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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/1909/archive/files/f77d2dbbc80564e0671f079e13e75534.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=oyViIFAKfw%7ELhfAXaBCeisn5Y8pVBy5SXXuzbD1GAH6Sh9SYxMluab2QdEBsGX7i%7ELoeFOtAUP9ekbH9mX5CuUGfW-wtSVz%7ETsG7wVEFfXAxYK%7EOIGZFoAYc6V9iFvsWxdJAex%7E9RPEW9r5Tf2hM4j7dcW9A3xEbtNFdcJkKagasHPFzcRppm-FviosfCLE5FH0hd9wFL1zEybZJvLV4PqN%7E3DcK0tBhZdm5%7E-Ee77b1pOZn1vAy8G1fe0jglnp8DTMi%7EZXsabXF2zCo%7E6%7ES%7EP%7ETWdRAIw39WzK9Cagr2JckggLW%7E3JrYKgUUyj1eb3gD0wpcXWrGchuYvoeqJ8g7A__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
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PDF Text
Text
Name: Victor Ruan
Senior Project Title: The Effect of Hydration on the Vibrational Spectrum of CTAHS
Major: Chemistry
Advisor: Dr. Arunkumar Sharma
Abstract
The geometries and vibrational frequencies for the SO3 stretch of CTAHS were calculated at the
MP2/6-311+G(d, p) level of theory in implicit solvation. These properties are studied as a
function of increasing and decreasing anion-cation distances. Harmonic frequency calculations
were carried out by increasing and decreasing the distance of the hydrogen sulfate anion from
CTA in steps of 0.5 Å and 0.25 Å from the optimal geometry distance respectively. Vibrational
frequencies decrease and increase from the optimal geometry distance for the normal and flipped
configuration, however, frequencies barely change at all increasing distances. Despite the limited
anion-cation interactions, the small changes may be influenced by the implicit solvation field.
The calculations help to explain the effects of hydration on the vibrational frequencies of the
bisulfate anion introduced with the cationic reverse micelle CTA+ and assigning the different
bands for the CTA+ and HSO4- contact pair in the spectra from experimental data.
�
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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Victor Ruan
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5/1/2021
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The Effect of Hydration on the Vibrational Spectrum of CTAHS
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Dr. Arunkumar Sharma
Chemistry and Physics
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Chemistry
Physics
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366703af84920cf802cc5751c0348172
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1
The Effect of Blockchain on Company Efficiency and Profit
Nicolas Olivier
BU400: Senior learning community
Dr. Shani Carter
12/5/2022
Major: Business and marketing,
134 North Long Beach Avenue, Freeport, NY
(516)-636-9196
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Abstract
This paper takes a deep dive into blockchain infrastructure and how it could potentially benefit
industries and businesses if they successfully implement it into their infrastructure. The
breakdown of blockchain is explained through its molecular components and how secure
blockchain is. A point was also made to include the negatives of blockchain to let the reader
decide for themselves if they feel blockchain can aid society.
Introduction
As we continue the technological revolution influenced by a mass pandemic, the world is
yearning for innovations that allow us to communicate on a less personal and more mediated
level while keeping the same sense of personal relationships. Although the thesis intends to
present this technology to whoever is reading, everyone must understand the dynamics built
around this technological advancement so that there are no predisposed biases. With the direction
the world is heading toward when it comes to advancing technologically as a society, blockchain
fits right into that progressive direction and can serve as a helpmate for increasing a company's
efficiency. Many companies in various industries have adopted blockchain into their
infrastructure to combat common problems their markets may face. A prime example of
blockchain being adopted into an infrastructure would be the automotive industry, where they
have been fighting against environmental issues and high manufacturing costs for the past
decade. As a result, many of those automotive companies have collaborated to solve these
problems using blockchain. With all the upside blockchain possesses, that does not exclude
blockchain from its shortcomings. Blockchain is still relatively new and has some chinks in its
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armor. With any new product on the market, issues will happen, but with time and continuous
research, the use of blockchain systems will improve the efficiency of companies.
The concept of blockchain increasing company efficiency is related to United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 9, Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure. The
consistent growth in technology has allowed companies to progress in their respective industries.
The SDG proved an important point stating that higher-technology companies were more
resilient towards crises than their counterparts of lower technology. They also stated that 1 in 3
manufacturing businesses are affected negatively by a crisis. With advancements blockchain has
in itself, it can potentially serve as another technological alternative to potentially help
companies for not just the present, but the future.
Final Thesis Paper: The Possibility of Blockchain Being the Future (Lit. Review)
Components of Blockchain
Components
A basic description of blockchain would be that it is a disseminated network of computer
systems linked with the internet. These components rely on two fundamental concepts,
consensus and trust to efficiently work together to keep track of electronic transactions for
whoever implements it (YouTube, 2017). On a more complex level, a blockchain comprises a
series of blocks linked together in a chain. Each block consists of three critical elements that
allow the system to operate smoothly. The first element of the block makeup is its data, which is
responsible for providing transaction details (YouTube, 2017). That data is stored and registered
in the system-assigned blocks through the confirmation of nodes. Nodes serve as an intersection
point for a blockchain network to help maintain security. A simple example of a block's data
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would be the detailed information of the sender, the receiver, and the total amount of money
dealt with in the transaction.
The block's Hash is the second and most crucial element, also known as a code. A hash
could be considered the fingerprint of a block, as each hash within the chain has its unique
makeup (YouTube, 2017). Once the information about the block is confirmed by all of the nodes
in this system, the block is solidified by being given a specific hash. The job of a hash is to
identify the contents of each block registered in the network for the user. Depending on what
type of blockchain system is being used, the user will ingrain specific information that they want
to be put into the first block, Called the “genesis” block (YouTube, 2017). It is to be made
known that blockchain is a very particular network that does not veer off its program. Changing
information inside the block will cause the hash to change, making it easy to detect changes by
the user or users of that chain (YouTube, 2017). Strict computer codes enforce the rules of the
blockchain, and their codes do not possess any ambiguity in their meaning. Because of this
process, they cannot be not subject to human discretion or interference (Xu & Zou, 2020).
Bringing us back to the main point, whatever data the user puts inside that block must be specific
and align with their end goal and overall agenda. Otherwise, it could potentially lead to the
failure of the individual's business infrastructure within the blockchain.
The final element in creating a blockchain Is the “hash of the previous block” because
there would be no chain if only a single block of recorded transactions existed. The hash of the
previous block is one of the keys to making blockchain as secure as it is, although there was a
recent case where Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was recently hacked
(Forbes.com, 2022). Once the next block in the chain is confirmed and put into the network, it
receives its hash, but it also includes the hash of the block created before it. This is a vital
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security process because the more blocks added to the system, the higher the protection of the
user's information from potential tampering (YouTube, 2017). Let us say there were five blocks
of data within a chain; if someone were to tamper with the third block and change its hash
information, it would then result in the change of all the blocks coming after because the fourth
block contains the hash information of the third block. The fifth block has the knowledge of the
fourth block. Once their hash information is altered, all the other blocks’ code configurations
change.
Security
An increase in crypto innovation over the past several years has also led to a significant
increase in crypto crimes reported. In 2020 it was reported a 24,057% increase in crypto crimes
from 2016 (Rotundu, 2022). What is also shocking about this statistic is that the increase is
directly proportional to increases in the value of Bitcoin), although the cryptocurrency market
took a huge hit recently (Rotundi, V., 2022). FTX, one of the largest known crypto exchanges,
collapsed due to a lack of liquidity and mismanagement of funds (nerdwallet.com, 2022).
Blockchain should not be held responsible for the collapse of the crypto market for two reasons.
First, blockchain is not limited to just one market. Multiple industries can use blockchain
depending on the business’s needs within that industry. Second, blockchain follows a strict
algorithmic protocol that does not allow it to act maliciously. Part of blockchain’s security relies
on a 3-part operating consensus. The names of these operating systems are machine consensus,
governance consensus, and market consensus (Xu & Zou, 2022). A consensus is a decision or an
opinion that is accepted by a group of people, or in blockchain’s terms, by the system itself.
Machine Consensus
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Blockchain's technological structure allows it to be useful in many different industries
and is a key part of making blockchain what it is. Strictly referring to blockchain’s molecular
makeup, it aims to ensure the nodes in its peer-to-peer network share the same copy of a
distributed ledger in case of harmful cyber-attacks and irregular communication within the chain
(Xu & Zou, 2022). To get a better understanding of this process, you must understand what
nodes are. A node’s job is to serve as a gateway within the blockchain network to confirm a
transaction. Nodes can also be physical equipment connected to a network, in which they can
perform specific duties like creating, receiving, or ascending data across a blockchain channel
(Abrol; blockchain-council.org, 2022).
An example could be a person who is running the blockchain network from their home,
and they are using another physical system like a laptop with its own MAC address so that the
laptop’s identification can be verified. The user would now have access to use that laptop as a
physical node for producing, receiving, or moving data. The action of a user controlling the
physical node is called a “miner”. On a deeper note, a node's function occurs when a miner seeks
to add a new block of transactions to the blockchain. The legitimacy of a block determines
whether the miner accepts or declines the transaction (Abrol; blockchain-council.org, 2022).
An internal form of machine consensus is proof of work (PoW). PoW is a mechanism
within a blockchain network that slows down the creation of new blocks by requiring miners to
solve a mathematical puzzle to confirm the transaction's legitimacy (YouTube, 2018). Making
the user complete a puzzle seems childish but doing so allows for others participating on the
network to be notified quickly enough of the change so that the rest of the users can make a
consensual decision to confirm or deny any change (YouTube, 2018). The first miner within the
PoW network to solve the hash equation receives an award from the network. Because the PoW
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network gives larger rewards to miners with better quality equipment, it has led to a situation
where miners are creating mass mining farms that use an excess of electricity to solve the
equations (YouTube, 2018). This is an extremely important topic because technology is not the
only important application of knowledge. The knowledge of our world and how to preserve its
health is an integral part of our existence and improving one form of the world at the cost of
another is potentially catastrophic to our people's well-being and safety. A recent study identified
a significant increase in energy consumption from December 1 , 2020 – December 1 , 2022.
st
st
PoW miners have also been known for creating what is known as mining pools to raise their hash
power and increase their chances of receiving mining rewards that could be distributed evenly
amongst the group (Youtube, 2018). The act of a person strengthening their processing power
irregularly through mining pools contradicts blockchain’s intended duty. The actions conducted
within mining pools create a more centralized operating system leaning away from the
blockchain’s intended decentralized infrastructure (YouTube, 2018). The environmental and
structural drawbacks of PoW systems have sparked other crypto exchanges to make the switch
over to a new system of consensus.
PoW was heavily used by nodes in the earlier stages of Ethereum (crypto exchange
platform) to find the hash of their transactions, but the environmental hazards motivated the
company to switch its machine consensus to a more productive and safer version called Proof-ofStake (PoS). Ethereum believed it would help prevent users from double spending on their
network (etherum.org, 2022). Unlike the system of PoW, PoS uses validators to confirm
transactions and requires them to mint or forge new blocks (YouTube, 2018). For a user (node)
or users to become a validator, they are required to make a deposit to the network that way every
other node within the network is held responsible if the system fails (YouTube, 2018). Smaller
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businesses are great examples to help gain a better understanding of what PoS is. For example, a
well-known independent contractor of a small sports performance business wants to promote a
product for a respected company. The two parties then come to an agreement to use a blockchain
platform to finalize their agreement. Depending on what platform the two companies choose,
whether it be Coinbase, Ethereum, or any other exchange platform using PoS, the agreement is
installed in the blockchain system and stored as a hash in a block, making them nodes. If the two
nodes would like to become validators over the block, whoever of the two invested more into the
network as a stake is given a higher chance of being randomly selected to check over the validity
of transactions within the block. Once the transactions are successfully processed, the chosen
node becomes the validator and can sign off on the block and add it to the chain. You might now
ask, how can the other node in the agreement tell if the validator is being truthful about the
validity of the block? PoW regulates the nodes by penalizing the offender with a percentage of
their stake significantly reduced if fraudulent transactions were confirmed. With a multitude of
machine consensus options, blockchain has to offer, blockchain can serve as a useful tool in
ensuring the protection of companies (Youtube, 2018).
Governance Consensus
Another valuable process in blockchain’s consensus info structure is governance
consensus. Governance consensus pertains to members of a blockchain community that all agree
on a decision or decisions that benefit the group as a whole (Xu & Zou, 2022). The unified
decisions of the group are a crucial element in the stability and security of blockchain. If
individuals fail to come to an agreement or deviate from the consensus rules, the possibility of
governance consensus is broken, leaving companies susceptible to collapsing (Xu & Zou, 2022).
Market Consensus
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Market consensus deals with transactions of tokens that are traded with each other or with
assets outside of the blockchain system. Depending on the equilibrium of the market price is,
determines the state of the market consensus (Xu & Zou, 2022). Each form of consensus has
some type of relationship with the other that affects blockchain as a whole. If there was
malicious behavior taking place amongst the members of governance consensus and the system
were to fail for a company using blockchain, it could lead to malfunctions within machine
consensus. The failure of the machine consensus then would have an effect on the integrity of the
market consensus.
Difference Between Blockchain Platforms
Today, new technology is often complex and is not created in a way to complete a
particular task. New technology is structured and coded to take care of a multitude of needs for a
consumer regularly; the same goes for blockchain and its platforms. Depending on what type of
network a company conducts business on, whether it be a public, permissioned, or private
network, or what the company needs to be protected from or track within the industry,
determines which blockchain platform is selected (leewayhertz.com, 2022).
Small business owners and large companies need to know what type of blockchain
platform they want before picking one. You can install a platform whose ledger type is
permissionless, like Ethereum so that you can have more control over the decisions of your
transactions made (leewayhertz.com, 2022). You can want the opposite in your ledger type and
get a blockchain platform that requires permission to maintain equilibrium between a
partnership. If a company wants to have the ability to configure official contractual electronic
agreements on the blockchain network called a smart contract, the company selects a certain
platform that provides that need.
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Smart Contracts
This brings us to our next topic of discussion, the use of smart contracts within the
system of blockchain. Smart contracts are decentralized agreements with built-in computer code
stored on a blockchain (Sklaroff, 2017). The goal of smart contracts is to remove some of the
inefficiencies that paper contracts may face. Examples of inefficiency for traditional contracts
can be breaches of contracts, slow processing, or manipulation tactics. Smart contracts can
mitigate the possibility of a breach by forcing the people agreeing to the contract to honor their
original agreement (Sklaroff, 2017). The rigid quota of smart contracts reduces the negotiation
flexibility of nodes once they have finalized the smart contract.
Advantages and Disadvantages of blockchain
Disadvantages
As much as blockchain may get recognized for its benefits, some factors about
blockchain are not too appealing. As was mentioned before, the process of mining blockchain
blocks has had considerable negative effects on energy consumption for the past several years
(digiconomist.net). Large amounts of energy being consumed could potentially lead to power
outages or even fire hazards if one of the mining farms were not kept under safe conditions.
Blockchain’s strict infrastructure might not be conducive for everyone, as some people might
want the ability to opt out of a contract. Once the people within the network agree to a contract,
they are bound to the contract by being confirmed as nodes in a blockchain system (YouTube,
2018). Being an integral part of the machine consensus, they are held to certain rules backed by
the system. Blockchain being recognized as a useful system in the tech world is still relatively
new due to it just recently bursting onto the scene around four years ago. The lack of expertise in
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the technology has left blockchain vulnerable to hackers and skilled criminal organizations
(Rotundu, 2022). This is the most alarming problem because blockchain’s reputation relies on its
word of being a highly secure AI network.
Advantages
On the other hand, the problems that blockchain may face do not entirely define the potentialities
of what it can bring to companies. Blockchain still offers services that help many different
companies across several different industries. A consensus of 37 major automotive and tech
companies, Toyota and General Motors being of the group, have banded together to help tackle
the challenge of making vehicles more widely accessible to the public with blockchain
technology (Dobreva, 2019). The ability to create affordable cars would be able to significantly
help automotive companies because that could potentially increase sales rates of companies,
generating more money for each other. Blockchain has also played a role in the retail industry.
Companies like Home Depot and Walmart Have joined blockchain systems themselves to help
ensure the safe travel of their products being transferred from destination to destination (Brown,
2021). Blockchain offers a flexible system that gives entrepreneurs or companies the option of
tailoring the blockchain system to their business infrastructure depending on the individual’s
particular needs.
Versatility of Blockchain
Ways blockchain is used
As mentioned before, blockchain is a very flexible system that can be used in many
different industries. Automotive and Retail industries have formulated business plans revolving
around blockchain, but blockchain can offer so much more. The county of Jordan in the Middle
East has proposed ideas to fully integrate the blockchain system into the government's financial
�12
department, amid the mass pandemic that took place back in 2020 (Khasawneh, Oquab, 2022).
By Jordan linking blockchain to its governmental e-accounting systems, Khasawneh believed
that they would be able to improve policies and decisions that help manage Jordan’s health crisis
from COVID-19 (Khasawneh, Qquab, 2022).
Hypothesis
After concluding my research and taking the pros and cons of the structure of blockchain,
I believe that if companies were to implement blockchain into their platform then the company's
efficiency would increase. The ability to measure efficiency for a company can be difficult, so
my data research consisted of me analyzing the financial data of a company's annual profit,
revenue, and Income numbers. I planned on calculating the productivity of a company, but that
too became difficult to analyze because productivity is another element that is difficult to judge
solely by numbers.
Methods
Hypothesis
The use of blockchain technology will improve the efficiency of companies.
Subjects
As part of my research, I looked at the financial data of five companies in four separate
industries. I wanted to gather more companies to research but due to time constraints, it was very
difficult for me to do so.
Companies: Home Depot, AT&T, Ford Motors, T-Mobile, and Pfizer were all the companies
that I studied and analyzed the data for.
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Home Depot:
Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer in the U.S. founded on
June 1978. Their specialties consist of building materials, home improvement supplies,
hardware, and various other products that help customers with their daily needs.
AT&T:
AT&T Is an American multinational telecommunications company. The company was
established in October 1983 and its main headquarters is located in the downtown Dallas area of
Texas. They are currently the world's largest telecommunications company in revenue and the
third-largest provider Of U.S. telephone services.
Ford Motors:
Ford Motors is an American multinational automobile company Established on June
16th, 1903. They are headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, and sell automobiles as well as
commercial vehicles under the brand.
T-Mobile:
T-Mobile is a multinational telecommunication company established on December 1999
and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. T-Mobile offers mobile broadband internet access for
smartphones, basic phones, and tablets.
Pfizer:
Pfizer is one of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies. Founded in 1849, they
serve to deliver breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical industry using science and technology.
Measures
1.
Because efficiency is a difficult variable to calculate, the variables that I will use
for my data research are Income, Revenue, and Gross Profit.
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-
Income is an important part of this data research because the use of blockchain directly
correlates with the efficiency of a company. If a company is more efficient in its work, it
will then gain more income from its products.
-
Revenue is important to the research because it serves as an indicator for a company
based on the other two variables. If a company’s income and profit are up, likely, its
revenue will also increase. This leads back to the hypothesis that the efficiency of that
particular company will increase.
-
Gross Profit gives a clear indication of how a company stands in the ranks within its
respective industry, making this data extremely important to the research.
Components of Study
Variables
Data
Blockchain
Instrument
Horrmann Library,
Peer reviewed topic
articles
annual reports of
publicly traded
companies
Quantitative
Income
efficiency
Gross Profit
revernue
annual
annual
financial
annual financial financial
reports of
reports of Ford, reports of
Ford, Home
Home Depot, Ford, Home
Depot,
AT&T, TDepot, AT&T, AT&T, Tmobile, and
T-mobile, and mobile, and
Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer
companies
companies
companies
annual
annual reports annual reports reports of
of publicly
of publicly
publicly
traded
traded
traded
companies
companies
companies
Quantitative
Quantitative Quantitative
Data Source
Type of data gathered
Types of scores
produced
Total GNP
Indexed to 1982
Adapted from: Rudestam, K.E. & Newton, R.R. (1992). Surviving Your Dissertation.
Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications, Inc. page 140.
.
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Hypothesis, Instruments, and Statistical Analysis
Instrument
Hypothesis
efficiency
Variable Statist
Relationshi ical
ps
Test
Gross
Blockchain
Income
Revenue
Profit
annual
annual
financial
annual
financial
reports of
financial
reports of Ford,
reports of
Ford,
Home
H1: The use of
Ford, Home Home
Depot,
correl
blockchain
Depot,
Depot,
AT&T, Tation;
technology will
Horrmann
AT&T, T- AT&T, T- mobile,
regres
improve the
Library, Peer
mobile, and mobile, and and Pfizer
sion;
efficiency for a
reviewed topic Pfizer
Pfizer
companie SC=PF+PD line
company.
articles
companies companies s
+RV
charts
Adapted from: Rudestam, K.E. & Newton, R.R. (1992). Surviving Your Dissertation. Newbury
Park, California: Sage Publications, Inc. page 138.
(c) Procedure
1. The statistical procedure I will use is Look at the financial records of each company from
before and after they applied blockchain into their business. Then I will look to see If
there is any legitimate documentation from the companies stating whether the
implementation of blockchain has positively or negatively affected the company.
2. The procedure I used to locate the journal articles consisted of me using the Horrmann
Library to direct myself to the business source premier. There, I looked up in the search
bar blockchain technology “and” efficiency and got 541 articles. I found that the articles
became too general and limited my search results by applying full text and peer reviewed
to my search results. When I applied those two factors the search results went down to
105, where I found 10 solid articles to support my hypothesis.
�16
3. The statistical procedure that I will use to conclude my hypothesis is using the annual
financial reports of the companies that were previously mentioned. Each report provides
the company’s net income, revenue, and gross profit. Based on the company’s annual
reports, determines how much of a positive or negative change blockchain may have had.
A two-year period was recorded before and after the year each company implemented
blockchain into the business, giving a balanced outlook on the data.
Results
Table 1 shows the financial data of Ford Motors from the years 2017 – 2021. Ford implemented
blockchain into their company in 2019, so the numbers provided are two years before the implementation
and two years after.
Table 1: Ford Financial Income Statement, 2017 – 2021, In Millions
Income
Statement
Net Income
Revenue
Gross Profit
(Sec, 2022)
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
$7,757
$3,695
$84
($1,276)
$17,910
$145,653
$160,338
$143,604
$115,894
$126,150
$25,455
$24,069
21,207
$14,392
$21,690
Figure 1 shows that for the years 2017 and 2018, all of Ford’s financial recordings were for the most part
at its highest. From 2019 to 2020, their revenue and net income dropped significantly before picking back
up slightly in 2021.
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Figure 1 depiction of Ford’s Net income, Revenue, and Gross profit from 2017 - 2021
Table 2 shows the financial data of Home Depot from the years 2016 – 2022. They implemented
blockchain into their company in 2018, so the numbers provided are two years before the implementation
and two years after.
Table 2: Home Depot Financial Income Statement, 2016 – 2020, In Millions
Income
Statement
(Abstract)
Net Earnings
Revenue
Gross Profit
(Sec, 2022)
Jan. 31,
Jan. 29,
Jan. 28,
Feb. 03,
Feb. 02,
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
$7,009
$7,957
$8,630
$11,121
$11,242
$88,519
$94,595
$100,904
$108,203
$110,225
$30,265
$32,313
$34,356
$37,160
$37,572
�18
Figure 2 depicts that all of Home Depot’s financial stats had increased steadily before taking a small, but
significant jump in revenue in 2019. This was one year after the implementation of blockchain.
Table 3 shows the financial data of AT&T from the years 2016 – 2022. They implemented blockchain
into their company in 2018, so the numbers provided are two years before the implementation and two
years after.
Table 3: AT&T Financial Income Statement, 2016 – 2020, In Millions
�19
Income Statement
(Abstract)
Net Income
Dec. 31, Dec. 31, Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
$13,333 $29,847
$19,953
$14,975 ($3,821)
Revenue
$163,786 $160,546
Gross Profit
(Sec, 2022)
$23,543
$19,970
$170,756
$26,096
$181,193 $171,760
$27,955
$6,405
Figure 3 shows that from 2016 to 2018 AT&T’s financial stats fluctuated several times between each
other. In 2019, one year after they implemented blockchain, their stats increased before plummeting the
next year.
Table 4 shows the financial data of T-mobile from the years 2016 – 2022. They implemented blockchain
into their company in 2018, so the numbers provided are two years before the implementation and two
years after.
�20
Table 4: T-mobile Financial Income Statement, 2016-2020, In Millions
Condensed
Consolidated
Statements of
Comprehensive
Income-In
millions
Net Income
Revenues
Gross Profit
(Sec, 2022)
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
Dec. 31,
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
$1,460
$4,536
$2,888
$3,468
$3,064
$37,490
$40,604
$43,318
$44,998
$68,387
$26,671
$28,996
$24,964
$26,477
$40,121
Figure 4 shows that T-mobiles numbers of its revenues, Gross profit, and Net income all increased
through the years 2016 and 2017 and fluctuated between gradual increases and decreases throughout the
next two years. In 2020 All of AT&T’s finances dramatically increased.
�21
Table 5 shows the financial data of AT&T from the years 2017 – 2022. They implemented blockchain
into their company in 2019, so the numbers provided are two years before the implementation and two
years after.
Table 5: Pfizer Financial Income Statement, 2017-2021, In Millions
Income Statement
(Abstract)
Net income
Revenue
Gross Profit
(Sec, 2022)
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
31,2017 31,2018 31,2019 31,2020
$11,188 $16,056
$9,195 $22,025
$52,546 $40,825 $41,172 $41,908
$41,318 $42,399 $32,851 $33,167
Dec.
31,2021
$21,979
$81,228
$50,467
Figure 5 shows that Pfizer was in fact going to some financial troubles, but in 2020 the companies
finances increased significantly and shows that the numbers are likely to keep increasing.
Discussion
�22
Through the past several weeks, gathering and deciphering the financial data of
companies to support my hypothesis stating, “Smart contracts within the system of blockchain
improve efficiency for a company.” Has been interesting. I went into the research process
assuming that every company implementing blockchain into their business would have
immediate success because of the upside of blockchain’s security system. What I learned
provided insight into how a company may or may not need block 1qchain based on noncontrollable factors for financial success. The five companies researched showed insightful
information. An important statistic to bring up is all the companies reviewed all implemented
blockchains before the start of the COVID virus. This is a significant point to consider because
the entire dynamic of business interaction was disrupted during this time, resulting in mass
disruption of corporate stability. To fully grasp the importance of each company’s stat, it is
necessary that “non-controllable factors’ be broken down. A non-controllable factor is a phrase
that I made up initially to help me to understand how circumstance (positive or negative) a
company has no control over affects their profit.
An example of this can be natural disasters, where floods destroying a large sum of
telephone poles in a specific area can directly 94 affect the payment plan of members, disrupting
the expected income for a significant telephone company in that area. Or a mass pandemic that
altered how businesses (small or large) connect and interact with each other. That said, the reader
impacts how much of an effect blockchain had on their company. I came up with my opinions on
the data given by finding out when each company officially implemented the software. I then
created a line graph posting the company’s net income, revenue, and profit two years before and
after the system’s implementation fin results to prove my hypothesis.
�23
Automobile companies like BMW, Toyota, and Ford have served as essential forms of
travel for years now. With the increase in technology came the need for higher-quality parts to
help newer models of cars to run efficiently. Because most automobile companies sell
worldwide, they often transport many parts to different headquarters. To help prevent expensive
manufactured items from being misplaced, leading to unnecessary expenses. After researching
financial data of automobile companies using blockchain, I realized and feel that automobile
companies that incorporated blockchain into their company were successful during the Pandemic
because of how much of a safety net blockchain’s system offered, mitigating parts being lost by
tracking parts since most companies had to lay-off many employees. I believe this prevented
significant decreases in the financial deficits of companies.
The pandemic contributed significantly to the success of the home retail market, and
Home Depot was one of the retail stores that experienced immediate success after installing
blockchain. The transportation of products became a problematic way of business due to personto-person restrictions. The initial intentions of Home Depot using blockchain were to help ensure
all inventory was well-maintained and fully traceable. People around the world were forced to
stay indoors from the virus, which forced them to stay in the house unless they needed important
materials like food, home appliances, and tools. Home depot’s specialty is supplying home
appliances and tools, so the need for retail stores seemingly increased overnight. I feel as though
blockchain fits the need of where Home Depot wanted to progress, and COVID-19 contributed
to their goal by naturally forcing consumers to rely on their products and services.
Conclusion
Based on the evidence presented to me over the course of this semester, I was able to
prove that my hypothesis was correct, but to a certain extent. I realized that the success of many
�24
businesses was predicated by factors that could not be controlled, like environmental Disasters or
market crashes within an industry. A particular incident in the FTX collapse opened my eyes to
see that people or companies that use blockchain to take advantage of the system often backfired
and left businesses empty-handed. I learned a lot of new information that I plan to carry over into
my next career.
References
Brown, B. (2021, September 14). Ten retail companies using blockchain technology - DOR. Foot
Traffic and People Counting for Retail & Facilities - Dor Blog. Retrieved December 5,
2022, from https://www.getdor.com/blog/2021/09/14/retail-companies-using-blockchaintechnology/
Dobreva, K. (2020, February 25). Real-life blockchain use cases in automotive. OpenLedger
Insights. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://openledger.info/insights/blockchainuse-cases-automotive-industry/
Takyar, A. (2022, September 26). Top blockchain platforms of 2022 for Blockchain
Applications. LeewayHertz. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from
https://www.leewayhertz.com/blockchain-platforms-for-top-blockchain-companies/
Bitcoin Energy Consumption index. Digiconomist. (2022, April 20). Retrieved December 5,
2022, from https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption
Raucci, D., Santone, A., Mercaldo, F., & Dyczkowski, T. (2020). BPM perspectives to support ICSs: Exploiting the integration
of formal verifications into investment service provision processes. [BPM perspectives to support ICSs] Industrial
Management & Data Systems, 120(7), 1383-1400. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-11-2019-0593
Ping-Kuo, C., Qiu-Rui He, & Chu, S. (2022). Influence of blockchain and smart contracts on partners’ trust, visibility,
competitiveness, and environmental performance in manufacturing supply chains. Journal of Business Economics and
Management, 23(4), 754-772. doi:https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2022.16431
Francesca, D. M., Dicuonzo, G., Massaro, M., & Dell'Atti, V. (2020). Smart contracts to enable sustainable business models. A
case study. [Smart contracts to sustainable business models] Management Decision, 58(8), 1601-1619.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2019-1266
Iredale, G. (2022, August 15). List of top 50 companies using Blockchain Technology. 101
Blockchains. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://101blockchains.com/companiesusing-blockchain-technology/
Blocked. (2022, April 29). Key challenges in the automotive industry and blockchain
solutions. Blog. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from
https://www.blockedge.io/blog/blockchain-solving-automotive-industry-problems/
�25
Castillo, M. del. (2020, February 27). Blockchain 50. Forbes. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/02/19/blockchain50/?sh=43ef61627553
Abrol, A. (2022, September 9). What are blockchain nodes? Detailed guide. Web3 &
Blockchain Certifications. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.blockchaincouncil.org/blockchain/blockchain-nodes/
Sharma, T. K. (2022, October 14). What is proof of work? How? Yeah, just initially, no, no, I just
I just OK wanted to see if you could just double check to see if the numbers added up good
I mean I think 100 a 100 yeah is it produced in the blockchain? How is it produced in the
Blockchain? Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.blockchaincouncil.org/blockchain/what-is-proof-of-work/
YouTube. (2017). How does a blockchain work - Simply Explained. YouTube. Retrieved
December 5, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSo_EIwHSd4&t=13s.
YouTube. (2017). Proof-of-Stake (vs it was so good Proof-of-work) – Simply Explained.
YouTube. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3EFi_POhps&list=TLPQMDYxMjIwMjJcW4aG5x
Q8SQ&index=2
Zhong Xu & Chuanwei Zou (2021) What can blockchain do and cannot do? China Economic Journal, 14:1, 4-25,
DOI: 10.1080/17538963.2020.1748968
Link to article:
https://doi.org/10.1080/17538963.2020.1748968
Other. SEC Emblem. (2014, January 15). Retrieved October 15, 2022, from
https://www.sec.gov/edgar
�
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The Effect of Blockchain on Company Efficiency and Profit
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Text
DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
1
The Development, Evolution and Application of Special Education Resources
Ava de Velasco
Department of Psychology, Wagner College
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
2
Table of Contents
page
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………….4
CHAPTER
1
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS ON THE INITIAL ATTITUDES TOWARD AND
SUBSEQUENT ADVOCACY FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION GROUPS ……………....5
Historical Figures and their Attitudes……………………………………………………..5
Instances of Mistreatment........…………………………...……………………………...10
Advocacy Instances.……………………………………………………………………..13
Legal Efforts…………....………………………………………………………………..14
Continuous Flaws Despite Improvement……………....………………………………...15
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….16
2
THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIALIZATION IN SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLANS…………………………………………….17
Role of Social Development Theory…………………………………………………….17
Social Participation…………….………………………………………………………...18
Inclusion & Benefits of IEP’s………..…………………………………………………..20
Impact of Social Exclusion……….……………………………………………………...21
Integrity and Attitudes……….…………………………………………………………..22
Conclusion...…….…………………………………………………………………….…23
3
CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROACHING HESITANT FAMILIES TO UTILIZE
SPECIAL EDUCATION RESOURCES………………………………………………...24
Solution: Advocacy and Support Resources……….……………………………………26
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
3
Solution: Increased Knowledge and Emphasis on Collaboration…..……………………...26
Solution: Official Mediated Processes………………………….…..……………………...27
Conclusion……………………………………………………...…..……………………...28
4
REFLECTING ON SCHOOL OBSERVANCE EXPERIENCE………………………...29
LIST OF REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………...32
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
4
Abstract
Special education resources were not always a readily available accommodation, or considered
to be a universally accepted or necessary system. It is important to examine the historical
analysis of how special education attitudes initially developed and how this community was
treated, as it allows insight into how the movement has become what it is today. Chapter one
focuses on the initial attitudes and treatment toward those with disabilities, and how specific
psychological contributors, as well as community based movements have contributed to the
societal shift from isolation to integration. Research has recognized the benefits of socialization
amongst special education students. Chapter two discusses the importance of socialization for
students with disabilities, and how programs can be created or restructured in order to give those
students access to the least restrictive learning environment as outlined in the standards of the
Individualized Education Plan. While special education reform has come a long way, not all
families share an understanding of what these resources entail. Chapter three explores
considerations on how to approach families who are hesitant to utilize special education
resources. Chapter four gives insight into an actual educational setting, as well as first hand
exposure to various special education and disability reform efforts being implemented. Overall,
the purpose of this paper is to examine the historical and modern attributes which contributed to
special education programs used within schools today in order to ensure the success of the
disabled in their endeavors.
