Note: This article has been updated. See the end of the post for details.
One likely reason that Louise Story came to the conclusion in her front page New York Times article Tuesday that many Ivy League women would rather be stay-at-home moms than part of the workforce: A skewed sample. She arrives at a conclusion about "women at the nation's most elite colleges" based on spot interviews with students from a few Ivy League schools and then a survey with students at one school: her own. Last school year, Story sent out a 37-question survey to a group of freshman and senior women at Yale University, her (and my) alma mater. While it is indeed possible that 60% of those who replied said "they planned to cut back on work or stop working entirely" when they had kids, as Story writes, it's doubtful that those who replied are representative of all Ivy League women.
Those who did not reply probably included some who were too busy or uninterested to spend the time to fill out the lengthy questionnaire. It definitely included people like Emily Holleman, a current sophomore who says she declined to fill out the survey because she thought it was flawed. "I felt that it was very badly phrased and strongly suggested that ALL women at Yale planned to a) get married and b) have kids. It also assumed that all women at Yale were straight," she told Gelf in an email. "It was relatively clear to me and several of my friends that she was either unable to construct a suitable survey or had already decided what answers she wanted to receive and constructed her survey based on what questions would induce these responses." (Gelf emailed Story to ask about the survey but haven't heard back from her yet. When we do, we'll post an update.)
Holleman passed along a copy of Story's survey. Here are a few loaded questions, most of them placed at the start of the survey:
If you plan to continue working, do you plan to work full-time in an office, or full-time from your house, or part-time in an office, or part-time from your house? Why?
If you plan to stay at home with your kids, do you plan to return to work? If so, how old will you wait for your kids to be when you return?
Was your mom a stay-at-home mom? Explain whether she worked, and how much she worked! Were you glad with her choice (to either work or stay-at-home or whatever combination she did)?
How do you think college-age men at Yale feel about whether wives should stay at home with their kids?
(So we have answers to some of the pointed questions posed by Jack Shafer on Slate about the survey: "But even a social-science dropout wouldn't consider the findings to be anything but anecdotal unless he knew 1) what questions were asked (Story doesn't say), 2) how many questionnaires were distributed, and 3) why freshman and seniors received the questionnaires to the exclusion of sophomores and juniors. Also, 4) a social-science dropout would ask if the Times contaminated its e-mailed survey with leading questions and hence attracted a disproportionate number of respondents who sympathize with the article's underlying and predetermined thesis.")
Salon's Katharine Mieszkowski notes that the Times ran an eerily similar article in its magazine section two years ago that came to the same conclusion. ("Why don't women run the world?" Lisa Belkin asks in the piece. "Maybe it's because they don't want to.") Mieszkowski counters by giving numbers from respected studies stating that more women—not fewer—are entering the workforce and that more families than ever are supported by dual wage earners.
Perhaps those trends don't apply to couples who are privileged enough to support their families with only one income. (And despite my Ivy roots, I tend to believe that an Ivy education is a better marker for wealth than for smarts.) But this dubious article doesn't prove much, besides that the Times should get out of the survey business.
Here's the whole survey:
Would you like me to keep your name anonymous?_________ (It is helpful to be able to use names in articles; however, I respect your need for privacy. If you'd like, you could allow me to use your name with most of your answers, but you can indicate in your answers any particular items that I should not associate with your name.)
When you have children, do you plan to stay at home with them or do you plan to continue working? Why?
If you plan to continue working, do you plan to work full-time in an office, or full-time from your house, or part-time in an office, or part-time from your house? Why?
If you plan to stay at home with your kids, do you plan to return to work? If so, how old will you wait for your kids to be when you return?
Was your mom a stay-at-home mom? Explain whether she worked, and how much she worked! Were you glad with her choice (to either work or stay-at-home or whatever combination she did)?
At what age do you think you'll have kids? How many kids do you want?
How certain do you feel that your above answers will represent what you'll feel when you actually have kids?
Since what age have you known the above answers (your plans and desires on whether to stay home with kids)?
Do you think most of your Yale friends feel the same way you do on these issues? If not, how do they feel? How about your non-Yale friends at less selective schools?
Is this something you've talked about with friends?
What have been the biggest factors affecting your opinions in this area?
How old are you and what is your birth date?
Where did you grow up?
What are your parents' occupations?
How many siblings do you have and are you the youngest, oldest or middle child?
What are your hobbies and what are your Yale extra-curriculars?
What is your major or, if you haven't decided, what academic subjects do you like best?
Why did you choose to come to Yale?
What do you think your career will be? (even if it is the career you will have only until you have kids) Do you think you'll attend grad school? If so, what type of grad school?
Are you in a serious relationship now? Have you been in one before?
Would you describe yourself as a feminist?
How do you think college-age men at Yale feel about whether wives should stay at home with their kids?
Any other comments?
Can I follow up with you to interview you on your life and career plans? What is the best way to reach you?
Update:
After Gelf posted the initial piece, we received a second survey from Holleman, which she says arrived in early February, slightly two months after she received the first one. This indicates that perhaps some of the recipients answered the second survey. It is unclear how many of the 138 answered each survey, and how many were sufficiently turned off by the first survey not to answer the second. Gelf still has not heard back from Story about the surveys, but we will update the piece once we do.
Here is the second survey:
Name:_____________________ Class of: ญญญญญญ______
Would you like me to keep your name anonymous?_________
Do you plan to have children? (If not, skip to question #6)
When you have children, do you plan to stay at home with them or do you plan to continue working? Why?
If you plan to continue working, do you plan to work full-time in an office, or full-time from your house, or part-time in an office, or part-time from your house? Why?
If you plan to stay at home with your kids, do you plan to return to work? If so, how old will you wait for your kids to be when you return?
At what age do you think you'll have kids? How many kids do you want?
Was your mom a stay-at-home mom? Explain whether she worked, and how much she worked! Were you glad with her choice (to either work or stay-at-home or whatever combination she did)?
How old are you and what is your birth date? Where did you grow up?
What are your parents' occupations?
How many siblings do you have and are you the youngest, oldest or middle child?
What are your hobbies and what are your Yale extra-curriculars? What is your major or, if you haven't decided, what academic subjects do you like best? What do you think your career will be and will you attend grad school?
What role do you expect your husband will play in your family, if you have kids? Will he work full-time, stay home, etc.?
How are you funding your college education?
Any other comments?
Subscribe to the Gelflog RSS
Comment Rules
The following HTML is allowed in comments:
Bold: <b>Text</b>
Italic: <i>Text</i>
Link:
<a href="URL">Text</a>