Fewer Women For Professions

FEWER WOMEN FOR PROFESSIONS

Tendency Shown in Attend- at University

INCREASE IN LIT. DEPT.

Attendance of Women in Lit. Department Rapidly Increasing.

The women attending the University of Michigan today are quite differently distributed among the several departments from their sisters of thirty years ago. When the doors of the University were first thrown open to women, the women who wanted to be doctors and lawyers were those to take advantage, in the greater numbers, of the opportunity "to go to college." Nearly fifty-nine per cent of the first women who came to the University entered as students in the professional schools. Last year less than eight per cent of the women in the institution were pursuing similar studies.

The resolution admitting women to the University was adopted by the Board of Regents on January 5, 1870. In less than a month from that date Miss Madalon Louise Stockwell, now Mrs. Charles K. Turner, of Kalamazoo, enrolled in the literary department and was a duly qualified student for the remainder of the college year. With the beginning of the new school year in the fall, 34 women registered. Eighteen of these began the study of medicine, 2 the study of law, and 14 were enrolled in the literary department. According to percentage, 58.83 per cent were in the professional schools, and the year following that 49.44 per cent.

FEWER PREPARING FOR THE PROFESSIONS.

Although the number of women enrolled has increased each year from the first with considerable regularity, the increase for the professional schools has not been so rapid as for the literary department and consequently a smaller percentage of the whole have been preparing for the practice of medicine, law, pharmacy and dentistry.

Not only has the percentage studying for the professions, as compared with the whole number of women attending the University, decreased, but the number attending the professional schools has been on the decrease since 1896-97. In 1870-71 there were 20 women registered in the professional schools: the following year there were 36; the year after that, 55. The number gradually increased until the year 1885-86 when there were 94 women enrolled. For the next ten years the registration varied at different times from 82 to 100, the latter being the figure for the year 1892-93. Since 1897 the number has decreased from 96 to 84, to 80, to 70, to 57. Fifty seven is also the number of women in the professional schools in 1879-80, when there were but 138 women in the entire University. Last year besides the 57 in the professional schools, there were 668 in the literary department, or a total of 725.

IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSITY.

The first year (1870-71) that women were really in the University they formed 3.60 per cent of the total number of students. The next year they were 5.30 per cent, the year following 7.65 per cent. By 1880-81 they had become 11.40 per cent; ten years they were 18.38 per cent; and in 1892-93 they were 22.10 per cent. Since that date the percentage has changed but little, it having averaged about 21. The highest point reached was in 1896-97, when the percentage was 22.48. These figures would seem to indicate that the natural ratio of women to men for the University was a little more than one to four.

IN THE LITERARY DEPARTMENT

The percentage of women students in the literary department is decidedly different from that for the University as a whole. In 1869-70 but 00.21 per cent were women, while last year the percentage was nearly 48. Since 1893 the proportion of women to men has been continuously increasing until it now looks as if the day will come when there will be as many women studying in that department as men.

IN THE PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS

The present movement in the professional schools seems to be in quite the opposite direction from that in the literary department. For the last years the women have been becoming a smaller and smaller fraction of the whole number of students. For about twenty-three years, from 1872 to 1895, women constituted from 6 to 11 per cent of the students, the higher percentage being reached during the year 1885-86. But since 1894 the decrease has been quite noticeable. In 1895-96 only 5 per cent of the students were women; in 1898-99, but 4.35 per cent; and in 1901-02, but 2.60 per cent.

Taking the medical department alone the general tendency is not very different from that for all the professional schools. In 1870-71 over 5 per cent of the students enrolled were women. Three years later over 11 per cent were women. For the next ten years the women students formed from 8 to 12 per cent of the enrollment. In 1884-85 they increased in numbers so that they formed over 16 per cent, and by the year 1892-93 they were 20.63 per cent of the total. This is the high water mark for women in the medical department. Since 1893 they have lost in relative importance with the beginning of each school year. Since 1896 they have also lost ground numerically. Last year there but 35 women enrolled and they were but 6.82 per cent of the total enrollment.

Almost with the very organization of the homeopathic department women became an important factor of its student body. The first year they were 8.33 per cent of the total enrollment, the second year 17.64 per cent. and the third year 20.54 per cent. In 1885-86 they were 40.81 per cent and the following year 43.54 per cent. Since the latter date they have been becoming of less and less relative numericaI importance.  Last year 11.66 per cent of the total enrollment were women and the year before but 8.45 per cent.

By far the larger number of the women who have made up the figures for the professional schools have been enrolled in the medical department. At several different times more than 70 were thus registered. The largest number enrolled as law students at any one time was six. In 1887-88 there were 28 women registered in the homeopathic department; and in 1898-99, and again in 1900-01, there were 10 women studying dentistry. The records show but one woman as having been enrolled in engineering, although several studied engineering subjects when these courses were given in the literary department.