis to virtually any placement setting.
I have developed several approaches to feminist learning in a
non-feminist setting: analysis of sexism at the workplace and in
the community, practice at implementing feminist change, and
individual personal growth in feminist directions. I find that
students can best take advantage of these suggestions if they have
already had one or more women's studies courses--preferably at
least one in the social sciences--and if they have been involved in
some campus feminist activity, such as a consciousness-raising
group or feminist organizing project.
Analysis: At the worksite, students observe job categories among
their co-workers, by whom (according to race, sex, class, age) they
are filled and what the job descriptions are for each category.
They can analyze how and by whom leadership is exerted, both
formally and informally. They can examine sexism manifested in the
social interactions among the workers as well as with clientele
(students, customers, patients, clients, etc.).
Next, students can look at the organization as a whole: the
research institution or corporation, the library or museum, the
factory, the hospital. They can investigate practices of hiring and
promotion, examine methods of decision-making and who are the
decision-makers. They can analyze what segments of the community
the organization serves, and what, if any, discriminatory messages
community members receive in their contact with the organization.
Finally, students can observe the quality of life for women in the
community where they are working and/or living, the availability of
child care or women's health care, the safety measures needed and
provided for women, and the resources available for women who have
been beaten or raped. They can determine the degree to which the
experiences and needs of women are reported in the local media, and
consider the ways in which concerns of women are addressed through
the elected political process.
Practice: Students may also approach a field experience with the
intention of implementing feminist goals in conjunction with the
placement. They can prepare to try out non-sexist teaching methods
and curriculum in a day care center, a high school, the waiting
room of a pediatric hospital, or in an outdoor education center.
They can develop theories and techniques for feminist counseling to
apply in a counseling center, a welfare office or a residence for
disturbed adolescents. They can plan to set up a consciousness-
raising group among the women workers at a factory, the women
graduate research assistants, or the teenagers who hang out at the
community center after school.
They might become a member of a committee setting up affirmative
action guidelines for the organization or assisting with
recruitment efforts. They might provide resources and impetus for
employees of a corporation or factory to organize a day care
center.
Personal Growth: Students may want to devote time to their personal
development during their field placement, either in association
with the placement itself or during their hours after work. They
might focus on practicing assertiveness skills with an aggressive
supervisor or with co-workers. They can seek out opportunities on
the job to learn new skills in areas usually considered
"non-traditional" for women, such as carpentry, mechanical repair,
budget design or procedures for running a board meeting.
Students can also utilize a non-feminist placement, perhaps in
comparison with a previous experience in a radical feminist
organization, to help make decisions about how to approach their
life work as feminists. In a non-feminist setting students may find
themselves identified as the "company feminist" and can document
their feelings and behaviors in response to representing, sometimes
solely, that position.
Conclusion
My goal in this review of experiential opportunities for women's
studies students in field placements outside the women's studies
program has been several-fold. First to suggest to feminist
experiential educators and placement professionals ways to address
within their programs the needs of women's studies students.
Second, to suggest to women's studies faculty ways to utilize the
resources of existing field placement programs on their campuses to
augment opportunities for their students to have feminist field
experiences. Third, to show how field placements in non-feminist
settings can yield opportunities for feminist learning and, in some
cases, for implementing feminist social change. And finally, to
suggest how experiential educators and women's studies faculty can
expose students to principles of feminist life-planning--an issue
which I consider essential to feminist education.
I believe that the notion of a feminist field experience is
absolutely consistent with the vision of a feminist academy.
Nothing could be more appropriate for feminist students than
learning about the experience of women by living and observing
women's experiences in the workplace and by joining forces with
community women to work on feminist issues affecting the quality of
women's lives.
Chapter 3: VARIOUS VIEWS
SETTING THE STAGE FOR FIELD PLACEMENT
Marti Bombyk
(Special thanks to Elizabeth Axelson, Gloria Klose, Lorraine
Lafata, and Catherine McClary, supervisors of students enrolled in
"Women and the Community" at the University of Michigan, who
provided valuable suggestions for this essay. I also appreciate the
feedback on previous drafts from participants of the Service
Learning Institute.)
When a faculty member starts teaching a service learning course, it
is easy to overlook the significant preparation that must take
place before the course can officially begin. The challenge to
create lectures, exercises, assignments, and discussion topics to
help students analyze (among other things) their placement
experiences, may focus instructor attention on the seminar
component of the course. The seminar component can easily become a
demanding endeavor in itself. Yet, there are several other tasks
related to the placement site and student intern supervision which
the faculty member must fulfill before the term begins in order to
provide a well-run, comprehensive learning program for her
students.
Generating placements for student interns is one of the most
challenging responsibilities for instructors teaching a service
learning course. Like the designing of a course syllabus, the work
takes place before the students arrive for their first class. Only
the final step of this process is visible to the students, the
point where they are given a list of internship possibilities from
which to choose. Though much of the "stage setting" is invisible to
the students, these tasks are fundamental to the whole course
because they provide the platform for launching the students into
the community and the world of work.
From my experience teaching a service learning course, "Women and
the Community," at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and from
constructive suggestions from supervisors who have worked with me
and our students, I have put together some ideas for setting up
placement sites and supporting the supervisor-student relationship.
Hopefully, the procedures and strategies I have found most
effective will be useful to other educators interested in
generating field placements and accredited service learning at
their schools.
Setting Up Placements: Finding the Intersection
When I develop placement sites, I consider three different sets of
needs and interests: those of the community, those of the placement
sponsors, and those of the students. In this balancing act, my goal
is to find the intersection of these three need sets. (1)
(figure on page 82 appears here)
The Community's Needs and Interests
I define the "community" as women who will benefit from the
activities of the student interns. I consider the needs of women in
my local area by taking into account both public identified needs
and needs which have received little or no attention. My knowledge
of identified and unrecognized needs stems from such ordinary daily
experiences as reading newspapers, talking with women about the
concerns of their lives, and walking the streets of my city. As I
consider the needs of local women and placement opportunities which
address those needs, I keep in mind Charlotte Bunch's five criteria
for evaluating feminist reforms (2). Consideration of these
criteria helps me think about the reforms that are needed by women
and the ways in which these reforms should be implemented. Though
any reform will not necessarily meet all five criteria, the greater
a placement approximates one or more criteria, the more confident
I am that it will empower the students as they work to empower
other women:
1. Does the reform materially improve the lives of women, and
if so,which women and how many?
2. Does it build an individual woman's self-respect, strength
and confidence?
3. Does it give women a sense of power, strength, and
imagination as a group and help build structures for
further change?
4. Does it educate women politically, enhancing our ability to
criticize and challenge the system in the future?
5. Does it weaken patriarchal control of society's
institutions and help women gain power over them? (pp.
45-46)
Organizations which work on relevant issues in ways which
approximate these criteria, and which never oppose them, are more
desirable as placement sites than organizations which do not.
Selecting placement sites is a political act whereby instructors
implicitly endorse the reform goals of those with whom the students
work and learn from in their placements. Because of this, I attempt
to put my "feminist politics in command" by arranging for students
to help women in the community, who are in turn teaching their
interns important skills. In this way, I am able to proudly take
responsibility for the consequences of my work.
The range of reform opportunities in a given locality varies from
city to city. Not every city has a rich feminist infrastructure of
crisis centers, bookstores, legal defense collectives, shelters,
advocacy offices, etc. Fortunately, it isn't necessary to live in
a feminist Utopia to find good placements. Most cities have
organizations which may not be explicitly feminist but which
nonetheless serve feminist goals. Day care centers are an example
of this type of placement site. Most cities, in fact, have too many
organizations which are in need of feminist reforms. Pat Miller at
the University of Connecticut has successfully placed students in
insurance companies with feminist supervisors who teach the
students how to advocate for the women workers and help organize
them. In my view, explicitly feminist organizations are a bonus;
but a good analysis of women's oppression, a sense of strategies
that might help local women, and imagination are the only
prerequisites for developing placements in any city.
The Placement Sponsors' Needs and Interests
Placement sponsors appreciate the free labor that student interns
supply, but often they impose requirements that student interns
must meet in order to be placed with them. In my course, placement
sponsors have made stipulations which include: good writing skills,
public speaking skills, previous course work or experience in a
particular area, ability to make an extended time commitment (six
months to a year), access to transportation, ability to work
certain shifts, etc.
If an organization seems to be a good potential placement site, I
determine if there are any prerequisites and make note of them. I
include this information in the placement description list I give
students to facilitate the student-placement site matching process
by reducing the risk of misunderstanding, wasted time, and
embarrassment.
Finally, I also attempt to discern if a potential placement sponsor
has what I consider to be less-than-honorable motives for wanting
volunteer labor. My particular sensitivity to volunteers replacing
paid employees and volunteer exploitation leads me to make a quick
check of the way the potential sponsor intends to use volunteers
and how they will be treated. I ask if a volunteer program exists
in the organization (a moot question if the entire organization is
volunteer staffed). If they have one, I ask how it is structured
and the effect of the volunteer program on employee morale. I
attempt to determine if there is excessive stratification and
segregation between paid and unpaid workers. If the response to my
questions indicates employee replacement or unfair practices toward
volunteers, I reject the possibility of placing student interns at
that site.
The Students' Needs and Interests
Since student interns are highly dependent on the placement
organization for their educational experience, I consider the
ability of the placement site to meet the following criteria:
1. Is there an individual at the placement site who will
willingly assume the responsibility of providing
supervision for the student interns? At a minimum, adequate
supervision consists of the supervisor's readiness to share
skills and have routine contact with the student interns.
2. What work will the interns be asked to do and what skills
can they acquire? If challenging work is not provided,
interns will not be able to develop new skills. Though work
considered mundane, boring, or repetitive, (e.g., typing,
filing, collating, stapling) is not easy to avoid, I feel
it is essential that the proportion of time during which an
intern engages in such work not exceed the proportion of
time during which she will have exposure to new tasks and
be involved in planning and decision-making.
3. Will the placement provide training for the student
interns? If a placement site wants relatively unskilled
interns to perform difficult and responsible tasks (e.g.,
counseling a rape victim), it must provide the intern with
the expertise to do the job effectively.
4. How flexible is the placement for allowing individualized
job descriptions? I assess this dimension because students
want to know how much an internship with a placement
sponsor can be individually tailored to their personal
interests.
5. How stable is the placement site organization? This
criterion is important because a placement site governed by
crises can place too much stress on both supervisors and
student interns. New organizations are not necessarily
"unstable." As long as an organization has adequate
resources and realistic goals, it can usually provide
students with a secure work place environment. I am
primarily concerned with avoiding placements where
"organizational craziness" is the norm because I have found
that these contexts teach students how not to do a feminist
reform. Such truncation of experience is never satisfying
for my students.
Negotiating the Placements
With my criteria in mind for how I will find the intersection of
the community's, placement sponsors', and student interns' needs,
I begin contacting potential placement sponsors to negotiate
placements. I find this phase of the work to be the most enjoyable
because it allows me to exercise and expand my professional and
personal network. Sometimes I am able to discover a new placement
site that gives me the reassuring and recurring pleasure in knowing
that "we are everywhere!"
My goal in this phase is to create as many placement opportunities
as possible in the time available. My motto is "the more, the
better" because student preferential differences can be better
accommodated with more placement opportunities and because with
many opportunities, I can be more selective when I narrow down and
finalize my placement description list.
I have generated placement leads from reading women's referral
guides, brochures, and handouts available at special events and in
university and community offices. I've looked in the telephone
book, especially under "W" for women's organizations and services.
I've talked with colleagues, students, and friends who are
affiliated with organizations which might meet my criteria.
Especially helpful have been conversations with community activists
who provide me with oral "Who's Who" directories of individuals and
organizations working on feminist reforms. I have also contacted
the local chapters of national organizations such as the National
Organization of Women and the National Abortion Rights Action
League. Not only can these chapters serve as placement sites, they
can also refer me to other promising organizations.
With each contact and confirmed placement, I always ask if they
know someone else who could sponsor placements and if I can use the
individual's name as a referral source. I continue to network until
all leads have been exhausted or until I begin to get a sense of
diminishing returns (it takes more and more effort to negotiate
each placement).
My goals during each contact are:
1. To give necessary information about the course and its
methods so that interest can be generated in sponsoring a
placement and so that, once interested, the site has a
sense of what will be expected of them if they sponsor an
internship.
2. To explore the degree to which the potential placement
satisfies criteria I have developed for deciding whether an
organization is suitable as a placement site.
3. To determine supervisor/organizational receptivity to
sponsoring a placement.
4. To gather basic information about what a placement with an
organization would involve, the names, phone numbers, and
addresses of people students should contact, and any
prerequisites the organization has.
When I talk with potential placement sponsors, I've found it
helpful to be friendly and not too aggressive about getting an
immediate commitment from the organization. The format I tend to
adopt in my "sales pitch" is to tell the person my name, my
position at the university, how I got their name, general goals and
methods of the course I teach and why I thought their organization
might be suitable for and interested in sponsoring interns. I might
give an example of other organizations which have agreed to sponsor
interns and the kind of work the placements with them will entail.
I let the person on the phone have time to think and I encourage
her or him to ask questions. I offer to call back if they need time
to check with others in the organization before they make a
commitment.
Once they decide to offer a placement, I attempt to clarify the
nature of the relationship between myself, the students, and the
placement site. I let them know what the next steps are, for
example, when they can expect interested students to begin
contacting them for interviews and setting up the placement. I also
tell them that if students decide to work with them (leaving open
the possibility that though they may offer a placement, no student
might actually choose it), I will send a handout to the intern's
supervisor that describes in more detail how the course will work
and what can be expected throughout the semester. I point out to
them that in their interviews with prospective student interns,
they have the right to tactfully reject a student if they don't
feel the relationship would be viable.
With the final list of placement sponsors generated, I turn my
attention to preparing a lengthy description of all the placement
opportunities to handout to students on the first day of class.
Preparing Students for their Placements
On the first day of class I give my students a course description,
a syllabus, and the placement description list. The focus of the
first session is on the placements though we also take time to
review the syllabus, course requirements, and to introduce
ourselves to each other. I go over the placements with them and
answer questions about the field work and how placements can be
structured. Their assignment for the first week is:
1. Consider your goals for taking the course. Think of what
you want from the course as you look over the placement
opportunities. Do you want work experience in your
preferred field? Do you want to explore a new field to see
if you might choose it as an occupation? Do you need
particular skills? Is there a feminist issue that arouses
your anger that you want to do something about to help
women?
2. Select two or three placement offerings to explore based on
your goals and interests. Contact the preferred placements
using information provided in the placement description
lists. Arrange an in person interview (if possible, or at a
minimum, a telephone interview) with the placement sponsor
and attempt to finalize your placement choice by the next
class.
I tell the students that both they and the placement sponsors have
the right to reject each other if either party considers the match
as problematic. Students are fearful of being rejected so I try to
assure them that if it does happen, it isn't the end of the world
and that it is probably better to be turned down and find a
different placement than to work somewhere where they don't feel
welcome or appreciated. It's useful to conceptualize the process of
finding a placement as similar to the process of looking for a job.
They go through the want ads, prioritize their preferences, arrange
an interview, find out if they are wanted, and, if there are two or
more offers, they get to choose where they think they will be
happiest working. Likewise, if they are turned down for a
placement, the experience resembles being turned down for a job (a
difficult yet common experience we all have to learn to deal with
sooner or later). However, I have found it unusual for students to
be rejected if prerequisites have been made clear; their interest
in and enthusiasm for these self-selected preferences make a good
match between the student and the placement site probable.
After their interviews, students should make arrangements for
finding out if they are accepted by the placement sponsor, they
should make their decisions on where they want to work, and they
should make arrangements for their first session at the placement
site. Most students are successful in arranging their placement in
one week, even if they require individual consultation with me by
telephone or in office hours. Undoubtedly, though, there are always
a few students who have not, for various legitimate reasons,
arranged their placement by the second week of class. For this
reason, I do not begin the seminar component of the course until
the third week.
For the second class session, we continue to get to know each other
and I work on building group cohesiveness to set the stage for the
seminar component of the course. One exercise I use for the second
week both builds group cohesiveness for the seminar and further
prepares the students to begin their placements. I use this
exercise after we have gone around the room reminding each other of
our names and reporting on whether their placement has been chosen,
if so, where it is and, if not, what options they are still
exploring, etc.
I call this exercise "My Greatest Fear." It works like this: Divide
the class into groups of five or six, and if there is space, have
the groups go to separate rooms after the exercise is described. I
tell the students to take out a scrap of paper and jot down,
anonymously, their greatest fear (no matter how irrational) about
working as an intern or at the particular placement they have
chosen. When they are settled in their groups and have written down
their greatest fears, I go to each group, collect the folded
papers, mix them, and then let each student in the group draw
someone else's greatest fear. Then, taking turns, each student
(except those who were so confident they couldn't write down a
single fear) draws someone else's greatest fear. Taking turns, each
student reads aloud the anonymous statement. Sometimes the
idiosyncracy of it gives the writer's identity away, but secrecy is
not a big issue. Then the reader addresses the fear by providing
some reassuring advice on how to view the problem, how to redefine
it, how to handle it, etc. When the reader finishes, other students
can join in and share their insights and suggestions for dealing
with that fear. I avoid participating unless the advice (it's
happened only once) was exceptionally superficial and did not
respond to the writer's dilemma. It is important that I do not
participate so the students learn to talk to each other and to
respect each other's knowledge and contributions. And so, each
student will have, by the end of the exercise, some suggestions for
dealing with her fear and will also have experienced her own
competency by coming up with some concrete advice to help another.
I have found the quality of the advice be considerate, wise, and
practical. The students learn a lot from hearing others' concerns,
some of which might have been their second or third greatest fear.
At the end of the exercise, anxiety is greatly diminished,
self-esteem is bolstered, and the students feel cared for and
caring towards each other.
By the third week virtually all the students are placed into
organizations and many have worked there at least once. The seminar
begins with the topic of volunteerism. We discuss assigned readings
and I give them the following journal assignment to help sensitize
them to the various feminist perspectives on volunteerism and to
help them realize that their volunteer relationship to their
placement is a two-way proposition involving give and take for both
parties:
Critically analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the 1973
N.O.W. position on volunteerism (3). Next, analyze your role
as a volunteer with regard to <1> its compatibility with the
N.O.W. position, <2> what benefits you will gain by
volunteering, <3> what costs or losses you will incur by
volunteering, <4> what your placement site gains from your
volunteerism, and <5> what are the costs to the placement site
for having you work with them.
Finally, I tell the students to negotiate a job description with
their supervisor in the next two weeks and I give them written
guidelines. Supervisors also receive job description guidelines in
the handout they are sent. I emphasize the importance of clear
expectations and open communication. I remind them that the
supervisor is in that role in order to teach them skills and to
help them, so they should always try to discuss problems with her
as they arise.
For the remainder of the term. I focus my efforts primarily on the
seminar component of the course. I have individual appointments
with each student twice during the semester. I also attempt to call
each supervisor at least once during the semester to check on how
things are going with the student interns.
Conclusion
The placements I have generated and my procedures for supporting
the supervisor-student intern relationship have helped me run a
smooth course which both placement sites and student interns have
enjoyed. My intention is that this description of my approach will
facilitate the work of others who are setting up a service learning
course at their institutions.
Though a considerable amount of time is needed to prepare students
and supervisors, the time spent will help spare everyone a
considerable amount of frustration and resentment. In the long run,
advance preparation and planning makes everyone's work easier and
more satisfying.
NOTES
1. Alana Smart, National Center for Service Learning. Presentation
at NWSA/FIPSE "Project to Improve Service Learning in Women's
Studies" Institute, March 1930.
2. Bunch, Charlotte. "The Reform Tool Kit," Quest 1 (1), 1974,
37-87.
3. N.O.W. Task Force on Volunteerism, November 1973. Ms., February
1975, P. 73
APPENDIX
Format for a
Field Supervisor Manual
I am including here an outline that abstracts the types of
information instructors might include in a handout or manual
adapted for the specific type of course they teach. The furnishing
of written materials is important for several reasons:
1. It provides a permanent reference that can be consulted
anytime without the supervisor having to contact the
instructor.
2. Supervisors need certain information in order to fulfill
their basic responsibilities, e.g., what criteria they will
use to evaluate the students' work.
3. The more information about what the internship is and how
it can work, the better prepared supervisors are for giving
interns worthwhile experiences.
4. It indicates that you are seriously committed to giving the
students quality education.
Before discussing the content of the handout or manual, a word
about "packaging" is in order. The information instructors provide
is best taken when it is written, organized, and typed in a
readable form that avoids academic jargon. Ideally, we want
supervisors to read the whole piece in their spare (???) time. The
handout should be reproduced as a clean, dark copy and, if
possible, put in a folder of some sort to protect it. Be sure to
prepare enough copies for each supervisor (only one is needed even
if they have more than one intern) and make extras in case some get
lost. Keep the original copy for simplified updating and revising
in the future.
The following outline can be adapted to the particular needs of the
instructor, depending on the nature of the course, the number of
supervisors, and time and resources available. I have attempted to
be comprehensive, though different parts may be more relevant for
different instructors:
I. Title Page: title of handout, name of course, instructor's
name, office address, and phone number(s).
II. Table of Contents: include appendices titles and page
numbers, if any.
III. Course Description
A. Goals and pedagogical philosophy of feminist experiential
education. (You might also include here a brief description
of your women's studies program for people who may not be
familiar with its purpose and functions).
B. How the Course Works
1. Placement: types and criteria for selection
2. Seminar: sample topics, time and place
3. Instructor-student contact: frequency of individual
appointments, etc.
C. Student Requirements
1. Number of hours per week in placement
2. Course grading system, including the type of placement
evaluations and the weight of the placement evaluations
in the students' final grades
D. Calendar
1. When students begin and end work
2. Due dates for assignments that might involve additional
supervisory time, e.g., discussing with the student the
history of the organization.
E. Reference to Appendices: you might include the following:
1. Course syllabus
2. Copy of evaluation forms supervisor will receive and be
asked to complete
3. Copy of any assignments that might require additional
supervisory-student interaction
IV. The Supervisor-Intern Relationship
A. Describe the process of how students get matched with
placements, including interviews and the supervisors' right
to reject students who might not be suited to the
placement.
B. Describe the supervisors' responsibility to orient the
student to the placement, including:
1. Goals and purpose of organization
2. General way the organization works, e.g., who does what,
why, when, and how.
3. Organizational policies and rules which will apply to
interns, e.g., confidentiality of clients, washing out
their used coffee cups.
4. If possible, the supervisor might prepare a handout that
covers the major points the student needs to know about
the organization. This could be used over again for
future interns to help streamline the orientation
process.
C. Describe the responsibility of the supervisors to negotiate
a job description and written agreement that explicates
both parties' rights and responsibilities, including:
1. Type of training and dates, length of period.
2. Specific tasks they will do, including how much clerical
work.
3. Frequency of meetings with interns.
4. Expected time commitments and days/hours the student
will work.
5. Date(s) the job description will be reviewed and
revised, if necessary (e.g., half-way point).
6. The days the student will be on vacation and what
procedures they should follow if they are unable to make
it to work when expected.
7. Other concerns they may have that they would like
clarified.
D. Emphasize the importance of open communication with the
student that can be informal and "on the run" as well as
formal. Supervisors should attempt to create a
non-threatening and supportive relationship so that
students will feel comfortable initiating discussions with
them about their concerns, mistakes, frustrations,
observations, etc.
E. Discuss the need for supervisors to be sensitive and
respectful of individual differences among students--some
will be assertive and self-directing, others will be shy
and need more structure, etc.
F. Discuss the students' needs for constructive feedback and
thanks for the work they do.
G. Reiterate how important the supervisor is in providing a
role model for the students. The interns will be affected
by their attitudes toward their work and the organization,
their values, how they deal with other co-workers, etc. The
placement offers the students a stepping stone in the
formation and attainment of their career goals and through
it they will be socialized into the world of working with
others. They are trying to acquire practical skills that
will help them get and keep jobs and, hopefully, make a
contribution to the improvement of other women's lives. The
supervisor needs to be conscious that she is being a
teacher and has the power to empower her interns.
V. The Supervisor-Instructor Relationship
A. How often they can expect you to initiate contact with them
to see how things are going.
B. Discuss how the relationship is designed to benefit both
the students and the supervisors/organizations. When the
costs outweigh the benefits, it is essential that problems
be addressed together and an effort made to solve them.
They should contact you if any problem arises (before it
becomes catastrophic) and assure them that you are willing
to do what you can to solve the problem, mediate, etc.
C. Benefits the supervisor might receive if any. For example,
can supervisors get some staff privileges through your
university such as a library card? If material rewards are
not possible to offer (and it is often the case that they
aren't), you might discuss how the contact provided with
the internship can be used to further their organizational
or personal goals,e.g., the women's studies program can
announce and help advertise events sponsored by the
placement, or job openings in the organization. The program
might be able to provide referrals, contacts, and
information to the organization. The program could offer
support in times of crisis, e.g., letters of endorsement,
petition signatures, fundraising help. You might so arrange
that announcements or flyers from the women's studies
office be sent to the supervisors so that they will know
about speakers the program is bringing, classes being
offered, etc.
D. Give sincere and appreciative thanks to the supervisor and
the organization for participating in the internship.
NOTES
If the supervisor will be working with more than one student, recommend that
they arrange such discussions in groups to save time. Or one student can share
her information with the others.
THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
AT WEAL FUND
Maxine Forman
"I wish it were felt that women who are labouring especially for
women are not one-sided or selfish...We care for the evils
affecting women most of all because they react upon the whole
society, and abstract from the common good."
Josephine E. Butler, ed.,
Introduction, Woman's Work and
Woman's Culture, 1896
The Women's Equity Action League Educational and Legal Defense Fund
in Washington, D.C. is a non-profit tax-exempt organization whose
goal is to secure legal and economic rights for women by conducting
educational and research projects, by monitoring the implementation
and enforcement of laws prohibiting sex discrimination, and by
supporting significant legal cases. The intern program of WEAL
Fund, sponsored by the Ford Foundation in 1976, invites students
and other individuals to work with us for a period of several
months to see, first hand, the kind of work a women's rights
organization does. As auxiliary workers, interns help the Fund
fulfill its goals while they learn about the administration and
staffing of an organization, improve their research and writing
skills, increase their understanding of women's issues and
feminism, acquire work experience, and gain new perspectives on the
process of social change.
Since 1976 approximately 180 interns from throughout the nation,
ranging in age from 15 to 70, have participated in the program. The
majority are voluntary interns who receive $4 a day to help defray
the costs of volunteering; some receive academic credit from their
university or college as well. Voluntary interns spend two-thirds
of their time on a research project and the remainder on
administrative and clerical duties. The administrative internship,
a paid position, is usually reserved for an older woman returning
to the work force; she spends the major portion of her time on
administrative and clerical tasks, and a smaller portion on a
special project. The legal internship, also a paid position, is
offered to a second or third year law student who helps the staff
provide information and referral services to those requesting it,
assists in the preparation of materials informing women of their
rights, updates and maintains the docket of legal cases supported
by WEAL Fund and assists in efforts to monitor regulatory
developments.
Who Are the Interns?
"Interns are more trouble than they're worth." No doubt you have
heard that statement at least once. I have said it myself at times
when there was unusual pressure to produce under rigid and
difficult deadlines. In such instances one would like interns to be
better than bright, have extensive work experience, possess top
notch research and writing skills, require no supervision, type
65-100 words per minute and ask few questions--in short, to
function like competent and experienced staff members. And
sometimes we are pleasantly surprised.
But common sense dictates that few individuals seeking experiential
learning opportunities have such qualifications. Fortunately, WEAL
Fund's philosophy and flexibility allow staff to choose some
interns who may have more energy than experience and more
commitment than skills. Although we give priority to individuals
who have leadership potential, research and writing skills, and
background in women's issues, we select interns who come from
various educational experiences and backgrounds, with not only
different levels of skills but also varying levels of commitment to
the women's movement. We subscribe to the notion that if one
scratches a woman one will discover a feminist underneath, and
structure interviews with an eye (or shall I say a finger nail)
toward discovery. For example, while some applicants are
experienced feminists and advocates, others are simply enthusiastic
learners with good skills who think that the concerns of women can
be reduced to "equal pay for equal work." Sometimes an applicant
will emphasize that she herself has never experienced sex
discrimination, but then goes on to reveal, unwittingly, instances
in which she was in fact a victim of sex bias. In such cases we
usually welcome the opportunity to raise a consciousness, offer the
internship and make special efforts to provide the intern with
every chance to learn how sex bias and discrimination operate. As
one might expect, these individuals are often more profoundly
affected by the internship than those who came with a feminist
perspective.
Most of WEAL Fund interns are students, but some are career
changers, women returning to the work force, job hunters or retired
people. Their academic and employment backgrounds span fields from
music to psychiatric nursing; their goals range from making a
contribution to society to seeking a different perspective on work
to gaining recent job experience and new data for a 10-year-old
resume. What WEAL Fund interns have in common, however, is the
ability to communicate their interest in women's rights and the
Fund's work, a desire to improve their present skills and learn new
ones, the ability to write concisely and clearly or the desire to
develop this skill, the willingness to commit 15-35 hours a week
over a three month period and, most importantly, the potential to
use this experience to promote positive change in their own lives
and communities, or on their campuses.
Learning and Making a Contribution
The intern program is an integral part of WEAL Fund. After a two
day orientation led by the staff, interns select an investigative
project in one of WEAL Fund's areas of concern. These include
educational policy, employment discrimination, women and sports,
women in the military, women's access to fellowships and training
and the economic problems of older women. Under the supervision of
a staff member interns do basic research for developing and
updating kits and publications, learn to respond to requests for
information, and assist staff members in project and administrative
work.
The supervisor meets periodically with the intern to review project
work and to revise, if necessary, the job description and its goals
and objectives, both of which were jointly developed during the
first week. WEAL Fund views the supervisor as a facilitator who can
help bring the research project to life by explaining its rationale
and potential, and who can help the intern use there sources of the
Fund as well as of other organizations and agencies in the
Washington, D.C. area. Although project deadlines and meeting times
are mutually agreed upon by intern and the supervisor, the intern
sets her own priorities and manages her time so that she can
complete her project work and also take advantage of other
opportunities the program offers. These include brown-bag lunches
on women's issues with invited guest speakers as well as out-side
meetings, hearings and conferences. Attending these events provides
opportunities for interns to gain knowledge and to understand how
strategies are developed, how decisions are made and how leadership
styles differ. For example, interns attending a meeting at the
Pentagon could observe the leader of a coalition of women's
organizations change the rules at a briefing in which coalition
members were supposed to sit passively and listen to information
prepared for them, a singular lesson in both leadership and
assertiveness. Similarly, an intern accompanying a staff member to
meetings of the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education
broadens her understanding of educational equity issues, group
dynamics and strategies for changing policies.
It is somewhat unrealistic to work with an organization for a brief
period of time and expect to make a substantial contribution to its
work. Nevertheless, this is the expectation of many interns. We try
to emphasize that contributions are made in many different ways.
Initiating a new project, building upon, or completing one already
developed, are all ways to contribute. In each case, staff members
help the intern structure a project that can be completed within a
short time, with the understanding that the resulting product may
or may not be published, but will be used as the basis for further
work on the issue. Examples of past intern projects include:
- developing a brief paper on women and social security and
analyzing proposals for reform;
- researching the status of women in higher education and
updating WEAL Fund's paper, Facts on Women in Higher
Education;
- developing comments on equal opportunity guidelines set
forth by the National Endowment for the Arts;
- developing and publicizing a brief report which focused
attention on the employment of women scientists and
engineers at 50 leading colleges and universities;
- reviewing stacks of Title IX complaints submitted to the
United States Office for Civil Rights to assess the quality
of their resolution (a joint project with the National
Education Association);
- analyzing public comments on proposed Title IX Athletic
Guidelines to determine public sentiment (a joint project
with the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational
Programs);
- collecting, preserving and making available for study the
personal papers of Black women, the records of Black women's
organizations and other materials documenting the history of
Black women in the U.S. (a joint project with the National
Archives for Black Women's History);
- developing a paper on women, registration and the draft for
inclusion in WEAL Fund's Women and the Military kit;
- developing a paper on financial aid opportunities for older
women who are seeking education and training to reenter the
work force;
- researching the status of women as fellowship winners and
review panelists at the National Endowments for the Arts and
the Humanities as well as at other fellowship programs; and
- assisting WEAL Fund's SPRINT project staff in research and
answering requests for information on Title IX and sports.
In addition to work on an individual project, each intern
contributes to the organization as Intern of the Day, spending a
portion of her time every week assisting staff members with typing
labels, xeroxing, collating, filing or preparing mailings. This
assignment gives the intern a glimpse into the importance of
"women's work" as well as insight into the concept of equal pay for
work of equal value.
Recently staff and interns found an unexpected opportunity to make
a contribution to the Fund. In less than a week's time, they
planned and executed a large reception to honor Elizabeth Janeway
on the publication of her new book, Powers of the Weak. Without the
help of interns in developing mailing lists, preparing invitations,
making follow-up phone calls to invitees, contacting the press, and
hosting the reception itself, the event probably would not have
been the success that it was.
What the Interns Take with Them
While each of the 180 individuals has had a different experience,
discussions with interns reveal a number of recurring themes.
First, interns are impressed by the organization's struggle simply
to stay alive, both financially and ideologically, at a time when
funding is scarce and the country is leaning toward conservatism;
proposal writing, direct mail campaigns and other fund-raising
activities rarely fit into an intern's prior conceptions of the
work of a women's organization. Second, interns are amazed at the
amount of nitty-gritty support activities necessary to maintain a
productive, visible organization; they learn that stuffing
envelopes, typing, xeroxing, filing, recording contributions and
sending out thank-you notes, and sorting and routing mail--simply
managing an office and staff efficiently--are critical tasks.
Third, interns begin to develop an understanding of the legislative
and regulatory process, as well as an appreciation of how slowly
goes the process of change; so many interns come to Washington in
awe of the power of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), e.g., and
leave in awe of the power and persistence of the groups who exert
pressure on OCR to enforce anti-discrimination legislation that has
been so long in coming and is in such constant danger of being
eroded. Fourth, and perhaps most significant: many interns
emphasize that they never before had the opportunity to work so
closely with women, especially in an all women's organization where
they are in a position of authority. Interns take with them a
healthy respect for the power that results from the information
sharing, networking and strategizing that are so much a part of the
way Washington women's organizations have an impact on public
policy.
One concern, however, that is often expressed by interns is how
they will react to the sexism they will undoubtedly encounter when
they return to their campuses or to a job which is not concerned
with feminist issues. Some fear they will find it difficult to
handle; they had lost touch with the "real world" feeling protected
in an organization staffed almost entirely with women whose primary
goal at work, and often during leisure time, is to secure equal
rights for women. They wonder if they will be able to change
conservative attitudes. Other interns, however, feel strengthened
by the support they found in the experience. They leave WEAL Fund
armed with new documentation, facts, statistics, and ideas--ready to
wage battle with any and all enemies of the cause--or at least
eager to engage a skeptic in animated debate. In any event, interns
find the experience a valuable one. A former intern expressed it
well:
I realize that having interns can sometimes be disruptive to
a functioning staff, but am glad that you feel the
inconvenience is worth the effort. Working at WEAL Fund has
raised my expectations of myself. Time and effort are
conducive to achievement. Thank you for a very valuable
learning experience.
STUDENT IMPACT IN TWO COMMUNITY SETTINGS
I. THE INVISIBLE WOMEN
Carolyn Mulford
(This article originally appeared in "Synergist", Journal of
ACTION's National Student Volunteer Program, Spring 1980, Vol. 9,
No. 1, and is reprinted with permission.)
As the police car turned into the alley a figure hunched down
behind an open garbage can.
"Pull over, Susie," said the passenger to his partner. "I just
saw one of the bag ladies at the back of that restaurant. She'll
freeze if she stays out on a night like this."
"Let me handle it," said Susie as she stopped the police car.
"She's more likely to listen to another woman." She stepped out
and called, "Got a problem, lady?"
Clasping the garbage can for support, a woman on the far side of
middle age pulled herself up. "Just out for a walk," she said with
dignity. "Thought you were some hoodlums. That's why I hid."
"It's pretty cold tonight, almost zero with the wind factor.
We'll give you a ride home."
"Thank you, but I need the exercise." She shivered.
"I can't leave you here," the officer said gently but firmly.
"I ain't breaking no law."
"It's got nothing to do with the law. You haven't got any place
to go, have you?"
"I'm no vagrant. I've worked all my life," said the woman
proudly. Her voice faltered. "I just don't see how this could
happen to me."
The officer opened the back door. "Come on, we'll take you - "
"Not the crazy house!" cried the woman, shrinking back.
"Course not. It's a place where you'll be warm and welcome, but
you'll have to work." She took the woman by the arm and propelled
her to the car. "They'll help you get back on your feet."
A few minutes later Susie drove up to an old brick school
building.
"This is it, the Madison Center, part of the House of Ruth."
* * * * * * * * * *
The night resident finished binding the young mother's two broken
ribs. Glancing at the two preschool youngsters and baby asleep in
one chair, he asked softly, "What do you plan to do now? Will you
call the police?"
The woman shook her head. "It was just an accident. I fell
downstairs."
"I suppose you got those bruises on your cheek from running into a
door last week. Mrs. Smith, these beatings will get worse. You must
do something to protect yourself - and your children."
She gulped. "What can I do? I have no family within 1,000 miles, no
friends who live where he couldn't find me, no money. I left the
house in my gown after he fell asleep because I couldn't stand the
pain any more." She wiped away tears. "You tell me where I can find
food and shelter for me and my children with no money, no job, not
even any work experience. I've barely got the cab fare to get back
home."
"There's a place I know about. We refer someone like you to them
two or three times a month. You get dressed while a nurse makes a
phone call."
Half an hour later, the woman gave her last cent to the cab driver
who had taken her to a large, somewhat decrepit house on a side
street in an inner city neighborhood.
He didn't growl about the smallness of the tip. Instead he said,
"Good luck, lady. You listen to them folks in there. This shelter
is supposed to be secret, but you aren't the first woman and kids
I brought here in the middle of the night. Lots of folks got
trouble bad as yours, and the House of Ruth helps them - long as
they are ready to help themselves."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Seven blocks from the Capitol, a car moved slowly down busy
Massachusetts Avenue in the early morning rush hour. The driver
pulled over, jumped out of the car, ran around it, and took two
large suitcases from the back seat. He opened the front door. "Come
on, Mother. Get out."
"I want to go home."
"You can't. We're leaving for Hawaii in three hours and we won't
be back for two weeks. Now get out!"
"I can stay by myself."
"And start another fire? The whole house could have burned down
without you waking up." He sighed. "It's not a nursing home or a
hospital." He reached around her thin shoulder and tugged her from
the car. "Doris found out all about the House of Ruth when she gave
them that bunch of old clothes. It's a nice place."
She clung to him. "It's for people who've got nobody."
He jerked away. "I'll check on you in a month."
She sank on to a suitcase as the car sped away. She didn't move
until a young woman came out of a huge old brick house and
approached her. The old woman stood up. "I have no son. I have
nobody. But I can still knit."
The younger woman picked up a suitcase.
THE HOUSE OF RUTH
Scenes like the preceding occur daily throughout the nation, but
frequently penniless, battered, and unwanted women have no shelter
to go to.