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
5
Chapter 1: Historical Analysis of the Initial Attitudes Toward and Subsequent Advocacy
for Special Education Groups
Special education programs have not always been common. It was not until the 1970s
that legal reform to implement special education efforts within schools began. Prior to the
development of special education programs, it was common for individuals with disabilities to be
isolated from the general group in both an academic and social context. While reform efforts are
fairly recent, research on these groups has been present since the early 19th century. Through
analyzing historical and current literature, it is evident that the societal viewpoint on those with
special needs has vastly changed over time due to a shift in values, as well as a decline in various
stigmas. The stances on children with disabilities requiring special education needs and
accommodations have changed from an approach of neglect to one of support and acceptance.
This can be credited to the works of the various psychologists, researchers, academics and
advocacy groups who contributed to the disability rights movement.
Historical Figures and Their Attitudes
Various scholars and researchers have evaluated the disabled community. Thomas
Hopkins Gallaudet, the co-founder of the first school of the deaf, was said to take pity upon a
little girl and “her unfortunate class” (Barnard, 1854, p.375), which motivated him to dedicate
his life to pioneering education for the disabled. In this instance, the term “unfortunate class” is
used to describe an entire community of individuals with a negative connotation. It can be
inferred that the negative connotation taken to address the disabled community he was catering
to was aligned more with societal biases rather than Gallaudet’s himself, as he evidently had
good intentions within the disability movement. This was illustrated through direct testimony of
those impacted by him, saying “What meed of praise shall be awarded to him who not
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
6
only-emancipated a whole class of men, in all states and for all time, from the thrall of ignorance
and moral degradation: who not only restored to them their rights, invaluable, inestimable, but
the humanity of which they were robbed” (Barnard, 1854, p. 376). This shows the impact which
Gallaudet had on the deaf community, not only playing a part in separating them from ignominy,
but also giving them the opportunity to pursue a fair education. This led to a university being
named after him in 1864, just 13 years after his death. Gallaudet University, located in
Washington D.C., is the only liberal arts college in the world which is exclusively tailored
toward deaf students. This shows the impact which Gallaudet had on the special education
movement, taking the disconnect between society and those with disabilities in the 1800s and
personally transforming the learning experience for those with this disability.
Authors contributing to the American Phrenological Journal (1857) also mentioned the
methods of Gallaudet, crediting him with successfully contributing to the education of these
children through various measures and introducing the methods to other countries. When these
authors visited a school which grouped those with disabilities together with those considered to
be psychotic, they were surprised to find the children, or “company of little urchins” (American
Phrenological Journal, 1857, p.14) getting along peacefully. The grouping of those with
disabilities along with criminal or violent children showed the evident disregard which society
still held for those with disabilities, despite conscious considerations and awareness of the
positive contributions of figures such as Gallaudet to the movement. The fact that the surveyors
expected to find the children engaging in reckless behavior showed the prejudice which was
bestowed upon them. They even insisted that those with disabilities “have no facts, no wants, no
aspirations” (American Phrenological Journal, 1857, p. 15). This illustrated the degradation and
discrediting of those with disabilities which was published during the 1800s.
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
7
Around the same time, various debates regarding the origins, as well as the prevention, of
disabilities were circulating amongst researchers and psychologists. The nature versus nurture
debate, initiated by Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species and further investigated by Francis
Galton, Darwin’s cousin, was a widespread controversy. Galton, who was one of the first
experimental psychologists, was an advocate for eugenics. Galton himself derived this term from
the Greek phrase “eugenes”, which means “good in stock” (Galton, 1883, p.18). He wanted to
coin a “brief word to express the science of improving stock” (Galton, 1883, p.18). Galton was
the chief defendant of the practice of eugenics, advocating for selective breeding measures in
order to attain a perfect society without the presence of any individuals who inhibited
undesirable traits, including those with disabilities (Stephens & Cryle, 2017). The practice of
eugenics involved assessing a person's genetically determined social worth and fitness (Antonak,
1993). During Galton’s time, those with disabilities ranked low in social desirability, as was
illustrated through their general treatment as well as the published literature circulating on the
topic. Galton essentially did not want anyone to be part of society that had a disability, and aimed
to control the evolution of society by containing the groups which he found to be problematic
and eliminating them (Galton, 1904).
English psychologist Cyril Burt spent time attempting to figure out if
“feeble-mindedness,”, a term used in reference to special education children, was a cause of
environmental or genetic influence (Burt, 1912). Burt and Galton had a personal connection,
with Burt’s father being a family doctor who treated the Galton family (Chitty, 2013). As a
result, Burt embraced Francis Galton’s findings, forming the opinion that intelligence was mostly
inherited, and subsequently proposed eugenics and other ideas to “cure” child delinquency. Burt
spent his life studying the inheritance of IQ and other intelligence measures, becoming the first
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
8
British psychologist to be knighted and receiving attention for his twin studies. These studies,
however, would be the downfall of Burt’s reputability, as they led to the surfacing of the “Burt
Scandal” (Jensen, 1991). This alleged that Burt’s data had been faked, and that he was guilty of
deception later in his career (Clark, 1981). Although these claims have yet to be completely
resolved, Burt’s status as a once renowned psychologist studying both gifted and delinquent
children had been impaired nonetheless.
Physicians such as Samuel Gridley Howe proposed that children with disabilities were
born that way because of their parents' violation of natural laws, therefore producing an “unfit
instrument for the manifestation of the powers of the soul” (Howe, 1858, p.366). Howe was said
to have viewed disabilities as a “social disease”, deriving from immortality or sinning (Flynn,
2017). Similarly to the American Phrenological Journal, he implied an association between
criminals and violent individuals and those who have special education needs such as the blind
and the deaf (Howe, 1874). By doing this, he contributed to the stigma around those with
disabilities. Society further succumbed to this stigma by collectively assuming negative
connotations of those within the disabled community. However, Howe did strive to provide care
for the disabled, believing them to have the potential to be trained and redeemed from their
unaccepted habits (Howe, 1874).
Many groups which researchers and psychologists associated with further promoted
sterilization and additional efforts to prevent those with disabilities from spreading them to their
offspring and further perverting society. For example, the Eugenic Records Office at Cold
Springs Harbor wrote the ‘Model Eugenical Sterilization Law’ (Antonak et al, 1993). This
proposal was designed in order to provide a legal template that could be adapted and eventually
applied into lawful policy and programs. This showed the measures which communities were
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
9
willing to take in order to eliminate the disabled population, going so far as to propose laws
which would allow drastic measures such as sterilization and other eugenical processes to be
carried out within the disabled community.
Henry H. Goddard was an American psychologist and eugenist. Goddard believed in
limiting the reproductive capacity of those who were “morons”, a term which he is credited with
inventing for clinical use when describing individuals with disabilities (Antonak et al, 1993).
Goddard also felt that segregating those with disabilities was an appropriate effort, and he
supported the idea of creating specialized colonies for these individuals to congregate within
(Goddard, 1920). He felt that those who had low IQs were to be identified as a “menace of
society and of civilization” (Goddard, 1915, p. 307) because their IQs were considered
insufficient to function within the various social structures that were becoming present in the
increasingly advancing free world. Goddard rationalized this thought through his adoption of the
Binet-Simon scale of intelligence, which he is credited with introducing to the United States after
discovering it in Belgium and presenting it to his colleagues. He became the principal advocate
of using this test in the diagnosis of mental deficiency in America, distributing thousands of
copies of the manual over the years (Antonak et al, 1993). Researchers such as himself would
attempt to identify those with disabilities, and then use this test as justification for eugenics. His
motives behind using the test were not aligned with those of the creator, Alfred Binet.
Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who sought to create a measure of general
intelligence. This was primarily because teachers and doctors during this time were often
accused of making unreliable diagnoses of intelligence (McCredie, 2017). Binet emphasized that
IQ scores were not meant to define permanent conditions, and they were to be used as a rough
guide to improve the learning experience of the disabled. However, researchers such as Goddard
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
10
took the test and skewed it from its initial intentions. Binet himself believed in finding methods
to keep children in schools, directly contrasting the views of others who supported segregation
and eugenics such as Goddard and Galton (Nicolas et al, 2013).
Similarly, Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist who had a view relatable to the
perspective of Binet. He believed that dividing those who were disabled from the general
population would only enhance the separatism between the two. He said “instead of helping
children escape from their isolated worlds, our special school usually develops in them
tendencies which direct them toward greater and greater isolation and which enhance their
separatism” (Vygotsky, 1929/1993, p.65). Vygotsky was against the idea of creating segregated
disabled communities, believing it would eliminate any opportunity to integrate those with
disabilities into society.
In contrast, Désiré-Magloire Bourneville was a French neurologist who dedicated his life
to pediatric neurology. Bourneville supported isolation measures within special education. He
thought that disabled children would be better off if they were removed from the standard
curriculum and instead referred to an asylum-school. He felt that specialized institutions would
provide “medico-educational treatment that could be applied to idiot, epileptic, retarded
children” (Plantade, 2015, p.268). It can be inferred through Bourneville's dedication and
positive contributions that he likely had good intentions for the betterment of those with
disabilities through these propositions, but was also following the then-normalized social pattern
of isolation and institutionalization in his proposals.
Instances of Mistreatment
High profile attention on misjustices toward those with disabilities induced a societal
shift toward establishing different standards of assistance for those with disabilities. A significant
�DISABILITY RESOURCE EXPANSION
11
event which gained national attention on this issue was the exposé on The Willowbrook School
by journalist Geraldo Rivera in 1972 after he was given a key by a recently fired Dr. Michael
Wilkins. Wilkins was dismissed from employment at the institution because of his efforts to
educate parents on reform needed within the school (Flynn, 2017).
The Willowbrook State School (1947-1987) was initially established as an institution for
children with intellectual disabilities, but it became the site of a major turning point in the history
of disability rights that revolutionized the way in which the care of people with disabilities was
to be addressed (Flynn, 2017). It became an overcrowded institution, housing over 2,000 more
adults and children than their maximum capacity allowed. Residents at the school were subjected
to physical, sexual and emotional abuse (Weiser, 2020). They were also unwilling participants in
Defense Department-funded medical research on hepatitis and other diseases. In these studies,
children were intentionally given the virus in order to gain understanding into its variations.
Vaccinologist Maurice Hilleman described the hepatitis studies performed at the institution as
“the most unethical medical experiments ever performed on children in the United States”
(Offitt, 2007, p.27).
Willowbrook residents were denied their basic rights while living at the school, receiving
even less benefits than those in prisons. It was emphasized that prisons alloted 80 square feet per
inmate, while Willowbrook provided only 35 square feet per resident as well as no space for
personal belongings (Dalton, 2020). Due to the social stigma surrounding those with disabilities
at the time, as well as the conditions of the school, employee interest was low, resulting in staff
members not having to submit a background check for employment. The staff to patient ratio
was estimated to be about 50:1 (Dalton, 2020). Willowbrook is often referred to as the symbol of
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deinstitutionalization in America because of the horrific conditions which its residents endured
(Flynn, 2017).
The closing of Willowbrook was not a seamless process. Parents of the children residing
there collaborated to produce the New York State Association for Retarded Children v. Carey
(1972), which claimed the conditions at Willowbrook violated the constitutional rights of the
residents. Various negotiations took place, with the Willowbrook Consent Decree (1975)
eventually being implemented with the intent to improve living conditions and placement options
for these children. The school closed in 1987 after years of public outcry.
Similarly, the Pennhurst State School and Hospital, or the Eastern Pennsylvania State
Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic (1908-1987), was an institution meant to provide
care for those with disabilities. Pennhurst was engulfed in controversy throughout its operation,
with its chief physician quoting Henry Goddard and his eugenic remarks when discussing
methods of isolation and contraceptive efforts implemented within the school (Schmidt, 1983).
The facility was regarded as “understaffed, dirty and violent” (“Law: Patients' Rights”, 1981,
para.1). Drugs were often used for staff to exert control over patients instead of for treatment
purposes, and patients often suffered from physical deterioration as well as overall regression
from their stays at the institution. Harsh methods of punishment were a commonality for
residents, such as electric shock therapy machines and teeth pullings of inobedient patients
(Beitiks, 2012).
The Pennhurst State School was subjected to a class action lawsuit, Halderman v.
Pennhurst State School & Hospital (1974) after a television exposé by Bill Baldini was aired in
1968 exposing the conditions within the hospital, which continued to deteriorate after the release
of the exposé despite promises of improvement. Pennhurst was found to be unable to provide the
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appropriate care which violates federal and state law ensured for its patients. Prominent civil
rights attorney David Ferleger, who represented the plaintiffs of the case, stated the court ruled
“retarded people placed in state facilities have a right to adequate care free from discriminatory
separation from nonretarded people, and that the institution was irredeemably incapable of
providing that care” (Ferleger & Boyd, 1979, p. 718). Despite various appeals, as well as
multiple arguments in the Supreme Court, this resulted in the closing of Pennhurst in 1987,
which was coincidentally the same year which Willowbrook closed its doors.
Advocacy Instances
In addition to the lawsuits which initiated the deinstitutionalization of disabled students,
various laws were drafted and proposed during the disability rights movement. Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was introduced as one of the first federal civil rights laws that
offered documented protection for people with disabilities, as well as prohibited discrimination.
It ensured the upholding of the dignity and respect of disabled individuals. However, there was
much delay and opposition to the ruling, resulting in stalling of the law being properly regulated.
As a result, the 504 Sit-Ins took place, which consisted of demonstrators marching across the
nation to advocate for the regulations and enforcement of Section 504. One demonstration, the
San Francisco federal building sit-in, lasted 26 days (Osorio, 2022). This was the longest sit-in at
a federal building (Lu, 2021). Regulations were finally signed four years after the law passed on
April 28, 1977 (Carmel, 2020).
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or the ADA, prohibited discrimination
against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life which the general public had access
to, ensuring equal access to resources amongst all. The law was stalled for months by the House
Committee, which led to various protests being organized by concerned activists, including The
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Capitol Crawl. The Capitol Crawl, which took place on March 13, 1990, saw over 1,000
protestors march from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to demand that Congress pass the
ADA (Little, 2020). During the protest, several participants who were in wheelchairs abandoned
the devices and crawled up the stairs of the Capitol, which was symbolic of the right to
reasonable accommodations which the ADA contained (Carmel, 2020). The crawl directly
illustrated the barriers which were in place for people with disabilities, and therefore gave a
visual representation of the necessity for the law to be signed. As a result of this protest, the law
was signed months later on July 26, 1990 (Little, 2020).
Legal Efforts
In addition to the legal advocacy efforts pertaining to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 and The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, various other legal
implementations were made in order to further secure the rights of those with disabilities. The
Education for All Handicapped Children Act, as well as Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act, or the IDEIA, focused on special education reform in particular.
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act made it mandatory to make education
equally accessible to those with physical and mental disabilities. The act declared that those with
physical and mental disabilities must be given equal opportunity to education, as well as one free
meal a day. This also introduced the idea of the least restrictive environment, which paved the
way for admitting children with disabilities into the general student classrooms. This was
something that was not always practiced within schools, especially before the 1970s (Larson,
1985).
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, or IDEIA,
introduced various elements to law regarding special education procedure. The primary goal of
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IDEIA was to improve learning outcomes and accessibility for students with disabilities (Yell et
al, 2006). Standout pieces of the legislation included the expansions of the least restrictive
environment (LRE), the individualized education program (IEP), and the right to a free and
appropriate public education (FAPE) (Yell et al, 2006). This law made the appropriate resources
available for those with disabilities in order to gain a fair education which is specific to their
needs. The IDEIA is an expansion of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or the
IDEA, which was passed in 1990. One of the reasons IDEA was amended was its language. The
writing influenced teachers to misidentify minority students as having learning disabilities. The
IDEIA also required states to establish goals for students with disabilities that aligned closer to
the goals of their general education peers, which the IDEA did not fully consider (Renner, 2023).
Continuous Flaws Despite Improvement
Many efforts for special education advocacy led to an overabundance of students being
determined as special needs, which took away from the resources received by those who actually
needed it (Belluck, 1996). This can be illustrated from the fact that twelve years after the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act took effect, the number of handicapped students in
US public schools had increased to 11 percent of their total enrollment, showing a need for
specialized and appropriate learning (Daniels, 1988).
Diana v. State Board of Education (1970) exposed placement errors and biases within
testing systems despite heightened reform efforts. Schools were thereby forced to be more
diligent in their testing and assignment processes. This involved determining whether the
educational problems of children were actually the result of a learning disability or due to other
possible factors. Larry P. V Riles (1972) expanded on Diana, marking the beginning of the end to
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IQ testing in school settings. Financial cuts or other fiscal restraints have also had various
regressive effects on the efforts made to tailor special education (Weintraub & Ramirez, 1985).
Despite implemented changes, thousands of students are still deprived of the services of
which they have the right to access. Just as recently as 2016, the New York City Department of
Education found that nearly 9,000 students recommended for services were not receiving them at
all, and more than 60,000 students were receiving only some of the services they needed.
(Taylor, 2016). This illustrates that despite the reform efforts which have taken place throughout
history, there is still work to be done to ensure all students benefit from the sacrifices and
advocacy that so many people fought for.
Conclusion
While the initial evaluation and attitudes toward those with special needs involved
sometimes undesirable elements, as the field has matured through advocacy efforts,
psychologists and researchers have seen a considerable turnabout in the field in comparison to its
initial quality. Psychologists in particular have contributed to various advocacy efforts through
doing research and reporting their findings and stances to lawyers and representatives of parental
groups (Routh, 2005). Although contrasting views were evidently present, ranging from the
controversial ideas of Galton and Goddard to the progressive and embracing contributions of
Binet, Gallaudet and Vygotsky, all input provided helped shape the field to become the way it is
known today. Although some, such as Howe and Bourneville meant well by supporting special
schools, they were unsuccessful. It took a movement, as well as the presence of appalling
scandals such as Willowbrook and Pennhurst to get things to change. These changes have now
allowed those with disabilities of any kind which require special accommodations the
opportunity to gain an education that is valuable to their specific needs.
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Chapter 2: The Importance of Socialization in School Children with Individualized
Education Plans
The field of special education encompasses many different circumstances, including
specialized programs, tailored services, and specifically designed instruction. Each child who
qualifies as special needs shares a common denominator. That is the fact that each child is given
an IEP, also known as an Individualized Education Plan. The IEP is designed as a personalized
plan for students to achieve academic success in their general education curriculum in a way
which aligns with their specific needs (Kurth et al, 2021). A primary goal within the IEP is
access to the LRE, or the least restrictive environment, which encourages those with an IEP to
gain access to the general class environment (IDEA, 2004), allowing them to socialize amongst
their peers. This review will analyze how the socialization of, as well as the environment in
which children with IEPs interact, strengthens the academic, socioemotional, functional, and
overall wellness outcomes of these students.
Role of Social Development Theory
The ideas of Lev Vygotsky and his Social Development theory concluded that social
interactions and social relations are primary sources of development (Rubtsov, 2020). He argued
against the social prejudices that were being continuously enforced against handicapped
individuals (Vygotsky, 1929/1993), advocating for inclusion and collaboration between advanced
students and those who require assistance. Additionally, he emphasized the zone of proximal
development, which relies heavily on peer interaction to achieve success. The zone of proximal
development is the space between what someone can learn without assistance and what they are
capable of learning with assistance (Gindis, 1999). Through this particular theory and his general
works, Vygotsky emphasized the importance of social interaction between peers, as well as the
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role of a learning person's environment in their advancements, as it was his belief that learning is
influenced by the environment.
Social Participation
In the past, literature has often concluded that isolation of those with special needs was
the best course of action to ensure the success of both general education students and special
needs students. This concept of isolation has been heavily researched and debated, and it has
been concluded that exclusion can have negative effects on both learning and social skills
(Freeman & Alkin, 2000). This has resulted in current laws advocating for student inclusion.
The primary act which solidified this was the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Sec.
300.114. This section of the law requires that students with special needs are placed in the least
restrictive environment (LRE) in order to allow students to be integrated within a unified
learning environment. This states that, “To the maximum extent appropriate, children with
disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are
educated with children who are nondisabled” (US Department of Education, 2017, p. 31).
The International Journal of Educational Methodology acknowledges the fact that
historically, children with disabilities in most parts of the world have not been given access to the
educational opportunities offered by traditional schooling (Somma & Bennett, 2020). This
journal accounts for how these changes should be implemented schoolwide through the
acknowledgement that the pedagogy itself may require reform, as teachers’ confidence, attitudes,
and willingness toward inclusion itself are factors in determining the success of inclusion for
students (Somma & Bennett, 2020). After investigating the literature of Schoger (2006), it is
clear that socialization contributes to the overall wellbeing and advancement of those with
special needs. Not only do those with disabilities benefit from interaction with others with
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disabilities, but those without disabilities do as well. It is paramount to consider the idea that
although a child may have a disability, they are still children in nature. Because of this, just as
other children do, children with disabilities will still learn from their environment, regardless of
what that environment’s circumstances may be (Schoger, 2006). This emphasizes the importance
of surroundings and a positive environment, as these children will pick up on the atmosphere
around them, as all children do, which in turn will influence their habits and practices in the
academic setting.
Youth experiences of social participation as a whole are related to the social interactions
of which they observe in their school environment (Vetoniemi and Kärnä, 2021). This
emphasizes the idea that necessary socialization skills are initially formed in school, and develop
as one grows older and further assimilates into society. This ties into the functional outcomes of
students with disabilities partaking in traditional classroom activities and settings, as it allows
them to observe and participate in the standard conditions of their peers and become
accommodated to the practical expectations of society. The idea of heterogeneous grouping,
where students are interacting with their age level peers who fall within all different levels of
ability, as well as a balanced educational experience were popular amongst educators in
particular, as it allowed students to experience diverse levels of knowledge and adjust
appropriately (Somma & Bennett, 2020). By exploring the literature of those who have
experienced the results of these types of environments and learning structures on children, we are
able to better understand how these changes positively impact the special education field as a
whole.
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Inclusion & Benefits of IEP’s
The support of IEPs and the benefits that they bring to children with disabilities is
evidently conveyed through the acknowledgement that the social, as well as academic benefits of
inclusion for students with disabilities have been well researched and well documented (Schoger,
2006). In the instance of the Reverse Inclusion Theory, those with disabilities “started to initiate
social interactions with not only their reverse inclusion friends, but other peers as well”
(Schoger, 2006, p. 7). This shows that through implementing inclusive measures, students took
initiative to become more sociable on their own. In addition to this, after just eighteen weeks of
increased socialization, the children improved on both their participation and communication
skills. This data showed that promoting an environment made up of inclusionary practices, as
well as placing an emphasis on social interactions, resulted in positive enhancements and
functioning in the behavior and demeanor of those students with disabilities.
Educators have recognized the benefits of switching to a fully inclusive pedagogy on the
basis of collaboration and observational learning (Somma & Bennett, 2020). This is due to
positive experiences and advancements such as the development of independence and
socialization skills. Many instances of children with disabilities paired with collaboration have
proven to be successful in relation to both social and academic success (Somma & Bennett
2020). The learning environment is also emphasized by acknowledging that inclusion extends
beyond their lessons. The concept also expands into the attitudes and beliefs of all students in the
class and school environments, therefore integrating standards of inclusion into everyday life.
One study found effective communication elevated the student’s abilities to adhere to
collaboration efforts, as well as take note of practical ways to work together within and outside
of classrooms. This resulted in a shared understanding of inclusionary measures across
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environments (Garcia et al, 2022). This illustrates that promoting a positive classroom culture
with reinforcement is essential to driving student interaction and inclusion. Additionally, Schoger
(2006) makes the point that social skills are developed from observational learning, which means
that these students require increased opportunities to observe the socially acceptable,
age-appropriate behaviors that their general education peers exhibit in order to create their own
understanding of social cues. By keeping this idea in mind, it is chiefly important to allow those
with disabilities to have hands-on experience with those who do not have disabilities, as it allows
them to gain an integrative perspective on various aspects of their peers' habits and sociability.
Impact of Social Exclusion
Various other literature takes into perspective the idea of social exclusion. Beld et al.
(2019) acknowledge that risk factors for social exclusion may be particularly disproportionate in
special education classes due to the accommodations which these students may need. The
importance of adequate social information processing, which is obtained mostly through social
scenarios, is emphasized. When a child lacks socialization, they may possess inadequate social
skills and have inappropriate reactions to social situations. This may cause these particular
students to isolate themselves and become incapable of building and maintaining rewarding
social relationships with their peers. This then ties into emotional isolation, which can result in a
lack of self regulation and tendency to have outbursts. Vetoniemi and Kärnä (2021) focus on the
experiences of students with special education needs in a mainstream school environment.
Similarly to Beld et al. (2019), these writers mention how an exclusionary environment can have
a negative impact on students with disabilities. This is because exclusion can cause these
students to feel isolated and lonely, therefore leading them to become discouraged to socialize
and interact with peers. This instance shows the socioemotional implications which exclusion
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can have on children with disabilities, and how this can affect the way in which they see and feel
about themselves and others. This can contribute to the formation of negative feelings, as well as
contribute to hesitancy and discouragement to get involved with peers. Sullivan and Castro
(2013) discuss responses to intervention, or RTI’s, which tie directly into these ideas regarding
socioemotional adaptation and implications. They make the point that RTIs may “contribute to
the positive socialization of students by reducing inappropriate and unnecessary placements in
special education, thereby minimizing stigmas and stereotypes associated with labeling”
(Sullivan & Castro, 2013, p. 185). This shows that the process of diagnostic decision-making is
important, as these interventions determine the environment in which students are placed to
learn. By minimizing the unnecessary placements in the classroom, staff may be more
encouraged to implement more constructive and practical interventions in the working
environment. This also allows schools to focus on all students and create socialization plans that
positively impact every student.
Integrity and Attitudes
Intervention integrity plays a part in the child's experience as a whole, as well as their
attitudes toward participation in a mainstream schooling environment (Sullivan & Castro, 2013).
If the intervention process is presented in a positive manner, this may further motivate the child
to willingly partake in activities that promote advancement. The initial presentation as well as
upholding of the classroom environment plays a part in the results seen from intervention. In
addition to this, changing the historical standard of children being pulled out for more
individualized instruction will contribute to students' motivation and incentive to socialize and
create meaningful connections in the classroom.
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The idea of isolation as a whole goes back to the primary idea of a positive, inclusionary
environment. It is inferred that a positive classroom climate affects students' social skills in a
positive way, as it allows them to develop a positive perception of social relationships by
participating in positive interactions (Beld et al., 2019). It has been discovered that efforts to
promote a positive classroom environment were associated with low levels of social exclusion,
showing that environment plays an important role in the experiences of these children as a whole
in regards to their social, functional, and emotional experiences. This shows that the environment
and overall classroom culture play an important role in the overall success and experiences of
students with special needs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, current literature shows that children with IEPs make advancements
through socialization with other school children. Children with IEPs who are placed in
integrative learning scenarios are likely to become more socially fluent and adaptable, setting
them on a path to succeed in their future endeavors. It has been illustrated that integrative
learning offers not only academic benefits, but also various other benefits such as the
strengthening of their social, functional and emotional skills, and therefore preparing them to
advance adequately both during and post engagement in an academic setting. Future research
should continue to investigate how to maximize the equity and accessibility of the educational
experiences of children with IEPs.
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Chapter 3: Considerations for Approaching Hesitant Families to Utilize Special Education
Resources
A potential problem which may occur within the school system is a parent or guardian
not being completely comfortable with allowing their child to access school resources such as an
Individualized Education Plan, or IEP. Within the goals outlined in an IEP, there are many
resources available to children who need a more individualized approach to learning. Various
outside factors, however, may stand in the way of their guardian giving the school permission to
implement these approaches. This can be an issue because parents need to provide consent for
their child to partake in any additional school resources. If a child is recommended resources that
a parent may not agree with, there are various processes in place to handle disagreements.
Throughout this chapter, solutions will be discussed in order to give a clear understanding into
the processes which help solve this problem in schools.
Hesitance can be derived from several factors, but one that seems to cause a large issue
within accepting school resources is cultural differences (Barrio, 2021). Cultural differences tend
to stand as a blockade for parents when presented with the opportunity to accept school
resources. A lack of communication, as well as lack of adequate informational resources, also
contributes to parental hesitancy (Lo, 2012). Some parents may perceive a cultural mismatch of
beliefs and values from their children's school, contributing to apprehension toward accepting
accommodations (Barrio, 2021). This can result in conflict between parent and teacher, which as
a result directly impacts the student’s academic experience (Lasater, 2016). Being sensitive and
respectful to cultural differences is important to ensure mutual understanding, and it is important
to reassure these families that their personal values will not be infringed upon or overlooked
within the academic environment.
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Regardless of the reason parents decline school resources, the relationship between
parents and teachers is what really drives the success of educational planning. Parents and
teachers must work together in order to find the most efficient educational plan for a student.
This relationship stands as the foundation for student success. This is an issue within the
educational environment because parental and teacher conflict can negatively influence the
child’s behavior, as one study found fluctuations in student–teacher closeness contributed to
increased aggression in children (Lee & Bierman, 2018). It can also affect their learning habits,
as it was revealed that student participants reported experiencing anxiety or self-doubt as a result
of disagreements between their parents and teachers (Lasater, 2016).
A three-year study indicated that special education teachers provided the most input in
IEP meetings about students’ strengths, needs, and interests (Mereoiu et al, 2016). While this is a
positive aspect and illustrates teacher involvement, it also shows a need for more parental
involvement and input. Since “the house is the first educational environment, and the first
community in which a child lives and grows” (Abed, 2014, p.1), a closely aligned relationship
between home and school is integral to the growth and development of a child. The legal system
supports this sentiment, as the laws surrounding special education “encourage a working
relationship between the home and school that fosters an educational team with the goal of
providing the child with appropriate services” (Mueller, 2009, p.60). Meaningful engagement is
an important aspect of collaboration which requires informed consent on the parental spectrum,
as well as total accessibility to information on specialized programs (Rossetti et al, 2018). The
support of families and school personnel is integral to the success of any educational planning on
behalf of the child. Hesitance to work collaboratively may affect the learning outcomes of the
child (Bryce et al, 2019).
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Solution: Advocacy and Support Resources
A potential solution to this problem is the implementation of resources such as advocacy
training or an Individualized Family Service Plan, which may make families feel more
comfortable in accepting accommodations. The use of advocacy training programs such as the
Special Education Advocacy Training and the Volunteer Advocacy Project (Burke, 2013) may
allow parents to feel more in control of their role in the planning process of the IEP, encouraging
them to feel secure in contributing to the conversation and accepting staff recommendations.
There are also resources available such as the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), which
involves a “team-based approach with a focus on the child, family, and natural environments”
(DeSpain & Hedin, 2022, p.171). Adopting this type of advocacy may be useful as it allows
parents to formally consider and document environmental factors both at home and in school
when assessing the progress of a child. Holding Facilitated Individual Education Program
meetings, or FIEPs, allow mediation between parents and staff in order to come to the best
decision. The aim of FIEP meetings is to provide the team with the opportunity to work through
issues of disagreement throughout the IEP document collaboratively, with a facilitator or
advocate available to provide support as needed (Mueller & Vick, 2019).
Solution: Increased Knowledge and Emphasis on Collaboration
An additional solution to solve the problem of at home and in school balance and
consensus is increasing knowledge on the programs, as well as emphasizing the importance of
collaboration throughout the process. There is a particular importance of knowing and
understanding the family structure and culture, as well as defining partnership as giving a
balance of power between both parents and teachers according to the setting. A model of
partnership should be mutually selected, which is mostly dependent on the parents and their
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willingness, but should work best for all parties involved (Abed, 2014). Placing an emphasis on
the idea of partnership, opposed to giving one party dominance when determining the best course
of action makes both parties increasingly assured in their confidence toward potential successes
(deFur, 2012). Knowledge on both ends is an important aspect as well. Some teachers likely
don’t realize that the families of children might feel frustrated with what they perceive as
unsuccessful and culturally insensitive IEP meetings (Rossetti et al, 2016). Accomplishing
cultural sensitivity can be achieved by asking if families would like an interpreter at meetings, or
by making the effort to inquire about information on the families' culture, which may help
achieve a better understanding of the student (Edwards & Da Fonte, 2012). This also sets an
example for the child of how they can properly function in a team environment, serving as an
additional learning experience.
A key aspect of partnership is mutual knowledge and understanding. Many parents who
are from other countries may not know what exactly they are walking into when an IEP meeting
is set. Receiving background information on the topic, either through an interpreter, staff
member, or even through implementation of other resources such as an introductory video before
the meeting may make the process easier for both parties, as well as more comfortable for the
parent (Lo, 2012). When considering these types of situations, culturally responsive transitions
made toward an IEP involves acknowledging the cultural priorities which the family holds, as
well as giving the family a space to vocalize their personal needs and their envisioned long-term
goals in the decision-making process (Barrio, 2021).
Solution: Official Mediated Processes
If all efforts to amend the situation fail, parents do have the right to call for impartial
hearings under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Zirkel, 2012). Parents may opt for this if
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they feel their child is not being given access to a free appropriate public education, or FAPE.
