Seven college study

The Seven College Study was designed to compare men's and women's self-esteem, interpersonal self-confidence, and self-concepts by assessing the extent to which these personality traits are associated with sex-role-related goals, plans for marriage and family, preferences for combining career and family responsibilities, and future life priorities. The participants were women enrolled at the Seven College Conference Schools, and men enrolled at Harvard and Vassar Colleges. The Seven College Conference schools were selected based on previous research indicating that a significantly high number of female achievers are graduates of these schools. A sample of men enrolled at Harvard and Vassar was included in the study so that the goals and interests of the women could be compared with those of men enrolled in comparable colleges. Questionnaires were distributed to a random sample of students from the classes of 1981-85 in February 1981 and were completed during the next two months. The response rate was over 75%, resulting in a sample of almost 4000 women and 600 men. In 1982, students from the classes of 1982-84 completed a follow-up questionnaire. In 1983-84, a second follow-up was distributed to the class of 1984. Identical questionnaires were sent to the men and women. The questionnaires took approximately 30 minutes to complete, and included information on demographic and family background, life goals, career values, self-esteem, and self-concepts. The questionnaires also included information on college experiences, attitudes towards college programs and services, and stress. The Murray Center holds the computer-accessible data for all 3 waves of this study.