The House of Ruth grew out of the recognition of the unmet needs of
a growing number (currently about 5,000) of homeless and destitute
women in Washington, D.C. Founded four years ago by a former
sociology professor, the House of Ruth is a nonprofit organization
that provides shelter and sustenance, support and counseling,
referral and information to women who have no other source of
assistance. Its three sections are the headquarters and residence
(capacity: 35), the Madison Center (capacity: 65), and the shelter
for battered women and their children (capacity: 12). Reflecting
the District's population pattern, approximately 80 percent of
those who come to the House of Ruth are black.
Students, from grade school to graduate school, have contributed
significantly to the shelters' operation from the beginning.
A brief history of the House of Ruth illustrates the pragmatic
philosophy underpinning its operation, the need and potential for
replication by small but determined bands in other parts of the
country, and the suitability of such shelters for service-learning
experiences for students of all ages and interests.
It began in the early 1970's when Veronica Maz, a Georgetown
University sociology professor, helped organize a soup kitchen
called So Others Might Eat (SOME). She soon saw that homeless men
had places to go at night, but such charitable institutions as the
Salvation Army and gospel missions had few places for women. The
women who came to the soup kitchen spent the night in the parks,
the railway station, the bus station, doorways, unlocked cars,
wherever they could find a spot. To most of the population, and to
virtually all the social service agencies, they were invisible.
Caught in an increasingly vicious cycle of dirt and dissolution,
most found it harder and harder to combat the causes that had
started the downswing.
The women were of all ages, races, religions, and social classes.
They had an infinite number of stories to tell - an expensive car
repair while moving somewhere to take a new job, the death of a
breadwinner after a bank-breaking illness, eviction leaving them
with no place to live, flight from an abusive relative or mate,
release from a public hospital or from jail, computer or
bureaucratic foul-ups delaying retirement, unemployment, or public
assistance checks. For some women, the problem was short term, its
solution awaiting the arrival of assistance from family or friends.
They simply had to survive a few days. For others, the problem
dominated the future as well as the present, its solution not even
envisioned.
The women had in common immediate basic needs - food, shelter,
friendship. In large part they were the victims of a changing
society in which family and friends cannot be taken for granted, in
which caring for the unfortunate is seen as a public rather than a
personal concern.
Committing all her time, Dr. Maz organized Shalom House, which had
a capacity of nine. She recalls, "That is where we learned from
practical experience that we needed a larger place. You have to
start with a small place to get the experience."
The next step was to search for a bigger house. Dr. Maz walked the
streets of the inner city looking for something suitable. She saw
"For Sale" on an old tourist home midway between the train station
and the bus station (two favorite hangouts of the homeless) and
knocked on the door. The owner told her she would rent her the
house for $440 a month. At the time Dr. Maz had $1, but she raised
the $440 from individuals in less than two weeks. She moved in with
12 women who had been living in a nearby park - and had to find
food for the next meal. And they did, by going to individuals,
Catholic nuns who had some leftovers, and a Safeway manager with
food that would have been thrown away.
GLEANING FOR SURVIVAL
The former tourist home became the House of Ruth and remains its
head-quarters as well as a shelter. Its name is derived from the
Biblical story of Ruth, a young widow who supported herself and her
widowed mother-in-law by gathering the grain missed by harvesters.
Dr. Maz is a gleaner par excellence, it is part of her philosophy
and her mode of operation, and she believes that others can start
shelters by adapting her techniques.
One of her basic tenets is: "You always deal with individuals, not
with groups. You can deal with a group after you are organized and
established. Groups deal with groups." Another is: "Start with what
you have. You don't need enough money for a year to open a shelter.
After all, you don't wait until you've saved a year's rent to lease
an apartment." Still another: "You start in their community. The
ghetto has its own communication system. People tell people. If we
started giving sandwiches out - which we wouldn't do - at 10:15, by
noon we would have 200 people in line."
Giving things away is not part of the House of Ruth philosophy.
Those who come to it share the responsibility for the shelter -
cooking cleaning, maintenance - and must take action, in so far as
they are capable, to find a home, a job, a training program, or
whatever assistance they need. Those who do nothing because they
are unwilling to exert any effort find themselves back in the park.
Those who do nothing because they are unable to function are
referred to the proper agency and receive assistance in getting
that agency to take action. Everyone must obey certain basic rules,
such as no drinking or drugs, no coming in after 11 p.m. curfew,
and no violence. The police not only bring women to the House of
Ruth but also take them away.
Before the House of Ruth accepts a woman, a screener determines
that she has no other alternatives - family or friends or public
assistance. At head-quarters and Madison Center, the women have
three days to work out a plan of action with the social workers and
counselors. This may mean applying for a training program, public
assistance, or a job; contacting relatives or friends who could
provide cash or a place to live; entering a drug abuse program; or
anything else that may lead to self-sufficiency. While waiting for
responses (which may require weeks rather than days) the women help
operate the shelter and participate in its numerous activities -
workshops, physical examinations, counseling.
Improving personal hygiene and appearance frequently are the first
priorities for the homeless. Hot showers, delousing, and clean
clothes - donated by the community or made to order by residents or
volunteers - improve both the self-image and the reception given
the women by social service agencies or potential employers.
The battered women with children have different priorities and
problems. They face possible bodily harm and may be taking criminal
or civil action against husbands. They also must support -
emotionally and financially - others as well as themselves.
Currently, the shelter for these women permits them to stay up to
a month, though the social worker in charge, Cookie Wheeler, hopes
to extend the residential period to six weeks. She also attaches
great importance to continuing assistance after they leave and
advocates establishing second-stage housing for small groups of
former shelter residents so that they may be mutually supportive.
All the shelters continue to be a resource for those who have come
and gone, and the Madison Center is striving to become a genuine
multiservice center for the women of the surrounding low-income
community.
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE
The aim of all the assistance given - by staff composed mostly of
social workers and former destitute women, by student and community
volunteers, by the residents - is to enable the individual to meet
her needs. Dr. Maz says, "Homeless and destitute women are people
no one wants. They are lonely, so you have to deal with loneliness.
If you don't deal with this, you cannot do anything. Having dealt
with the loneliness, our goal is to help her find some sort of
economic security and comfortable housing."
Wheeler makes a similar statement about the battered woman with
children. "She needs someone to get irate with her, to be on her
side, to unload to, to teach her to trust again, to go out to lunch
with away from the kids, just to be there."
Because of the necessity of one-to-one attention to emotional needs
and only slightly less intensive attention to economic security,
student and community volunteers' involvement is essential. The
volunteers function as part of the House, not as aloof angels of
mercy or as detached observers.
In discussing two Georgetown University students who were spending
the summer gathering statistics on the homeless and abused, Dr. Maz
commented, "If they are going to do research, they have to be part
of the woodwork. They do everything, such as going to the hospital
with a woman on a bus. You talk to people as you do things with
them. Immediately you get involved in service here because it's all
we are. It is our philosophy that it is a work-oriented program,
people helping people. We need friends, not psychiatrists."
Services are personal, not institutional. One graduate student
began her service-learning experience by managing the laundry room
and talking informally (mostly listening) to the women who came
there. With this experience to lean on and to break down her own
shyness, she became an official counselor to whom the women would
be directed. And they still came to her informally.
The residents receive support from others in everything they do to
put their lives in order. This ranges from having a high school
student's hand to hold at free dental clinic to having a law
student whisper encouragement at a hearing charging a husband with
assault and battery.
Dr. Maz is enthusiastic about all students' participation, but she
feels children have something special to offer - an unbiased view
of the residents. When she first moved into the former tourist
home, her gleanings included a class of seventh graders ready and
willing to help with the clean-up and modest decorating. They
worked alongside the residents, relating to them easily. "They
dealt more with the women than the college students do because they
are not afraid of them. The college students see themselves apart
from the homeless and destitute. Because they are educated, they
think it could not happen to them, but the younger ones see the
person as a totality."
Generally students rather than teachers initiate the involvement.
The former sociology professor says, "Professors still teach in a
vacuum. The problem is that most professors don't have any
experience in this area at all, and few understand that students
need a formalized structure for their learning experience."
The House of Ruth provides some of this structure - a training and
orientation program, supervision, introduction to all facets of the
operation. For students and professors who request it, staff
members also prepare evaluations, advise on and provide material
for papers, give conference time and counseling.
The director of the shelter for battered women with children
remembers the importance to her of her service-learning experience.
"I was panting to get out of the classroom. What made it exciting
for me was not the teacher, although she was encouraging and
accommodating, but the social worker and the freedom she allowed
me."
Most of Wheeler's supervisory experiences are positive, though
students receive higher marks than the professors. Examples of
student contributions to the shelter for battered women include:
- Students from Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland,
surveying rental agencies to determine who would accept women with
children and women on public assistance;
- A Senior majoring in government at Mt. Vernon College acting as
advocate for women seeking Medicaid, trying to get their children
into day care centers, applying for public assistance (Wheeler
says, "She was aghast at seeing how the government operates. As the
result of having been here she knows much more about what she wants
to do in government.");
- A (Capuchin) seminarian from Washington Theological Union
counseling children he termed "blatantly violent" and battered
mothers who tended to be in turn seductive, motherly, and finally
friendly;
- Antioch Law School second- and third-year students acting as
victim advocates (Wheeler points out, "When the case goes to the
grand jury, he comes in with an entourage, but she has not told a
soul. She has not told her brothers because she is afraid they
would kill him. She has not told her friends because she could not
face them. Without an advocate from here, she goes alone.");
- Students in the Social Action Program of the Stone Ridge Country
Day School of the Sacred Heart, Rockville, Maryland, caring for the
children.
Wheeler would like to have students to assist in a multitude of
other ways, including planning menus and buying or obtaining food,
picking out the better dresses from those contributed for the
thrift shop and setting up a designer thrift shop; advising on
starting small business or cottage industry; setting up
second-stage housing for residents who have left the shelter;
repairing and maintaining the house; writing and designing
publications explaining the program; fund raising or soliciting
contributions of goods from businesses.
STUDENT REACTIONS
At any one time more than a dozen students from almost that many
schools and colleges are likely to be working four to twenty hours
a week for academic credit at the House of Ruth. Most seem to be
attracted by the prospect of helping battered women rather than the
homeless and destitute - the invisible (and less glamorous) people.
Awareness changes attitudes, however, and few express regret that
their experience is with a group for which, initially, they have
little empathy. Even graduate students with some life experience to
draw upon often express wonder at their own naivete in dealing with
the women and the social service agencies ostensibly serving them.
Students go through a form of culture shock, and many survive it
determined to come back as seasoned volunteers when their formal
obligation ends. Many speak with sadness of women who have lied to
them, manipulated them, become their friends, and then disappeared.
Happy endings cannot be taken for granted.
The experiences of two students illustrate the diversity of
backgrounds of students who have served successfully at the House
of Ruth and the depth of the learning experience both had.
Last spring Julia Pistor, a senior at the exclusive Georgetown Day
High School, had to choose a project to which she would devote full
time for six weeks. She considered using the time to write poetry,
but she felt she needed to become acquainted with people she had
not encountered in her sheltered life in the white, affluent part
of the capital. She went to work at the Madison Center as a staff
assistant.
A poised, quietly self-confident young woman, she recalls, "I found
it very frightening that first day. I left wishing I wasn't there
because I felt I was inept, that the women really resented me, did
not like me. Now I realize they were just looking at me to see who
I was. I went back because I wanted to do it, and I knew first days
are often horrible. After my third day I really enjoyed it."
Among the women she remembers most clearly: a vendor who could not
understand how it could happen that she would not have a place to
stay; a woman who accused Dr. Maz of trying to murder her,
threatened violence, and had to be sent to the public mental
hospital; a woman who claimed (falsely) to have lost her Dutch
passport and would speak to no one except Julia but left suddenly
without saying goodby; a woman who found both an apartment and a
job so she could have her son with her; a 17-year-old girl who had
nowhere to go.
Julia answered phones and the door (both screening processes), did
intakes (filling out forms, calming the women down, orienting
them), gave workshops on creative writing and hygiene, escorted
women to social service agencies, offered ideas for job hunting,
and listened. She says, "The House tries to let me do everything.
I became part of the staff."
To her surprise and delight, she formed some strong friendships.
She ended on a note of optimism: "I used to be cynical about being
upper middle class. These women are not cynical or bitter, and I am
less so."
A part-time graduate student in criminology at the University of
Maryland, College Park, and a full-time credit counselor, Teresa
Gilchrist grew up in the ghetto neighborhood where one of the three
House of Ruth shelters now is located. She wanted to contribute to
her old neighborhood and found the chance through a women's studies
course with a service-learning component. She thought nothing could
surprise her.
The first day there she saw a lot of familiar faces, women that she
had gone to school with as a child. It brought tears to her eyes to
see what had happened in their lives, to see the "thin line between
volunteers and residents."
Working as a counselor, she has found herself listening to women
from all walks of life, from the very educated to those who never
got out of elementary school. Many are simply "down on their luck."
She found that each one had to be dealt with in a different way. A
registered nurse whose mother was dying of cancer "needed a place
to stay rather than counseling." She left when she received word of
her mother's death. A 17-year-old woman who was five months
pregnant rejected advice to go to a home for unwed mothers because
she feared it would take her baby from her.
Counseling sometimes required her to expand her knowledge, as when
a young mother just released from the public mental hospital asked
her help in finding out how to get custody of her infant son again.
Gilchrist gives the House of Ruth high marks as both a service and
learning experience, though she thinks that some of the volunteers
get more from the homeless than they are able to give.
STARTING SIMILAR SHELTERS
The staff members of the House of Ruth are quick to point out that
the nation's capital is not the only place where shelters are
needed. The problem affects urban and rural areas, prosperous and
impoverished communities. Often government funds are not
forthcoming, at least in the beginning. The House of Ruth has
established sufficient community support that it now receives
limited funding from the District's Department of Human Resources
and rents the Madison Center, once an elementary school, from the
city for $1 a year.
Dr. Maz believes her tactics can be successful in many other
places. She is working with groups in several cities and welcomes
students (and others) who wish to come work with the House of Ruth
- no one simply observes - to learn how it operates. As she says in
describing how she learned to start a shelter for the homeless and
destitute, "I had been a student and I had been a professor. I
started applying all those things I had learned about basic
psychology and sociology."
NOTE
Address inquiries to House of Ruth, 459 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D. C. 20001.
II. RAISES NOT ROSES
Ellen Cassedy
A group of employees from a small Boston publishing company called
the 9 to 5 Organization for Women Office Workers' complaining that
the women were earning salaries well below the posted minimum of
their salary range and that men received longer vacations and
better pensions. A Hampshire College sociology major interning at
9 to 5 helped them meet off company premises for a brainstorming
session, researched laws on discrimination and overtime, prepared
a written summary of their grievances and recommendations for
change, and rehearsed them for a meeting with management in which
they eloquently presented their case.
They won higher salaries, better benefits, an end to sex
discrimination in policies, and the right to meet regularly with
management to discuss future problems.
This is just one example of how students who will soon be joining
the work force and women workers with job problems are teaming up
through the Working Women Organizing Project in cities across the
country. As they attack widespread issues of unequal pay, lack of
fair promotional opportunity for women, and disrespect for working
women, student and employee learn a great deal from one another.
Organizing among office workers--who make up fully one third of the
female work force nation wide--began in Boston and Chicago in 1973,
spread to Cleveland, San Francisco, New York, and Dayton two years
later, and now involves Hartford, Washington, Philadelphia,
Cincinnati, and many other cities. Such organizations as 9 to 5
(Boston), Cleveland Women Working, and Women Organized for
Employment (San Francisco) quickly find an eager constituency which
has never before had a vehicle for its concerns. Neither trade
unions, government anti-discrimination agencies, nor management
policies have ever protected the rapidly growing clerical work
force from low pay and other discriminatory practices.
Through organizing, working women are learning to build support
systems within their companies, mounting public pressure against
discriminatory employers and improving the responsiveness of
government anti-discrimination agencies.
The working women's organizations represent the beginning of what
seems likely to be a massive organizing effort within the next
decade. The white collar industries are an unorganized enclave that
is unlikely to remain unorganized for long. But because the effort
is only beginning, and because serious issues of livelihood are
involved, the organizing is slow and cautious. Tactics which are
second nature in community action organizations are out of the
question when the target is not just a government official--he's
the man who could fire you from your job.
Students have carried out projects essential to the work of these
organizations both in the initial stages and after the organization
has established itself. In the Boston area, for example, 9 to 5 has
worked with students from Boston University, Simmons College, the
University of Massachusetts, Harvard Divinity School, Hampshire
College, Yale University, Suffolk Law School, and Antioch College.
All of the students received course credit for their work.
Supervision was handled jointly by 9 to 5's staff director and
university instructors.
High school students also have volunteered, usually after school or
during the summer, and have contributed substantially.
Several aspects of the organizing make student participation
particularly useful. One of these is the need for flexible
schedules. Unlike members of some women's advocacy organizations or
community action groups, office workers are not at all flexible
about their time. They are trapped at their desks from 9 until 5
and often have family responsibilities after work.
While the organizations must have spokeswomen who are of the
constituency, they also need an auxiliary staff which is available
during the day to do a large variety of organizing and research
tasks.
Because it is a new movement, the concepts are clear and simple
enough for newcomers to understand--and must be kept so. The focus
is on practical action and results, on reaching a very broad range
of people, on constant outreach, on stirring things up and starting
office grapevines one by one by one. It's an endless amount of
work, and it is simple to orient people to it.
Because of the great fear of firing--a justified fear--and women's
traditional fear of speaking up, working women do not tend to act
militantly unless they are very sure they are right. Their
employers tell them not to discuss their salaries with their
co-workers. Affirmative action plans are kept locked in the personnel office.
It's a rare worker who understands the Civil Rights Act or the
National Labor Relations Act. Can your employer pay you one salary
and the woman right next to you another? Can you be fired for
refusing to make coffee for your boss? Is your salary fair?
A great need exists for facts, statistical research, and legal
information. As future employees, students have this need as much
as current employees, and it is an excellent legal education for
them to compile this information for working women.
A note on attitude: Community organizing history is littered with
stories of the bright college student who walked into the ghetto,
or the rural town, or the factory, and tried to tell the people
what to do to improve their lives.
We tell students who work with us not to let their own
preconceptions color their interactions with working women. Their
own view of what people should be able to do about their job
problems is probably unrealistic. Their own view about what is
bothersome about a clerical job may well be off the mark for most
office workers. Don't assume that the woman you are interviewing
finds typing boring just because you do. Don't expect to be the
spokeswoman for working women--instead, give them the support they
need to speak for themselves.
We also give students a great deal of supervision in their first
contact with working women to make sure they absorb these points.
We see our students go through a rapid education process which
involves a growing respect for working women and their concerns.
The benefits to the student are many. Even minimal contact with the
exigencies of a campaign gives them a taste of advocacy organizing.
They learn to work with a great variety of people and to assess
their needs and interests quickly and objectively. They learn to
analyze a social problem, such as unequal pay scales, and think
about who can solve that problem, who will ally to press for the
solution, who will resist the solution. They learn what goes into
deciding upon a level of militancy and how to pace a campaign so
that its beneficiaries don't drop out. They learn how important it
is to pay attention to detail in organizing and advocacy work. One
lost membership card, one misplaced word, will have repercussions.
Quick, thorough follow-up with people who may have attended the
first meeting of their lives can be invaluable.
Students also gain a thorough knowledge of the job market and job
rights. This makes up for a very unfortunate gap in secondary and
post-secondary education. Women entering the work force rarely
understand the structure of the industries they select
from--insurance, banking, publishing.etc. They don't know how to go
about setting good career goals, or what kind of company will
support them in this.
Students who work with working women's organizations become some of
the best educated new employees ever to hit the job market.
In setting up a working women's organization, the first job--one
student volunteers can do admirably--is to get the facts about the
"problem." Are working women in your city discriminated against?
It's easy to find out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Several students spend a week in the library comparing men's to
women's pay, finding out how many women are the sole support of
their household, seeing what the differences (if any) are in the
educational background of women and men.
Other students pound the sidewalks looking for the largest
employers, the common gathering points for working women, the most
busy transit exits. They visit the Chamber of Commerce and compile
a comprehensive picture of the economy of their town. They visit
the Women's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor, or write away
for publications on women workers. They compile a fact sheet on
working women in their city. At this point, they know more than the
average citizen about how their town works.
High school students are capable of doing much of this work,
preferably as a class project with close cooperation between the
teacher and the organization's staff. The organization could
outline the project and direct students to sources while the
teacher does most of the day-to-day supervision.
The next step is to contact the constituency. How do working women
feel about their work? It's not easy to reach working people on job
issues. Stand on a busy street corner some morning at 8:55 and try
to imagine how you would go about getting to talk to these
preoccupied, hurrying people.
That's exactly what students from Harvard Divinity School did as
part of a credited field education project. Working with 9 to 5 eight
hours a week, they were soon leafletting before and after work
with issues questionnaires to be mailed to the organization.
(Statistically, a return of as low as one percent is good.) At
lunch they walked through the city doing street surveys. They
visited high school business courses to inform women who were about
to enter the work force.
High school volunteers could do most of these tasks--if allowed out
at lunch and during the day.
All this street work would be unnecessary if women were able to
walk into offices or company cafeterias and organize openly. Those
days are yet to come.
High school or college volunteers can compile the results of the
questionnaire. Then the organization has some information to convey
to those respondents who signed their questionnaires. In doing this
college students or the organization's staff can begin one-on-one
lunch time interviews--the heart of the organizing in the early
stages.
Even college students need a good deal of supervision in this
phase, and I do not recommend that high school volunteers attempt
this. We counsel students to be personable, supportive, and to
listen carefully to what the women are telling them rather than
trying to instruct the workers or tell them what to do. That part
comes later.
After students discuss their interviews with each other and with
experienced staff and decide on a course of action, they can be
more directive in their interviews.
From the interviews come some women who are interested in sharing
the work of building the organization. The next step may be a
public meeting to bring the issue out into the open, provide a
place to bring recruits, legitimize the cause, and teach some
lessons about legal rights.
It is vital for working women to understand their legal rights
before taking action against an employer. College volunteers can
play a major role in educating them. For example, under independent
study, two University of Massachusetts women's studies students
planned a legal rights workshop for women working in universities.
The students visited government agencies for handouts on the laws
prohibiting sex discrimination, governing overtime, and covering
the right to organize. They called the American Bar Association for
specialists in sex discrimination cases and labor law and found two
lawyers to make short presentations.
They then set to work translating the government publications into
simpler language, and illustrated their legal fact sheet with
examples culled from the questionnaires that had come in.
They involved the interested women they had met at lunch in
planning questions to ask the lawyers, drawing up a sex
discrimination quiz, baking refreshments, and recruiting friends
and co-workers by word of mouth.
A staff supervisor showed the students how to lay out a leaflet to
be posted on campus bulletin boards, and they mapped out a plan for
covering the several colleges in the area. They knew some
secretaries from their own campus and also knew which offices it
was easy to walk into and which were off limits to passers-by.
The result was an excellent workshop. It helped to launch several
on-campus groups of office workers who went on to win improved
policies. For the students, the result was a first-rate knowledge
of organizing techniques that can be applied to any advocacy group,
political campaign, or service organization; a thorough knowledge
of employment rights; and insight into the situation of working
women.
This legal rights workshop, and others like it in other industries,
set the stage for visits to government agencies to learn their
functions (and eventually file charges against discriminatory
companies), sessions on how to build support among co-workers,
assertiveness training workshops, and a one-page newsletter
highlighting job problems that had surfaced in the legal rights
workshop. This was distributed monthly as an ongoing outreach tool,
recruiting additional members and prompting policy reforms at the
companies targeted. Students were involved in every stage.
These early stages are duplicated in the formation of every working
women's organization. As the organization becomes more established,
other creative uses of students' talents become possible. Below are
some examples.
Harvard Divinity School students prepared a travelling show on
working women's concerns and presented it to church groups after
Sunday services throughout one semester. The working women among
the parishioners they reached not only became members of 9 to 5 but
also set up an ongoing support network for themselves through their
church.
During National Secretaries Week (the last week in April)
kindhearted boses reward their secretaries with a bouquet of roses
in return for a year's worth of uncompensated overtime, substandard
salary, and lack of recognition. Since the rise of the working
women's movement, women have sounded the slogan "Raises, Not
Roses," held public hearings on the rights of working women, won
the endorsement of mayors and city councils, and turned the tables
on employers by rewarding them for their job performance.
A Boston University communications major did a two-month project on
the theme of National Secretaries Week. She prepared a fact sheet
on the pay and status of working women in Boston offices, added
spirited quotations from 9 to 5's officers, and sent the packet to
every news source in the Boston area.
She followed up with phone calls and succeeded in scheduling radio,
newspaper, and TV interviews featuring secretaries eager to talk
about the rights they felt they deserved along with their bouquets.
The student also prepared a flyer on speaking to the press for use
by the women recruited to be interviewed.
Meanwhile, other students distributed rose buttons and job issues
questionnaires asking office workers to evaluate their companies
according to a Bill of Rights (see page 11) drawn up by 9 to 5. With
the results of this street survey, the organization targeted
particular job problems, prepared an assertiveness training
workshop for working women, and identified particular companies and
groups of working women who were interested in pressing for
improvements.
By writing to the Department of Labor, 9 to 5 learned that a major
bank's equal employment policies were about to be reviewed by
federal investigators in connection with the bank's federal
contracts. A team of student volunteers set out to maximize
employee participation in the review, to guarantee its accuracy,
and thereby to prompt improvements.
For one week the students surveyed employees as they came to work.
The results showed that the bank was falling down on job posting,
job training, and accurate job descriptions for equal employment
issues relevant to the up-coming government review.
The students followed up with in-depth one-on-one lunch time
interviews with survey respondents. Students and employees prepared
a report and met with the government investigators to present an
invaluable picture of how women and minorities really fared at the
bank.
Improvements in job training and benefits for clerical workers
resulted. In addition, employees and students received quite an
education in their legal rights and in employer policies that work
for and against these rights.
For a senior honors project, students from Simmons College did the
design work on a 9 to 5 publication called "Working Women's Buying
Guide."
Five sociology majors launched a career counseling and job bank
service. They read materials on job interviews, including
information on what questions a prospective employer may not
legally ask a job applicant. They made charts of career ladders in
several industries, researching the subject by interviewing 9 to 5
members and by making appointments with personnel officers at major
companies. They made arrangements to receive job opening bulletins
from large employers and to call others weekly for this
information.
Then they submitted articles to community newspapers announcing the
new service. They soon began receiving both applications and
requests from employers. The women using the service got a far more
accurate picture of the job market than they would have at the
average employment agency because of the educational materials on
hand. Needless to say, the students themselves had become expert
job-finders as well.
High School students could maintain a job bank for high school
seniors. They would go through many of the same procedures the
college volunteers did, possibly in cooperation with the school's
guidance department.
For the most part, secretaries and file clerks did not participate
in the women's liberation marches of the 1960's. They did not learn
karate or enroll in women's studies courses, by and large. Yet the
ideas of women's equality, equal pay for equal work, and fair
treatment for working women have had a profound impact throughout
American society. With economic pressures propelling more and more
women into the work force and the inflation making their meager
salaries worth less every year, an urgent need for change has hit
the female job ghetto.
Students can contribute greatly to making that change, and in doing
so serve their own interests.
NOTE
The Working Women Organizing Project coordinates joint campaigns
among the working women's organizations and helps spread the model
of the established groups to any new city where there is a show of
interest and sufficient resources to launch such a project. High
school or college students who want to learn about the
possibilities of establishing an organization in their area may
request information and advice from the Working Women Organizing
Project at either: 1258 Euclid Avenue, Room 206, Cleveland, Ohio
44115, (216) 566-8511 or 140 Clarendon Street, Boston,
Massachusetts 02116, (617) 536-6003.
A STUDENT GUIDE TO FIELD LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Lizette Bartholdi, Laurie Bushbaum, Debra Horn, Denise
Johnson, Kimberly M. Reynolds-Heiam, Karen Theiler, Robin
Williams-Johnson
This paper was composed by the students in the first field learning
seminar offered by the Women's Studies Program at the University of
Minnesota, under the direction of Cheri Register. Each of the
students earned four credits for one quarter of work on an
internship.
Laurie worked at an organization that was set up to record the
history of and promote traditional women's work. She transcribed
taped oral histories and prepared for the grand opening of an
office, exhibition area and consignment shop.
Debbie worked as an administrative intern in the Minnesota Women's
Center organizing the center's resource files for eventual
computerization.
Kimberly worked with Twin Cities NOW drawing up information on
women's suffrage and the ERA for presentation to high school
classes and for a radio program.
Lizette worked at a shelter for battered women doing phone
counseling and referral.
Robin started a consciousness-raising group in her neighborhood.
She and seven other women explored women's issues in our society
for an eight week session.
Denise worked with a senior social worker in child protection,
exploring aspects of the social services through field work,
seminars and interviews with professionals in various areas of
social services.
Karen worked with WAVAW (Women Against Violence Against Women) on
an educational project on violence, pornography and rape
prevention.
How and Why Did We Make the Decision to Do an Internship?
For all of us, the desire for an educational experience outside of
the classroom and/or university was a major determining factor in
deciding to do an internship. Women's studies, by nature, affects
all aspects of our lives, and by doing an internship we hoped to
focus on our particular interests in a non-academic setting. The
other major reason that we chose to participate in an internship
was to explore how feminism and women's issues coincide with the
"working world." Some of us are graduating this year and used our
internship to test out job possibilities for the future. As
Kimberly said, "An internship provides a vehicle to combine
academics and `real world' experience. It is an excellent way to
test one's interests." For Robin, an internship was an opportunity
to "cast about for things you've always wanted to try."
What is Involved in Preparing for an Internship
and Choosing an Agency?
Many of us entered our internships without first critically
evaluating our own expectations and needs as interns. An internship
is more time consuming and demanding than we first realized; our
level of commitment was crucial to our overall experience. A lot of
our expectations were too high and had to be revised. Even though
we were committed to our internships, they were substituted for
only one class and we began to realize the time limitations of a
short-term internship.
One mistake that some of us made was to over-emphasize our
responsibilities to our agency. It is important to remember that an
internship is to benefit both the intern and the agency. We would
have had more "successful" internships had we clarified, before we
started, our attitudes and needs about work. Laurie voiced her
experience with her internship by saying, "One of the most
important lessons I learned in my internship is that the structure
of an organization, such as its work environment and work patterns,
is equally as important to me as the purpose of the organization.
I realized that I work best in an open, communicative environment
but also one that is very organized and task-oriented, that works
at a fast, but efficient pace. I assumed that because I would be
working in a feminist organization, everyone would work together
well and I would fit right in. But, just because an organization is
feminist doesn't mean that everyone involved will have the same
ideas about the work environment."
How Do You Write a Contract and What
Do You Take into Consideration?
In some instances, contracts are not necessary. Robin, for example,
worked alone; she was her own supervisor and evaluator. She was
pleased with this arrangement. Some of us who did have contracts
with our agencies experienced problems. We included in our
contracts information about work schedules, general duties,
responsibilities, and interests, but in some areas lacked
specificity. We often ran into unforeseen problems such as being
assigned tasks that we really did not want to do. To overcome this
problem, Denise suggested that the contract not be written until
the second or third week of the internship. We think this would
have prevented us from blindly committing ourselves before we had
a realistic direction within our agencies.
The biggest mistake Lizette and Laurie made in their contracts was
not providing for adequate supervision and evaluation. We found it
to be terribly frustrating not to have one specific person as a
supervisor or a specific time to meet with her. Lizette expressed
this frustration about supervision at her agency by saying, "If I
had worked with one other staff member closely I know I would have
learned more of what goes on at the shelter and I would have had
more of a place there. My problem was I didn't know whom to ask
questions of. I never saw the same people twice. I now feel that
this should have told me something. No one knew what my work was
there, so it was all up to me. I strongly feel now I should have
asked a staff person to schedule time to work with me so I would
have had a sense of continuity and someone I felt at ease with
asking questions."
Laurie found problems of evaluation at her internship. She
commented:
The one thing I wish I would have paid more attention to in my
contract is the process of evaluation. I allowed for my
supervisor and the other staff members to evaluate me at the
end of the internship, but I did not foresee the need for me
to evaluate in return. I think it would be a good idea to
write into contracts a brief weekly mutual evaluation. That
way, problems or questions can be taken care of before they
get too big. It could have made it easier for me to make my
feelings known. I would have had a set time to do that rather
than having to initiate a confrontation.
That was not experienced by everyone, though. Denise had a very
positive system of evaluation. She added, "Meeting with my
supervisor was the most helpful tool in meeting my goals. I would
make appointments with her, with her encouragement, for about an
hour a week in which we could discuss my internship from my point
of view. We would discuss what I wanted to be doing, and she would
show me her case load and possibilities of where I could
participate with her clients." By meeting periodically one had a
chance to re-evaluate the goals or change the scope of the
internship.
How Does One Sustain Interest,
Enthusiasm and Commitment?
Commitment came easy because we chose projects that we had been
meaning to work on before the internship opportunity, or ones which
would be testing grounds for jobs after college. Once the project
has been chosen, the problem of discipline arises. One suggestion
made by Denise was setting up a time schedule for working on a
week-to-week basis. A time schedule affords personal discretion in
a busy school week. She also suggested, "...talking about one's
internship may help the motivation to continue--that's where a
support group helps." We found that ta]king with others about
problems and successes in a seminar setting provides a means of
support and review of a project. A supervisor who can oversee and
answer questions or provide personal support also helps, since some
of us relate better in a one-to-one situation than in a group
setting.
Karen used her contract as a means of disciplining herself.
"Discipline was easy for me since I attended a weekly meeting with
WAVAW about community safety as well as a weekly seminar with other
interns. In this way I could set up specific weekly goals with my
supervisor and review what I had accomplished each week in the
seminar.
What Do You Do with Emotional Build-Up
or "Burn Out" on a Project?
Emotional build-up or "burn out" seemed to occur at different times
for reasons as unique as each intern. One of the more common
origins of "burn out" was a feeling of powerlessness while working
with people who lack the means or will to change their situations,
such as battered women and abused children. Others included
personality conflicts and incompatible goals in a group situation.
To avoid such problems or to cope with the emotional aspects of
each internship, we tried methods ranging from physical activity to
using one's right to say "no." Robin suggested handling the problem
of "burn out" by "spacing yourself so that you don't work too
steadily at the project but instead take little vacations from it.
Get away from it for a better perspective. Because I live very near
all the women in my Consciousness Raising group, I sometimes need
to leave responsibility for continuing CR sessions day and night.
I get away from it by working on projects for other classes, by
going to my job, and sometimes just saying I don't have time to
talk right now." Lizette related, "Weekly seminars helped to
relieve some anxious feelings in a supportive environment. For some
an ongoing journal would help, just somewhere to vent those burning
ideas and problems. Another thing that helped me was riding my
bike." We explored different alternatives for venting the emotional
build-up or even making positive use of it. Karen added, "Another
answer to emotional build-up is humor. I don't take myself so
seriously that problems get to me. `Burn out' is good sometimes
just to make you aware that your energy is limited and must be used
to its best advantage. One way to deal with this is allowing
distance from a project in order to redirect your time and energy."
What Techniques Do You Use to Analyze
and Abstract from the Internship Experience?
As a group there was a fairly consistent consensus that a
combination of reading and discussion with other people, whether in
a formal seminar setting or informally with friends, helped clarify
what we were doing and learning in the internships. Journals did
not prove to be helpful to everyone. We all agreed that some people
are journal writers and some are not. We felt that the option of a
journal should be left up to each individual. The reading proved to
be thought and emotion-provoking for several of us. Karen said,
"Reading accounts of rape and brutality were too much for me,
especially after hearing of experiences within our group. I found
that I could only read one article a week because I became too
furious." And Kimberly commented, "The reading material sustained
my interest and activated my motivation. I was dealing with the
long struggle of women in history. The history of discrimination
provided fuel for a fire that burns so naturally inside of me."
Thoughts and ideas from the internship, discussion and reading were
brought up at our weekly seminar. We felt that having a consistent
format for discussion helped us understand our purposes and
expectations better.
How Can You Use Your Internship as a Step
from Being a Student to Not Being a Student?
The transition from student to non-student was seen differently by
each of us. As Karen said, "I do not see myself as moving from one
point to the other. I consider myself a person working and learning
as best I can wherever I am." Most of us found that the internships
provided us with valuable real world experience that traditional
university classes lack. Internships allowed us to employ our
skills and, test our interest in areas of possible employment.
Denise pointed out that an internship could be very valuable on a
person's resume when one begins looking for a job. For all of us,
internships provided a look at our creativity, self-discipline and
personal interests. Kimberly said, "I would recommend choosing an
internship that requires you to be at a certain place at a specific
time, if you are unsure about your level of self-discipline. This
allows you to assess what your abilities are and allows time to
gradually improve them."
How Do You Carry Knowledge Back and Forth from Reading
and the Classroom to Your Internship?
Our experiences with women's studies courses involve a lot of
reflecting and processing of information. Women's studies courses
attempt to deal with real life situations, not just academic
questions. The internship was a good bridge for testing our
academic learning outside the institution. We felt that outside
reading and classroom discussions were interrelated with the
internships. Robin said, "Ideas I bring from my group tie into the
work I'm doing in the classroom and to my past women's studies
classes. There are issues common to all women such as how much do
biological differences have to do with sexism and what happened to
women's history?" The discussions in our weekly seminar were
helpful for Karen: "The classroom experience was great to question
some of the things I was doing. It forced me to define terms to
others and made the programs clearer in my mind. I also received
second opinions as to whether others thought the program was
effective or not, which was useful."
How Do You Remain True to Your Values? How Does
the Internship Test Your Definition of These?
We all chose internships we felt would broaden our feminist
ideologies. Denise stated, "The internship provides an opportunity
to test our feminist ideologies to see if they hold up outside the
classroom. It may change for one may discover the real world is
different than pictured from a distance. Lizette encountered an
ethical dilemma: "When there were staff problems at the shelter I
didn't know if I'd be betraying the staff or not if I spoke to
residents at the shelter about the conflicts." For Robin, "...the
only way my internship tested my definition of feminism was when I
had to be quiet and accept as reality women who said they were
happy with what I considered to be truly oppressive ways of living.
I had to decide that it was unfeminist of me to screech my beliefs
at other women."
How Do You Know When You're Done?
Most of us will continue our internship projects in some way. If
the internship part was to be over at the end of the quarter, this
condition was set up in the contract stating exactly how long we
would each spend with the people or agency involved. It was
important to us to wrap up the project and to get feedback from the
person or persons we were working with. Denise had a two hour
discussion with her supervisor about her experiences and what was
learned from them. A promise to continue with the relationship on
a non-professional basis was a nice end to the internship. Robin
and her CR group spent the last of eight sessions wrapping up ideas
discussed throughout the quarter with a pot luck lunch afterwards.
The internship may be finished for a number of reasons, the
termination of the quarter, the accomplishment of goals or the
expectations of the contract met. Kim felt that "I knew when I
finished because I had attained a satisfactory number of my
expectations that I had laid out at the beginning of the project."
How Do You Get Out or Continue On with the Internship
Once the Quarter is Over?
Debbie felt it is important to have in mind a vision of the end
when starting. She thinks of the internship as being on a
continuum: "Where I leave off someone else will be ready to take
over. From the beginning then, I think that it is important not to
be possessive about your project. When it is over you have to be
ready to evaluate and leave it or stay on in another capacity."