The predominant avenue for resolving these disputes is an impartial hearing (Zirkel, 2012).
Impartial hearings are mediated by a hearing officer. This officer listens to both sides and decides
the best way to move forward. While this process may be useful to resolve a case, the
implications of a child witnessing parent-teacher conflict were found to consistently have a
negative effect on the child’s learning outcomes (Lasater, 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion, various responsibilities fall both on the guardians as well as the school
staff when collaborating for a child’s advancement. Outside factors such as cultural competency,
barriers, and understanding contribute to parental hesitancy to enroll their children in school
facilitated programs or objectives. Proposing solutions such as promotion of cultural
understanding and sympathy on both ends, increase of resources to enhance parental knowledge,
advocacy resources and support for parents, or if all else fails, official processing, may be
beneficial. Through ensuring a mutually understanding relationship between parent and school,
as well as placing an emphasis on the wellbeing and growth of the child, planning and agreeing
on routes of success for the child are more probable.
�Chapter 4 redacted to remove personal reflections and any identifying information.
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The Barriers Impeding Women’s Existence in the Financial Industry
Mackenzie Vogler
Senior Thesis
BU 400 Thesis and Practicum
Nicolais School of Business
Wagner College
Business major with a finance concentration
178 Bennett Road
Freehold, NJ 07728
732-615-8475.
1
�Abstract
In today’s world, many disciplines are heavily male-dominated. Finance is one of those
disciplines with far fewer women being a portion of this industry. With a gap between the two
genders, women face social and political barriers from reaching the same dominant presence men
have established in this respective field. The childhood, as well as the personality of a woman,
will determine what industry she will enter in with societal bias being the root of her decision. If
a woman does enter the financial industry successfully, her chances at promotion are hindered
greatly as subjective judgments impede a fair evaluation. Men’s inherited traits of aggressiveness
and fierceness are seen as the reason why the finance world is the relentless way it is, leaving
women to be seen as the unfit candidate.
Introduction
With women incurring many disadvantages of the world, there is often a fight for their justice
in gaining the same privileges as men. In this paper, I will be analyzing many disadvantages
faced by women ultimately leading to their misrepresentation in the finance industry. Over time,
women have gained a much stronger existence with their numbers on the upward tick. Though, it
is not nearly at the same capacity as men making it hard for women to be taken seriously when
they join the office centered off of distinct masculine energy with cursing, screaming, and highly
competitive stakes.
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�To portray this image of misrepresentation, charts, as well as tables, will be implemented to
show readers visually and analytically the gap between genders. These data figures will focus on
the difference in the amount earned by each gender, the rate at which women hold seats in
congress, and the homeownership rate of single women over time. All of these variables will
contribute to showing how society has restricted women from being successful. With the
numbers of women being low who hold a position of finance, follows the ideology that they are
steered from entering this type of work as well. In young boys and girls, there is a math gender
gap that says boys are better at math while girls are better at reading. This goes back to gender
categorization and judgments of what girls and boys should thrive in, not what they may enjoy
learning. Because of this gap, girls will view themselves better linguistically while boys view
themselves as more quantitatively driven individual. Childhood learnings are a key factor in
adulthood behavior and how one will pursue themselves later in life.
All of the variables will be examined over some time with respect to women growing to be as
well respected as men. The presence of women in finance is crucial to showing that they can do
just as much as men, with the same amount of assertiveness as they depict in finance. Each
gender has its strengths and with misrepresentation in finance, all strengths between each gender
will not be successfully executed if there is a gap. Currently, I am a young woman pursuing a
career in finance with high hopes that this gap will slowly, and more steadily, become close. It is
extremely impactful for me to see women in high-ranked positions within finance to know that I
am capable of reaching the same stature.
Literature Review
Social Role Theory
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�Social role theory states that individuals are affected by the stereotypes associated with the
role they are influenced to take on by their surrounding environment (Franke et al. 1997). Ethical
decisions are made in life and later those decisions may result in events crucial to one’s wellbeing and standard of living. These ethical decisions are said to be affected by the gender of an
individual and their biological makeup and can be seen as a part of the social role theory. One’s
gender will determine what choices they make and how they will progress with their life due to
the gender they undertook since birth.
Gender Differences and Similarities in Social Behavior
Social role theory explains the fact that men and women, throughout life, occupy multiple
roles and are ever-changing. In each stage of life, people encounter roles through work, family,
and friendships, and other recreational activities (Eagly and Koenig 2014). Although roles ebb
and flow through an individual’s lifetime, a man’s role and woman’s role will differ heavily.
Women are seen as more generous and charitable sex with more empathetic habits compared to
men who are viewed to be more confident, decisive, and adept (Franke et al. 1997). In the
workplace, men and women in the same position will experience what is called gender-role
spillover, and each will face different expectations due to their gender and cause them to behave
differently to meet those (Franke et al. 1997). Because of this “spillover,” roles have become
clearly defined in what outsiders see as the generic stereotypes of women and men leaders inside
the workplace and what they have to offer when it comes to a position of high rank.
Societal Stereotypes about Men
Men are expected to be the more dominant and forceful nature within the office (Lombard et
al., 2021). Viewed to have the upper hand when it comes to decisions, men make them quicker
and more efficient in the workplace. Attributed to their childhood pressures of being the tough
4
�one to exhibit little to no emotion, their disposition in the office has remained pushy and
unapologetic for a historical number of years.
Societal Stereotypes about Women
Women have the perceived role of being kind and nurturing in their behavior. (Eagly and
Koenig 2014). Women are not viewed as a substantial force in the workplace and are instead
viewed to be the weaker link between men and women. If one were to compare the difference
between a male leader and a female leader, gender would be the difference at hand and women
would be judged on all obligations tied to them throughout each role played in life, not just their
presence in the workplace (Eagly and Koenig 2014).
Social Empowerment
Women do not have as much freedom to speak as they please. (Selzer et al., 2017). They are
the gender seen to be either too agreeable or too stubborn to the point where their opinion on a
stance is not valued rendering them unfit for a position with seniority (Selzer et al., 2017). With
the finance industry being so heavily male-oriented, an environment for women to rise has been
so toughly struggled against and has not been able to be sustained (Selzer et al., 2017).
Lack of Female Role Models in the Industry
Women do not join the financial sector at the same rate as men due to the culture of the
industry (Jones and Merritt, 2020). This is only a small percentage of the female population
represented in this career path observation and still leaves room for a plethora of women who
have not been taken into account during studies of women in this industry. Following suit,
women do not major in finance in the same magnitude as men ultimately leading to the low
participation rate in the investment services sector and overall finance world (Jones and Merritt,
2020). With an exceedingly misrepresentation of young women pursuing in the classroom, little
5
�would like to follow where women are not venturing, leading to fewer women partaking in this
side of the business world.
High Turnover Rate of Women in C-suite
Not only is there a low percentage of women participating in the financial services industry,
but there is also a large portion of women who leave their senior positions (Jones and Merritt,
2020). Their presence is lacking in all aspects with the little promise it will be fruitful in the
coming years. It has been found that less than two percent of women make up CIO positions for
all firms across the globe. (Jones and Merritt, 2020). There are quite a few factors that contribute
to why women leave these c-suite positions and transition into other more, accommodating,
careers that may better suit them and their desires in life. The company and/or position may not
be structured to her liking leading to discomfort and a lack of confidence. The role has fulfilled
her goals and all that she has wished to achieve leading to a lack of desire to stay and continue.
Lastly, she has begun to realize there is more to life outside of work and she would like to
explore and see what it has to offer. Her high-stress, high-paying job may not be her top priority
anymore and has concluded it is something she must part ways with.
Women’s Shift in Life Roles (e.g., Family)
One of the most important roles some women have is being a mother. Women face a decision
in their professional career when they would like to have children or not. This decision will
disrupt the balance they have established in their career and lead to a new lifestyle to pursue.
Some women do not want to balance a child and work so they decide to become their own boss
and determine how they will provide for themselves (Blair-Loy 1999). Women are expected to
mold into a maternal figure as it is a position sought to be filled by societal pressures around
them. To fill this role, they must have a well-balanced life between work and their personal life.
6
�This desired balance has led women to take on a role as self-reliant entrepreneurs to reach
equilibrium in each position she has in life (Blair-Loy 1999).
Five-Factor Model of Personality
The career path of an individual is related to the traits that the individual shows (Ham et al.
2009 and Larson et al. 2002). The five-factor model of personality distributes an array of
personality traits based on five general factors. Those factors are openness, experience,
conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Sheerin’ 2013). The personality
traits of women will then in turn take part in why or why not they may choose to enter the
financial services industry. These different traits are not the end all be all to why an individual
may choose a career path but a factor that is only a piece to the puzzle as to why they may have
chosen a certain career path.
It is said that past the age of thirty the use of personality traits is more consistent and stable
while ages below that can be inconsistent and unreliable in nature (McCrae and Costa 2003).
Even though this model has some condemnations regarding its validity, it can be viewed as a
valuable way to see examine why women are lacking in this industry. In addition to why women
are lacking in the industry, it can illustrate why young women are not interested in studying
finance at the university level. Personality traits are said to be the main cause as men and women
may enter a field to practice and are rooted in how they inherited their traits (Sheerin’ 2013).
Gender Identity Growing Up
Growing up, there are rules and standards meant to be followed and as a little kid, you are
going to do as you are told. Expectations from family and later, friends, are sustained by children
their entire life into adulthood. This is seen as the root to which paves the way for an adult’s
7
�behavior and identity later in life (Franke and Spake, 1997). These expectations are also a part of
the observed behavior of certain groups and the roles they occupy (Eagly and Koenig, 2014).
Boys vs. Girls Phenomenon
Whether it is elementary school, middle school, or high school, there are an array of
pressures placed on each gender and what kind of behavior they need to replicate. If a child is a
girl, it’s ok to let out the tears. If a child is a boy, hold back the tears and move on with your day.
The types of things they may be active in are also heavily criticized. Little boys should like
trucks and wrestling while girls stick to dolls and makeup. Women are to have an abundance of
relationships while men are to instill justice in other individuals when the time is right (Franke
and Spake, 1997). The stereotypes premeditated for each boy and girl puts pressure on what they
must grow up to be.
Influence of a STEM Parent on Child’s Career Choice
The occupation of a child’s parent heavily influences the occupation they will choose for
themselves later in life. Specifically, female role models in a child’s life will heavily determine
the route of their professional life. It is more likely that an individual will choose a route in
finance if they had a mother or father in a STEM career or finance/economics before they
reached the age of 14. (Adams et al. 2018). Most individuals look to their role models or parents
for guidance in what they should do for themselves to make money. It has been found that there
is a 28.6% increased chance of a girl becoming a CFA Institute member if raised by a father with
a STEM background (Adams et al., 2018)
Math Gender Gap in Middle School
The math gender gap is the phenomenon between boys and girls at the age of 15 where boys
are farther advanced in math-based courses, while girls are not, and girls are farther advanced in
8
�reading courses, while boys are not (Breda and Napp, 2019). With women more likely to pursue
a career in finance with a father in STEM, comes the idea that the math gender gap in middle
school will also affect their career choice (Adams et al., 2018). The gap is traced back to ideas
and cultural norms within math development around boys and girls in middle school (Breda and
Napp, 2019). If a girl is not pushed to thrive in her math courses and succeed as much as her
male counterpart, she will not choose to pursue a career in the STEM field as well as the finance
industry. In addition to the environment and society’s influence, students choose a path that they
perceive will best fit their strengths (Breda and Napp, 2019). With no one pushing girls to have
success on the math side of education, she will deter herself from entering a career that requires
math.
Political Empowerment
In the office setting, there is rank and with a higher rank comes the implied responsibility of
leadership. Politically, masculine defaults are heavily prominent causing a systematic
disadvantage for women in the political setting (Lombard et al., 2021). The masculine defaults
integrated into the U.S foundations of its political system, women are hindered from filling top
positions and continue to produce barriers (Lombard et al., 2021).
Women Perceived as the Weaker Gender
Gender stereotypes within finance have kept women from entering this field. Even if a
woman may be a talented individual within her respective field, her lack of confidence will keep
her from excelling in it (Gerdman, 2019). With a competitive male counterpart, women render
themselves inadequate with no chance of competing with men in a consistent matter. The lack of
confidence has caused fewer seats to be filled by women in the C-suite and ultimately male
9
�dominance in finance as well as technology (Gerdman, 2019). Women not having confidence in
themselves creates a lack of confidence in them by outside viewers.
Companies Afraid of Gender Discrimination
Lawsuits are one of the obstacles that become prominent when a company is incorporated.
Of those lawsuits, gender discrimination and a hostile work environment can be one of them with
women at the forefront of this issue. 1 in 10 women face gender discrimination at their
workplace (Parker, 2018) and are more likely to report gender discrimination (Parker, 2018).
From these gender discrimination reports erupt lawsuits which big corporations would like to
keep under wraps and not have showcased. It is believed that women are not hired often within
the financial services world because of the possibility of a gender discrimination lawsuit that
could be filed (Sheerin’ 2013).
Outside Pressure Causes Unrealistic Expectations Imposed
Complex judgment by employers on women in the finance world leads to classifying and
stereotyping. This judgment is based on grouping women into a category that describes their
traits and ultimately results in discrimination. (Bloomfield et al., 2021). Categorizing women into
one group and not taking them as their own individual, hinders the chances of being promoted
and being seen as a fit candidate for the position (Bloomfield et al., 2021). In the finance
discipline, women will be seen as stereotypical women and not stereotypical analysts when it is
time for evaluation. (Bloomfield et al., 2021). The same judgment is not passed to men as their
stereotype of being assertive and competitive in the office is what is sought by evaluators.
Subjective Judgement Rather than Objective Judgement
In the performance evaluation, there are a plethora of judgments that root in being subjective,
not objective. Subjective determinants include one’s knowledge of the industry, accessibility,
10
�and professional integrity that tell you who someone is (Bloomfield et al., 2021). A woman is
viewed to be communal and kind in her ways that may deem her unfit as women are not seen to
be the success of the finance industry, men are. (Bloomfield et al., 2021). Men’s characteristics
align with what the finance sector thrives on. Aggressiveness, assertiveness, and dominance. The
two different extremes between both genders put women at a disadvantage as they are seen to not
have what it takes to thrive in this heavily male-dominated field. (Bloomfield et al., 2021).
Hypotheses
H1: There is a scarce number of women who work in the finance industry due to a lack of
political and social empowerment.
Methods
Table 1: Components of Study
Variables
Data
Number of
Women
Social Empowerment
Political
Empowerment
Instrument
PINC-06
Electronic Survey
(STEM)
2x2 between
subject’s
design
scenario
Data Source
United
States
Census
Bureau
CFA Institute
American
Accounting
Association
Type of data gathered
Quantitative
Quantitative/Qualitative
Qualitative
Types of scores
produced
Median
Income in
$$$
Mean % of men/women
that are CFA member
Persistent/
NonPersistent
Adapted from: Rudestam, K.E. & Newton, R.R. (1992). Surviving Your Dissertation.
Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications, Inc. page 140.
Table 2: Hypothesis, Instruments, and Statistical Analysis
Hypothesis
11
Variables
�Number of
Women
Social
Empowerment
Political
Empowerment
Hypotheses &
Variable
Relationships
Statistical
Tests
There is a
scarce number
of women who
work in the
finance
Number of
Social
Political
industry due to Women
Empowerment Empowerment
the lack of
political and
correlation;
social
regression;
empowerment.
LowNOW=LSE+LPE
line charts
Adapted from: Rudestam, K.E. & Newton, R.R. (1992). Surviving Your Dissertation. Newbury Park,
California: Sage Publications, Inc. page 138.
Subjects
The individuals who are the subject of my research will be women who hold positions in the
investment industry and students in college whose ages will range from 18-22.
Measures
Measures will include an overall examination of the women, as well as men, in the
investment industry. The first variable is the number of women in the finance industry, it will be
measured through the total number of women with earnings above or below $80,000 in financial
operations. To make this data relative to the total amount of professionals in the investment
sector, the total number of men with earnings above or below $80,000 will be utilized in addition
to the data of women. We will view this through PINC-06. The following variable, social
empowerment, will be measured through homeownership rates of single women which were
found through the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. The final variable, political empowerment,
will be measured through the number of women who have had and currently have seats in
congress and was examined through data by Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics.
Procedure
Procedure to Locate Journal Articles and Data
12
�The business source premier database on Wagner’s library website was used. Search
terms to locate these articles include women in finance, glass ceiling, gender gap, and women in
investments. These searches were completed in September 2021. Each article was selected
because it showed the buildup of how women do not participate for a sustained time in the
investment world. A few of the articles support the causes of low percentages of women in the
finance world while some exhibit the effect on the industry and how men may get away with
certain unethical practices.
Statistical Methods to Present and Analyze the Data
To analyze the discovered data, line charts will be utilized to describe the relationship
between women’s empowerment socially and politically and how that will influence their
presence in the financial sector. The total number of men and women with an income over or
below $80,000 in the financial sector will be evaluated in four different years: 1998; 2000; 2010;
and 2020. This variable will take into account the gender with the most earnings. . This will be
shown through a line graph.
The political empowerment variable will examine the total number of seats in congress that
are held by women. Next to the number of seats, time will be compared showing how over time
there has been a change in the presence of women. This will be shown through a line graph.
The social empowerment variable considers the homeownership rate of single women. To
measure this, time will be used in comparison to show its changes over time. This comparison
will be shown through a line graph.
Results
Variable 1
13
�Over time, women have entered the financial industry more heavily even though they are not
seeing a large pay increase like men are.
Figure 1
Number of Financial Specialist Men and Women with
Earnings Above or Below $80k
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1998
2000
2010
2020
Women Below 80k Salary
Women Above 80k Salary
Man below 80k Salary
Men above 80k Salary
Source: United States Census Bureau (2020). PINC-06.
Table 3
Personal Income of Men and Women in Financial Services Over Time
Women Below 80k Salary
Women Above 80k Salary
Men below 80k Salary
14
1998
705
34
539
2000
750
79
447
2010
1446
326
997
2020
1346
591
835
�Men above 80k Salary
299
114
558
862
Variable 2
Over the span from 1997-2021, seats held by women in the U.S Congress have improved with
more women entering each year.
Figure 2
Total Number of Women in Congress
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
105th Congress
107th Congress
109th Congress
111th Congress
Total Number of Women in Congress
Source: Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics (2021).
Table 4
Number of Women in Congress Over Time
Congress Total Number of Women in Congress
105th
63
107th
72
109th
82
15
113th Congress
116th Congress
�111th
113th
116th
90
100
126
Variable 3
From 1988 to 2008, the number of single women who chose to purchase their own home has
increased.
Figure 3
Homeownership Rates of Single Women
60.00%
56.00%
52.00%
48.00%
44.00%
40.00%
36.00%
32.00%
28.00%
24.00%
20.00%
16.00%
12.00%
8.00%
4.00%
0.00%
1988
1992
1996
2000
% of Women Who Own Homes
Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013).
Table 5
Homeownership Rates of Single Women
Year
% of Women Who Own Homes
1988
1992
9.4%
17.4%
16
2004
2008
�1996
2000
2004
2008
29.4%
39.2%
49.7%
47.3%
Discussion
H1: There is a scarce number of women who work in the finance industry due to a lack of
political and social empowerment.
In my hypothesis, said social and political factors were analyzed and the different impacts
they may have on how women live their lives and the types of roles they may take on. We will
examine how a women’s salary, a women’s role in owning a house, and a women’s participation
in government are all closely tied when it comes to stepping into these positions and then soon
subdued by their male counterparts.
The first variable of my thesis, the number of women, was evaluated through the difference
between the earnings of financial men and women. Table 3 shows the number of men and
women by salary below $80,000 or a salary above $80,000 from 1998 to 2020. From the years
1998 to 2000, 113 women earned a salary above $80,000 and 413 men who had earned a salary
above $80,000. This supports my hypothesis that there is a scarce number of women present in
the finance industry and was heavily outweighed by their male counterparts. Considering the
other end of the spectrum, women still outperformed men when earning below an $80,000 dollar
salary. 1,455 women received a salary below $80,000 while 986 men received a salary below
$80,000. This portion of data exemplifies the less substantial positions women held in the
finance sector earning a smaller salary and fewer men were earning a low salary due to their
heightened dominance in leadership positions, ultimately leading to higher wages. Now,
considering the latter half of the data, there were very similar trends in comparison to the years
17
�1998-2000. 2,792 women earned below an $80,000 salary and 1,832 men earned below an
$80,000 salary. With 917 women earning above an $80,000 salary and 1,420 men earning above
an $80,000 salary, my hypothesis remains consistent proving the idea that women in the finance
industry are scarce. For all years, more men than women earn more than $80,000 and more
women than men earn less than $80,000. These wage gaps make for a poor incentive to get
women into the finance world and work alongside men who are receiving higher pay for the
same duties and same roles.
My second variable, political empowerment, considers the number of women who hold seats
in Congress. In the fourth table, the number of women in Congress over time is displayed from
1997 and ends in 2021. In that period, there is a clear trend of women becoming a larger and
larger portion of Congress and gaining more seats each year. The trend line in figure 1 displays
this upward increase of women in Congress gaining a presence. The data was progressing at a
steady rate until it hits the 113th congress with a sharp increase in seats, jumping from 100 seats
held to 126 seats held. In 1997, there were 63 seats taken by women and in 2021, there are
currently 126 seats being filled by women. With Congress having a total body of over 500
individuals, 126 of those being women is still relatively low. With only 126 out of 500 seats
being filled by women today, this supports the idea that women are suppressed to gain
dominance in other disciplines outside of finance.
In the fifth table, the social impact on women is exhibited through the number of women that
become homeowners on their own. The data looks at homeownership of single women from the
years 1988 to 2008. Homeownership rates by single women have sharply increased up until the
year 2004 then declines. From 1988 through 2008, it is implied over time women grew to
become more motivated to become single homeowners but did not have this motivation to do so
18
�in 1988 as single women only owned homes themselves at a rate of 9.4%. Substantial growth has
been gained for women but it is not been fully reached with only 47.3% of women owning
homes indicating outside pressures deterring them from doing so. If 100% of single womenowned homes in 2008, the social impact would not a factor upon how single women may choose
to live but it is evident with the lacking rate.
Conclusions
Life for women is not as easily endured as it is for men. Women face barriers from the day
she is born until the day she has died. Stigmas and categorization are attributed to this hardfought life and some days make it seem impossible she cannot reach where she would like to go
in life. One of the biggest goals in the life of any individual is pursuing a career that they enjoy
and for many women that will be the financial industry. Once she reached the finance world, this
will be hindered.
To put an end to this in seemingly large gender gap, there can be measures taken in
childhood and college years to minimize the inequality. The math gender gap will need to be
shut as it has a direct effect on whether or not girls choose to chase occupations that involve
being highly quantitative. Teachers will need to encourage both boys and girls equally to choose
math courses and electives that they enjoy participating in. Emphasizing to young girls that they
can complete the same courses their male classmates do will be a key success. Having equal
parts participate in math will boost the chances of more girls taking a liking to math and guiding
them into fields where math is required. This can be achieved through equal participation
requirements in technology clubs and mathletes competitions. Requirements of equal gender
representation will emphasize the importance of both genders and not make girls view
themselves as outweighed and undervalued. In college, a young women professional club
19
�surrounding finance could be established and become a society of strong women. If a wellrenowned finance women’s club is founded, women will know they have a space to enter with
other individuals just like them. With the different benefits and privileges of this club, women
can realize they are just as valuable to the finance world as men are. These projects will teach
girls and women of all ages the importance of their participation in finance. What is learned in
younger years will translate into their adulthood and how they so choose to live it.
The representation of women in finance can be directed through different initiatives tailored
to once they have been working for a financial firm. The business world should put more
coverage and applaud more women for completing the impossible. Their work should not go
unshown and needs to be highly commended for being just as fierce as their competition. Men.
With more women being the point of emphasis, younger girls will be inclined to reach the
position they are at one day. Media coverage and the news follows us around everyday so it
should be used as an effective way to relay the struggles and successes women in finance have
endured. Whether it is being the cover of a financial magazine, being a highlight story on a news
channel, or displaying books of female authors at business networking events, it can be done.
These plans can be followed by a dedication to hiring just as many women as men in an
investment firm. If a firm pursues employees based on their passion and drives them to succeed
in finance, there will not be a wide gap left. Women possess the same capabilities as men, and it
should be honored through the even distribution in the gender of employees.
With academia continuing to draft literature on the severe imbalance of women in the
financial sector it is evident the issue will persist unless the stigma is eradicated around women
being seen as unfit to practice finance. My data also solidified the inequality between men and
women despite all three of my tables representing their presence growing. Within the earnings
20
�achieved by men and women, men outweigh women at every point in time. In terms of seats held
in Congress, women only hold about a quarter of the weight. Homeownership rates do not
embody dominance and show that there is still more to be accomplished. With all factors
considered, it is clear women’s presence in the finance industry will need to start way before
they reach an interview. Preparing women for the unusually high-strung environment before they
step foot in, will set the tone for what it’s like securing a job in the finance world. The finance
industry can be highly rewarding just as it is challenging. Women deserve to experience the same
return on their hard work when it comes to their career. With the stigma being taken out of the
equation, women will soon be able to make just as much money as men do. I hope to see the
rates today, largely increase by the time I am 10 years into my profession. Knowing I will have
strong women working next to me will push me to reach goals and accomplishments I thought I
could have never completed. All of the women before me have paved the way and I hope one
day, to do the same for younger girls.
21
�References
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�
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PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
1
The Application of Psychometric Testing in Sport and Performance Psychology
Ethan Zirh
Psychology Department, Wagner College
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
2
Table of Contents
page
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………….3
CHAPTER
1
THE HISTORY OF THE APPLICATION OF PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORT AND
PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY…….………………………………………………...4
Introduction……………..…………………………..……………………………………..4
The Birth of Sports Psychology…………………...........…………………………………5
The Application of Personality Psychometrics in Sports…………………………………7
Professional Sports Become Interested in Psychometrics Testing………………………..9
Suspicion and Growth of Psychometrics in Sports………………………………………11
2
LITERATURE REVIEW: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORT
AND PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR ELITE ATHLETE
TALENT IDENTIFICATION AND RECRUITMENT…….………………………...…16
The Benefits and Importance of Psychometric Testing in Athlete Talent Identification..17
The Limitations of Psychometric Testing in Athlete Talent Identification…………..….18
Ineffectiveness of Psychometric Personality Tests in Predicting Sports Performance.….20
3
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PSYCHOMETRICS IN
SPORT AND PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR ELITE ATHLETE
TALENT IDENTIFICATION AND RECRUITMENT……………………………..…..22
The Problems with Current Psychometrics as a Tool for Talent Identification.…….…..22
A Solution to Help Psychometrics Become an Effective Tool for Talent Identification..24
4
REFLECTIVE CHAPTER……………...…………...…………………………..………28
LIST OF REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………...31
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
3
Abstract
The following thesis paper aimed to review and analyze the application of psychometric testing
in sport and performance psychology. This thesis takes an in-depth look at the past literature
surrounding the field of sports psychology and the various application of psychometric testing in
sports to determine current problems in the field and propose a solution. Chapter one reviews the
history of psychometric testing in sports, proposing that the application of psychometric testing
in sports has changed and advanced in parallel with its use shifting from an amateur sporting
environment to a professional sporting environment. Chapter two reviews the importance of
using psychometric testing as a tool for elite athlete talent identification and the current short
comings of its use. Chapter three suggests the issue with the current use of psychometric testing
in elite athlete talent identification programs is the lack of validity and fidelity. Moreover,
chapter three also proposes a solution to this problem, by identifying key psychological sports
performance indicators and using these indicators to develop new psychometric testing. Finally,
chapter four serves as a reflection on how the previous chapters relate to each other and relate to
clinical psychology and sports coaching field placements.
Key Words: sport, psychometrics, talent identification, sports psychology, performance
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
4
The History of the Application of Psychometrics in Sport and Performance
Psychology
This chapter aims to pieces together the timeline of psychometric testing in sports psychology to
understand the history of psychometric testing in sports. The thesis that this chapter proposes is
that the application of psychometric testing in sports has changed and advanced in parallel with
its use shifting from an amateur sporting environment to a professional sporting environment.
Psychometrics is the process of mental measurements with the aim to make them observable,
ultimately attempting to measure latent variables such as cognitive ability, personality, and
aptitude. (Anunciacao., 2018). Sport and performance psychology is a relatively new field of
psychology that looks at how psychological factors affect performance (Kornspan, 2012). The
first movement that will be looked at occurred between the 1900’s to the 1940’s, and is the birth
of sports psychology, which will help explain sports psychology testing prior to the application
of psychometrics. Following this, the chapter will discuss the movement of applying personality
psychometrics to amateur sports to enhance athletic ability, which occurred between the 1950’s
to the1970’s. The chapter will then review the movement of applying aptitude psychometrics to
professional sports which occurred during the 1970’s and 1980’s Finally, the chapter will review
the movement of suspicion regarding the validity of the psychometric testing being used in
professional sports and the improvements that occurred as a result, which happened during the
1990’s and 2000’s. By reviewing the key movements surrounding the use of psychometrics in
sports this chapter will demonstrate that when professional sports became interested in
psychometrics it led to the changes and advancement of psychometric testing in sports.
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
5
The Birth of Sports Psychology
Initially, sports psychology was a field that was born from physical educators and
psychologists having an interest in how the field of psychology could be applied to the field of
sports (Kornspan, 2012). Sports psychology started as primarily an experimental and theoretical
field that was interested in how psychology could help explain sports phenomena (Griffith, 1930)
One of the earliest examples of this is by Edward Scripture in 1895 who was interested in how
psychology could be applied functionally to everyday life, such as enhancing athletic
performance (Baugh & Benjamin, 2006). Scripture (1897) conducted studies comparing the
reaction time of long distance and short distance runners, finding that short distance runners have
faster reaction times to a starting pistol, suggesting that reaction time in athletes could be reduced
with practice. Furthermore, Scripture (1897) conducted studies on the measurement of mental
quickness and muscular movement in fencers, to determine if mental quickness is related to
faster muscular movements. Furthermore, another early sport based psychological experiment
was conducted by Norman Triplett who studied the social facilitation effect on cyclists in 1898
(Baugh & Benjamin, 2006). Triplett (1898) aimed to evaluate how the addition of competitors
could possibly lead to increased performance in cyclists. This experiment demonstrated that
when athletes (cyclists) raced against competitors they had faster lap times compared to when
they raced alone (Triplett 1898). Therefore, these early psychological experiments by Edward
Scripture and Norman Triplett emphasize the start of a psychological movement that was
interested in how psychological measurements could be applied to sports, to better understand
sports phenomena.
Moving into the 20th century sports psychology was truly born as a field and the
movement of applying psychology to understand sports phenomena was championed by Robert
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6
Griffith, regarded as the father of sports psychology (Baugh & Benjamin, 2006). In 1925 at the
University of Illinois, Griffith established the first research laboratory for the purpose of studying
the performance of athletes from a psychological perspective (Green & Benjamin, 2009). Green
and Benjamin (2009) highlight that Griffith’s research laboratory studied numerous
psychological phenomena in sports including conditioning, habit formation, stress, and mental
well-being. Griffith was particularly interested in the relationship between physiology and
psychology, utilizing the research laboratory to conduct studies on the changes of muscle tension
during competition and the differences in reaction time between athletes (Griffith., 1930).
Unfortunately, Griffiths movement of applying psychology to sports was short lived as the
research laboratory was closed in 1932, with there being two reasons for its closure (Green &
Benjamin, 2009). The first is that due to the great depression the university had a lack of funding,
and the laboratory was removed to cut costs. The second is that Illinois football coach Robert
Zuppke had lost confidence in the research program, believing it was not yielding significant
results. This closure of Griffith’s sports psychology research laboratory emphasizes that despite
psychologies interest in sports the sports field showed a lack of interest and confidence in
psychology being add anything meaningful to the field.
After Griffiths work at the University of Illinois, he was employed part-time by the
Chicago Cubs becoming the first psychologist employed by a professional sports team (Green &
Benjamin, 2009). During his time at the Cubs Griffith wrote 16 reports on how psychology could
be applied to baseball, including how improving practice efficiency would increase performance
and how the stigma of baseball instinct diminishes learning ability (Green & Benjamin, 2009).
Griffith explained that practices were extremely inefficient, with only about 25% of practice time
helping to improve athlete performance. Moreover, Griffith explained that there was a
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stereotyped belief that baseball ability is mainly instinctual and only partially learnt, which
greatly hindered his ability to apply psychological methods to improve performance as athletes
felt they did not need to learn. Griffith’s time at the Cubs only lasted for 3 seasons as he reported
that there was a clash of culture between the professional athletes and him, leading to none of the
advice in his 16 reports being implemented (Green & Benjamin, 2009). Robert Griffith’s rejected
work at the Chicago Cubs shows that despite the best efforts of psychology to explain sports
phenomena there was a huge push-back from both athletes and coaches in the sporting field
leading to a decline in psychology involving itself in sports until the late 1950’s. Therefore,
through the early studies of Scripture and Triplett and the groundbreaking work of Griffith this
period showed a movement of psychologists attempting to apply psychology to sports to better
understand it, but sports not showing any interest in psychology doing so.
The Application of Personality Psychometrics in Sports
After the work of Griffith, the sports psychology movement died down until the early 1960’s
when a movement arose to apply psychology to sports to improve athlete performance not just
understand it (Aoyagi et al., 2012). Sports psychologist began applying psychometric testing to
sports to measure athlete behaviour and improve performance through coaching (Ogilvie &
Tutko, 1972). The early days of applying psychometric testing in sports was largely applied to
amateur sports such as collegiate and Olympic athletes primarily due to the easy access that
sports psychologist had to amateur sports (Cei, 2011). Cei (2011) explains that in 1965 the
Italian National Olympic Committee hosted the first congress of the International Society of
Sports Psychology (ISSP) and in 1972 the second congress was hosted by the Olympic Congress
at the Munich Olympics. This close relationship between international Olympic committees and
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8
the ISSP shows that sports psychologist had an amateur sports platform to apply psychometric
testing to. Furthermore, many sports psychologists worked at universities, for example Bruce
Ogilvie, the American member of the ISSP in the 1960’s and 1970’s was a tenured professor at
San Jose state university and was able to apply psychometrics to the universities football,
basketball and track and field teams (Ogilvie & Tutko, 1972). Therefore, the movement of
applying psychometric testing to amateur sports to improve athlete performance was largely due
to the access that sports psychologists had to amateur teams.
Sports psychologist in North America had a growing interest in how an athlete’s behaviour
could be measured and if understanding their behaviour could lead to improved athletic
performance (Ogilvie, 1968). Bruce Ogilvie was one of the first sports psychologists to apply
personality psychometrics to amateur sports in the late 1960’s (Ogilvie, 1968). Ogilvie (1968)
was interested in utilizing personality testing to identify the specific personality traits that have
the greatest relevance to athletic competition. The main idea of this movement was that by
identifying sports specific personality traits psychologists could help coaches better understand
their athletes and change their coaching methods depending on an athlete’s personality (Ogilvie
& Tutko, 1972). Ogilvie and Tutko (1972) explain that they used several personality inventories
to measure athlete personality at both San Jose state university and Stanford university,
including, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Rotter Incomplete
Sentences Blank (RISB), the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) and the Jackson
Personality Inventory (JPI). This extensive use of different personality psychometrics emphasize
a clear attempt by sports psychologists to apply psychometrics to sports to find sports specific
personality traits and enhance athlete performance. Unfortunately, despite sports psychology
growing as a field there was still a resistance from the sporting field in recognizing the potential
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benefits that psychometric testing could offer sports. This was made clear by Ogilvie and Tutko
(1972), who explained that they attended the NCAA coaches conference to present the benefits
of personality psychometrics for coaches. They expected a crowd of over 200 coaches, but upon
hearing their presentation topic only 20 individuals were present. This example clearly
emphasizes that the movement to apply psychometric testing to amateur sports through the late
1960s and early 1970’s was rejected by much of the sporting field as it was seen as an intrusion
into a field that psychology did not belong in. Therefore, the movement of applying
psychometrics to sports was an attempt by the psychological field to improve athletic
performance, however, like the efforts of Robert Griffith 30 years earlier, the sporting field
continued to reject the notion that psychology could add anything useful to sports
Professional Sports Become Interested in Psychometrics Testing
Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s the sporting field had a shift in attitude towards
applying psychometrics to sports and this occurred due to professional sports recognizing the
potential benefits of psychometric testing (Gill & Brajer, 2012. This movement saw a shift from
psychology attempting to improve athletic performance in sports, to sports utilizing psychology
to predict an athlete’s future performance (Gill & Brajer, 2012). Lyons and colleagues (2009)
explain that the first example of aptitude psychometrics used in professional sports was the use
of the Wonderlic personal test (WPT) by the National Football League (NFL). The WPT is a
timed 50-item intelligence test that assess math, vocabulary, reasoning, and logic and is
administered to a variety of work forces and different levels of employment (Hatch et al., 2008).
Tom Landry is largely credited with first applying the WPT to the Dallas Cowboys in the early
1970’s to predict the future performance of his players based on their intelligence (Green &
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Benjamin, 2009). Green and Benjamin (2009) explain that since the initial use of the WPT by the
Dallas Cowboys the psychometric test is now used by every NFL team. This example
emphasizes that through the 1970’s there was a shift in how sports viewed psychology and
psychometrics, with sports starting to realize the benefits that psychometric testing provided.
Another example of the sports field applying aptitude psychometrics is in the early
1970’s when Paul Brown, the coach of the Cincinnati Bengals applied the Terman Group Test of
Mental Ability (TGTMA) to predict future athlete performance. (Green & Benjamin, 2009). In
1920 Lewis Terman developed the TGTMA which became one of the most widespread group
intelligence tests, allowing for affordable intelligence testing in schools and workplaces (Aiken,
2004). Green and Benjamin (2009) highlight that 50 years after the creation of the TGTMA, Paul
Brown adopted the aptitude psychometric test to help predict the future performance of his
football athletes. The TGTMA measures an individual’s verbal ability to solve different
problems and Brown believed that higher scores on the TGTMA would predict players who
could think quicker, think under pressure, and learn better (Green & Benjamin, 2009). Therefore,
this example with the previous example highlight that through the 1970’s professional sports
became interested in the potential benefits that psychometrics could offer. This period saw a
clear shift from the sports field rejecting psychology to a movement by the sporting field to apply
aptitude psychometrics to predict an athlete’s future performance.
Further evidence of the movement whereby professional sports begun utilizing
psychometric testing is that the interest of aptitude psychometrics from professional sports teams
caused a branched down effect to amateur collegiate athletics (Fogarty, 1995). For example, Jim
Taylor was the sports psychologist at the University of Colorado, and he applied numerous
aptitude psychometrics to predict athletic performance in collegiate athletes across several sports
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including, alpine and nordic skiing, tennis, basketball, and track and field (Taylor, 1987).
Moreover, Hans Eysenck conducted an extensive literature review that focused largely on
applying psychometrics to amateur sports at the Olympic and college level to determine the key
psychological indicators of an elite athlete (Eysenck et al., 1982). Eysenck and colleagues (1982)
found that across several sports’ psychology studies, the measurement of intelligence was crucial
in predicting an athlete’s future performance. These examples of sports psychology studies
applying psychometric to amateur level sports highlight that the movement of professional sports
to adopt aptitude psychometric testing caused a branching down effect that resulted in much of
the sporting field becoming interested in and welcoming the use of psychometrics in sports.
Therefore, based on professional sports utilizing aptitude psychometrics and influencing amateur
sports to do the same, it is evident that between the 1970’s and 1980’s there had been a clear
shift in the sporting fields attitude towards psychology by sporting teams utilizing psychometrics
to help predict future athlete performance.
Suspicion and Growth of Psychometrics in Sports
As the use of aptitude psychometric testing increased in both amateur and professional
sports there was a plethora of data that psychologists used to compare the effectiveness of
psychometric tests in predicting future athletic performance (Fogarty, 1995). This led to a
movement throughout the 1990’s and into the 2000’s whereby sports psychologists were highly
suspicious of the effectiveness of psychometric tests in sports and began challenging their
validity (Meredith et al., 2018). This suspicion eventually led to the development of more
accurate sports based psychometric testing (Meredith et al., 2018). The validity of the
psychometric testing being used prior to this time was questioned as the tests were not designed
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12
for the populations they were being used on (Fogarty, 1995). Anshel and Lidor (2012) analysed
the effectiveness of past psychometric testing in predicting future athletic performance, finding
that the psychometric testing being applied to sports were not designed for athlete populations.
This is further supported by Lyons and colleagues (2009) who assessed the efficiency of using
the WPT in an employment setting it was not designed for, sports. By comparing the results of
the WPT to the statistical playing data for the first 3 years of NFL performance in the 762
participants, Lyons, and colleagues (2009) concluded that there was no relationship between
WPT scores and future NFL performance. This study highlights how the aptitude psychometric
testing that was popular in the 1970’s and 1980’s was ineffective in predicting future
performance as it was not designed for athletes.
Another aspect of psychometric testing that was questioned was that the psychological
phenomena being measured by the psychometric tests, like intelligence had low fidelity for
predicting future athletic performance (Fogarty, 1995). Bergkamp and colleagues (2019) found
the effectiveness of past psychometric measures in predicting future performance was poor. This
is due to sports specific attributes like shooting a ball having a high fidelity for predicting future
performance, whilst attributes measured by psychometric testing like intelligence having a low
fidelity for predicting future performance. This is further supported by Kuzmits and colleagues
(2008) who analysed the effectiveness of the WTPs inventories in predicting future performance
and found no correlation between higher test scores and better athletic performance. Therefore,
these studies highlight that the psychometric testing being used throughout the 1970’s and
1980’s had low fidelity for sports like the NFL and as a result were poor at predicting future
performance.
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Due to psychometric testing becoming popular in professional sports despite its incorrect
use, psychologists begun researching which psychological indicators that are important for
predicting future sports performance (Mustafovic et al., 2020). Kite and colleagues (2021)
studied talent identification indicators in soccer, concluding that psychological attributes are the
most important indicator of future athletic performance, with attitude being the most important
psychological attribute. Moreover, Mustafovic and colleagues (2020) highlighted that sports
based psychometric testing should focus on psychological indicators like emotional intelligence,
motivation and decision making to accurately predict future performance. These studies
highlighted that the movement of suspicion by the psychological field surrounding the accuracy
of the psychometric test being used by sports led to research focused on changing and advancing
what the past psychometric tests had been measuring.
Currently there are two major psychometric tests that several professional and amateur
sports organizations utilize to predict future performance, being the Athletic Coping Skills
Inventory 28 (ACSI-28) and the Athletic Intelligence Quotient (AIQ) (Cox et al., 2010; Sanz et
al., 2018 ). The ACSI-28 measures different psychological aspects that are key to performance,
including coachability, concentration and confidence (Cox et al., 2010). Cox and colleagues
(2010) explains that the ACSI-28 measured these key psychological skills to predict if an athlete
can cope with stressful competitive situations, and ultimately predict future performance. The
ACSI-28 has been shown to have strong validity in discriminating between different athletic
levels from recreational to elite and has been shown to have strong predictive validity for future
athletic performance (Sanz et al., 2018). The ACSI-28 is an example of a sports focused
psychometric test that is far more advanced than the psychometric tests used in the past, due to it
being designed for athlete populations and having a high fidelity to athletic performance.
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Another example of a modern sports based psychometric test is the AIQ, which is a
sports-based intelligence test that measures an athlete’s ability to master new skills and adapt to
changing environments (Bowman et al., 2021). (Bowman et al., 2021) highlights that the AIQ is
currently used by several professional sporting leagues in North America including, Major
League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association and the National Football League
(NFL) and professional leagues across Europe. The main difference between the AIQ and other
aptitude psychometric testing used in sports, like the WPT is that the AIQ excludes measures of
academic intellectual ability (e.g., math, comprehension, verbal ability) (Bowman et al., 2020).
Bowman and colleagues (2021) compared test results on the AIQ to collegiate baseball hitting
and pitching performance, concluding that higher AIQ scores correlated with better athletic
performance. Furthermore, Bowman and colleagues (2020) analysed and compared the AIQ
scores of 147 NFL players when they were drafted to current their NFL performance, concluding
that athletes who had higher AIQ scores were also significantly higher in key football statistics
(e.g., rushing yards and receiving yards). These mentioned studies on the AIQ highlight the
validity and accuracy of the psychometric test in predicting the future performance of athletes.
Therefore, both the ACSI-28 and the AIQ are examples of how the suspicion during the 1990’s
and 2000’s regarding the predictive validity of past psychometric tests being used in sports led to
sports psychologists developing and advancing aptitude psychometric testing to be valid and
effective in predicting athlete performance.
Conclusion
Through extensive research this chapter highlighted and discussed the key movements of
sports psychology and sports psychometrics that led to the changed and advanced use of
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psychometric testing in sports today. Initially the sports psychology field from psychologists
being interested in the relationship between sports and psychology, using experimental studies to
explain this relationship. This period of the 1900’s to the 1940’s saw a push back from the
sporting field where they felt psychology had no part in sports. There was then a movement of
sports psychologists applying personality psychometrics to amateur sports in the hopes of
improving athlete performance. Despite psychometrics being implemented to improve athletic
performance this period of the 1950’s to 1970’s again saw the sport field reject the idea the
sports psychology and psychometrics have any part in sports. The key shift, where
psychometrics became utilized in sports was due to the movement of professional sport teams
becoming interested in using aptitude psychometrics to predict the future performance of
athletes and help select the best teams. This period of the 1970’s and 1980’s with the
introduction of the WPT and other aptitude psychometrics was the first time the general sporting
field accepted that psychology and psychometrics could benefit sports. The movement of
professional sports becoming interested in psychometrics led to plethora of psychometric data
that sports psychologist could use to assess the validity of past aptitude psychometrics in sports
by comparing psychometric results with athletic performance. This movement through the
1990’s and 2000’s of suspicion on the effectiveness of the psychometric testing in sports being
used at the time led to the development of more accurate sport specific psychometric tests like
the ACSI-28 and the AIQ. Therefore, this chapter clearly demonstrates that the movement of
professional sports being adopting aptitude psychometrics and shifting the use of psychometrics
from the amateur sporting environment resulted in the eventual changes and advanced sports
based psychometric testing that is used today.
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Literature Review: The Effectiveness of Psychometrics in Sport and Performance
Psychology as a Tool for Elite Athlete Talent Identification and Recruitment
Athlete talent identification includes first the recognition that an athlete is suited for a particular
sport and second that a coach selects an athlete for a team. In a traditional sense, and most
common today, professional athletes are selected based on anthropometric characteristics and
their physical athletic performance (Casolino et al., 2012). Whilst these are the traditional
methods, the use of psychological testing, specifically psychometrics may provide beneficial
information to recognize the most talented professional athletes. The following review will
provide insight into the importance of using psychometric testing to identify talented
professional athletes and the current shortcoming of its use now. Psychometrics is the process of
mental measurements with the aim to make them observable, ultimately attempting to measure
latent variables such as intelligence and personality (Anunciacao, 2018). Currently, within the
field of sports and performance psychology (SPP), the emphases is on how an athlete’s mental
state may impact their behavior in terms of health, performance, and wellbeing (Meredith et al.,
2018). Moreover, Meredith and colleagues (2018) explain that psychometrics is currently used in
SPP to measure how an athlete is feeling and measure how their athletic performance is
impacted. It is important to note that SPP is mainly employed to benefit professional athletes that
are already a part of a team and may be struggling in terms of performance and wellbeing. Sports
and performance psychology is already a well-established field, so this paper is not concerned
with the importance of SPP for athletic performance and the well-being of established athletes.
Instead, this paper aims to discuss the underdevelopment of psychometric testing in SPP when it
comes to recruiting athlete’s and athlete talent identification. This problem is crucial for coaches,
as using psychometrics during athlete pre-screening may provide important information into an
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elite athlete’s learning ability, how their personality will fit into the team and how the athlete’s
emotions may impact their performance. It is one thing to recruit an athlete based on their
physical attributes but being able to predict latent variables may help coaches and teams identify
if an elite athlete will succeed at a new club mentally and emotionally. Ultimately, applying
psychometrics to elite athlete recruitment may help professional sports teams select the best
athletes for psychological reasons as well.
The Benefits and Importance of Psychometric Testing in Athlete Talent Identification
The use of psychometric testing in elite athlete talent identification is a new movement in
SPP and as a result there is limited research that is largely dated, with the current literature
having mixed opinions on its effectiveness. Abbott and colleagues (2005) conducted an
extensive review article on the place of psychometrics in athlete talent detection in sports,
ultimately being in great support of it. The literature review explained that a range of
psychometric tools such as IQ tests are utilized by successful business when recruiting potential
employees. This non-sport example highlights a field where psychometric testing has been
shown to be effective in recruiting talented employees. Abbott and colleagues (2005) emphasize
that anthropometric characteristics are highly unpredictable in identifying elite athletes, as child
development can vary greatly, therefore meaning that a child identified to have talent based on
anthropometric characteristics may not be talented a few years later. In response to this the
review suggested a theory that psychological behaviours offer a more complete and less
unpredictable indication of talent. A more recent study by Ivarsson et al. (2020) researched the
effectiveness of psychometric testing in predicting future elite footballers’ performance. The
results indicated that psychological factors only had a small effect on predicting future
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
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performance, and that whilst they cannot be the sole reason for recruiting an athlete, it is
important to include psychometric testing in the recruitment and talent identification process.
Whilst this more recent study is not as definitive in its support of psychometric testing in elite
athlete talent identification as Abbott and colleagues (2005), it still provides strong support that
there is a place for psychometric testing in the recruitment and talent identification of
professional athletes. Moreover, a study by Kite et al. (2021) utilized questionnaires to
psychometrically measure the perceptions of managers, coaches and recruiting agents on what
attributes most contribute to elite athlete talent. The study was completed in two phases, the first
phase consisted of 30 participants offering their insight into what attributes are most akin to
talent and performance. The second phase consisted of 45 participants rating the most listed
attributes on a Likert scale to determine which attributes are the most important. The results of
the study concluded that psychological attributes are the most important contributor to talent and
performance of elite academy athletes. This study is crucial, as it provides evidence that
psychological attributes are important for elite athletes to have and therefore psychometric
testing may be useful in identifying important psychological attributes. The current literature is
scarce when looking at the direct impact of psychometric testing for elite athlete talent
identification however, these sources clearly highlight the importance of psychological attributes
for elite athletes and the positives of using psychometric testing in elite athlete recruitment and
talent identification.
The Limitations of Psychometric Testing in Athlete Talent Identification
In opposition to the effectiveness of psychometric testing in elite athlete recruitment and
talent identification is Anshel and Lidor (2012), who argue that psychometric testing used in
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19
talent identification in sports has poor predictive validity, and poor research methodologies and
statistical procedures. Firstly, this study disagreed with Abbott and colleagues’ (2005) notion that
anthropometric characteristics did not predict consistent and inconsistent performances. In direct
contrast, Anshel and Lidor (2012), highlighted those measures of motor ability and skill were
highly reliable in predicting athletic performance at an elite level. The study explains that
psychometrics are not beneficial in predicting athletic potential because of their poor predictive
validity. Extensive studies comparing the psychological factors of elite and non-elite athletes did
not find significant results to suggest that psychology may predict athletic performance (Anshel
& Lidor, 2012). Moreover, it was highlighted that SPP places an over emphasis on self-report
questionnaires that can lead to socially desirable responses. Furthermore, the results of the study
explain that SPP have poor research methodologies when attempting to show that psychometrics
may be useful in talent identification. These results are supported by Meredith and colleagues
(2018) who aimed to assess the development of psychometric measures that have been used by
the field of sports psychology between 1979 and 2013. This study used a coding system to
quantify whether a psychometric test used behavioural or non-behavioural measures and the
specific research design employed. After assessing 1377 studies, Meredith and colleagues (2018)
concluded that whilst there is some evidence that psychometrics may be useful in SPP most of
the psychometric testing used inventories that were not designed for elite athlete populations.
Moreover, Meredith and colleagues (2018) emphasized that SPP overuses self-report
questionnaires and that future research should focus on conducting a greater diversity of research
methods. Therefore, based on the work of Anshel and Lidor (2012) and Meredith and colleagues
(2018), there is evidence that psychometric testing is either ineffective or underdeveloped for the
use of talent identification and recruitment in sports. Based on the current literature, there are
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20
flaws regarding the use of psychometrics in sports recruiting and talent identification, however
with further research and accurate inventories it is possible that psychometrics may be beneficial
to the sports recruiting and talent identification processes.
Ineffectiveness of Psychometric Personality Tests in Predicting Sports Performance
How personality can impact an elite athlete’s performance has been widely researched,
with the current literature holding varying views on the importance of personality in predicting
an athlete’s performance. Gee and colleagues (2010) conducted a study that analysed the major
limitations of sports based psychometric measures of personality and then developed a normative
measure of personality and assessed how it may predict elite athletic performance. Gee and
colleagues (2010) explain that prior studies followed a descriptive and cross-sectional research
method, which resulted in highly varied results, meaning that generalizations necessary for talent
identification nearly impossible. Gee and colleagues (2010) analysed athletic performance
longitudinally in a homogenous sample, finding that psychometric tests of personality become
reliable and beneficial for talent identification processes. Anshel and Lidor (2012) disagree with
the findings from Gee and colleagues (2010), instead suggesting that personality tests are
extremely poor at predicting athletic success. Anshel and Lidor (2012) conducted an extensive
review of the current literature on personality tests predicting sports performance in elite athletes
and found that despite multiple psychological personality inventories attempting to predict sports
performance, there was no psychometric measure that could accurately predict sports
performance potential. Moreover, research by Ivarsson et al. (2020) found that psychometric
testing had a small effect on predicting elite athlete performance, however the study did find that
the studies being reviewed had biases that may suggest a limitation in the current use of
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
21
psychometric in elite athlete identification. Overall, psychological factors such as personality are
key aspects of who an individual is, and it stands to reason that this would impact an athlete’s
performance. Whilst the current literature has some positives, there are major limitations in the
research regarding the ineffectiveness of personality psychometrics and sports performance.
Further research must focus on eliminating study biases and increasing the predictive validity of
personality psychometrics before it can be reliably implemented in elite athlete talent
identification.
Conclusion
The current literature has mixed opinions on the effectiveness of psychometric testing for
elite athlete talent identification and recruitment. Currently, most talent identification is based on
an athlete’s anthropology and skill, with psychology taking a back seat. As is evident in the
literature discussed, there is evidence to suggest that talent identification based on anthropology
is unpredictable due to the rapid development that young athletes go through (Abbott et al.,
2005). In direct contrast, there is also evidence to show that the use of psychometrics in
predicting elite athletic potential is highly limited due to poor predictive validity (Anshel &
Lidor, 2012). Currently, there is clearly evidence suggesting that psychometric testing could be
useful for coaches in talent identification and recruitment, however the current psychometric
testing used by SPP is underdeveloped due to poor test validity and poor research methodologies.
It is crucial that future research focuses on developing psychometric methods that are SPP
specific to ensure accurate psychological predictions for talent identification. If this happens it is
possible that psychometric testing could be highly beneficial for coaches in the talent
identification and recruitment of elite athletes.
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Problem and Solution: The Effectiveness of Psychometrics in Sport and Performance
Psychology as a Tool for Elite Athlete Talent Identification and Recruitment
The following chapter aims to look at the key problem of using psychometric testing for elite
athlete talent identification and possible solutions to this problem. Traditionally, and currently
athlete talent identification is based completely on anthropometric characteristics and an athlete’s
past performances (Casolino et al., 2012). The potential addition of psychological factors as
predictors of future performance and athlete talent identification could add a new layer to
determining the psychological and mental capacity of an athlete to succeed. Whilst it may be
beneficial to use psychometrics in athlete talent identification, as stated in the previous chapter
there is currently a consensus in the literature that the used of psychometrics is inaccurate
(Anshel & Lidor, 2012; Meredith et al., 2018). The current problem that will be discussed in this
chapter is that sports specific psychometric testing is underdeveloped and used incorrectly,
leading to inaccuracies in using psychometric testing to identify talented athletes and predict
future performances. This problem is important as it may be hindering coaches and recruitment
agents from being able to utilize psychometric testing along with anthropometric and physical
skill assessment to best identify elite talented athletes. The aim of this chapter is to present a
solution that will allow coaches and recruitment agents to effectively utilize sport specific
psychometric testing to accurately identify elite talented athletes.
The Problem with Current Psychometrics as a Tool for Talent Identification
The current literature agrees that when psychometrics is applied to talent identification in
sports psychology it is lacking in validity and fidelity. Anshel and colleagues (2012) studied
effectiveness of using psychological measures for elite athlete talent identification. The article
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23
explains the flaws associated with using psychometrics in sports psychology, include measuring
psychological attributes that have a low fidelity with sports performance and using inventories
that are not designed for the target population, leading to poor predictive validity. Predictive
validity is defined as the ability of a measuring instrument to accurately predict performance
(Myers & Hansen, 2012). Anshel and colleagues (2012) highlight that there is a lack of
consistency in deciding the sample populations a particular psychometric inventory was intended
for, such as a collegiate athlete, an Olympic athlete, or a community level athlete. This short
coming has prevented current inventories from having sufficient external validity, as certain
psychometric tests such as personality tests are being used for populations that they were not
designed for (Anshel et al., 2012). Moreover, Bergkamp and colleagues (2019) studied
psychological measures in soccer talent identification. Like Anshel et al. (2012), this review
found that the predictive validity of psychometrics used by talent identification in athletes is poor
due to the predictor varying greatly from the criterion. Bergkamp and colleagues (2019)
explained that sports specific attributes like shooting a ball have a high fidelity for predicting
future performance, whilst attributes that are more general like intelligence and personality have
a low fidelity for predicting future performance. Therefore, this study highlights the problem that
psychological unobservable traits have low predictive validity. This means that until
psychological traits are more predictable, psychometrics will not be used effectively in sports
psychology for elite athlete talent identification.
An example of a psychometric test being applied to a population it was not intended for
and having low fidelity is the use of the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) in the National
Football League (NFL) (Hatch, 2008). Initially created for workforce hiring, the NFL is the only
sports league that uses the WPT, with studies having reported on the relationship between WPT
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
24
scores and NFL success and finding no significant relationship (Stanimirovic & Hanrahan,
2010). Kuzmits and Adams (2008) conducted a thorough correlational analysis study to better
understand the effectiveness of the WTP in predicting future performance and found no
correlation between higher test scores and better athletic performance. Moreover, Lyons and
colleagues (2009) compared the results of the WPT to the statistical playing data for NFL
athletes, concluding that there was no relationship between WPT scores and future NFL
performance. This example provides evidence that currently the sporting field is using
psychometric testing that is not intended for professional athlete populations and unless this
changes, the low predictive validity of psychometric testing in sports psychology will remain.
A Solution to Help Psychometrics become an effective Tool for Talent Identification
Based on the problem and current literature there is a need to review the predictive
validity of current psychometric tests used in professional sports and replace them with
standardised psychometric assessments that are specific to elite sporting populations. To solve
this problem, a two-stage solution is proposed that involves identifying key psychological sports
performance indicators to increase attribute fidelity and using these indicators to help develop
valid psychometric testing for sports psychology.
The first step is to identify key psychological attributes that have high fidelity with
professional sports and as such may specifically predict future elite sports performance.
Currently the psychometric testing being used in talent identification has low fidelity for
predicting future performance, such as testing intelligence and personality traits which have not
been shown to relate to athlete performance (Bergkamp et al., 2019). By identifying key
psychological attributes that relate to elite sport performance, psychometrics can be utilized more
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
25
effectively to test attributes that have a high predictive validity for future elite sports
performance. This is supported by Kite and colleagues (2021) who concluded that in talent
identification psychological attributes are the most important indicator of talent and future
performance, with attitude being the most important psychological attribute. Moreover,
Mustafovic and colleagues (2020) express the importance of multivariate talent identification
processes, where psychological indicators like emotional intelligence, motivation and decision
making are measured alongside anthropometric and skill-based indicators. Therefore, further
suggesting the importance of including psychometric tests in elite athlete talent identification to
increase the prediction validity of the talent identification process. Furthermore, a study by
Dimundo and colleagues (2021) agreed with Mustafovic et al. (2020) in implementing a
multivariate talent identification process, and highlighted that the psychological characteristics of
commitment, self-regulation, resilience, growth mind-set, and being proactive were crucial for
predicting future performance. These studies offer suggestions for some of the key psychological
attributes that could be included in future psychometric testing to make them specific for elite
sport related talent identification.
Building on from the first step, the second step is to abandon the use of psychometric
tests that were designed for non-sport populations and to use the identified sports related
psychological attributes to develop psychometric tests that are designed for elite athlete
populations. This will increase predictive validity as the tests will be measuring key
psychological factors that are associated with sports, instead of applying non-sports related
psychometric tests to sports populations. By developing psychometric testing with high fidelity
for predicting future performance, talent identification programs will be able to utilize
psychometric testing effectively. As mentioned earlier, the WPT is a good measure of
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
26
intelligence for traditional employment settings but was not designed for sports populations and
as such has low fidelity and low predictive validity for future performance (Lyons et al., 2009).
The NFL should invest in psychometric testing that is designed for professional sports
populations to ensure strong predictive validity of future performance. Lyons and colleagues
(2009) explain that future research should focus on the predictive validity of psychometric
instruments that look at other psychological factors specific to sport, not just general intelligence
tests like the WPT. With this example in mind, by developing and utilizing psychometric tests
that look at psychological factors that have been shown to have high fidelity to sport
performance such as attitude, determination, and resilience (Kite et al., 2021; Lyons et al., 2009;
Mustafovic et al., 2020) they may have stronger validity for predicting future performance.
Similarly in soccer, studies have shown the importance of key psychological characteristics in
predicting future elite soccer performance (Kite et al., 2021). However, Kite and colleagues
(2021) highlights that psychometrics is currently being used to measure psychological
components that have low fidelity for predicting soccer performance, such as general intellect
and personality tests that are not designed for athlete (soccer) populations. Therefore, by
developing psychometric tests that have high fidelity of predicting soccer performance these tests
will be able to predict future soccer performance accurately and effectively, serving as useful
tools in elite athlete talent identification (Bergkamp et al., 2019).
Conclusion
Currently the majority of elite athlete talent identification is based on anthropometric and
physical skill assessment as these methods have a high fidelity with sports performance and as
such have a high validity for predicting future performance. Psychometrics can be and is
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
27
incorporated into elite athlete talent identification to measure unobservable psychological
attributes. However, it is currently being used sparingly and ineffectively by measuring attributes
that have a low fidelity to sports performance and a low validity for predicting future
performance. By identifying key psychological attributes that research shows have a high fidelity
to sports performance and then developing psychometric tests that measure these attributes in
elite athlete populations this may increase the validity of psychometric tests predicting future
sports performance. If this is the case then elite athlete talent identification programs will be able
to incorporate psychometric assessments with anthropometric and physical skill assessments to
gain a more wholistic insight into how a potential elite athlete will perform in the future, and thus
decide on whether that athlete will fit into an elite athletic squad or program.
�Chapter 4 redacted to remove personal reflections and any identifying information.
�PSYCHOMETRICS IN SPORTS
31
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�
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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The Application of Psychometric Testing in Sport and Performance Psychology
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The following thesis paper aimed to review and analyze the application of psychometric testing in sport and performance psychology. This thesis takes an in-depth look at the past literature surrounding the field of sports psychology and the various application of psychometric testing in sports to determine current problems in the field and propose a solution. Chapter one reviews the history of psychometric testing in sports, proposing that the application of psychometric testing in sports has changed and advanced in parallel with its use shifting from an amateur sporting environment to a professional sporting environment. Chapter two reviews the importance of using psychometric testing as a tool for elite athlete talent identification and the current short comings of its use. Chapter three suggests the issue with the current use of psychometric testing in elite athlete talent identification programs is the lack of validity and fidelity. Moreover, chapter three also proposes a solution to this problem, by identifying key psychological sports performance indicators and using these indicators to develop new psychometric testing. Finally, chapter four serves as a reflection on how the previous chapters relate to each other and relate to clinical psychology and sports coaching field placements.
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The Almost Forgotten Feminism of the Italian Renaisance:
A Look at Poets, Playwrights, and Prostitutes
Ava LaGressa
HI490: Senior Thesis
Dr. Smith
December 14, 2022
�LaGressa 1
During the sixteenth-century, feminist ideas flourished. The main factor of this trend was
the Italian Renaissance. The Renaissance was an incubator for new ideas, as a result, society
became more open to different voices in art; and women’s voices entered the intellectual sphere.
The Renaissance opened a door for women to establish themselves in intellectual society.
Through this trend, women created and produced art through their wealth, creativity, and
individualization. Examples of these women include Veronica Franco, Moderata Fonte, and
Isabella Andreini. This paper will delve into feminist writing during the sixteenth-century and
investigate the notions of societal female equality shared by Renaissance women.
The term Renaissance Feminism has been defined in many ways by historians in the
field; one of the best interpretations of Renaissance Feminism looks at feminism through three
different lenses. The first form of Renaissance Feminism is “Explicit Feminism,” a critique of
male supremacy. Explicit feminists believed that a womens place in society did not correspond
with natural law. Explicit feminism explores the idea of female community and articulates the
woman’s desire to have a public voice and platform.1 The second form of Renaissance feminism
is “Celebratory Feminism,” which places an emphasis on female scholars and their status as
such. This feminism strengthened the thought that women could be seen as intelectuals.2 Finally,
“Particapatory Feminism,” notes that women who complete the same authorial work as men shall
be regarded as equal in matters of the mind. Whether or not the woman addresses this fact does
not change the reality, which is that she is equal. This type of feminism challenges judo-christian
misogyny.3 These models of the feminist argument provide clear definitions of what categories of
feminism existed during the sixteenth-century.
1
Sarah Gwyneth, Ross. The Birth of Feminism: Woman as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and
England. Harvard University Press (2009), 132.
2
Ross, Feminism,132.
3
Ross, Feminism,132.
�LaGressa 2
Renaissance feminism was born in the home, successful females benefited from their
families legitimacy. This domestic paradigm was a major contributor that made room for female
voices; specifically during a period of extreme male dominance in the fields of literary, artistic,
and musical exchange.4 Once female voices entered the sphere, their messages were spread and
eventually, critiques of literary misogyny and the patriarchal system began to follow. This led to
a more active call for female participation in male dominated fields. The continued praise of
female participation ultimately proved that the literary world was listening, which prompted a
growth of female literacy.5
It is important to note the role of patrons in the career of writers. All Renaissance writers
published work with the aid of their patron who would supply funds. This was true for not only
female writers, but male writers as well. But does this devalue the work of the authors?
The role of patrons does not devalue the work of authors. Yes, writers were given
opportunities because of their patrons. In the case of female writers, the patron may have been
their father or husband, in other cases, a sexual partner or mentor.6 This is true for all three of the
Renaissance women I will be studying: Veronica Franco, Isabella Andreini, and Moderata Fonte.
Veronica Franco entered the intellectual sector of society after meeting her patron and client
Domenico Venier.7 Moderata Fonte made a name for herself through the collective effort of her
grandfather Prospero Saraceni and family friend Niccolo Doglioni.8 Isabella Andreini
exemplified a new range of possibilities for literary women but was able to do so with the help of
4
Ross, Feminism, 133.
Ross, Feminism, 133.
6
Ross, Feminism, 133.