Continuing on when the internship is completed may be done by
changing the role from an intern to a volunteer. Debbie may
continue on as a volunteer worker at the Women's Center. Denise
will change her relationship with one of her clients from that of
social worker to that of a volunteer big sister. Robin hopes to
continue on with the CR group but without taking total
responsibility for the running of the group. She also hopes to use
her communication skills developed in her internship in some area
of counseling women, possibly in a feminist organization.
How Do You Decide What You Have Learned
and What is Most Important?
Self-measurement is a primary tool used by all of us in evaluating
our internships. Kim thought "if one learns something that will
enhance further and future learning, it is important," whereas
Debbie felt "it was asking myself if I had learned something that
I could put into use in other situations. It is important to me to
be able to apply what I learned to new experiences and situations."
Comparing the goals we set for ourselves at the onset of our
respective internships with what we felt we had accomplished was a
concrete way of assessing our internships. Input from supervisors
and advisors along with sharing experiences within our group aided
in evaluating our learning experiences. In place of a final paper,
in which we had intended to pull together our experiences with
research and present it to the group, we decided to write this
article. Preparation for writing this proved to be beneficial to us
for we each answered the questions as they related to ourselves. We
chose to share them in this article in hopes of aiding future
interns.
How Do You Define Success and Failure in an Internship?
Defining success and failure in an internship is difficult. There
is always something more that could have been done, especially when
you are setting your own goals and disciplining yourself. There is
no absolute measure of success or failure in doing an internship.
Karen said, "Success and failure in an internship come from
analyzing each experience. If goals are not met one has to decide
if it is because of personal failure, simply bureaucratic problems
or even luck." Kim felt, "Success is coming away with a feeling
that both the individual and the organization benefitted in some
way. Failure doesn't equal an internship that didn't go as planned.
An internship can go through major reconstruction and still be a
very successful project. This is especially true when one's goals
are primarily under the heading of `learning.' There is also a lot
to be learned from an internship that flipflops in mainstream."
How Do You Know When You've Succeeded?
"I knew when I'd succeeded when I felt that I had learned a lot
from the process, that it had changed me, made an influence on my
life somehow, whether or not the project itself was a success or a
failure," said Robin. The criteria for success as Denise saw them
were "...when we felt good about the internship, when we were glad
we participated in the internships, and when we felt we had
accomplished at least some of the goals that we had set up for
ourselves in the beginning."
COPING WITH DIFFICULT PLACEMENTS: TWO CASE STUDIES
I. FRUSTRATION, ANGER AND LEARNING
AT A RAPE CRISIS CENTER
Stacey Zlotnick
From January to May 1980, in the last semester of my senior year,
I took part in a service learning internship sponsored by the
University of Maryland Women's Studies Program. I spent between ten
and twelve hours a week at one of the most comprehensive rape
crisis facilities in the country, recognized as a national model
for the cooperative network it had coordinated between the police,
social service agencies, and hospital personnel. Besides
twenty-four hour emergency gynecological treatment and laboratory
analysis, the center provided ongoing group counseling for adult,
adolescent, and child victims, as well as individual counseling,
couples and family counseling, and around the clock hotline
service.
As an intern at the sexual assault center, one of my primary
responsibilities was to conduct a telephone follow-up service for
rape victims who had discontinued contact with the center. Often,
these women would come to the center for gynecological treatment
and the lab tests necessary for legal prosecution, schedule an
appointment for individual counseling, and then fail to return.
Some women had difficulty coming to the center because they lived
far away, or lacked the money or means necessary to travel. Others
chose to dam up the memory of their rapes by becoming absorbed in
the daily routine of their previous lives, so that contact with the
center was clearly a threatening or disturbing experience. And then
there were the others, the shut-ins, who were simply too
fear-ridden or depressed to abandon even their doorsteps, much less
travel to the center.
I was to telephone each woman, inquire as to how she was feeling
both emotionally and physically (could she sleep, eat, and return
to work?), obtain any information she had concerning the status of
her police report or criminal trial, remind her of the center's
counseling services, and offer her my moral support. For each
victim there was a case history, sometimes pages and pages in
length, focusing on the biographical sketch of the victim, the
detailed events of her rape, and the psychological distress she
suffered in the aftermath. And after reading their stories, after
knowing who they were, where it had happened, and when and how it
had occurred, I had to telephone these women--women whose bodies
had been raped and abused by their fathers, their brothers, their
ex-lovers, and strangers--and ask them how they felt? My God, what
a ridiculous, worthless, waste of breath. From the first to the
very last telephone call, I would dial, then hold my
breath--mentally rehearsing each line, pretending that mere
optimism was a painkiller.
Mostly, to my relief, no one answered. Or the operator would cut in
on the line to tell me that the number I was dialing had been
changed to an unlisted number. Relief again. When I did reach a
woman, my questions were often met with hurried replies, as she
nervously guarded each word, afraid that her husband or parents
would discover she had been raped.
But occasionally, someone would be grateful that I'd called, and
she'd tell me her story. She couldn't sleep at night, had lost her
appetite, and was afraid to go out alone. She was depressed, just
couldn't clean up the house, or concentrate on her schoolwork; she
just didn't know what had come over her. And I'd smile, slip some
painkiller into my voice, and tell her that it's a natural
reaction, it's to be expected--and all the while I knew that I
couldn't sleep, or eat, or go downstairs to the laundryroom alone.
But what else could I tell her? That just last night before
starting my car, I'd glanced in the rear view mirror four times,
checking for a head, a hand, a gun to emerge from the back seat?
At first, I thought that the frustration I was feeling was caused
by my struggle against the obvious limitations of telephone
counseling, for at best I could deliver only temporary comfort and
support to the victim. However, as a co-counselor in the weekly
group therapy sessions, I soon learned that my frustration was with
the scotch tape and paper clip method of psychotherapeutic
carpentry I was being trained to provide. When a woman said she
cried for no reason every night, she was told to pamper herself
with a bubble bath. If she complained that she was terrified to
leave her home alone, she was told that this was a normal reaction
that would dissipate with time. And yes, she was assured, in time
she would be able to have sex with her husband without feeling
frightened or paralyzed. Her anger, frustration, and tears were
labelled the normal symptoms of rape victimization, and then
brushed under the rug.
I never sincerely felt that I was helping anyone; tomorrow or the
day after, I knew that there would be another little girl, feet
stirruped, back flat on the examining table, whose well-trained
legs would flop apart impassively at the tap of the doctor's hand.
I was fighting a make-believe crusade against rape, and in fact, I
was helping to safeguard it: by training women to adjust to their
rapes, to cope with their anger, they never got the chance to ask
why in the hell it had happened to them in the first place?
In spite of my discontent, I never once dared to tell anyone how I
felt. Outside the group counseling sessions, I saw my supervisor so
minimally, that there was only time for her to ask me how
everything was going as she passed me in the corridor, and for me
to assure her with a nod and a smile, "I'm fine." Maybe it was the
way she'd tell me how everyone said I was doing such a good job, or
that thank God I wasn't like the other intern that had to be
supervised every minute, that made me realize that I was expected
to behave. To admit that I was upset or frustrated was to admit my
inability to work independently; and, if I couldn't work
independently, then I needed to be supervised. And it was very
clear, that my supervisor had neither the time, nor the desire, to
drop her important responsibilities to "babysit" me.
For the others, it seemed that the way to survive was to objectify,
to see each rape as each victim's horror--to bring it outside
yourself where it couldn't stab at your insides. They were
counselors and they saw clients--people who suffered emotional
distress to life's experiences. In this case, the experience just
happened to be rape.
Once, I did try talking to one of the other student interns. Except
to her, rape was something she could never quite imagine what it
would be like. But you see, I could. Maybe that was my problem, I
really could imagine it.
I had never before considered myself to be a political person. In
the past, I was a feminist because as a self-confident, ambitious
woman, I believed that I had the right to any opportunity that was
available to a man. And like most women, I glided through life
thinking that oppression was a radical fanatic's exaggerated idea
of day to day sexism. But now, oppression means thinking twice
before deciding to walk alone at night. It means to sham a strong
and fearless stride as your heart pounds, and your eyes glance
backwards, and your feet wish they were wearing sneakers instead of
sandals in case they had to run.
I never met most of the women--they were names on police reports,
voices on telephones--but I will always know the reality of their
fear. And because of our shared consciousness, I will never again
be able to sit sheltered in a sterile bubble with an anesthetic
smile, and tell some woman that she must learn to cope with her
anger, and incorporate the experience into herself. Women must be
taught to recognize their anger for what it is, a rebellion against
patriarchal oppression, and not an idiosyncratic rape symptom
devoid of rational/political meaning. I have realized the
inadequacy, the injustice, of traditional psychotherapy, and I
distrust any bit of research, regardless of how renowned the
author, that refuses to consider how politics affects the emotional
lives of women. That means a lot of my education and training has
been a lot of garbage.
Admittedly, no learning can occur in a vacuum. Without the ongoing
study of feminist literature, the concern of my co-seminar
classmates, and the tire-less support and encouragement of my
co-seminar teacher, I might have walked away from this experience
unchanged, blaming myself for my frustration.
To the next woman embarking on a similar journey, I wish her three
things: the perceptiveness to see, the strength to endure, and a
shoulder to cry on.
II. GROWTH THROUGH CONFLICT IN
A STUDENT-DIRECTED PROJECT
Toni Johnson
Last semester I interned on a student-originated project about the
career advancement of women. The placement was unique in that the
project was directed and maintained entirely by undergraduate
students, and although there was a faculty adviser, his role was to
give suggestions and lend support rather than actively supervise
the work. Because the funding agency believed that such autonomy
would promote a more intense learning experience for the students,
the student director was empowered to hire the project
participants, also students; apportion stipends; and generally see
that the program was carried out in accordance with the project
proposal.
The purpose of the project was to provide and analyze a structured
support system aimed at enhancing the academic and career
motivation in undergraduate women who had already displayed a
certain degree of ability but who may have been stifled by social
expectations and/or internalized psycho-social barriers. It was
originally designed for female students from the university's
incoming 1979 class with combined Scholastic Aptitude Test scores
of 1100 or above. A structured seminar format utilizing a "core
manual" was implemented, and the issues that were contained within
the seminar were selected in an effort to "promote active
strategizing of achievement behaviors."
I was pleased to be given the opportunity to work on the project,
to do something that I considered worthwhile and vital to improving
the status of women. I began the semester with high hopes and
optimism; however, by the end of the term, I was angry and
disillusioned. As a Black woman, I perceived my treatment during my
internship as racist and condescending. My feelings have not
absolutely changed, but now, almost a semester later, I recognize
how much I have learned from the experience--about myself and about
working with others. This essay is not about racism, nor is it
about the details of my placement, although some details have been
included for clarity. It is about disappointment, conflict, growth
and development. Hopefully my experience will help others to better
cope with their internships, whether the situation is conflictual,
like mine was, or not.
At the onset of my participation on the project, I was given a copy
of the project proposal which contained an abstract of the work to
be done and defined the roles of project staff. Although it was to
be a "team" effort, we each had certain aspects of the program for
which we were to be held responsible. My role within the project,
as was initially presented to me, was that of adapter. The
directors, aware that the core manual had been developed by an
upper-middle class White woman, appreciated the possibility that it
might not address the concerns of women from different ethnic
and/or socio-economic backgrounds. My task, which I shared with
Saundra, another Black woman, was to modify the existing manual,
making it sensitive to the special needs of Black women. In order
to earn six credits, I was also to co-lead an achievement
motivation seminar for Black female students and participate in a
weekly internship seminar required by the women's studies program.
When we began work early in the semester, three of the five-member
team had already been working on the project for some time. They
all knew exactly what had to be done to keep the project running
smoothly and reach the appointed goals within the deadlines
specified. Saundra and I, on the other hand, were not well versed
in the procedures, so we did mostly clerical chores, stuffing and
addressing envelopes, making telephone calls, typing and the like,
since these were the duties assigned to us. We did some library
research for our own edification and to make improvements in the
existing manual, but after a while we came to see that our
responsibilities, as explained to us by our supervisors, the
project's co-directors, were quite different from the actual duties
that we performed. For weeks our work suffered while we aided
others in their work. It became apparent to us that the adaptations
for Black women were indeed of lesser importance to the rest of the
team.
The adaptations steadily fell behind schedule, but Saundra and I
were consistently given other tasks which hampered our progress. In
a few short weeks, we had gone from adapters to office workers,
observers, group leaders and public relations persons--positions
made difficult by our ignorance of the administrative procedures
and research methodology and by the newness of our constantly
changing roles. Unconfident and discouraged, we began to ask
ourselves why we were hired, and if, in good conscience, we could
continue work on the program. We were uneasy not only about our
positions on the project, but also about the merit, or lack of it,
in what we had done for Black women. Whenever we voiced these
apprehensions, we felt that our feelings were glossed over.
Deadlines had to be met and work had to be done. By this time
Saundra and I had succeeded in substituting several articles within
the core manual for pieces we thought more relevant to Black women
and "adapting" only two out of eight sessions in the manual.
I began to feel like a "token" used to gain funds from a granting
agency which was interested in programs including and beneficial to
minorities. If I had not been hired, any Black female undergraduate
body would do. I did much of my work grudgingly and felt resentment
when criticized by the other members of the group. It was clear to
me that the project goals did not sincerely encompass the
enlightenment or motivation of Black women, but rather
unrealistically aimed at being an interracial miracle manual geared
to meet the needs of all women in one fell swoop.
Our dissatisfaction with the program led Saundra and me to search
for insights into the causes of our uneasiness. Our confusion and
feelings of isolation led us to begin to share with each other on
a more personal level. We began to seek out Black women on campus
and in the community. We began looking for literature by Black
women, and we discovered many new things about ourselves, as
individuals and as part of a larger minority group.
We decided that simply adapting the existing manual was not enough
to address the special needs of Black women. We realized that
instead of designing a support system for Black women, we had
simply modified one which was designed for White women, making it
non-alienating to Blacks. We did not feel that such a group was in
the best interest of Black women in a majority White institution;
we felt that major structural changes needed to be made to take
into account the fact that the position of Black women in America
is truly a unique one.
Black women are usually forced to address their needs as Black
people without regard to their sex or as women without regard to
their color. The special issues that one faces when one is both
Black and female are seldom considered. The project had dealt with
race as a peripheral issue, and although in retrospect, I do not
believe the project was racist in intent, it is ludicrous to expect
that Black women can focus entirely on sexism while ignoring their
race, especially where race is an isolating factor as it is on a
majority White campus.
Reluctantly, a compromise was agreed upon. Saundra and I were to
develop appendices especially for Black women to accompany what the
co-directors now considered an interracial manual. This arrangement
was dysfunctional to such an extent that a "team" effort was no
longer possible. Finally, Saundra and I broke off from the group to
continue working on developing our own manual for Black women.
Presently we are investigating funding sources and sharing our
ideas with others in the field.
This internship was the second of two in which I participated as an
undergraduate student. The first was a positive and encouraging
experience. I worked in a supportive environment and learned much
about the agency and its functions. I left the placement feeling
good about myself and wanting to continue in another internship
program. When I began to work on this project last semester, I was
unprepared for its frustrations and anxieties. I ended the term
angry and disillusioned.
Now, as I look back over last semester, the anger has subsided, and
I am thinking more clearly about what I have gained from the
conflict. I think I am more realistic about working and better
prepared to work with others. I know to take initiative without
overextending myself, and I'll think twice before aiding others in
their work, especially when the increased responsibility may mean
taking needed time away from my own commitments. I can now better
appreciate the seminar discussion group and the readings which
accompanied the internship; I realize how much they inspired me to
take steps to relieve what I considered an oppressive situation.
Talking with other women in the class, sharing our experiences,
gave me the support that my work site lacked.
I've learned a lot through turmoil--about power and politics,
role-playing and game-playing, racism and sexism, and Black and
White women, but most importantly, I've learned a lesson about the
"real world." I was very idealistic when I started the term. I
thought that others wanted change as much as I and for the same
basic reasons. I trusted blindly, forgetting that most people are
motivated by personal gain. Now I see that interns are much like
"babes-in-the-woods," easily preyed upon and taken advantage of, as
is any individual new to the labor force if she or he is unprepared
for it. It is important to learn from others and to do your job
according to the mandates of your superiors, but it is equally
important to protect and defend yourself when you believe that you
are right.
No matter how hard I struggled through my internship, I can see
that I am a better person for it.
REFLECTIONS ON SURVIVING
AS AN INTERN
Judy Sorum
Over the past few years, I've spent some very interesting time
talking with women just about to begin an internship as part of
their academic program, who want to know how best to enter that
experience, how to get the most out of it, and how to avoid common
pitfalls. I have, over this time, come to the conclusion that there
isn't much difference between these soon-to-be interns and the rest
of us, women workers, who cope with change and flux, ambiguity and
productivity, in our own work lives. Therefore, I suspect that the
best advice that can be provided to interns is that which comes out
of our own experiences of being new on a job, and out of our own
trials and errors. It is from this perspective that I share some
thoughts--my own as well as those gleaned from friends--about how
to begin and survive internship.
I have found that, when about to enter a new work situation, it is
important to maintain ties with activities that have helped define
us in the past: creative activities, athletic activities, personal
projects. Sometimes our first instinct under the time and energy
pressures of a new work environment is to give up such activities,
and to avoid undertaking new efforts in these areas. It may be
better to do just the opposite--to plan for time specifically
dedicated to at least one important, energizing, grounding activity
unrelated to the work. When I was about to begin my experience as
a White House Fellow, for example, I returned to the serious study
of the piano, which I had abandoned fifteen years before. On the
assumption that the discipline would be therapeutic, I invested in
a beautiful grand piano and began to practice on a regular basis.
The discipline was wonderful, and the music a healthy counterpoint
to the zaniness and challenge of my totally new work environment.
I found that I enjoyed sharing this new interest with old friends,
and that new work colleagues were surprisingly interested in my
taking up this long dormant interest again. It has provided me much
joy.
At the same time I started my fellowship experience I also began
keeping a journal. Despite an academic background in literature, I
had never done so before--partially because I objected to having to
write "regularly," and partially because I didn't see its
usefulness to me. I found now, however, that maintaining a
personal, my-eyes-only journal gave me a means of expressing
feelings, ideas, conclusions about the experience I was having. I
have come to believe that the form of the journal may not matter,
and that writing regularly is not essential (in one rough week I
wrote 50 pages; other times I write nothing), but that paying
attention to one's processes and growth and learning is most
important--at least to me. Some internship supervisors require
their students to keep a journal and turn it in; I recommend that
the student keep a strictly personal journal and if anything is
turned in it be a summary, excerpts, or a separate log. I think it
important that we have some place in our lives to express ourselves
to ourselves, without censoring our thoughts and feelings for a
reader. The journal becomes an absolutely private place for the
intern to be thoughtful, crazy, pensive, together, shattered,
rational, emotional.
I also suggest that interns develop a support system in the
work-place. Some people call this "networking," but I am suggesting
perhaps a more selective process to identify people in the
work-setting (and outside it) who are effective, helpful,
sympatica, competent, and willing to share their time and
experience with us. These people know that I'd like to be able to
call on them, that I am new to the work setting, and that I may be
needing their help. While many members of this important
informational and social support system will be other women, it is
also important to consider men a part of this system,and to seek
their support where appropriate. Building such a system gives us a
chance to know these people better: to be curious about them, how
they got to where they are, what their interests are, what things
interest and challenge them--in sum, to see them as whole and
complex human beings, as we would hope they would see us. By
modeling interest in others as whole beings we probably stand a
better chance of being seen and treated as total human beings
ourselves, and not just as temporary cogs in the organizational
machinery.
Two caveats: as we go about developing and tending this support
system, we should remember that not all women will be interested in
supporting our efforts--as indeed, all men will not be. The idea is
to be selective and to call on those people with whom we feel some
kinship and who are interested in such a mentor/supporter role.
Secondly, we should not overlook the resource and support which
women at various levels of the organizations can provide. Often,
e.g., in our attempts to be professional and businesslike, we model
behaviors toward support staff which we have seen in male dominated
organizations--hierarchical disdain for the contributions of women
in these roles, discounting of their talents and abilities. Many
knowledgeable and talented secretaries and clerks are more than
willing to be supportive and helpful to an intern--if she will
allow that to happen.
In addition to a work-setting support group, a non-work network of
friends has helped me think through work-related problems. Many of
these are old friends, some new--who enable me to develop broader
perspectives on things that I encounter in the work place. They
come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and that makes
their advice even more valuable.
And finally, I have found it useful to think about experiences I
have had, or know of, that seem analogous to a new work
environment. What is this like? How does it resemble something with
which I am already familiar? Often we are so struck by the newness
of a situation, and the things that we don't know, that we miss, at
first, seeing how it is like other experiences we've had. Thus we
are slow to realize that we already 'nave skills and competencies
that are transferable to this new place. It may be helpful to
think, "Well, this is like being the new kid on the block," like
"the first day at summer camp," like "learning sailing," like "the
first week of college." Then we can recall what we did in those
situations that worked well--and those responses that didn't work
well, that we wouldn't care to repeat.
Perhaps because of my training in literature, I also think of
analogues, or metaphors (like being an actor in a Broadway play, or
the director of a ballet) that help me take on new roles, see how
I might do things I haven't done before. The metaphor I find most
helpful comes from my fascination with the work of Margaret Mead.
In a new work situation, I often think of myself as an
anthropologist in an alien tribe--curious, reflective, observant,
trying to learn as much as I can and to work as effectively and
unobtrusively as possible in this alien tribe before I move on.
This way of thinking helps me work with energy and patience without
feeling the need to change "the tribe" to my values (almost
impossible to do in any role, let alone as an intern); it helps me
value much of the rich cultural heritage I am observing.
Beyond these personal analogies, interns can try to understand the
social analogues of the work setting. In many male-organized
work-settings, those analogues will be athletic, military, etc. It
helps to be fluent in these social metaphors even if they aren't
terribly rich for us personally. I have found, for instance, that
playing racquetball with the other (male) special assistants has
helped me better understand their behavior, and mine, off the
court. And it expands my "fluency" in the dominant language of the
work situation.
All my reflections suggest that: as we work with women interns we
can share, from our own experiences, strategies for learning,
growing and surviving in a new situation--for these are, in a
simple sense, what are needed to make an internship work. And for
most of us they are some combination of grounding ourselves in the
transcendent themes of our lives, being as open and observant as
possible of the new experience, and finding fellow travelers along
the way who can help us over the rough spots and celebrate the
victories with us.
TO ARM THE AMAZONS: EMPOWERING
STUDENTS AT FEMINIST WORKSITES
Kathryn Girard
Sisterhood can be joyous and energizing. It can also be frustrating
and disillusioning. The `personal' cost of working in a women's
center, a rape project or a Women's Studies program is often quite
high. We expect the hours of exciting and tedious processing that
it takes to build such programs. We don't expect pain and confusion
about our worth, skills and values, but these are outcomes of the
feminist group experience for many of us.
Where does sisterhood go wrong? We work in groups dedicated to
learning new skills and taking back our power, yet we may leave
these groups less confident than when we started and feeling badly
about ourselves and the feminist process. Collaboration,
cooperation, non-hierarchical, consensual, collective--these are
the key descriptors of the groups that leave bitter ex-members
behind. For how many of our students is the feminist worksite
empowering?
I will explore some of the specific problems interns may encounter
in feminist groups, and sketch some steps that a women's studies
program might initiate to assist both the student and the feminist
organization in creating a mutually satisfying internship. Before
doing so, I want to outline some of the limits of this essay.
I am looking only at issues in explicitly feminist groups
believing that feminist rhetoric and philosophy contribute
significantly to the problems our groups encounter. My focus here
is on consensual or non-hierarchical feminist groups (though
hierarchical feminist groups may pose similar problems for interns
in certain areas), because, again, it is the values and
expectations leading to the choice of those organizational modes
that allow certain dynamics to arise. The ideas here are the
product of ten years of work in feminist caucuses and
organizations, and are substantiated largely by the nods, groans
and "ah ha's" that accompany my presentations about organizational
patterns and group dynamics to feminists working in feminist task
groups. In many cases the ideas suggest causal relationships; these
represent my working hypotheses as I explore the likely
relationships among attitudes, ideas and behaviors.
One last comment on the framework for this essay. Many of the
dynamics described here suggest failures in feminist,
non-hierarchical groups. This critical view must be understood in
the context of my beliefs that the struggle to translate feminist
rhetoric into organizational structures and personal behaviors is
essential and worthwhile; that we must not deny the failures, but
rather, learn from them. We must prepare our students toward this
end as well. To explore issues student interns are likely to
confront in feminist worksite placements, it is necessary to look
at the nature of many feminist organizations. Several common
characteristics and patterns described here should be kept in mind
when arranging a practicum experience.
Desire for, or assumption of, equality: In our hearts I think
we expect and wish feminist organizations to provide us an
experience of equality among our sisters, to function holding
true to some notion of equality.
Missing accountability mechanisms: Procedures for insuring
that tasks are accomplished appropriately, and for responding
when they are not, are frequently fuzzy, avoided or
nonexistent.
Job rotation or open job selection and job changing: Job
rotation or self-selection of tasks and jobs are ways that
groups have tried to enable women to develop new skills and
follow new interests. The changing and rotation of jobs are
also intended to demystify certain types of work and to
maintain an equality of skills, knowledge and power.
High staff turnover: This bane of many feminist organizations
is self-explanatory, and its causes are probably
familiar--salaries that are too low (where they exist at all),
and work that is overwhelming.
Participatory or consensual decision-making: While there seem
to be fewer task groups and organizations functioning with an
explicitly non-hierarchical structure now than in earlier
years, many groups operate with a modified hierarchy and
attempt to make decisions in a consensual or participatory
manner. Compromises are made in the structure such that the
director, for example, may have overall authority and be
perceived by the larger institution or community as being "in
charge," but actual decision-making authority and
responsibility is delegated to groups or the entire staff. In
some cases a modified hierarchy is an attempt to maintain two
fronts--an external hierarchy for incorporation or credibility
purposes, and an internal non-hierarchy for ideological ones.
`Decentralization' and `small group autonomy' are two other
characteristics related to this type of organizational
structure.
Desire to meet the needs and expectations of others: As women
well socialized in this society, many of us do not say "no"
easily in the face of obvious need. In addition to being a
personal neurosis, this pattern is also an organizational one.
All organizations face the problem of fitting individual
needs, program needs and larger community or institutional
needs into a workable and effective whole. Women's
organizations--including and perhaps especially feminists
ones--suffer from women's issues at the organizational level.
For the only women's organization on a campus or in a town,
this pattern is exacerbated.
Constant survival focus and crisis orientation: Very few
feminist organizations go through a year without having to
worry about how to survive the following year. Issues of
effectiveness are constantly being thrown up against issues of
survival; often, long-range planning is neglected.
Underfunded, understaffed and "undereverythinged" compared to
goals and services: Most feminist organizations are
inadequately staffed, severely underfunded and incredibly
overworked. (For example, a survey of women's centers across
the country found that typical women's centers, reaching over
2,000 women a year, had 5 part-time staff and ran 9 programs.)
The resulting strain is easy to predict. Feminist groups
always aspire to accomplish far more than their available
resources would seem to allow.
Marginality: This is a characteristic familiar to most women's
studies programs as well as other feminist groups, since
neither is funded nor "housed" so as to be a part of the
mainstream of our communities or academic institutions. A
small budget and small staff doing work that is generally
considered unimportant may bring greater freedom, since fewer
people care to pay serious attention, and that can be a real
advantage. On the other hand, the risk to survival is
significantly increased.
Equalization of rewards: Even where salaries are graduated,
the belief that rewards should be equalized is often
present--sometimes as an undercurrent, sometimes as an
explicit issue. Frequently there is some attempt to equalize
other concrete rewards, such as vacation time, and/or more
intangible rewards, such as inclusion in social activities.
Confusion over issues of power and leadership: Confusion often
seems to arise around the appropriateness and meaning of
power. We want our organization to have the power to effect
changes but, within them, individual power is often perceived
negatively. Covert norms and problematic dynamics around power
often center on an assumption that everyone in the
organization has, or should have,equal power (something that
is virtually impossible); or on an assumption that if someone
has power, then someone else has had it `taken away' (which is
sometimes true, and sometimes an assumption that obscures how
frequently we `give' our power away); or on an assumption that
no one `should' have power (also virtually impossible). These
assumptions tend to prevent us from dealing with the reality
of our differences.
II.
These are some of the characteristics of the organizations into
which we are sending our idealistic, hopeful Amazon feminists. This
essay is a plea to send them in armed. The first step in that
direction is to examine some implications of these organizational
patterns for interns.
The desire for or assumption of equality becomes problematic when
the equality of members is translated into sameness. We believe in
and are fighting for equality through our work; realizing equality
in our work place is very difficult. We frequently end up reducing
equality to the simplest and most concrete idea--sameness: same
treatment, because that is a clear marker of equality, and same
status or level because we know that there will be no power
inequities.
This assumption has several implications for people coming into the
work place. An intern or a new staff member requires some basic
training and orientation, but the teacher-student, trainer-trainee
relationships appear unequal and there may be widespread discomfort
with such explicit inequities. Otherwise, it is hard to explain the
ongoing stories of interns given correspondence to answer, articles
to write, issues to research, phones to answer, clients to see--
with no introduction to the organization or the task and with no
initial supervision.
The polite avoidance of skill differences affords few favors. An
undergraduate for whom her placement is a first job typically lacks
the skills to negotiate for training. She may have as great a
discomfort with the teacher learner dichotomy as staff members, and
therefore initially appreciate the assumption that she can just
pick up on her new job. Such initial appreciation can quickly fade
if the task is overwhelming or not familiar. Tension is compounded
when a student internalizes the problem and sees her difficulties
as her failure, her problem.
Another problem arises from warm-hearted, well-intentioned messages
of equality to interns and new staff. Interns, especially full-time
ones, may be told that they are to function as equal members of
the organization, but the reality is that they cannot: they lack
the history, information and influence or power among group members
and the leadership skills or position of older members. The message
and the experience are dissonant and confusing. Again, inexperience,
socialization and expectations of the feminist work place
contribute to the student's feeling that confusion is her
failure.
A different kind of problem stemming from the assumption of
equality occurs when we approach an intern with that assumption and
therefore omit a thorough assessment of her skills and abilities.
A fine intention can result in assigning the intern either to tasks
below her actual skill and ability level or to tasks beyond her
current abilities. In the interests of not treading on individual
equality, the intern receives an experience of total frustration
and disappointment, which often turns to anger and resentment, or
an experience of intense anxiety, fear of failure and the belief
that the problems are her fault.
Our goal as women, of coming to know and to validate our strengths,
is not aided by the assumption that "of course I can start
counseling rape victims tomorrow." We do not need to create and
perpetuate an Amazon myth. The dynamic that arises from allowing
women to attempt as much as they want (or the organization wants)
without adequate training or support, coupled with a common
individual pattern of internalizing problems as personal failures,
is not productive to a student's learning.
One final point about issues for interns related to assumptions of
equality: the more radical students are the ones most likely to
have the most difficult time. The student who just started to think
about women's issues is not as likely to hold heartfelt
expectations about the experience of sisterhood in a feminist
internship setting. More radical students, who have already
acquired a zealous spirit and an Amazon persona, are more likely to
enter the organization expecting the experience of equality that
the other members of the group think they are prepared to give. In
a radical organization they are likely to receive the rhetoric and
some of the behaviors that on the surface seem appropriate, but
that then increase their confusion and pain when the experience
"doesn't feel good."
The lack of clear accountability mechanisms is connected to the
assumption of equality. Feminist organizations often speak
passionately about their accountability and responsibility to their
community. Individual members also speak, with a great deal of
feeling, about their responsibility to be true to their community.
Individual members also speak, with a great deal of feeling, about
their responsibility to be true to their own convictions, values
and political beliefs, and express strong feelings of
responsibility toward the other women in the organization. The
problems arise at the level of accountability for completing tasks
related to the organization's purpose. Accountability at that level
is often seen as too hierarchical, intruding on personal autonomy
and undermining individual power within the group. It is rare to
find clear systems of accountability--systems set up so that
someone else knows to do, by when, and is responsible for
intervening if I don't do it.
Even in more hierarchical and professional organizations with
clearly defined staff responsibilities, accountability mechanisms
may still be inadequate because of a great hesitancy to intrude
into another's work, to make direct statements, such as, "You
didn't do X." (It is interesting how the Women's Movement and our
socialization combine to burden us with beliefs and behaviors of
Superwoman, on the one hand, and emotional fragility with regard to
criticism and anger on the other.)
One clear implication is that interns can end up without
supervision. No one has that role among the regular staff, and
frequently no one is quite comfortable in that role. Or, the staff
may dutifully create a supervisory accountability system for the
intern, who then becomes the only one in the entire organization
whose work is checked! Either way, the intern suffers the effects
of negative dynamics.
Interns also can be victims of "crisis accountability,"
accountability mechanisms that only come into play when work due a
month ago is needed. A crisis meeting is scheduled and, for the
first time, the intern may hear both the groups' expectations of
and responses to her. Because of the crisis, others in the
organization may already be at the point of thinking of terminating
her or changing her job.
Two other characteristics of feminist groups--staff transiency and
job rotation--serve to compound the problems with accountability.
Both these patterns mitigate against the development of staff
members' skills to the point where they themselves can feel
sufficiently competent and "expert" to supervise an intern. Too, if
there are few or no existing training, accountability or
supervisory mechanisms among the staff, those assigned such tasks
with an intern are likely to lack the skills and experience to set
up effective systems. They also may find it more comfortable to
"let the intern learn like I did," ignoring the differences in time
between an internship and regular staff position.
Participatory decision-making, consensual decision-making, and non-
hierarchical or modified hierarchical structures can all create
problems for interns. In addition to time and commitment,
successful participation in these structures requires: listening
skills; the ability to see similarities and to allow differences;
a willingness to be the only person in the room who articulates a
different point of view; clarity in defining and exercising one's
right to say no when "no" in a consensual decision-making process
is a veto: clarity in defining and exercising one's responsibility
to support a majority decision in democratic decision-making. It
takes a lot of verbal ability to participate, as well as
information about issues and familiarity with procedures.
It seems only fair that in choosing a practicum in a non-
hierarchical or consensual organization interns realize the skills
and abilities that effective participation in such organizations
requires. Such prior knowledge can help them maintain the focus on
`learning' how to participate, and in developing selected skills.
More typically, the intern is left to struggle with the confusion
of participating in an egalitarian structure while feeling
decidedly unequal.
Those working only a few hours a week in an alternative
organizational structure will not have the time to participate in
the key elements of the organization's process. Thus, no matter how
friendly everyone is to her, the intern is likely to have an
experience of being an outsider. Again, the stronger the student's
expectation to experience the camaraderie of sisterhood and
equality, the more painful and confusing her actual experience will
be.
Even if an intern is working almost full time while placed in an
organization, the limited duration of the practicum prevents
in-depth participation for most people. She may have the time to
attend all the meetings, but she will still be without experience,
knowledge and relationships to support truly equal participation.
She, too, will still have the experience of being an outsider. We
need to be aware of the stress created by internships that require
an intense commitment and involve very complex relationships for a
three month period of time.
A common carryover from our socialization as women is a feeling of
being responsible for meeting the needs and expectations of others.
In feminist organizations, this often means we assume that if we
are going to meet the needs of the women "out there," surely we
must meet the needs of the women on our staff as well. From an
organization's point of view, then, one problem with any intern is
that she is yet another person whose needs must be met and somehow
fitted into the organization's activities. For example, if an
intern is shy in groups, isn't it our responsibility to help her
feel more comfortable and to take the time to try to include her,
to help her become more verbal and a more active participant? After
all, we are in the organization both to help each other grow and to
accomplish important work. The balance between those two aspects of
our purpose is difficult to maintain, even more difficult when we
each bring a personal compulsion to meet the needs of others. This
compulsion builds a group or organizational norm which leads
members to expect that their needs have a clear place in the
organization's life.
The burden of this dynamic on the organization should be clear. The
set-up for the intern is that her situational needs (the need for
supervision, the need to integrate her learning goals with the job
tasks available, the need to be oriented and trained, etc.) do
create a substantial demand on the organization. This fact, coupled
with whatever personal needs and expectations an intern may bring,
can lead the regular staff to focus resentment on her because, on
both emotional levels, they do not want any additional
responsibility. Remember, most feminist sites set up internships
because they are desperate for help and already severely
overworked.
Interns are also affected by the other aspect of this personal and
organizational dynamic. When the organizational norm is one of
responding to all requests for help, information or assistance,
whether or not they fall within the group's stated purpose, an
intern may quickly find herself dealing with situations and
problems that are, at best, inappropriate to her chosen learning
goals and, at worst, overwhelming and scary. The group norm often
does not support the refusal to "take on" the situation or problem.
Ever present survival issues and a crisis orientation stemming from
underfunding and overwork make successful internships difficult.
Lack of long-range planning usually means that many organizations
cannot guarantee that the internship originally negotiated will be
the one implemented. Instead, an intern may be directed to work
that is very much in reaction to immediate events and represents
the "easiest" thing an intern could be asked to do. Short-range
planning and the search for where the intern can fill in or be of
immediate help might result in the intern's spending her time
answering the phone and providing information on request. While
chances are that this assignment would provide other staff with
more time for more "important" work and might provide the intern
with a sense of the range of women's needs in the community, it is
less likely to be of enduring value to her or to the organization.
In those feminist organizations attempting to equalize concrete
and/or intangible rewards, two types of problems may emerge for
interns. One is that the organization may feel guilty about the
lack of salary and compensate by: (1) allowing the intern to do
things they would not ordinarily prefer her to do (which may lead
to covert resentment or an unexpected attack); and/or (2) inviting
the intern to participate in meetings or activities beyond her job
description so that she will at least feel included and "good"
(which usually leads to confusion and rapid burnout for the
intern).
The other problem is that most feminist groups are terrible when it
comes to praise--a key intangible reward. Usually, there is an
absence of positive feedback among staff members. The intern, then,
doesn't get rewarded by the formative feedback and praise she
needs. And most interns don't get the other major intangible
reward--that satisfaction of seeing the product of one's work and
its impact.
Marginality is the one characteristic of feminist organizations
that offers advantages with fewer pitfalls--at least for interns.
The major advantage of marginality is the greater freedom the
organization may have to create internships that enable students to
test out new skills and abilities, and to take on significant
responsibilities. The only pitfall is that a placement in an
alternative marginal organization may carry less professional
weight and credibility when it comes to job hunting.
III.
Interns and their women's studies supervisors can take steps to
avoid many of these pitfalls and to ensure a successful internship.
Some of these are:
1. Pre-practicum seminars or planning sessions, where the
student's intellectual and emotional needs, goals and
expectations are explored, clarified and realistically
modified in terms of the constraints in a time-limited
experience.
2. The setting of learning rather than doing goals for the
practicum. A focus on doing goals can lead to frustration
when situational factors necessitate a change in the
intern's assignment. A focus on learning goals can
provide a basis for accepting or rejecting changes, and
can provide a perspective from which to reflect on and
analyze activities.
3. Practicum seminars or weekly individual meetings for the
purposes of processing the personal and emotional
material generated from the practicum and maintaining a
focus on the student's learning goals. Such seminars and
meetings can mitigate against internalizing of problems
and allow students to function as participant-observers
at their placement sites.
4. Prior involvement with the placement site, by the women's
studies program staff, to establish minimum requirements
for supervision, to explain the purpose of the internship
from the academic side, and to gather information to use
in deciding whether or not an organization can provide an
adequate internship experience.