7
Margaret, T. Rosenthal. The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in
Sixteenth-Century Venice. University of Chicago Press (1993), 5.
8
Ross, Feminism, 195.
5
�LaGressa 3
her husband Francessco Andreini.9 Without their patrons, these women would not have been
heard during their time, and they may not have been discovered today. It is imperative to note
that all writers needed patrons to support their work, regardless of gender.
Women of the Renaissance should not have their work, effort, or status as feminists
diminished because they were supported by men.10 These women used men as a stepping stool of
opportunity, and the men believed in them. These feminist writers were feminist because of what
they wrote. Regardless of their male patrons, the work they produced were acts of feminism. And
men can also be feminist, these patrons serve as an example of that; otherwise, why would they
have supported womens work? The men had faith in their writers, they understood the value of
the writers work.
When an opportunity presented itself to spread a message of equality, these women were
not going to ignore it. And in every single case, the men were close relatives and friends of the
females. Therefore, the women were taking the chance they received to further their literary
careers. And within their work they were able to spread messages of equality. Their work
popularized ideas of female equality in education and politics, which in turn spread support for
the cause among willing readers. Readers who were educated in literacy were able to consume
this information, and possibly became inspired by it. If a feminist sentiment is spread in order to
create support, then the author must be a feminist.11
Female writers used the power of their pen to shed light on their unequal treatment in
everyday life. One of the main issues women faced was the perception of their intelligence by
men; which was often negative. The Pre-Renaissance Period looked different for both men and
9
Ross, Feminism, 212.
Ross, Feminism, 314
11
Ross, Feminism, 314.
10
�LaGressa 4
women when it came to education. Men were often educated and women were not. However,
elite class women proved to have more opportunities than lower class women when obtaining
education. In fact, they were more than able to attain an education which put them on an
intellectually equal level with men. Therefore, the education of women depended heavily on
their social status; and their status was contingent upon either their families or husbands wealth
and popularity.12
Social class was a large factor in the everyday lives of Italian citizens. Peasant women
worked with their husbands typically in farm work, later they would return home and take care
of their children and the household. If they were the wife or daughter of a middle-class merchant,
they would have assisted their husband within the business and taken care of their children and
home. Upper class Renaissance women had a better chance at receiving an education. Upper
class Renaissance women had two career choices; marriage or become a nun.13
One of the females studied in this paper chose neither of these options. Instead, she
became a courtesan; which was not necessarily a career option however, it was a role that existed
in society. A courtesan is a modern day prostitute. Courtesans would perform sexual favors on
men for money. Typically these men would be wealthy enough to pay for such acts. These
women were not necessarily highly respected for their work. They were especially not respected
by the church and by wives of men who spent nights with courtesans. This career was a way to
avoid a life of devotion to a man; the men being both God and a husband. It is important to note
however that most women who had the option of becoming courtesans were upper class women.
If they chose not to, they would likely be married off or sent to the nunnery.
12
Virginia, Cox. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. London, I.B. Tauris, (2015), 167.
Virginia, Cox. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. London, I.B. Tauris, (2015), 172.
13
�LaGressa 5
In the Renaissance Period, marriages were far from the idea of love. They explicitly dealt
with personal matters of family prosperity, loyalty, alliances, and civic institutional support.
marriages were a form of currency and diplomatic exchange. Marriages reflected order and
influence on society in each class; and only certain women could marry certain men within their
social class. Typically, the young woman would be a child below the age of 20 and the man
would be older around his 30s. The couple would be paired based on age in order to ensure the
virginity of the young lady; of course, the man’s virginity did not matter. A match would be
identified by a broker or influential family member who had connections to the groom’s family.14
But, before a woman could be married off she must present a dowry to her groom.
A dowry was a sum of value placed on a marriage. A dowry consisted of goods such as
clothing, jewelry, property, and money. And families who wished to elevate their status would
pay large dowries in order to marry their daughter off to a wealthy groom. Dowries were a
substantial investment and if a family could not pay one then their bride could not be married
off.15
Traditionally, one woman from a family would be able to marry; if she had sisters, they
would likely become nuns but this was not always the desired choice. One young woman per
family could reasonably be married off, otherwise it would be too expensive. Most, if not all
families would not be able to afford another marriage dowry. This is because the dowry
depended on the wealth of the bride’s family. If the family wished to gain mobility, they would
pay a large dowry to a groom of higher status. No woman would marry into a significantly less
wealthier family, the ultimate goal was to marry richer. The richer the suitor, the more expensive
the dowry would be. However, it is important to note that in order for a woman to become a nun,
14
Virginia, Cox. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. London, I.B. Tauris, (2015), 178.
Virginia, Cox. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. London, I.B. Tauris, (2015), 179.
15
�LaGressa 6
a dowry would also be paid. This dowry would be significantly less expensive than a marriage
dowry. Traditionally, socially upward families would use this strategy.16
Veronica Franco
Veronica Franco was the most famous Venetian courtesan in history. Franco’s family
could not afford a respectable marriage dowry and she refused to join the nunnery, therefore, she
became a courtesan. Franco born in 1546 Venice lived a very illustrious life as both a poet and
courtesan.17 Franco was born into a prestigious family with a venetian coat of arms; because of
her family’s nativeborn status they belonged to the professional caste that made up the
government bureaucracy in Venice. Her parents were Paola Fracassa and Francessco Franco.
Franco was the only daughter of her parents and was married to Paolo Panizza, although, not
soon after, she separated from him. Franco birthed six children from all different men with only
three children surviving beyond their infancy.18
Due to the circumstances Franco was born into, her intellectual life began at a young age.
She was very fortunate compared to the other women of the time. She shared her brothers
education by being present for their private tutor sessions.19 She continued her education in her
later life by attending literary gatherings of writers and painters. In the late 1560s Franco began
her life as the Cortigiana Onesta.20 She began to provide men with physical favors in exchange
for money; this is when her career as a poet flourished.
As a courtesan Franco captured the interest of Domenico Venier, head of the most
renowned literary academy in Venice.21 Venier was a well respected poet; and one of Franco’s
16
Virginia, Cox. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. London, I.B. Tauris, (2015), 182.
Edited by Margaret F. Rosenthal and Ann Rosalind Jones. “Veronica Franco” in Poems and
Selected Letters. University of Chicago Press (1998), 2.
18
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 2.
19
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 4.
20
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 3. Translation: Honest Courtesan
21
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 7.
17
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clients. Franco often visited him at his private library. Venire would later become Franco’s
reader, protector, and patron; after which, her work began to be published. By Franco’s mid
twenties she was requesting to publish her sonnets that commemorated men of the Venetian
elite.22 Nine of her sonnets were published in a volume named Rime di diversi eccellentissimi
autori nella morte dell’illustre sign; she was also selected to edit this work. In the same year,
Franco published her own volume of poetry, Terze Rime.23
Franco took her opportunity as a courtesan and wrote about the situation of courtesans as
well as everyday women. Franco wrote about women not only in her work but also in her private
life. She spoke of practical economic concerns for a woman like herself in her two wills.24 A
common practice for women in the Renaissance was creating wills when they became pregnant.
This was done in order to provide for their family in the possibility of death during childbirth.
Franco left two wills, the first in 1564 when she was 18 years old. This was the first time that she
was pregnant. In this will she left money for a dowry for her child if her child were a girl. She
also left money to her female servants, and two poor unmarried Venetian women eligible for a
charitable donation through her will.25 Her second will was completed in 1570 and showed
similar concern. In this will she left money for the marriages of two other Venetian women.26 She
wanted to assist other women who were not fortunate enough to have a dowry and who would
ultimately lead lives as nuns or worse.
Franco was very open about her career as a courtesan in her poetry. And this is because
people knew her for being a courtesan meretrice sumptuosa. A courtesan meretrice sumptuosa
22
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 7.
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 5. Translation: Rhymes of various excellent authors in
the death of illustriousness and Third Rhymes.
24
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 4.
25
“Veronica Franco” in her will. University of Southern California, Dana and David
Dornsife,College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (2013), will 1.
26
“Veronica Franco” in her will, will 2.
23
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was a way of calling her a dirty prostitute. Therefore she had nothing to hide in her work. She
celebrated her sexual enterprise rather than being ashamed by it.
Through her work, Franco challenges masculine discourses. She often directed her poems
to particular men whom she requested responses from. An example of this is her work Capitolo
16. In this poem, Franco directly responds to a man who challenges her. Franco mainly defends
herself against insults penned by Maffio Venire. Yes, Venire as in Domenico Venier, Franco’s
patron; Maffio was the nephew of Domenico.
“And blade in hand, I learned warrior skills, so that, by handling weapons, I learned that women
by nature are no less agile than men. So devoting all my efforts to arms, I see myself now, thanks to heaven,
at the point where I no longer fear harm from anyone…when we women, too, have weapons in training, we
will be able to prove to all men that we have hands and feet and hearts like yours; and though we may be
tender and delicate, some men who are delicate also are strong, and some, coarse and rough, are
cowards.27”
Franco was not afraid to challenge men through her poetry and work. She challenged
traditional masculine ideas of strength and knowledge. She valued herself and other women
higher than most men. She understood that women and men could be on the same level. In fact,
she states that if men and women were given the same amount of opportunity, then they would
be regarded as equals. She challenged men who challenged her. She told her challengers that
women are no less agile than men in matters of the mind.28 She knew that on an intellectual level
she was more capable than a men; and she was not afraid to let this be known.
Franco stated that she would pick up her weapon and she would strike it down upon any
enemy.29 Her weapon was her pen and she would use it through writing. She boasted her
intelligence and stated that she could write in multiple dialects of Italian. She goes so far as to
27
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 163.
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 166-7.
29
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 166-7.
28
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say that her competitor could choose the dialect they write in. For she would be equally happy
with them all, because she learned the dialects for the purpose of dueling intellectually with a
man.30 She was confident that she would win in a joust of words not only because of her
education but because of her character and truth as a woman.
Franco’s confidence in dueling male poets was something never before seen during the
Renaissance Period. No female poet had ever challenged a male in such a public way. It was a
true medieval duel, except instead of swords and blood the knights/writers used pens and ink.
Franco’s ability to ascend into upward nobility through her career as a courtesan is unlike any
trajectory seen from the time period. Franco was able to propel her career as a poet through her
career as a courtesan. She made a name for herself and was able to accrue enough money to
support herself without a husband or father present in her adult life.
She served as an inspiration to other women although she did not always want other
women to follow in her footsteps. When friends reached out to her for guidance in beginning
their daughter’s career as a courtesan, Franco warned them against the unpleasantries of the
job.31 In a letter to her friend she stated “Although it is mainly a question of your daughter’s
well-being, I’m talking about you, for her ruin cannot be separated from yours… if she should
become a prostitute, you would become her go-between and deserve the hardest punishment.”32
She put women before men and she was open about her feelings about this during her lifetime.
So much so that later in her life she began to receive a lot of hate. Which would allegedly
attribute to her near death experience with the Venetian Inquisition in 1580.
30
Rosenthal and Jones, Poems and Letters, 166-7.
ARTH 470. “Franco and the Women of Venice.” University of Mary Washington, (2008).
https://venice.umwblogs.org/exhibit/veronica-franco-courtesans-and-venuses/franco-and-the-wo
men-of-venice/.
32
ARTH 470. “Franco and the Women of Venice.”
31
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Franco, accused of practicing magical incantations was pardoned after providing her
own defense against these accusations.33 After living a long life of 45 years Franco died
impoverished after the plague and the trial took all her monetary worth from her. But, Franco
lives in time as the wealthiest woman of the Renaissance in regards to her historical significance.
Her mere existence as a courtesan who served as an example to others at a time where women
were regarded as less than, proved to be true act of feminism that is still relevant today.
Moderata Fonte
Moderata Fonte, also known as Modeste Pozzo, was an Italian writer of the
sixteenth-century. Fonte, another Venetian citizen, was born to a family of elite professional
class. Her family was wealthy and privileged but her parents passed away of the plague a year
after her birth in 1555.34 Fonte’s situation is quite unique; her possessions and money were
subject to a lengthy court process following her parents death. Due to this, her marriage was
delayed well into her twenties; because she did not have a proper dowry. Fonte went on to live
with her grandparents.35
While women did not have access to formal education Fonte, similar to Franco, received
education through home tutors. Her step grandfather was a present force in her life that
encouraged reading and writing; which would later inspire her career as a writer. Fonte’s career
took off in her early twenties when she began to live with her uncle Niccolò Doglioni; Doglioni
became her guardian and he was also married to her childhood friend Saracena. Doglioni was
well connected with the literary elite of Venice and pushed for Fonte to publish her work.36
33
Marylin, Migel. Veronica Franco in Dialogue. University of Toronto Press, 2022.
Virginia, Cox. Biography of “Moderata Fonte (1555-1592).”University of Chicago Library,
2004. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/IWW/BIOS/A0016.html.
35
Cox, Biography of “Moderata Fonte.”
36
Cox, Biography of “Moderata Fonte.”
34
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Her work would be well received by many, so much so that her dialogues were performed
for the Venetian Doge. Fonte, like the two other women studied in this paper, authored volumes
of verse dedicated to kings and Venetian noblemen.37 These types of works were very important
for writers to produce at the time because it would earn them respect.
After gaining respect as a writer Fonte became most known for her publication: The
Worth of Women. Her writing soley centered on the role of male dominance over women in
society. When The Worth of Women focused on the life of women rather than commemorating
the life of the man.
The Worth of Women is a fictional dialogue between seven Venetian noblewomen that
takes place over the course of two days.38 Though fictional, this may have been a discussion that
took place in real life during the time. On the first day, the seven women debate whether men are
good or bad. They discuss the dignity of women and the traditional job and role women had in
society. On the second day, the women review their general knowledge of natural history and
culture. They relate this back to their discussion on the sexes. In The Single Self by Virginia
Cox, the author focuses on the female arguments made by Moderata Fonte; she specifically
narrows in on Fonte’s emphasis on women challenging their role in society. Rather than arguing
that a woman is better than or equal to a man Fonte focused on the empowerment of Renaissance
females.39 Cox believes that this was extremely clever. She states “a significant indicator of this
seriousness is the fact that unlike previous ‘defenders of women’…(Fonte) dictate[s] some of
[her] energy to contemplating ways in which women might rouse themselves from their ‘long
37
Cox, Biography of “Moderata Fonte.”
Virginia, Cox. “The Single Self: Feminist Thought and the Marriage Market in Early Modern
Venice.” Renaissance Quarterly 48, no. 3, 1995, 514.
39
Cox, “Single Self,” 516.
38
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sleep’ and use their energies to free themselves from their dependence on men.”40 Cox indicates
that the tone behind Fonte’s ideas suggest that she should be taken seriously. Fonte was
genuinely and openly criticizing male supremacy.41
Fonte conveys thoughts of an armed female uprising through her character Lenora. Again
while fictional, these were thoughts that Fonte and other women may have had during the time.
Her more realistic aspirations centered on improved educational and public life participation
opportunities.42 Furthermore, Moderata Fonte’s use of character development in the second part
of her book reinforces the idea that women are and could be intellectually equal to a man.43 In
the second part of the book the women have discussions on topics such as geography,
meteorology, politics, law, and medicine. Not only was Fonte conveying female intelligence
through her characters but, she was vicariously showing the readers that she had knowledge on
these areas. Cox states, “the ‘official’ theme of the second day’s discussions… was the question
of whether and by what means men could be persuaded to abandon their misogynist views.”44
This was an extremely controversial dialogue to put in a work that would inevitably be read by
thousands during the time. Especially due to the fact that Fonte had made a name for herself
before releasing The Worth of Women. Nonetheless, she did so without holding back.
It is more than clear that Fonte’s work directly opposed the traditional values of society.
In fact, it was an open challenge; the very name The Worth of Women proves this point. Fonte
essentially stated that women are worth more than society believed them to be; this is especially
on the intellectual level. In Fonte’s work she writes about things that she learned in a modern
40
Cox, “Single Self,” 521.
Cox, “Single Self,” 526.
42
Cox, “Single Self,” 520.
43
Cox, “Single Self,” 525.
44
Cox, “Single Self,” 524.
41
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education, such as politics and medicine. These are the topics that she may have learned as or
been inspired to learn from her home tutors and step grandfather as a child. Fonte used herself as
an example through the voices of her characters in her pastoral drama. Ultimately, Fonte held the
knowledge that she wrote into her female characters. This drama would inspire those that were
able to read it. Her play exemplified her life experiences and showed other women that it was not
normal for women to be considered less than. It placed emphasis on the female education and
mind; it displayed the true worth of women.
Isabella Andreini
In Italy during the late sixteenth-century, the genre of pastoral dramas began to become
increasingly popular. Additionally, during this time professional theater took up roots on the
stage, in the amphitheater, and in the streets. Women began to act on the stage rather than men
acting out female roles. This helped advance theater as more and more people became devout
followers, mostly because there were females on the stage. Females empowered and enabled the
expansion of the theater. And with the introduction of women to theater, came Commedia
dell’Arte which focused around romantic plot points between two characters, the innamorati.
These innamorati scenes drew heavily from the Petrarchan model. The pastoral theater drama
drew inspiration from Commedia dell'Arte and pastoral writing. It emerged from poetry that
idealized nature and rural life. Pastoral dramas put an emphasis on romanticizing the lives of
country folk. Isabella Andreini, the first feminist we are taking a look at in this paper,
revolutionized the pastoral drama during her time.
Isabella Andreini was born in Padua to Venetian parents in 1562. Andreini became very
well known for her work as a Commedia dell’Arte actress.45 Andreini was extremely famous for
45
Ilana, Walder-Biesanz. “Writing Pastoral Drama as a Woman and an Actor: Isabella Andreini’s
Mirtilla.” Italian Studies 71, no. 1, 2016, 49.
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her work as an actress and writer. She published two major works in her lifetime and her patron
helped publish two final works after her death in 1604. Her first and most famous work was
Mirtilla, 1588. In this work Isabella used her first-hand experience as an actress to rewrite the
traditional pastoral play Aminta by Torquato Tasso with a feminist twist. She inverted and
satirized a standard patriarchal work into her own. The second work she became known for was
Rime, 1601.46 Published over 10 years later in 1601 Rime reflected ideas in both Mirtilla and in
Andreini’s life. In this work Andreini demonstrated her awareness of literacy and the dramatic
process.
In the same year Andreini noted in a letter to a friend that she had begun a third literary
project; a collection of letters. The work would not be released until three years after her death in
1607. The piece was called Lettere di Isabella Andreini padovana comica gelosa, and although
the name alludes to a collection of “letters,” it was a collection of monologues. The work was
published under Andreini’s name by her husband and patron Francesco Andreini.
A final project would be released in 1620, again with the assistance of Francesco
Andreini; although this time, Andreini did not prepare for the piece to be published. Instead, it
was released by Flaminio Scala in order to commemorate her life’s work.47 The literature was a
collection of dialogues that Isabella had created after her experience in the Commedia dell’Arte
theater space. It was titled Fragment di alcune scritture della signora Isabella Andreini comica
gelosa e accademia intenta.48
It is important to note that all of Andreini’s works centered around the thing she loved
most: theater. Each of them incorporated her experiences as an actress in Commedia dell'Arte.
And most of them were satirized versions of Commedia dell'Arte which was a play form that
46
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 51.
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 51.
48
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 52.
47
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ironically served as a comedy. The traditional list of Commedia dell'Arte characters includes the
innamorati. The Innamorati are the two main characters in love. One of the most notable uses of
the innamorati are Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Andreini took these
traditional characters and turned them on their heads. Andreini would expertly display how these
classic stylized compositions of love and relationships focus on the man rather than the woman.
She showed how the woman was an object of the man’s desire.49 Andreini was able to show this
stylistically by having two characters, a male and female, played by one person. This was a style
that Andreini herself was famous for on her own; as one of the skills her most notable acting
skills was adopting a hermaphroditic stage presence.50 And by doing this, she became popular for
her work not just as an actress, but as a writer.
Part of what distinguishes Andreini from the other female playwrights of her time was
how popular she was when her first play came out. Her performances were seemingly unlike any
other. While men enjoyed watching women in the theater, they often regarded actresses as less
than. But, Andreini was able to gain the respect of many; so much so that her first play La
Mirtilla, sold out rather quickly. The play was re-printed nine times, issued in both Paris and
Italy for a two and a half decade period.51
The plot of La Mirtilla is rather complicated but that was the point of pastoral dramas.
The play centers around love entanglement. A man named Igilio is in love with Filli and Filli
loves Uranio who is also loved by Mirtilla but, Uranio is in love with Ardelia and Ardelia wants
49
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 54.
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 54.
51
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 56.
50
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to love no one. By the end, a man named Tirsi falls in love with Mirtilla, Igilio wins the love of
Filli, and Uranio gains the love of Ardelia; all through threats of suicide of course.52
The feminist ideas shine through in Andreini’s reflection scene. This scene centers
around Ardelia, it aims to inspire the audience by holding up a mirror to the character; this is
why it is the reflection scene.53 Whereas in the original drama this character fails to self-reflect,
in Andreini’s version, she successfully does so. In the height of the dramatic love entanglement
Andreini’s character Ardelia finds out she is the romantic victim of her own reflection.54
Andreini undermines the purity of the Petrarchan model by shifting the traditional view of the
audience from the male gaze into a much more poetic understanding of the character.55 And
although this does not fully eliminate the male gaze from the character Ardelia, it essentially
satirizes the excesses of it. Andreini takes her character Ardelia and allows her to speak for
herself during the reflection scene. She draws on classical models of knowing one’s self and
echoes lines of metamorphosis.56 Ardelia states “spero che si come ho rinnovato, di narciso
infelice il crudo scempio, così a guisa di lui debba fortuna, dar fine al mio dolor con la mia
morte.57” This self-awareness shows the audience that Ardelia sees what the audience sees. She
understands the mockery of it all; and what the audience would have been laughing at during the
52
Edited by Valeria Finucci and Julia Kisacky. Isabella Andreini: Mirtilla, A Pastoral. Iter Press,
2018.
53
Alexia, Ferracuti. “Reflections of Isabella: Hermaphroditic Mirroring in Mirtilla and Giovan
Battista Andreini’s Amor nello specchio.” Escholarship.org
https://escholarship.org/content/qt4br8n5zs/qt4br8n5zs_noSplash_e8a8b6555e28afe23d041f8dc
dff90bb.pdf?t=ntbubx.
54
Finucci and Kisacky. Mirtilla, Scene 4, The Nymph Ardelia.
55
Walder-Biesanz, “Writing Pastoral Drama,” 56.
56
Finucci and Kisacky. Mirtilla, Scene 4, The Nymph Ardelia.
57
Finucci and Kisacky. Mirtilla. Scene 4, The Nymph Ardelia 2601-4, 212-213. Translated: I
hope that just as I have renewed the cruel havoc of an unhappy narcissus, so, like him, fortune
should end my pain with my death.
�LaGressa 17
entire play. It even adds a note of tragedy to her life because the play becomes more serious as a
result of this reflection.
So what exactly makes Isabella Andreini a feminist? How does her work as a playwright
an actress attribute to proto-feminism during the Renaissance Period? Andreini’s rewriting of
traditional play styles like Commedia dell’Arte and the pastoral drama creates a new level of
satire theater. She helped raise the professionalism of female actresses as well as aiding the
transition of presentational and representational styles of theater. Not only this but, Andreini was
already famous when she published her first play La Mirtilla; as stated, she was well known for
her acting. She pushed the boundaries of what a woman was able to do in the theater while also
remaining well respected in her community. This was because she successfully filled her societal
gender roles. She was a woman who fulfilled her motherly and wifely duties in the home and
maintained a perfect reputation. And with this, she could on stage transgress most acceptable
forms of femininity. She played with gender, she crossed lines, she pushed the envelope and she
did more so than any other woman during her time. Andreini revolutionized the theater by
changing theater gender expectations of her time. She blazed a valuable future for female
playwrights and actresses to come.
So much so, that her work was published even after her death; and by men nonetheless.
Her work that challenged the male gaze and Petrarchan ideas was published by men after her
death. They chose to posthumously honor her because they knew how innovative her work was.
This displays how Andreini was able to successfully make a name for herself and create a new
platform for women in the theater space.
Franco, Fonte, and Andreini each made waves in their own ways during their time.
Franco, born in Venice built a life on the wealth she accumulated in her career as a courtesan.
�LaGressa 18
She used her career as the cortigiana onesta to advance her writing in Venetian society. Through
her role as a courtesan, she met her patron Domenico Venier who helped her grow her career as a
poet. She was well respected and well known for her talents as a courtesan. So much so that King
Henry III chose her to bed. Once the plague hit Venice, the church took a much larger role. The
Inquisition accused Franco of witchcraft. This was a front, they had believed prostitutes like
Franco, angered God which caused him to send the plague. They argued that Franco was a witch
because she bewitched so many men, especially married ones. Although Franco survived her
trial, it took her money and reputation. While her life comes to an unfortunate end, one can not
help but be inspired by her story. Franco put other women before men, even though she had sex
with men all the time. It is interesting because she ultimately benefited from the relationships she
had with men as a result of her job. She used being a courtesan to her advantage. Not only did
she make money bedding men but she made a name for herself, and met her patron through
being a prostitute. And while all of this is true, she also warned others about the courtesan
lifestyle, she knew it was not a sufficient way to live. Ultimately, she wanted to change the world
so that courtesanship would not have to be the best option that young women had to live
independently.
Moderata Fonte expertly defined the worth of women in her play The Worth of Women.
Ironically, women were not worth much in society. However, what Fonte displays in her work is
that women were worth so much because of their dowries. She made others question why
dowries were so expensive, especially if women were not worth much in society. It made people
reflect on the worth of women, which of course forced them to understand that women were
worth a lot. In fact, they were worth just as much as men; not only metaphorically but
intellectually. Fonte rightfully held up a mirror to society and said “look.”
�LaGressa 19
Finally, Isabella Andreini liberated women in the field of acting. She set new precedents
in the career. She used gender and sex as a way to make change; and she did this by playing both
men and women on stage. She used her talent as an actress to bring hermaphroditic characters
played by women to the acting world. Not only that but she used her popularity as a well
established and respected woman to her advantage when she published her first play Mirtilla.
Mirtilla would also serve to change the world of theater. This is because it brought a level of self
awareness to a comedic play structure, one where the woman would often be depicted as
clueless. This new level of consciousness proved to pull back the curtain on the traditional
understanding of women in society. It showed that women were in fact not clueless, they were
not simply searching for love, and they could be as intelligent as men.
Each of these womens publishing’s were a testament to the thoughts of Italian women
during the Renaissance. A great portion of females were thinking like Franco, Fonte, and
Andreini. Female liberation was at the forefront of society, even feminist men were getting on
board with the thought. These women were the pioneers of feminism in Italy. They wrote the
blueprints for females to come. Without these women, society would not have advanced as much
as it did, although, it is a shame that female liberation did not occur sooner.
For centuries, women have been separated from education and from one another in order
to discourage connectedness. These writings were a way for women to communicate; and the
three women in this paper were all alive for a certain amount of years at the same time. Veronica
Franco 1546 to 1591, Moderata Fonte 1555 to 1592, and Isabella Andreini 1562 to 1604. These
women were living amongst each other for 29 years. However, the chance that they knew or read
each other’s work is low. Franco’s poetry was released in the mid 1570s and early 1580s,
Andreini’s was released in the late 1580s, and Fonte’s most famous work was published in 1600
�LaGressa 20
after two of their deaths. Although I would love to imagine a world where Franco and Fonte
attended a performance of Andreini, I am a realist and I understand that the likelihood of this is
little to none. There are certainly no surviving accounts of this happening. However, I can not
help but think to myself: what if these women were releasing work at the same time? It would
most certainly serve as a form of communication between them. In fact their writing may have
gotten even more “radical” as they played off each other’s ideas. Now I pose the question, if
these three women sat down together in a room, what conversations would they have had?
If these women were in a room together there would be an incredible flow of ideas and
imaginative visions of a utopian society. The society of course would be one where women were
regarded as equal to men. I imagine that their conversations would have mirrored those described
in The Worth of Women. These conversations could have been an explosion of feminist ideals.
Both Franco and Andreini have sexual undertones in their work. Franco played off of her
role as a courtesan in her writing. She did not hide this part of her life from her readers, she
embraced it. And Andreini’s performances were very sexual as female actresses were often
thought of as sexual beings. Therefore, I imagine sexually liberating discussions from these two
women. They would have certainly talked about sex and dominance; especially the power that
can come along with sex and the sexual being.
Moderata Fonte and Veronica Franco both had sufficient childhood educations and both
resided in Venice. This is not to say that Andreini was not of their caliber, but, I believe the two
women would have connected on this front and begun to discuss topics in literature, science, and
the humanities. Perhaps they would have discussed the piloted ideas of the scientific revolution
which began in 1543.
�LaGressa 21
Andreini and Fonte may have talked about mens hostility towards women. This is
specifically because both of their famous works focus on the relationships between men and
women; especially the love and hate between the two.
Ultimately, together, the three women would have discussed the way in which women
could make advancements in society to be considered equal to men. Again, their conversations
may have mirrored ideas in The Worth of Women. They may have discussed their ambitious
individual work and how they sought to elevate the status of women to that of men; of course
these ideas were presented through their writing. They would have argued amongst themselves
that women had the same innate abilities as men, especially when similarly educated; Fonte and
Franco could have attested to this. And one example of women being equal to men were the
cases of widows. From this point the women would discuss dowries.
Dowries implied that women were a burden, so much so that a man would be paid to
marry a woman. However, this opened the door for women to reclaim this wealth in the case of
death. If a woman’s husband and father both passed, then she would be the sole owner of her
dowry. In this case, the woman would be in charge of her own life as she had jurisdiction over
her money and property. The women would have discussed this idea and how it could lead to
females becoming more aware of their societal worth. I believe that Fonte, Franco, and Andreini
would have played upon this and used it as a tool to educate other women about how powerful
they could be in society. If widows were able to claim this power, then the average woman could
as well.
Marriage in general was a practice that focused on eliminating all moves for female
equality. Marriage was, in its basic form, a transfer of property between a woman’s father and
husband. The biggest issue is that women did not have much of a choice Franco, Fonte, and
�LaGressa 22
Andreini knew this and would have examined the role of marriage and work in female lives.
They would have argued for more choices for women especially when it came to work. They
would have focused their efforts for equality on social and educational equality. And my reason
for believing so is because neither of them brought this up in their work. Instead however, they
focused on the social equality of women and their arguments centered around education. If
women were as intelligent as men then why were they not equal? Why were they powerless in
choosing their destiny?
While, women were seemingly powerless, they had one extremely powerful tool: their
voices; and these women knew how to use their voices to ignite feminism in others. This is
something that they would have collectively understood and respected about one another.
Therefore, they may have strategically found ways to do this together. Perhaps they would have
joined forces to create a collection of letters, poems, or dialogues which would have been
published. If this were the case women from all over Italy would have seen it and possibly acted
upon it. For all we know there could have been a feminist uprising in the late sixteenth-century
that had everything to do with these three powerful women getting together. This is exactly what
men were afraid of and why they took such great lengths to isolate women from one another.
Because, if women were able to have these intellectually stimulating conversations with each
other, then the world would have looked much different. Gender equality would have been
achieved considerably sooner than it was; and in the same breath I will say that women are still
fighting for equality today.
If these women were able to congregate and have intellectual discussions in a room
together, they would have more than likely been able to ignite a feminine uprising. It is without a
doubt that female liberation would have been achieved sooner. These three women are more
�LaGressa 23
alike than not, and this can be said about most women during the Italian Renaissance; mostly
because they shared one thing in common: suppression. The strive to equality was a large goal to
reach but it ignited a passion within and together, these women would have been unstoppable at
reaching such a goal.
Ultimately, the path to equality is a constant struggle. So much so that women are still
feeling the effects today. And it is no secret that women are as capable and in some cases
superior to men. So why is it that equality is still a goal being strived for not only in Italy but all
over the globe? It is our history that often defines us; so let these women serve as an example of
what was and let their writing serve as an example of what should be. They held the torch that lit
the way for women to come. This is a constant struggle but a struggle nonetheless; and they
would be proud to see the strides made today. But, women will not stop fighting for equality
until equality is achieved. Therefore, we must use women like Veronica Franco, Moderata Fonte,
and Isabella Andreini as examples of women who stood up against oppression in a time where
women were not supposed to stand; and we as women must be inspired to blaze a new trail
ourselves.
�LaGressa 24
Bibliography
ARTH 470 (college class). “Franco and the Women of Venice.” University of Mary Washington,
(2008).
https://venice.umwblogs.org/exhibit/veronica-franco-courtesans-and-venuses/franco-and-the-wo
men-of-venice/.
Benson, Pamela Joseph. The Invention of the Renaissance Woman: The Challenge of Female
Independence in the Literature and Thought of Italy and England. Pennsylvania State University
Press, 1992.
Brizio, Elena and Piana, Marco. Idealizing Women in the Italian Renaissance. Victoria
University, University of Toronto, 2022.
Cox, Virginia. A Short History of the Italian Renaissance. London, I.B. Tauris, 2015.
Cox, Virginia. Biography of “Moderata Fonte (1555-1592).” University of Chicago Library,
2004. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/IWW/BIOS/A0016.html.
Cox, Virginia. The Prodigious Muse: Women's Writing in Counter-Reformation Italy. Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2011.
Cox, Virginia. The Single Self: Feminist Thought and the Marriage Market in Early Modern
Venice. Renaissance Quarterly 48, no. 3, 1995. 513–81. https://doi.org/10.2307/2862873.
Cox, Virginia. Women's Writing in Italy, 1400-1650. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
Finucci, Valeria and Kisacky, Julia. Isabella Andreini: Mirtilla, A Pastoral. Iter Press, 2018.
Franco, Veronica. Will 1 and 2. University of Southern California, Dana and David Dornsife,
College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, 2013.
Garrard, Mary D. “Here’s Looking at Me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman
Artist.” Renaissance Quarterly 47, no. 3, 1994. 556–622. https://doi.org/10.2307/2863021.
Gordon, Bonnie. “Talking Back: The Female Voice in ‘Il Ballo Delle Ingrate.” Cambridge Opera
Journal 11, no. 1, 1999. http://www.jstor.org/stable/823768.
Kaborycha, Lisa. A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375-1650.
Oxford University Press, 2016.
�LaGressa 25
MacNeil, Anne. Selected poems of Isabella Andreini. The Scarecrow Press Inc. 2005.
Migel, Marylin. Veronica Franco in Dialogue. University of Toronto Press, 2022.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctv2hvfjjs.
Ray, Meredith. Writing gender: In Women’s Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance.
University of Toronto press, 2009.
Rosenthal, Margaret F., The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in
Sixteenth-Century Venice. University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Rosenthal, Margaret F. and Ann, Rosalind Jones. “Veronica Franco”Poems and Selected Letters
(the Other Voice in Early Modern Europe). University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Ross, Sarah Gwyneth. The Birth of Feminism: Woman as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and
England. Harvard University Press, 2009.
https://ezproxy.wagner.edu:2462/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat03980a&AN=ebr.EBC3300796
&site=eds-live.
Viglionese, Paschal. Italian Writers of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. McFarland &
Company, Inc. 1998.
Wojciehowski, Dolora Chapelle. “Veronica Franco vs. Maffio Venier: Sex, Death, and Poetry in
Cinquecento Venice.” Italica 83, no. ¾, 2006. 367–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27669097
�
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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The Almost Forgotten Feminism of the Italian Renaisance: A Look at Poets, Playwrights, and Prostitutes
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Ava LaGressa
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Dr. Alison Smith
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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Moriah Sottile
Victoria Tabacco
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Texting while Driving and its Effects on the South Shore community in SI,NY
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Lorrie DeSena/Tina Marie Petrizzo-Hughes
Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing
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Taking Strides to Decrease Depression in Adolescents in The South Bronx With
Intramural Sports
Kimberly Fetto WC-NS, Ashley LaGrange WC-NS, Courtney Hughes WC-NS
Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing, Wagner College
INTRODUCTION
• Adolescent depression is a widespread problem that can easily go unrecognized.
• Without resources in communities, children may begin to struggle with their mental
health, leaving them at risk of declining and having mental disorders go undiagnosed.
• Undiagnosed depression puts adolescents at risk for future health problems and even
worse, this can lead to suicide.
• The community we focused on is the Bronx, N.Y. Currently, data shows that the
Bronx has the highest rate of depression in the adolescent population, ranging from
ages ten to nineteen years old.
• Evidence has shown some of the reasons contributing to depression is the low
economic status of the Bronx which leads to a lack of resources and undiagnosed
depression [5].
• Our proposed program encourages exercise and sports participation as a solution to
decrease depression in adolescence.
PROBLEM WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
the adolescent population. In order to make a difference and improve the overall well-being,
• ‘Mental health services in low-middle income countries face many challenges such as
it is vital to incorporate physical activities into our everyday routine. With the use of the
culture based resistance to mental health, financial and human resource limitations, and
happy and healthy program, this will result in elevated self-esteem, improved social skills,
lack of robust health care delivery systems’” [1]
and most importantly better mental health. It is important to prevent further mental health
• This relates to the poor community of the Bronx, which could explain why they have
damage and suicide by addressing depression in adolescents early. Although there are
the highest depression rate in adolescents of New York City.
economic boundaries in the Bronx, this should not stop adolescents from making
• The low-middle income areas, such as the South Bronx, put adolescents at a great risk
interpersonal relationships within free sports teams and physical activity. The Bronx should
for not being able to seek or attain mental health, letting depression increasingly
take into consideration that the lack of resources has a negative impact on the community,
become worse.
but it is never too late to improve the overall mental health.
• Low income areas have the option of discontinuing sports programs in schools due to
their insufficient funds for these programs.
• Funding for afterschool programs was cut in 2012, causing anger and anxieties for
PROPOSED SOLUTION
many families who can’t afford to stay at home to make sure their children do their
homework or are safe. [6]
• A principle states, “In a community like mine, where there’s a lot of poverty and gang
violence, we want to keep the children with us as long as we can. The extended learning
time assisted us in doing that.” in response to cutting the after school hours. [10]
• Therefore when a community has low economics it may prohibit them from having
enjoyable opportunities such as sports and activities that could ultimately bring children
COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS
• Being that the Bronx is ranked low in economic standings, it has caused depression to rise in
happiness.
• We feel our proposed solution “Happy and Healthy Program” will help decrease
depression with increased activity. This intramural activity program is free and all
volunteered based. Considering that the Bronx is ranked the lowest in all areas of the
annual rankings done by the county health committee, it is critical that parents
encourage their children to get involved in this program.
• It is supported by evidence that increasing activity will decrease the risk of depression,
with that being said, getting adolescents involved will decrease the depression rate in
the Bronx dramatically. [4]
• This program is meant to be an entertaining, stress free, and a noncompetitive time for
• The Bronx is the only borough in New York with a Hispanic majority population [9].
• The Bronx is listed as “the worst place in New York to live for ‘quality of life’, with 28
percent of the Bronx residents reporting having only poor or fair health” [8].
• In 2015, the South Bronx school district was interviewed by the NY Daily News in regard to
their schools and resources or lack of, in this instance. The article’s analysis also touches on
adolescents to gain team skills and grow as individuals. The atmosphere will be laid
back, allowing the participants to come out of their comfort zones and to exceed their
own expectations. Being involved in sports can have an effect on mood, self-esteem,
cognitive functioning and decline depression. [4]
REFERENCES
1.
Behaviors in Low and Middle Income Countries. Community Mental Health Journal. 2019Mar;55(6):954–72.
• Activity is essential for this age group to not only reduce the risk of depression but
2.
the fact that there seems to be no high performing schools in the surrounding area to begin
attendance rate is among the city's lowest” [3].
• County Health Rankings listed the Bronx's last in perceived health against 62 other
communities in New York. Factors included in the ranking were high school graduation
rates, obesity, mental health, and accessibility to healthy foods, etc [8].
this reason, activity is an exceptional way to prevent it before it is too late. [4]
4.
• PAL is a Police Athletic League that has been used throughout all of New York. It is an
Penedo FJ, Dahn JR. Exercise and well-being: A review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity [Internet]. Northwestern Scholars.
Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; [cited 2020Mar13]. Available from:
https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/exercise-and-well-being-a-review-of-mental-and-physical-health-be
organized sports and recreation league for the youth of New York City that organizes
5.
Physical Activity and Mental Health of New York City ... [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2020Mar13]. Available from:
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief111.pdf
and facilitates leagues, tournaments, and special events for young people who want to
6.
• PAL seems to have a high impact on young adolescents and was designed to improve
This Is the Most Unhealthy Community in NY . Edward, J.; 2017. Available from:
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/unhealthy-worst-health-county-health-ranking-new-york-bronx-417448013.html.
9.
the mental and physical health of the young population. With this league’s contribution
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Bronx County (Bronx Borough), New York [Internet]. Census Bureau QuickFacts. [cited 2020Mar13]. Available from:
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bronxcountybronxboroughnewyork/PST045218
10.
could have a great impact on the South Bronx youth. [7]
Sports and Recreation [Internet]. Police Athletic League, Inc. [cited 2020Apr15]. Available from:
https://www.palnyc.org/sports-and-recreation?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItsiQ9rPp6AIVCJ6fCh1KKQ9OEAAYAiAAEgK96vD_BwE
discipline, leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship. [7]
to our program with the funding and staff we will need, we feel our intramural sports
Shapiro J. City Cuts Funding to Nearly 200 After-School Programs [Internet]. DNAinfo New York. DNAinfo New York; 2012 [cited 2020Mar11]. Available from:
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120430/lower-east-side/city-cuts-funding-nearly-200-after-school-programs/#ixzz1tYzWxmUR
engage in positive youth development activities and reinforce the concepts of
8.
everyday life.
Parents in South Bronx school district, NYC's worst, struggle to find promising options. Ryley, S., Badia, E.,Otis, G.A., & McShane, L.; 2018. Available from:
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/failing-south-bronx-schools-affected-student-life-home-article-1.2150189.
7.
• The Bronx is the largest part of New York that has depression intertwined into their
Knight J. Sports & Recreation [Internet]. The Palm Beach Post. The Palm Beach Post; 2018 [cited 2020Mar13]. Available from:
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/local/sports-recreation/XMUsBx5Eu7EgOeGZYKtiJL/
reduce obesity and drug or alcohol abuse as well. Depression is a crucial matter and for
3.
with. In the South Bronx, “one in ten students are homeless, and the average school
Davaasambuu S, Phillip H, Ravindran A, Szatmari P. A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Interventions for Adolescents with Depression and Suicide Related
Zimmerman A. As NYC plans to shorten the day at some struggling schools, the principal union pushes back [Internet]. Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat; 2019 [cited 2020Mar11].
Available from: https://chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2019/04/29/renewal-school-extended-school-day-cuts/
�
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Title
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Senior Presentations Archive
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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2017 -
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
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Fetto, Kimberly<br />LaGrange, Ashley<br />Hughes, Courtney
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5/1/2020
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Taking Strides to Decrease Depression in Adolescents in The South Bronx With Intramural Sports
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Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing
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text
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application/pdf
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1 page
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eng
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U.S. and international copyright laws may protect this work. It is provided by Wagner College for scholarly or research purposes only. Commercial use or distribution is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Nursing
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Olsen, 1
Jillian Olsen
Wagner College
December 2022
Success or Failure? Women’s Integration into the United States Military Academy at West Point.
�Olsen, 2
The United States Military Academy at West Point is America’s oldest standing military
Academy. Since its foundation in 1802, West Point has been providing officers for the United
States Army. Though American soldiers would first occupy this base on January 27th, 1778, it
would take almost 25 years for West Point to be established as the north’s most prestigious
military college. 217 graduates during the Civil War would serve for the Union army, while 146
men would be generals for the Confederate army during this time. West Point has an extremely
long list of notable alumni, including Robert E. Lee, graduate of the class of 1829, William
Tecumseh Sherman, graduate of 1840, and Ulysses S. Grant, graduate of the class of 1843. It is
obvious that there are no women in that list of notable graduates before 1976. Military
Academies in the United States did not allow women into their colleges until President Gerald
Ford signed Public Law 94-106 allowing women to be admitted into previously male-only
military colleges. This thesis aims to explore the experiences of women entering the United
States Military Academy at West Point for the first time in 1976, and seeing the social changes
that have occurred since.
Public Law 94-106 states that “a), the Secretaries of the military departments shall, under
the direction of the Secretary of Defense, continue to exercise the authority granted them in
chapters 403, 603 and 903 of title 10, United States Code, but such authority must be exercised
within a program providing for the orderly and expeditious admission of women to the
academies, consistent with the needs of the services, with the implementation of such program
upon enactment of this Act.” 1 Gerald Ford signing this law on October 7th, 1975 would allow
women to join the military academies in the United States the following academic year, starting
in the summer of 1976. According to West Point’s Superintendent Lieutenant General Sidney B.
Berry, this integration is “the most significant change in the 173-year history of the United States
1
Public law 94-106, (October 7, 1975)
�Olsen, 3
Military Academy.” 2 The signing of this law is just the beginning for the journey of women at
the military academies within the United States.
When I began my research into this topic, I truly believed that this story would be
focused on the terrible things that these pioneer women went through. These women officers are
ground-breaking as they are the first to assume the nontraditional roles of West Point cadet and
officer.3 From harassment to hazing, the women of the first graduating integrated classes were
nothing but easy. But still with this, the women who survived the 4 years at the military academy
at West Point are positive about their experience and understand that they were the first women
to go through these things in order for other women to have a more pleasant experience. Sharon
Disher, a female graduate in the first integrated class of 1980, expresses her commitment to the
academy. “It pains me every time I see a newspaper headline defaming the Naval Academy. It is
not my intent to inflict more pain. I write this book to document history. The events depicted in
this book took place nearly thirty years ago. If the issues seem too fresh or the events appear too
similar to modern-day occurrences, then it is time to stop repeating them.”4 Writing a book to
express her experiences, Disher feels as though she must tell the truth about her experiences, but
that people should not do so in a way that defames the academy, but rather shows a growth in
gender acceptance and that the academies will continue to grow as there is more inclusivity
placed into the military.
Not only did my research lead to me finding mainly positive experiences, I also learned
that although women have been at the United States Military Academy at West Point for over 40
Feron, James. “Integrated West Point Prepares for First Women Cadets.” The New York Times.
(September 22, 1975)
3
Yoder, Janice D.; Adams, Jerome “A Report on Women West Point Graduates Assuming
Nontraditional Roles.” Midwestern Psychological Association (May 1984)
4
Disher, Sharon H. “First Class : Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy.” New York:
Naval Institute Press. (2013)
2
�Olsen, 4
years, they are still an understudied group.5 Leslie Lewis’s study also addresses the lack of
literature on women and leadership development at the United States Military Academy. 6 A large
question that altered my research in Leslie Ann Lewis’s study of women at West Point is as
follows: How do women develop their leader identities as members of a minoritized group in a
male-dominated culture when experiencing different levels of misogyny, sexism, sexual
harassment, and sexual assault? 7 Not only does this question strike me regarding women’s
abilities to lead, but also the idea of women being a minority. “Of all the minority groups seeking
equal rights, however, women are expected to create the most dramatic changes at the academy
next year,” says James Feron.8 While women have attended West Point and the other United
States military service academies since 1976, there is little published scholarly research on the
lived experiences of these women and even less on their leadership development. No one has
asked West Point women how they define leadership or how their West Point experiences have
informed their leadership development.9 According to Marene Allison, “the black males always
felt like they didn't belong, and it was only after the females showed up did they feel like they
weren't the lowest class at West Point.”10 This proves women as a minority group at West Point.
West Point's success stems from a rigorous program that combines academics, athletics,
and military training in an extremely regimented schedule for the future military leaders.
Athletics bring an extremely positive atmosphere onto the campus of West Point. Academics are
crucial in order to breed future leaders of our country, and significantly enough, West Point was
Lewis, Leslie Ann, “West Point Women’s Views on Leadership: Perceptions From First Women
Graduates Through Current Cadets,” Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education. (Dec
29, 2020). ii
6
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 21
7
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 8
8
Feron, “Integrated West Point,”
9
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 303
10
O’Connor, Brandon. “Forty years have passed since the first women graduated from West
Point in the Class of 1980.” Army.mil, (May 27, 2020)
5
�Olsen, 5
the only engineering college until 1824. This led most of the United State’s railways, roads, and
bridges to be created by graduates of West Point. The graduates of the United States Military
Academy at West Point are the nation’s top military leaders, with no regard to gender.
West Point was designed for men, by men, and for its first 176 years of existence, it was
kept that way. In the summer of 1976, women were allowed to enter the military academy as
cadets for the first time in history. 62 of the 119 women of the first admitted class would stay for
the full four years and graduate. Not only did these 62 women complete their four years- being
held to the same standards as the men, they also did it while enduring sexism, misogyny, and
hate from faculty, other male cadets, and the outside world. Even with these odds against them,
at all three military academies, including the Air Force academy, women and men performed
equally in academic studies in the first years.11 Even with their environment telling them to stop,
these 62 women in the class of 1980 persisted.
The initial introduction of women to all of these academies were instrumental in the
movement to equal rights in the military. Before this, women may have been seen as
instrumental to the war effort, solely as being good partners for their husbands. Women were
solely people to watch over the home while their husbands were able to serve in the military
freely. A military family meant the men were in the military, not the women. A typical woman
born into a military family would be a well-mannered daughter who would turn into some
military mans’ housewife early on in her life. This way of life changed when women were
integrated into these military academies and during wartime. Before WWI, women served
primarily as civilian nurses, cooks, laundresses, clerical workers, or military hospital
administrators.12 Women like Pat Locke took a different route. Locke was enlisted in the United
No Author, “How Women are Faring At West Point and Annapolis.” The New York Times.
(September 11, 1977)
12
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 56
11
�Olsen, 6
States army and employed as a communications specialist in a signal battalion at 17 years old to
escape her hometown of Detroit and when stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, she was given the
opportunity to attend West Point in the first class, in which she did and Locke thrived.13 Locke
was able to fit in having military experience and an understanding of discipline. In order to fit in,
the women tended to adopt traditional masculine qualities in order to win acceptance.14
Since these military academies were still very prestigious, the women being admitted
were women from high-status military families. The women of the Class of 1980 were twice as
likely to come from military families as the men (36% of women vs. 18% of the men).15 These
women who were part of the first year of admittees faced every piece of discrimination one could
think of. Facing discrimination from many areas including their uniforms and their medical
needs, this first class of women were pioneers for the following women to this day to attend the
academies freely. After 4 years of having women at the academy, as previously stated, 62
women graduated from West Point. In Annapolis in the same year of 1980, 55 women graduated
from the Naval Academy. These women, once destined to be housewives, were becoming
Second Lieutenants in the United States Army or Ensigns in the United States Navy.
The same experiences were happening down at the Naval Academy in Annapolis,
Maryland. The Naval Academy was founded in 1845, being another military academy where
future United States military leaders were trained. The Naval Academy, located in Annapolis,
Maryland, is perfectly located on the Chesapeake river with access to the Atlantic Ocean. With
public law 94-106 being put into military schools, the Naval Academy would also integrate their
college to allow women at the Academy. The Naval Academy had the same experience as West
O’Connor, “Forty years,”
Associated Press, “Impact of Female Cadets Assessed by West Point.” The New York Times.
(October 10, 1979)
15
Durning, Kathleen P. “Women at the Naval Academy: AN ATTITUDE SURVEY.” Navy
Personnel Research and Development Center. (Summer 1978) 574
13
14
�Olsen, 7
Point, having their first graduating class in 1980, 4 years after the law was signed in 1976. To
compare the two academies, the United States Military Academy is a larger institution than the
Naval Academy.
In order to help with my understanding of West Point, it is interesting and important to
look into the experiences of women at the Naval Academy. On July 6th, 1976, for the first time
in the history of the U.S. Naval Academy, 81 female plebes were sworn in as midshipmen
alongside 1,217 male classmates.16 Historian Michael Gelfand has done crucial scholarly
research on the problems of these women and what is being explored in this thesis, but his focus
being the Naval Academy. Though different academies with different futures for their graduates,
the social acceptances of women would be very similar.
On May 28th, 1980, the first female Midshipmen graduated from the Naval Academy. Of
the 947 graduates that day, 55 were women.17 According to Michael Gelfand, author of Sea
Change at Annapolis: The United States Naval Academy, 1949-2000, women’s acceptance into
the Brigade of Midshipmen was a significant step in getting females into combat and, therefore,
helped them to fulfill their roles and responsibilities as American citizens. 18 This is interesting in
understanding the personal and scholarly opinions of Gelfand in regards to women being allowed
in combat. Legally, navy women must be treated differently from navy men. Title 10 of the U.S.
Code, Section 6015, states that women "may not be assigned to duty in aircraft that are engaged
in combat missions nor may they be assigned to duty on vessels of the Navy other than hospital
ships and transports."19 This restriction had an immediate impact on women midshipmen in the
Disher, Sharon, “Women CAN Fight.” U.S. Naval Institute, (September 2006)
Gelfand, Michael. “Sea Change at Annapolis: The United States Naval Academy, 1949-2000.”
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. (2006) chapter 5
18
Gelfand, “Sea Change,” chapter 5
19
Durning, “Women at the,” 570
16
17
�Olsen, 8
summer of 1976, in that they could not embark on orientation cruises and flights without being
"required to take leave, wear civilian clothes, and be the guest of a male Navy member."20
As for the first women and their experiences, they were very similar to West Point.
Women were looked down upon, and there was even a regimental commander who would order
men to treat the women “as if they were his daughters.”21 Though this commander may have
intended for the male midshipmen to respect their female classmates, it can be interpreted by
each individual male, and could very well put these women on a lower level then the men.
In regards to sexual assault, for the first graudating class at the Naval Academy,
administrators only noted five sexual misconduct cases, all of which involved alcohol.22 An
unbelievably low statistic, this proves the drive to cover up or not notice any form of sexism
against these newly admitted women to overlook any problems that would make the Academy
look bad. This may also stem from women not wanting to speak out. Anonymous interviews
with eight women who graduated between 1988 and 1993 reveal experiences similar to those of
previous female graduates. As for sexual harrassment, all of the women remembered repeated
comments from male midshipmen about their weight, attractiveness, supposed sexual
promiscuity, intelligence, and their being out of place in a man’s environment.23 Graduate of the
class of 1982, Brig. General Cindy Jebb, now the Dean of the Academic Board at West Point
says that “I think it’s safe to say we were probably all sexually harassed.”24 As hard as it is to
speak on these topics and potentially traumatizing experiences, it is crucial to allow historians to
understand the journeys of these first female midshipmen through the Naval Academy.
Durning, “Women at the,” 570
Gelfand, “Sea Change,” chapter 6
22
Gelfand, “Sea Change,” chapter 6
23
Gelfand, “Sea Change,” chapter 7
24
O’Connor, Brandon. “The Army is Changing: Current Female Cadets Will Enter the Army
with More Career Options Than Ever.” Army.mil (June 10, 2020)
20
21
�Olsen, 9
One must compare the experiences of women at both the United States Military Academy
and the United States Naval Academy in the beginning years of integration at these academies
from 1976-1984 in order to understand the experience of women today, whether that be
successful or full of failure. This period of time which includes the experiences of the first
female cadets is crucial for understanding how women were treated and if they stayed at their
respective academies. At West Point the dropout rate for females in the class of 1980 was 31
percent and 22 percent at the Naval Academy. In each case, that was about 10 percent higher
than the dropout rate for men.25 This percentage, for the first class of women when West Point
was not prepared, is a smaller percentage than I expected.
My research is driven by the question of if women to this day are still overlooked in the
military as there are still questions of allowing women into combat and other male-dominated
roles in the military. The women in the class of 1980 are the original basis of my research when
bringing light to the challenges and opportunities these women faced.
These women faced struggles in their day to day lives. These women were ready to be
introduced into the military academies, but the academies and their faculty and other cadets were
not. The women were placed into dorms that were not adjusted to housing women. The dorms
had more urinals than toilets, which is not beneficial to the women. Men cadets sabotaged
women’s rooms, damaged their uniforms, and hazed women cadets not just because they had
done something wrong, but simply because they were women.26 The female-specific uniforms
alone caused controversy. A wardrobe malfunction on the first day caused several broken
zippers.27 These small mishaps proved the unpreparedness of the academy.
“How Women are,”
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 72
27
Schloesser, Kelly. “Hard-Earned Respect: The first women of West Point.” Army.mil,
(November 2010)
25
26
�Olsen, 10
Women also had very little representation at these academies upon their first arrivals.
Very little to no staff members were female and the men who led these academies were
uneducated on the needs of women, let alone women in the military. These women endured
struggles with their uniforms. Uniforms malfunctioned or didn’t fit right as the academy adjusted
to a new population, and West Point was led by a superintendent, Lt. Gen. Sidney B. Berry, who
originally resisted the arrival of females.28 They would not fit their body types, or even be too
feminine looking to sexualize the women. In regards to sexualizing the women, these cadets
faced sexual harassment. Though it is rarely spoken about, the women who entered these
academies were sometimes sexually harassed and even sometimes sexually assaulted. On the
lowest level, women would face sexual discrimination from not only their classmates, but
educators and faculty. This enforced title IX to come into effect at these schools. Title IX, created
in 1972, protects everyone in the United States from sexual discrimination in any school or
program which receives funding from the United States federal government.29
In order to expand on the difficulties women faced when being allowed to attend the
United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy, the rhetoric of
newspapers and public articles from this time period, which had both negative and positive
rhetoric, are crucial to understanding public opinion. The importance of the words that people
who have the power to affect the opinions of the local communities sometimes goes unnoticed. If
one person has the ability to monopolize a community of people and force their beliefs on a
controversial decision, their beliefs will be the most widespread. When women were being
introduced to the communities in Annapolis and West Point, the way undecided people inside
and outside of the academy viewed them was up to the people who were covering it in the news.
28
29
O’Connor, “Forty years,”
Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972 (1972)
�Olsen, 11
These undecided people have the power to speak on such a unique experience such as being a
cadet at West Point, and it can be detrimental to the viewpoints of community members.
Rhetoric and the words one chooses to use when speaking about women joining these
military academies have a crucial impact on the way the women will get treated during their time
at the academy. Journalists hold such power not only in regards to my research, but we see this
even today with the power of information being said in the news. When a community relies on
information from one source or from just looking at the news, not doing personal research
themselves, this causes a monopoly in regards to controlling that community’s opinions. The
integration of women into the academies had been characterized as one of the most controversial
issues surrounding women in the military in the 1970s.30 Topics as controversial as allowing
women into military colleges are also very hard to do personal research on, especially during the
times of the events, so people are bound to believe the opinions in the sources handed to them.
A perfect example of this occurs in a New York Times article published on April 17th,
1977, still during the first academic year of women being at the Academy. This article begins by
saying that “officials have concluded, for example, that women from the Deep South are poor
prospects.” 31 This type of language towards a group of women that could be potential success
stories at the academy, are automatically disregarded by the community as unnamed officials are
poorly representing women due to where they come from.
Not only does this article written by James Feron have negative connotations, it also
blatantly tries to convince its readers that women do not belong at the Academy. “They have also
learned that few, if any, of the female recruits had a realistic idea of the grueling physical and
Jones, Paul L. “Naval Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities. Report to the Chairman,
Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate.” United States General Accounting Office. (April
1993) 13
31
Feron, James.“West Point Will Revise Its Policies On Finding and Training of Women.” The
New York Times. (April 17, 1977)
30
�Olsen, 12
mental stress they would encounter. Copies of newspaper articles describing this are now being
sent to applicants.”32 This speaks on the idea that potential future female cadets are being scared
out of coming to the academy, telling unsuccessful stories of women. The extremely negative
language is shocking. “Running, a major element of the first summer of training, will be
conducted in categories according to skill, to de‐emphasize the women's poor performances.”33
The disrespect to the pioneer women of the class of 1980 in this article is exponential. This
article becomes even more convincing to the readers of its time when Feron interviews a woman,
not specified if she was a cadet or not, and she explains how “It's not stuff girls are used to.”34
The comments about women being too emotional are so crucial in the fight to keep women out
of West Point. “The biggest difference is that the women take negative evaluation more
personally,”35 says Major Howard T. Prince. The article also acknowledges the disrespect
towards the current female cadets as when a woman conducted a formation, “the corps of cadets
burst into laughter.”36 This is when the article becomes blatantly anti-women at West Point.
Someone who wants women to succeed would never publish an embarrassing account that a
female cadet experienced without denouncing this behavior, especially when the female cadet's
name was published. One of the most astonishing statements made in this degrading article is
when Feron says that “The inability of women to fulfill physical standards set by the men can be
traced to their different upbringing.”37 Feron tries to convince his readers that women will never
belong, and that it's due to their homelife, in which they are raised by a woman. Not only are
they incapable, but they are set back because of “weak grips as with underdeveloped arms and
Feron, “West Point Will,”
Feron, “West Point Will,”
34
Feron, “West Point Will,”
35
Feron, “West Point Will,”
36
Feron, “West Point Will,”
37
Feron, “West Point Will,”
32
33
�Olsen, 13
shoulders. Dr, Peterson said.”38 Something that strikes me is also the way Feron tries to depict
women as clueless. Feron says that a female cadet told him that she never ran until she got to the
Academy, and that she was suffering shin splints because of it. This rhetoric is so detrimental to
women gaining respect, equality, or equity.
Another example of this detrimental rhetoric is an article published by the New York
Times on June 4th, 1995. The title is “Woman Ranks First in West Point Class.” Though this title
may sound uplifting and pro-women, the article is a total of 7 sentences long for such a high
achievement for women. For the first time in the United States Military Academy's 193-year
history, a woman was named valedictorian of the graduating class.39 Not only is this such an
amazing accomplishment, but this woman, Second Lieutenant Rebecca E. Marier, would lead the
988 members of her class for the first time as a woman. Rhetoric makes such a large impact on
the community, and the fact that this article is only 7 sentences long is disrespectful and shows
that the writer, who is not named, put minimal effort into such a high achievement.
Rhetoric and ideas pushed into newspapers are effective and typically the widely
accepted viewpoint. The opposition included most of the male administration, faculty, and staff
and male cadets at West Point. Most of West Point’s all-male alumni also vehemently opposed
admitting women.40 The local community, who are not involved in the actual day to day military
experience, did not fully accept this change, while head officials like the Naval Acamemy’s
Superintendent William P. Mack believed that women would add much more to the academy, as
they could do what a man can do, and even more. Another example of this positive rhetoric is a
quote from Colonel Ripley while receiving the second highest award a Marine can receive for
Feron, “West Point Will,”
Associated Press. “Woman Ranks First In West Point Class” The New York Times. (June 4,
1995)
40
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 65
38
39
�Olsen, 14
valor in combat. "No way this country could accomplish its role and mission without women.
Those who deny that today hold a fossilized view of the academies. They've earned the doggone
right to be there."41 This type of response to a question of whether or not women belong in the
military sparks hope for women across the country. A small percentage of administrators were
pro-integration of women, but powerful leaders in these academies like William P. Mack are
crucial to women gaining respect, representation, and influence.
Not only can the rhetoric discourage women from making this incredible commitment to
their country, but also people in their communities. Lindsey Danilack, a class of 2014 graduate,
was discouraged from attending the academy. “In high school, one of my teachers actually told
me that I would never get into West Point, that it was too hard,”42 says Lindsey, a perfect fit for
the academy as she would go on to be a brigade commander for the entire student body.
The motto of the United States Military Academy at West Point is “Duty, Honor,
Country,” which focuses on the integrity of service, not any gender regulations. A model cadet is
based on character and behavior, to be leaders. Women have strengthened that model cadet. A
model cadet then easily transitions to crucial parts of our society: model doctors, model
engineers, model scientists, model service members, and model members of society. In 1989,
Kristen French became the first woman brigade commander, also known as first captain.43 This is
the highest ranking cadet position, which a woman filled just 13 years after the initial transition,
proving women had a place at the Academy. Simone Askew became the first African-American
woman first captain.
Disher, “Women CAN,”
Taylor, Rumsey; Williams, Josh; Williams, Margaret C. “The Women of West Point.” The New
York Times. (September 5, 2014)
43
Lopez, Tony. “French Retires After 29 Years of Distinguished Service to Our Nation,”
Army.mil, (July 10, 2015)
41
42
�Olsen, 15
Brigadier General Kristen French retired in 2015 after 29 years of service to the United
States Army. French graduated from West Point in 1986, 10 years after the first female class was
allowed at the academy. Kristen has been recognized as the best logistician in the US Army.
French has been deployed overseas in support of Operation Joint Endeavor in Croatia, Operation
Desert Fox in Kuwait, Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan.44 Kristen French is a superior example of a female asset to our country’s military.
Simone Askew is the first black woman to lead the Long Grey Line at West Point. Askew
assumed duties as first captain of the 4,400 member Corps of Cadets.45 First Captain is the top
and highest position that a cadet can hold at the Academy. Not only does Simone have the largest
responsibility within the cadets, she also is the liaison between the cadets and the administration.
Simone is an inspiration for women and people of color. Pat Locke, an African-American female
graduate of the class of 1980 “can’t believe this happened in (her) lifetime.”46 A 2018 graduate,
Simone Askew is just a single example of how successful women have been at West Point.
Family ties to West Point are very common for women to follow the courageous
decisions of their mothers. This is the case for the Efaw family. Amy and Andre Efaw are both
graduates of The United States Military Academy at West Point in 1989. The Efaw family
consists of 3 daughters who have thus graduated from the Academy. Alix, Anastasia, and
Arianna. Alix graduated in 2014, Anastasia graduated in 2016, and Arianna graduated in 2017.
Each of these women had a much different experience than their mother did, being part of just
the 8th graduating class including women. Though Alix puts an emphasis on the idea that “You
don’t want to be the weak link in the chain. Because they already expect you to be the weak link
in the chain,” her alumni mother Amy believes that “it’s different now. The standards are
Lopez, “French Retires,”
Cahillane, Kevin. “The West Point Sisters.”The New York Times. (September 11, 2014)
46
Cahillane, “The West Point,”
44
45
�Olsen, 16
different because they have to be.” This change in the experience of women at West Point shows
the foundation the first groups of women laid for females to feel welcome now.
Women interested in pursuing a career in the military may be turning more towards West
Point. Though today the Air Force Academy is around 30% female and the Naval Academy is
around 29%, West Point is actively working on creating more places for women to fit at their
academy.47 As of 2016, the American military will be opening combat positions to qualifying
women. Arianna Efaw, class of 2017, is one of these women who saw a future in infantry.
“Whenever I tell people I want to go infantry, they laugh in my face,”48 says Efaw. Efaw’s desire
to be an infantry officer is inspiring and proves that women belong in that setting if they are the
right fit for the job. That same year in 2016, the incoming class of women recorded for 22% of
the class, a jump from the previous year’s class make up only 16% women.49
Women around the country dominate the college pool. Today, women make up about
60% of colleges while men only 40%. Women are much less 60% of West Point, about 24-25%.
This could possibly be due to the fact that it is a military school, or that women were just allowed
to be in the institution 44 years ago. Though still women only make up less than 25% of the
corps of cadets, the transition has been far from unsuccessful. This transition also translates into
the actual army. As of 2019, women make up 16.8% of officers in the Active Duty Army, 13.6%
of enlisted soldiers in the Active Duty Army, and 15.5% of members of the Active Duty US
Armed Forces.50
Women have been more than just successful at West Point over the last 40 years. Women
at West Point today truly thrive. In order to get to this conclusion, I conducted interviews with 2
Cahillane, “The West Point,”
Taylor, “The Women of,”
49
Taylor, “The Women of,”
50
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 9
47
48
�Olsen, 17
active female cadets at West Point. In order to understand the current conditions of women at
West Point, the best way to do this was to understand the daily lives of female cadets. It is
imperative to capture women’s stories and experiences before they are lost to history as women
often go unheard in the documenting of history as no one asks them their stories.51 The questions
I prepared for the interview were guidelines to further topics that the cadets and I would explore
during the interviews. The interviews both lasted around 30 minutes and were conducted on
phone calls.