5. Providing (requiring) a course, seminar or module on
feminist or alternative organizations prior to or
simultaneous with placement at a feminist work site.
In closing, there is one final point I would like to make. The
strong desire to create our feminist visions now is often a block
to the actual realization of those visions. We need time to define
our visions more clearly, and time to develop the personal skills
necessary to implement them. For me, this is a central purpose of
women's studies. Our task is to teach our students to be creative
rather than reactive in responding to the cultural norms, values
and models that surround and are a part of us.
We and our students can only move from reaction to creation by
accepting, rather than denying, the problems we have and the
obstacles we face, personally and organizationally. We need to
encourage the acknowledgement of fears, hopes, confusions and
expectations around power, leadership and equality. We need to find
and teach that difficult balance between patience and gentleness
with flaws, on the one hand, and demands and expectations for
change, on the other. We need to validate that it makes `sense' for
the changes we are seeking to be personally confusing and
difficult. Not only are we struggling with the residue of our
socialization around power and leadership and our experiences of
their being used against women, but we are also attempting to
create organizations free of the types of power and leadership most
familiar to us. The role models are very scarce: our students have
the right to know the complexity and enormity of the undertaking,
and the cost of the superwoman, Amazon myth.
TOOLS FOR GUIDING AND EVALUATING SERVICE LEARNING
Patty Gibbs
(I am indebted to my social work colleagues at West Virginia
University for some of the conceptual material on contracting which
was worked on conjointly stemming from our experience with social
work seniors in their field placement.)
This essay will outline and elaborate on specific strategies and
learning tools for optimizing the student's service learning
experience. Since it is important in service learning to (1)
efficiently and effectively orient the student to the agency, (2)
identify the tasks, obligations, responsibilities, and learning
objectives of the student to the three primary parties
(student,instructor, field supervisor), (3) assimilate the student
into the agency milieu as quickly as possible, and (4) process and
continually evaluate the student's performance, it is crucial to
devise instruments that will guide and facilitate this process.
Each of the following tools will be discussed: learning contracts,
logs, journals and grading approaches.
Although it is more effective and productive to utilize all of the
tools in combination during the service learning experience,
several factors such as structure and duration of the course itself
will determine the practicality of this ideal. Choosing specific
tools most suited to your individual course needs and maximally
utilizing these will serve to strengthen both the direction and
clarity of the experience.
Learning Contracts
The learning contract is one of the most essential elements for
guiding service learning and providing a gauge for assessing
student performance. Contracts should reflect the learning needs of
the students, the educational mission of the women's studies
program of which the practicum is a part, and the service needs of
the agency itself. Sample learning contracts can be found in the
Appendix.
The learning contract should be finalized in the first few weeks of
the placement. A student should begin writing a rough draft at the
outset of the experience working closely with her field supervisor.
The faculty-based instructor can aid students in refining the
contract. Ideally the three primary parties should meet to discuss
and finalize the contract. All three should sign the finalized
version after it is typed which should then be duplicated so each
has her own copy.
The purpose of the learning contract is threefold:
1. It makes explicit for the three primary parties the roles
and responsibilities of each.
2. It is a reciprocal agreement of the student's learning
objectives and strategies for achieving them.
3. It forces the student from the outset into greater
connectedness with the agency as she attempts to relate her
learning goals to the service delivery system of that
agency. (1)
The contract is divided into eight parts:
1. Cover Sheet - It is helpful to have accessible basic information
necessary for management of the service learning experience, and
the contract cover sheet can be an invaluable time and energy saver
for faculty and field supervisors alike. Some pertinent data might
include:
Student's name
Address
Home phone
Service Learning Agency
Address
Phone
Director of agency (if applicable)
Field Supervisor
2. Description of Agency - This brief description will further
acquaint the instructor with the agency and facilitate the
student's acclimation to the agency milieu. The description should
include such relevant information as: type of agency, services
provided by the agency and client/consumer population served.
3. Learning Goals - The semester learning goal should reflect the
ultimate purpose or interest toward which total efforts by the
student will be directed. It should be service-oriented, i.e.,
stated in terms of services offered by the agency in which the
student will become involved. The statement should include
identification of the specific (or general) client/consumer
population whose needs are addressed by the agency through its
service delivery efforts. For example, "to provide resource and
counseling services to victims of domestic violence and their
families" would be an acceptable service-oriented goal statement
for the student.
The academic or career goal statement should explain how the
service learning experience will contribute to the short-term and
long-term goals of the student with regard to her education and/or
career aspirations.
4. Learning Objectives - These statements are student-centered (as
opposed to service-oriented learning directives) and carry subtopics
(methodologies) identifying the separate efforts by the student
which collectively accomplish the primary service-oriented goal. In
order to clarify the difference between learning goals, objectives,
and methodologies the following examples are offered:
Goal - To provide family planning services (birth control
information, free pregnancy tests, and unwanted-pregnancy
counseling) to individuals and/or couples in the
Monongalla County of West Virginia.
Objective - To learn and fully understand all available
birth control options for females and males.
Methodology - By reading Our Bodies, Ourselves by the
Boston Women's Health Collective.
To formulate the objectives it is helpful for the student to ask
questions about her learning needs related to the particular agency
setting in terms of: (1) knowledge (what facts, information, etc.,
do I want/need to learn in order to function effectively in this
agency?), (2) skills (what skills do I want/need to develop and
refine during this experience?), and (3) attitudes (are there
particular attitudes I need to modify, discard, or acquire in order
to serve the client/consumer population?).
The knowledge objectives may deal with, for example, particular
information on domestic violence such as the cycles, the relevant
statistics, the factors influencing habitual return to the husband
by the victim, etc.; or students might identify certain
policies/laws with which they need to become acquainted.
Skill objectives might include communication skills (interviewing,
active listening, empathic responses), research skills (date
collection and processing), skills in organizing (such as calling
and chairing meetings, networking, recruiting volunteers)--the list
could go on forever.
To explore attitudinal objectives students can consider the
following: their own sexist conditioning that may emerge in the new
work movement; or they may need to learn to respect the choice of
the client or person with whom they work, as in the situation where
the domestic violence victim chooses to return to her husband.
Students should also expect to find themselves adopting
unanticipated attitudes during the placement which could be
counterproductive if not dealt with properly or rechanneled
constructively. A case in point became apparent during a panel
presentation at the Women's Studies Service Learning Institute. A
young woman from the University of Maryland who was placed at a
center for sexual assault victims spoke about her experiences in
placement. As she did, the rage, and hurt elicited in her by the
nature of the social problem with which she was dealing began to
surface, leaving her tearful and obviously distressed. I gleaned
from that experience how crucial it is for the instructor to be
able to anticipate such reactions, especially in some service
delivery agencies. Attitudinal objectives which identify in advance
potential trouble spots and outline strategies for dealing with
them will greatly benefit the student.
5. Methodologies - These are strategies, actions, methods, and
procedures which will facilitate accomplishment of the objective.
Each learning objective will have several methodologies listed
under it that will lead to its accomplishment.
For example, if the learning objective were "gaining knowledge of
teenage pregnancy and its ramifications," strategies or activities
to accomplish this objective might include: "reviewing the
literature on the problem; reviewing any applicable research;
interviewing relevant professionals who deal with the problem such
as physicians, social workers; securing permission to visit a home
for pregnant adolescents and interviewing them."
6. Specific Information for Managerial Purposes - This list of data
is beneficial when made explicit in the contract, even if it
appears to be no more than an itemized laundry list.
A) student tasks/responsibilities - These should include
projects expectations for record keeping, dress, meeting
attendance,etc.; work hours (shift work if applicable);
and any other relevant data, including information that
might also be reflected in one of the learning objectives
(for instance, "organizing a Big Sister Program").
B) Inclusive dates of the experience and recognized vacation
days
C) Identification of resources made available to the student
by the agency such as supplies, travel money, work space,
clerical support (if applicable), mailing privileges,
training of any kind, etc.
7. Obstacles to Effective Functioning - This should be a list of
possible problems of anticipated barriers that might hinder
accomplishment of the objectives, including deficiencies in
knowledge, skills, resources, attitude, or environmental
difficulties.
8. Method of Evaluation - This section would address the criteria
and methods by which the student's performance would be assessed.
Periodic conferences during which the student, instructor, and
field supervisor meet to review the learning contract and discuss
the progress of the student might be one vehicle for assessment.
Ongoing evaluation may occur during individual weekly supervisory
sessions between the student and her field supervisor or
faculty-based instructor. Written assignments may also be a part of
the total evaluation criteria.
Logs
The logs contain the objective accounts by the student of her daily
activities and general productivity in the agency. All other
activities related to the service learning experience should also
be included whether or not those activities take place in the
agency itself. Examples of the latter would include extra meetings
attended after work hours, reading done at night, and other tasks
performed as a part of service learning although not actually
carried out in the agency.
There should be a dated entry which lists all activities and their
purpose for every day of placement. For instance, "wrote a letter
to the Department of Welfare to give them the information they
required to determine Mrs. Smith's eligibility for services, a
release for the information had been secured" would be a long entry
that reflects both the task and the reason for doing it. Other
entries might include such items as "typed address labels for our
newsletter," or "answered the hotline all morning: did crisis
counseling with two women." The student might then want to outline
in the log the specifics of these two situations for possible
discussion during a supervisory conference in order to obtain
feedback on her intervention skills. The student would not,
however, process her feelings about the counseling situation or
apply conceptual material to the incidents and her handling of
them. This is done separately in the journal which is covered in
the next section. The log is specifically for entering objective
accounts of activities--laundry lists so to speak--as opposed to
being designed as a tool for processing the experience in any way.
By reviewing the logs the instructor and field supervisor can
assess whether or not the student's tasks and activities are
all-inclusive and/or appropriate to the particular learning
experience or intervention with the client/consumer. In this way
the log serves as an instructional tool. Logs also aid the
instructor in providing the agency and field supervisor with help
and guidance for strengthening the learning experience by
identifying activities in which the student might become engaged
which are relevant to the educational mission of women's studies
service learning.
Journals
The journal is supplemental to the log and serves as a vehicle for
the personal and professional development of the student. In it the
student reflects on how she feels about all facets of the
experience. Through the journal the relationship of the student's
placement experience to other feminist issues can be explored.
Students can also utilize the journal to formulate potential
corrective action strategies for the problems they come to realize
are facing women as a group.
The structure of the journal will depend on the structure of the
service learning course itself. If there is a concurrent classroom
seminar, the journal might have a slightly different focus, i.e.,
increased application of conceptual material to placement
experiences based on readings, lectures, and so forth. Regardless,
the journal is an instrument to draw together and synthesize the
multiplicity of contents in the experience, and can be quite useful
in a variety of ways. The faculty advisor and field supervisor may
find journal material helpful in setting agendas for supervisory
conferences with the student. The student may be able to get in
touch with underlying realities that might have otherwise gone
uncovered without consistently recording reactions from which
themes might be seen to emerge. Secondly, although students may be
reluctant at times to articulate certain feelings or reactions in
face-to-face conference, they do it with greater ease when
approached more indirectly: through the journal. A student's
emotional reaction to any facet of the placement so recorded can be
noticed and hopefully dealt with before it is exacerbated. In this
way the journal can alert the faculty advisor and the field
supervisor that a conference is in order and help the instructors
to set timely agendas for the meeting.
The journal is not a one-way street. It is essential that the
faculty advisor give the student feedback through the journal.
Making notes in the margins, giving personal comments, answering
questions posed, identifying resources for further reading, or just
giving the student a pat on the back for a job well done are all
forms of valuable feedback for the student, particularly if there
is not a co-seminar to bridge the gap between the theory and the
field. In order for such feedback to be useful to the student, it
should occur often and consistently. This requires that journals be
turned in at least every two weeks and that instructors are
conscientious about getting them back immediately to the student
with their comments and/or reactions.
Keeping in mind the needs of the student and expectations of the
course, the instructor should devise a format for the journal that
will aid the student in processing her experience and structuring
her thoughts about women in contemporary society--their roles,
oppression, and the social structures which perpetuate women's
problems. Instructors may want to design the format to correspond
with topics being covered in the co-seminar and include "study
questions" under each topic for the student to consider in the
journal. Particular attention should be paid to structuring the
topics to coincide directly with the purposes and context of
service learning. For example, the introductory topic may be "the
feminist workplace," or "sexism and stereotyping," or any other
foundation concept. The instructor can then provide a handout with
pertinent questions for guiding the student's thoughts as she
explores the topic. Such an approach should not be so inflexible as
to discourage use of the journals to process other contents in the
learning experience. It is important that the journal be an
instrument that not only synthesizes the experience but also
facilitates related intellectual and personal insights.
Grading
Almost universally in academe, student performance is placed on a
letter-grade ledger. Individual assignments suffer this same
unfortunate form of appraisal. Although these marks are supposed to
be "objective," most of us who teach realize that for a variety of
reasons we cannot always be as scientifically objective in our
assessments as we might like to be. Often we are biased because we
consider additional contingencies which should not be taken into
account. Such subjectivity is certainly one of the more negative
aspects of letter grading. Pass/fail grading for a course is often
only begging the question of bias because if does not altogether
alleviate it; such a system only allows greater latitude for
instructor error. In addition, pass/fail grading does not get at
the more insidious concern of the grading paradigm: the fact that
for the most part grading criteria are a product of a male-centered
educational concept. I feel that it is important as we teach our
students to seek alternative and creative solutions/responses to
the problems facing women, that we are cognizant of our
responsibility to do likewise.
One alternative grading schema, especially appropriate for
self-directed learners using contracts and journals, places the
onus of the grading problem where it belongs: with the individual
student. To implement this approach, sometimes called "contract
grading," instructors would establish a hierarchy of assignments to
be completed for the course with those of lesser importance heading
the list and proceeding to the assignment which is most difficult
and comprehensive, for example, a term paper. Grades would be
assigned by the instructor to the hierarchy of assignments
commensurate with the degree of difficulty. Individual student
assignments would be graded on a pass/fail basis and any passing
paper would be counted toward meeting the grade toward which the
student is working given the hierarchy; therefore, completion of
the entire list of assignments would earn the student an "A,"
completion of all but the most difficult one would earn the student
a "B," and so forth.
Conclusion
Educators in general have recognized that the value of learning
lies in the student's ability to take all pieces of acquired
knowledge and put them to use--apply them to human existence. Since
learning is such a dynamic process, it requires many avenues for
attainment. Women's studies service learning as an educational
strategy affords the opportunity for students to engage in an
exciting and meaningful learning experience where theory and
practice are intricately interwoven. Because of the special nature
of service learning, special educational tools and techniques are
required. The ones outlined in this essay are a preliminary
attempt to provide some guidance and structure as women's studies
service learning continues to take shape and develop.
In order to facilitate optimal learning for the student, a variety
of tools are required. Learning contracts are invaluable for
prompting the student to become an active and self-directed
participant in her learning experience. Through formulating
learning objectives the student becomes more invested in both the
process and product of her learning. Journals and logs provide data
useful in many respects to all parties engaged in the educational
endeavor. Assignments which sharpen analytical skills lay the
foundation for an approach to problem-solving critical in
facilitating social change.
NOTES
1. Although a learning contract is desirable and necessary for an
intern working in any setting, the following description is
specifically geared toward work within a social service agency.
Additions, deletions and substitutions should be made where needed,
for students working in government and public policy or business
agencies.
************************
APPENDIX
Inventory of Knowledge, Skills and Attitude Objectives (1)
Along with defining the parameters of women's studies service
learning, the instructor must also be able to provide direction for
the tasks and responsibilities that face both the student and the
field supervisor. Providing direction to the student involves
helping formulate the desired learning outcomes. To do this we must
first decide what we want students to know as a result of service
learning. Additionally we must ask: what do we want students to be
able to do? Are there underlying attitudinal objectives we want
students to achieve related to the goals and philosophy of feminist
field experience? The answers to these questions crystallize a
tripartite model for categorizing student learning: knowledge,
skill and attitude objectives. What follows is an outline of those
objectives in a form intended to provide a blueprint for
instructors of service-learning courses in women's studies.
Although this inventory may appear at first glance to be rather
ambitious, a closer look will reveal that such expectations are not
out of line with the broader goals of women's studies
service-learning. If we are interested in educating social change
agents who will be effective in their mission, then it is clear
that we need to explicate all of the objectives which we want
students to meet through their experience. Further, feminist
education has been committed to testing out new curricular
approaches while remaining sensitive to the need for strengthening
the legitimacy and credibility of the learning program. The
proposed inventory serves as a starting point for service learning
educators to modify as necessary in assessing the needs of their
particular academic situation.
Inventory of Knowledge Objectives
A. Knowledge of the Organizational Context
1. Knowledge of the agency
The student should be able to:
1.1 Explain and describe the agency's purpose, programs,
focus, goals.
1.2 Demonstrate a working knowledge of the agency policies
and procedures.
1.3 Identify limitations of services or service gaps.
1.4 Identify and appraise the formal and informal structure
of the agency.
1.5 Describe the relationship of the agency to other
service organizations in the community.
1.6 Compare the agency structure to the ideal feminist
workplace.
1.7 Relate one's own activities to the broader goals of the
agency.
2. Knowledge of the agency as an organization
The student should be able to:
2.1 Discuss the impact of the agency structure
(hierarchical vs.lateral) on agency functioning, citing
both functional and dysfunctional aspects of each
organizational model.
2.2 Describe the characteristics of a feminist workplace.
2.3 Discern the difference between informal, collaborative,
consensual decision-making and decision-making based on
a model of power and domination.
2.4 Describe the difference between a bureaucratic approach
and a collective approach to task accomplishment.
2.5 Explain the role and function of organizations in
contemporary society.
2.6 Understand the difference with regard to service
delivery between organizations as means and
organizations as ends.
2.7 Discuss the impact of organizational structure on the
individual worker.
2.8 Understand the organization as instrumental to social
change.
B. Knowledge of the Community Context of Service Learning
3. Characteristics of the community
The student should be able to:
3.1 Describe the structures and processes (e.g.,
government, industry, politics, etc.) of the community.
3.2 Understand the needs and characteristics of any
distinct population in the community and identify the
influences which make them unique (e.g., rural poor,
minority ghetto, etc.).
3.3 Assess the needs and concerns of that portion of the
community to be served by the agency.
4. Knowledge of resource systems
The student should be able to:
4.1 Identify the major ways needs are met, stress is
alleviated, and concerns are dealt with in the
community.
4.2 Demonstrate a working knowledge of the resources
available in the community that are appropriate for the
service of the agency.
4.3 Understand the importance of and the difference between
formal and informal resources.
4.4 Describe self-help as an approach for meeting human
need and explain its relationship to more formal and
structured resources/services.
C. Knowledge of Intervention
5. The steps of the problem-solving process
The student should be able to understand and distinguish
between each of the following:
5.1 Initial contact or involvement with the problem
situation.
5.2 Assessment of the situation based on inputs from the
client, significant others, or any other source of
data.
5.3 Definition of the problem(s): immediate--precipitated
the contact by the client with the service,
underlying--factors that are perpetuating or
influencing the immediate problem,
obstacles to change--factors that stand in the way of
problem solution and need to be dealt with if change is
to occur.
5.4 Goal identification--both short-term and long-term.
5.5 Selection of strategies to achieve goals.
5.6 Agreement with client/consumer on the roles and
responsibilities of all participants in the
intervention.
5.7 Implementation of the plan and termination of the
service when goals are achieved.
5.8 Evaluation of outcome of service, i.e., was the
intervention successful or not?
5.9 Possible follow-up to see if change is being
maintained.
D. Knowledge of Communication
6. Communication process
The student will have a working knowledge of:
6.1 Components of communication: sender, message, factors
that color or distort the message (such as receiver's
value system), and receiver.
6.2 Verbal and non-verbal communication, the importance of
each, and the need for congruence.
6.3 Characteristics of effective communication.
E. Knowledge about Social Change
7. Achieving social change
The student should be able to discuss:
7.1 Factors that promote process of change.
7.2 Factors that hinder change and contribute to the status
quo.
7.3 Different levels of change, personal vs. societal.
F. Knowledge of Feminist Perspective
8. Sexist society and feminist resolution
The student should be able to:
8.1 Identify the social forces that shape the lives of
women in general (and the student's life in
particular), differentiating personal and societal
responsibility in shaping self.
8.2 Recognize instances of sexism in everyday life, i.e.,
in the media, interpersonal relationships, encounters
with societal institutions, etc.
8.3 Compare the parallel of discrimination based on sex
with discrimination against other minority groups.
8.4 Understand the multidisciplinary approach to studying
and acting on the concerns of women.
8.5 Demonstrate an ability to apply theory to practice.
8.6 Discuss the male orientation in our culture and
describe how this impacts methodology in a variety of
fields of study.
8.7 Discuss how sexism (in whatever manifestation) impacts
on individuals, identifying conversely how the effects
of sexism in individuals tend to maintain and
perpetuate a sexist society (i.e., how sexist
individuals impact the institutions to which they
belong).
Inventory of Skill Objectives
A. Communication Skills
1. Skill in interviewing
The student should be able to:
1.1 Establish rapport and build trust as a part of the
helping relationship.
1.2 Demonstrate sensitivity to the non-verbal communication
of others as a source of information.
1.3 Purposefully use good eye contact, appropriate gestures
and facial expression, comfortable yet alert body
posture, and well-modulated, fluent vocal qualities
when working with others.
1.4 Listen effectively to others.
1.5 Gather information, interpret information, and
appropriately share information with others as a part
of delivering services to clients/consumers.
2. Skill in written communication
The student should be able to:
2.1 Write letters effectively as a means to achieve
predetermined goals.
2.2 Use agency forms to gather data without allowing such
structure to interfere with the interpersonal nature of
the helping relationship.
2.3 Record activities in case records to ensure continuity
of service (if applicable).
2.4 Prepare written work in clear, fluent, and
understandable language.
B. Helping Relationship Skills
3. Skill in use of self
The student should be able to:
3.1 Utilize assertion as a tool for both enhancing
self-development and enacting broader social change.
3.2 Function with self-confidence and self-reliance.
3.3 Accept and act on feedback from others.
3.4 Effectively express oneself appropriate to the
situation, whether formal or informal.
3.5 Recognize one's own limitations.
3.6 Organize time and tasks effectively.
3.7 Deal with ambiguity productively so that structure can
emerge.
3.8 Utilize supervision and consultation with others.
3.9 Function in a leadership capacity when called for.
4. Skill in the problem-solving process
The student should be able to:
4.1 Identify and assess the problem(s).
4.2 Detect the antecedent conditions and causative factors
influencing and maintaining the problem situation.
4.3 Identify available resources, strengths, and
motivations for problem resolution.
4.4 Involve the client/consumer in all phases of the
intervention effort.
4.5 Generate alternative solutions and creative responses
to the identified problems.
4.6 Set goals which can be realistically achieved.
4.7 Identify concrete and action-oriented short-term and
long-term goals with priorities for their achievement.
4.8 Generate a variety of methods and strategies to
successfully accomplish goals.
4.90 Establish a timetable for the work.
4.91 Carry out the activities as planned.
4.92 Coordinate and monitor all facets of the intervention
effort.
4.93 Evaluate service effectiveness.
4.94 Modify service efforts/programs based on evaluation.
5. Skill in working with clients/consumers
The student should be able to:
5.1 Develop a supportive and non-judgmental climate for
facilitating all work with others.
5.2 Engage clients/consumers in a way that demonstrates
great sensitivity to their needs and individual
differences.
5.3 Table one's own biases and agendas when working with
others.
5.4 Maintain flexibility in one's style in order to avoid
alienating any client/consumer (e.g., avoiding talking
over the client's head while at the same time being
cautious about not talking down to them).
5.5 Functioning as an enabler and facilitator in the
growth/change process of others.
5.6 Helping others gain a better understanding of their
situation without diagnosing, labeling, or trying to
uncover "unconscious" motivations.
5.7 Demonstrate sensitivity to one's own and the client's
feelings surrounding the termination of services when
goals have been achieved.
5.8 Plan strategies that will ensure that the achieved
change will remain stable after termination of
services.
5.9 Utilize follow-up as a means for monitoring maintenance
of achieved change.
6. Skill in the use of groups
The student should be able to:
6.1 Use groups as a vehicle to promote individual change.
6.2 Mobilize groups to accomplish tasks which could not be
accomplished by individuals alone.
7. Skill in locating, developing, and/or utilizing resources
The student should be able to:
7.1 Negotiate both formal and informal channels to discover
available resources and the services they perform.
7.2 Utilize formal and informal networks as resources
(i.e., agency-based vs. family support systems or
self-help groups, etc.).
7.3 Refer clients to other resources.
7.4 Develop resources that will address unmet needs in the
community (an example might be to develop a support
network for divorced women).
7.5 Interpret the needs of clients/consumers to established
agencies which might be capable of meeting those needs.
7.6 Identify gaps in services.
8. Analytical skills
The student should be able to:
8.1 Critically assess conditions in the environment
(interpersonal, developmental, social, cultural,
psychological) which contribute to maintenance of the
problems being dealt with.
8.2 Distinguish between fact and distortion of fact
(propaganda, stereo-types, etc.).
8.3 Substantiate conclusions with appropriate and adequate
evidence and data.
8.4 Exercise inductive and deductive thinking.
8.5 Determine what data is needed and how best to collect
it.
8.6 Manage and order data.
8.7 Discover relationships between data.
9. Skills in effecting change
The student should be able to:
9.1 Develop leadership in indigenous populations.
9.2 Productively advocate for others in any way possible
that will serve to better meet their needs (i.e.,
changes in laws and policies, exceptions to laws and
policies, motivate client to exercise her rights,
etc.).
9.3 Reach out to clients who may not have initiated contact
but whose needs have become apparent to the agency.
9.4 Help others by teaching them useful skills (parenting
skills, technical skills, employment skills, etc.).
9.5 Develop community education programs as a means to
effect change.
9.6 Utilize organizational contexts to promote social
change.
9.7 Maximize one's own skills and abilities to be directed
toward change efforts.
Inventory of Attitudinal Objectives
1. Attitudes related to self
The student should work toward:
1.1 Developing confidence in one's own abilities and skills.
1.2 Increasing self-esteem, strengthening self-concept, and
achieving personal power.
1.3 Developing pride in one's work and achievements.
1.4 Receptivity to cooperative work and collective efforts.
1.5 Accepting responsibility for controlling one's own life in
every way possible.
2. Attitudes related to others
The student should work toward:
2.1 Respecting the worth, dignity, and individuality of human
beings.
2.2 Appreciating and being sensitive to the needs of others.
2.3 Valuing the right of others to make their own choices.
2.4 Becoming non-judgmental and able to accept differences in
others with regard to socioeconomic class, race, age, sex,
lifestyle, or sexual preference.
2.5 Investing in trust building between women.
3. Attitudes related to change
The student should work toward:
3.1 Developing a strengthened feminist perspective.
3.2 Realizing the fallacy of fixed and dogmatic precepts for
understanding the condition of women.
3.3 Willingness to revise opinions, judgments, etc., in light of
new evidence.
3.4 Adherence to the conviction that equality for women is a
desirable social reform.
3.5 Commitment to improvement of the condition of women.
Note
Of interest to both service learning instructors and their field
supervisors is "Supervision: A Sharing Process," by Delores M.
Schmidt, Child Welfare, Vol. III(7), July 1973.
NOTE
1. See also, "Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Students Acquire from
Women's Studies: Published Research," in Women's Studies Graduates,
Elaine Reuben and Mary Jo Boehm Strauss, NIE Publications,
September, 1980.
ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE LEARNING: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
AND PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
Nancy Ashton
Evaluative measurement is very important to running an effective
service learning program. I will discuss the process of assessment
by describing two different but related aspects of evaluation:
1. Assessment of each student's field experience and
performance
2. Evaluation of the effectiveness of a service learning
course or program
Evaluation can be tailor-made for individual students and for each
service learning program. In each case, one needs to consider the
following questions:
- What are the purposes of the evaluation?
- What criteria will be used to measure the individual student
or program?
- How will information relevant to the criteria be collected
and analyzed?
- Who will have access to the final evaluation?
Evaluation of Students
The obvious reason for gathering information about a student's
field experience is that she is getting credit and generally, a
grade for the course. But ongoing evaluation feedback should be
provided to the student during her placement so she can improve her
performance if necessary. The evaluation of the student's work
accomplishments, personal development, knowledge and skill is also
helpful in providing the student with some manageable assessment of
what she has learned and accomplished during her field experience.
Finally, material from student evaluations can also be useful in
entire service learning or program.
Learning Goals and Objectives
The process of assessing the performance and experience of students
is fairly easy and straightforward if each step in the process if
followed sequentially.
Step One: The student generates learning goals and objectives in
collaboration with her faculty and placement supervisors. The
objectives should be pedagogically sound, they must relate to some
public (service) need, and they must be individualized to fit each
student's skills and desired goals.
Step Two: A learning contract should be developed that states the
goals, the objective behaviors to be undertaken in working toward
those goals, how and by whom the student will be evaluated, the
criteria to be used, and the time frame involved. To develop the
contract the student will also need a prior analysis of the job at
the particular placement site, an analysis of what knowledge,
skills and attitudes she brings to the field experience and what
she hopes to gain, as well as what the placement sponsors will hold
her responsible for accomplishing (these should all have been
completed at the time of the student-placement matching process).
An example of this contract follows:
Goal Criteria for Behaviors Evaluator
Assessing Growth
_________________________________________________________________________
To write letter Improvement in Writes reports Field and
writing and other faculty
written work supervisors
Be able to Test measuring Studies the Field
understand and knowledge of the law and uses supervisor
use Title IX law it in case
applications
Become more Ratings of student Gives 3-4 pre- Self and
confident in presentations sentations to field
speaking before community supervisor
large groups groups
Feel better Psychological Rewards self Self and
about myself measure of self- for accompli- supervisor
esteem shments, asks
for construct-
ive feedback
To know List appropriate Composes Field
community resources for referral supervisor
resources for women in case booklet
women in crisis studies
__________________________________________________________________
It is important to reiterate that many aspects of the experience
will be evaluated. Service learning is especially distinct from
traditional classroom evaluation of students in that aspects of
learning, in addition to cognitive acquisition (new skills, values
clarification and attitude changes) are assessed. The specific
skills and objectives outlined in the learning contract will also
be stated in the mid-term and final evaluations. Each of the goals
of the learning contract will be evaluated according to the
agreement reached by the three individuals involved: some behaviors
to be evaluated by the placement supervisor, some by the faculty
supervisor, some by the student, and most by some combination of
the participating parties.
Step Three: Conduct a mid-term evaluation to measure the student's
progress. Constructively go over this with her providing a guide
post for her progress. Modify the contract if it seems unworkable.
Step Four: Conduct final evaluation and share it with the student.
Measurement Techniques
Both supervisors can submit `ratings' of the student that either
follow a structured format of specific questions assessing
pertinent attributes, or a more `global overall evaluation.'
Ideally, on-site observations can be made by the faculty supervisor
in addition to the regular monitoring done by the placement
supervisor. The faculty supervisor also meets with the student
periodically on campus for discussions of the field experience.
Meetings can include `co-seminar sessions' and/or individual,
dyadic or small groups (depending on institutional possibilities).
The student herself can provide important data. Possible activities
include: maintaining a `diary or journal' analyzing her performance
and her experiences at the placement, or a series of `critical
incident reports' in which she describes several incidents
throughout the field service experience. These reports should
describe how the student responded in each specific situation and
what she believes she learned or gained from the incident. The
student could also write a lengthy `self-analysis' of her
experiences and/or provide a `report of her accomplishments.' Some
service learning contracts may include `specific products' to be
completed by the student such as reports, self-evaluations, grant
applications, research papers or even examinations covering
pertinent concepts and methods.
Use of `standardized assessment scales' can measure attitude
changes, skill acquisition or accumulated knowledge. For more
information on validated measure see "Women and Women's Issues:
Handbook of Tests and Measurements" by C.A. Beere (Jossey-Bass,
1979) and "Measures of Educational Equity" for Women by K.L.
Williams, B.J. Parks and C.J. Finley (American Institutes for
Research, 1977), and materials available from CAEL, listed among
the Selected Bibliography in this Handbook.
Service Learning Program Evaluation
The second area of evaluation may not seem to be as immediately
relevant or important as the student evaluation, but it is
necessary and advantageous for a number of reasons. Evaluation of
the entire service learning program can be used to determine how
well the goals of the program are being met. Information on the
effectiveness of the program can be used to improve future
programming, to make decisions about modifications of the program
for college administrators, or to justify increased funding and
other institutional resources and support. Thus, there are several
potential audiences for whom the evaluation results may be
available.
`Clearly defined goals' are as necessary for this evaluation
process as they were for the assessment of the students. It is
advisable to set `short-term and long-term objectives' ahead of
time and to set up ways to evaluate each one. All (or at least
many!) aspects of the program should be evaluated, including such
components as: pre-placement orientation and training of students,
the process of student-placement match, satisfaction of placement
agencies, impact on students and, if possible, impact on the
community (such as a client group that the agency serves), adequacy
of supervision, co-seminar experience and perhaps a cost-benefit
assessment.
The program personnel must define measurable goals and objectives
of the entire service learning program, then devise ways to measure
and quantify the activities and outcomes relating to the
objectives, then collect and analyze the necessary information to
assess accomplishment of the goals and objectives and communicate
the results to the appropriate groups and individuals. This
evaluation process must be constructed in line with a given
program's goals and resources.
In addition to an assessment of the actual outcomes in relation to
the planned/hoped-for outcomes, it is also possible to evaluate the
course or program over time in order to analyze the effect of other
structural changes on the service learning component. One can also
use a contrast-group design in which a comparison is made of
service learning students with similar students not involved in the
program.
Some general data sources include `existing records' from the
program, the school and the placement agencies; `information from
the program participants' (students, placement, staff, clients of
the placement agencies, faculty); and `experts' who are brought in
to rate, test or observe the students and the program functioning.
I recommend multiple measures to provide a "rich" evaluation using
many modes of assessment. This will be more helpful to the program
and also allows for the possibility that some measures will
indicate successful attainment of program goals while other
measures may be more ambiguous or may even show failure. Realistic
definition of specific objectives will facilitate valid evaluation
of separate components and goals.
Evaluation of Service Learning Examples:
Objectives Ways to Assess
Increase feminist consciousness Give students one of the feminism
of participating students scales that have been validated.
Could compare their results with
students not in the program.
Train students to be able to Assess student oral or written
support a feminist position presentation of an argument on a
with evidence particular topic
Provide students with Total the number of participating
opportunity to learn job students and summarize the overall
relate skills evaluations (by placement
supervisors) of their job
performance. Follow up students
for future job placements.
Help students see the Have students fill out an
connections between Women's evaluation form.
Studies and social action
The goal-setting phase completes much of the necessary background
work for program evaluation. The choice of measurement indices can
be varied for each individual and program, and these follow
directly from the goals. Once these steps are taken, completion of
evaluation is very easy, and it provides invaluable feedback for
the student and the program.
EVALUATING SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAMS
IN WOMEN'S STUDIES
Ruth B. Ekstrom
Service learning programs in women's studies involve
experiential learning through placement in an organization or
agency that is working for social change for women. Evaluation of
service learning programs in women's studies combines the problems
of evaluating women's studies programs and the problems of
evaluating experiential learning programs.
In this paper I use the term evaluation to mean determining if
and how well the goals of a program have been met. I will
differentiate between two-types of evaluation: (1) formative
evaluation, which is intended to help develop or improve the
program, and (2) summative evaluation, which is intended to judge
the overall effectiveness of the program.
Evaluation Plan: Before evaluation can begin, an evaluation
plan must be developed. This plan should cover the following
questions:
1. What are the purposes of the evaluation?
Examples: Should the program be continued?
Should the program be redefined or priorities
changed?
How effectively is the program operating?
Should personnel/resources be reallocated?
2. What performance standards will be used to determine if the
stated goals have been achieved?
Need to specify criteria and relate them to
objectives.
Need to specify the amount and direction of
change/difference that will be considered as
indicators of success.
3. What information/data will be collected and how?
Need to select or develop instruments.
Need to decide who will provide information.
Need to get cooperation from all who will be
involved.
Need to decide on time schedule and
individuals responsible for data collection.
4. How will the information/data be processed and analyzed?
If more than compiling and summarizing is
involved, analytical procedures must be
selected (assistance from evaluation
specialists may be needed).
5. To whom and how will the evaluation data be reported?
Need to include all involved/interested
individuals--program personnel, other college
staff, students, business and organizations,
funding agencies, other colleges with similar
programs, etc.
Brochures, newsletters, speeches, etc., may be
needed as well as formal reports.
6. How much will the evaluation cost?
Need to set up a budget for all activities.
Purposes of Evaluation: It is important for you to think about
why you are doing the evaluation before you begin to collect any
information. Different kinds of information are needed to answer
different questions. It is also important, at this point, to think
about who will receive the evaluation information. Different kinds
of information are needed if the Women's Studies faculty is
revising the service learning program than if the information must
be presented to the administration or a funding agency to obtain
money for program support.
Goals and Performance Standards: Specifying program goals is
the first step in beginning an evaluation. A process for developing
and ranking goals in women's studies is described in Guttentag et
al. (1979).
Two kinds of goals are involved in service learning: (1) new
knowledge and skills (cognitive goals); and (2) new attitudes,
beliefs, and values (non-cognitive goals). Table 1 shows some
abilities that liberal arts students might acquire in experiential
learning.
Sometimes goal statements for service learning programs have
already been developed as part of learning contracts between the
student and the faculty member supervising the program. Two sample
activity sheets for contract learning are shown in Figure 1.
Learning contracts usually specify: (l) the goal(s) or
objectives(s) of the learning experience; (2) the activities that
will be done as part of this experience; (3) the product that will
be prepared by the learner; (4) the criteria that will be used to
evaluate the product; and (5) the time frame in which the
experience will occur. Such learning contracts are useful because
they help define for the student `why' they are doing the
activities in the service learning experience.
Another form of goal statements is competency lists, such as
the "I Can" lists (Ekstrom, Harris and Lockheed, 1977). An example
of part of one list, for Advocate/Change Agent, is given in Table
2. Although this list was developed to identify prior learning
competencies of adult women who have done volunteer work and
community service, it is equally applicable for defining the goals
of sponsored experiential learning programs for college students.
The next step is to decide what kind of standard you will use
to determine if the goals have been achieved. You may have an
`absolute' standard (the student will be able to do the following
things; the student will achieve a specified test score), a
`growth-based' standard (the student will show an improvement in
ability to do the following things; the student will show an
increase in self- confidence), or a `comparison-based' standard
(the women's studies service learning student will score higher
than similar students who were not enrolled in the program).
Table 1
Some Possible Goals of Service Learning
Cognitive
Ability to:
Analyze quantitative data
Build a conceptual model
Design an experiment or experience
Develop a comprehensive plan
Experiment with new ideas/techniques
Gather facts and information
Generate alternatives
Imagine the implications of an action
Make decisions
Organize information
Set goals
See how things fit into the "big picture"
Test theories and ideas
Noncognitive
Ability to:
Adapt to change
Be personally involved
Be sensitive to people's feelings
Be sensitive to values
Commit oneself to objectives
Deal with people
Influence and lead others
Listen with an open mind
Seek and exploit opportunities
Work in groups
(Adapted from Fry and Kolb (1979))
Table 2
Advocate/Change Agent
Advocacy is an activity on behalf of an individual, a group,
or an issue which is designed to improve conditions, programs, or
services. Advocates working areas such as legal rights, housing,
education, environment, and social welfare and attempt to change or
improve existing conditions.
In carrying out my work as an advocate/change agent, I can:
- Identify areas where change is needed (see `Problem
Surveyor' for related skills )
- Select methods and data which will document the need for
change (see `Researcher' and `Problem Surveyor' for related
skills)
- Define and delimit the basic issues in a problem area
- Demonstrate knowledge of the basic concepts relevant to an
issue in fields such as:
- legal rights (civil and criminal)
- housing and community planning
- education
- environment
- welfare and social services
- Describe the public policy issues relevant to a problem
- Demonstrate knowledge of the processes of change using:
- theoretical model(s)
- real-life examples
- Describe methods which can be used to bring about change
including:
- lobbying
- political campaigns
- public relation
Evaluation Design.
The design is closely related to the goals and standards. An absolute standard
will require only one administration of whatever tests or measures are used;
this will typically be done at the end of the program. A growth-based
standard means that the student must be tested twice, once when
s/he enters the service learning program and again when s/he
finishes it (pre- and post-testing). A comparison based standard
also involves pre- and post-testing of the students in the service
learning program. Tests should also be given, at the same time, to
a similar (comparison) group of students. The comparison group
might be students enrolled in other kinds of field work
experiences, students in other women's studies courses, or students
who are taking other kinds of courses related to the service
learning program (e.g., sociology). Sometimes comparison studies
are done only with a single testing at the end of the program. The
problem with this design is that you cannot tell if the service
learning students and comparison group students were different
before the start of the program.
Kinds of Measurement
There are several different ways to measure the outcomes of experiential
learning. These include:
- Standardized or Existing Tests: The chief advantages are its
ease and that the results can be used to compare the students
with individuals in other schools and colleges. Another
advantage is that the results may be more readily accepted by
people outside of the women's studies program. The chief
disadvantage is that there are few standardized tests
appropriate for evaluating women's studies programs and
service learning. There are three good sources of existing
tests to use in women's studies programs. These are: the
American Institutes for Research's "Sourcebook on Measures of
Women's Educational Equity", their "Measures of Educational
Equity for Women", and Beere's "Women and Women's Issues: A
Handbook of Tests."
- Locally Made Tests: The advantage of this approach is that the
test can be made more specific to the goals of a particular
program. While you may be able to use local tests to compare
women's studies students with other students on your campus,
you rarely can use local tests to make comparisons across
campuses. Another disadvantage of locally made tests is the
time and effort required for test development.
- Demonstrations or Simulations: This involves having the
student show others how s/he does something. A demonstration
involves a real situation (such as watching the student
counsel other women) or a videotape of the real situation. A
simulation involves acting out a situation (asking the student
to show how s/he would counsel for certain hypothetical
problems). In both cases one or more judges or raters are
asked to watch what is being done and to use a rating scale to
indicate the quality of the student's performance.
- Essay/Portfolio/Diary: The chief advantage of this approach is
its individuality and flexibility. However, this also makes it
more difficult to make comparisons across students. If an
essay, portfolio or diary is used, it is important to specify
the expected content and how it will be graded. Essays,
port-folios, and diaries are usually used in a single,
post-test experimental design and are rated against an
absolute standard. Tests and ratings are easier to use in pre-
and post-designs that involve measuring growth or making
comparisons across groups.
Types of Tests and Measures
Most teachers are familiar with the use of multiple-choice tests or essays
to measure knowledge so I will not discuss this here. Instead, I will
concentrate on noncognitive measurement involving attitudes.
There are four methods commonly used in attitude measurement:
- Unobtrusive Measures: This involves obtaining information
without the subjects' awareness. It includes the use of
physical evidence (e.g., which books show the most wear),
archives and records (e.g., who requested counseling), and
observations (e.g., who uses certain tools or exhibits
certain kinds of behavior).
- Ratings by Others: These are used in observations,
demonstrations and simulations. Rating scales are selected
or constructed. These scales help to define the standards
and objectives for the judges. In using ratings by others,
it is important to be sure that all judges are using the
same criteria. One common problem is that judges tend to get
a general impression of the student and mark everything high
("halo effect") or low instead of treating each item on the
rating scale separately. Also, ratings by others may be
invalid if the raters suspect that it may also be used to
rate them (e.g., pupil ratings done by a teacher may be
distorted if the teacher thinks that these ratings may
affect her/his salary).
- Self Report: This is probably the most widely used method of
attitude measurement. The advantage of self-ratings is that
the individual has better insight into her/his own attitudes
than an observer. The chief disadvantage is that the
individual can usually determine the purpose of the
evaluation and make responses that s/he things are expected
rather than what s/he truly believes.
- Disguised Techniques: These involve asking someone to
complete several sentences or a story or to tell a story in
response to a picture. This kind of measure is often
difficult to validate. One common problem is that people
react to parts of the story or picture that were not
intended to be the main stimulus.
Making Your Own Tests and Rating Scales
If you decide to develop your own tests or scales, there are six basic
steps in the process:
1. Develop a test "blueprint." This should be an outline of
all the subject areas or topics to be covered and some kind
of indication of the relative importance of each topic.
2. Decide on the kind(s) of test(s) or test items that you
will use for each area (see the next section for examples)
and write draft items and scales. It is usually wise to
write more items than you need.
3. Review the items and scales (or have someone else review
them) to see that you have covered all the topics in your
"blueprint," that the items and instructions are clear and
easily understood and that there are no errors of fact.
4. Try out the items or scales. Pick a group of people that
are as much as possible like the group who will finally use
the test.
5. Review the test for reliability and validity. Reliability
means that a test measures the same thing consistently;
people who take the test more than once will not get very
different scores unless they have learned more about what
the test measures in the period between the two tests. If
a test has a group of items about a given topic, one way of
measuring reliability is to compare (correlate) scores on
the odd-numbered items with scores on the even-numbered
items. Validity means that a test measures what it is
supposed to measure. This usually involves using some kind
of external criterion standard. For example, a scale of
attitudes toward feminism might be validated by showing
that women who support ERA or who are members of a feminist
group, such as NOW, score higher than women who oppose ERA
or who do not belong to a feminist group. You may also want
to compare each test item or scale with the score on the
entire test or group of tests.
6. Discard items and scales that do not appear to be reliable
or valid or that do not work as you had expected.
Reassemble your final items according to your test
blueprint.
If you do develop your own tests, especially if they work well
for you, it is important for you to share them with others. Be sure
to explain, when you share a test, the kind of program for which it
was designed.
Two of the most commonly used techniques for getting self
ratings or ratings by others are the `Likert-type Scale' and the
`Semantic Differential'.
The Likert scale involves statements which are rated on five
points. (The typical scale is 5 = strongly agree; 4 = agree; 3 =
not sure; 2 = disagree;and 1 = strongly disagree. Some people use
a four point scale and eliminate "not sure" to force people to take
a side.) When writing or selecting statements for a Likert scale,
avoid neutral statements and avoid compound or complex sentences.
Be sure to use both positive and negative statements. Try to vary
the sentence structure but keep the vocabulary understandable.
Sample Likert-type items (taken from the Questionnaire on the
Occupational Status of Women) are:
No man really prefers to have a female boss.
Complete equality for women is unrealistic.
Women need more alternatives for employment than are
currently open to them.
The Semantic Differential is based on a set of bi-polar scales
against which a stimulus is rated. Most Semantic Differential
scales are answered by putting a checkmark somewhere along a seven
point scale. A typical item might be:
Women bosses are:
Good |______|______|______|______|______|______|______| Bad
Strong |______|______|______|______|______|______|______| Weak
Give in |______|______|______|______|______|______|______| Stubborn
Semantic Differentials are relatively easy to construct and to
score. These scales tend to be fairly reliable. However, if the
scales are too long the people taking them tend to get bored. One
author recommends that there be no more than 15 stimuli (such as
"women bosses") and no more than 15 to 20 bi-polar characteristics
(such as good-bad) on which each is rated.
An Example of Evaluation in Women's Studies. One well-known
evaluation in women's studies is Project WELD (Formative Evaluation
Research Associates, 1977). This was a study of internships,
women's studies courses, and skill development classes in eight
schools.
The attributes studied in Project WELD are listed in Table 3.
These attributes were measured by an Experience Inventory, shown in
Table 4.
Table 3
Attributes Evaluated
Assertiveness skills Professional/technical skills
Communication skills Sense of women's historical past
Decision-making skills Sense of women's present
Discrimination-coping skills Your creativity
Feminist perspective Your independence
Leadership skills Your openness to new experiences
New career goals Your personal potential
Personal role models Your professional potential
Professional female Your risk-taking
role models
Professional male Your self-confidence
role models
Table 4
EXPERIENCE INVENTORY
INSTRUCTIONS: Below is a learning inventory of skills and qualities
which students may or may not gain as participants in your program.
This form seeks your assessment of whether opportunities exist for
the development of these skills and qualities and your assessment
of the quality of student experience. If you can think of
additional skills or qualities, please add them at the bottom of
the inventory.
Have the following been
increased or affected | Traditional |
by your experience in: | Curriculum |
| |
|Yes Quality* No| |Yes Quality* No|
-----------------------------|---------------|---|---------------|
| |Sense of women's | | | | | | | |
| |historical past | | | | | | | |
| |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Sense of women's present | | | | | | | |
|I |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|D |Feminist perspective | | | | | | | |
|E |Professional female | | | | | | | |
|A |role models | | | | | | | |
|S |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Professional male | | | | | | | |
| |role models | | | | | | | |
| |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Personal role models | | | | | | | |
-----------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |New career goals | | | | | | | |
| |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Assertiveness skills | | | | | | | |
| |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|S |Leadership skills | | | | | | | |
|K |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|I |Communication skills | | | | | | | |
|L |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|L |Decision-making skills | | | | | | | |
|S |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Professional/technical | | | | | | | |
| |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Discrimination coping | | | | | | | |
| |skills | | | | | | | |
-----------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Your self-confidence | | | | | | | |
| |-----------------------------|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Your independence | | | | | | | |
|A |-----------------------------|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|T |Your risk-taking | | | | | | | |
|T |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|I |Your openness to new | | | | | | | |
|T |experiences | | | | | | | |
|U |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|D |Your creativity | | | | | | | |
|E |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
|S |Your personal potential | | | | | | | |
| |-------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Your professional | | | | | | | |
| |potential | | | | | | | |
-----------------------------|---|-------|---|---|---|-------|---|
| |Other | | | | | | | |
| |Other | | | | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------
*Quality Scale: 5 = Excellent 3 = Good 1 = Poor
4 = Very Good 2 = Fair 0 = Not Applicable
In addition to completing the experience inventory, the WELD
students were asked to list the strengths and weaknesses of the
program, to list ways in which the program could be improved, to
rate their satisfaction with the program, to rate the impact that
the program had on them, and to compare the program's impact with
the rest of their educational experience.
Data Collection and Analysis
Sometimes available information (from existing tests and records)
can be used instead of collecting data for evaluation. The chief
advantage of using available data is that it is easy to do. However,
there are also problems. Available data may not be complete or it may
vary so much from one type of placement to another that meaningful
comparisons are impossible.
Once you have developed or selected the tests and other data
collection instruments (such as questionnaires), you must decide
who will provide the data. It is not always necessary to obtain all
information from all students, especially if large numbers of
students or several colleges are involved. In evaluating a small
program in a single college, however, it is probably wisest to
collect information from all program participants. Project WELD
compared students in three kinds of programs in eight schools. To
do this they selected a random sample of 270 students who had been
involved in each kind of program; each of these students completed
a questionnaire. In addition, the project obtained information from
50 faculty members and from 25 intern employers.
Interviews can be used instead of questionnaires if you are
dealing with a relatively small group of students. Interviews are
especially helpful informative evaluation where you may not always
know all the possible answers. In addition, people are often more
comfortable in confiding sensitive information to an interviewer
than they would be in writing it down on a questionnaire. Also, an
interviewer can ask additional, follow-up questions depending on a
previous response.
Data analysis in an evaluation does not have to be
complicated. In Project WELD, the analysis included the percentage
of students in each program answering "Yes" to each attribute item
on the Experience Inventory, the average quality rating for each
attribute item in each of the three programs, the percentage of
students giving each impact rating, and the percentage of students
giving each satisfaction rating. In addition, the number and
percentage of students suggesting specific types of program
improvements or additions was shown. Computations showing the
significance of the differences between percentages and average
ratings of programs is sometimes used in evaluations.
If you want to try some more elaborate data analysis
techniques, you will find books like Anderson, Ball and Murphy's
Encyclopedia of Educational Evaluation or Guttentag and Struening's
Handbook of Evaluation Research helpful.
Evaluation data should be reported in such a way that it is
impossible to identify a given individual. Many evaluations also
combine data so that a given course, placement or school cannot be
identified.
Reporting Data
The information from the evaluation should be shared with others.
Just who these people are depends on the purpose of your evaluation.
Typically, all of the individuals involved in the women's studies
service learning program (students, faculty, and agencies/organizations
providing the placements) will be given a copy of the evaluation report.
In addition, copies (sometimes shortened, edited, "executive summary"
versions) may also be sent to deans and other administrators. If the service
learning program has been supported by funds from the institution,
Federal or State programs, or a foundation, these people should
also share the information. Evaluation information is, indeed,
often required when a program has received Federal money. Finally,
it is important that you share your evaluation instruments and
outcomes with other women's studies service learning programs.
References and Resources
American Institutes for Research. Sourcebook on Measures of Women's
Educational Equity. Palo Alto, CA: American Institutes for
Research, 1979.
Anderson, S.B.; Ball, S.; and Murphy, R.T. Encyclopedia of
Educational Evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975.
Beere, C.A. Women and Women's Issues: A Handbook of Tests. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1979.
Bose, C. E., and Priest-Jones, J. The Relationship Between Women's
Studies,Career Development, and Vocational Choice. Washington,
D.C.: National Institute of Education, in press.
Ekstrom, R.B; Harris, A.M.; and Lockheed, M.E. How to Get College
Credit for What You Have Learned as a Homemaker and Volunteer.
Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service, 1977, 1979.
Formative Evaluation Research Associates, Inc. Project WELD:
Women's education:Learning and Doing. Ann Arbor, Ml: FERA,
1977.
Fry, R., and Kold, D. Experiential learning theory and learning
experience in the liberal arts. New Directions in Experiential
Learning, 1979, 6, 79-92.
Guttentag, M., and Struening, E.L. (Eds.), Handbook of Evaluation
Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1975.
Guttentag, M.; Brush, L.R.; Gold, A.R.; Mueller, M.W.; Tobias, S.;
and White, W. Evaluating women's studies: A
decision-theoretical approach. Signs, 1979,3(4), 884-890.
Millsap, M.A.; Bagenstos, N.T.; and Talburtt, M. Women's Studies
Evaluation Handbook. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of
Education, 1979.
National Student Volunteer Program. Evaluating Service-Learning
Programs.Washington, D.C.: ACTION, 1978. (Pamphlet No. 4300.7)
Sackmary, B., and Hendrick, H. Assessment of the experiential
learning of women for college credit in the area of women's
studies. Paper presented to the National Conference, Council
for the Advancement of Experiential Learning, San Francisco,
October 1977. (ED 155 208)
Williams K.L.; Parks, B.J. and Finey, C.J. Measures of Educational
Equity for Women: A Research Monograph. Palo Alto, CA:
American Institutes for Research, 1977.
Chapter 4: RESOURCES
A VARIETY OF COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:
WOMEN'S STUDIES FIELD EXPERIENCE
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Women's Studies C75:
Internship in Women's Services
In this course, students interested in women's studies can explore
the world of women's organizations and women's advocacy groups in
the Chicago area through field research and practical work
experience. Students will be expected to work a minimum of eight
hours per week in their placements and to meet biweekly with the
instructor and the other interns for discussions of common readings
and their internship experience. A final paper analyzing the
organization in which the intern works is also required. Enrollment
limited to ten. Prerequisite: at least one course in women's
studies, preferably Women's Studies B30-1, 2.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE
G. St. 345 A
Community Fieldwork: Social Services
Second half of a hyphenated series; G. St. 344-355,
interdisciplinary seminar-fieldwork course in the social service
area. Students will do counseling in mental health clinics, work
with physically handicapped persons, youth centers and other
service agencies. The course is divided into 2 parts--3 credits of
fieldwork (9 hours per week) and 2 credits of seminar. To receive
credit as a course relevant to Women Studies, students must do
fieldwork in an area concerning women. See Women Studies advisor
for further information. A maximum of 20 credits in G. St. 350 and
340-349 series together may be counted toward a degree in Arts and
Sciences. This is a two quarter commitment. Prerequisites:
Permission and entry cards required from the GIS office, see Women
Studies advisor first; 5 credits; Time: Tues. 1:30.
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM ---- FIELD PLACEMENT ---- 3 CREDITS
By Appointment
Special permission is required for this opportunity to extend your
academic training to a practical work experience. A request for
field placement implies that you have gained some expertise in an
area you wish to explore in a work situation. Applicants must: be
3rd year students in good standing; have completed two courses in
women's studies and four courses relevant to the field placement;
and plan to work a minimum of six hours in an appropriate agency.
A preliminary proposal should be submitted, with a women's studies
application form, in the term prior to registering for the course,
and this must be approved by both the Women's Studies faculty
sponsor and the agency supervisor. Students will be required to
meet regularly with the faculty sponsor during the term and will be
expected to produce a 15-page final report relating their field
experience to their academic training. Grading is based on
placement performance as rated by the agency supervisor and the
quality of the final report.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
DOUGLASS COLLEGE
WOMEN'S STUDIES
988:490 SEMINAR: WOMEN AND CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS (4)
Prerequisite 988: 201
Open to seniors enrolled for Women's Studies
Certificate;
others by permission of Women's Studies Director
Seminar 3 hours: internship or advanced research
This seminar involves either an internship in a community
organization or agency or an advanced research project. Students
meet weekly to discuss assigned reading, research, and internship
experience.
All Douglass College Women's Studies Certificate students are
required to take this upper level seminar subtitled "Women
Organizing for Change." It involves a field work type experience
chosen by the student. The list of papers done in last spring's
seminar is below.
An Inquiry with the Effectiveness, Safety and Potential
Hazards of Over-the-Counter Pharmaceuticals (Johnson &
Johnson, Squibb)
Women's Resource and Survival Center: Analysis of an
Organization (Monmouth County)
Organizing for Change: The Woman Journalist
Volunteer at Middlesex County Battered Women's Shelter
Analysis of the New Brunswick Free Medical Clinic
The Hammond House
Organizing Experiences at the Center for the American Woman in
Politics and Women in Politics Workshop (Eagleton Inst.)
Organizing a Film Program for International Women's Day
56 Place - Pre-selection Training
Critique of New Brunswick Planned Parenthood
Sexuality and Birth Control
An Evaluation of the Women's Studies Department at Douglass
College
The Women Helping Women Shelter for Battered Women
Battered Women's Shelter - Keyport, New York
Douglass Feminist Collective - Action Against Rape
Peer Counseling - Gatehouse Drop-In Center
Self-Awareness Discussion with South Brunswick High School
Girls
Women Organizing for Fun - 1st Annual WOFF Picnic
C.S. MOTT COMMUNITY COLLEGE
FLINT, MICHIGAN
WOMEN'S STUDIES/SOCIAL SCIENCE DIVISION
Women's Studies 119, Field Work
3 Credits
Prerequisites: Permission of the Instructor
This course provides the individual student with practical
experience directly related to his/her personal educational
and occupational goals. In consultation with the instructor,
the student selects an agency, business setting or
organization in which to complete a project and obtain skills
relating to women's studies.
Procedures and Requirements:
Each student meets individually with the instructor to plan
his/her field work placement. An agency is selected, and the
student, instructor and agency representative meet to arrange
the student's program.
- Student and agency arrange for the student to work in the
agency for at least 10 hours per week.
- Student, agency and instructor select and plan a project
that the student can accomplish during the placement.
All students in the course meet for a one hour per week
seminar to exchange experiences and learnings in their various
settings.
In cooperation with instructor and agency, outside visits or
readings are assigned to help the student complete the
project.
Objectives:
- To assist the student in acquiring skills in working with
women in a business or agency setting.
- To provide information in depth in the student's particular
area of interest.
- To acquire skills in independent study doing bibliographies
of resources, learning community resources for women, and/or
skills in being a helping agent for women.
- To learn about other agencies and interests by attending
seminar meetings.
Since this course is totally individualized, a variety of
different teaching materials will be employed. For some
students, materials available in the instructional media
center will be used. In some cases, there are community
resources available--e.g., speakers, conferences, etc.--that
will be included in the student's program. There are also
numerous books and periodicals in the field of women's studies
available in the library.
Evaluation:
- Students will be required to keep a journal of their field
work experience. This journal will include information about
what they are doing, a log of the time spent in the agency,
and an annotated bibliography of readings and media or
speakers.
- Each student will write a final report on his/her project.
- Each student will write an initial statement of goals for
the placement, and a final self evaluation of the
experience.
Relevance to the Student and College:
Required for the completion of the Certificate of Achievement
in Women's Studies, "Field Work" provides the student with an
opportunity to explore knowledge in the area to a practical
situation. It also gives each student information about
services available for women in this community, and experience
dealing with problems that are unique to women. This course is
designed to be a complement to the more theoretical offerings
in the other women's studies courses. "Field Work" will be
reviewed after it has been offered two semesters. It has been
tried on a seminar basis during Fall 1979, and has already
been subjected to an initial review.
Effect on Existing College Arrangements:
- Faculty are currently available to teach this course.
- A variety of teaching materials are available in the IMS and
the College library. In addition, students have access to
the materials and library at the Everywoman's Center in
Flint.
- There is no overlap with other courses.
- There would be no change in other courses.
- Implementation data: Fall 1980.
THE PROGRAM ON WOMEN
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS 60201
INTERNSHIP IN WOMEN'S SERVICES
The Program on Women at Northwestern University offers its
Internship in Women's Services as part of a diverse university
offering in Women's Studies. The internship program, administered by
the Director of the Program on Women, fills an important place in
the curriculum by responding to the question of what an
undergraduate can "do with" a concentration in Women's Studies. The
internship is designed to introduce undergraduates to the variety
and rewards of professional work with women's organizations and
women's advocacy groups.
Students enrolled in the internship program must be in their
sophomore year or beyond, must have classroom experience in Women's
Studies, and must display active interest in professional careers
in fields related to women's issues. As an indication of their
interest in this work, they are responsible for doing initial
research on available organizations which fit their interests and
making those choices known to the instructor for the course.
The course currently carries one academic credit per ten-week
quarter. Students are therefore expected to work, at a minimum,
eight hours per week in their chosen placement. They will also meet
bi-weekly with the instructor to compare their experiences and
develop some working hypotheses about the special problems and
challenges faced by women's organizations.
At the end of the term, each student will prepare a relatively
brief paper analyzing the organization in which s/he interned. The
paper will include descriptions of the sponsoring organization's
goals, its day-to-day activities, funding problems, special
interactional styles, and its directions for future development.
That paper will account for one-third of the student's grade in the
course. One-third will depend on participation in the bi-weekly
discussions, and the last third will depend on a report from the
student's supervisor to the course instructor. That report will
include such matters as industry, initiative, cooperativeness, and
general performance in assigned tasks.
The internship program is designed to introduce students as fully
as possible to the total workings of the organizations in which
they work. Supervisors are therefore requested to urge the student
to gain as much varied experience as possible, perhaps working in
several areas of the organization's activities. It is also
important that the student be encouraged to take on as much
responsibility as is consistent with the smooth functioning of the
organization.
The Program on Women is grateful to the organizations who agree to
receive its interns. The staff of the Program will be glad to hear
about problems as they develop, and to take whatever corrective
actions may be necessary. It is our best hope that the internship
be a valuable and rewarding experience for both student and
sponsoring organization.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
KRESGE COLLEGE
WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Criteria for selection of organizations and interns for the
Internship Program sponsored by Women's Studies.
I. Criteria for Organizations: Groups accepted by the
Internship Task Force and approved by the Collective for
placement of student interns ...
1. shall provide the opportunity for the student to expand
her or his knowledge, understanding and awareness of
woman from a variety of socio-economic, racial and/or
cultural backgrounds.
2. shall be concerned with problems of social inequities in
both its goals and activities, particularly those
affecting women in this society.
3. shall have clear and viable mechanisms whereby the
individuals served by the program are able to have
significant input into the program, and shall be
attempting to understand and articulate the needs of
these individuals.
4. shall be sympathetic to the goals and objectives of the
Women's Studies Collective and its Internship Program.
5. shall be non-profit and direct-service oriented, have a
need for volunteers and a mechanism for integrating them
into the program on a useful and meaningful level of
involvement, given the five limits within which the
intern will remain in the program.
II. Minimum Eligibility for Student Interns:
1. Participation in the Women's Studies Collective at
least one quarter prior to internship, or during the
quarter of internship.
2. Commitment to work in the Internship Task Force (one
meeting per week) during the field study and to
consider continuing in the Task Force for at least one
quarter after the internship.
III. Internship Task Force - Organization and Function:
1. Meets on a weekly basis.
2. Maintains contact with participating groups:
a. has one contact person--a member of the Task
Force--responsible to each organization (not the
person who is doing field study in that group)
b. there will be a person in each group or
organization who will maintain contact with the
intern and with the Task Force and who will act as
the contact person for that group
c. the contact person from the Task Force will
maintain communication with the contact person from
the group or organization
3. The faculty sponsor, in consultation with the
Internship Task Force, will write a final evaluation
of the intern based on evaluation from the
organization and intern's self-evaluation.
4. Each quarter, the Task Force will select the groups
and the number of students to participate in the
program for the next quarter, subject to the approval
of the Collective.
5. The Internship Task Force will provide applications to
all interested students, and will interview them. The
applicant will also be interviewed by the prospective
group. The final selection will be made by the
Internship Task Force on the basis of the interview
and application.
6. There will be an orientation for all prospective
applicants the quarter preceding the internship. At
this time applications will be distributed and will be
due the second day of instruction. Interviews will be
conducted the first week of school and interns will
start their work the second week.
IV. Requirements for Interns:
1. Be active members of the Internship Task Force and
attend its meeting once a week. The meetings will be a
place to share experiences, discuss related readings,
and organize the program.
2. Work in the organization at least ten hours a week.
3. Read general materials on field study work suggested by
the Task Force as well as books or articles specific to
the interest or direction of the organization.
4. Keep a journal, write an evaluation of, or give a
presentation on the field experience which will be
available to the Women's Studies Collective on a
permanent basis.
5. Write a short self-evaluation.
6. Organize an experience-sharing meeting with incoming
interns.
LORETTO HEIGHTS COLLEGE
WS 463: Practicum in Women Studies, 2-6 credits, required of all
minors
The student, in conjunction with the Director of the Women Studies
Minor, selects an internship which is congruent with her/his Women
Studies Minor and/or with personal and career goals. The student
receives one hour of credit for each 32 hours of practicum
experience with a satisfactory rating from the Practicum Supervisor
and the Director of the Women Studies Minor (faculty advisor). In
addition to the internship and the Practicum Supervisor's
evaluation, credit requires some written work--a journal or paper,
which must be evaluated by the academic advisor. Work must relate
clearly to Women Studies and must be substantive. A file of
internship possibilities is available in the Research Center on
Women, and the Director of the Research Center/Women Studies Minor
is responsible for locating appropriate placements. Prerequisite:
Permission of Instructor.
WS 451: Independent Study in Women's Studies, 2-6 credits. Directed
research and reading.
Placement Procedures
I. Establishing the Placement
A. Student contacts Instructor and discusses goals for
placement, including skill development, career
exploration, experience of feminist agency, commitment to
particular issues, previous experience, etc. Student
indicates interest in general area and/or particular
placement.
B. Instructor contacts agency or feminist contact and
inquires about the need for an intern, kinds of work
available, etc. If a new placement site, explains goals
of practicum, responsibilities of interns and
supervisors, etc. Describes student's experience,
learning goals, etc.
C. Student initiates meeting with potential supervisor(s).
When agency and student agree to placement, they contract
regarding hours and times committed, student learning
goals, type of work to be performed, feedback and
supervisory sessions, criteria on which student is to be
evaluated, relation to rest of agency, etc. Contract is
open to renegotiation.
D. Student contracts with Instructor for independent study
to accompany internship. Terms of contract generally
include:
1. Number of hours to work. Credit is assigned on the
basis of 2.5 hours of work for a sixteen week semester
per credit, or roughly 40 hours of work per credit.
2. Student's learning goals for practicum, including
specific work skills, interpersonal skills, knowledge of
feminist agency or issue, analytic questions to explore,
etc.
3. Written work, usually including a journal or log,
responses to reading, brief written assignments designed
to analyze some portion of the work experience, and a
final evaluation of the experience and the learning it
encouraged.
II. The Placement
Student performs ongoing work and receives supervision at the
work place. Academic instructor telephones placement
supervisor at least twice during the term to see how the
intern is doing, and is available to help negotiate issues
between intern and supervisor if necessary; generally, intern
is encouraged to negotiate for herself.
III. Processing the Placement
A. Student and Instructor meet for an hour roughly every 2-4
weeks, depending on student need and on Instructor's
sense of how much direction is necessary for the student.
Discuss the work, encourage student to develop analyses
of work situation and/or feminist issues, and to develop
supports for whatever emotional turmoil may result from
stressful placements, like rape counseling.
B. Encourage new insights through: responses to journal.
conversation, assigned reading, work observation
exercises.
C. Evaluation. Grade assigned by academic instructor on
basis of her evaluation of academic component, placement
supervisor's evaluation of intern (in both cases taking
into account intern's goals and previously-contracted-for
evaluation criteria), and taking into account student's
self-evaluation as reflected in conversation and in final
paper.
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
HAYWARD
Sociology DGS 3920
Fieldwork in Women's Agencies
Purpose of the Course
The purpose of the course is to give students field work experience
in an agency or organization providing services to women, to
provide a classroom forum for fieldwork students to discuss their
fieldwork experiences, and to give an overview and analysis of some
services for women available in the Bay Area.
Completing the course requirements explained below will result in
a grade of CREDIT. The four units of credit will carry the course
designation, Sociology or Women's Studies. The ramifications of the
course designation for receiving units in your major, minor, or
upper division general education are too complicated to explain
here. Consult with me and/or your major advisor in making your
choice.
Course Requirements
1. Attend these Thursday class meetings from 12:00-1:50: Sept.
27, Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25, Nov. 1, 8, 15, 29, Dec. 6, and
Tuesday, Dec. 11.
2. Be prepared to actively discuss your fieldwork experiences
and your agency in class meetings.
3. Do 4 hours of fieldwork per week or a total of at least 44
hours of fieldwork completed between Sept. 27 and Dec. 11
in an agency that you, the agency, and the professor have
agreed upon.
4. Prepare a journal wherein you record the following
information about each fieldwork session:
a. Date
b. Time in, time out
c. Name of supervisor
d. Describe the work you did.
e. Tell what you learned from the work.
f. Tell what you learned about the agency.
5. Turn in your journal for grading (typed or neatly hand
written) on Oct. 25 and Dec. 11. (You can have the journal
back after Dec. 13. It's something you should keep for
future reference and to show to prospective employers.)
Fieldwork Instructions
1. Select an agency assignment as quickly as possible.
2. Notify me of your selection before contacting the agency.
3. Contact the agency and clarify your commitment and your
duties with them.
4. Complete the Fieldwork Contract in triplicate. Keep a copy
for yourself. Give one to me. Give one to the agency.
5. Fulfill your Fieldwork Contract with the agency and the
course requirements previously stated.
Fieldwork Guidelines
If your fieldwork placement is not working out for you or the
agency, you must see me promptly about rewriting your contract or
substituting another fieldwork placement. Nothing will be lost if
you ask for a different fieldwork assignment as you will be
credited for fieldwork already done.
Follow these common-sense guidelines for agency work: Even if
asked, don't provide a service that you don't feel that you are
adequately trained or qualified to give; don't provide a service
that makes you morally or ethically uncomfortable; don't do
anything illegal; avoid situations which might bring personal harm
to you or others.
Additional Course Credit
Some agencies require a commitment of 6 months or longer. This is
because they invest a great deal of time in training you and they
want it to pay off for the agency.
If you can use the additional units for agency work, then think
about making a 6-month commitment. If this course is not offered
Winter Quarter, I promise to work with you on an individual study
basis for Sociology or Women's Studies units.
It is also possible to receive Psychology units for Winter Quarter
field-work through Psychology 4430, Psychology in the Community.
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
HAYWARD
FIELDWORK CONTRACT, SOCIOLOGY 3920
In partial fulfillment of the course requirements of Sociology
3920, Fieldwork in Women's Agencies, I promise to volunteer
approximately _____ hours a week for ____ weeks at (name) _____
_______________ (address) _____________________________________,
(phone of agency) _______________________ doing (specify volunteer
activities) ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
under agency supervision of (name of supervisor(s)) ____________
________________________________________________________________
This contract is voidable if the student volunteer and/or the
agency express a desire to void it.
______________________________
Signature of Student Volunteer
______________________________
Signature of Agency Supervisor
_____________________
Signature of Professor
Please sign three copies
Distribution: Student
Agency
Professor
WOMEN'S STUDIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Storrs, Connecticut 06268
Box U-181 Tel 436-3970
WOMEN'S SEMESTER
One of the most important aspects of Women's Studies is its
insistence that the separation of university ("learning") and the
community ("experience") is an arbitrary one and that the most
productive educational processes combine didactic and experiential
learning. Women's Semester enables students to expand their
university education with actual work experience and, at the same
time, to enrich their work experience by bringing to it theoretical
knowledge gained in the classroom.
Each term, a limited number of students may earn 12 credits in field
placements with organizations that deal with women's issues or with
a woman in a non-traditional field or in a position whose duties
include administration, policy making, and/or research.
Requirements: 18 hours a week of unpaid field work; 9 hours per
week of library work or research; and a weekly 3-hour seminar in
which students, through lectures, discussion, and readings, explore
the academic side their chosen fields. Prerequisite: one women's
studies course, preferably Introduction to Women's Studies (INTDL
102). Enrollment limit: 10 students per semester. Minimum semester
standing: 5.
Field work includes 18 hours per week for 13 weeks in a field
placement and 9 hours per week research and library work. A report
of research and work will be accepted in the form of a placement
background report, a log and journal which summarize and analyze
day-to-day activities in the field, a field work project, and a
final report. Field supervisors are asked to take an active role in
structuring the project in order to insure that the work and the
reports will be useful to the placement as well as fulfilling
university requirements.
Field placements might include, for example, working at a family
planning clinic, a rape crisis center, an insurance company, or the
Permanent Commission on the Status of Women; as an aide to a women
legislator or an intern to the state personnel director; or in
association with a self-employed woman. Students are expected and
encouraged to engage in independent work activity and to serve in
an active, significant, and responsible pre-professional role in
the placement. Field and research projects should fill the needs
and objectives of both the field placement and the course; both
students and placements or supervisors, then, should benefit from
this program.
Through lectures, discussion, assigned readings, and research
projects, the seminar enables students to explore issues of special
concern to women, with an emphasis on theoretical and concrete
responses to these issues. Some areas of concern include violence
against women, women and the law, racism, feminist therapy,
unionization, and women and the arts. For the seminar, students
must write midterm and final exams and a research paper. In
addition, part of the weekly meeting time is devoted to providing
support for students as they consider these issues and as they do
their field work.
Students must have permission from their major academic advisor in
order to register for Women's Semester. Field supervision is
conducted by a committee that includes the Women's Semester field
placement coordinator, the Director of the Women's Studies Program
the major advisor, and the Placement Supervisor. Students are
expected to maintain contact with each member of the committee.
Although the final evaluation of a student's work is determined by
the Women's Semester field placement coordinator, the opinions,
suggestions and comments of the committee members weigh heavily in
the evaluation process.
Three forms have been designed for use in evaluating students
during the semester. Form A is a work plan for the semester. It is
suggested that the student and the supervisory committee work
together in the formulation of this plan. Placement supervisors and
the students also complete an assessment (Forms B1 and B2) of
students' progress toward their stated goals at midsemester. During
the final week of the semester, supervisors will be asked to
complete Form C in order to evaluate students' work and their
success in assessing and dealing with women's issues in the field.
The student also writes a final report. These evaluations from
students, supervisors, and the seminar instructor are submitted to
the field placement coordinator for the final grade.
Women's Semester provides an opportunity for students not only to
gain significant job experience before graduation, but also to
engage in action which might help solve some of the many problems
women face. For further information, contact Women's Studies
Program, Box U-181, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268,
(203) 486-2186.
University of Connecticut
Women's Semester
Intd. 260
Schedule for Field Placement Responsibilities (Co-seminar
assignments are listed in a separate syllabus)
Sept. 3 Introduction
10 Form A due
17 Background paper
24 Project proposal
Oct. 1 Log, journal review
15 Lunch project
22 Forms B1 and B2 due
Nov. 12 Resume due, log, journal review
26, 27, 28 Vacation
Dec. 3 Field project due
10 Final evaluation, Form C, log, and journal
You are responsible for working 18 hours per week for 13 weeks on
a schedule arranged with your field supervisor. For some
placements, you may work longer some weeks and less others. Field
work must total 234 hours. You must make specific arrangements in
advance for how to notify your field supervisor if you will be late
or unable to work on a scheduled day. You are not required to work
on those days which are official holidays at your placement (e.g.,
state holidays,snows).
Description of Written Work
Forms A, B1, B2, and C: are self-explanatory. You will, of course,
consult with your supervisor when completing Form A, and an
evaluative conference at midterm probably will be helpful for both
of you.
Background paper: 2-3 pages in which you describe the following
about the organization you work for (adapt according to your
individual placement): history, structure, funding source(s). What
people will you be working with and how do they fit into the
structure (be specific--names, titles, responsibilities, etc.)?
What is your position within the organization? Provide as much
detail as possible.
Field Work Project: A specific project at your placement on which
you focus your energies. This project should provide some
substantial contribution to the organization you work for, but need
not be your sole occupation. Some examples: a local referral file
for a battered women's shelter. a special research project for an
agency, a single mother's support group through an agency that
works with children, a task force on a special women's issue for an
organization (e.g., women's health). The proposal should describe
the project, its purpose, its value to the organization, the
method(s) you will use to complete it, and a tentative time table
for completion. When you submit the project at the end of term,
write a description of how you went about doing it and what you
think are its values and shortcomings. If the project itself is not
written (e.g., organizing a support group), write a full
description of the project.
Field Work Log: A straightforward, daily account of the work you
do, including a tally of hours at the end of each week. Indicate
what tasks you perform each day and include, for example, summaries
of conferences with your supervisor or other workers, or minutes of
meetings you attend. Anyone who looks at this log should have a
clear idea of what you do at your placement. This log is submitted
to the academic supervisor and a copy may be turned over to the
placement for their records. Your field supervisor will take this
log into account for your final evaluation.
Journal: Should provide an ongoing account of your field work and
your `analysis' and `evaluation' of it. This is the place where you
record what you are thinking about your field work, e.g., your
analysis of relationships, your own position within the
organization (perhaps how that is changing), day to day problems
and triumphs, your discontent and/or pleasure with the placement.
Don't simply say, "I learned a lot today;" describe specifically
what you learned and how you learned it. Don't say, "The meeting
went well;" summarize the meeting and analyze why it was successful
(or a waste of time). Don't simply say, "I really admire X person;"
try to sort out what it is about that person you respect. `Use'
this journal to try to sort through any problems you are having, to
record your observations of the organization. Be as detailed as
possible. This record will be important to you at the end of term
when you write your final evaluation because you will be able to
see in it your own progress during the semester, supported with
specific examples. The academic supervisor will read both the log
and the journal twice during the term and again at the end of the
semester. The log and journal together should provide a substantial
account of your semester's work. It is not enough simply to put in
your eighteen hours a week. You must be accountable for that time
and provide some analysis and evaluation of that experience.
Resume: A formal resume in which you make full use of your field
work. We will discuss the construction of resumes during the term.
Final evaluation: A report in which you first describe your work
during the semester (tasks, responsibilities) and, second,
summarize what you have learned: did you reach the goals you set
initially? How? Did you alter those original goals? What kinds of
insights into your academic program has this experience provided,
or how does Women's Semester "fit" into the rest of your college
education? What did you learn about women's issues or the women's
movement? The third section should be an evaluation of the
placement itself. Would you recommend it to other students? Did you
find your field supervisor helpful? What was of most value to you?
What was of least value or the greatest source of distress? How
could your field experience have been improved?
University of Connecticut
Women's Seminar
Fall 1980
Text: Adrienne Rich, "On Lies, Secrets, and Silence"
Other Readings to be distributed
Course Description: Women's Seminar is a course designed to provide
some of the factual information and emotional support
students need as they consider sexism in the society and
begin to make political, professional and personal
decisions regarding feminist issues.
Each semester, I find developing the syllabus for the course
becomes harder. What I try to do is develop a blend of
factual learning and personal consciousness-raising. To
achieve the former, a preplanned outline of topics seems
required. To achieve the latter, there must be room for
people to examine where they are and where their own
questioning leads them. My solution, this time, is to
suggest an outline of topics and to remain flexible and
ready to continue or omit any topic according to my own and
students' sense of what we want. Readings are suggested for
the first several weeks and others will be added as the
semester goes on.
Course Requirements: Attendance: If unable to be at any session,
please leave the instructors a message saying so....What you
learn and how you change is up to you, but we will grade you
Disinterested if you cut classes.
Paper: Research a particular aspect of feminist activity.
Your paper should define a problem, outline historical
attempts to solve the problem, and present a proposal for
present and/or future activity. Please include something
about the reason for your interest in the problem and your
plan for a personal contribution to its solution, as well as
evidence of your familiarity with the relevant literature.
Your topic may or may not be related to the activity you
focus on in your field placement project. If it is that
activity, your project and research paper may be combined.
Otherwise, this will be a separate research paper.
The University of Connecticut
Women's Semester
Intd. 260
Field Placement: Form A
(Please print or type)
I. Student's Name ________________________________________________
Local Address _________________________________________________
City, State ________________Zip__________Phone_________________
Other (or permanent) Address __________________________________
City, State ________________Zip__________Phone_________________
Major ____________________Major Advisor________________________
Semester Standing ________________As of________________________
II. Placement with _______________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________
City, State________________Zip___________Phone________________
On-site Supervisor____________________________________________
Title or Position_____________________________________________
III. Description of Proposed Work (use additional sheets, if
necessary):
IV. Manner and Criteria for Evaluation (e.g., weekly meetings,
written reports, etc. Please be specific):
V. Women's Semester qualifies for_______hours major credit,
hours related credit,_______other (explain).
VI. 1. Student's personal goals for the semester:
2. How will Women's Semester contribute to your academic or
career goals?
3. In what way(s) will this placement help you to analyze and
deal with women's issues?
VII. Field Work Tasks (in order of priority):
VIII. Brief description of Placement Project:
IX. Work Schedule/Time Allocation. Please indicate work location
and times for regular meetings, tasks:
Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
___________________________________________________
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
X. Check off the following skill areas in which you are gaining
experience through your field work. Describe the specific skills
and tasks to which they relate:
( ) Counseling Skills (interviewing, therapy, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Research Skills (legal research, writing skills, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Community Organization Skills (advocacy, calling and/or
chairing meetings, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Technical Medical Skills (lab work, medical tests, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Grant Writing
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Lobbying
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Public Relations
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Administrative Skills (Leadership positions, planning,
involvement in setting policy)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Communication Skills
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Business Skills (budgeting, bookkeeping, management)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
( ) Other
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
XI. Approval Signatures
______________________________________ Date __________________
Student
______________________________________ Date __________________
Field Work Supervisor Position
______________________________________ Date __________________
Major Advisor Department
______________________________________ Date __________________
Women's Semester Coordinator
Women's Semester
Intd. 260
Midterm Evaluation -- Form Bl
To be completed by on-site supervisor
Student Name_______________________________________________________
Supervisor_________________________________________________________
Placement__________________________________________________________
Please assess the student's progress on regular tasks and on the
major project.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this
student's work?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Do you think the student has set realistic goals? Will these goals
be reached by the end of the semester?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
If not, what suggestions would you make towards the facilitation or
improvement of the student's work?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Women's Semester
Intd. 260
Midterm Evaluation -- Form B2
To be completed by student
Student's Name_____________________________________________________
Placement__________________________________________________________
In what ways are you successfully reaching your personal goals for
the semester?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
What do you need to do during the remainder of the semester in
order to reach the goals?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Describe the progress that you have made thus far on field work
tasks and your project:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Are you satisfied with your progress, and why or why not?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
HARBOR CAMPUS
WOMEN'S STUDIES
WOST 490 INTERNSHIP IN WOMEN'S STUDIES 6 CREDITS
For 8-15 hours of field work each week students will earn 3 credits
(of the six) on a Pass/Fail basis. Placements may be in women's
organizations, alternative institutions, political campaigns, and
agencies serving women or the family. Students may seek a placement
from the listings in the Women's Studies Resource Center or may
propose a field placement of their choice for supervised field work
to the faculty member acting as academic supervisor for the
internship.
An internship seminar will allow students to apply their academic
knowledge in women's studies to their practical experiences as
working women. Topics will include theoretical issues relevant to
the field placements, evaluation of basic skills learned in field
work, and career development exercises. Guest speakers will
describe their own career goals and progress. Considerable
discussion time will be devoted to an analysis of students' on-site
work.
The seminar will be graded separately from the field work, and
students must enroll in both. Students will keep a journal, make a
presentation in the seminar, and write a paper on some aspect of
their field work.
Open to a maximum of 12 students each semester, by permission of
instructor. Students must secure their placement before the end of
the semester prior to the one they enroll in the course.
Prerequisite: two women's studies courses or equivalent. Junior or
senior standing.
Course Outline
I. Introduction
Background
Purposes of seminar: integrate theoretical/practical, support
group for cooperative learning
II. Theoretical Issues - 4 weeks
A. History of women in service professions and social change
fields
B. Service work and sex roles
C. The structure of organizations and service institutions:
large and small; hierarchical and egalitarian
D. Autonomous women's organizations (e.g., 9 to 5, N.O.W.) vs.
women's programming in institutions
III. Basic Skills - 4 weeks
A. Resource development: referral and proposal writing skills
B. Assertiveness training; coping with forms of discrimination
C. Planning and administrative skills
D. Groups skills vs. one-on-one skills
IV. Career Development - 4 weeks
Topics will be selected from this list:
A. Defining values, interests, goals
B. Networking; surveying the job field; job hunting
C. Relating to supervisors, co-workers, supervisees
D. Preparing a resume; job interviewing techniques
V. Course evaluations
Goals for Students
1. Assist students in gaining both greater conceptual awareness and
practical understanding of their own interest in and potential
for a career in the service professions or social change
organizations.
2. Students will be asked to define, by the end of the course, how
their own ideas about service or social change work have been
clarified or changed.
3. Students will gain essential skills critical to effective
performance in service or social change work.
4. Students are introduced to individual and group assessment
skills so they will be prepared for the career decisions facing
them after graduation.
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
HARBOR CAMPUS
WOST 490 INTERNSHIP IN WOMEN'S STUDIES
BOOKS
Richard Bolles, "What Color is Your Parachute: A Practical Manual
for Job Hunters and Career Changers," 1975 .
Fidell and DeLamater, eds., "Women in the Professions: What's All
the Fuss About?" 1971 .
Florence Howe, "Women and the Power to Change," 1975.
Ruth B. Knudsin, "Women and Success: The Anatomy of Achievement,"
1974.
Renee Levine, "How to Get a Job in Boston, Vocations for Social
Change."
Herta Loeser, "Women, Work and Volunteering," 1974.
S. Ruddick and P. Daniels, eds., "Working It Out," 1977.
Catherine Samuels, "The Forgotten Five Million: Women in Public
Employment, (A Guide to Eliminating Sex Discrimination)," Women's
Action Alliance, 1975.
"No Bosses Here: A Manual on Working Collectively, Vocations for
Social Change."
ARTICLES
"Leadership," Organizational Psychology, An Experimental Approach,
edited by Kolb, Rubin, Mclntyre.
"Networks," Jane Wilson, Savvy, 1979.
"Race, Sex, and the U.S. Working Class," Albert Szymanski, Social
Problems 21, 1974.
"Sex Roles: Persistence and Change," Journal of Social Issues 32
(3), 1976.
"The Role of Structural Factors in Limiting Women's Institutional
Participation."
"Fear of Success: Attribution of Causes to the Victim."
"Big Time Careers for the Little Woman: A Dual Role Dilemma."
"Sexual Harassment", Radical America 12 (4).
Chapter on "Social Housekeeping" in Mary Ryan, Womanhood in
America.
"Trust, Loyalty and the Place of Women in the Informal Organization
of Work," Judith Lorber, Women: A Feminist Perspective, ed. by Jo
Freeman.
"The Tyranny of Structurelessness," Joreen.
"Why Bosses Turn Bitchy," Rosabeth M. Kantor, Psychology Today, May
1976.
"Work Aspirations of Women: False Leads and New Starts," Judith
Laws, and "Occupational Segregation and the Law," Margaret Gates,
Signs 1 (No. 2, Part 2) 1976.
"Women and Interpersonal Power," Paula Johnson, Women and Sex
Roles, A Social Psychological Perspective, 1978.
"Can We Be Feminists and Professionals?" Mary Howell, unpublished
paper.
"Who Shall Work?" Bertrand B. Pogrebin, Ms. Magazine, December
1975.
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
HARBOR CAMPUS
REQUEST FOR STUDENT INTERN
Name of Organization ______________________________________________
Address______________________________City_____________Zip__________
Phone______________________________________________________________
Purpose and Structure of your Organization:
Provide a concise description...a clear statement that describes
the purpose, function, and day to day activities of your
organization or agency. If it would be relevant to a potential
intern, give a brief account of the history of your organization.
Job Description: Job Title:_________________
Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities of the proposed
job, indicating what a student might expect to learn from the work.
If any special background or level of experience would be
desirable, please say so. Job description will be read by
interested students.
If you have already had experience with interns, please describe it
briefly.
Supervision:
Indicate frequency and style of student supervision. In general,
how would a student be kept informed about her/his performance?
If necessary, are you willing to participate with faculty advisors
in evaluating the student's work?
Student requested for:
Fall 19____ Spring_____ Summer 19____
Directions:
Is your organization accessible to public transportation?
Yes_____ No____
Closest MBTA stop and other special directions:
Return to: Women's Studies Programs/Internships
University of Massachusetts
Harbor Campus
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
(617) 287-1900, ext. 2378
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
1012 CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING
(412) 624-6485
Field Placement Guidelines
Goals
1. To offer students an opportunity to extend their academic
training to a practical work experience. This implies that the
student has gained some expertise in an area s/he wishes to
explore in a work situation.
2. To show in concrete terms the work options available to
students through an apprenticeship semester which can provide
job-related training.
3. To illustrate the Women's Studies Program commitment to
translating feminist ideas into action. This implies that the
field placement experience is not only goal-oriented, but also
ideological; therefore, the student should have a specific
academic background, and a broad understanding of the issues
confronting women today, obtained by concentrating on a wide
range of women's studies courses.
4. To broaden the scope of the Women's Studies Program and to
enrich the program by contact and exchange with community
groups/agencies.
Prerequisites
1. The student must be a junior (3rd year) in good academic
standing.
2. The field placement must compliment the student's academic
training in women's studies and other university courses.
Field placement assignments will be made on the basis of the
student's academic background and area of interest.
3. The student must have completed at least 2 courses (6 credits)
in women's studies and 4 courses (12 credits) relevant to the
field placement, or a total of 12 credits in relevant academic
studies. Women's studies courses may serve as all or part of
the 12 credit total requirement.
Requirements
1. A one or two page typewritten proposal, outlining the
student's goals and relating her/his previous academic
training to the field placement, must be submitted to Women's
Studies Program with the Field Placement Application Form.
2. The proposal must be approved by both the faculty sponsor and
the agency supervisor in the semester prior to beginning the
field placement.
3. Students should plan to work a minimum of 6 hours per week in
the agency. Individual schedules will be arranged between the
student and the agency and it is the student's responsibility
to notify Women's Studies Program of the schedule
arrangements.
4. Students must meet with their Women's Studies Program faculty
sponsor at regular intervals to discuss their progress at the
agency. It is recommended that the student keep a written log
of the placement experience to be examined by and discussed
with the Women's Studies Program faculty sponsor.
5. A 15-page typewritten report, relating the field experience to
the student's academic training is required for the completion
of the field experience. This report should also include the
student's specific duties at the agency and a critique of the
strengths and weaknesses of the field placement in terms of
her/his academic and personal development.
6. Grading will be based on placement performance as rated by the
agency supervisor and the quality of the final report.
7. Grading option may be credit/no entry or a letter grade, as
designated by the student when applying for admission to field
placement.
University of Pittsburgh
Women's Studies Program
WOMEN'S STUDIES FIELD PLACEMENT
NAME_____________________________________________DATE___________
ADDRESS_________________________________________________________
_______________________TERM & YEAR OF PLACEMENT_________________
TELEPHONE_______________________GRADING OPTION__________________
STUDENT NUMBER__________________________________________________
FACULTY SPONSOR_________________________________________________
DATE____________________________________________________________
FIELD PLACEMENT_________________________________________________
PLACEMENT SUPERVISOR____________________________________________
PREREQUISITE COURSES: DATE COMPLETED:
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
COMPLETION ASSIGNMENTS: COMMENTS:
GRADE ASSIGNED_______________ ____________________________
FACULTY SIGNATURE____________ ____________________________
DATE_________________________
This form should be completed the semester before the field
placement begins. A one/two page statement outlining the relation
of the placement to the student's previous training and the
student's goals for the placement should be attached to this form.
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
1012 CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING
(412) 624-6485
WOMEN'S STUDIES FIELD PLACEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENT FORM
Name of Agency: Phone:
Address:
Agency Supervisor(s) and Title:
Student Intern: Phone:
Term/Year of Placement:
WSP Faculty Supervisor: Phone:
Address:
In recognition of a commitment to provide practical work experience
for the above named student, we agree to work collaboratively with
the Women's Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh
according to the following guidelines:
1. Agency supervisor and/or other qualified personnel agree to
introduce and orient student to agency objectives, structure,
policies and procedures, and to interpret them as needed.
2. Specifies meetings and/or conferences that student will be
permitted to participate in.
3. Agrees to provide adequate space and equipment to enable the
student to perform her/his tasks.
4. Will provide appropriate supervision and/or instruction from
qualified field instructors, who have the time and interest to
assume the required responsibility for the student's
educational experience.
5. Clearly define the student's duties, specifying her work will
be with women.
6. Student/agency agreement on number of working hours per week.
(Minimum of 6 hours for 3 credit field placement.)
7. Have regular supervisor/student conferences focusing on the
development of the student.
8. Agrees to accept ongoing responsibility for evaluation of
student progress and final evaluation report to Women's
Studies Program.
9. Agrees to consult with Women's Studies Program faculty
regarding student's progress, problems, etc., before taking
any final action.
_________________________________________
Agency Supervisor Date
Agreement Form for Field Placement
University of Pittsburgh
Women's Studies Program
The Women's Studies Program of the University of Pittsburgh agrees:
1. To assign a faculty representative to facilitate communication
regarding student's educational progress. Faculty
representative agrees to be available for consultation with
agency supervisor when needed.
2. To provide services of administrative assistant to facilitate
effective communication lines between Women's Studies
Program/Agency on all matters other than educational progress.
3. To provide agency with student profile if required, listing
student's educational background, field of interest, and
qualifications for working in the particular agency.
4. To provide academic calendar specifying beginning and ending
dates of placement and dates student will be excused from
field instruction.
5. That student will comply with agency holiday schedule on field
placement days, university schedule on school days.
6. That student placements and terminations shall not be
considered final until the educational plan has been fully
reviewed by Women's Studies Program, the agency, and the
student. Modifications/changes, such as early terminations,
shall be submitted in writing.
7. To keep agency informed through faculty representative or
administrative assistant of any changes in university policy
or curriculum which affect agency-program relationship or
field instruction.
8. That faculty sponsor will offer guidance to agency supervisor
(if needed) as to requirements/content of final evaluation
report of student's progress.
9. That this agreement shall continue until review or termination
is requested in writing by Women's Studies Program, agency, or
student.
_______________________________
Faculty Supervisor Date
Portland State University
Course Description for Women's Studies 409, PRACTICUM
Practicum is intended primarily for Women's Studies Certificate
students. Students select a fieldwork placement with an
organization or group that serves women or is involved with women's
issues. Three credits granted for eight hours of placement plus
one hour of class meeting weekly. Variable credit, three to six
credits per term. Total Practicum credit maximum: nine credits.
Some Remarks on Practicum's Role in the Women's Studies Certificate
Program
Among the requirements for a Women's Studies Certificate
(essentially a second major) at Portland State University is six
credits of Practicum. Students should plan to take three credits
of Practicum in each of two of their last three terms. The
Feminist Theory sequence should precede Practicum, so that students
are prepared to reflect on their classroom learning during their
fieldwork period, testing for themselves the ways in which theory
and practice do and do not meet.
PRACTICUM PLACEMENT POSSIBILITIES
Fall Term 1980
Bradley-Angle House (Sharon Parker): Battered women's shelter
crisis and advocacy work
Transition House (Pat Butler): Longer term housing for battered
women--advocacy or child care work
League of Women Voters (Darlene Lemley): Study and lobby for
legislation, interview candidates for office, write newsletter copy
National Abortion Rights Action League (Phyllis Oster): Community
organizing, education, and lobby for pro-choice legislation
Sexual Assault Prevention Program, Division of Crime Prevention,
Portland Police Department (Lynne Landau): Community education on
self-defense and assault, learn self-defense
Solo Center (Betty Dagett): counseling, referral, etc. with newly
single people
Northwest Pilot Project (Holly Nelson): advocacy, counseling, etc.
with indigent, elderly, inner-city women
American Civil Liberties Union: Research, writing, and action on
legal issues
Columbia River Girl Scout Council (Peggy Mihata): Organize and
publicize G.S. troops, organize and coordinate a Career Conference
for adolescent girls
Domestic Violence Intervention: Train for counseling and advocacy
Women's Resource Center, YWCA (Anne Bagwell): Train for direct
service work, call-in and walk-in, referral, must be sensitive to
ethnic and gay issues
Self-Help Group Project, Regional Human Services Research
Institute, School of Social Work, Portland State (Nancy Barron):
Organize support groups for returning women, help in evaluation of
rap groups
Women's Union, Educational Activities, Portland State (Megan
Boyle): Organize women's activities on campus, initiate programs
and organize women to be involved in them
Woman's Place Bookstore: Work with collective in selling, ordering,
managing the store and its budget
Planned Parenthood: Train for contraceptive education
Women's Shelter, Washington County (Catherine Marvin): Do crisis
line work, advocacy with residents
Rape Relief Hotline (Kathy Oliver): Train for hotline work, work on
publicity, community education, research, fundraising
Raphael House: Battered women's shelter, crisis and advocacy work
230 Portland State University
Women's Studies 409: PRACTICUM
FALL TERM 1980
Objectives
- Integrating course material with actual experience, learning
to critique and analyze both;
- Moving beyond recognition of women's oppression to active ways
of coping with and changing women's position;
- Learning more about issues and controversies shaping the lives
of women in similar and different situations from ourselves
and how to work with them for social change,
- Creating a feminist learning context for developing skills in
problem solving, organizational analysis, interpersonal
communication, co-working, and constructive criticism;
- Gaining skills and information that may serve in longer term
personal and career goals;
- Acting as a bridge between the Women's Studies Certificate
Program and the women in the Portland area, especially, but
not solely, feminist activists.
Placements
Many of you have already arranged placements and met with me.
Those who have not can choose several prospective placements from
a list I have assembled. It is your responsibility (and an
important learning experience) to arrange an interview at your
chosen placement and meet with your prospective supervisor. The
decision to take a placement lies with you, the supervisor, and me,
as course instructor.
At the interview you should find out just what the
organization does and what would be your place in it. Be sure the
supervisor understands the terms of your work commitment in
Practicum and agrees to those terms.
During the second or third class meeting (depending on when
all of you have firm placement commitments), we will draft letters
to your supervisors that will constitute a contract between the two
of you. You will want this as a reference, should differences come
up in the course of the term, but also to assure you have
thoroughly thought out and understood the work you will be doing.
Class Structure
Practicum has two distinct components: placement work and the
class meeting.
You are expected to complete 88 hours of placement work (8
hours/week for the 11 weeks of the term) for three credits, and
commensurate work based on that ratio for four, five, or six
credits. Just how you distribute those hours is up to you and your
supervisor. You may have an intensive, multi-day training to go
through that will eat up lots of your work commitment all at once,
or you may want to work steadily a certain number of hours each
week. Be sure you discover how to get the full number of hours in
at the beginning of the term and arrange to do so. Later on, your
other classes will be more of a burden and I will not be inclined
to grant incompletes just because you didn't budget your time well.
(That's something to learn from the course, too.)
The class meets as a seminar for an hour each week. The class
has a twofold purpose. First, it is a place for sharing experience
and discussing issues that arise directly out of your placement
work. Second, it will provide you with a perspective on your work
that comes out of our readings on issues relating to feminism and
work. Each session will be divided between these two tasks; our
time is short and we will have to make much of it.
The reading list (for which there is a course packet) is not
set up week-by-week. It seems better to discuss issues as the need
for them arises out of your work placements.
[ Thanks to Paula Mindes and Marti Bombyck at Women's Studies at ]
[ the University of Michigan, whose work on U-M's "Women in the ]
[ Community" course I have integrated here. ]
Grading and Evaluation
Practicum is graded pass/no pass, so it is not necessary to do
any fancy footwork about assigning grades. You will receive a
"pass" for satisfactorily fulfilling the following:
- Completing placement work commitment. This means all the hours
and also receiving an evaluation from your supervisor. This
evaluation will be for sharing--giving you information about
your work from a second perspective, telling me some things I
should know about future placements in that agency, and giving
the class a further basis for discussion of your and their
work experience.
- Attending class regularly and participating in our
discussions. This is extremely important. This is a support
group as well as a seminar; you should use it as both. We are
all contracting with each other to be helpful and evaluative
about each other's work as well as our own. Obviously, this
entails that you have read the assigned material in advance
and done some thinking about it.
- Writing a course log. I hesitate to use any of the terms
log/journal/diary, for what I have in mind here is somewhat
unlike what they traditionally mean. You will want to note
down personal reflections on your work and also log your hours
as the term goes on. But, also, your log will be reactions to
readings and often responses to specific questions that are
presented in class. The idea is that you read, think, and
observe, with your log entry as the basis for our class
discussions. You may all want to keep some hours just before
class meeting for this task. At the end of the term your log
will be a personalized, small theory of feminism and feminist
social action.
- Evaluating the class and your placement. This will be the
final assignment. I have some components of the evaluation in
mind; we will generate others out of our class discussion.
Second Term Students
Since the program requires six credits of Practicum for the
Certificate, some students may be in their second term in the
class. Second-term students are a valuable resource for all of us
and we will expect you to take an active and sometimes leadership
role in class. Additional readings may be asked of you, if some of
the work is redundant.
Reading List
The reading list contains material relating to such issues as
workplace politics, interpersonal interaction, power and
organizational structures, volunteerism, and feminist process. We
will read from it as issues arise.
Eleanor Olds Batchelder and Linda Nathan Marks, 1969. "Creating
Alternatives: A Survey of Women's Projects," Heresies 2:3, pp.
94-127.
Charlotte Bunch, 1974. "The Reform Tool Kit," Quest 1:1, pp. 37-51.
Mary-Therese Riccio, 1978. "If I've Upset You, You've Got the
Message," Quest 4:4, pp. 37-41.
Andre Leo, 1973. "ADC: Marriage to the State," in A. Koedt, E.
Levine, and A. Rapone, eds.,Radical Feminism. Quadrangle, pp.
222-27.
Barbara Benedict Bunker and Edith Whitfield Seashore, 1976. "Power,
Collusion, Intimacy-Sexuality, Support: Breaking the Sex-Role
Stereotypes in Social and Organizational Settings," in A.
Sargent, ed., Beyond Sex Roles. West Publishing, pp. 356-70.
Joreen (Jo) Freeman,1973. "The Tyranny of Structurelessness," in A.
Koedt, E. Levine, and A. Rapone, eds., Radical Feminism.
Quadrangle Books, pp. 285-299.
Pam Mavrolas and Jim Crowfoot, n.d., "Group Process." Manuscript,
The University of Michigan, 5 pp.
Nancy Henley and Jo Freeman, 1979. "The Sexual Politics of
Interpersonal Behavior," in J. Freeman, ed., Women: A Feminist
Perspective, Second Edition. Mayfield, pp. 474-86.
Joyce Rothschild-Whitt, 1979. "Conditions for Democracy: Making
Participatory Organizations Work," in J. Case and R. Taylor,
eds., Co-ops, Communes, and Collectives, Pantheon, pp. 215-44.
Heidi Hartmann, 1976. "Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Job Segregation
by Sex," Signs 1:3, pt. 2, pp. 137-69.
Francine D. Blau, 1979. "Women in the Labor Force: An Overview," in
J. Freeman, ed., Women: A Feminist Perspective, Second
Edition. Mayfield, pp. 26-48.
Kay Lehman Schlozman, 1979. "Women and Unemployment: Assessing the
Biggest Myths,: in J. Freeman, ed., Women. A Feminist
Perspective, Second Edition, Mayfield, pp. 290-312.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, 1977. "Power", Chapter Seven of Men and Women
of the Corporation. Basic Books, pp. 164-205.
Doris B. Gold, 1971. "Women and Volunteerism" in V. Gronick and B.
Moran, eds., Woman in Sexist Society, Basic Books, pp.
533-554.
Eugenie Bolger, 1975, "Take it Out of My Salary;" Ellen Sulzberger
Straus, 1975, "In Defense of Unpaid Labor;" Margaret A.
Sanborn and Caroline Bird, 1975, "The Big Giveaway: What
Volunteer Work is Worth," Ms., February, pp. 70-75, 87--89.
W.S. Practicum
30 Sept. 80
Name ____________________________ Certificate Student? ___
Year of Study ______
Address and Phone ___________________________________________
Placement ______________________ Supervisor ________________
Address ______________________________________ Phone ________
Work description:
Women's issues of interest to you:
Previous involvement in feminism/women's groups:
Previous work/volunteer experience:
Background relevant to placement, if any
Topics or issues relating to women in organizations, feminism,
social action and social change that you think are important as
part of this course:
Why are you taking practicum?
Other information I should have:
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
WOMEN'S STUDIES 283/284: PRACTICUM
(General Information)
Practicum: Description
Students registering for WStu 283: Practicum are expected to define a field
experience in an appropriate community setting, and to devote at least 100
hours toward a project which both highlights women's studies issues and con-
tributes toward functional skill development. The student may, in agreement
with an agency supervisor, function as a counselor, administrator, teacher,
researcher and/or program developer as suits their combined interests and
needs. In short, it is to be an experience which provides knowledge, insights
and experience not available in a traditional academic setting.
The Practicum course is required of masters degree students not electing the
thesis, and is seen as a link connecting the student's coursework, the world
of work and her personal, academic and career goals. It is an opportunity for
knowledge and skills to be developed and applied and for reality to be
tested. A Practicum experience could also relate to a student's research or
teaching interests.
Persons registering for WStu 283: Practicum should have completed 24 hours of
coursework toward the degree and should consult with the Practicum
Coordinator at least eight weeks prior to course registration to consolidate
Practicum objectives and review possibilities. Sometimes, however, exceptions
to the 24 hour rule will be made, especially if the student's program of
study and career goals are well defined.
Practicum students, in addition to their placement activities, will be
expected to participate in monthly Practicum Meetings, and to write one
paper. Credit will be given on a credit/no credit basis, and evaluation will
be based on the agency supervisor's written evaluation, the paper,
participation in group meetings, and a closing interview with the Practicum
Coordinator.
Doing a Double Practicum
Women's Studies 284: Practicum is an elective course for students interested
in a more intensive practicum experience, or experience in a second setting.
Procedures are the same as for WStu 283, and approval is needed from the
Practicum Coordinator prior to registration.
Procedures for Practicum Placements
Students registering for a Practicum in the women's studies program are
responsible, with supportive assistance from the Practicum Coordinator, for
finding a practicum setting which will meet their needs and meet program
requirements. What follows is a list of procedures relative to practicum
placements which each student should be familiar with:
1. Practicum coordinator interviews student concerning interests, needs,
and practicum possibilities.
2. Student and Coordinator review practicum possibilities, both those the
student has generated herself and others the Coordinator has on file.
3. Student and Coordinator research further possibilities as needed.
4. Student and Coordinator select desired agency/agencies.
5. Student or Coordinator makes appointment in agency; visits agency;
discusses project possibility; explains requirements of the women's
studies program.
6. Student and designated Agency Supervisor agree to work together defining
the specifics of a practicum project.
7. Student writes a one page list of her "learning objectives" for her
practicum placement.
8. Agency Supervisor writes a one page list of her "project objectives" for
the practicum student.
9. Student submits both 7. and 8. to the Practicum Coordinator.
10. Letter from Practicum Coordinator to Agency Supervisor to formalize
student placement and agreed upon learning objectives and activities.
11. Student attends monthly Practicum Meetings, beginning the second
Wednesday of the semester, 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Women's Studies
office, to share experiences, discuss issues and integrate practicum
experience with future career goals.
12. Student keeps a record of her work experience, hours spent and meetings
with supervisor. (Some kind of journal of the practicum experience would
be most helpful when preparing the required paper later.)
13. Practicum Coordinator confers with Agency Supervisor and student as
needed.
14. Student completes and submits written assignment to Practicum
Coordinator.
15. Practicum Coordinator requests evaluation of student's performance from
Agency Supervisor.
16. Agency Supervisor submits evaluation of student's performance to
Practicum Coordinator.
17. Practicum Coordinator and student meet to discuss paper, the Agency
Supervisor's evaluation, and the practicum experience as a whole.
18. Practicum Coordinator prepares grade sheet for Office of Registrar.
Comments on Contracting
Procedures 7 and 8 above are designed to make as explicit as possible the
agreement that a student and an Agency Supervisor are making with each other.
In making such a "contract" all involved have a written record to go back to
in case clarification is needed, and when the practicum experience is
finished one can assess whether or not each person's objectives have been
met.
The Practicum Coordinator is available to conduct a session on developing a
contract and on management by objectives if Practicum students want to use
one of the Wednesday meetings in this fashion.
Evaluation of Practicum Experiences
As noted in the general description, a student's grade in the practicum
experience will be based on four items: (1) the Agency Supervisor's written
evaluation, (2) a paper, (3) participation in Practicum Meetings, and (4) a
closing interview with the Practicum Coordinator.
Since the Practicum experience is viewed as an opportunity to reflect on
issues, skills and career plans, evidence of each will be taken into account.
A practicum student, therefore, will want to keep the following questions in
mind:
1. How do I observe women's studies issues in the practicum setting
(e.g., power, dependency, sexuality, competition, sexism and
discrimination, changing roles, special problems, etc.)?
2. What skills am I developing/expanding in my practicum placement?
What skills do I wish I had or do I want to develop further?
3. How does my practicum experience relate to my future career
objectives? Do I want to pursue a similar kind of work? What have
I learned about myself that will influence the kind of work I
pursue?
4. Is the relationship I am developing with my supervisor supportive,
helpful, guiding, challenging, nominal, peripheral, antagonistic,
neutral, etc.? In other words, am I making the best use of my
supervisor as an aide in meeting my learning objectives?
Career Counseling
The Practicum experience is viewed as a setting in which the student is
preparing for implementing later career goals. One can use it as a time for
focusing, reflecting and evaluating one's potential and readiness for a
particular kind of work. Insofar as possible, therefore, the Practicum
Coordinator is available for career counseling, and can be called on to lead
career planning sessions during Wednesday meetings if the students wish her
to do so.
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
WOMEN'S STUDIES 283/284: PRACTICUM
Write an evaluative summary of your practicum experience in which you analyze
its relationship to your academic preparation, your special research and
vocational/professional/political concerns and your post-degree plans.
Please include:
1. A "one page summary" of what your practicum involved (suitable for
Xeroxing to share with others interested in practicum examples).
2. Indication of the extent to which your project activities and
learning objectives were completed and, if not, why not.
3. Reflection of women's issues within the practicum setting (power,
leadership, competition, sexism, sexuality, recognition of
competence, etc.).
4. Learning what you had which was unexpected but useful.
5. Skills developed and how they relate to future work plans.
6. Problems you had and how you dealt with them.
7. Comments about how you related to your supervisor.
8. Things you wish you had known in retrospect.
9. Feedback to the Practicum Coordinator about your experience--things
you liked and things that could be improved related to program
administration, counseling and group sessions.
10. How satisfied are you with your own performance?
11. Any other comments that are pertinent to a summary evaluation of
your practicum experience including overall value of the experience
in the Women's Studies Program context.
Please also include on the "cover sheet":
- Your name
- Women's Studies 283 (or 284) - Practicum
- Name and address of agency
- Name and title of supervisor
- Approximate number of hours completed
- Brief description of the project
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
Evaluation of Practicum Student (WStu 283-284)
Name of Student_________________________________________________________
Brief Job Description:
I. Overall, how would you rate the student on her accomplishments in this
setting?
II. To what extent did you meet your designated project objectives? If they
were not met, why not?
III. Do you feel the student is well suited to doing further work of this
nature?
IV. What kinds of things did she do most effectively?
V. What skills do you think she should develop further?
VI. Any other comments you would like to make regarding the student or
practicum experience as a whole:
VII. Would you like to have another practicum student? (Check one)
( ) definitely
( ) possibly
( ) no
If yes, to do what?
If no, why not?
Signature________________________________________Date__________________
Title____________________________________________Phone_________________
Organization___________________________________________________________
Please return to: THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
WOMEN'S STUDIES
2025 I Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20052
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
WOMEN'S STUDIES 350/351
WOMEN AND THE COMMUNITY
Women's Studies 350 combines work experience in the community with an
academic analysis of women's status and experience in organizations.
Internships are available in areas such as law reform, health care,
reproduction, rape, media, domestic violence advocacy, day care, and
counseling. Class topics include the analysis of organizations,
voluntarism, feminist social reforms, power, sexism in the work place,
and leadership roles. Emphasis is placed on the development of skills to
help students form and attain their career goals. Students arrange
schedules for five hours a week in the community in addition to two
hours a week in class, Tuesday 7-9 p.m. Prerequisites: W.S. 240, 200, or
permission of the instructor.
Women's Studies 351 is a 2-credit sequence for students who have
completed WS 350. Most students continue to work in their previous field
placement for a required commitment of 5 hours weekly. In addition, they
meet individually with the instructor monthly and complete a written
project, frequently a project useful to their placement site.
Course Objectives
1. To move beyond the recognition of women's oppression by exploring
various reforms and activities for improving the situation of women.
2. To provide a feminist experiential learning context for the
development of skills in problem-solving, organizational analysis, etc.,
which can contribute to the formation or acquisition of students' career
goals while serving women's needs.
3. To integrate academic materials and topics with students'
experiences in ways which are relevant and applicable to students' immediate
and long-term interests and concerns.
Course Structures and Process
Student will select a placement or internship from the list provided at the
beginning of the term. They will work in those placements for an average of
5 hours per week throughout the semester until approximately December 9. In
addition to regular participation in placements, students are expected to
attend and participate in class Tuesday nights. The first hour of class will
usually be devoted to lecture/discussion of the week's topic and assigned
readings. The second hour will usually be a discussion focused on students'
placement experiences as they relate to the topic or what is going on, what's
interesting, bothersome, fun, difficult, etc. It is expected that students
will have completed all the required readings for the topic prior to class so
that discussions will be productive and worthwhile.
The format of the course will vary (lecture, discussion, exercises, guest
speakers, etc.). However, throughout the course students are encouraged to
share with each other some of their readings, and to provide each other with
a notion of what their different organizations are like.
Students are also encouraged to fully utilize office hours to discuss course
material or their placement. It is very important that in the event there are
problems at the placement or in keeping up with the course work, the student
come see me so that problems can be smoothed out before they become
disastrous.
Student Evaluation
Unlike many experiential learning courses, this course is not graded on a
pass/fail basis. Though the whole grading system may be viewed as a necessary
evil, it is important to make it as fair as possible and to use it
constructively. Therefore, I attempt to fully explicate grading standards
before assignments are due, and if these are unclear, students should ask for
more clarification. I also try to provide considerable written feedback as
well as verbal feedback. If this is not enough, ask for more--particularly if
you are unsatisfied with my feedback and your grade.
350 Students
1. Logs: Students are required to keep a weekly log with dated
entries that describe and analyze their recent experiences in their
placements, specifically answers any assigned questions or exercises,
analyzes/reacts to readings, and critically integrates the intellectual and
personal levels of their overall course experience. Logs will be evaluated
for (1) application of concepts and ideas to placement experiences; (2)
integration of readings, placements and class sessions; (3) critical analysis
of readings; (4) personal reaction to readings, class sessions, and placement
experiences. I appreciate ongoing feedback about the course and what could be
improved, etc., though this is not required. Remember, though, quality is
preferred over quantity: be concise but elaborate ideas as needed. The logs
do not need to be typed as long as your writing is reasonably legible.
Due Dates: October 21, November 18, and December 9. They will be
graded immediately and returned to students before the next class session in
individual appointments where logs and placements can be discussed.
2. Placements: Near the end of the semester, students will be asked to
give evaluation forms to their supervisors or placement sponsors. Evaluators
will answer questions concerning the student's reliability in showing up at
the agreed time and place, responsibility in completing agreed tasks, ability
to handle problems, attitudes and behaviors toward co-workers, clients,
overall quality of work, strength/weaknesses, etc. In addition, a written
evaluation will be given to you at the end of the term for your files.
You do not receive an A-B-C grade from these evaluations, but extreme
responses (positives or negatives) will be taken into account in the
determination of your final grade.
3. Miscellaneous: I will also take into account students' class
attendance, participation, supportiveness/respectfulness toward other
students, and your personal development over the course of the term.
351 Students
Advanced students have the option of keeping a log or writing a log or
writing a written project that is based on research, is an essay, or in
someway is directly useful to the placement in addition to usual placement
work. Examples include: a biography of a feminist activist, a paper on the
history and development of rape crisis centers, a description and analysis of
a national women's organization (e.g., NARAL, NOW, National Women's Political
Caucus, WAVEPAM, etc.), a referral directory for your organization, a
training manual, etc. In addition to a written component, 351 students will
also be evaluated for their placement activities (see above).
Univ . of Michigan
WOMEN AND THE COMMUNITY
Readings
9/9 Introduction to course placements
9/16 Review of placement progress, introduction to syllabus, etc.
I. Women's Community Service
9 /23 A. Voluntarism
- Gold, Doris. "Women and Voluntarism," in V. Gronick and B. Moran
(eds. ), "Woman in Sexist Society", New York: Basic Books, 1971,
pp. 533-554.
- Bolger, E. "Take It Out of My Salary: Volunteers on the Prestige
Circuit" and Straus, E. "In Defense of Unpaid Labor" and
Sanborn, M. and Bird, C. "The Big Giveaway: What Volunteer Work
is Worth" in Ms., Feb. 1975, 70-75, 87-89.
-*Loesser, H. "Women, Work, and Volunteering", Appendix D, Boston:
Beacon Press, 1974, pp. 211-218.
9/30 B. Making History and Tracing Origins
- Sanford, W. "Working Together Growing Together: A Brief History
of the Boston Women's Health Collective," Heresies, Spring 1979,
2(3), pp. 83-92.
- Evans, S. "Tomorrow's Yesterday: Feminist Consciousness and the
Future of Women" in Berkin and Norton (eds. ), Women of America:
A History, Boston : Houghton-Mifflin, 1979, pp .389-415 .
10/7 C. Feminist Reforms: Women Working with Women for Women
- Bunch, C. "The Reform Tool Kit," Quest, 1974, 1(1), 37-51.
10/14 D. Race and Class Differences in Community Activism
- Brightman, C . "The Women of Williamsburg, " Working Papers,
Jan./Feb. 1978, 6(1), 50-57.
- Delapire, J. "Women and the Latin Community," Quest, 4(4), Fall
1978, 6-14.
- Combahee River Collective, "Why Did They Die?" A Document of
Black Feminism, Radical America, 13(6), Nov.-Dec.,1979,
pp..41-50.
II. Working In Organizations
10/21 A. Analyzing Our Organizations
*JOURNALS DUE*
- Handouts will be distributed
10/28 B. Power
- Kanter, R. "Power," Men and Women of the Corporation, NewYork:
Basic Books, 1977, pp. 164-205.
- Johnson, P. "Women and Power," Journal of Social Issues,32(3),
1976, pp. 99-110.
11/4 C. Women and Leadership
- Staines, G., Tavris, C., and Jayartne, T. "The Queen Bee
Syndrome," Psychology Today.
- Kanter, R. "Numbers: Minorities and Majorities" and
"Contributions to Theory: Sturctural Determinants of Behavior in
Organizations" in Men and Women of the Corporation, Chapters 8
and 9.
11/11 D. Sexual Harrassment
- Bularzik, M. "Sexual Harrassment at the Workplace," Radical
America, 12(4), July-Aug. 1978, pp. 25-43.
- Farley, Lin. "Sexual Harrassment: A Profile" and "Men,"Chapters
2 and 10 in Sexual Shakedown. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1978.
11/18 E. Collective Strategies to Change the Workplace
*JOURNALS DUE*
- "We Walk the Line: The Struggle at Preterm," Radical America,
13(2), 1979, pp. 9-24.
- Wertheimer, B. "Union is Power: Sketches from Women's Labor
History" in J. Freeman (ed.) Women: A Feminist Perspective, 2nd
edition, 1979, pp. 339-358.
-*UNION W.A.G.E. Organize! "A Working Woman's Handbook", 1975, pp.
4-17
11/25 F. Stress and Support Systems: Personal Survival Strategies
- Bardwick, J.M. and Douvan, E. "When Women Work," in R. Loring
and H. Otto (eds.) New Life Options: The Working Woman's
Resource Book, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976, pp. 32-45.
- Maslach, C. "Burned Out," Human Behavior, Sept. 1976, 16-22.
- Genovese, R. "A Women's Self-Help Network as a Response to
Service Needs in the Suburbs," Signs 1980, S(3) Suppl. pp.
S249-S256.
12/2 G. Feminist Collectives and Participatory Democracy
- Hireeb, "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" in Loedt, Levine, and
Rapone (eds.) Radical Feminism, New York: Quadrangle Books,
1973, pp. 285-299.
- Crow, G., Riddle, D., Sparks, C. "The Process/Product Debate,
"Quest 4(4), Fall 1978, pp. 15-36.
- Rothschild-Witt, J. "Conditions for Democracy: Making
Partipatory Organizations Work" in J. Case and R. Taylor (eds.),
Co-ops, Communes, and Collectives, New York: Pantheon Books,
1979, pp. 215-244.
12/9 *JOURNALS DUE*
- Leftovers, wrap-up and evaluation.
(Readings with an asterisk (*) are not required but recommended.)
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
STUDENT PLACEMENT EVALUATION
Women and the Community
(Women's Studies 350/351)
This evaluation consists of two parts. The first part is a series of
questions regarding the performance of the student in her placement. The
second part requires a separate written evaluation which will be copied and
returned to the student for her files. It is possible that the written
evaluation will be used as a letter of reference by the student at a later
time.
Please allow sufficient time to thoughtfully complete these materials
as they will provide the necessary information which will help form the basis
of the student's final grade.
PART ONE
STUDENT'S NAME ______________________________________________________________
COMMUNITY PLACEMENT _________________________________________________________
1. On the average, approximately how many hours per week did the student
volunteer?
_________ 6 or more
_________ 4-5
_________ 3 or less
2. Was the student prompt and reliable in keeping agreed appointments,
meetings, or work shifts?
________ Always
________ Most of the time
________ Some of the time
________ Hardly ever
3. How well did the student get along with co-workers?
________ Very well
________ Good for the most part (e.g., minor problems)
________ Problematic (PLEASE EXPLAIN:)
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. Overall (and within the bounds of what could be realistically expected),
did the student fulfill the responsibilities she accepted?
________ Yes
________ No (PLEASE EXPLAIN:)
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5. If relevant, was the student respectful and helpful toward
clients/consumers of your organization's services?
_________ Good relationships with clients
_________ Fair or adequate relationships with clients
_________ Strained relationships with clients (PLEASE EXPLAIN:)
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________ Not applicable
6. If relevant, did the student complete the necessary training
period/socialization phase of your organization?
_________ Yes
_________ No (PLEASE EXPLAIN:)
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________ Not applicable
7. Please briefly describe the student's activities, responsibilities, etc.,
in her placement this term.
8. Please briefly describe your perception of the student's attitudes and
behaviors regarding her work and her relationships with her co-workers,
etc.
9. How could the student's contribution to this or similar work settings be
improved?
10. How could the student's contribution to this or similar work settings be
improved?
11. Additional comments on student performance?
12. Based on my experience working with student(s) from Women and the
Community this term, I/my organization
______ is willing to continue offering student placements next term
______ would like to discuss further continuation of student placement
offerings
______ would prefer to discontinue offering student placements
13. If you have other comments about the student placement system, etc. that
would be helpful for the future, please add them below:
PART TWO
On the following page please (1) briefly summarize what the student did her
placement this term, and (2) generally describe/evaluate her competence,
skills, attitude, etc.
Thank you for completing these materials.
STUDENT EVALUATION
WOMEN AND THE COMMUNITY
(Women's Studies 350/351)
STUDENT'S NAME_______________________________________________
COMMUNITY PLACEMENT__________________________________________
Name (please print)_______________________
Signature_________________________________
Relationship to student___________________
Date______________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK 20742
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM 0204 BEHAVIORAL AND
(301) 454-3841 SOCIAL SCIENCES BUILDING
WOMEN'S STUDIES
INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCY SUPERVISOR
During the Internship the Agency Supervisor Must:
1. Provide adequate supervision of the intern's work. An agency super-
visor is usually appointed with the following responsibilities:
a. Arrange an initial orientation to the organization. This is
intended to give students an understanding of how activities
they are involved in relate to the overall function of the
organization, for example, by attending staff or organizational
meetings that may be of interest.
b. Complete a Progress Report. Mid-Term Evaluation. The internship
director will give the student a Progress Report which must be
co-signed with the agency supervisor and returned to the Women's
Studies Office. This contract affirms or revises the
responsibilities of the internship position and assesses the
quality of the intern's work.
c. Keep the internship director informed about all changes and/or
problems regarding the internship.
d. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings with the student, to
evaluate the effectiveness of the work being done.
e. Complete a Final Evaluation concerning the student's activities
which will be requested by the Internship Director.
Direct any questions you may have to:
Director, Internship Program
Women's Studies Program
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742
(301) 454-3841
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK 20742
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM 0204 BEHAVIORAL AND
(301) 454-3841 SOCIAL SCIENCES BUILDING
PROCEDURE FOR STUDENT INTERN ENROLLMENT
1. Student makes initial contact with WMST office and fills out a
STUDENT INTEREST FORM (see attached). The purpose of this form is
to: (a) establish student's areas of interest and pertinent data
that will enable the director to keep this student aware of present
and future internship possibilities, and (b) to record transactions
between us: names and dates of organization referrals, interviews,
etc.
2. An interview follows immediately with the internship director or an
appointment is made for shortly thereafter. Together, the student
and director determine what organizations best fit the student's
needs by reviewing the available material on each organization
found in alphabetized folders. Oftentimes, this information has
been solicited from the organization and includes a job description
for the intern (see attached). The student is now prepared to call
the organization herself. Encouraging student initiative is a
necessary part of the internship experience; and while from the
outset the student knows that individual responsibility is
required, she also has received the director's assurance of support
and detailed information that allows her to make an informed
inquiry.
3. Student, armed with appropriate information, makes phone calls and
usually sets up interview with organization to then call the WMST
internship director with results.
4. Interview takes place after the student has made herself familiar
with the "Contract Work Sheet" (see attached) and perhaps takes
this with her in order to confirm training schedules, hours,
responsibilities.
5. Contract Work Sheet is returned to internship director with her own
and field supervisor's signature.
6. Student is requested to inform director of class schedule for
following semester as soon as possible in order to arrange a time
for bi-weekly seminar.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK 20742
WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM 0204 BEHAVIORAL AND
( 301 ) 454-3841 SOCIAL SCIENCES BUILDING
WMST 386: FIELD WORK (6-8 hours weekly, to be arranged)
WMST 387: FIELD WORK ANALYSIS (Wednesday 7:00-8:15 p.m.)
THE FIELD ANALYSIS SEMINAR
Course Objectives:
The seminar which accompanies the women's studies internship will
focus on women and work. We will read and analyze different perspectives and
theories you are likely to confront in your placements and in your futures as
working women. Considerable discussion time will be devoted to your placement
experiences as they interest, frustrate and challenge you. In our bi-weekly
meetings students are encouraged to share with co-seminar members incidents
that occur on the job so that together we can explore the issues to be faced
in implementing feminist theory and actualizing feminist commitment. Learning
together and from one another is a primary objective of this course.
Requirements:
Attendance. You are expected to attend each seminar meeting. If, for
some extenuating circumstance, you must miss a class, notify either me or
another member in advance of our meeting. Bi-weekly classes mean that we will
come together only seven times during the term, so full attendance is
extremely important to the progress and coherence of our group. In other
words, attendance is mandatory.
Participation. This seminar is focused on you and your experiences.
Your participation is required and considered seriously as a grading
component. You are each responsible for listening as well as responding to
group members. Active listening is as important as verbal participation in
this course, and we will look at various communication/cooperation skills as
part of our work this semester.
Readings. For each session there will be assigned readings, which
you'll find in your study packets.
Written Work. Students will keep journals with dated entries that
describe analyze their recent placement experiences and react to assigned
readings, specific questions and exercises. The purposes behind your journal
are varied. There should be two sections: First, a place to log
straightforward accounts of your hours and tasks. Anyone who looks at this
section should have a clear idea of what you do every day you work. Catalogue
this information daily. At the end of the semester these pages will be
collected and filed in the women's studies program office. Second, a place
where you react: analyze, complain, exclaim and consider your placement in
relation to the seminar readings and discussions. This part of the journal
should be written once a week, in depth. It's a good idea to jot down notes
for your weekly entry directly after your working hours. Please write on
every other line and leave margins wide enough for my comments. Use a
notebook that allows you to remove and submit pages without disrupting the
continuity of your progress.
The journal will be evaluated for: (1) application of concepts and seminar
discussions to placement experience; (2) personal reactions to readings,
class discussions and placement experiences; (3) critical analysis of
reading. I prefer quality writing to quantity and will review the journals
and grade them twice during the semester. Feel free to use the journal to
comment on your experiences in the women's studies internship program and
field analysis seminar. Your suggestions, questions and criticisms are not
only welcome, but highly valued in this class.
Learning Contracts. Due September 17, 1980. All signatures must be
included except my own. Before submitting, be sure you have made the
necessary number of xeroxed copies for all concerned.
Mid-Term Evaluations - Student and Supervisor. Your self-evaluation
form is due October 22, 1980. Your supervisor must be given her/his
evaluation form on or before October 22 (include an addressed envelope to me)
with directions to return your evaluation by October 29, 1980.
Resume. Due November 19, 1980. We will have a resume-writing workshop
before this date. This assignment will not be graded.
Supervisor's Final Evaluation. Submitted with envelope by November 26,
1980, to be returned to me by December S, 1980. Self Evaluations are due at
the same time.
Journals Submitted: October 22, 1980 and December 10, 1980.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNSHIP Fall, 1979
Field Work and Field Work Analysis
Student/Program/Agency/Faculty
Agreement Worksheet
________ credits ________ credits requested _______ grading option
Student's Name _________________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________________________
Telephone ____________________Social Security No. ______________________
Major Field of Study____________________________________________________
Semester hours completed________________________________________________
Women's Studies Certificate Student: yes no (circle one)
Faculty Advisor__________________________________________________________
(On the reverse side list women's studies courses taken, and list or describe
the rest of your completed or projected program of study.)
Organization student will work with:______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Brief description of that organization (history, function, structure...):
Organization address_______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Phone number_______________________________________________________________
Name and title of supervisor_______________________________________________
Duties student will perform at placement: (attach separate sheet if needed)
Dates for beginning and ending placement___________________________________
Number of hours student will work weekly___________________________________
Schedule, if established:
Type and frequency of supervision:
Type of evaluation supervisor will provide to student and to Internship
Director, during and at conclusion of placement:
(Note: Fall semester evaluation must be complete by or before December 14.)
Specify training provided by organization for the duties assigned:
What are the organization's goals or expectations for this placement?
What are the student's learning goals: "At the end of the experience I hope
to have learned..."
1._____________________________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________________________
4._____________________________________________________________________
What are the skills/experience the student brings to the agency?
Other comments:
For those students requesting additional credit in Field Work Analysis
Name of faculty sponsor_____________________________________________________
Department/phone____________________________________________________________
Study/analysis/research project student will undertake: (be as specific as
possible)
Type and frequency of faculty supervision:
How will this work be evaluated, and when?
What are the student's learning goals for this project, and how are they
related to the organizational placement and its duties?
Would it be useful/necessary/appropriate to schedule consultation between
faculty sponsor and field supervisor?
Other comments:
(All students in Women's Studies Internship will register for 1 credit of
Field Work Analysis, and participate in group seminar.)
ANTIOCH COLLEGE
CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION
CO-OP SYLLABUS
INTRODUCTION
In the spring of 1978 the faculty of CCE agreed to reinstitute the
requirement that all Antioch students prepare a paper or project
demonstrating their learning during the co-op period. The paper or project
should be submitted at check-in upon return to campus for the next study
quarter. Students will determine whether the materials should be returned to
them, placed in the CCE library, and/or distributed to other members of the
faculty.
During your co-op quarter you will be involved in learning in a number
of contexts, both on and off the job. The purpose of the paper or project is
to provide a framework for you to think about your learning during the
quarter and to create a basis for discussion about that learning when you
return to campus.
While you should be as broad as possible in planning your educational
objectives before you leave campus and completing the self-evaluation when
you return, the paper or project provides the opportunity for you to focus in
depth on a central aspect of your learning which is particularly meaningful
to you.
The paper or project should be analytical rather than merely descriptive
about your learning experience. It may take any form (such as photo essay,
dance, analysis of a journal) which meets the following criteria:
- documentation of what you have learned;
- clarity of communication;
- evidence of thoughtfulness about your learning; and
- care in preparation.
The following syllabus has been prepared to help you and your advisors
organize, understand, and evaluate the educational value of each co-op
period. The heart of the syllabus is an extensive list of questions organized
into four sections: Person, Place, Job, and Philosophy of Work.
These questions may be helpful in identifying areas of current
importance or interest to you. The list should also be consulted from time to
time during the co-op period. The same issues may maintain their importance,
or others may take their place. You may also do a paper or project on a topic
which is not touched upon by these questions.
This syllabus was prepared by a committee of CCE, Library and classroom
faculty and students. CCE would like to hear your suggestions for changes in
this syllabus which you think will make it more helpful.
The Person
Learning takes place within an individual, regardless of the context
(classroom, library, job, neighborhood, home, etc.). Personal growth and
understanding are a major part of the whole. Some individual change results
from all educational experience. Recognizing and understanding this personal
development is important to learning, and it helps with continuing
self-insight and future growth. The following questions are relevant:
I. Placement and Preparation (The Jumping-Off Place)
- How did you feel in anticipating going on the job? Did you have any
fantasies relating to the job?
- How did you first hear of the job?
- How did you participate in getting the job?
- How did you contact your employer before leaving?
- How did you work out your living arrangements before leaving?
- What were your hopes and expectations about the job?
- As you prepared to leave, how did it feel to be going off on your
own? To be leaving friends and familiar places?
- During this preparatory phase, from where did you draw your
personal support? How did that work out?
II. Travel Arrangements and Preparations
- What problems existed in preparing to travel?
- How did you travel? What happened on the way?
- What did you learn? What travel skills did you develop?
III. On the Job
A. Beginning
What was your first job contact like? Anything like you
expected? How did you feel and react?
What was your first day like?
What were your first impressions of the people on the job?
Do you remember the first time you saw where you were going to
live? How did it fit your expectations? How did you react?
B. Continuing
As the co-op continued, what changes did you experience? How
did you feel about these changes?
Did your perceptions of supervisors or fellow-workers change?
How did these relationships work out?
How did you relate to authority, hierarchy, and
responsibility?
Did you make new friends? Do you or will you still keep in
touch?
Were you in touch with people out of your "class" and/or age
group? How did you respond?
Did you feel you were able to meet your needs on co-op? Where
did you get personal support when you needed it?
What was your experience with money? Did you earn enough? If
not, how did you manage? What was your experience with
financial planning and budgeting?
What was the high point of your co-op experience? Low point?
C. Finishing up
Do you have any "unfinished business" with people you met or
worked with? What didn't you say? Why?
Do you wish you had done things differently?
How did you react to evaluations of your work?
IV. What differences do you now see between your on-campus world and your
co-op world?
What have you discovered about your capacity for making decisions?
Has it changed? How?
How would you assess your capacity for personal communication?
Writing? Listening? Speaking?
Were there any significant changes in your personal qualities such
as empathy, sensitivity, being "up front" and "straight?"
Were you able to find sources for information you needed? Did you
feel comfortable with your environment?
Did you experience any cultural differences with people on co-op?
Behavior? Dress? Dialect? Language? Thinking? Values?
What did you learn about yourself in relating to these differences?
Having completed your co-op, what considered advice do you have for
a first-year student about to go on co-op?
The Place
Co-op Locations, Settings and Environments
During your Antioch career there will be several places where you will
live and work. Ideally there will be a variety among them (large/small,
urban/rural, live-in/on one's own). Gaining skills in coping with, observing,
participating in, using, and learning from these environments is a vital part
of the total educational program of the College. During co-op periods you
will have an excellent opportunity to exploit these places for significant
educational gains. The following is a list of relevant questions to be
considered (before, during, and after the experiences):
I. Culture
What were the significant cultural offerings in the city or
town where you worked? What was lacking? How did you use or
enjoy what you found?
How is your background different from the cross-cultural
influences encountered where you lived and worked? Did you run
into culture related difficulties? How did you grow or change
as a result of these experiences?
II. Learning
Can you identify ideas or principles from your academic work
which were illuminated or tested in the co-op environment? Are
there experiences you had on co-op you wish to investigate
further in courses on campus?
Did you learn as much or more from the place where you were as
from the job you performed? What did you learn from your
location?
What new knowledge, attitudes, or values have you acquired in
relation to the people and places of the world in general? Or
of specific locales in particular.
III. Issues
A. What were the major political and economic problems in the
community where you were? How is the city or town organized?
In what ways did you participate? What changes would you
advocate and what are the prospects of achieving them?
Can you analyze some of the major issues of the day in
relationship to the community where you lived and worked?
Examples might include questions about energy, urbanization,
qualities and necessities of life, racism, sexism, political
and economic forces, education, health, and the environment.
Make up a rating scale for the best and worst places you knew
of and rate your work and living environment according to this
scale. 261 How did your community respond to emergencies,
crises, or disasters? What facilities and resources were
available? What was your role, and how did you participate or
contribute?
B. What kind of a neighborhood did you live in? Describe the
people, the buildings, the life and tempo. Who lived where and
why? What happened? How did you fit in?
Where are businesses and industries located in the place where
you worked? What sorts of clusters or mixtures exist? What
dependencies were there in industrial relationships? How are
these situations growing or changing, and how is this
affecting the life of the people?
What are the primary means of transportation in the city or
town where you were? How do goods and people move about? What
major transportation problems exist? What improvements are
needed? How can these be brought about?
IV. Personal Expectations
A. How did the environment you lived and worked in fulfill or not
fulfill the expectations you had in mind when you went? How
would you use it differently another time?
B. Finally, do you feel able to cope and survive in most or all
new environments? Do you feel you can go anywhere (strange
city, isolated outpost, foreign culture to live and work?)
The Job
The focus of most co-op experiences is the job itself. While the job is
by no means everything, it does represent a major commitment of time and
energy during most co-op periods. The learnings which result from co-op
experiences are usually examined in terms of the workplace. The following
questions address themselves to this area.
I. General
What suggestions would you make to another co-op student considering
your present type of work?
What improvements in the employer's organization and operation might you
suggest?
II. A. Choices
How has the job helped you make choices relevant to future jobs?
How has the job helped you make choices relevant to your career?
Do you prefer working with people, paper, machines, or other
things?
B. Content
What knowledge are you acquiring in your field of study?
Define and describe any new educational work skills obtained during
your experience.
What particular skills and techniques did you learn on this job?
How are they useful to you?
III. Academic
Indicate any specific academic courses you may want to take as a
follow-up to this work period. How has this job helped you to make
choices relevant to future study plans?
How have your classes prepared you for this job?
Can you identify principles from recent courses that have been tested as
a result of this experience?
IV. Social Relations
A. General
Some co-op students find that the work environment provides as much
if not more education than the tasks they perform. To what extent
does this apply in your present experience?
Describe specific situations during this work period which
presented problems. How were they resolved?
B. The Workplace
What is the organization of the workplace? Who works in what
environment? Who does and does not punch a time clock? Why does the
employer hire co-op students?
What are the hierarchies and chains of authority? Were they built
into the structure of the workplace, or did they just evolve? Is
there any evidence of racism, sexism, or other human rights
violations? How are the various job classifications distributed
among members of the various ethnic groups, races, social classes,
and sexes? Is there mobility for people to move up the job ladder?
What do various workers do with their breaks? What modes of
behavior are necessary for a worker to "fit right in" with the
organization? How are health and safety issues involved with this
job? What improvements seem to be needed in the workplace and how
might they be brought about?
C. Work and Society
What factors determine the training for the jobs? Who gets trained?
Who determines what are the precepts of the training?
What is the role of the employer? Where is the work done? Who pays
the salary? Why? How did they get into a position to be employers?
By whom and by what process is it decided what the compensation
shall be?
What is the role of the occupation in society? What are the fruits
of the labor? Do they meet real or created needs? Who benefits or
is otherwise affected by this occupation and in what ways? What is
the role of the worker in this occupation in society and how is
this role determined? How is the workplace related to the community
in which it resides?
What alternatives exist or have existed to the way in which the job
is now done? This would include historical alternatives,
alternatives from other societies, and utopian as well as other
hypothetical alternatives.
D. The Student in the Job
How did your particular job contribute to the overall function of
the organization for which you worked?
How did you feel about your work; interested? bored, etc? Why? Were
these feelings engendered by factors inherent in the work itself or
by the nature of the specific job situation that you had?
Philosophy of Work
Many people spend a lifetime attempting to develop an individual and/or
collective philosophy of work. Often it is useful to revise such a framework
due to individual and societal changes. Some people seem to give little
thought to these philosophical matters, although just about everyone has
attitudes about enjoyment and satisfaction in different kinds of work. The
following questions address these issues.
I. Enjoyment of Work
Did you enjoy your job? In what ways?
Generally, do you enjoy working? Why? How? Under what
circumstances?
How do you measure work "success?"
II. Defining Work
How do you define "work?" Where did your definition originate? Have
you developed a philosophy of work? If so, can you describe it? How
did it change or develop on the job?
Is it important or desirable to work out a personal philosophy of
work?
How dependent is your philosophy of work on the society in which
you live?
III. Types and Purposes of Work
What is the best kind of job? The worst kind?
What is the function and future of manual labor, assembly-line, and
regimented work in our society?
What is the relationship between work and leisure?
How does work relate to the necessities of life and your sense of
well-being?
Who or what should benefit from work?
MORE SPECIFIC EVALUATION OF THE STUDENT'S WORK
Relations with others
__ Exceptionally well accepted
__ Works well with others
__ Gets along satisfactorily
__ Some difficulty working with others
__ Works very poorly with others
Reaction to work
__Outstanding in enthusiasm
__Very interested and industrious
__Average in diligence and interest
__Somewhat indifferent
__Negative-not interested
Judgment
__Exceptionally mature
__About average in making decisions
__Usually makes the right decision
__Often uses poor judgment
__Consistently uses bad judgment
Dependability
__Completely dependable
__Above average in dependability
__Usually dependable
__Sometimes neglectful or careless
__Unreliable
Initiative and self reliance
__Demonstrates outstanding initiative
__Seeks out new responsibilities
__Works well independently
__Follows directions adequately
__Requires constant supervision
Quality of work
__Excellent
__Very good
__Good
__Below average
__Unsatisfactory
WOULD YOU HIRE THIS STUDENT IN AN APPROPRIATE JOB ON A PERMANENT BASIS?
yes___ no___
PLEASE COMMENT ON WAYS IN WHICH THE STUDENT MIGHT IMPROVE PERFORMANCE ON THE
NEXT WORK ASSIGNMENT.
____________________________________________ ______________________________
Signature of Supervisor Title
Date_________________________
Has this been discussed with the student? Yes___ No___
ANTIOCH COLLEGE
YELLOW SPRINGS
CO-OPERATIVE JOB RATING
________________________ ____________________ ___________________
Student's Name Academic Year Quarter Job Held
__________________________________ __________________ ____________
Employing Organization City State
Exact dates of Employment: From__________, 19___ to___________, 19___
Job Title or Type of Work____________________________________________
Co-operative work experience is a degree requirement for all Antioch
students, and job ratings are an integral part of their college records.
If possible, you are urged to discuss this rating with the student since
it becomes the basis of conferences between students and their advisors
when they return to campus. Please send this form to the Center for
Cooperative Education, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.
PLEASE DESCRIBE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSITION HELD BY THE STUDENT.
PLEASE EVALUATE THE STUDENT'S WORK IN LIGHT OF THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS.
WEAL Fund
Women's Equity Action League
Educational & Legal Defense Fund
805 15th Street, N.W., Suite 822
Washington, D.C. 20005
202/638-1961
INTERN PROGRAM POLICIES
Administrative Work
WEAL Fund believes that individuals involved in an organization
should be familiar with all of its aspects and should be aware of
how various activities contribute to the total functioning of the
organization. To develop an understanding of how organizations
function and to assist WEAL Fund in conducting its work, interns
are expected to spend part of their time performing administrative
tasks for the Fund. Examples of some of these tasks are answering
the telephone, sorting the mail, duplicating materials, filling
orders for publications and otherwise helping the staff perform
their tasks. Interns are also responsible for clerical work that is
part of their projects.
Supervision of Interns by WEAL Fund Staff
Your learning experiences will be supervised by a WEAL Fund staff
member who is benefitting from your services on a specific project.
The following areas are important to consider.
1. Laying the Groundwork for your participation can help you
understand where your contribution fits into work already
completed and work planned for the future. Ask your supervisor
to explain tasks so that you understand their importance
within a framework of short-term and long-term goals. It is
useful for you to understand the history of a project,
including the need and rationale for its existence, as well as
the processes used in making major decisions up to that point.
2. Regular and Open Communication is probably the single most
important element in a successful experience for both intern
and staff member. You should meet at a mutually convenient
regular time each week. Content of such meetings should
include:
a. Mutual expectations
b. Developing and modifying, if necessary, intern job
description
c. Clarifying goals and objectives of organization, staff
member and intern
d. Constructive feedback
e. Feelings
f. Specific issues and problems re: Project work
g. Monitoring of progress within the framework of externally
imposed deadlines
Expenses
For each day that an intern works a minimum of 5 hours s/he is paid
a stipend of $4.00. There is no way in which WEAL Fund can repay
interns for the valuable services they perform, but this allowance
represents the Fund's attempts to reimburse the interns for some of
the costs of volunteering. Interns keep a separate record of the
hours and days worked and submit a monthly expense account voucher,
after it is initialed by their supervisor.
Over and above the record for the routine expense account voucher,
a record for approved expenses incurred in project-related
activities (e.g., bus transportation from the WEAL Fund office to
a meeting) is kept and an expense requisition form, separate from
the above voucher is submitted to the administrative coordinator if
it is under $5.00, or to the Treasurer if it is over $5.00.
For Your WEAL Fund File
WEAL Fund staff are often asked to write evaluations or
recommendations for interns. To do this we need more than a memory
of you and so we are asking that when you leave us, you provide the
following written material for your file:
- A copy of any report, paper or analysis you produce during
your internship (your product).
- A brief report of any meeting you attend. If more than one
intern attends a meeting they may jointly fill out an
Out-of-Office Report Form. One copy should be given to the
Administrative Coordinator for the Meeting Notebook. Another
copy goes into the file of each intern who attended the
meeting.
WEAL Fund
Women's Equity Action League
Educational & Legal Defense Fund
805 15th Street, N.W., Suite 822
Washington, D.C. 20005
202/638-1961
INTERN:__________________________________________________________
Beginning Date:___________________Completion Date:_______________
Schedule:________________________________________________________
Supervisor:______________________________________________________
Project:_________________________________________________________
Weekly Meetings with Supervisor:_________________________________
Mid-Session Evaluation:__________________________________________
Job Description:
Goals and objectives for WEAL Fund internship:
WEAL Fund
Women's Equity Action League
Educational & Legal Defense Fund
805 15th Street, N.W., Suite 822
Washington, D.C. 20005
202/638-1961
WEAL FUND - INTERN CONTRACT
INTERN AGREES:
- to work _____ hours per week for _____ weeks.
- to become thoroughly familiar with WEAL Fund's policies and
procedures.
- to be prompt and reliable in reporting for work; to notify
the staff if unable to work as scheduled.
- to be responsible to the Assistant Director of the Intern
Program, and Project Supervisor.
- to notify the Assistant Director at least two weeks in
advance of any resignation.
- to accept WEAL Fund's right to dismiss any intern for poor
performance, including poor attendance.
- to exercise good judgment when acting on WEAL Fund's behalf
in any situation and to appropriately protect the
confidentiality of all information relating to WEAL Fund.
WEAL FUND AGREES:
- to work out with each intern a written job description that
includes tasks to be performed and guidelines for
evaluation.
- to provide orientation about WEAL Fund.
- to train interns to whatever extent is necessary.
- to provide a supervisor who will be available to guide and
assist interns during work hours and conduct periodic
performance evaluations.
- to provide a counselor and advocate who will assist interns
in evaluating their experience in relation to their own
goals and who will act as liaison between the interns and
the WEAL Fund staff.
- to promote full understanding among the interns of WEAL
Fund's operations and decisions.
- to pay interns
- to provide student interns with evaluations and information
required by their academic institutions so they can
receive credit for their internships.
- to provide interns with a detailed recommendation
appropriate for inclusion in an academic file or for
review by potential employers.
- to schedule regular meetings (arranged on a rotating basis
that will enable interns to attend at least one meeting
per month) for the discussion of matters of concern to
either the staff or the interns.
_____________________________ _______________________
for WEAL Fund Intern
_____________________________
Date
WEAL Fund
Women's Equity Action League
Educational & Legal Defense Fund
805 15th Street, N.W., Suite 822
Washington, D.C. 20005
202/638-1961
EVALUATION OF WEAL FUND INTERNS
The following questions are useful in evaluating how well you
adapted to WEAL Fund activities during your internship and the
exact nature of your contribution to WEAL Fund. Please respond
briefly.
1. Were you in the office when you planned to and did you take
responsibility for the project and activities for which you
contracted?
2. To what extent did you develop an understanding of the
organization's functions, policies and procedures?
3. To what extent did you develop effective working relationships
with other interns and staff?
4. When supervisory help and constructive criticism were offered,
how did you react to them?
5. If a work-related problem arose, how were you able to solve it?
6. To what extent did you take advantage of special opportunities
offered, for example, an outside conference, meeting, or an
extra project?
7. Were there specific instances of your taking the initiative in
performing duties or becoming involved in office functioning?
Please elaborate.
8. Did you find there were opportunities to be creative, and if
so, explain how you used these opportunities?
9. How effective were you in written and oral communication? Give
examples.
10. On a scale of 1 (lowest) - 10 (highest), what was the overall
quality of your work in regard to:
- follow-through and attention to detail? ______
- initiative? ______
- accuracy? ______
- research techniques? ______
- quality of writing? ______
PROGRAM EVALUATION
NAME: Part Time ( ) Full Time ( )
Average No. of hours/week________
PROJECTS:
Listed below are the major programmatic not very
components of the Intern Program. very worth-
Please indicate their value to you.(circle) useful while
A. Orientation
Intern Packet 1 2 3 4 5
First day/week program 1 2 3 4 5
B. Training (specify)
Office workshops 1 2 3 4 5
Outside workshops/ Meetings 1 2 3 4 5
C. Brown Bag Lunches
Guests 1 2 3 4 5
Discussions with staff and
other interns 1 2 3 4 5
D. Intern Meetings 1 2 3 4 5
The Intern Program is working to provide interns with a range of
information and experiences. Please rate how your internship
provided you with each of the following:
Needed Very
More Sufficient Well
A. Information about WEAL and WEAL Fund 1 2 3
B. Information about legal issues
affecting women 1 2 3
C. Information about governmental
processes 1 2 3
D. An opportunity to learn how an office
functions 1 2 3
E. An opportunity to learn how an
organization functions 1 2 3
F. Opportunities to work with other groups
or individuals concerned with
similar issues 1 2 3
G. Opportunities to participate in the
political process (e.g. meeting
government or elected officials
or attending hearings) 1 2 3
H. Experiences relevant to personal career
planning 1 2 3
In what way were the following experiences valuable to you? If they
were not of value, please explain why.
INTERN OF THE DAY:
PROJECT:
What activities or experiences of your internship were most
satisfying?
Which were least satisfying?
What specific skills or knowledge did you acquire during your
internship?
Please comment on project supervision and staff assistance you
received during your internship.
What do you think you have gained from your internship experience?
What suggestions can you make for improvements in the Intern
Program?
Chapter 5: REFERENCES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The selected readings listed below were compiled from a variety of
sources. Orders for materials should be sent directly to the
publisher; a mailing address is provided where available.
These publications are listed solely as an information service. The
inclusion of a publication does not imply that NWSA endorses it or
favors it over other publications. The editors have used
information from current sources, and cannot be held responsible
for inaccuracies and/or omissions.
I. Directories:
"Internship Programs for Women," Katie Mulligan, 1980. National
Society for Internships and Experiential Education (1735 1
St., N.W., Suite 601, Washington, D.C. 20006).
"The Directory of Washington Internships, 1979-80." Debra L. Mann
and Grace E. Hopper, editors. National Society for Internships
and Experiential Education (1735 1 St., N.W., Suite 601,
Washington, D.C. 20006).
"Directory of Public Service Internships: Opportunities for the
Graduate, Post-Graduate and Mid-Career Professional, 1979-80."
Debra Mann and Randy Bishop, editors. National Society for
Internships and Experiential Education (1735 1 St., N.W.,
Suite 601, Washington, D.C. 20006).
"The Directory of Special Opportunities for Women," Martha Merrill
Dos, editor. Garrett Park Press, 19 1 (Garrett Park, MD
20766).
"Internships in Washington, D.C. with a Focus on Women." WEAL Fund,
1980 (805 15th ST., N.W., Suite 822, Washington, D.C. 20005).
The National Directory of Summer Internships. Career Planning
Office, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041.
"Opportunities for Prior Learning Credit: An Annotated Directory
1979." Kathleen Beecham, editor. Council for the Advancement
of Experiential Education (American City Building, Columbia,
Maryland 21044).
"CAEL Literature Guide, 1978." Jane Porter Stutz and Joan Knapp,
editors. (American City Building, Columbia, MD 21044).
"CAEL Literature Guide Supplement, 1978. Jane Porter Stutz and Joan
Knapp, editors (American City Building, Columbia, MD 21044).
"Directory of Afro-American Resources." (Available from Order
Department, R. R.Bowker Co., P.O. Box 1 07, Ann Arbor,
Michigan 41806.)
"Stopout! Working Ways to Learn," Joyce Mitchell, editor. Garrett
Park Press, 1979 (Garrett Park, MD 20766).
II. Handbooks and Learning Tools:
Bose, Christine, E. and Janet Priest-Jones, "The Relationship
Between Women's Studies, Career Development, and Vocational
Choice," NIE, Washington, D.C.,
Duley, John, editor. Implementing Field Experience Education. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1974.
Duley, John, and Stephen L. Yelon. "Efficient Evaluation of
Individual Performance in Field Placement." Council for the
Advancement of Experiential Learning, 1979 (Lakefront North,
Suite 300, Columbia, MD 21044).
Duley, John and Sheila Gordon. "College-Sponsored Experiential
Learning: A CAEL Handbook." CAEL, 1977 (American City
Building, Columbia, MD 21044).
"Experiential Learning Program: A Guide for Students, Faculty and
Organizations." Office of Experiential Learning, University of
Maryland, College Park, MD 20742).
Knapp, Joan. "The Assessor: A CAEL Syllabus for Professionals."
CAEL, 1979 (American City Building, Columbia, MD 21044).
Knapp, Joan and Amiel T. Sharon. "A Compendium of Assessment
Techniques." CAEL, 1975 (American City Building, Columbia, MD
21044).
"The Language of Learning Contracts: A Handbook." Birmingham,
Alabama: Birmingham-Southern College, 1978.
MacTaggart, Terence. "Cost-Effectiveness: A CAEL Syllabus for
Professionals." CAEL, 1979 (American City Building, Columbia,
MD 21044).
Nesbitt, Hadley. "College-Sponsored Experiential Learning--A CAEL
Student Guide." CAEL, 1977 (American City Building, Columbia,
MD 21044).
"New Directions for Experiential Learning, A Quarterly Sourcebook."
Morris T. Keeton and Pamela J. Tate, Editors-in-Chief.
Sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Experiential
Learning.
Willingham, Warren W. "Principles of Good Practice in Assessing
Experiential Learning." CAEL, 1977 (American City Building,
Columbia, MD 21044).
Diane de Puydt, "The Hidden Dimension of Field Experience Programs:
Problems with Field Supervisors," Journal of Cooperative
Education, Vol. XV, I, Fall 1978, Indiana State University
(Terre Haute, Indiana 47809).
Reuben, Elaine and Mary Jo Boehm Strauss, "Women's Studies
Graduates," NIE: Washington, D.C., 1980.
Site Supervisor's Manual. "Community Involvement Programs."
Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN 55105.
"The Service Learning Educator: A Guide to Program Management."
National Center for Service Learning, 806 Connecticut Avenue,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006.
"Step by Step: Management of the Volunteer Program in Agencies."
Volunteer Bureau of Bergen County, IN (389 Main St.,
Hackensack, NJ 076001).
"Student Intern's Manual." Community Involvement Programs.
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN 55105.
"Synergist" (a quarterly magazine about service learning). The
National Center for Service-Learning (806 Connecticut Ave.,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006).
III. Career Development/Women and Work:
Batchelder, E. and L. Marks. "Creating Alternatives: A Survey of
Women's Projects," Heresies, Spring, 1979 2 (3), pp. 94-127
(Box 766 Canal St. Station, New York, NY 10013).
Berson, Ginny. "Olivia: We Don't Just Process Records," Sister
VII:2, Dec.-Jan ., 1976 , pp. 8-9 .
Bolles, Richard N. "The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of
Them." Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1978.
Bolles, Richard N. "What Color is Your Parachute." Berkeley: Ten
Speed Press,
Christy, R. "Women at Work Building Communities," Heresies, Spring,
1979 2 (3), pp. 11-13 (P.0. Box 766 Canal Street Station, New
York, NY 10013).
Harragan, Betty M. "Games Mother Never Taught You." New York:
Warner Books, 1977.
Hennig, Margaret and Anne Jardim. "The Managerial Woman." New York:
Doubleday, 1977 .
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. "Men and Women of the Corporation." New
York: Basic Books, 1 977.
Pogrebin, Letty Cottin. "Getting Yours: How to Make the System Work
for the Working Woman." New York: Avon, 1975.
Sackmary, B. and N. Hedrick. "Assessment of the Experiential
Learning of Women for College Credit in the Area of Women's
Studies." Paper presented to the National Conference, Council
for the Advancement of Experiential Learning (CAEL), San
Francisco, October 1977.
Sanford, Wendy. "Working Together, Growing Together: A Brief
History of the Boston Women's Health Collective." Heresies,
Spring, 1979 2 (3) j pp. 83-92.
"The Cost of Living," Women: A Journal of Liberation IV:2 (1975),
(3028 Greenmount Ave ., Baltimore, MD 21218).
"We Walk the Line: The Struggle at Preterm," Radical American
Pamphlet, 1979,13 (2). (P.0. Box B, North Cambridge, MA
12140).
A WOMEN'S STUDIES GUIDE TO INTERNSHIP DIRECTORIES
The following descriptions of major internship guides should be
read, and used, with several considerations in mind:
1. Women's Issues/Feminist Perspectives
The general guides indicate "women" or "women's issues" as topical
categories, and frequently offer cross-references for further
referral. Feminist students and others interested in experiential
education, career development and related areas can explore these
possibilities, as well as those in settings that have not been
expressly identified (or do not identify themselves) as being
"about women." Work, health, education, science, government,
communications, social services, urban development, etc., are all
feminist concerns; research, policy, service, and advocacy groups
listed under these topic categories can (or may be encouraged to)
provide vital learning experiences for women's studies students.
2. Internship Structures/Academic Credit
These guides include descriptions of established, full-time,
year-long, structured internship programs that require competitive
application; they also include descriptions of organizations that
will welcome potential volunteers for several hours a week to a
limited project assignment or to the ongoing activities of the
sponsoring group. Few descriptions announce that academic credit is
provided as part of the internship, since credit can only be given
by an academic institution.
Within limits, these structures and requirements, and the issue of
credit, can be "negotiated" and adapted to meet particular needs of
students in different academic programs or circumstances.
Most internship sponsors can provide information, reports, and
evaluations of student internship activities necessary to allow the
student to apply to receive credit from her school. Whether the
student negotiates for credit in women's studies or in another
field, under an "independent study" course or in lieu of another
course or requirement, the principle is the same: she will work
with a faculty sponsor to translate the potential internship
activities into an acceptable learning activity.
Often, help in arranging for academic credit is available on
campus, in an office designated to deal with off-campus and
experiential learning. Many postsecondary institutions are members
of the Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning (CAEL)
and have access to CAEL materials developed to assist faculty
assessment of learning outside the classroom; many colleges and
universities are affiliated with the Washington Center for Learning
Alternatives and have access to its brokering service for students
seeking internships in the Washington, D.C. area. Many educational
institutions offer their own internship or off-campus programs,
and/or participate in consortial programs that accept students from
all schools in the consortium and, as space is available, will
consider applications from other schools. The Great Lakes College
Association consortium in Philadelphia is an example of this
operation.
3. Beyond These Directories/National-Local Links
No single directory, or even combination of directories, can
possibly represent the multitude and variety of internships and
service learning that exist--or that can be developed--for women's
studies students. Used imaginatively and creatively, however, the
various guides listed below can suggest further possibilities, in
different geographic sites, for example, or concentrating on
different topical concerns.
Annotations of the guides addressed specifically to women and
women's issues indicate that these guides represent what are still
beginning or continuing data-gathering efforts. Introducing her
section on "Programs for Undergraduate and Graduate Women" in
"Internship Programs for Women" Katie Mulligan notes "that the
total number of programs mentioned considerably underrepresents the
extent of internship opportunities available for undergraduate and
graduate women. The Women's College Coalition estimates that more
than half of its member institutions have internship programs." And
the editors of the WEAL Fund Guide indicate that they did not get
responses from many of the more than 100 organizations to which
they sent their questionnaire.
On the basis of such "leads," one might investigate options at
women's colleges in one's vicinity to explore their availability
for students from other schools. One could also assume that some of
the women's organizations in Washington, D.C. that did not respond
to the WEAL questionnaire have since (or will soon be) prepared to
welcome student interns; even now, some may consider an
individual's proposal although they do not wish to advertise an
extensive or continuing capacity to work with interns. And then
there are the women's organizations based in New
York...Cleveland...San Francisco...
Just as there can be no single comprehensive guide to women's
studies internships, there is no single comprehensive roster of
women's organizations. A Guide to Women's Resources, prepared in
1980 by the Office of Sarah Weddington at the White Houses listed
more than 400 areas of principal interest; a similar listing of
"National Women's and Women's Rights Organizations" was prepared in
1980 by the Community Relations Division, Office of Congressional
and Public Affairs of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. "The
Directory of Special Opportunities for Women", published this year
by Garrett Park Press, provides state by state lists as well as an
alphabetic section of national organizations, associations and
government agencies. And there are local and regional "Women's
Directories" all over the country, in addition to special-emphasis
directories like that prepared by "Media Report to Women". Any
organization or agency listed is a potential internship placement
site.
National organizations have local and state chapters; federal
agencies have regional offices; national and state task forces and
Public service internships are often modeled on those of county and
city levels; local and state women's projects may have information
about regional and national networks of similar groups.
Many of the internship programs for and about women were created
with private or federal funding. The Fund for the Improvement of
Postsecondary Education, the Women's Educational Equity Act, other
government agencies, and private foundations will, one hopes,
continue to support such developments. (In 1980-81, for example,
The Center for Field Research, which channels funds to scholars who
utilize teams of volunteers in the field, obtained a FIPSE grant to
alert more eligible women and minority scholars to the work of the
Center, and has thus increased the numbers of projects that may be
of interest to women's studies students.) Faculty advisors and
women's studies program administrators who read annual reports of
funding sources may be able to alert students to internship
programs just underway.
Students on campus, as well as alumnae, should also consult career
services and alumnae offices as a source of information on possible
internships. Many institutions have created mechanisms for linking
students with alumnae activists and professionals whose own work
sites can offer internship experiences.
"The Directory of Special Opportunities for Women", 1981, edited by
Martha Merrill Dos. Garrett Park Press, Garrett Park, MD 20766.
$18.00 prepaid, $19.00 billed.
This sourcebook offers over a thousand descriptions of
national, state and local programs that will help women enter
or re-enter the work force. Section One is an alphabetical
listing of national organizations, associations, programs and
government agencies. Section Two is divided by states and
lists organizations numerically by zip code, including women's
studies programs, women's centers, private companies,
individual counselors, and city, county and state agencies.
Entries describe what the organization does and the services
available. Section Three lists women's colleges and
universities by state. Section Four includes books,
brochures/pamphlets, newsletters, magazines, newspapers,
publishing companies and foundations/grants.
"The Directory of Public Service Internships", 1980-81, edited by
Debra Mann and Randy Bishop. National Society for Internships and
Experiential Education, 1735 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 601,
Washington, D.C. 20006. $7.00/$4.00 NSIEE members.
Women's studies students and faculty advisors will find this
a useful guide to investigate for public service internships
and fellowship opportunities throughout the United States.
Although there is no "Women's Issues" category in the index of
programs, the compendium does include listings such as WEAL
Fund (a public interest organization committed to equal
rights) and the Washington Institute for Women in Politics (a
program for undergraduate study of the federal policy-making
process) under "Management and Public Policy"; the National
Urban Fellows (whose objective is identification and training
of women and minorities for urban administrative roles) under
"Urban Planning"; and the Center for Law and Public Policy
(which includes women's issues among its programs) under "Law
and Law Enforcement". While the emphasis of the volume is on
graduate, postgraduate, and mid-career opportunities, it
describes many organizations that are flexible in terms of
intern assignment and/or specifically open to undergraduates.
Some specify that they offer academic credit; others, that
they pay a stipend or salary. Many of the sponsoring programs
are based in the Washington, D.C. area, but also place interns
nationally and regionally; the directory has a good selection
of state and regional internship programs and clearinghouses.
"The Directory of Undergraduate Internships, 1979-80", edited by
Debra Mann and Grace E. Hooper, National Society for Internships
and Experiential Education, 1735 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 601,
Washington, D.C. 20006. $7.00/$4.00 NSIEE members.
This directory provides the undergraduate student with a list
of internship opportunities available nationwide. Arranged by
field, it includes a short section on clearinghouses, economic
development, public policy and state government. Each entry
includes the name, address and phone number of the internship
sponsor; its objectives, sources of funds, program design,
placement location; and information on supervisors, student
eligibility and recruitment policies.
"The Directory of Washington Internships, 1979-80". Compiled and
edited by Debra Mann. National Society for Internships and
Experiential Education, 1735 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 601,
Washington, D.C. 20006. $7.00/$4.00 NSIEE members.
Programs are listed by field, with women's issues as one
category. Each category section begins with a list of
cross-references, to assist students in locating organizations
that have women's issues as a secondary focus; approximately
10-15 such listings may be of particular interest to women's
studies students. Entries are described by program design,
skills needed and the benefits of the experience; the number
of intern slots available and the organization's work schedule
are also noted. This directory is designed primarily for
undergraduate and graduate students; it includes a section on
housing possibilities in Washington, D.C., and a bibliography
of related resources.
"Internships in Washington, D.C. with a Focus on Women", Women's
Equity Action League Educational and Legal Defense Fund, 805 15th
Street, N.W., Washington,D.C. 20005. $2.50
Student interns at WEAL Fund have recently updated this guide,
which now contains 37 entries. In responding to the WEAL Fund
questionnaire, some organizations were more complete in their
self-descriptions than others, but all indicated that they
welcome interns in their women-related work. Information
provided includes: Goals of the organization; internship
assignments; skills and education necessary; time and length
of internship; and application procedure. Among opportunities
listed are the National Archives for Black Women's History
(where students process and arrange records documenting the
history of Black women in the U.S.); Federally Employed Women
(where interns lobby, do research and give staff support for
improving the status of women in the federal service); the
Overseas Education Fund (where students can work on issues
related to the integration of Third World women into the
socio-economic development of their countries); the
Congresswomen's Caucus (whose purpose is to advance
legislation of interest to women); organizations such as NOW,
AAUW, NWSA, and others. All offer a field supervisor; some can
provide information on housing in the area; several offer
summer/January term placements; and a few can make work-study
funds available.
"Stopout! Working Ways to Learn," edited by Joyce Slayton Mitchell,
Garrett Park, Press, Garrett Park, MD 20766. $8.50
In this compilation of over 150 organizations interested in
working with interns or volunteers, placements are listed by
issue category: education, public interest, health,
communications, women and minorities. The scope is national.
Entries give information on what the organization does; what
interns there do; and requirements and procedures for
application.
"The 1981 Directory of Summer Internships," a biennial publication
of the Career Planning Offices of Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges,
Career Planning Office, Haverford College, Haverford, PA. $8.50
This edition is now out of print, but the 1982 edition will be
available in September 1981. Arranged topically, the directory
has no specific section on women's issues, but entries under
"Public Interest," "Social Services," and "Health" may be
among those of interest to women's studies students.
Placements listed are located in various regions of the
country. An extensive introduction gives information on
procedures and reasons for becoming a student intern.
"Internships for Women," Katie Mulligan, National Society for
Internships and Experiential Education, 1735 Eye Street, N.W.,
Suite 610, Washington, D.C.20006. $3.00
This 1980 publication identifies 45 internship programs in
four major categories: programs for reentry women (12); for
low-income women (17); to prepare women for specific
professional careers (11); and for undergraduate and graduate
women (5). Each internship listing gives information about its
purpose, program, source of funding, and policies on stipends,
academic credit and fees. Internships in all categories may
offer academic credit, and/or may charge tuition or other
fees. The author provides analyses of the information
included, and discussion of issues involved in the development
and support of such internship programs.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATORS
The following organizations have additional publications and
resources that experiential educators may find useful. For a more
complete list of national organizations involved in supporting
field experience education, see "The Service-Learning Educator, A
Guide to Program Management," available upon request from the
National Center for Service-Learning.
1. ACTION/National Center for Service-Learning, formerly National
Student Volunteer Program (NSVP)
806 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20525
(Toll-free) 1-800-424-8580, branch 88 or 89
The National Center for Service-Learning supports service
learning through training and technical assistance and through
the publication of materials designed to help practitioners
implement service learning. NCSL publishes "Synergist," a
journal appearing three times a year and containing up-to-date
information on service learning. All NCSL materials and services
are available free of charge.
2. Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning (CAEL)
Lakefront North, Suite 300
Columbia, Maryland 21044
301-997-3535
CAEL is an organization devoted to advancing the cause of
experiential education in colleges and universities. CAEL offers
a number of services to colleges and universities which join
their organization; a number of publications are also available.
3. National Society for Internships and Experiential Education
(NSIEE)
1735 Eye Street, N.W.
Suite 601
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-331-1516
NSIEE is a clearinghouse for information on internship
opportunities nationwide. A newsletter, Experiential Education,
is published bi-monthly, as well as four directories listing
placement possibilities for undergraduates, graduates and
postgraduates.
4. Association for Experiential Education
Box 4625
Denver, Colorado 80204
303-837-8633
AEE is an international network of diverse individuals, schools
and other education organizations which share a common interest
in and commitment to experience-based teaching and learning. AEE
publishes the "Journal of Experiential Education" and a
newsletter, "Voyageur", and sponsors a major conference each
year.
MEDIA RESOURCES FOR WOMEN'S STUDIES
SERVICE LEARNING COURSES
(This list was compiled by Betsy Jameson, Loretto Heights College.)
The following are media products which relate to the topic of
women's roles in the workforce. When possible, recommendations are
included. Otherwise, the distributor's description of the work is
given without further evaluation.
WHY AREN'T YOU SMILING?: Excellent program about office workers,
including the history of the office and the issues which concern
women office workers: lack of respect, low pay, lack of
advancement, racism, technology, etc. Also highlights working
women's organizations and unions. 20 min. slide/tape presentation,
Community Media Productions, 215 Superior Ave., Dayton, Ohio 45406.
Rental, $30; Sales, $110, plus $4 handling. Highly recommended.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROSIE THE RIVETER: A new NEH funded film
about the role of women workers during World War II, including
their unfulfilled aspirations to continue their jobs after the war.
16 mm. color, 80 minutes, Clarity Educational Productions, Inc.,
5915 Hollis St., Emeryville, CA 94608, (415) 655-7150. No price
information available at this time.
WITH BABIES AND BANNERS: A film which documents women's role in the
Great General Motors Sitdown Strike of 1937, a crucial event in the
successful CIO drive for industrial unionism. The film draws the
connection between the struggles then and today, illustrating the
roots of many issues facing today's working women. 16 mm. color, 45
minutes, rentals $60, sales $475, handling $5; New Day Films, P.O.
Box 315, Franklin Lakes, N.J. 07417. Highly recommended.
GREAT GRANDMOTHER: Portrays the history of women who settled the
Canadian Prairies; provides a useful stimulus for discussing wagework
vs. housework and for considering the economic values of
traditional women's labor. A first-rate film. 16 mm. color, 29
minutes, rental $35, Sales $375, handling $4. New Day Films, P.O.
Box 315, Franklin Lakes, N.J. 07417.
UNION MAIDS: The 1930's and the birth of the CIO are documented
through the eyes of three remarkable women organizers as they
recall working conditions, the second-class treatment of women,
organizing drives, etc. A study guide and history are available for
$1. An outstanding film. 16 mm. black and white, 48 min., rental
$60, sales $450, handling $5. New Day Films, P.O. Box 315, Franklin
Lakes, N.J. 07417. Highly recommended.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT: NO PLACE IN THE WORKPLACE- Features Gloria
Steinem and Lynn Farley (author of SEXUAL SHAKEDOWN) discussing the
problems of sexual harassment as encountered by many women in the
workplace. 3/4" color video cassette, rental $20/3 days + 10% per
additional day; sale $175. Michigan Media, 400 Fourth St., Ann
Arbor, MI 48109.
CAUTION: WOMEN WORKING: Features Sheila Ritter, folk
singer/composer, exploring the plight of women in working class
jobs through songs she has composed as well as the songs of other
musicians. A musical documentary of women as wives, factory
workers, career seekers. 3/4" video cassette, color; rental $20/3
days + 10% per additional day; sale $175. Michigan Media, 400
Fourth St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
THE ISSUE AT HAND--WHERE ARE WOMEN GOING?: The impact of the
women's movement on employment, men, family structure, and divorce
rates. 3/4" color video cassette, 29 min.; rental $20/3 days + 10%
per additional day; sale $175. Michigan Media, 400 Fourth St., Ann
Arbor, MI 48109.
HEALTH CARING FROM OUR END OF THE SPECTRUM: A first-rate film about
women's experiences with the present health care system and about
alternative feminist approaches and agencies. Appropriate
particularly for service learning placements in health care. 16 mm.
color, 32 min. Rental $40 + $5 handling; sale $375. Women Make
Movies, Inc., 257 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011.
(212) 929-6477. Recommended.
AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS BUT MY OWN: A documentary on prostitution
featuring scenes with six prostitutes, a male member of the vice
squad, and Margo St. James, as well as the First World Meeting of
Prostitutes in Washington, D.C. 16 mm. color, 52 min., rental $50.
Mountain Moving PRODUCTIONS, P.O. Box 1235, Evergreen, CO 80439.
(303) 838-6426.
SONG OF THE CANARY: A powerful documentary about the dangers of the
American workplace, including workers who have been sterilized
using a powerful farm pesticide, "brown lung" among cotton mill
workers, etc. Not restricted to women workers, but still powerful
and pertinent. 16 mm. color, 58 min. (or two half hour segments);
rental $65 ($5 handling), sale $675. New Day Films, P.O. Box 315,
Franklin Lakes, N.J. 07417.
THE ALL-ROUND REDUCED PERSONALITY: A sensitive and humorous
portrait of the challenges facing a young single mother in West
Berlin who has decided to run her own life and must cope with the
conflicting demands of home, daughter, and her career as a
photographer. Directed by Helke Sander, one of Germany's leading
feminist filmmakers. 16 mm. black and white, 98 min., German
dialogue with English subtitles. Unifilm, 1550 Bryant Street, San
Francisco, CA 94103;(415) 864-7755; 419 Park Ave. South, New York,
NY 10016. (212) 686-9890. Write for catalogue.
THE DOUBLE DAY: Gives comprehensive and accurate report on Latin
American working class women; the title derives from the struggle
to fulfill both family and work responsibilities--hence a "double
jornada" or double day. Looks at the double bind of sex and class
in a variety of occupational settings; peasant women, market women,
factory women, domestic servants, and women mine workers. 16 mm.
color, 53 min. Rental $75/$125; sale $675. Tricontinental Film
Center, 333 Sixth Ave., New York, NY 10014. (212) 989-3330. Or P.O.
Box 4430, Berkeley, CA 94704. (415) 548-3204. Available in English
and Spanish versions. Highly recommended.
BLOW FOR BLOW: A dramatic reconstruction of the successful strike
and occupation by women workers of a French textile factory.
Produced by a collective of over 100 workers, students, filmmakers,
and performers, the film is based on several real factory takeovers
that have occurred recently in France. 16 mm. color, 89 minutes,
French with English subtitles. Rental $75 (for class under 100),
purchase $1,150. Tricontinental Film Center, 333 Sixth Ave., New
York, NY 10014, or P.O. Box 4430, Berkeley, CA 94704.
NINE TO FIVE: A compelling film made for national educational
television. The film takes you into offices and you see women at
their day-to-day jobs, talking about both problems and rewards.
Made in conjunction with 9 to 5, Boston's Organization for Women
Office Workers. 16 mm., 28 minutes, suggested donation $25. 9 to 5
Organization for Women Office Workers, 140 Clarendon St., Boston,
MA 02116. (617) 536-6003.
KATY: Relates the overt prejudice that Katy, a preadolescent girl,
experiences when she becomes her brother's substitute on his paper
route. 16 mm. color. Rental $9.75, Indiana University, Audio-Visual
Center, Bloomington, Indiana47401. (812) 337-2103.
BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO WORK: A STIMULUS FILM FOR WOMEN: Presents
a variety of simulated responses likely to be elicited by a woman's
decision to return to school or work. Pauses after each
presentation to facilitate discussion. 16 mm.color, 21 min. Rental
$9.75, Indiana University, Audio-Visual Center, Bloomington,
Indiana 47401.
LOOKING AT TOMORROW--WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE? Examines seven young
women at various jobs ranging from bricklayer to congresswoman to
explore the wide variety of career opportunities available in
today's world. 16 mm. color, 15 min. Rental $9.25. Indiana
University, Audio-Visual Center, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.
WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS: Portrays three women who are successfully
engaged in careers in communication which have traditionally been
considered masculine fields: reporting, filmmaking, and radio
announcing. 16 mm. color, 15 min. Rental $9.25. Indiana University,
Audio-Visual Center, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.
JOB DISCRIMINATION: DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT: This film looks at
several cases of sex discrimination in employment, with Harriett
Rabb, Assistant Dean of the Columbia University Law School,
offering a step-by-step analysis of how to recognize, document, and
combat such cases. The need to organize for group action, the
desirability of legal help, and the emotional strain involved in
any prolonged fight against discrimination are covered. Produced in
collaboration with Ms. magazine, produced by WNET/13. 16 mm. color,
59 min. Purchase $580; videocassette purchase $405. Rental
available, price not given. Indiana University, Audio-Visual
Center, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.
CRYSTAL LEE JORDAN: This film follows Crystal Lee Jordan--wife,
mother, bluecollar worker--in her attempt to establish a union at
the J.P. Stevens textile mills in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. Ms. Jordan
was fired after spending 17 of her 34 years as a millhand. We see
her trying to organize other women and with her family, which
supports her struggle. 16 mm. color, 16 min. Purchase $210; rental
available. Indiana University, Audio-Visual Center, Bloomington,
Indiana 47401.
WOMEN AND CAREERS: Interviews with Betty Harrigan, author of GAMES
MOTHER NEVER TAUGHT YOU and others. Content includes status of
working women, sex discrimination laws, the socialization process,
need for role models, etc. For women trying to make it by male
rules. I find this videotape an offensive put-down of women's
culture, good for critiquing by a sophisticated class, but
dangerous for less aware students. 3/4" video, color, 50 minutes.
Sale $75 to California State Universities, $250 others. L.H.
Schmunk, Instructional Media, Center 005, California State
University, Chico, CA 95929.
CHANGING IMAGES: CONFRONTING CAREER STEREOTYPES: Reveals the
influence of sex role stereotypes in the career expectations of
elementary school children.Includes sequences in which children
begin to argue about their sex role beliefs regarding football
players, nurses, racing-car drivers, secretaries, and family and
household work. 16 mm. and video. Rental $14, sale $130, film or
video. Available for preview . University of California, Extension
Media Service, 2223 Fulton Street, Berkeley, CA 94720. (415)
642-5578 (to purchase) or (415) 642-0460 (to rent or preview).
WORKING FOR YOUR LIFE: A Labor Occupational Health Program film
production, this film focuses on the hazards faced by today's 43
million American working women. It is the only documentary film
specifically about the health and safety of women on the job.
Filmed in 40 different workplaces, both traditional and
non-traditional jobs for women, including a smelter worker who had
to choose between losing her job and being sterilized. 16 mm.
color, 57 minutes. Rental $65, sale $475. Video cassettes also
available. To rent: LOHP Films, Transit Media, 779 Susquehanna
Ave., Franklin Lakes, N.J. 07417. For purchase or general
information: LOHP Films, University of California, Center for Labor
Research and Education, Institute of Industrial Relations, 2521
Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94720.
POSSIBLE GOALS FOR SERVICE LEARNING
IN WOMEN'S STUDIES
(Compiled by Ruth Ekstrom, for the Women's Studies Service Learning
Institute, March 1980.)
-Ability to identify when sex-stereotyping, sex bias and
discrimination occur, who is transmitting or causing these
problems.
Examples of different treatment of males and females with
the same aptitudes, abilities, interests,
needs.
Examples of different futures/careers suggested for males
and females with the same aptitudes, abilities,
interests, needs.
Examples of when females with equivalent qualifications,
experience, and performance as males do not share
equally in decision making or receive equal rewards
(money, promotion, prestige, professional recognition,
honors).
Examples in interpersonal interaction.
Examples in books, tests, films, TV, etc.
-Ability to describe techniques for creating social change.
-Ability to identify target groups that will best deal with the
cause (source) of the stereo type/problem.
Example: Book publishers may be reached directly but may
be more responsive to pressure from book purchasers
(teachers, etc.).
Example: Programs to encourage women to enter academic
administration may have very limited impact if the
hiring authority (school/governing board) holds
stereotyped views about women's ability to lead.
-Ability to "come in from the side" if a problem cannot be changed
by direct means.
Example: If you can't get school board/publishers to stop
having biased textbooks, you can "defuse" the impact
of the books by showing teachers how to use them as
examples of bias.
-Ability to make individuals aware that they hold biased or
stereotyped views and to do it in such a manner that they will
not become so angry or guilty that change will be impossible.
-Ability to identify what incentives for change there are in groups
that hold biased/stereotyped views and to make these
incentives workable options.
-Ability to create and implement an intervention treatment, such as,
modeling of preferred behavior or introduction of information
to correct stereotypes and create social change.
-Ability to evaluate and monitor-attitudes and behaviors to
determine if the intervention has been successful and the
desired changes have occurred.
-Knowledge of the literature on designing social change in an
educational setting, organization, etc.
-Knowledge of the characteristics of individuals who are more open
to social change (young, high social-status, self-confident, risk
takers).
-Knowledge of the characteristics of innovations and social changes
that make them more readily acceptable (proven quality, low cost,
divisible in parts or segments, easily communicated to others, not
complex, have strong leadership, and have an effective system of
rewards).
-Knowledge of characteristics that make an educational change most
likely to be accepted (compatible with values and existing
practices of adopters, group is ready for change, acceptable to
surrounding community).
WORKSHEET A:
STUDENT GOAL ANALYSIS
("Developing Learning Outcomes," 1978, J. Marvin Cook, a
publication of the Council for the advancement of Experiential
Learning.)
The nine categories summarized below represent broad types of
learning goals. The examples are cited to help illustrate some
types of concrete learning outcomes that might be involved. After
studying these, rank the areas on the left from one to nine in
importance to you as learning goals. On the right, indicate, if you
can, the policy of your institution toward each category, using the
following code:
A--required in your program
B--encouraged of students but not required
C--may be recognized through credit or other means,
although either required nor encouraged
C--not recognized
Your 1. "Specific Job Competencies"--Particular Institutional
rank understandings or work skills you would like Policy code
to learn, such as surveying, operating a
particular business machine, art work in a
special medium, photographic developing,
tutoring, office management, cost accounting,
_____ editing, counseling the elderly. _________
2. "Career Exploration"--First-hand observations
of the daily routine of professionals in an area
of interest, direct involvement in the types of
work in a field, knowledge of job opportunities
that might be available, familiarity with
______ occupational literature and organizations. _________
3. "Broadening Horizons"--Understanding how the
legislative process works, familiarity with the
bureaucracy of public agencies, understanding
why social programs sometimes do not work well,
getting a better grasp of the social role that
______ organizations play and the values they hold. _________
4. "Learning about Work"--Learning how to make
your way through a complex hiring process,
understanding the fringe benefits and personnel
policies that affect your welfare, learning how
such practices are related to laws concerning
______ employment. _________
5. Interpersonal Skills--Learning how to deal
with pressure and tension in work relationships,
how to communicate what you know to strangers,
recognizing when to speak and when to listen in
work relationships, learning how to handle
criticism, how to convince a supervisor to try
______ out an idea of yours. _________
6. Learning from the Local Environment--
Understanding the unique history and character
of an area, an institution, a community, or work-
place; using the special resources of an area to
further your own understanding of a particular
interest like music, social organization or
______ systems analysis. _________
7. Taking Responsibility--Learning how to
organize a complicated job, how to monitor your
own time and effort so that a tight schedule can
be met, how to get a piece of work done so that it
fits in with the work of others, how to take
initiative in getting something difficult
______ accomplished. _________
8. Research Skills--Learning how to seek new
information, how to organize facts into a
persuasive argument or course of action, how
to relate academic knowledge to the demands of a
______ particular job. _________
9. Other Goals--Recreation, exploration of other
materials, learning how to furnish an apartment
______ and cope alone. _________
WORKSHEET B:
ITEMS TO CLARIFY BEFORE ACCEPTING A WORK EXPERIENCE OFFER
1. The name of the individual to whom you will be responsible while
you are involved in the experience.
2. What are the working hours, and how flexible will your schedule
be with regard to your specific responsibilities?
3. How much will you be paid, and how often?
4. What is the exact nature of your responsibilities?
a. What are the specific duties for which you will be
responsible?
b. What kinds of day-to-day assignments can you expect to
receive at the initiative of your supervisor and others?
5. List any unusual requirements in connection with the work that
concern such matters as medical examinations, overtime work, or
any personal expenses required.
6. Where will you be working throughout your experience, and will
any travel be necessary in the work?
7. If any special housing or eating arrangements will be required,
list them.
8. If you are aware of any hazardous work conditions that you might
expect to encounter, list them.
WORKSHEET C:
ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES
List below, within the nine broad categories, the specific learning
objectives you might expect to accomplish through your field
experience. Refer to Worksheet A for examples of specific earning
objectives in each of the nine categories.
1. Specific Job Competencies
2. Career Exploration
3. Broadening Horizons
4. Learning about Work
5. Interpersonal Skills
6. Learning from the Local Environment
7. Taking Responsibility
8. Research Skills
9. Other Goals (not necessarily related directly to learning)
CONTRIBUTORS' NOTES
Alwynelle Ahl is a professor in the Department of Natural Science at
Michigan State University, specializing in zoology and biology. She has
supervised many women's studies students during independent study on women
and biology. Recently, she and Amy Moss submitted a paper to Ms. called
"Pregnancy and Predicting Medicine: A Neglected Area of Women's Health."
M. Sue Wagner is the Legislative Liaison for Michigan NOW. She is an
elected member of the state board, and coordinates between NOW's lobbyist
board and membership. Her interests include work on legislative issues
with the Michigan Consumer Council.
Lizette Bartholdi is hard at work on her B.A. in women's studies. She
loves women's music and is involved with a holistic health care clinic in
Minneapolis.
Laurie Bushbaum graduated as a women's studies student in June, 1980,
then spent the summer in Scandanavia where she studied the language and
absorbed the culture. One of her hobbies is quilting.
Debra Horn is a linguistics major. She plays the French horn and enjoys
traveling.
Denise A. Johnson is in her last year working toward a B.A. in social
work at the University of Minnesota. She would like to work with children
upon graduation.
Kimberly Reynolds-Heiam continues to be an active member of NOW, working
for passage of the ERA. She studies pre-med at the University of Minnesota.
Karen Theiler, from Fridley, Minnesota, is an English major at the
University of Minnesota. She currently lives in Minneapolis.
Robin Williams-Johnson lives in St. Paul with her two daughters and her
husband. Currently she is studying creative writing and Spanish, intending to
continue developing her language skills in Mexico next year. She would like
to go on to graduate school in women's studies.
Marti Bombyk is a doctoral candidate in social work and psychology at
the University of Michigan. She has taught women's studies for four years,
developing "Women in the Community" as well as courses about the family and
social work practice. A political activist, she has experienced working with
both the feminist and labor markets.
Ellen Cassedy was recently appointed Program Director of Working Women,
a two year project funded by FIPSE to develop, test and disseminate a
counseling and curriculum program for mid-life and older women workers.
Before becoming one of the founders and staff director of 9to5, she was a
clerk-typist at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Barbara Hillyer Davis is Director of the Women's Studies Program of the
University of Oklahoma and a member of the Policy Committee of the Women's
Resource Center of Norman, Oklahoma. She has been treasurer of the Steering
Committee of the National Women's Studies Association, and has been active in
the development of the South Central Women's Studies Association.
Ruth Ekstrom is a Senior Research Scientist in the Division of
Educational Research and Evaluation at Educational Testing Services. She is
Directing two research projects on life experience learning of adult women
and its relevance to paid employment.
Maxine Forman is the Associate Director of the WEAL Fund Intern Program,
and former English teacher in the New York City high schools. She received an
M.A. from George Washington University in 1976 as a "returning woman." In
graduate school she focused on domestic violence and on sex discrimination in
educational policy and practices at the local and federal levels. She views
her teaching experience as well as her background in women's studies and
women's issues as assets in working with interns at the Fund.
Patty Gibbs is a doctoral degree candidate in the College of Human
Resources and Education at West Virginia University. She specializes in
curriculum development and incorporating women's studies in the undergraduate
social work curriculum. For the past three years she has been placing and
advising social work students in their practice and teaching a women's
studies course in social work.
Kathryn Girard is currently co-directing Project TEAM (Teaching Equity
Approaches in Massachusetts). She has been involved in the women's movement
for the past ten years, working with campus-based women's centers and other
feminist organizations. She also chairs The Academic Council of Beacon
College, a post-secondary institution for self-directed learning.
Thomas Haugsby serves on the Board of Directors of the National Society
for Internships and Experiential Education. He has authored several articles
on learning and experiential-based education. He is an Associate Professor of
Cooperative Education at Antioch College.
Betsy Jameson is the director of the Research Center on Women and the
Women's Studies Minor at Loretto Heights College in Denver. A Ph.D. candidate
in American Culture at the University of Michigan, her major fields are
women's history and working class history. Recently Betsy produced an
hour-long slide tape on working class families in the Cripple Creek gold
mining district. Her interest in service learning dates back to her
undergraduate experiences at Antioch College.
Toni Johnson is currently an undergraduate student majoring in
Government and Politics. She plans to attend law school in the fall, where
she expects to specialize in women's and domestic law.
Melanie Kaye is a long time activist and women's studies teacher,
currently at Goddard College and University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. She
is a poet (We Speak in Code, Motheroot, 1980) and writer, published in
various lesbian and feminist journals and anthologies. She works in the
movement to stop violence against women and is co-authoring a book on women
and violence.
Amy Moss has just finished her senior year at Michigan State University.
Currently she works with the State Legislative office, partly as a result of
her service learning experience as an undergraduate. Amy looks forward to
graduate school in Public Affairs/Public Administration.
Carolyn Mulford was a freelance writer of travel articles and a Peace
Corps volunteer in Ethiopia before she assumed her current position as editor
of "Synergist", a quarterly published by the National Center for
Service-Learning. She is also on the staff of the NEA Journal.
Phyllis Palmer taught women's history at Mount Holyoke for five years,
then began as Academic Coordinator of George Washington University's Women's
Studies Masters Program. She is also coordinating Congressional Fellowships
on Women and Public Policy at George Washington University.
Sharon Rubin, who is Director of Experiential Learning Programs at the
University of Maryland, College Park, has been involved with women's studies
since teaching her first course on women in 1971. A member of the Women's
Studies Advisory Committee at College Park, she is particularly interested in
the concerns of returning women students. As a Kellogg Fellow, 1980-1983, she
will be spending part of her time exploring personnel policies and
decision-making in large corporations.
Laura Polla Scanlon has long been involved in student-centered service
learning. She completed her doctorate at Union Graduate School and has been
both a teacher and curriculum developer with the National Congress of
Neighborhood Women College Program. Currently director of NCNW's Education
Program, she is able to integrate her interest in experiential learning with
feminist education and community development.
Nancy Schniedewind coordinates women's studies at S.U.N.Y./New Paltz,
where she is an Associate Professor of Educational Studies. Having taught
women's studies for eight years, she is now developing a course called
"Issues of Racism" and working under a WEAA grant to complete "Won for All,"
an educational board game about women's and minority history.
Carolyn Shrewsbury directs the women's studies program at Mankato State
University in Minnesota. She has chaired the Minnesota State College System
on the Status of Women and has been active in supporting the leadership
potential of community women. As a supervisor of women studies interns for
over two years, she is particularly interested in discovering ways to
convince traditional organizations that women studies students have something
meaningful to offer them.
Robert Sigmon is assistant director of the Wake Area Health Education
Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has helped develop and manage service
learning models in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
Ann Simon describes herself as an experiential educator at Antioch
College where she is also a member of the Women's Studies Coordinating
Committee. In the community of Yellow Springs, Ohio, she has been involved in
various feminist activities and has served in the Yellow Springs Public
School System as a Resource Teacher on Non-Sexist Curriculum Development and
Title IX Compliance Offices.
Judy Sorum, Special Assistant to the Secretary, Department of Labor,
plans in the near future to write about the experiences of women in top level
government positions. Previous to her White House Fellowship, she directed
The Experiential Learning Program at the University of Maryland, taught
"Women in Drama," and chaired the Women's Commission from 1975 to 1977.
Stacey Zlotnick is director of a National Science Foundation project
which concerns the development, implementation and assessment of career
intervention programs for women. She has co-taught "Women and MAdness" and
run groups on contraception at the University of Maryland. She was a panelist
at the NWSA Service LEarnign Institute in March 1980.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Jerilyn Fisher
In addition to coordinating the NWSA Service Learning Project,
Jerilyn Fisher directs the Internship Program in Women's Studies at
the University of Maryland. She also teaches an interdisciplinary
seminar about criminally deviant women in the General Honors
Program and will soon teach a new course, "Witches and Saints."
Elaine Reuben
Elaine Reuben, Project Director, is National Coordinator of the
National Women's Studies Association, and Adjunct Associate
Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Maryland, College
Park. She has taught and supervised women's studies internship
students at the University of Maryland and at The George Washington
University, where she was Director of Women's Studies from 1975 to
1977.