The story I found is that the integration of women to West Point has been successful. In
the academy’s 175-year history, women were only first accepted into the class of 1980, Sydney
Barber is the 16th woman selected for brigade commander since that time, but the 1st black
woman to be in this position.52 Success stories seen on the internet drove me to knowing the
success stories of cadets I am able to personally communicate. This has been strengthened by the
testimony of two current West Point cadets. The first interviewee, Lauren Lithgow, is in her third
year at the Academy, making her known as a “Cow” on campus. Lauren recently signed and
committed to serve as an Officer in the US Army, as all juniors will do at the Academy to stay.
Lauren is from West Long Branch, New Jersey, and has no family affiliation to the Academy. At
21 years old, Lauren spent a year at USMAPS, the preparatory school at West Point, to allow an
extra year to prepare her socially, physically, academically, and athletically, as Lauren is a current
member of the Division 1 Women’s Basketball team. Lauren’s participation on the basketball
team is what originally led her to the Academy. The other cadet who was willing to share her
story with me was Elizabeth Pepper. Elizabeth is a Firstie, meaning this year is her last academic
year at West Point, and she will be graduating as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Spring. When asking
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 338
Cronk, Terri Cook, “First Black Female Brigade Commander at Naval Academy Leads With
Passion.” U.S. Department of Defense. (March 12, 2021)
51
52
�Olsen, 18
Elizabeth where she is from, she does not have a set town as she and her family frequently
moved as her father graduated from West Point and now has an active job in the Army. Elizabeth
is an engineering major.
When speaking to both of these cadets, the first questions of the interviews had to do with
Title IX. Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any
other education program that receives funding from the federal government. I led the discussion
with Title IX because I wanted to understand their own personal viewpoints and knowledge level
of sex-based law and how it has affected their own personal journeys to get and stay at West
Point. Lauren’s response to what Title IX meant to her was it meant equality, as an athlete, Title
IX has influenced her but she notices there is still room for improvement at West Point in regards
to equality with athletics. Lauren spoke on quality of equipment but also acknowledges how “it
is also donation based and donors tend to lean towards mens sports.”53 As for Elizabeth, she says
that her experience has been positive and she has not even had to truly look at the specific
implications of Title IX. Though I wish these cadets had more experience with Title IX and more
of a personal relationship with it, I must conclude that it is a positive that these women do not
have to learn about the laws on gender equality as they feel secure as a woman at the academy.
These cadets both have very different backgrounds and these specific backgrounds gave
them different preparation for the Academy. Lauren, coming from a typical non-military
household, had more of a change in her way of life than Elizabeth, who grew up in a military
home, had to. Though it was a change for Lauren, she says “the dress code at West Point is fairly
normal and as expected.”54 Lauren speaks on the uniform and how she prefers the Army Combat
Uniform over the As for Class uniform as “it is more versatile for females.” These ACUs are the
Lauren Lithgow, Interview by Jillian R. Olsen, November 16, 2022, interview 1, Wagner
College.
54
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
53
�Olsen, 19
camo pattern uniform while the As for Class uniform is the “most dress like uniform.” 55 These
female cadets today have comfortable clothing to learn, train, and live in due to the women
before them. The many first classes of women were able to give feedback on the uniforms, as
early graduates of the academy had uniforms that were masculine, too big, and showed the
college’s unpreparedness for women. According to Sue Fulton, “The women were a new species
at the academy. They were surrounded by men who had never served with women or who were
used to attending an academy without them, and were not ready to accept their presence or treat
them as equals.”56 Neither the academy nor the male cadets were prepared for the integration.
Change has been happening recently. More doors opened in the coming years as women
at West Point in the class of 2016 were allowed to branch infantry and armor for the first time.57
This change allows for career opportunities and options for men and women to be equal.
In January of 2021, West Point announced that they would allow different hairstyles for
women other than the standard low-bun, in response to a popular opinion coming from female
cadets within the academy, according to Pepper. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered a review
of military hairstyle and grooming policies in the prior July.58 In the name of diversity, women
who have hair types that were not easily placed into a bun can now have more freedom with
protecting their hair. According to Sergeant Major Michael Grinston, “This is about an Army
standard and how we move forward with the Army, and being a more diverse, inclusive team.” 59
Elizabeth was fond of this change, as she can now wear her hair more comfortably in a braid and
so that her Advanced Combat Helmet, or ACH, can fit more comfortably. Elizabeth spoke of her
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
O’Connor, “Forty years,”
57
O’Connor, “The Army is,”
58
Associated Press, “In a Nod to Diversity, Army loosens rules on hairstyles, grooming.” Los
Angeles Times. (January 26, 2021)
59
Associated Press, “In a Nod,”
55
56
�Olsen, 20
experience wearing the ACH with the bun, so uncomfortable that she would have to deal with a
headache for the rest of the day. “When you have that tight bun all day in every single uniform,
not only does it hurt your hairline, but it also reduces headaches, and especially in a training
environment where you have an ACH, it is almost impossible to wear that with a bun and be able
to tilt your head up to shoot a rifle.”60 The larger buns, needed to accommodate thick or longer
hair, can make a combat helmet fit badly and potentially impair good vision.61 Elizabeth also
says that this small appearance change allows her “to perform better in the combat uniform.”
Elizabeth brings up how she has “talked to a lot of female cadets and also professors that feel the
same way.”62 This recent advancement in comfortability for women is a win for equity for
women.
Another new update for these current female cadets is nail polish. Something that had
seemed to be very feminine has become a natural occurrence for both men and women. The
allowance of a neutral colored nail polish has been approved. Elizabeth says that “they are still
very specific about the regulations,”63 as they ensure safety with nail length and shape. This
allows all cadets to maintain something that is seen as self-care and a beauty standard. Lauren
believes this change was made to allow “female cadets to show some femininity and small ways
to dress like a female even though the uniform is the same to males.”64 Women are allowed one
hole piercing on each ear, while men are still prohibited to wear earrings. Another aspect men are
held to at a different standard at West Point than at other military academies is that West Point “is
the only military that does not allow men to have beards”65 according to Elizabeth. Elizabeth
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview by Jillian R. Olsen, November 17, 2022, interview 2, Wagner
College.
61
Associated Press, “In a Nod,”
62
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview
63
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview
64
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
65
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview
60
�Olsen, 21
believes “that something coming in the future is an adjustment to the male standards, as West
Point is adjusting the female standards to allow for a more comfortable and stylistic nature, so
there may be a change in the male standards as well.”66
It was interesting to learn that both men and women have the same standard for tattoos.
Lauren explained how if a cadet wants to get a tattoo it “must be approved before-hand to make
sure it is appropriate.”67 Elizabeth explains a new rule that cadets “are allowed to have tattoos in
between fingers, as long as they can not be seen when the cadet is saluting.”68 Elizabeth also
mentioned that cadets are allowed to have a neck tattoo, but it must be a small size, as well as
cadets being permitted to have tattoos behind their ears. This ruling is very important when
looking at equality of appearance as women and men are held to the same standards in an aspect
that is not gendered.
Another focus of the interviews were how other cadets viewed these women. Lauren
described her experience as a cadre when she had to lead a group. She felt as though in the
beginning, that she would have to “work harder and prove”69 herself “against the other male
leadership for” her squad to respect her. She tells the story of how she was successful in this
situation and that after she was able to lead her group, she was “respected and liked more for
that.”70 Just like Arianna Efaw says, “You want to be better than the guys to prove that you
belong here.”71 According to Lewis, women officers have served as professors and tactical
officers at West Point and have provided female role models not only for the women but also the
men.72 These experiences with younger male cadets give them experiences that will allow them
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
68
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview
69
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
70
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
71
Taylor, “The Women of,”
72
Lewis, “WEST POINT WOMEN,” 7
66
67
�Olsen, 22
to realize the equality of male and female leadership. As for Elizabeth, she has very similar
situations. Elizabeth describes her time with other male cadets as a gradual progression to full
respect. Elizabeth believes that the male cadets, ones who may not be convinced of the equality
of men and women at West Point, over time gain respect for the women that are completing the
same physical, emotional, and academic tasks as they are. Elizabeth blames any kind of
disrespect towards women at the Academy on immatureness of the male cadets and that it is a
personal problem that they will face themselves, rather than a problem of the Academy or a
problem of the culture at West Point. As Lindsey Danilack says perfectly: “We’re all trying to
accomplish very similar goals, regardless of gender.”73
As for the uncomfortable topic of sexual assault, these two cadets truly were able to open
up and speak proudly on the fact that neither of them have experienced any type of assault,
misconduct, or unwanted advances by male cadets. Not that I was wanting or expecting either of
these cadets to have a story to speak about, but I was surprised when they truly responded in the
opposite direction. Both cadets have stories of success within their fellow cadets. Lauren
acknowledged the idea of “pretty privilege” and that there is a “stigma that pretty girls in the
Army are more well liked or get what they want''74 due to their appearance. Elizabeth also
acknowledged this phenomena and how it allows women at the Academy who have physical
features that are appealing to society. Lauren states that “this is obviously a problem, that
unfortunately leads to issues like sexual harrassment or assault.”75 But, on a positive note, these
cadets both believe they are surrounded by a positive environment that keeps them safe from
forms of sexual assault, discrimination, or harrassment. Elizabeth spoke of a situation she had
during her first year where she felt uncomfortable around a male cadet, but her friends and even
Taylor, “The Women of,”
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
75
Lauren Lithgow, Interview
73
74
�Olsen, 23
those cadets she may not have been close with, gave her a safe environment where she felt
protected. It is a nationwide problem of having “bad eggs in the batch” but it is so important to
recognize that these female cadets feel safe and that the community would stand behind a woman
who felt threatened.
These interviews truly turned my research around. The experiences of women at West
Point have not always been positive, but today, it is clear to say that women are comfortable,
accepted, and thriving. These interviews were eye opening at the fact that these women represent
both a typical female athlete and a daughter of a West Point graduate, giving a wide
representation of female students at the academy, and they both have had the same positive
experience. These two cadets are prime examples of success stories for women at the Academy.
Lauren has been such an inspiration to not only our community, to young athletes, but also to me.
Lauren is a strong, independent, and successful woman who is thriving at the nation’s top
military academy. As a fellow female athlete, she drives me to be my very best self and to keep
me proud, yet humble to be a woman who will do what other women in the past could not. Their
amazing stories of success transitioned my research from negative to positive. I truly believe that
these two women encapsulate the success stories of women in today’s times. My findings are that
women are respected and well-accepted by the United States Military Academy at West Point. “I
would definitely not be here today if the women of 1980 wouldn’t have opened the door for all
of us. You can really see the impact when you have women from armies from all over the world
coming to West Point and then going back and opening doors for women in their militaries,”
Said Arelena Shala, class of 2020. As Pat Locke says, “When I entered the Academy in 1976, the
men did not want us there. Now 40 years later, everybody recognizes the talent and skills women
�Olsen, 24
bring to the game.”76 Women in the class of 1980 crawled, so that current women like Lauren
and Elizabeth as well as future female cadets could run.
The pressure to be a model cadet is strong enough, but the women who endure and
graduate from The United States Military Academy at West Point face much more than just that
pressure. Alexandra Efaw represents this insecurity well. She says; “not only do I have to prove
myself as a fresh lieutenant out of West Point, but I have to prove myself as a woman too.”77
Breaking through a glass ceiling is not a well enough said way to depict the experiences of the
first women at West Point. Not only did the first graduating female classes break the glass
ceiling, but ““there's some shards of glass that may have been embedded in my shoulder now and
then,”78 says Marene Allison, a graduate in the class of 1980. West Point women are strong,
resilient, determined, accomplished, vulnerable, and at times self-doubting. They are confident,
proud, funny, patriotic, compassionate, and inspiring.79
This research has led me to a success story of women’s integration at West Point. From
the experiences of women in the first integrated classes to the ongoing experiences of current
cadets, women are prosperous and triumphant. Using sources from the live events from 1976,
research from historians, and interviews with Lauren and Elizabeth, I formed a complete
understanding of a full history of the integration of women at West Point. Though there is always
room to grow, West Point accepting women into the military academy is such an amazing
achievement and a successful one at that.
Esch, Mary. “Simone Askew is the First Black Woman to Lead West Point Cadets.”
Taylor, “The Women of,”
78
O’Connor, “Forty years,”
79
Lewis, “West Point Women’s Views,” 321
76
77
�Olsen, 25
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Los Angeles Times. (January 26, 2021)
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Cronk, Terri Cook, “First Black Female Brigade Commander at Naval Academy Leads
With Passion.” U.S. Department of Defense. (March 12, 2021)
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https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2536330/first-black-female-brigade
-commander-at-naval-academy-leads-with-passion/
Disher, Sharon H. “First Class : Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy.” New
York: Naval Institute Press. (2013)
Disher, Sharon H, “Women CAN Fight.” U.S. Naval Institute, (September 2006)
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2006/september/women-can-fight
Durning, Kathleen P. “Women at the Naval Academy: AN ATTITUDE SURVEY.” Navy
Personnel Research and Development Center. (Summer 1978)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/45346095.pdf
Elizabeth Pepper, Interview by Jillian R. Olsen, November 17, 2022, interview 2, Wagner
College.
Esch, Mary. “Simone Askew is the First Black Woman to Lead West Point Cadets.”
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2017/08/15/simone-askew-is-first-black-woman-to
-lead-west-point-cadets/
Feron, James. “Integrated West Point Prepares for First Women Cadets.” The New York
Times. (September 22, 1975)
�Olsen, 27
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adets.html?searchResultPosition=1
Feron, James.“West Point Will Revise Its Policies On Finding and Training of Women.”
The New York Times. (April 17, 1977)
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-training-of.html?searchResultPosition=1
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1949-2000.” Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. (2006)
Jones, Paul L. “Naval Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities. Report to the Chairman,
Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate.” United States General Accounting Office. (April
1993) https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED371972.pdf
Lauren Lithgow, Interview by Jillian R. Olsen, November 16, 2022, interview 1, Wagner
College.
Lewis, Leslie Ann. “WEST POINT WOMEN: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE WEST
POINT EXPERIENCE AND LEADER IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT.” Clemson University.
(2019)
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2337/
�Olsen, 28
Leslie A. Lewis “West Point Women’s Views on Leadership: Perceptions From First
Women Graduates Through Current Cadets,” Journal of Women and Gender in Higher
Education. (Dec 29, 2020)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/26379112.2020.1839903
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_our_nation
O’Connor, Brandon. “Forty years have passed since the first women graduated from West
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O’Connor, Brandon. “The Army is Changing: Current Female Cadets Will Enter the
Army with More Career Options Than Ever.” Army.mil (June 10, 2020)
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the_army_with_more_career_options_than_ever
Schloesser, Kelly. “Hard-Earned Respect: The first women of West Point.” Army.mil,
(November 2010)
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Taylor, Rumsey; Williams, Josh; Williams, Margaret C. “The Women of West Point.” The
New York Times. (September 5, 2014)
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sultPosition=1
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Nontraditional Roles.” Midwestern Psychological Association (May 1984)
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED247484.pdf
“How Women are Faring At West Point and Annapolis.” The New York Times.
(September 11, 1977)
https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/11/archives/how-women-are-faring-at-west-point-and-annapo
lis.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap
Public Law 94-106, (October 7, 1975)
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-89/pdf/STATUTE-89-Pg531.pdf
Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972 (1972)
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ts/index.html#:~:text=Title%20IX%20of%20the%20Education%20Amendments%20of%201972
%20
�
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Senior Presentations Archive
Description
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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Success or Failure? Women’s Integration into the United States Military Academy at West Point.
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Jillian Olsen
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5/1/2023
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Dr. Alison Smith
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Text
Substance Abuse of Young Adults in the
South Shore of Staten Island
Dominique Scherma WCSN, Joseph Pallarino WCSN, Nicole Mastrangelo WCSN
The Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing Wagner College
COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT
& ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
• A major issue with drug
addiction within the community
begins with
prescription painkillers. The
prescription painkiller abuse
rates are not as high as the rest
of the country except on Staten
Island. (1)
• This is a major concern within
the young adult age group. This
can then lead to a life-or-death
situation - overdose, which may
possibly follow the drug
addictive behavior.
PROBLEM
• According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and the Department of
Justice, drug overdoses have
become the leading cause of
death for Americans under the
age of 50 (1). The question is
how do we minimize the
increased rate of overdoses in
the South Shore of Staten
Island and reduce the addiction
rate in young adults?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Demographics
82.9% white
1.1% African Americans
10.2% Latinos
4.5% Asian
1.0% two or more races (2)
•
11% live in poverty with an unemployment rate of
6%
The average income $92,000-$111,000
Obesity, diabetes, and hypertension affects this
community as well (2)
•
•
• There has been a total of
64,260 overdoses across the nation in
2019, averaging approximately 1,285. NYC
alone has 1,475 cases of documented
overdoses in 2019. (1)
• Tacking Youth Substance Abuse (TYSA) was a
resource in the community
• The government cut funding. (2)
• There are high hopes that the app OneStep will
have the same effects as (TYSA) in preventing drug
addiction.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
'ONE STEP’
• Free App
• Questionnaire to tailor to
individual needs
• Interactive
• Easily accessible
• Prompts participation
• Trigger warning system
• Positive reinforcement
• Not just for addicts but for
anyone
• 24 hour services available (3)
1. Products - vital statistics rapid release - provisional drug overdose
data [Internet]. Cdc.gov. 2021 [cited 2021 Apr 21]. Available from:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
2. EpiQuery [Internet]. Nyc.gov. [cited 2021 Apr 21].
Available from:https://a816-health.nyc.gov/hdi/epiquery
Snpnyc.org. [cited 2021 Apr 21]. Available from:
http://www.snpnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CU-SIPAOpioid-Capstone-2017.pdf
3. Theory of planned behavior [Internet]. Umass.edu. [cited 2021
Apr 21]. Available from: https://people.umass.edu/aizen/tpb.html
Bosnjak M, Ajzen I, Schmidt P. The theory of planned behavior:
Selected recent advances and applications. Eur J Psychol.
2020;16(3):352–6.
�
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
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2017 -
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
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2021
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2021_Nursing_Mastrangelo-Pallarino-Scherma
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Nicole Mastrangelo
Joseph Pallarino
Dominique Scherma
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5/1/2021
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Substance Abuse of Young Adults in the South Shore of Staten Island
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Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing
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Nursing
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5cf291c31b6c6eae8fffa3f2de7aa25f
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Text
Study of Nutritional Status in Bamyan, Afghanistan:
Malnutrition and Its Underlying Causes
Ayoub – July 2019-Present
�Background
Nutrition
World Health Organization reports that undernutrition endangers millions of lives
around the world.
Factors such as social class, natural hazards, economic policy and gender
inequality lead to short- and long-term undernourishment.
Wasting (disproportionally thin relative to her/his age)
Stunting (disproportionally short for her/his age)
�UNICEF, WHO, World Bank 2019
�Afghanistan
Problem Statement
The world bank’s National
Nutrition Survey in Afghanistan
(2004-2005) reported 54% of
children below age five
chronically undernourished and
39% underweight with their
body mass under 18.5.
(World Bank 2004-2005)
�Challenge I
Lack of
Accessibility
Diversity in diet
The staple crop – wheat,
diminishes the diversity of
food sources. Households
with food insecurity,
heavily rely on cheap
calories consisting 75%
wheat and other cereals.
Typical food in rural Afghanistan
Halva
Bread
�Challenge II
The Baba Mountain Range Reaches The Greatest
Height: 5,142 M
Accessibility
The mountainous geography of
Afghanistan makes it difficult for the
health providers to bring aid.
Geopolital Future 2019
�Challenge II
Dominance
Accessibilityof Male
over the Resources
Dominance of Male
over the Resources
The typical activities of
Afghan women are weaving,
embroidery, weaving carpets,
and rendering chickens. Such
activities kept female
population away from
participating in large scale
farm labor.
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) 2018
�Research Site
Bamiyan Province
Central Highland
Hazara ethnic group
Mountainous
Agricultural Products:
Wheat, barely (40%),
potato (46%), fruits (2%)
and fodder (11%)
Fotolia 2019
�Hypothesis I
Women’s Engagement in
Agriculture
If women’s lack of engagement in agricultural production is decreasing
their access to resources, then I would expect to see those women with
less engagement outside their homes to lack more nutrients.
�Hypothesis II
Lack of Diversity in Diet
If people in Bamyan eat more diverse food, their families will
be healthier. Growing variety of crops can increase sources of
protein and vitamin in their diet
�Hypothesis III
Women’s
Lack of Diversity
Increasing
Engagement in accessibilityDiet
in
Agriculture
If the lack access to health services is one of factors that impacts ,
I expect rural families who are blocked by the harsh weather and
have less access to transportation will appear more vulnerable to
undernourishment
�Research
Methodology
Participant Observation
Qualitative Interview
Food Diary
Biological indicators
�Participant Observation
The participants will consist of both male, and female, primarily mothers, and
children below age of five. I intend to examine their nutrition status relative to the
aforementioned factors.
I will alternate my stay with different household who are wealthy and poor in
order to see both sides of the coin in one village.
Participant as an Observer
Observer as a Participant
(Sauro 2015)
�Qualitative Interview
I will conduct structured interviews
with the local villagers, officials,
Department of Health and the Office
of the Governor to learn about the
location, seasonal weather, closest
health centers/clinics/hospitals,
means of transportation, land
ownership, non-agricultural
activities.
(Sauro 2015)
�Food Diary
I will keep a food diary of
myself during my research and
will select a subset of my
informants to record their diet
on daily basis.
Food Diary 2013
�Biological indicators
Weight-for-age
Height-for-age
Mid upper arm circumference
Head circumference
WW USA 2019
�Significance
Significance
Raise awareness
Improve policies and programs
Collect evidence
�Implementation
Significance Phase
�Implementation
Significance Phase
����
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Study of Nutritional Status in Bamyan, Afghanistan: Malnutrition and its Underlying Causes
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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/1909/archive/files/b7b2c94155472ce567db54ae6ca15e75.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=k3lNQv2smPeV5w34mklGkl-N7SB7wprs7MFi1QNMXCu-6DXmv8K4DKd5cKaoNyKl7Gj7nYvigTFc6k6zxT29X66vNQPRQFXiG5pgKZBlHDeBXZsUPtS%7EBhEGTF5QJkryxA4f29mKPBAYl7iqYk0hwPSup-xy9TBnCQZT1St1J4ngpNx3amTLHoO022paoTZ4btYDVHReJj7UhbqTjU2hfjFDmVSuDAjR4w6SwGEBd8Ai7GiOTDt5BQiy%7ECAQqOxTAYUYDSF0uogIoca%7EsMQkbuGU093zWz2GJZIjhO%7EmjOrVMTZmapEiPtjyJWyAtdFQ%7EECxqaOMa%7EZnnKnyBb6TNg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
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Text
Soviet Women fighting for their Rodina
By Christopher Araimo
As the summer of 1942 rolled on, the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Red Army
was posted on the western outskirts of the key city of Stalingrad. This unit was composed of
grammar school age girls and some college age women. While the British used women in an AA
role during the early years, these units were almost never on the front line compared to the
1077th. As the women of the 1077th began their morning, preparing to face that day’s onslaught
from the air, as they were targeted relentlessly by German dive bombers with greater frequency
in what was the lead up to what was about to happen. Over the horizon came Hitler’s mighty
blitzkrieg, its goal was a direct order from the Fuhrer himself, to destroy the city bearing the
name of his enemy, Stalingrad. The 1077th were the only units in the immediate line of advance
of the German Panzer tanks. The women did not flee, they did not surrender as they knew that
fate for them was worse for death, they lowered their AA guns to their maximum depression and
began opening fire on the leading Panzers, even though their weapons were in no way designed,
nor had they been trained, to combat tanks.
Despite being under intense fire, and hopelessly outgunned, the Soviets manning the guns
fought to the last. This stunned the Germans who traded “shot for shot” with them. As part of the
Nazi propaganda movement, Germans had been taught that all the people to the East, the Slavs,
were what was called “Untermensch” meaning “under” or “sub” human. How could these lesser
men fight so ferociously and by all accounts bravely. As they looked over the corpses, the
Germans were even more shocked. 1 And thus, the first heroes to die protecting the most vital city
1
Anthony Beever, Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege:1942-1943 (New York: Viking-Penguin Books, 1999), 106-108.
�in the Soviet Union short of Moscow, were teenage girls, and they would not be the last. Across
the Soviet Union at the time, many women were trying to find a way to fight with a rifle or to
serve as combat medics on the frontline. Others were being recruited to form three special all
women air wings of the Soviet Air Force. Having been lobbying since the start of Operation
Barbarossa and the early days of The Great Patriotic War for combat roles, young college age
women from all parts of the Soviet Union, wanting to protect their Motherland were now in the
foxholes and cockpits, ready to fight.
This thesis paper will examine the hurdles women overcame to be able to serve and the
ones they faced while they did so, examine why the Soviets did adopt them into the army, and
most importantly, what made these women enlist with such enthusiasm and force, and go on to
perform admirably?
My answer to the prior questions posed, which I will argue in this paper was that as a
result of the prewar years cultural changes, women had a feeling of more equal footing to men in
the USSR than other nations, this combined with a kind of nationalism unique to Russia, inspired
many women to take to the front and fight alongside men to protect their Motherland as they
were just as capable, willing, and determined as the men, if not more so.
Up until Gorbachev’s détente and the collapse of the Soviet Union, not many scholars
have been able to really study the history of this topic and hear the real story from those who
were still alive about their unvarnished experiences. Up until this point only what all aligned
with the Soviet vision of the post war time was allowed to be printed. This image was of Soviet
women as taking care of their husband or male relative who fought in the War, and to reproduce
to help make up for the massive casualties the Soviet Union suffered. This began right from the
end of the War, with the famous quote “do not speak of the services you rendered, let others do it
�for you, that will be better” given by President Kalinin to a group of demobilizing women
pilots. 2 As we will see however, no one spoke for them. It was the collapse of the Soviet Union
that really opened this under studied field for scholars. Since then, there have been many primary
source accounts told by these women, and scholarly work done in the now somewhat opened
military archives in modern Russia. In writing about Soviet women and their experiences in
combat during World War Two, or, as many of them still call it, The Great Patriotic War, I found
the following three books to be the most helpful and insightful on the topic in terms of providing
primary source material. The first is a compilation of first-hand oral accounts from women who
served in all capacities, written by Nobel Prize in literature winner Svetlana Alexievich, The
Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II. 3 It has only been
translated into English in the last five years. The second work is a memoir, also originally
published in Russian and recently translated to English, Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin’s
Sniper. 4 This is an autobiographical memoir from Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who was a Soviet
sniper during the War and had over three hundred kills. Lastly, there is Reina Pennington’s book
Wings, Women, & War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat. 5 It combines first-hand
accounts given by women who served, with her own commentary and observations. Probably the
most eminent of these scholars, Dr. Pennington, holds a Ph.D. in the field of Russian history and
a certificate in women’s studies from the University of South Carolina and teaches the subject at
the University of Norwich. It is an excellent primary source, with important commentary by one
Reina Pennington, “’Do not speak of the services you rendered’: Women Veterans of Aviation in the Soviet
Union.” The Journal of Slavic Military Studies 9, no.1 (1996), 143.
3
Svetlana Alexievitch, The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II. Translated by
Richard Pevear, and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York City, New York: Random House, 2018.
4
Lyudmilla Pavlichenko, Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin’s Sniper. Translated by Martin David Foreman.
Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK. Greenhill Books, 2018.
5
Reina Pennington, Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat. Lawrence, Kansas:
University Press of Kansas, 2001.
2
�of the top scholars in the field and probably the most cited scholar in this thesis, as she has
written numerous articles in this field for academic journals in addition to her book. Another
highly regarded scholar on this topic, who has worked with Dr. Pennington as they are among
the few in this field, is Dr. Roger R. Reese who got his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and is
the Director of Graduate Studies and Professor who specializes in Social and Military History of
the Soviet Union at Texas A&M. He has written multiple books and journal articles about
Russian and Soviet Union military history, among them Why Stalin’s Soldiers Fought: The Red
Army’s Military Effectiveness in World War II. 6 In this work are two chapters dedicated to
discussing the role of women in combat during that time. There is also the excellent work, Soviet
Women on the Frontline in the Second World War which was written by Roger D. Marwick, a
professor of Modern European history at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and his writing
partner on this book Dr. Euridice Charon Cardona also of the University of Newcastle. 7 What is
great about these three scholarly works is that they all tell a unique aspect of the war while
bringing their own views based on their scholarly research of why these women did what they
did and achieved the success they did, to each work.
On Sunday, June 22nd, 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive
invasion of the Soviet Union. Despite warnings from the United States, Great Britain, and their
own spies in Nazi Germany and Japan, this took Soviet High Command completely by surprise.
Almost two years earlier in August 1939, the Foreign Ministers of each nation met and signed
the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, named for the two men, which was a pact of non-aggression
Reese, Roger, Why Stalin's soldiers fought: The Red Army's military effectiveness in World War II. Lawrence,
Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1996.
7
Roger Marwick and Euridice Charon Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014.
6
�between the two politically hostile nations. Stalin and his ministers could not believe Hitler
would violate the pact so quickly and went into a depression, leading Foreign Minister Molotov
to have to tell the nation. Stalin finally addressed his panicked nation on July 3rd and put aside
the struggle of communism, which many of the people of the Soviet Union associated with the
Red Terror and fear. Not many were willing to fight for the country, and in the western states,
like Ukraine, the Nazis had been welcomed as liberators. Knowing this, Stalin instead addressed
the people of the nation as “brothers and sisters,” calling it “A Great Patriotic War” and one that
“all people” must respond to (Find Footnote). His speech was galvanizing to the nation, among
them many women who wanted greatly to protect the Motherland. A great example of this is an
account provided by Elena Antonovna Kudina, who was a private and driver in the war, about
her family’s reaction to the speech.
“But when Stalin began to speak … He addressed us: “Brothers and sisters …” Then
everybody forgot their grievances … We had an uncle sitting in a labor camp, mama’s
brother, a railroad worker, had been arrested at work … You know who arrested him?
The NKVD … Our beloved uncle, and we knew he wasn’t guilty of anything. We
believed it. He was decorated after the Civil War … But after Stalin’s speech Mama said:
“We’ll defend the Motherland and sort it out later.” Everybody loved the Motherland. I
ran to the recruiting office at once. I had angina, I still had a high temperature. But I
couldn’t wait …” 8
Unfortunately for Kudina, in the early stages of the war, Women were not allowed into armed
and dangerous roles. It was thought even in the more socially equal socialist state of the Soviet
Union that men were still meant to be the soldiers. The Stalinist State did consider women to
have an important role in the country, at least based on the Country’s latest Constitution.
Marwick points this out, as well as the unique burden and responsibilities during the thirties and
war years, in his contribution in the academic journal, The Palgrave handbook of women and
gender in twentieth-century Russia and the Soviet Union. He writes about the constitution and
8
Alexievitch, The Unwomanly Face of War, 22.
�the state, “Article 122 of the December 1936 ‘Stalin’ Constitution granted women ‘equal rights
with men in all spheres of economic, state, cultural, social, and political life’. The explicit
assumption was that the Soviet Stat was now a socialist state that could provide the material
wherewithal for women’s emancipation from the burden’s of domestic women and motherhood.”
And “Henceforth, the ‘model of womandhood’ prosyletised in women’s magazine ‘combined
pre-revoluntary traditions, including the Orthodox Church’s emphasis on the sanctity of
motherhood and the literary trope of the strong self-sacrificing Russian peasant woman’. The
centrality of the family and motherhood meshed with the discursive reconfiguration of the 1930s
of the Soviet Union as the Soviet motherlamd, as rodina-mat (literally: motherland-mother).
When war came, rodina-mat resonated with Stalin’s call for women on the homefront to give
their all to the military struggle.” 9 We will see this feeling of mothers of the motherland in many
of the testimonies provided like the one above as well as others such as the next one which
shows the youthful determination the younger generation had that in a way romanticized war. As
Sergeant Major Elena Pavlovna Yakovleva recounted: “We went to the recruiting office time
after time … And when we came yet again, after I don’t know how many times, the commissar
almost threw us out “If you had at least some profession. If you were nurses, drivers … What are
you able to do? What will you do at the front?” But we didn’t understand him. This question had
never presented itself to us: what will we do? We wanted to go to war, that’s all.” 10 The Soviet
Union however did press them into many roles in factories from the outset to help rebuild the
Army that would be shattered over the next six months materially and in terms of manpower. It
was only when the staggering number of casualties came in from the early stages of the defense
Roger Marwick, “The Motherland Calls: Soviet Women in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945,” The Palgrave
handbook of women and gender in twentieth-century Russia and the Soviet Union, no.1 (2018): 218-219.
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54905-1
10
Alexievitch, The Unwomanly Face of War, 26.
9
�of the Motherland, did women finally start to gain leverage in trying to achieve more important
and, in their mind, impactful, roles. As Dr. Reese states with numbers “Initially, in June and July
1941, the Red Army rejected female volunteers; only weeks later when it was clear that the war
would be a long one, did it begin to accept their applications. Female applicants, some of whom
had been turned away by the army, deluged the opolchenie (local combat divisions) and other
volunteer units which accepted them by the tens of thousands. By the eighteenth day of the war,
10 July 1941, nearly 200,000 women had volunteered for the opolchenie.” 11 These women,
despite the hardships and cruelties under the Stalinist State, still wanted to do whatever they
could to protect the Motherland, and felt they were just as capable as their male relatives and
friends who were out there dying already. They would go on to serve in these over the next few
years of the war as the situation got more dire for the country, and this paper will lay out all
those ways they served and the chronology behind each of the ways they were able to break
through in a particular field of soldiery. It will then discuss the ways they were treated during the
war, both by their allies and the Nazis, as well as their life after the war and how their experience
as veterans was noticeably worse and lesser regarded then that of the men who had served.
As Professor Marwick and Dr. Cardona state at the beginning of their section on Soviet
nurses, “Women nurses and doctors were the acceptable feminine face of the Soviet Union at
war.” 12 It helped fit the image of what Stalin wanted most women to be, the caretakers of the
nation, mothers and healers. Couple this with the mass influx of anywhere from 16-year-old girls
to college aged women in wanting to serve and they would go on to make up a large part of the
medical corp. According to the statistics provided in a chart by Prof. Marwick and Dr. Cardona,
of Red Army medical personnel women comprised 43% of surgeons, 46% of doctors, 57%
11
12
Reese, Why Stalin's soldiers fought, 267-268.
Marwick and Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War, 56.
�medical assistants, 100% nurses, and 40% paramedics. 13 This is what lead to the marked
separation in roles that women had in the Soviet Union as opposed to other nations. Many of
these roles were not filled by women in other armies, and the role of the nurse was drastically
different. Before the war, the Soviet Union employed many women in medical jobs to begin
with, and women were often seen as healers of the nation, so they had the knowledge to do the
job. Couple that with the severe shortage of men after the horrendous losses at the start of
Operation Barbarossa, and the need to have every man available in a fighting role and you can
see how women were called upon for that role almost immediately. The difference however with
the nursing in the Red Army is that nurses were often given weapons to defend themselves as
they were on the frontlines rescuing the troops wounded in action and bringing them safely back
to friendly territory while under enemy fire. They were expected to use their weapons to defend
themselves and their wounded charges, and many were killed in this line of duty, unlike any
other nation in the War. It is estimated that 126,000 women who served in the medical field were
killed. 14 Yet knowing these risks did nothing to deter the women who wanted to serve and who
kept up their fervent push for more roles.
With the realization the War was going to be a long and brutal one, with tremendous
defeats accompanied by huge losses in manpower, In March of 1942 the first of many decrees
were made to free up women to serve in more auxiliary roles so more men could go to the front.
“It authorized the NKO (People’s Commissariat for Defence) to mobilize one hundred thousand
“girl-Komsomol members” to replace male soldiers.” 15 Among the jobs they would go into was
the role of anti-aircraft gunners. This was a job that the British also used their women for, but
Marwick and Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War, 58.
Marwick and Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War,) 66.
15
David Glantz, Scraping the Barrel: The military use of Sub-Standard Manpower (New York: Fordham University
Press, 2012), 168.
13
14
�mostly in mixed units that would only occasionally be deployed across the Island and did suffer
causalities, though only in the hundreds. Whereas in the Soviet Union
“There were no limits on what Soviet AA gunners could or were expected to do. To aim,
load and fire the guns was to expose the crew to direct attack by enemy aircraft. Soviet
women not only did this, suffering death and injury in the process, but in doing so
excelled at military tasks that had hitherto been the preserve of men, undoubtedly
facilitated by the traditional rigors of manual labor which Soviet women had endured
well before the outbreak of war.” 16
Their antiaircraft batteries were either close to frontlines or protecting key cities that were about
to be attacked as well as more industrial ones further inland. But this exposed them to close in
bombings from planes and from being overrun by ground forces. As this essay mentioned at the
start, one need only look at the heroism of the 1077th anti-aircraft Regiment. They faced direct
ground combat that they were ill prepared for, with weapons not designed for the role, and
against a superior force with no chance of success. It says something that in Anthony Beevor’s
acclaimed book on Stalingrad, during which he talks only in passing about other women during
the Battle of Stalingrad, he takes three pages to describe the battle between the 1077th and the
enemy Panzers. Their tenacity and dedication to fight to the last is shown in a letter Beevor cites
from a German soldier, “It is completely wrong to describe them as ‘soldiers in skirts,’ The
Russian women has long been fully prepared for combat duties and to fill any post of which a
woman might be capable. Russian soldiers treat these women with great wariness.” 17 This was
something not seen in any of the other theaters of war during the Second World War. Also, by
this time in the war, most nations involved realized that one of their most effective anti-tank
weapons in their respective arsenals were usually their higher velocity anti-aircraft cannons,
especially those that could depress their gun elevation to be able to hit tanks. The Soviets and
16
17
Marwick and Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War, 161.
Beever, Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 108.
�Germans were two who frequently employed this tactic. Knowing this we still see many antiaircraft roles near the front, which could become de facto anti-tank guns in emergencies were
ordered to be crewed by women in Soviet High Command. It seems likely, especially once
reports like that of the 1077th came back, that the army brass knew these women might be put
into situation like that again and found them to be acceptably suited for it. This especially seems
likely the later the War went on, as they now had men able to do the role, but still had these
women in the role of anti-air gunners. The women served with distinction even though they had
to kill, and they suffered from it just as any man who would serve might, especially in the unique
role as an anti-aircraft gunner. Sergeant Vera Borisnova Sapgir was one of them. When recalling
her experience of having to kill, she said
“Fortunately, I … I didn’t see those people, the ones I killed … But … All the same …
Now I realize that I killed them. I think about it … Because … Because I’m old now. I
pray for my soul. I told my daughter that when I die, she should take all my medals and
decorations, not to a museum, but to a church. Give them to the priest … They come to
me in my sleep … The dead … My dead … Though I never saw them, they come and
look at me. I keep searching with my eyes, maybe someone was only wounded, badly
wounded but could still be saved. I don’t know how to put it … But they’re all dead …” 18
What really separated Soviet women from those of the other nations, was when they
started to take on the role of soldiering and being thrust into a role that had been male dominated
for most of history for the first real time. The catastrophic losses of manpower from the early
months were originally filled by men from factories, hence why women had taken up the
traditional male jobs during the pre-war and wartime years. The State and Central Committee
were ambivalent towards the idea of women fighting, while many in the Army were opposed to
it, but once large numbers of women began to deluge local Komsomols, which was the youth
party headquarters, the Central Committee became open to the idea. What helped them and the
18
Alexievitch, The Unwomanly Face of War, 62.
�women was the argument that women had already shown they could handle the traditionally
male jobs of heavy factory and anti-aircraft work; thus, why could they not do the male job of
soldiering just as well? 19 However conscription was very localized, many of the women who
fought as soldiers on the frontline were those who were closest to it, wanted to fight, and were
allowed to for necessity. The only real group set up specifically for women infantry, was the
Women’s Volunteer Rifle Brigade, and was counterproductive to any woman who wanted to see
front line combat. It was trained at camps far from the frontlines and was never really intended,
despite the enthusiasm of the women there and the fact they were training them, to be a front-line
unit. Women would frequently run away from the camps to try to get to the front and see combat
while others tried the bureaucratic way to see combat. This can be seen in a letter written by one
of the women in the training battalion, Trainee Shtyrkova to a male comrade who seems to be a
higher up in the military. In part it reads
“I have been in the ranks of the RKKA for 8 months. Now I am in an anti-tank gun
training battalion and am learning to be a tank destroyer. However, I am beginning to
doubt that we will ever get to the front. I beg you therefore to enlist me in any active unit;
but only at the front. There I cannot only save the lives of the wounded but also succeed
in destroying fascist tanks. I know exactly what to do and I love my gun.” 20
In the cities that were on the frontline, women would take up arms and help defend if the
situation was dire, and it often was during 1941 through the winter of 1942-3 when the Soviets
were often still on the defensive and being pushed back. As Dr. Pennington writes about how one
of the women, who fought in the frontline city of Smolensk, was able to become a soldier for the
Red Army
“The situation was fluid near the rapidly shifting front line in 1941, where broken and
disorganized military units often recruited on the spot. After surviving a German
bombing attack in the first weeks of the war, Katiusha Mikhailova went directly to a
military headquarters in Smolensk to volunteer for combat duty. She was rejected. Then,
19
20
Reese, Why Stalin's soldiers fought, 279.
Marwick and Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War, 181.
�as the city came under attack, she found the commander of a rifle unit who desperately
needed medical staff. She says he gave her a uniform and a rifle, and that was how she
joined the Red Army.” 21
This was an experience that many of the women who fought would go through and it’s
remarkable how similar the stories are. Often it was through sheer badgering and perseverance,
combined with the desperation the male officers were facing, that lead to these women joining
up. At a time when men at the front were deserting from shell shock and low morale, women
were pretty much begging for the chance to serve with a rifle in their hand alongside their male
counterparts.
In the areas of the Soviet Union that fell to the Nazis, provided the village wasn’t
destroyed and its occupants killed or sent to the death camps, a number of women turned to
becoming partisan fighters. Some were those who managed to escape the annihilation of their
village and join up with other local partisans. They were aided by the fact that they had the
greatest weapon on their side, knowledge of the geography and climate of the Motherland. They
would handle all sorts of roles for the local partisan groups, including sabotage and espionage,
and some would be armed during these missions. The life of a partisan was always hanging in
the balance, as if they were discovered, a quick death by gunshot might be the best they could
hope for. Even those who survived often had to experience horrors beyond belief, as former
partisan Fekla Strui recalled of losing her legs;
“My legs were taken off right there in the forest. The operation took place in the most
primitive conditions. I was put on a table to be operated on, there wasn’t even any iodine,
and my legs were sawn off with an ordinary saw, both legs … the operation was
performed without anesthetic, without anything.” 22
Reina Pennington, “Offensive Women: Women in Combat in the Red Army in the Second World War” The
Journal of Military History; Jul 2010; 74, 3; ProQuest Central Essentials .780.
22
Pennington, “Offensive Women: Women in Combat in the Red Army in the Second World War” 797.
21
�Yet still women continued to volunteer with local partisans and even push the men to put them
on more dangerous missions.
The biggest field that women achieved success in, at least in ground combat, was, to the
surprise of many men, sniping or marksmanship. If we look at the prewar years however, it
shouldn’t have been all that surprising. In the rural areas, women knew how to hunt just as well
as their male counterparts, and hunting in the Russian winter snow is a slow laborious task.
Those in the city, especially those in colleges or factory work, both of which were comprised of
eighteen- to thirty-year-olds, were often part of shooting clubs through the local Komsomol. This
meant that most of the women who were the prime age to fight already had experience with
some degree of shooting and marksmanship. Despite this, it was still felt at the time that women
were not meant to be snipers. Snipers must have the ability to lay motionless for hours or
potentially days, all the while hyper focused on looking for their target. Once they find the target,
they must factor in everything from weather to wind direction and speed, to their own breathing
and body rhythm, because they only get one shot. Looking through their scopes they will see
every detail of their target, before the will have to take the shot to kill them. It is one of the most
daunting forms of warfare, some would say requiring the ability to be cold blooded killers, and it
was felt women could not handle this role as for those reason. Women however were able to
prove their male counterparts wrong during the first year and a half of the War, as they engaged
on the ground and were shown to be able to kill. Some were dragooned in frontline cities to be
snipers immediately, and they were able to handle it even without formal training, but more
importantly they could kill and keep going. They were motivated by every bit as much hatred as
their male counterparts towards the Nazis. No doubt, it affected them, but they were able to steel
�themselves just like the men. Former sniper Klavdia Grigoryvena Krokhina recalled about her
first experience with killing and subsequent justification of it.
“The first time is frightening … Very frightening …
We were in hiding, and I was the lookout. And then I noticed one German poking
up a little from a trench. I clicked, and he fell. And then, you know, I started shaking all
over, I heard my bones knocking. I cried. When I shot at targets it was nothing, but now:
I – killed! I killed some unknown man. I knew nothing about him, but I killed him.
Then it passed. And here’s how … It happened like this … We were already on
the advance. We marched past a small settlement. I think it was in Ukraine. And there by
the road we saw a barrack or a house, it was impossible to tell, it was all burned down,
nothing left but blackened stones. A foundation … Many of the girl’s didn’t go close to
it, but it was as if something drew me there … There were human bones among the
cinders, with scorched little stars among them; these were our wounded or prisoners who
had been burned. After that, however many I killed, I felt no pity. I had seen those
blackened little stars …” 23
These women knew what the horrors of War would entail yet still volunteered for these
incredibly dangerous roles and went on to fulfill them with great distinction.
Whilst many women served as snipers, some with notable distinction, there is one woman
who is synonymous with the image of the Soviet women sniper, and that is Lyudmilla
Pavlichenko. There are two main reasons for this. First was that her 309 confirmed kills were the
most by a woman sniper, and second was that she was also one of the few women soldiers from
the Soviet Union who was known to the West through Russian propaganda spreading her
exploits. She felt the call to serve for the same reason as many. Pavlichenko describes at a point
in her memoir, her feeling towards the invading Nazis and how it grew as she saw their
atrocities, which was also very similar to the motivation discussed earlier of fear and anger at the
Nazis were a very big motivator for these women. She writes
“When I first went to war, I felt only anger at the Germans for disrupting my
peaceful life, for attacking us. But what I saw later engendered within me such an
inextinguishable hatred that it was difficult to express it in any other way other than a
bullet through a Nazi’s heart.
23
Alexievitch, The Unwomanly Face of War, 10.
�In one village retaken from the enemy I saw the body of a thirteen-year-old girl.
The Nazis had butchered her. That was how they demonstrated their ability to wield a
bayonet – the brutes! I saw brains splattered on the walls of a house, and besides it the
body of a three-year-old child. Germans had lived in that house. The child had played up
and cried, preventing these beasts from getting some rest. They did not even allow the
mother to bury her child. The poor women went out of her mind …” 24
This hatred of the Nazis was experienced by many women who saw or heard of the atrocities that
were being carried out by the advancing German Army. They knew what their fates may be if
their village, town, or city, was overrun. Many women recall similar experiences to Pavlichenko
which would cement their hatred of the Germans and further motivate them to try want to kill
enemies of the Motherland to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Pavlichenko had taken up shooting during her pre combat years when she worked in a
factory, like many women her age, and on the advice of a male colleague. She had a natural
ability at it, which combined with the hours she spent on the hobby before the war, led her to
have the natural skills required of a sniper. She volunteered and was assigned as a sniper during
the start of the Siege of Odessa, during which she married her husband, fellow sniper Alexei
Kitsenko, only to have him get killed a few days later. He was wounded badly by a mortar shell,
but they kept him alive for four days before he died in her arms. 25 This furthered her hatred of
the Germans and she promised to kill one hundred fascists in his honor. She was eventually sent
from Odessa to Sevastopol to fight in the siege of that city. She describes that siege as
“Legendary Sevastopol,” which is the chapter title for that section of her memoir. Her feats of
marksmanship and killing had made her very famous within the Red Army, thus when she was
wounded during the siege, she was evacuated to Moscow where she would recover but never was
sent back to combat as she was a valuable propaganda tool.
24
25
Pavlichenko, Lady Death, 171.
Pavlichenko, Lady Death, 142.
�This led to a remarkable experience for Pavlichenko, after some months helping the Red
Army with propaganda, she was taken to meet and asked by Stalin himself to go to America and
Canada on a good will tour to rally support. Given her accomplishments, gender, and age, being
only college age, she was asked to go along with two other male soldiers, whom she knew. She
describes her first meeting with the leader of the Soviet Union,
“We were probably in Stalin’s office for about twenty minutes, although we were
unaware of the passing of time. Time stood still for us. Mikhailov introduced us one by
one, with me last. Joseph Vissarionovich merely said a few sentences about the
responsible mission of the Party and government, the Allies, who were unwilling to open
a second front, and the American people, who needed to know the truth about our
struggle against Nazism.
‘Do you have any requests comrades?’ he asked.
Krasavchenko and Pchelintsev were in a state of profound paralysis and a pause
hung over the office. I was not affected in the same way. I experienced something
different: an unprecedented enthusiasm. I wanted to hear words from the supreme
commander-in-chief which were addressed specifically to me.
‘Yes, Comrade Stalin, I have a request,’ I said softly. ‘We really need an EnglishRussian and Russian-English dictionary, with a grammar textbook as well. Because it is
important to know your allies well, just like your enemies!’
‘Well said, Comrade Pavlichenko.’ The leader of the world proletariat smiled.
‘You will receive the books. From me personally.’” 26
This was an important meeting for Pavlichenko because it established in her a personal
connection to Stalin, and they visited again upon her return. It also is a telling because it shows
that enthusiasm to serve the Motherland and Comrade Stalin that he invoked across the nation
after his earlier mentioned speech and again shows how it was a catalyst for many women to
serve. Pavlichenko also describes at a point in her memoir, her feeling towards the invading
Nazis, which was also very similar to the motivation discussed earlier of fear and anger at the
Nazis were a very big motivator for these women.
Pavlichenko’s visit to the United States was quite remarkable, for after stopping for a
night in Miami after flying in from the Soviet Union via a stop in Africa, she and her two
26
Pavlichenko, Lady Death, 179.
�companions were taken by limo to the White House, where despite the early hour, they were
greeted by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The next day they had breakfast, Pavlichenko, her
compatriots, the First Lady and some of her invited guests who led various aid campaigns, and
some army translators. It was during this breakfast when Eleanor addressed Lyudmila with a
question, as Pavlichenko recounted in her memoir.
“Suddenly Eleanor addressed a question to me, and this question was translated
into Russian to me by a young man with a lieutenant’s epaulettes: ‘If you had a good
view of the faces of your enemies through telescopic sights, but still fired to kill, it would
be hard for American woman to understand you, dear Lyudmilla.’
The interpreter tried to soften the force of this sentence somehow. It sounded
polite, but had a certain unpleasant undertone. The First Lady looked at me intently,
without dropping her gaze. Why had she asked this question was not quite clear. Maybe
she had decided to subject me to a test. We had already been told about publications in
some British and American newspapers which suggested that we were not frontline
soldiers or snipers, but merely Communist propagandists specifically sent to address the
international student assembly. This meant that the president’s wife would have to be
given a clear and comprehensible answer.
‘Mrs. Roosevelt, we are glad to visit your beautiful, prosperity country. Many
years you do not know the wars. Nobody destroys your towns, villages, plant. Nobody
kills your inhabitants, your sisters, brothers, fathers,’ I said slowly, and for some reason
my words took those present by surprise.
Of course, my speech was not notable for its elegance: there were some mistakes
in pronunciation, in the use of tenses, and the sentence construction was too basic. But
the Americans got the meaning of it. I explained to those living in a state far from the
struggle against Fascism that we had come from a place where bombs were destroying
towns and villages, blood was being spilt, where innocent people were being killed, and
my native land was undergoing a severe ordeal.
An accurate bullet was no more than a response to a vicious enemy. My husband
had lost his life at Sevastopol before my very eyes and, as far as I was concerned, any
man I saw through the eyepiece of my telescopic sight was the one who killed him.
Strangely enough, Eleanor was embarrassed. She hurriedly looked away and said
that she had not wished to offend me; however, she thought this conversation was very
important and we would continue it in a more suitable setting, but now, unfortunately, it
was time for her to go. The First Lady rose from the table and hurriedly bidding us
goodbye, left the small dining room.
‘What did you just say to her?’ Nikolai Krasavchenko knitted his brows and,
exploiting his status as head of the delegation, looked me very sternly in the eye.
‘Nothing in particular.’ I brushed him off. ‘We can’t let the cheeky Yanks get
away with things.’” 27
27
Pavlichenko, Lady Death, 183.
�This was the first real example Eleanor Roosevelt had, of direct contact with a soldier of
the Soviet Union, and a women soldier at that. It is very revealing of how the two different
countries view women’s roles in the war and how American women might not even respond to a
woman fighting at the front. But it also shows the geopolitical differences between the two
nations, as one was very much more war weary than the other, as Pavlichenko’s words state. She
and her compatriots were equally bewildered by the American press and the interest they had and
questions they presented, as Pavlichenko referred to it as a “slinging match” between her and the
journalists after a student rally her group spoke at. She then again was met by Mrs. Roosevelt
after this event to invite them to a dinner held by a former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
Eleanor even insisted on taking Lyudmila herself, even driving the car. It was here the
Pavlichenko’s opinion of Mrs. Roosevelt started to change. Her initial perception was based on
her preconceived views, based on what the Soviets described as the Roosevelt’s privileged
upbringing. Eventually she then took her, and her two fellow soldiers, to meet the most powerful
man in America, her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She describes him as
“without question he was a very exceptional man, possessing a sharp mind a strong will” as they
chatted about the war. She found him very engaged on the aspects of the Soviet struggle at the
time, and his knowledge of the battles they had fought. They even joked about the American
press. It’s then Pavlichenko brings up an amazing part of the story, in terms of Franklin
Roosevelt and his views and helping the Soviet Union in the war.
“I could have gone on joking, but I wanted to ask Roosevelt that most important
question – about more active assistance for the Soviet Union, about the opening of a
second front in Western Europe which would draw away some of the German divisions
now fighting on the banks of the Volga.
Roosevelt seemed to guess what I was thinking. ‘Tell the Soviet government and
Mr. Stalin personally’, he said pensively, ‘that it’s difficult for me at the moment to
render more real assistance to your country. We Americans are still not ready for decisive
�action. We are held back by our British partners. But in their heart and soul the American
people are with our Russian allies.’” 28
Pavlichenko finished her trip to the United States able to call Eleanor Roosevelt a friend. She
talks about the correspondence they kept with each other after the war. Upon her return to the
Soviet Union, she again met with Stalin to discuss the trip. It was in this meeting, that he asked
her not to return to the front, as she wanted, but to become a teacher of rifleman and pass on her
knowledge to hundreds of potential snipers in the hopes of contributing more for the war effort.
He also awarded her with that most prodigious title, Hero of the Soviet Union, in recognition of
her exemplary service. After the war ended, she completed her degree and served for a time with
the Navy before a medical discharge. Even though she had a pension for her service, she would
then help design some of the next generation of sniper rifles for the Soviet Union, including the
famed Dragunov. She did suffer however, especially over the death of her husband during
Sevastopol, from what we now call post traumatic stress disorder, and died shortly after finishing
her memoir. Her legacy to a generation of Soviet women was unmatched though, she represented
to them what Vasily Zaitsev was to the men of the Red Army, their most famous hero.
The final way that women served in the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War was
arguably the one they have been most remembered for, although you can make a case for the
snipers just discussed. But this new role was as members of the Soviet Air Force. In fact, there
were three whole “wings” that were crewed and staffed exclusively by women, at least at their
inception. What is amazing about these three groups is the story behind how they were able to
get started, and the jobs they took on once they had their units officially made. You see, the
United States made use of women pilots, but only as cargo carriers usually behind enemy lines,
and never to engage the enemy. The women of the Soviet Union Air Force, however, were
28
Pavlichenko, Lady Death, 193.
�placed into combat roles and expected to kill Nazis. They excelled at it. The following section
will discuss their history and how they were able to get into the air and then become the force
that inspired fear in the Germans.
It’s important to start with the fact that in the prewar years, women in the Soviet Union
were big fliers. Many joined flight clubs as a hobby and others were barnstormers across the
country, and a very select few at the time were able to get a military commission. But by far
what these prewar women became famous for was setting international flying records. Many
Americans are familiar with the exploits of Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh, but the
Soviet Union had many such tales and icons of their own when it came to flight, and the most
famous one was held by a flight crewed by three women who all were early female members of
the Soviet Air Force. In what would come to be called the Flight of the Rodina, (Rodina is
Russian for Motherland) three women, Marina Raskova, Polina Osipenko, and Valentina
Grizdubova, set off in a plane called the Rodina in a harrowing flight across the Soviet Union.
Stalin himself had a personal appreciation for the mission and aided the women in their
preparations. The goal of the flight was to reach Komsomolsk which was in the furthest eastern
reaches of the vast Soviet Union, which was a major feat to undertake leaving from Moscow. It
was a dangerous undertaking and almost ended in disaster. As Dr. Pennington describes it in her
book “The aircraft completed most of its planned route, but poor visibility near the destination
prevented the crew from locating one of the few possible airfields in the area. They were running
low on fuel, and the women realized they would have to make a forced landing. The aircraft’s
emergency procedures called for the navigator to bail out before a forced landing.” 29 The
aircraft’s navigator was Raskova, who bailed out before the plane itself crash landed in the snow-
29
Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 16.
�covered forests of central-eastern Russia. The women who crashed made a shelter from the
aircraft and had some emergency supplies, so they had some slight protection from the elements
as they awaited rescue, but Raskova wondered the forest, in a flight suit not designed for the cold
weather, for several days until she located the crash site and met up with her compatriots shortly
before they were to be rescued, as Stalin would not allow such a historic event end in disaster. In
the end “it broke the women’s international straight line distance by more than 1,500 kilometers
and at the same time established a new women’s international nonstop broken line distance
record.” 30 The three women would go on to become huge propaganda tools for the Soviet Union,
as their story captured the headlines in the nation, and personally were toasted by Stalin at
numerous events, including one where he said: “today these three women have avenged the
heavy centuries of oppression of women.” 31 Raskova because of her struggle in the wild, drew
the most attention, but all three were appointed Hero of the Soviet Union, the first woman to
receive it and only ones before the war. 32 The flight itself, while not reaching its destination, was
still a notable achievement over the rest, you see the flight even flew for longer than Charles
Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight. So, it should be no surprise that the Soviet Union gave it such a
hero’s reception and publicized it in great detail, while it was not mentioned much in the western
countries where it was inconceivable for a group of women to attempt this. It surely played into
the stereotype they had, especially the Nazis, of Soviet Women as masculine brutes. But it would
go on to have a major impact on the future of women aviation in the Soviet Union, and that
would be thanks to this event and the connection Stalin developed with these women, especially
Raskova.
Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 17.
Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 17.
32
Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 17.
30
31
�It was this connection that allowed Raskova to appeal to Stalin and the Central
Committee to form air groups made entirely of women, from pretty much the start of the War.
Like most situations detailed in this paper, women immediately flocked to volunteer and were
turned away. It isn’t known for sure how the origins of these units came to be, if it was from a
committee in the government, the main Central Committee, or even Stalin himself. Regardless,
he approved of it, and Raskova is often credited with using her connections to get them formed.
There were three wings that were formed, the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, the
125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, and the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment with Raskova
as the group Commander. 33 From the onset the three groups were crewed entirely by women, as
well as having every ground role filled by a women engineer or technician. Eventually they
allowed some men into the ground roles later into the role, but by and large these three groups’
pilots and bombers were all women. Their roles were dangerous ones, especially given the
airplanes and equipment, or lack thereof in some cases, that they had to contend with. Alexandra
Semyonovna Popova, a Lieutenant of the Guards pilot in one of the bombing units, describes
what they had to contend and suffer with, while at the same time why they pressed on and the
pride they felt in doing this extremely dangerous job. 34
Many of these women felt similarly and suffered similarly yet were highly effective in their
specific roles. The 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment for example proved to be
deadly night bombers that struck fear into the Germans. So effective where they in their role, that
Pennington, Wings, Women, and War.
“The planes they gave us were Po-2s. Small, Slow. They flew only at a low level. Hedge-hopping. Just over the
ground! Before the war young people in flying clubs learned to fly in them, but no one would have imagined they
would have any military use. The plane was constructed entirely of plywood, covered in aircraft fabric. In fact, with
cheesecloth. One direct hit and it caught fire and it caught fire and burned up completely in the air, before reaching
the ground. Like a match. The only solid part was the M-11 motor.
Later on, toward the end of the war, we were issued parachutes, and a machine gun was installed in the pilot’s cabin,
but before there had been no weapons, except for four bomb racks under the wing – that’s all. Nowadays they’d call
us kamikazes, and maybe we were kamikazes. Yes! We were! But victory was valued more than our lives. Victory!
33
34
�the Nazi propaganda machine began to refer to them as “Night Witches” because, as one Soviet
veteran recounted, they believed “that the Russian women were given special injections and pills
to “give us feline’s perfect vision at night.” ” 35 These three groups fought with distinction under
Raskova who they revered as their commander. It was during the Battle of Stalingrad, a battle in
which all three groups played a vital role in the battle for air superiority in the skies over the city,
that Raskova perished in a crash landing. Her death was a great loss to the rest of the women,
who looked at her like a mother, despite not being much older than most of them. Indeed, the
whole country including Stalin felt the loss. Further proving the connection that existed to some
degree between the two, Stalin ordered that she be the first to receive a state funeral during, and
despite, the ongoing war. 36
While Raskova was the most famous women of the pre-war and flew until her death,
there is one pilot, who trained under her, and would go on to became famous for her aerial
exploits. Her name is Lilya Litvyak, and she was both a bomber and fighter pilot who achieved
fame in the skies over Stalingrad. What is fascinating about her, is that by the time she made her
fame in Stalingrad she had been assigned to a male regiment of fighters. This is where she
excelled immediately as one of her earliest air clashes shows,
“On September 13, she entered a dogfight against Germany’s Jagdgeschwader 53 unit,
among the most lethal fighter pilots on earth. Litvyak came through unscathed and
brought down her first Nazi plane, piloted by Erwin Maier, who was immediately
captured by the Soviets. Later that day, Maier’s captors introduced him to Litvyak. It
took a long time to convince him that this tiny blonde woman—little more than a girl—
had been the one to end his war.” 37
Douglas Martin, “Nadezhda Popova, WWII ‘Night Witch,’ Dies at 91,” New York Times, July 14, 2013,
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/world/europe/nadezhda-popova-ww-ii-night-witch-dies-at91.html?referringSource=articleShare
36
Reina Pennington, Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women Connecticut:
Greenwood Press, 2003. 354.
37
Edward White, “The Short, Daring Life of Lilya Litvyak,” The Paris Review, October 6, 2017
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/10/06/short-daring-life-lilya-litvyak-white-rose-stalingrad/
35
�This is a telling story because not only does it show the success, she was able to achieve in her
first real dogfight, but it also allows one to have a microcosmic look at the views of the two
combatants in how women should behave during war and their views on appropriate roles. After
this she took on the title “The White Lily of Stalingrad” based on her name and the fact she
painted a white lily on her plane. 38 The ‘Lily’ would go on to become an ace, which requires five
confirmed kills, over the skies of Stalingrad and by the time she was shot down she had a kill list
of 13. The deaths of both these women, along many of their other comrades affected each
woman, yet most steeled themselves and continued to fight on in the skies against the fascist
invaders just as bravely as the men of the Red Air Force.
As all the examples presented demonstrate, not only did women serve in a dedicated
combat role during the Second World War in the Soviet Union, but they also did so across a
variety of roles, and with distinction! Despite this, with exception, by the end of the war most
women were being drummed out of service. Even as early as 1945, they were being depicted in
Pravda as accompanying their husbands during the push to, and triumphant return from, Berlin. 39
This was deliberate on the part of the Central Committee. Among reasons given, besides
reverting to pre-war sentiments, was the need for women to reproduce to make up for the number
of lives lost during the Great Patriotic War. Yet the depths with which the Soviet’s went to
ignore the contribution that women gave to achieve their ultimate victory, which included a great
many deaths and even more rendered invalid, stunned even some of its most revered leaders
from the War. Dr. Pennington points out a great example of this from Marshall Georgy Zhukov’s
1959 memoir, in which he writes
38
39
Temar Ketko, “Not victims: the image of Jews in World War Two,” Jewish Culture and History (2017): 282
Marwick and Cardona, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War, 233.
�“I can't overlook one very important question which, in my opinion, is still
weakly covered in military literature, and at times unjustifiably forgotten in our reports
and work on the generalization of the experience of the Great Patriotic War. I have in
mind the question about the role of women in war, in the rear but also at the front.
Equally with men they bore all the burdens of combat fife and together with us men, they
went all the way to Berlin.” 40
This was one of the most revered Military leaders of any nation, who also played a major role in
Khrushchev’s rise to leader of the Soviet Union in the 50’s. If he was aware of this, clearly
others were as well, yet the Union remained silent until the start of the Cold War thawing of
tensions. It was then that these silenced women were finally able to start to tell their stories and
connect with fellow veterans. As one put it to Alexievich when interviewed for her book,
“I want to speak … to speak! To speak it all out! Finally, somebody wants to hear
us. For too many years we said nothing. For decades. The first year, when I came back
from the war, I talked and talked. Nobody listened. So I shut up … It’s good that you’ve
(Alexievich) come along. I’ve been waiting all the while for somebody. I knew
somebody would come. Had to come.” 41
These women’s stories have since become more known, and present-day Russia has taken steps
towards recognizing the role these heroic, yet every day, women played in victory not just for the
Soviet Union, but for all freedom loving people who wanted to triumph over the specter of
fascism. Still, we have a long way to go in giving these women, however belatedly, the proper
respect and credit they deserve. More study hopefully will be available as the archives in Russia
hopefully become open to researchers. Until then, given the age of the few remaining women
veterans, we must ask them for their service one last time, in telling their stories to any who will
listen, of how women are just as capable of waging war as men, be that a blessing or curse.
40
41
Pennington, “Offensive Women: Women in Combat in the Red Army in the Second World War” 820.
Alexievitch, The Unwomanly Face of War, 20.
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Senior Presentations Archive
Description
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This archive contains materials from Wagner’s annual ‘Senior Presentations.’ This event honors outstanding students from each discipline who completed their Senior Learning Community project with excellence. The work is representative of Wagner’s highest standards, and is exemplary of the diversity of subject matter, public-facing scholarship, and civic-minded professionalism our students have attained through their four years here. These students were specially invited to present their work in a formal setting, traditionally the day of Baccalaureate. Students are encouraged to present their work in a format appropriate for their discipline, and so, the presentations vary in their format. Some might be in the form of a short video, or paper abstracts, while others might be posters or music clips. We expect this archive to serve as a resource for generations to come. Congratulations to our Seniors!
Date
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2017 -
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
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2022
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Thesis
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2022_History_Araimo
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Christopher Araimo
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5/1/2022
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Soviet Women Fighting for their Rodina
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Alison Smith
History
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text
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application/pdf
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27 pages
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eng
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY