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College Achievement and
Vocational Efficiency
Ву
Bessie Lee Gambrill, Ph.D.
Head of the Department of Psychology, New Jersey State Normal School at Trenton
Formerly Profcssor of Education, Alfred College
TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION, NO. 121
Published by
Teachers College, Columbia University
New York City
1922
Copyrighted, 1922, by BESSIE LEE GAMBRILL
MCQUIDDY PRINTING COMPANY
NASHVILLE, TENN.
Replacement
Columbia
2- 260-463
47635
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THI
HE writer of this monograph wishes to express her debt to the
many individuals whose willingness to cooperate in this study
alone made its accomplishment possible. These individuals include
the presidents and registrars of the cooperating colleges through whose
courtesy the scholastic records of the subjects were made available,
the men and women of the class of 1903, in the cooperating colleges,
who furnished the statements of income and other vocational data
used in the study, Dean Emerson, emeritus, of Dartmouth, who made
a rating of former students on present vocational success and the
several members of the class of 1903 who furnished the ratings of class-
mates used in Chapter IV. Professor David Snedden, of Teachers
College, has given stimulating criticism in connection with some of the
suggestions of Chapter VIII.
To Professor George D. Strayer and Professor E. L. Thorndike, the
writer is especially grateful for encouragement, guidance, and construct-
ive criticism throughout the entire investigation.
B. L. G.
jii
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
vii
CHAP.
I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLEGE RANK AND
SUCCESS IN LIFE. THE PROBLEM DEFINED .
1
CHAP.
II. PREVIOUS STUDIES OF SUCCESS IN COLLEGE IN
RELATION TO SUCCESS IN LIFE
4
CHAP. III. COLLEGE MARKS AS RELATED TO INCOME TWELVE
YEARS AFTER GRADUATION
19
CHAP. IV. EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY IN RELATION TO
INCOME
42
CHAP.
V. INFLUENCE OF THE COLLEGE COURSE UPON THE
VOCATIONS OF COLLEGE GRADUATES
53
CHAP. VI. OTHER FACTORS HAVING A POSSIBLE BEARING UPON
SUCCESS IN COLLEGE AND SUCCESS IN VOCATION
72
CHAP. VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
78
.
CHAP.VIII. SOME PROBLEMS OF COLLEGE EDUCATION SUGGESTED
BY THIS STUDY
87
REFERENCES
98
INTRODUCTION
The study presented in this monograph is an attempt to discover the
relation between the vocational efficiency of college graduates as measur-
ed by income twelve and a half years after graduation and undergraduate
achievement as measured (1) by scholarship and (2) by extra-curricular
activity and success.
It was the writer's original purpose to include as a part of this inves-
tigation a measurement of the relation of certain other factors to income:
(1) time of choosing the vocation; (2) reasons for entering the first occu-
pation after graduation; (3) change in occupation and reasons for
change; (4) self-support while in college; (5) amount and kind of pro-
fessional study after graduation; (6) time of marriage and size of family.
Because of insuperable obstacles inherent in the nature of the available,
data this phase of the investigation had to be abandoned.
The data gathered with reference to time of choosing the life career
reasons for entering the initial occupation and reasons for change are
presented in Chapter V in an attempt to measure the influence of the
college upon the determination of the life careers of its graduates. The
facts in regard to self-support, graduate study, and marriage have been
summarized in Chapter VI mainly for the interest which attaches to the
occupational variations which the statistics reveal. No attempt is made
to measure the relation of these factors to vocational success.
The initiation of the investigation was prompted by the hope of con-
tributing in some small measure to the factual basis of the movement for
the more effective educational and vocational guidance of college stu-
dents. It is the writer's hope that the study may also serve to focus
attention upon a number of other problems of college administration.
These problems include (1) ways and means of increasing student re-
spect for scholarship; (2) more effective methods of measuring the raw
material which the college matriculates and the finished product which
it graduates; (3) ways and means of utilizing more effectively the educa-
tional posib ilities of extra-curricular activities; (4) the urgency of a re-
examination of the aims and function of the American liberal arts college.
vii
COLLEGE ACHIEVEMENT AND VOCATIONAL
EFFICIENCY
CHAPTER I
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLEGE RANK AND
SUCCESS IN LIFE. THE PROBLEM DEFINED
Aside from the sheer interest of the question, it is a matter of no
slight importance to know whether or not the attainment of high
grades in college is prophetic of equally great achievement in life. If
college is a preparation for life, the student who is most successful in
measuring up to its standards should, in the long run, be the most
successful in meeting the tests of life. This thesis has been generally
accepted by college officials, who have been greatly interested in prov-
ing that a positive and close relationship does exist between under-
graduate standing and success after graduation. Indeed, the meas-
urement of the relationship in question is the one scientific way of
testing the results of college education,
The worth of the measurement will depend, of course, upon the
validity of the measures applied and on the appropriateness of the
method used. Care must be taken, also, in interpreting the results
of such measurements and in drawing conclusions therefrom. For
example, the establishing of a positive relationship will not prove,
necessarily, as has sometimes been assumed, that the graduate's suc-
cess was produced by the studies in which, as an undergraduate, he
achieved distinction, and that the college curriculum has; therefore,
been acquitted of the indictment of impracticality and aloofness from
the real needs of life. Nor would it prove that distinguished alumni
had achieved their success because of the hard study which won the
high grades in college.' To the writer it would seem safe to assume
from a close, positive relationship between the facts in question, lit-
tle more than this: that the methods of selection used by the college
had succeeded in discovering and distinguishing those individuals
who possessed the qualities which would finally operate to distinguish
them among their fellows after graduation--that the criteria of college
and those of life were identical. This identity, or lack of identity, of
measures between college and life outside of college is in itself worthy
of test, however.
i Note the implication in the title of Foster's article in Harper's Magasine,
Sept. 1916, “Should Students Study?"
1
2
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
On the other hand, a failure to establish positive relationship between
the factors in question would admit of several possible interpreta-
tions.
In the first place it might indicate that the qualities essential to
success in college, as now measured, were not the same as those es-
sential to success in life. This conclusion, however, would not neces-
sarily follow. It might easily be true that the lack of relationship was
due to a failure on the part of the college to make the course of study
appeal to the student as worthy of the effort, the result of which
would really test his ability to succeed. In other words it might
mean that the course of study was either unrelated to life in
any vital way, or that it was so presented that this relationship was
not clear to the student and hence, for him at least, did not exist.
Until this latter possibility was disposed of, indeed, it would be unsafe
to assume the correctness of the first interpretation mentioned above.
Still another possible explanation of lack of relationship would have
to be considered. It may easily be true that the abilities tested by
success in the college curriculum are the same abilities required for
success in some occupations and quite different from those required for
success in other occupations. By massing the data for all occupations
such relationship as exists may be obscured. In order to test this
last interpretation, therefore, it would be necessary to analyze the
result of our measurement if it were negative by testing separately
the relationship in question for graduates in different occupations.
Apart from its obvious value as a check upon the results of college
education, a knowledge of what relationship actually exists between
college achievement and life achievement could be utilized in a number
of important ways. For example, if college authorities could prove
to students that the high stand man has a very much better chance
of success in life than has the low stand man-if they could prove this
on the basis of facts rather than offer it as a professional faith-if the
success achieved in life is of a kind to stir the ambition and emulation
of undergraduates, knowledge of this relationship might be expected
to increase student respect for high rank as a goal worthy of attain-
ment and hence of effort. At present it is a well authenticated fact
that undergraduates do not so regard high academic rank in spite of
the fact that the college has marked it with the stamp of highest ap-
proval. The desire for approval is a powerful incentive to buman en-
deavor, but it is the approval of one's peers that counts, and this is
1 Granted always that the measure used is a valid one, and the method of
its application is sound.
Relationship Between College Rank and Success
3
especially true in the case of the adolescent. Whether it be true or
false, so long as the tradition holds that college life is the thing and
that college studies do not count, high scholastic honors will be an in-
centive of very limited appeal. In any case the attainment of the
mark itself is not, of course, the goal to stress. But if success in the
college course is prophetic of life success, then it is desirable that the
honors attached to scholastic achievement be valued by the student as
are the equivalent honors in life outside of college. If, however, there
is no very close relationship between the factors in question, or if the
relationship holds only for certain occupations or when certain meas-
ures of success are applied, college authorities should be clear as to
the facts when they attempt to use the "success motive" as an aid to
winning student respect for scholarship.
The men who employ college graduates, and those who are cliarged
with the responsibility of recommending college graduates for positions
need to know the extent to which a student's marks are prophetic of
his later achievement. School superintendents, as well as business
men, tend very strongly to discount marks as a basis of selecting men
and women for positions. Are they right or wrong? If they are
right, the college needs to recognize this fact and to give grave
thought to its significance. If they are wrong the college officers
charged with the placement of graduates should in fairness to the high
grade students try to convince the employing public of its error. This
employing public can not be convinced by a reiteration of the beliefs
of college officers. These men demand proofs, and if the evidence
offered is to have weight with them the measures used for testing suc-
cess must be measures which appeal to them as valid.
A number of studies of the relation between success in college and
success in life have been made. These studies will be reviewed in
Chapter II, as a preliminary to the presentation in Chapters III and
IV of the writer's investigation of this question by the application
of somewhat different tests of success and the use of a different method
of measurement.
CHAPTER II
PREVIOUS STUDIES OF SUCCESS IN COLLEGE IN
RELATION TO SUCCESS IN LIFE
.
Dexter's study of "High Grade Men in College and Out" 1 is "an
attempt to follow the subsequent careers of high grade men in order to
determine their valuation by the world at large
The high
grade man in college has realized most nearly the ideals of his Alma
Mater . . if he fails in life it means that judged by another criterion-
that of society in the broadest sense—he is not a success: that the two
criteria are different, based upon different ideals, and as a corollary,
since life is the final test, that the college ideal is not a practical one and
that the aim of higher academic education is false.”
The study includes the living graduates of twenty-two typical Ameri-
can colleges which have had a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for at least
twenty years previous to 1900. In the first part of the study member-
ship in this honorary Greek letter society, which includes from 8 per cent
to 33 per cent of the highest scholars graduating in any year, was used
as the criterion of success in college. Mention in Who's Who was the
test of success in life.
The first method of comparison used was to determine the percentage
of Phi Beta Kappa men whose names were included in Who's Who, then
the number of graduates regardless of rank who attained this distinc-
tion. The result of the comparison in terms of percentages is given in
Table I.
The table shows for each college and for the group as a whole the
number of living Phi Beta Kappa graduates; the number of Phi Beta
Kappa graduates in Who's Who; the percentage of Phi Beta Kappa's in
Who's Who; the percentage of living graduates in Who's Who; the per.
centage elected to Phi Beta Kappa each year (weighted in terms of the
number of living graduates); the percentage of Who's Who men, grad-
uates of these colleges, who were elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
In interpreting this table Dexter says, “In the two columns d and e, we
have the basis of what seems to me an important comparison, the first
representing the percentages of high grade men who were successful
Popular Science Monthly, 62:424.
4
Previous Studies of Success
5
TABLE I
COMPARISON OF PHI BETA KAPPA GRADUATES AND RANK AND FILE GRADUATes
OF TWENTY-Two COLLEGES AS TO Who's Who SUCCESS
[DEXTER)
Colleges
Living
P. B. K.
Grads.
P. B. K.
% P.B.K.
Grads.
Grads.
in
Who's
Who's
Who
Who
% Liv-
ing
Grads.
Who's
Who
%Who's
% Elect- Who
ed to Elected
P. B. K.1 to
P. B. K.
a
b
с
d
e
f
g
1
20
25
25
25
20
12
16
-
-
29
36
22
4
21
11
38
9
139
2
3
1
3
-
-
8
25
Amherst,
Bow doin.
Brown---
Colgate.
Columbia.--
Cornell...
Dartmouth
Hamilton..
Harvard..
Hobart.
Kenyon.
Marietta
Middlebury-
N. Y. City College--
N. Y. University.
Rutgers.
Trinity--
Union.
Wesleyan.
Western Reserve.
Williams.
Yale..
1
630
358
658
184
310
212
650
366
1110
135
140
175
135
185
190
285
225
360
375
140
435
864
4.6
10.0
3.3
2.1
6.7
5.2
5.8
2.4
12.5
1.5
2.1
.6
2.3
1.1
3.1
1.7
5.3
6.4
5.6
3.6
7.6
6.5
aanwend w
2.6
2.2
1.8
1.7
.8
1.6
2.4
3.0
2.7
2.6
3.6
1.1
3.3
.8
.4
1.6
4.1
3.0
3.4
.4
2.8
2.3
40.3
59.8
52.4
57.0
39.6
30.0
45.2
45.0
40.8
40.0
33.0
33.0
30.0
10.0
42.0
83.0
40.0
34.3
47.7
45.5
54.1
24.5
1
33
33
12
1
25
33
25
25
-
-
6
5
12
23
21
5
33
56
1
-
1
-
-
1
-
-
1
20
12
39.3
Total
8122
481 Av. 5.9 Av. 2.1 Av.15.7
1 Weighted in terms of number of living graduates (1432).
in life according to our criterion, and the second the percentage of good,
bad and indifferent college men who achieved success in terms of the
same criterion. The averages at the bottom of these columns are very
expressive-5.9 per cent for the former to 2.1 for the latter. If we are
to accept these figures our conclusion must be that the Phi Beta Kappa
man's chances of success are nearly three times those of his classmates
as a whole,' that the upper stratum of college life is the upper stratum
1 Jastrow points out (Educational Review, 31:25, "Distribution of Distinction
in American Colleges'') that Dexter's figures as to total number of living alumni
are grossly inaccurate. The figures were taken from the New York World's Al-
manac. They were corrected by Jastrow from actual alumni lists of the colleges
in question. Dexter finds that 2.8 times as many Phi Beta Kappa men as alumni
in general are found in Who's Who. Jastrow's correction reduces the figure to 1.55.
6
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
still when put to the test, and to borrow still further from the nomen-
clature of the geologist, the cataclysm of graduation does not produce a
subversion of strata.”
As a second measure of attainment in college Dexter secured the exact
class standing of the graduates of two of the larger New England col-
leges. Inclusion in Who's Who was again used as the measure of life
su ccess. These data not only make it possible to determine the per-
centage of high grade men included in Who's Who, but also enable us to
see the distribution of Who's Who distinction through the lower scholar-
ship ranks of the class. The results are shown in Table II.
TABLE II
COMPARISON OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF Who's Who DISTINCTION THROUGH
SUCCESSIVE SCHOLARSHIP RANKS OF THE CLASS
(DEXTER]
Divisions of the Class
Percentages in
Who's Who
-
-
--
--
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
- -
-
First 10th of Class..
Second 10th of Class.
Third 10th of Class.
Fourth 10th of Class.
Fifth 10th of Class-
Last Half of Class
Rank and File.
5.4
2.9
2.5
1.8
1.8
1.9
2.2
1
Again the results are impressive, the 1st 10th of the class having to its
credit nearly two and one half times as many Who's Who men as the
r ank and file of the group. The percentage of distinction decreases, too,
as we pass downward through the deciles until we reach the fourth 10th.
After that, however, there is no decrease. In fact, the lowest half of the
class furnishes a slightly larger percentage of Who's Who men than do the
two deciles just above the middle point in scholarship for the class.
Professor Dexter states that this irregularity with reference to the per-
centage of Who's Who men in the lower half is even more pronounced
for those who graduated practically at the foot of the class. He states
that his figures for these men are not sufficiently accurate to form the
basis of percentages for these tenths considered separately. Professor
Dexter is at a loss for an adequate explanation of the situation here re-
vealed. "I know of no way to account for this,” he says, “unless it be
that those students who were able to keep a foothold among their class-
mates only with the greatest difficulty gave up all hope of success in
those pursuits ordinarily chosen by college graduates, following others
for which they were fitted by nature rather than by training, but in
Previous Studies of Success
7
which competition would be with a weaker class, while those who made
a moderate success of college work continued in a losing competition
with their classmates." It would be interesting and probably illumi-
nating to know the occupational distribution of each tenth of the group.
Unfortunately this distribution is not available.
Foster, in a study of the “Relation Between College Studies and
Success in Life,'' made in 1910, uses the class of 1894 of Harvard College
for his subjects.' He rejects membership in Who's Who as a measure
of life success because it unduly weights certain occupations and because
“there is a kind of life which does not express itself in offices or publica-
cations or advertised philanthropy which, nevertheless, the best men of
our colleges would be glad to promote, if possible, by the administration
of the curriculum.” For this measure he substitutes the judgment of
three men: LeBaron R. Briggs, dean of Harvard College when these men
were undergraduates, Edgar H. Wells, secretary of the Harvard Alumni
Association, and Frederick E. Farrington, associate professor of educa-
tional administration at Teachers College, and a member of the class in
question. There was no attempt by the investigator either to define
success or to specify methods or standards for measuring it. Presum-
ably each judge made his own definition of success. He was simply
asked to “choose those men who had achieved the kind of success which
he would be glad to have Harvard College promote, if possible, by the
administration of its curriculum. The only qualification was that men
whose careers appeared to be greatly aided by social position or heredi-
tary wealth should not be included in the successful group." Twenty-
three men were marked successful by two of the three judges. The
report does not offer any facts as to the deviations in the judgments of
the three.
The exact academic records of these twenty-three “successful” men
were copied, and the number of A's, B's, C's, etc., was used as the meas-
ure of scholastic success. As a check group twenty-three men were
selected at random, the membership being constituted by taking
every fifth name in alphabetical order from the lists of living members
of the class of 1894. The exact academic records of these twenty-
three men were also copied. The comparative results are given in
Table III.
It will be seen that the "successful" group received about three and
one-half times as many higher grades as the group chosen at random.
Foster concludes that "contrary to the popular notion, success in col-
lege as indicated by marks attained in college courses does give prom-
ise of success in later life."
1 Foster: Administration of the College Curriculum, p. 212.
8
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE III
COMPARISON OF THE SCHOLARSHIP OF 23 SUCCESSFUL MEN AND 23 MEN SELECTED
AT RANDOM, SHOWING RELATIVE RANK IN ALL COURSES OF THE TWO GROUPS
(Foster)
Group A
"Successful" Men
Group B
Random Selection
A...
B
-
-
-
-
-
1
C.
1
-
196
180
156
33
11
8
D.
E-.
Absent.
No Returns.
A---
B
C..
D.
E---
Absent.
No Returns
56
183
247
75
16
8
1
!
-
-
1
1
Total...
584
Total..
586
men
SO
Nicholson made a study of "Success in College and After Life” 1
based upon the high grade
of Wesleyan University.
The purpose of the study was to disprove the assertion
often made that the high scholar seldom achieves success in life. As
to the definition of success he says, “For the purposes of this investi-
gation, success is to be understood in the sense in which the world
generally uses it, too often synonymous with income. For the purpose
of this study is to disprove the assertions that the high scholar seldom
achieves success in life, and those who are fond of making such state-
ments have always in mind the practical and not the ideal-the success
of position and income." As a measure of this success in life he select-
ed mention in Who's Who or such accomplishment as would justify
such mention. Achievement of scholastic honor was the criterion
of college success. The 16,067 graduates, living and dead, were ar-
ranged in three groups. The first group comprised the oldest grad-
uates, from 1833 to 1859, most of whom were no longer living. Since
Who's Who is too recent a publication to include men from these class-
es, ² Nicholson, assisted by certain of his colleagues, selected those
whom he judged to be of Who's Who rank, making use of the data as
to their careers found in the Alumni Record. A second group included
the classes from 1860–1889. The measure of their achievement was
actual mention in Who's Who. The third group consisted of the mem-
bers of ten recent classes, those of 1890-1899. Since the youngest
1 School and Society, Aug. 14, 1915.
2 The first edition appeared in 1900.
Previous Studies of Success
9
of these classes had been out of college only fifteen years, the Who's
Who record was supplemented by the judgment of contemporaries,
three men from each class being asked to pick out the most successful
men in their respective classes. As to scholastic record, each of these
groups was divided into three sections: (1) honor men (the valedicto-
rians and salutatorians until 1873, then by a new system of honors,
from 1 to 7 in a class; from 1874 to 1906, the average was a little over
three to a class); (2) Phi Beta Kappa men (the top third until 1893,
after that the upper fourth of a class); (3) plain degree men. The
TABLE IV
COMPARISON OF VARIOUS DEGREES OF SCHOLASTIC HONORS WITH WHO'S WHO
DISTINCTION
(NICHOLSON]
Group I: 643 Men
Classes 1833-1859
Per Cent Judged by Faculty
to be of Who's Who Rank
Honor Men
P. B. K.-
Plain Degree
53
167
476
50
31
6
-
-
Group II: 604 Men
Classes 1860-1889
Per Cent Found in 1914-15
Edition of Who's Who
-
-
-
1
-
Honor Men
P. B. K.
Plain Degree
59
185
419
48
31
10
-
-
1
-
1
-
Group III
Classes 1890-1899
Per Cent in Who's Who or Judged
by Classmates as About to be
There
-
Honor Men
P. B. K..
Plain Degree
28
109
311
50
30
11
1
Total 1667 Alumni
Per Cent of Who's Who Rank
Honor Men
P. B. K..
Plain Degree
140
461
1206
50
31
9
-
-
10
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
comparison of these three degrees of scholastic attainment with refer-
ence to achievement of success in life as measured by Who's Who dis-
tinction is presented in Table IV. The arrangement is essentially that
used by Hollingworth.?
On the basis of these statistics he concludes that "we are justified
in assuming, that, for this college at least, the chances of distinction
for a high honor graduate, one of the two or three leading scholars of
the class, are just even. That one out of three of those elected to
Phi Beta Kappa is likely to achieve pronounced success in life, and that
each of the remaining members in the class has less than one chance in
ten of becoming famous."
In the Harvard Graduate Magazine for March, 1916,” Knapp reports
an interesting study based upon the latest Harvard Quinquennial, in
which is recorded the rank attained by certain high grade students
His study covers the Harvard graduates from 1851-1900 who were liv-
ing in 1915. He considers only high grade men, but compares the at-
tainment of various degrees of success in college among this high grade
group, with the chances of attaining success in life as measured by
mention in Who's Who. His report may be summarized as follows:
TABLE V
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SCHOLASTIC DISTINCTION WITH
REFERENCE TO PERCENTAGE GAINING Who's Who MENTION
(KNAPP)
Living Graduates
1851-1900
No. Mentioned in
Who's Who
Per Cent
Mentioned in
Who's Who
-
-
First Scholars..
First 10 Scholars.
Summa cum Laude.
Magna cum Laude.
Cum Laude.
Totals
-
-
-
--
-
-
30
308
221
865
1461
8683
22
138
94
173
251
1305
73.3
42.5
41.5
20.
17.2
15.
1
-
-
-
-
He concludes, “These figures indicate that rank in college seems to
have a relation to success in later life, the percentage of success being
in direct relation to such rank, and that the marking systems and ex-
aminations really show something of the merits of the man and his
chances in the future-a thing which we certainly doubted as undergrad-
uates and concerning which some of us have been skeptical in later life.
One other fact is noted by this investigator. Each successive decade of
1 Vocational Psychology, p. 194.
3. “The Man Who Led His Class in College--and Others."
Previous Studies of Success
11
the half century shows a smaller percentage of men who have attained
Who's Who success. This he thinks is due to the fact that the younger
graduates have not yet worked out their salvation and fully demon-
strated their worth.
Kunkel's "Standing of Undergraduates and Alumni"! is based
upon a study of the classes of 1876-1905, inclusive, of Lafayette College.
Judgment of classmates is used as the criterion of high standing of
alumni. Scholarship rank within one's class when the class is divided
into tenths or fifths, is the measure of undergra duate standing. Let-
ters were sent to ten men from each class, asking them to select the
five most successful men in their respective classes. Each judge was
left to define success in his own way, the only limitation being that men
who had inherited wealth or position and had done nothing with it
should be excluded. Three hundred letters were sent out, and 171
replies were received, but of this number only 123 gave the names of
five successful classmates. A number showed hesitapcy in making the
selection because they were out of touch with their classmates, or felt
themselves incapable of judging, while a few had scruples against a
supposed injustice to many worthy men who had not become wealthy
or conspicuous. Thirty names of non-graduates were sent, though the
letters had asked for graduates only, and some of the men included had
incomplete records. The final group of successful men studied includ-
ed 301 names, one-fifth thus being rated as most successful out of a
total of 1,593 alumni. In the tables following, the results of the com-
parison between highest of undergraduates and alumni are summarized.
The tables show that the first tenth or the first fifth of the class in
scholastic rank is more likely to be judged successful than are the suc-
cessive tenths or the fifths below the first, but that among the lower
ranks the percentages judged successful fluctuate, with a decided ten-
dency to increase in the lowest fifth of the class.
In respect to this last tendency, Kunkel says, “ The frequency with
whiclı successful men are found in the last fifth of the class-seems to -
afford some slight basis for the tradition .. that the low-stand men
in college rank high in life. I suspect, however, that this excess of
men in the lowest fifth of the class is due to the more or less unconscious
defenders of the low-stand men. At least one alumnus in reply to the
letter stated in so many words that he had called successful one man
who had done poorly in college because he had so far surpassed the
promise of his college record.”
1 School and Society, May 12, 1917.
A
12
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE VI
PERCENTAGE OF “SUCCESSFUL" MEN IN SUCCESSIVE TENTHS OF CLASS, RANK
IN CLASS BEING REDUCED TO PERCENTAGE BASIS
[KUNKEL]
Tentfis of Class
Basis of Success
Judgment
No.
of Men
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th|8th 9th 10th
1st
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
301
20.5 11.2 9.0 11.2 9.3 10.2 7.0 7.3 7.3 7.0
-
-
One or More
Classmates
Two or More
Classmates
All or All but One
Classmate
150
26.010.4 12.0 10.0 8.0 8.0 5.3 3.3 7.31 9.3
-
-
1
!
89
21.2111.2 11.2 9.91 6.2 9.01 5.6 3.4111.21 9.9
TABLE VII
PERCENTAGE OF "SUCCESSFUL" MEN IN SUCCESSIVE FIFTHS OF CLASS, RANK
IN CLASS BEING REDUCED TO PERCENTAGE BASIS
(KUNKEL)
Fifths of Class
Basis of Success
Judgment
No.
of Men
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
One or More
Classmates.
301
31.7
20.2
19.5
14.3
14.3
Two or More
Classmates.
150
36.4
22.0
16.0
8.6
16.6
All or All but One
Classmate.
89
32.4
21.1
15.2
9.0
21.1
As a further means of throwing light on this inconsistency in the
results, Kunkel made an analysis of the "successful” group which to
the mind of the present writer is very important. The group was first
analyzed as to the occupation of its members, and then the scholastic
distribution of each occupational group was determined. As to oc-
cupation the group was distributed as follows: lawyers, 65; teachers,
55; business men, 50; engineers, 42; ministers, 40; physicians, 29;
journalists, 11; scientific workers, 10.
The scholarship distribution is given for teachers and business men
only in Table VIII.
Previous Studies of Success
13
TABLE VIII
PERCENTAGE OF TEACHERS AND BUSINESS MEN IN SUCCESSIVE FIFTHS OF THE
CLASS ACCORDING TO SCHOLARSHIP
[KUNKEL)
Group
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Teaching---
62
20
5.5
9.1
3.6
-
-
1
Business
16
18
22.0
22.0
22.0
The distribution of successful teachers, he says, conforms most close-
ly to expectations; that is, that the numbers of successful men will de-
crease as one passes from the head to the foot of the class. The business
group, on the other hand, "formed the only group in which there ap-
peared to be an inverse ratio between class stand and alumni success
This group affords the only basis for the belief which has
been mentioned." He expresses the belief that "the large number of
men at the foot of the class who go into business do so because they
recognize that the learned professions are closed to them largely be-
cause of their scholarship failure.” This, he believes, is one explana-
tion for the large percentage of low-stand men who prove successful
in business. As a further explanation, he suggests that success in
business depends somewhat upon geniality and affability, which he
believes lead all too frequently to the undoing of a student's college
career.
He concludes that, “While a high stand does not carry with it any
sound guarantee of success in after life, on the average, it is wise to
attain that rank. Except in a business career, the poor students ap-
parently have a generally smaller chance of success than the leaders
in the classroom.''
"College Grades and Success in Life" is the topic of a report by
Louis Bevier based upon a study of 44 classes of Rutgers College
graduated between 1862 and 1905, covering in all 1326 graduates. The
test of success used is the judgment of four men, "who have the most
intimate knowledge of the body of alumni and no detailed knowledge
of their undergraduate scholarship standards." Each of these four
men was asked to pick from the entire alumni body about 30 men, who
had in their judgment achieved real eminence, and a second group of
from 250 to 300 men, roughly one-fifth of the entire number, who had
1 Educational Review, Nov. 1917.
14
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
been highly successful. This gives two lists representing two degrees
of success. Class rank is used as the measure of college success. The
first comparison made is of the percentages of first honor, second hon-
or, and third honor men found in the groups of eminence and of high
success, respectively. The percentage is found by dividing the total
number of men who form the group by the number from this group who
found a place in the list. The letters A, B, C, D, in the tables below
designate the lists of each of the four judges. ABCD1 refers to
a composite list made up of all names mentioned by two or more of the
judges. ABCD is a composite list including all names mentioned
in any list. Tables IX and X present the first comparison.
TABLES IX AND X
COMPARISON OF PERCENTAGE OF HONOR MEN FOUND IN GROUPS OF EMINENT
AND SUCCESSFUL MEN RESPECTIVELY
(BEVIER]
EMINENT MEN
A
32
B
33
с
32
D
28
ABCD1
36
ABCD 2
54
First Honor.
Second Honor..
Third Honor..
20.5
9.1
4.5
25.0
9.1
4.5
18.2
4.6
6.8
22.7
6.8
2.3
25.0
11.4
4.3
27.3
13.6
6.8
SUCCESSFUL MEN
A
306
ABCD 2
B
286
с
266
D
303
ABCD 1
316
480
First Honor...
Second Honor..
Third Honor.-
52.3
47.7
27.3
52.3
40.9
18.2
54.5
40.9
20.5
52.3
40.9
27.3
52.3
47.7
25.0
65.9
59.0
40.9
The percentages in these tables show that more than one-fifth of
the men who graduated with first honors are found among the small
number of men who are rated as eminent, and more than half among
those who are rated as highly successful. The second honor men seem
to stand only a little more than half as good a chance for attaining
eminence as the first honor men. Their relative chances for "life
success" are a little better, 48 per cent (approximately) of the second
honor men attaining this rating as compared with 52 per cent of the
first honor men so rated. The third honor men seem to have a still
smaller chance for either eminence or high success.
Previous Studies of Success
15
Several other tables are presented. The next pair show the percent-
age of eminent men and the percentage of successful men in the first
sixth, fifth, fourth and third of the class ranked according to scholarship.
Giving the comparison for the composite group ABCD! only, the
results are:
TABLE XI
PERCENTAGE OF EMINENT MEN AND SUCCESSFUL MEN (ABCD1 GROUP ONLY)
IN FIRST SIXTH, FIFTH, FOURTH AND THIRD OF CLASS RANKED
ACCORDING TO SCHOLARSHIP
[BEVIER
Eminent Men
Successful Men
-
I
-
-
First 6th.
First 5th..
First 4th.
First 3rd.
-
1
-
7.7
6.8
6.0
5.4
35.3
35.4
34.3
32.1
-
I
1
This indicates that at the top of the class in scholarship, the smaller
the division considered, the larger the percentage of eminent men it
contains. The same tendency holds for the "successful" group, but
the size of the increase with the narrowing of the section is much smaller
in amount.
The next comparison considers the relative number of eminent and
successful men found in each fourth or third of the class as a whole.
In the table that follows, this distribution is shown for the 4ths of
the class, using again only the percentages for the composite group
ABCD
TABLE XII
PERCENTAGE OF EMINENT AND SUCCESSFUL MEN FOUND IN EACH FOURTH AND
THIRD OF CLASS AS A WHOLE
[BEVIER
Eminent Men
Successful Men
1
First 4th.
Second 4th.
Third 4th.
Fourth 4th.
6.0
3.0
1.5
0.3
34.3
24.7
20.5
15.4
-
--
Again the figures are consistent, the percentages regularly decreas-
ing from the first to the fourth quarter of the class, the decrease being
more rapid in the small lists of eminent men and less marked in the
larger lists of highly successful men.
These comparisons seem to justify Bevier's conclusion that “under-
graduate scholarship has a very important relation to future success,
16
College Achievement anel Vocational Efficiency
not necessarily in regard to an individual, but unmistakably when the
whole membership of classes is considered."
While the investigation reported in this monograph is concerned
with the relation between the undergraduate academic success of
the baccalaureate graduate and his later vocational achievement, it
seems worth while as a matter of interest to review briefly the available
studies of the relation between scholastic success in the professional
school and later professional success.
Dr. D. E. Rice, of Pratt Institute, made a comparison between the
marks achieved in courses in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical
Engineering and the salaries the men were receiving four to six years
after graduation." The men were ranked (1) on the basis of marks re-
ceived in the eight subjects studied and (2) on the basis of the salaries
they were receiving at the time the investigation was made. Correla-
tions were made for each class separately in order to make the salaries
comparable. The following table shows the coefficients of correlation
calculated by two methods.
TABLE XIII
SHOWING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SCHOOL STANDING AND SALARIES
EARNED IN LATER LIFE
[RICE)
Correlation by
Pearson Method
Correlation by Per Cent
of Unlike Signed Pairs
Class and Year
Cases
P.E.
r
P.E.
-
Mechanical
Mechanical
Mechanical --
Electrical
Electrical
Electrical
'07
.'08
'09
'07
.'08
'09)
35
41
39
26
36
41
.36
.25
.21
.16
.46
.16
.08
.09
.09
.13
.08
.22
.34
.06
.25
.51
.28
.09
.08
.10
.12
.08
.09
0
.10
Averages.
.267
.277
-
The coefficients here presented are all positive but small in size
denoting a general but not marked tendency toward agreement be-
tween the degree of success achieved in the technical school course,
and the relative financial rewards in salary four to six years after grad-
uation.
1 Reported by Hollingworth, Vocational Psychology, pp. 195–99. It should be
noted that these courses are not really engineering courses. They offer, according
to Rice (Scientific American, Aug. 9, 1913), technical and practical training in-
tended to prepare young men for positions of responsibility above the grade of
skilled mechanic in mechanical, electrical and chemical manufacturing and
industrial plants.
Previous Studies of Success
17
Dr. George E. Payne,' president of Harris Teachers College, St.
Louis, made a study of the relation between the scholastic records in
professional subjects of graduates of the college and ratings given them
by principals in the public schools. The teachers were rated for man-
agement of children, instruction and attention to details. Markings
were given on the service as temporary substitutes, permanent sub-
stitutes, and appointed teachers. Table XIV shows for appointed
teachers the percentage of excellent, good, medium and unsatisfactory
ratings given for each third of the class from highest to lowest. Half
of the group had taught one term and the other half two terms.
TABLE XIV
PERCENTAGE OF GRADES GIVEN BY PRINCIPALS TO GRADUATES OF HARRIS
TEACHERS COLLEGE IN THEIR FIRST YEAR OF TEACHING
[PAYNE]
Attention to Details
11
MU
E
EG
M
U
Management
Instruction
E
G
M U E G
Highest Third.. | 39.11 46.71 12.01 2.2 39.9150.2 9.5
Middle Third.. 40.5 58.1 1.4 0.0 27.0 71.6 1.4
Lowest Third.-- / 39.5 57.91 2.6 0.01 17.1) 80.31 2.6
E-Excellent G-Good M–Medium U-Unsatisfactory
.4
.0
.0
69.81 28.2 2.0
79.9 17.6 3.5
78.6 20.0 1.4
.0
.0
.0
Payne concludes that there is a decided relationship between success
in the professional school and success in teaching. He notes, however,
the more marked relation between success in instruction and scholarship
than between the latter and either the management of children or atten-
tion to details. He explains this as due in part to the fact that there is
no instruction given by the college in those subjects and in part to the
fact that the young teacher faced with numerous unfamiliar situations,
naturally stresses the thing she can do best, and that is instruction.
Professor Raymond Walters, of Lehigh University, reports a recent
study of the scholastic standing upon graduation of 392 eminent engi-
neers. The study was made through the cooperation of the registrars
of seventy-five colleges, technical schools and universities. The bases
of eminence rating were (a) holding of office or (b) membership in stand-
ing committees or (c) service as representative of the four "founder"
engineer societies during the years 1915-1919. The societies were, The
American Society of Civil Engineers, The American Society of Mechani-
1 "Scholarship and Success in Teaching,” Journal of Educational Psychology,
April, 1918.
2 "The Scholastic Training of Eminent American Engineers,” School and
Society, March 12, 1921.
18
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
cal Engineers, The American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and The
American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. The bases
used tend to emphasize scientific and ethical aspects, as the officials and
representatives are chosen for outstanding worth.
By comparing the percentages of these eminent engineers in fifths of
their respective classes upon graduation, it was shown that (1) nearly
one-half of them were in the highest fifth of their class; (2) nearly three-
fourths were in the highest two-fifths of their college classes; only one
out of twenty-five was in the lowest fifth of his class scholastically.
CHAPTER III
COLLEGE MARKS AS RELATED TO INCOME TWELVE
YEARS AFTER GRADUATION
The investigation reported in this chapter uses as a test of vocational
success, income twelve years after graduation. As a test of academic
achievement it uses the complete academic record of each individual
included in the study. It is based upon a single class, 1903, men and
women, academic graduates of eleven colleges. The method used is
that statistically known as correlation. The data were gathered in the
fall and winter of 1915-16, before the World War had begun to influence
to
any
appreciable degree the vocational status of the men and women
who are the subjects.
The subjects are the baccalaureate graduates of the class of 1903 in
Bowdoin College, Brown University (men only), Dartmouth College,
Jehns Hopkins University, Barnard College, Goucher College, Mt. Hol-
yoke College, Smith College, Oberlin College and the undergraduate
schools of the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri. It
will be noted that the list of colleges includes four men's colleges, four
women's colleges, one privately endowed co-educational college and the
undergraduate schools of two middlewestern universities.
The chief considerations influencing the selection of the institutions,
beyond the requirement that they be of unquestioned standing as col-
leges, were willingness of the college authorities to cooperate in the study
and the nature of the data contained in alumni bulletins.
A single class throughout the eleven colleges was made the basis of
study in order to furnish a group which had been out of college for the
same length of time and had been subjected to the same general econom-
ic conditions. The class of 1903 was chosen as furnishing a group whose
members had been out of college long enough to find themselves voca-
tionally, yet not long enough to render the conclusions drawn from
their experience wholly inapplicable to the present college generation.
The living members of this class furnished a total of 1153 names, 563
men and 590 women.
The chief data used and their sources were: (1) Occupational records
found in alumni catalogs; (2) present incomes obtained by questionnaire
from members of the class of 1903 in the eleven cooperating colleges;
(3) judgments of classmates as to life success of their fellows;' (4)
1 Used in Chapter IV.
19
20
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
complete academic records for this class transcribed from the college
records under the supervision of the registrars.
This investigation is concerned with baccalaureate graduates only.
In certain colleges, however, there was no distinction made in the alumni
lists between the straight baccalaureate graduate, the semi-professional
graduate (B. S. in engineering, agriculture, architecture, chemistry, etc.)
and the professional graduate (L. L. B. or B. L. S.). So it came about
that the responses to the questionnaire and the scholarship records includ-
ed a number of these professional and semi-professional graduates. The
records of these individuals have been kept separate from those of the
baccalaureates and were not used in the measurements to be reported.
OCCUPATIONAL AND INCOME STATISTICS
Table XV presents the occupational distribution of the men of the
class of 1903 in the cooperating colleges, and shows the percentage of
each occupational group who sent replies to the questionnaire. These
percentages of replies serve as some index of the interest of the group as
a whole and of the differences in interest among the various occupational
TABLE XV
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION, CLASS OF 1903 (MEN), SHOWING PERCENTAGES
OF EACH OCCUPATION ANSWERING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Bac.
Grad.
Prof.
Grad.
Semi-
Prof.
Grad.
Total
Bac. Prof.
Reply- Reply-
ing ing
Semi-
Prof.
Reply-
ing
Total
Reply-
ing
Per-
centage
Reply-
ing
1
-
.
1
--
-
-
-
Business
149 8 9 166 63 8 6 77 46.4
Teaching
83
2 85 65
65 76.5
Law..
66
20
86 41 6
47 54.7
Medicine.
54
54 32
32 59.3
Engineering
39
42 81 21
32 53 65.4
Ministry--
21
21 13
13 61.9
Other Occupations. 44
14 58 22
5 27 46.5
Unknown
11
1 12
Totals..
| 467 | 28 | 68 | 563 | 257 | 14 | 43 | 314 / 55.8
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
groups in the question of relationship between college activities and
vocational achievement. They represent rather less than the real per-
centage of interest, however, as the base used in calculating the percent-
· ages is the total number of individuals in each group, which includes
those who were not reached by the questionnaire either because they
were abroad or because their correct addresses were not available.
The group yields 467 baccalaureate graduates, 28 graduates with
professional degrees (27 L.L.B. and 1 B.L.S.); and 68 with semi-
professional degrees (B.S. in M.E., E.E., C.E., Ag., Ch., Arch.). The
College Marks as Related to Income
21
occupational distribution of the baccalaureate group shows that 149 of
the 467 men or 31.9 per cent are in business, 83 or 17.8 per cent are
teachers; 66 or 14.1 per cent are lawyers; 54 or 11. 6 per cent are physi-
cians; 39 or 8.4 per cent are engineers; 21 or 4.5 per cent are ministers;
44 or 9.4 per cent in other occupations (journalism, forestry, chemistry,
farming, social work, dentistry, public service, architecture, pharmacy,
scientific work, library, music, dramatic reading, in the order listed, one
to eight in a given occupation). The occupations of 11 men, 2.3 per cent
of the group, are unknown.
With reference to replies to the questionnaire, the table shows that
nearly 56 per cent of the group as a whole (55 per cent of the baccalaure-
ate group) indicated their interest by responding with a part or all of the
information requested. The highest percentage of replies, 76.5 per cent,
came from the teachers. Replies from the other occupational groups
came in the following order: engineers 65.4 per cent; ministers 61.9 per
cent; doctors 59.3 per cent; lawyers 54.7 per cent; business men 46.4 per
cent. Of the unclassified group, 46.5 per cent replied. The outstand-
ing fact here is the very high percentage of replies from teachers, the
high percentage for professional groups in general as compared with the
considerably lower percentage of replies from the business group. Apart
from their possible use as an index of interest in this investigation, these
percentages offer one basis for estimating the reliability of the results
of this study.
Table XVI gives the occupational distribution of the women of the
class of 1903 in the cooperating colleges.
There are 556 living baccalaurate graduates, 34 professional graduates
(32 B.L.S. and 2 L.L.B.)—590 in all. Of the baccalaurate group, 285
or 51.2 per cent are married; 213 or 38.3 per cent are engaged in paid
occupations; 53 or 9.5 per cent have no recorded occupation. A number
of the group with no present occupation have been employed at different
times since graduation for periods of varying lengths. Undoubtedly
some members of this group would, if specifically asked, report them-
selves with some volunteer or unpaid occupation, either "helping at
home" or social work, as did three of those to whom question blanks
were sent by mistake.
22
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XVI
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION, CLASS OF 1903 (WOMEN)
Occupation
Baccalaureate
Professional
Totals
Paid Occupations
1
-
-
1
1
1
-
-
1
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
21
144
19
21
10
1
2
1
3
144
19
21
31
1
2
1
1
-
-
-
-
Teaching -
Business.
Soc. and Relig.
Librarian..
Law.
Medicine.
Osteopathy
Nursing
Journalism
Craft Jewelry-
Science.
Farming--
Paid Homekeeping --
Interior Decorating -
1
cr WANA
-
-
-
i
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
3
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
.
-
-
-
Totals.--
213
21
234
Unpaid Occupations
285
11
296
Marriage..
Volunteer Social Ser-
vice and Unpaid
Homekeeping --
Students.
3
3
2
2
-
1
Totals..
290
11
301
No Recorded
Occupations-
53
2
55
Total Women
Graduates.
556
34
590
Of the 213 baccalaureate graduates engaged in paid occupations, 144
or 67.6 per cent are teachers, 21 or 9.8 per cent are in social and reli-
gious work; 19 or 8.9 per cent are in business (mostly secretaries or
stenographers); and 10 or 4.7 per cent are librarians. The number in
each of the other recorded occupations is too small for separate treat-
ment. Of the 34 women who took professional degrees (32 B.L.S. and
2 L.L.B.) 11 or approximately 30 per cent are married; and 21 or ap-
proximately 60 per cent are librarians. Replies were received from 136
or 47.7 per cent of the married baccalaureate graduates, and from 150 or
70.4 per cent of the 213 engaged in paid occupatiovs.
College Marks as Related to Income
23
TABLE XVII
INCOME DISTRIBUTION OF LARGER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS 121 YEARS AFTER
GRADUATION
Men
Women
Income
Teach-
ing
Business Law
Medi-
cine
Engi- | Minis- | Teach-
Business
neering try ing
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
1
1
-
-
-
- -
-
I
-
-
--
1
1
-
--
NI
73
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3
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1
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ابر بر یہ یہ ہر ٹی
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1
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+28
17
†12
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†12
8
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+7
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$500- 750
760 889.-
900-1150.
1160-1350.
1360-1550.
1560-1750
1760–1950.
1960-2150
2160-2350..
2360-2550
2560-2750
2760-2950.
2960-3150
3160-3350
3360-3550
3560-3750.
3760-3950
3960–4150
4160-4350.
4360-4550.
4560-4750.-
4760-4950-
4960-5150.
5160-5350
5360-5550...
5560-5750.
5760-5950.
5960-6150.
6160–6350...
6360-6550
6560-6750
6760-6950.
6960–7150
7160–7350.---
7360–7550.
7560-7750.-
7760–7950.
7960-9900
10,000–11,000
11,000–12,000
12,000-13,000
13,000-14,000..
14,000–15,000 ...
15,000–16,000.-.
16,000-17,000.-
17,000-18,000.-
1
1
!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
2
5
-
-
-
1
2
-
1
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
1
1
- -
-
-
--
-
-
-
I
-
1
1
1
-
-
1
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
1
1
-
-
5
1
-
-
I
-
1
1
i
1
1
1
1
-
-
-
2
2
1
-
-
1
1
1
-
-
1
-
-
1
I
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
1
- -
1
-
- -
1
1
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
1
--
Total Frequencies
65
67
34
30
20
13
95
12
U
Median Income. $2000 $3000 $3275 $3050 $2150 ($1932 $1200 $950
fIndicates the limits of the middle 50 per cent for each occupation.
24
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
The same form of occupational questionnaire was sent to the unmarried
women engaged in paid occupations as was sent to the men. Since
income is used in this study as a measure of vocational attainment
this group is the only one whose records furnish data for inclusion in the
particular measurement to be reported in this chapter. A different
questionnaire was sent, however, to the married group in the hope of
obtaining data which might contribute toward the development of
some measure of success in what is commonly designated as "home mak-
' Statistics of replies to this questionnaire are included in the sum-
mary of replies given below. Questionnaires were not sent to those
women listed in the alumni catalogues as having no occupation. In a
few cases because of errors in the alumni lists question blanks reached
women who were neither married nor engaged in paid occupations.
Replies were received from 136 or 47.7 per cent of the married bac-
calaureate graduates and from 150 or 70.4 per cent of the 213 women
engaged in paid occupations.
The income distributions for each of the larger vocational groups,
men and women, are presented in Table XVII. These figures were ob-
tained from the questionnaire blanks of baccalaureate graduates in
response to the question:
"For the past year what was your income from all
sources (exclusive of inheritance and income from
inheritance) ?"
METHOD OF MEASUREMENT USED
The method used in the measurement of the relation between under-
graduate marks and income twelve years after graduation is the method
statistically known as correlation. This method is based upon the as-
sumption that the most probable measure of relationship between two
factors takes account as fully as possible of the varying amounts of each
factor considered. It differs markedly from what Thorndike calls the
"all or none" method which disregards the amounts or degrees of the
factors to be measured. The all or none treatment would either include
or exclude a man from the group "successful men" or "high scholarship
men." It is illustrated in most of the studies reported in Chapter II.
But success, however defined, is a relative matter and exists in vary-
ing amounts. The method of correlation arrives at its results by a
comparison of each amount of the first factor with the amount of the
1 The attempt to devise such a measure was abandoned so far as this par-
ticular investigation is concerned. The data collected concerning the activities
of the married women will probably be used in a later study dealing with that
group specifically.
College Marks as Related to Income
25
second factor which accompanies it. That is, in the case of our problem,
each of the varying amounts of undergraduate scholastic attainment
achieved by the members of the group studied is compared with the
amount of income of the same individual in later life. These paired
values for each individual, namely, rank or grade in scholarship and rank
or number of dollars income, constitute the two series from which the
coefficient of correlation is calculated. This coefficient of correlation is
a measure of the probable closeness of relationship between scholarship
and income.
A perfect positive correlation, denoted by p=1, would indicate that
for the group studied, at least, it would have been possible to predict
accurately a man's future position as to income among his fellow gradu-
ates on the basis of his undergraduate scholastic record. The size of
the r, that is, its approximation to the perfect correspondence indicated
by 1.00, is the measure of the closeness of relationship between the fac-
tors in question. For example, r=.99 would be practically perfect
correlation.
If a coefficient of -1.00 were found, this would indicate a perfect
inverse relationship between scholarship and income. Future earnings
could still be safely predicted from marks, but we should then find the
man who stood at the bottom of the class enjoying the largest income
and the man who led his class receiving the smallest monetary reward.
This would more than substantiate the student tradition that the high
scholarship man is likely to be outstripped by the poor student in the
years after graduation. The size of the r, then, denotes the closeness
of the probable relationship, while the sign plus or minus, shows whether
the relationship is positive, that is, such that increments of the one may
be expected to be found with increments of the other, or negative, that
is, larger amounts of the one may be expected to occur with correspond-
ingly smaller amounts of the other.
It must be remembered that a coefficient of correlation represents
simply the most probable measure of relationship between two factors
in the group studied. The extent to which inferences drawn from cor-
relations obtained from one group may safely be applied to other simi-
lar groups will depend upon the degree to which the group measured is
a random sampling of the larger whole of which each group is a part.
The group measured must also include enough cases to be truly represen-
tative of the larger group from which it was drawn. That is, a co-
efficient of correlation between scholarship and income, to be of value
for prognosis of the vocational success of college men and women, should
be the result of measuring a random selection of college graduates of
26
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
sufficient number to be representative of college graduates in general.
The correlations reported in this chapter, in so far as their reliability is
established, measure the probability that scholarship in college is pro-
phetic of success in vocation, success being measured by income twelve
and one-half years after graduation. The exact meaning of different
series of correlations is defined in each case, in terms of the data which
were available and the method used in calculating the coefficients.
The writer believes that the men and women included in the class of
1903 in the eleven cooperating colleges are a fairly representative body
of college graduates. Ideally the group should have been selected to
include every type of college, and every section of the country. The
ideal in these particulars was sacrificed to the availability of the re-
quired data and the limitations of time and money. The numbers
included in the basal group, something over eleven hundred men and wo-
men, seemed large enough for valid conclusions. Unfortunately, the size
of this group was reduced in various ways so that the actual correlations
were based on numbers much smaller than they should be for precise
arguments, involving small differences. It is hoped that at least they
are large enough to suggest a trend which may be verified or corrected
by further studies using the same methods of measurement.
FACTORS DETERMINING NUMBER OF CASES FOR CORRELATION
A number of conditions operated to reduce the original group of 1153
college graduates, and to break it up into smaller groups, thus reducing
the reliability of the coefficients of correlation finally calculated. In
the first place something over 100 individuals were not reached by the
questionnaire, because of defective or missing addresses or because of
foreign residence. In the second place, something over one half of the
women were married and since the majority of these had no paid occupa-
pation obviously the income measure of success was inapplicable to
them. In the third place, because of the failure of the alumni lists to
distinguish the baccalaureate graduates from those whose courses were
more definitely specialized as indicated by a B.S. in Agriculture, Chem-
istry or Engineering, or distinctly professional as implied by a degree
of L.L.B. or B.L.S., 130 men and women to whom letters were sent
fell outside of the specific inquiry with which this monograph is concern-
ed. A fourth factor in reducing the number of cases for correlation
was failure to respond to the questionnaire. Income, one of the two
measures for correlation, was available only for the men and women
who were willing to furnish this item.
The final cause which operated to produce correlations based on a
College Marks as Related to Income
27
much smaller number of cases than was expected from the size of the
original group, was the necessity of dividing the baccalaureate graduates
who furnished complete data for correlation into groups, first on the
basis of vocation, and second, on the basis of sex. Inspection of the
tabulation of income distributions for different occupations given in
Table XVII, page 23, will reveal at once the invalidity of any measure-
ment of the relation between scholarship and income which fails to
differentiate the vocations in which the incomes were earned. The use
of income as a measure of vocational success can only be justified on the
assumption that in the long run the best teachers, the best lawyers, the
best ministers, receive the highest remuneration, as compared with their
fellows in the same occupations. Were we to disregard vocational lines
we should have to conclude on the basis of the income distribution of
Table XVII that the most successful college graduates were lawyers
and business men. This conclusion would rest on the assumption that
income constitutes success. The writer makes no such assumption.
Rather, income is used as an objective, albeit an imperfect index of the
public's recognition of the individual's relative worth within his voca-
tion.
A further reason for measuring the relationship in question separately
for each vocation, revealed itself in the course of this study. By tabulat-
ing the scholastic ranks of the individuals in the larger vocational groups
it was found that the distribution of these ranks differed markedly
among the various vocations. Table XVIII shows this distribution
for men.
The individuals in a given college class were ranked among
their classmates on a scale from 1 to 32. Column X shows the fre-
quency with which each rank was attained by individuals in each of the
larger vocational groups. The median ranks are given at the bottom of
the table for comparison. The high median rank for teachers, 8.5, and
for engineers, 11, and the low median rank for business, 21, are striking
features of this comparison. The variations in distribution among oc-
cupations for women are of doubtful significance because of the small
number of cases represented in occupations other than teaching. The
tabulation for women is therefore omitted.
28
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XVIII
DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOLASTIC RANKS BY OCCUPATIONS
x---Distribution of all baccalaureate graduates in a given occupation.
Y-Distribution of those whose incomes were available for correlation.
2-Distribution of those whose incomes were not available for correlation.
Frequencies for Different Occupations (Men)
Scholarship
Rank
Teaching
Business
Law
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
X Y Z
X Y Z
X Y Z
X Y Z
X Y Z
X Y Z
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 1
3 3
4 3
6 5
4 4
3
3 3
2 2
3 3
2 2
2 2
1 1
1 1
1
1
II II I had I found on I
1
1 1
2 1
2
2 1
4 3
1 1
2 1
1 1
2 1
2 2
3 2
4
WWNW War IPNIH I a II 1
1
1
1
1
1.-..
2..
3.
4.
5.-
6.-.
7.
8
9.---
10...
11.-
12.-
13...
14..
15...
16.-..
17.---
18...
19.
20...
21.-
22...
23.--
24.-
25.
26..
27.---
28.--
29...
30..
31.
32..
1
1
2
1
3
1
3
1
2
2
1
3
3
2
3
3
1
INI 1 1 1 1 I Call TNI I
ܙ ܚܕ ܙ | ܝܙ ܪܨ ܙ ܢܬ ܚ ܙ ܝܙ ܝܙ ܙ
II eu I l I will I NINNN tanto parents who I INI
A NINUNWNINHNWNINHI TIWNarII
ܝܙ ܙ ܝ | ܙ ܝܝܕܬܝܝܕ ܙ ܚ ܙ ܝ ܙ ܝܙܝܐ | ܙ ܝ ܙ ܚ | ܝܬ | | | | | ܝܙܝܝ
3
11 INI 1 hod INTI NNN I had 1 hod www I will
-
UITINNA INIIWIWI
ܙ ܙ ܝܕ ܚܙܟܬ ܪܬ 1 ܝܕܝܕܝܕܤ ܙ ܙ ܙ ܙ ܬܝܝܕܬ ܐ ܐ ܐ ܐ ܐ ܝܙ ܝܕ ܙ ܙ ܝܕ ܙ ܙ ܙ
1
2
ܙ ܢܬ ܐ ܝܝܕܝܙ 1
1 ܢܬ ܙ ܟܬ ܙ ܝ ܙ ܙ ܙ ܙ ܙ
2 1 1
6
6
3
3
6 3 3
3 1 2
2 1
3
3 2 1
4 3 1
3 2 1
5 1
6 2 4
3 1 2
1
1
2 2
6 3 3
6 2 4
6 5 1
7 2 5
4
4
5 2 3
5 1
1
1
ILI I hand I l I l 1 NITI
1
2
2. 1
1
4
3
1
1
I ll I WENT WHI
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
Total Fre-
quencies 1.---
56 46 10
112 48 64
51 30 21
43 26 17
23 14
9
9
7
2
Median Rank.--
8.5 8.0 18.5 20.5 19 21
14 13.5 16
15 13.5 15
11 11 12
21 21 22.5
1 Excludes one college for which records were available only for men replying.
Since this table makes a comparison between the distribution of
scholarship for those who furnish incomes and those who do not, it
excludes one college which furnished scholarship records only for those
men who responded to the questionnaire. When the distribution for
this college is included the median ranks for those whose records were
correlated are as follows:
-
-
Median Rank
9
19
14.5.
14.5
10.5
20
Teaching -
Business
Law...
Medicine
Engineering -
Ministry
Cases
-65
..67
--34
-30
20
13
1
1
College Marks as Related to Income
29
It is also manifestly unfair to compare the incomes of women with the
incomes of men, even within the same occupation. A comparison of
the income distribution for women teachers with the distribution for
men teachers (page 23), shows that only a little more than 7 per cent
of the women reach or surpass in income the median income for the
men. To disregard sex in making our comparison would therefore
involve such absurd assumptions as that a preponderant majority of
men who are in the teaching profession are far more successful than
the women in the same profession.
TREATMENT OF DATA
The basal measure used in this investigation to represent an individ-
ual's scholastic achievement is an average of all his marks for his
entire college course. The record of marks was transcribed in each
of the cooperating colleges, under the supervision of the registrar, on
uniform blanks and in accordance with uniform instructions furnished
by the writer. Transcriptions of records were thus obtained for the
entire class of 1903 in nine of the colleges. In the other two colleges
records were furnished only for those individuals who sent replies to
the occupational questionnaire.
The calculation of an average of all marks obtained was a straight-
forward process for those colleges which used numerical marking sys-
tems. There were five such systems. A sixth had part of its marks
in numerical terms and part in literal terms. The other five used let-
ters or some other form of symbol, two of them specifying numerical
equivalents and three making no such specification. Where numerical
equivalents were assigned, the letters were translated into the equiva-
lent figures and averages calculated. Where no numerical equiva-
lents were suggested, such equivalents were arbitrarily assigned as
seemed best to fit the case. For example, in a literal system consist-
ing of 5 marks, A, B, C, D and F, the equivalents used were 1,3,4,5 and
7, respectively, while for a system offering three marks only (H, Honor;
C, Credit; P, Passed), 90, 80 and 65, respectively, were the equivalents
used.
With these averages calculated and the individuals of a given col-
lege arranged in order of average marks from best to poorest, the first
member of the paired values to constitute the correlation series for
that college was at hand. The second measure, income, was lacking,
however, for about 40 per cent of the individuals. These missing
measures were in general scattered almost but not quite at random
throughout the scholarship distribution of the class. But the corre-
lation was not to be determined directly for the class as a whole,
30
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
which included many different occupations, but was to be calculated
for each occupation separately. Therefore, unless the number of cases
used for each calculation was to be extremely small it was necessary to
combine the records of all individuals of the same sex engaged in the
same occupation regardless of the college from which they had been
graduated. If this procedure was to be followed, it was necessary to
find some method of equating marks from different colleges.
This problem of equating marks presented serious difficulties, for
the variety in marking systems was exactly as great as the number of
colleges represented. This variety was partly a matter of the kind of
scale used, partly a matter of the fineness of the scale, and partly a
difference in meaning of measures called by the same name. For ex-
ample, four of the colleges used percentage systems, permitting varia-
tions of 1 per cent or a fraction of 1 per cent in the mark of an individ-
ual in a given subject. Inspection of the distribution of marks for
an entire class in each of these colleges showed, however, a range of
final averages for one of these colleges of 55 per cent to 94 per cent, for
another college, a range of 78 per cent to 97 per cent. What we have
learned from the various studies of variability in teachers' marks would
lead us to conclude that this difference in range is more likely to be due
to a difference in standards of marking than to a difference in range of
scholastic achievement from college to college. It would therefore
be unsafe to give the same scholarship ratings to two individuals receive
ing the same mark, 80 per cent for example, one being a graduate of
the first college, the other a graduate of the second college.
Three colleges marked by letters with percentage equivalents but
the equivalents were not the same in any two of the three colleges. In
one college B corresponded to 80 per cent, in another it represented a
range from 70 to 80 per cent, in the third, it meant from 85 to 95 per
cent. Three colleges, as already noted, used some form of literal
marking without numerical equivalents. As to fineness of scale, these
literal systems ranged from three to seven possible marks.
Obviously, then, the figure which represented a student's scholarship
average in a given college, and placed him satisfactorily among his
classmates, would not be comparable as a gross amount with such an
average in another college.
The most promising method for equating the measures in such series
of varying amounts is ordinarily to transmute the measures, represent-
ing each measure in terms of its deviation plus or minus from some
central tendency of its series, and expressing this difference as a multi-
ple of some measure of the variability of the series. This method was
College Marks as Related to Income
31
applied to six colleges, the average being used as the central tendency
and the mean square deviation as the measure of variability. The
tabulation below shows the transmuted marks of the top 10th and the
lowest 10th in scholarship in each of the six colleges.
TABLE XIX
TRANSMUTED MARKS OF THE HIGHEST 10TH AND LOWEST 10TH IN SCHOLARSHIP
IN SIX COLLEGES
College A
College B
College C
College D
College E
College F
1.8560
1.762
1.638
1.622
1.575
1.528
1.6740
1.659
1.595
1.532
1.485
1.6010
1.539
1.414
1.331
1.268
2.1890
2.094
2.065
1.923
1.875
1.808
1.642
1.361
1.361
1.666
2.5660
2.364
1.623
1.497
1.462
1.423
1.347
1.159
-
I
1
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
1
1
-
-
-
-
-
I
-
-
1
-
-
-
.
-
1
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
2.8790
2.570
2.403
2.403
2.165
1.761
1.594
1.570
1.570
1.523
1.404
1.332
-1.166
1.213
1.213
1.213
1.237
1.380
1.380
1.570
1.570
1.761
1.761
2.665
-
1
-
-
1
1
-
-
1
-
.
-
-
-
-
!
.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
1
-
-
-
I
-
-
-
1
-1.294
1.341
1.341
1.497
1.794
2.262
-1.370
1.480
1.504
1.629
1.685
1.742
1.785
1,884
1.932
1.965
-1.532
1.564
1.769
2.054
2.068
-1.435
1.476
1.788
2.100
2.100
-1.232
1.331
1.366
1.368
1.674
1.869
2.267
2.975
Evidently these colleges differed in the degree to which their scholar-
ship distributions approached in form the symmetrical, bell-shaped
"normal curve of distribution.” The combining of these gross meas-
ures of scholarship in correlation series, irrespective of the distribution
for each college, would be manifestly unfair. For example, inspection
of this table shows that the highest student in college B is represented
by a score which is exceeded by 6 students or 5 per cent of the students
in college D, by 6 or nearly 6 per cent in college E; the best student in
college A has a poorer rating than any of the upper 5th in college D;
the highest ranking in college C is lower than any of the top 7th per cent
in college E. While it is probably true that some colleges draw more
brilliant students than others, it would be fallacious to assume that a
!
32
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
given college drew such students on the basis of higher relative scores
attained by its best students as compared with the best students in
other colleges. For, in interpreting these college marks it must be
remembered that they are based upon wholly subjective and unscien-
tific marking systems."
The attempt to equate gross amounts of scholarship from college
to college was finally abandoned because any method that offered
hope of usable results involved a refinement of statistical procedure and
an expenditure of time out of all proportion to the refinement of the
original measures or to the greater exactness of the conclusions to be
reached.
The alternatives were (1) to obviate the necessity of equating gross
scholarship measures in the different colleges by calculating the co-
efficients for the main occupational groups in each college separately,
then combining the resultant coefficients, weighting each coefficient
in such a way as to take account of the number of cases upon which
it was based; (2) to state the scholarship measure of each individual
in terms of his relative position among his classmates, assuming that
a given relative position in one college is equivalent in scholastic
achievement to the same relative position in any other college, thus pro-
viding a means of equating ranks rather than gross amounts of scholar-
ship. Each of these alternatives has advantages and disadvantages.
Since it was desirable to use all the facts as completely as possible,
both methods of measurement were adopted.
In preparing the series of paired values for correlation by the method
of relative positions it was necessary to adopt some common base for
ranking the individuals, since the classes varied in size from 45 to 207
members. For this purpose 32 was arbitrarily selected. Each in-
dividual in a given college class was ranked on a scale from 1 to 32, ac-
cording to his relative position in scholarship among his classmates
(1 highest rank, 32 lowest rank). On the assumption that rank 4 in
college A is equivalent to rank 4 in any other college, it was now pos-
sible to equate roughly scholastic standing in the different colleges.
The method used in forming the series of paired values for calculating
the coefficients of correlation between income and scholarship in the
different occupational groups is illustrated in the following tabulation
of the records of women engaged in social and religious work. The
women were graduates of six different colleges.
Several of the colleges report changes in their marking systems since 1903.
College Marks as Related to Income
33
TABLE XX
TABULATION OF THE INCOME AND SCHOLARSHIP RECORDS OF A GIVEN VOCATIONAL
GROUP AS A BASIS FOR CORRELATION
I
Income
Individual
II
III
Class Scholar- Occupational
ship Rank Group Scholar-
ship Rank
IV
Income
Rank
1
-
-
-
a.
b
NA
-
-
-
-
-
$2,100
2,000
1,750
1,750
1,600
1,250
1,200
1,200
900
900
750
Cord
d...
e_
f.
g-
h.
i.
j-
k.
28
23
14
1
21
26
3
18
26
27
19
11
7
3
1
6
8.5
2
4
8.5
10
5
1
2
3.5
3.5
5
6
7.5
7.5
9.5
9.5
11
-
-
-
1
-
1
Individuals a to k, 11 in number, reported themselves as engaged in
some form of social work or religious work, and as receiving the incomes
stated in column I. The class tabulations of scholarship in terms of rela-
tive position on a scale of 1 to 32 showed for these individuals the class
ranks listed in column II. Since the vocational group classified as
"Women Engaged in Social and Religious Work" included only 11
individuals furnishing full data for correlation, the range of ranks for
income within this group is from 1 to 11. To obtain a parallel series of
scholarship measures, it was necessary to restate the measures listed
in column II so that they represented on a scale of 1 to 11 the relative
scholastic achievement as undergraduates of this particular group, e.g.,
women engaged in social and religious work twelve and one-half years
after graduation. This restatement is made in column III. Column IV
lists the rank of each individual with reference to income. The series of
paired values constituting the correlation series are those tabulated in
columns III and IV.
The method used for computing the coefficient of correlation was
Spearman's method by ranks, using the formula
62D
P: = 1 -
n(n-1)
and transmuting p into r by the use of appropriate tables. Table XXI
records the coefficients calculated by this method for the occupations
which were represented by a sufficient number of cases to justify cor-
2
34
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
relation. In interpreting these correlations the method of arriving at
the series of paired values for correlation should be held in mind. It
will be recalled that these paired values represent the relative standing
in scholarship and in income of each individual of a given occupational
group with reference to other college graduates in the same occupational
group rather than with reference to position in the class as a whole.
This is important to bear in mind because as Table XVIII, on page 28,
shows, the scholarship distribution differs materially for men engaged
in different occupations.
TABLE XXI
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN SCHOLARSHIP AND INCOME CALCULATED BY THE
FORMULA:
p
= 1 -
68D2
n(n-1)
Occupation
r
P. E.
Number of
Cases
MEN
--
Teaching -
Business
Law..
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
.07
.08
.09
-
-
-
-
.28
.03
.49
-.26
-.23
.25
65
67
34
30
20
13
.11
.14
.17
-
WOMEN
Teaching
Social and Religious Work.
Business
.04
.01
.62
.07
.20
.11
-
-
95
11
12
-
-
I
It will be noted from this table that with one exception for men and
one for women the correlations are all low. Because of the rather large
probable errors of the coefficients it is not possible to determine with
surety from these calculations what variations may exist among different
vocations as to the closeness of relationship between income and scholar-
ship.
If we average the coefficients of correlation for the “learned profes-
sions" for which college is traditionally supposed to prepare, weighting
each coefficient roughly as the square root of the number of cases which
it represents, we obtain for the weighted r, or 720, as we shall designate
it, a value of .20+.05. The procedure by which this al was obtained
is as follows:
College Marks as Related to Income
35
Occupation
wt
rXwt
Number of
Cases
-
Teaching
Law.
Ministry
Medicine
.281
.487
8
6
31
53
2.248
2.922
.875
-1.430
65
34
13
30
.250
-.260
Total
23
4.615
142
2
11
glu = 20
1-(.200)
P.E. of yw
(.6745)=.05
V142
Combining by the same method the correlations for all occupations
(men) listed in Table XXI, we obtain an gão of .115.04. While the cor-
relation for the "learned professions” is higher than that for all occupa-
tions it is still too low to justify the prediction of relative income 12
years after graduation on the basis of relative undergraduate scholar-
ship. The weighted coefficient for women in the three occupations
listed is .15+.05.
It must again be emphasized that the above method of treatment
measures only the closeness of correspondence between relative positions
in scholarship and income within a given occupational group, e.g., business
or teaching. It takes no account of the scholastic position of the individ-
uals with reference to the class as a whole. If the individuals of any given
occupation were distributed throughout the scholarship range in about
the same way as the individuals of any other occupation, this limited
interpretation of the measurement would not be important. But inspec-
tion of the scholarship distribution by occupations given on page 28
shows that such is not the case. For convenience of reference the essen-
tial facts of this distribution are restated in Table XXII.
TABLE XXII
PERCENTAGES OF MEN IN DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS IN SUCCESSIVE DIVISIONS OF
THEIR RESPECTIVE CLASSES ACCORDING TO SCHOLARSHIP
Percentages in Each Scholastic Quartile, and in the Upper
and Lower Halves of the Class
Occupation
No,
of
Cases
For Men Whose Records
were Correlated
For All Men Whose Income
Records1 were not Available
Quartiles
Halves
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Upper Lower
Quartiles
Halves
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Upper Lower
-
-
-
-
1
Teaching -
65 49 25 15 11 74 26 50 20 16 14 70 30
Business
67 21 24 22 33 45 55 15 23 25 37
38 62
Law..
34 26 35 18 21 61 39 27 37 20 16 64 36
Medicine
30 27 33 30 10 60 40 19 39 26 16 58 42
Engineering 20 35 30 15 20 65 35 30 39 17 13 69 30
Ministry---
13 8 23 46 23 31 69 Number too small to
include.
1 One of the colleges furnished scholarship records only for the men who responded to the questionnaire.
The records of this college therefore had to be excluded from this side of the table, but are included in
the section dealing with "Men Whose Records were Correlated."
36
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
It is evident from the statistics shown in this table that for college men
the scholastic comparison in the case of teachers is, relatively speaking,
among the members of a high ranking group, while in the case of business
men it is among the members of a low ranking group. Comparing these
two vocations by scholarship quartiles we find in the first or top quartile
49 per cent of the teachers as against 21 per cent of the business men;
in the second quartile 25 per cent of the teachers and 24 per cent of the
business men; in the third quartile 15 per cent of the teachers and 22
per cent of the business men; in the fourth quartile 11 per cent of the
teachers and 33 per cent of the business men. Comparing the scholas-
tic distribution of the two occupations as to percentages above and below
the middle rank for the class, we find 74 per cent of the teachers as
against 45 per cent of the business men in the upper half of the class,
and in the lower half we find 26 per cent of the teachers and 55 per cent
of the business men.
Since these vocational variations in the distribution of undergraduate
scholarship exist, a method of correlation which takes account of the
exact amounts of income and scholarship would offer a more valuable con-
tribution toward answering the second and more general question:
"What is the relation between income rank in one's vocation, and under-
graduate scholarship rank in the class as a whole?" Such a method of
correlation would also offer a more exact measure of the relationship in
question, and so is desirable from that point of view. The difficulty in
applying this method, as noted earlier in this chapter, arises from the
failure to discover reliable means of equating the gross amounts of
scholarship from college to college. In the absence of valid means of
equating marks in gross amounts, the only possibility of securing correla-
tions based on gross amounts of scholarship and income was to measure
the relationship in question for each occupation in each college separately
and then to combine the results for each occupation from all colleges.
This method could not hope to yield conclusive results because of the
small number of cases available for many of the individual correlations.
However, since the available data were not adapted to more satisfactory
treatment, this method was adopted.
The procedure used was as follows. For each college the individuals
furnishing income data were grouped according to occupations into the
six major occupational groups represented in the series of correlations
based on relative positions. Two records were then tabulated for each
of these individuals: (1) scholarship mark (average of all marks for
the entire college course), and (2) amount of income for the past year
(exclusive of inheritance and income from inheritance). These two
College Marks as Related to Income
37
records constituted the paired values for correlation. Applying the
Pearson formula
T
xiy
V*?. Vy
2
coefficients of correlation were calculated for each occupation in each
college. The resultant coefficients for each of the chief occupations
were then assembled and averaged, each coefficient having been weight-
ed as the square root of the number of cases from which it was calcu-
lated.' The weighted r, or gw, serves as a measure of the relationship
in question. Table XXIII shows the coefficients of correlation calcu-
ated by this method.
TABLE XXIII
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN MARKS AND INCOME BASED ON GROSS AMOUNTS OF
EACH FACTOR
Occupation
w
P.E.
Number of
Cases
Number of
Colleges
-
I
-
-
MEN
Teaching
Business
Law-
Medicine
Engineering
65
63
34
27
18
wen av
.28
.10
.19
-.30
-.22
.07
.08
.11
.17
. 15
-
WOMEN
Teaching -
95
7
.02
.07
The ministry is omitted from this series because the number of individuals per college was in most
cases too small to justify correlation.
Examination of this series of correlations reveals the same outstand-
ing features as those noted in the series based upon relative scholastic
position in the vocational group and relative income position in the
same group. For convenience in comparing the two series of correla-
tions they are listed in Table XXIV, in parallel columns.
In so far as correlations calculated by the method described for series
two may be accepted as valid for measuring a possible drift of relation-
ship, the second set of measures offers no more justification than did
the first series for predicting future vocational achievement on the basis
of college marks.
1 For illustration of the method used in securing yw, see page 35.
38
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XXIV
COMPARISON OF CORRELATIONS BASED ON AMOUNTS WITH CORRELATIONS BASED
ON RELATIVE POSITION IN VOCATIONAL GROUP
r Based on Income
Rank and Scholar-
ship Rank within
Vocational Group
Occupation
pw Based on Gross
Amounts of Scholar- | No.
ship and Income of
Cases
ro
P.E.
No.
of
Cases
r
P.E.
1
-
-
-
-
MEN
Teaching-
Business
Law..
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
.28
.07
65
.28
. 10
.08
63
.03
.19
.11
34
.49
-.30
.17
27
..26
-.22
.15
18
..23
Cases per college too few for correlation.. 25
.08
.09
.09
.12
. 15
1
1
65
67
34
30
20
13
- -
.18
WOMEN
Teaching
.02
.06
95
.04
.07
95
ALL OCCUPATIONS
Men..
Women
.06
.05
207 .11
Cases per college too few lor correllation. . 15
·
.04
.05
229
118
INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
In the light of the low coefficients of correlation obtained by each
of the two methods of measurement used, it is apparent that no close
correspondence exists between the undergraduate marks of the bac-
calaureate graduate and his income twelve and a half years after grad-
uation. That some relationship probably does exist is suggested by
the fact that the majority of the coefficients, while low, are positive.
But it is clear that no such close correspondence exists between the
facts measured as has been found to obtain between college rank and
Who's Who achievement, rank in college, and rank in the law or med-
ical school, rank in high school and rank in college.
Two considerations may be mentioned as probably affecting the
closeness of the relationships in the three cases mentioned above as
compared with the relationships studied in this investigation. In
the first place a common factor, which we have been pleased to call
"general intelligence,” is probably the trait most surely measured by
school marks, whether in high school, college or professional school,
and by the type of success which is most frequently responsible for
mention in Who's Who. That this trait is measured with a fair de-
gree of success by school marks is indicated by the generally close
agreement between scores achieved by students in intelligence tests
and their school marks. It is entirely possible, however, that
College Marks as Related to Income
39
this trait is of far less importance, relatively, in determining success
in vocation than in determining scholastic achievement. In vocation-
al success other elements of personal equipment undoubtedly play
a part. Not only emotional and other "personality" traits, but in
particular the ability to manage men and the ability to manage things
evidently have much to do with professional advancement in practi-
cally every field. This fact impressed the writer strongly in reading
the occupational records of the class of 1903 from graduation to the
year 1915-1916 as given in replies to the occupational questionnaire.
Just how potent are these factors as compared with "general intelli-
gence" in contributing to vocational success, we have at present no
certain means of knowing. It is the writer's opinion that their rela-
tive potency will undoubtedly vary with different occupations.
The second consideration is the variation in scholarship range for
different occupations. In interpreting any measurement of rela-
tionship between marks and later success, this factor seems important
enough to justify a summary at this point of the available data on the
subject. These data are presented in Tables XXV to XXVIII.
While these tabulations are not comparable as to details, they do
throw into relief the marked selective tendency of scholastic success
in relation to vocation, and corroborate the writer's finding of the very
high scholastic position of the teaching profession, the equally low one
of business, and of the generally high rank of lawyers and engineers.
The figures as to the ministry are conflicting. Only nine out of one hun-
dred Wesleyan high honor men were ministers, while Paull found 53 per
cent of Harvard ministers in the upper third of their class.
TABLE XXV
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF COLLEGE GRADUATES ACCORDING TO PER CENT
FOUND IN SUCCESSIVE FIFTHS IN SCHOLASTIC RANK (MEN OF 1903, GRADUATES
OF Six COLLEGES) (GAMBRILL)
Highest Second
Fifth Fifth
Middle
Fifth
Fourth
Fifth
Lowest Number
Fifth of Cases
-
Teaching -
Business
Law.
Medicine.
Engineering-
Ministry
41
4
20
7
26
23
19
24
27
35
22
18
26
27
39
26
11
11
21
20
17
9
55
7
30
10
10
4
11
56
109
51
41
23
9
1
40
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XXVI
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF “SUCCESSFUL” MEN ACCORDING TO PER CENT
FOUND IN SUCCESSIVE FIFTHS OF SCHOLARSHIP RANGE (KUNKEL ]
Highest Second
Fifth Fifth
Middle
Fifth
Fourth
Fifth
Lowest Number
Fifth of Cases
1
-
-
--
-
1
-
Teaching -
Business
Law.
Medicine.
Engineering
Ministry--
Journalism
Science.
-
62
16
32.5
24.1
30.8
25
9.1
40
-
20
18
18.5
27.6
11.9
25
9.1
20
9.1
22
10.8
10.3
21.5
17
9.1
5.5
22
23.1
24.1
19.2
25
45.5
10
3.6
22
16.9
13.8
16.7
7.5
18.2
30
55
50
65
29
42
40
11
10
1
--
TABLE XXVII
DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION OF 2,145 HARVARD COLLEGE GRADUATES
OF THE CLASSES 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, SHOWING PERCENTAGE IN
EACH SUCCESSIVE SCHOLASTIC TERTILE 2 [PAULL)
Highest
Third
Middle
Third
Lowest
Third
Number
of Cases
-
--
32
-
Teaching and Social Science.
Business
Manufacturing
Law...
Medicine.
Engineering
Ministry-
Journalism
Agriculture..
Other Occupations..
54
21
21
43
29
36
53
29
14
26
33
35
34
34
34
32
41
30
25
14
46
44
23
37
30
15
30
56
49
307
550
200
486
141
160
52
53
43
153
-
i
-
TABLE XXVIII
PERCENTAGES OF High Honor Men COMPARED WITH PERCENTAGES OF WESLEYAN
GRADUATES FOUND IN Who's Who FOR DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS 3
(NICHOLSON]
High Honor Graduates,
1875–1906. (100 men)
Wesleyan Graduates
Mentioned in Who's
Who (159 men)
Teaching-
Law,
Ministry-
Business
Physicians
Scientists.
Writing and Journalism.
Patent Office Examiner_
55
20
9
6
3
3
3
-
40
15
25
21
Practically all the others
are in some one of the
learned professions.
S_
1 "The Lafayette,” April 15, 1917.
2 "The Relative Standing in College of Graduates Entering Various Professions,” School and
Society, May 26, 1917.
: "Success in College and in After Life," School and Society, August 14, 1915.
College Marks as Related to Income
41
The fact that Who's Who as a measure of success unduly weights
certain occupations has been recognized by several of the investigators
who have studied the relation between success in college and success
in after life. It should be noted that those occupations which this
measure favors are among the vocations which have a very high scholar-
ship distribution. Nicholson found, for example, that 55 per cent of
Wesleyan's high honor men for the years 1875-1906 were teachers and
that 40 per cent of the Wesleyan Who's Who men were in this occupa-
tion. He also found that the 1914-1915 edition of Who's Who includes
the names of all but four of the faculty of Wesleyan University of
professorial rank, and from 30 per cent to practically 100 per cent of
the professors of a representative group of other colleges. Law is
another occupation which has a relatively high scholastic distribution.
According to the educational statistics given in the 1910-1911 edition
of Who's Who, law has a larger number of representatives in the volume
than any other occupation. The vocational selection of Who's Who
thus seems, in part at least, to be identical with the vocational selection
of high scholarship.
The failure to find a very close relation between college marks and
later income does not prove that it does not pay to study, any more
than the opposite finding would prove that it does pay to study. As
pointed out in Chapter I a high correlation could at best prove that
the college had succeeded in discovering and rewarding the kind of
ability that later did succeed in vocation—that its measures and those
of the world outside of college are the same. In any case the burden
of proof would still rest upon the college to show that the training
which it had given its able men had contributed materially to their
success. The finding of a low correlation does show, however, either
that the college has failed to enlist the energies of its undergraduates
to such a degree that its marks serve as an index of vocational ability
as measured by income, or that the traits which lead to scholastic
success are not in large measure the traits which register later in rela-
tively high income within one's vocational group.
1 Note the implication of Foster's article, "Should Students Study?" Harper's
Magazine, September, 1916.
CHAPTER IV
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY IN RELATION TO
INCOME
over.
The college authorities usually record a single measure of a student's
achievement-his scholastic marks. His mates, however, rate him in
terms of his zeal and success in the multitude of activities which go to
make up what is known as college life." By implication this "life"
seems to exclude studies, yet by a large proportion of students and "old
grads" it is ranked as the part of college experience which is really fruit-
ful in preparing for the practical demands of life when college days are
Whether this judgment is valid or not, it may easily be true that
many a student reveals the quality of his native ability more clearly in
extra-curricular activities than he does in his college studies. Ability
is most accurately measured when the result tested is the product of
wholehearted effort. Since in extra-curricular activities the student is
himself the judge of worth, he is likely to "go in” only for those pursuits
which appeal to his interest or which promise to yield results which are
satisfying, such as esteem of classmates, personal glory. Hence the
impulsion to activity is from within and the energy called forth is likely
to be purposive to a degree which, unfortunately, is seldom matched in
the scholastic work of the college.
To the writer it seems distinctly worthwhile to discover, if possible, to
what extent extra-curricular activities and success are prognostic of
success in later life. The men who have investigated the relationship
between success in college and success in after-life usually imply and
sometimes state the conviction that their findings have disproved the
belief that a student's prominence in undergraduate extra-curricular
activities offers an index of his probable success in later life. Only one
of these writers has taken the trouble to investigate the foundation of this
belief of the rank and file of students and alumni, as opposed to the
conviction of college officials. Nicholson,' in connection with his
study of “College Records and Distinction in Life," made a study of the
relation between extra-curricular success and Who's Who distinction.
His study covers ten classes of Wesleyan University from 1890 to 1899,
inclusive. The yearbook published by the junior class at Wesleyan
University, Olla Podrida, has a well defined system of "points" for the
1 Chapter II. For details of the latter criterion, see summary of this study,
pp. 8-10.
42
Extra-Curricular Activity in Relation to Income
43
various types of non-academic achievement. These points were used
by Nicholson as the criterion for measuring distinction in extra-curricu-
lar pursuits. Membership in Who's Who, or the type of achievement
which would entitle one to such mention as judged by classmates or
faculty, was the standard for testing distinction in life. Using these
two measures, he found that of the 54 men who won distinction
from their classmates while undergraduates, 18 or one-third attained
noteworthy success in after-life. In these same classes, Nicholson had
found that 30 per cent of the men who achieved the scholastic distinction
of election to the Phi Beta Kappa Society won the type of distinction in
after-life indicated by inclusion in Who's Who or by faculty and class-
mates judgment of being worthy of such mention. "In other words,"
says Nicholson, "the Phi Beta Kappa man and the one who is honored
by his classmates by election to undergraduate office have each approxi-
mately the same chance of becoming famous in after-life.” Nicholson's
results as to the relation between high scholarship and later distinction
have been widely quoted. Strange to say, little attention seems to have
been given to the fact that he found an equally close relationship be-
tween non-academic undergraduate achievement and later distinction,
Another study of extra-curricular activities, while not directly com-
parable because it deals with a professional group, engineers, should be
mentioned here. This study was one phase of the investigation carried
on by the Association of College Registrars, the other phase of
which was reported in Chapter II. The men whose extra-scholastic
activities were studied had been rated as eminent on the basis of office
holding, membership in standing committees, or service as representa-
tives of the four "founder" engineer societies during the years 1915-1919.
This rating, as stated by Professor Walters, of Lehigh University, who
reports the investigation, emphasizes scientific and ethical phases of
success.
The registrars were asked to report specifically on activities in (a)
athletics, (6) literary and engineering societies, and (c) social organiza-
tions. Returns were received for about one-fifth of the men as compared
with more than two-thirds on scholarship rating. The ratings used were
as follows: Under athletics, the rating A was assigned to men who won
letters in major sports; B, to those who played on first or second teams;
C, to those who played on class teams; D, to those who took some part
in athletics; E, to those not recorded as taking any part in athletics.
Under literary and engineering societies, A was given to those who held
offices or served on editorial boards of literary and engineering journals;
B, to those who were active in the societies in various ways; C, to those
44
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
who participated moderately; D, to those who held membership; E, to
those with no record in such activities. A similar plan was followed
for rating as to activity in social organizations.
The following table shows the distribution of the men on the basis of
these ratings.
TABLE XXIX
EMINENT ENGINEERS. EXTRA-SCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES
Athletics
Literary and
Scientific
Social
Rating
No.
Per Cent
No.
Per Cent
No.
Per Cent
-
-
1
-
1
A.
B
C.
D.
E..
24
14
19
4
117
13.5
7.9
10.6
2.2
65.7
59
19
22
22
65
31.5
10.2
11.8
11.8
34.7
44
11
50
10
56
25.7
6.4
29.3
5.8
32.7
-
1
Total...
178
187
171
Professor Walters summarizes the results as follows:1
"According to the table, two-thirds of the men upon whom reports
were made did not take part in athletics, a proportion probably true for
all college students in earlier days. Of those who did take part, the
results show the largest percentage of men in the A rating--good
athletes.
“According to the table, about two-thirds of the men upon whom re-
ports were made took part in literary and engineering society activities;
of these the largest percentage were in the A rating-were energetic in
their activities along these lines.
“According to the table, about two-thirds of the men upon whom re-
ports were made took part in social affairs. The largest percentage
were moderately active; the next largest percentage were energetically
active.
“Conclusions cannot safely be drawn from these extra-scholastic
figures. The relatively small number of participants and the meager in-
terest in athletics in the era represented preclude generalization as to
the influence of athletics, particularly as applied to present-day college
life when success in sports is so widely sought and so highly rewarded."
The writer of this monograph has made a further study of the relation-
1 Walters: “The Scholastic Training of Eminent American Engineers,"
School and Society, Mar. 12, 1921.
Extra-Curricular Activity in Relation to Income
45
ship between extra-curricular attainment and success in life, using as
subjects the members of the class of 1903 in six of the cooperating col-
leges listed in Chapter III. The first and most serious difficulty in
attempting such an investigation lies in obtaining a valid measure of
success in extra-curricular pursuits. So far as the writer has been able
to discover, college officials have until very recently made no record of
such achievements. The only records available for the class of 1903 are
to be found in student yearbooks in which are recorded by the students
the extra-curricular activities of the seniors throughout their college
course: membership in various organizations, class, athletic, literary,
musical, forensic, dramatic or social; offices held and honors won. The
completeness of this record differs greatly from college to college. The
lack of uniformity in activities represented and the difference in the
significance of membership in certain types of organizations in different
colleges, as well as this variation in the completeness of the records,
make these student yearbooks a rather unsatisfactory basis for measur-
ing activity and success in extra-curricular pursuits. They furnish,
however, the nearest approach to an objective measure, and contain, in
fact, the only available record of such activities. They have, therefore,
been used by the writer as a basis for rating extra-curricular success in
an attempt to measure the relationship between this type of under-
graduate achievement and success in vocation as measured by income.
Student yearbooks containing the records of the class of 1903 were se-
cured from six of the cooperating colleges listed in Chapter III. From
these books tabulations were made for each college separately, showing
for each member of the class the activities recorded, offices held, and
honors won. Because of the variations among the colleges as to com-
pleteness of data, number and type of activities represented, and signi-
ficance of given activities, there was no attempt to equate directly the
records of non-scholastic activities in the different colleges. Inspection
of the records forced the conviction that any attempt to apply a point
system, for example, without intimate knowledge of the undergraduate
life of every college included in the investigation would simply lead to a
spurious appearance of objectivity. Recourse was therefore had to the
method of ranking each individual with reference to his relative position
among his classmates as to range and intensity of extra-curricular
activity and the winning of non-academic honors. A given rank was
then treated as of equal value, regardless of the college represented.
It was also apparent that without this intimate knowledge of student
life in a particular college it was hazardous to attempt a gradation of the
extra-curricular success of the members of a class on a fine scale consist-
46
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
ing of a large nunber of units. This was especially true of colleges
whose yearbooks presented rather meagre records of extra-curricular
pursuits. It did seem possible, however, to arrange the individuals of
any given college class in an order of merit series, on a scale from 1 to 5,
without danger of greatly displacing an appreciable number of persons
from their true positions among their fellows. This method was there-
fore followed. Each individual was assigned a rank in extra-curricular
activities which represented the writer's judgment, based on student
yearbook records, of his relative position among his classmates on a scale
from 1 to 5. Those individuals who had furnished a statement of in-
come were then ranked on a scale from 1 to 5, according to their relative
income rankings in their respective vocations.
The paired values constituting the series for correlation were ranks
on a scale from 1 to 5, representing each individual's relative position
(1) in extra-curricular achievement among his classmates, (2) in income
among the members of a given occupational group,-law, teaching, or
business. These ranks were then treated as amounts, and the coeffi-
cient of correlation calculated by the Pearson formula
x.y
V x2
✓
This calculation yielded a coefficient of correlation for men of .214.04
based on 190 cases drawn from all vocational groups which were large
enough to furnish income comparisons.
The correlation for women,
based on 47 cases, was .315.08.
Correlations calculated by this method for each of the chief occupa-
tional groups yield the results shown in Table XXX.
p =
2
TABLE XXX
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN RANK IN INCOME AND RANK IN EXTRA-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITY BASED ON COLLEGE YEARBOOK RECORDS
Occupation
1
P. E.
Number of
Individuals
-
Teaching
Business.
Law.
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
.19
.32
.28
.12
.15
.36
.09
.08
.11
. 13
. 15
.17
46
51
29
24
18
11
-
-
-
A11 Occupations
Men..
Women..
.21
.31
.04
.08
190
47
-
-
1
Extra-Curricular Activity in Relation to Income
47
The result of this crude meastirement of relationship between extra-
curricular success and income twelve years after graduation is the posi-
tive but small correlation for all occupations (men) indicated by an r of
.217.04 based upon a sufficient number of cases to give it statistical
reliability. It also suggests that for certain occupations, notably the
ministry, business, and law, the relationship possibly tends to be closer
than that found for all occupations, as indicated by r= .365.17 for the
ministry, r = .325.08 for business, and r = .28+.11 for law. In general,
however, the P.E.'s of these coefficients are large. Only in the case of
business does the relative size of the P.E. and the coefficient of correla-
tion satisfy fully the statistical requirements for reliability. The other
coefficients vary in statistical reliability and the variations in their size
may be without real significance.
In order to make a comparison between the value of scholarship and of
extra-curricular attaininent as bases for the prognosis of future success
as measured by income, it was necessary to calculate coefficients of cor-
relation between scholarship and income by the same method as that
used in securing the correlations between extra-curricular achievement
and income. The procedure was as follows. Each individual was rank.
ed as to scholarship on a scale from 1 to 5, according to his relative
scholastic position in the class as a whole. He was then ranked on a
scale froin 1 to 5, according to his relative income position within his vo-
cational group. These two rankings for each individual constituted
the paired values for the correlation series. The method used in com-
puting the coefficients was the same as that described for the measure-
ment of the relation between extra-curricular achievement and income.
The coefficients obtained were .11.05 for men and —.087.09 for
women.
Comparing these coefficients with those obtained for extra-curricular
achievement, we find the correlation for a composite of all occupations
almost twice as large for extra-curricular achievement and income as
for scholarship and income, i.e., 21–.04 as against .115.05. Table
XXXI shows comparatively the cofficients for the two sets of facts
for each of the larger occupational groups. It will be noted that for
all occupations except law and the ministry the correlations between
extra-curricular success and income are higher than the correlations
between scholarship and income. The difference is very marked in the
case of business.
It was the writer's original purpose to supplement the measurements
just reported, by measuring the extent of agreement between class-
mates' and college officials' judgments of vocational success and the
.
:
48
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XXXI
COMPARISON OF CLOSENESS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXTRA-CURRICULAR
ACHIEVEMENT AND INCOME, AND SCHOLARSHIP AND INCOME
Extra-Curricular
Achievement
and Income
P. E.
Scholarship and
Income
Occupation
1
P. E.
-
.09
Teaching
Business.
Law..
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
.19
.32
.28
.12
.15
.36
.09
.08
.11
.13
.15
. 17
.11
.03
.58
-.21
—.25
.40
.08
.07
. 13
.16
.17
-
-
-
-
-
1
All Occupations
Men
Women.
.21
.04
.08
.11
-.08
.05
.09
.31
income measure here used, and also the relation between classmates'
and college officials' judgments of extra-curricular success and the rat-
ings given by the writer on the basis of yearbook records. It proved,
however, extremely difficult to secure such judgments. Not only was
the required task a difficult and laborious one at best, but those who
were asked to make the ratings usually felt that they had not intimate
enough knowledge of the careers of their classmates or former students
to make any sort of a fair comparative rating. Those altruistic men
and women who undertook the task did so in every case with expressions
of doubt as to the accuracy of their judgments, especially in the matter
of present vocational success. This was true in spite of the fact that
the judges had been very carefully selected with reference to their prob-
able opportunities for keeping in intimate touch with the careers of
their classmates and former students. A few ratings by classmates were
secured, however, and one rating by a former dean. The data thus
secured are not adequate for any conclusive evidence on the points in
question. The measurements based upon them are presented with a
clear realization of their unavoidable crudities and their numerous
sources of unreliability. The results are suggestive of possible trends
only in connection with the remainder of the study.
The directions for ranking which accompanied the explanatory letter
sent to the judges, were as follows:
DIRECTIONS FOR RANKING
In column I, place opposite each name a number which represents that in-
dividual's rank in the class on the basis of general all-round promise while a stu-
dent. The individual ranking highest should be marked 1, the next highest 2,
and so on. Any two or more judged to be equal in rank may be given the same
ranking number.
Extra-Curricular Activity in Relation to Income
49
In column II, rank as above, on the basis of activity and success in extra-cur-
ricular or student activities while in college. Rank the highest individual 1;
the next highest 2, and so on.
In column III, rate each individual for present vocational success, on a scale
from 1 to 5. Let 1 equal eminently successful in vocation; 2 very successful; 3
fairly successful or an average success; 4 somewhat below average success; 5 not
successful, that is, just barely getting on. In cases where you feel that success
has been greatly aided by social position or hereditary wealth, please indicate the
fact by (s) or (w) after the rating given.
This judgment need not necessarily be based on earning power. Make your own
definition of "vocational success. If you care to tell me what factors you in-
clude in the definition I should be glad of such a statement.
An alphabetical list of the class was furnished, ruled with three par-
allel columns for the appropriate ratings for each individual. The direc-
tions for ranking were rarely followed in their entirety, however. Some
judges ranked their classmates in promise and in extra-curricular success
on a scale from 1 to 5, others ranked them on a scale of 1 to 10, etc.,
while an occasional judge ranked them as requested. More uniform
results would probably have been secured if all rankings had been called
for on a 1 to 5 scale basis. In order to make the ratings comparable the
writer reduced the rankings obtained to such a five-point basis. For
example, where ten ranks had been used, ranks 1 and 2 were called 1, 3
and 4 were called 2, etc. These rerankings were used in all cases where
rankings by different judges had to be compared or combined.
The ratings thus reduced to a 1 to 5 rank basis, were then correlated,
each with every other, with scholarship and income, also reduced to a
1 to 5 rank basis, and with the author's rating upon extra-curricular
activities, based on yearbook records. The classmates' ratings used
in the correlations represent the average of the judgments of two or
three judges, except in the case of one college where only one judgment
was available.
The method of correlation used was that described on page 46. The
calculations were made for each college separately, and then combined
by the method described in Chapter III, page 36. Table XXXII
presents the intercorrelations of the measures used.
Since only one set of judgments of a college official was available
the measurements based on these judgments are presented simply as
a matter of record, with no attempt to draw conclusions from them.
The summary which follows takes no account of these measurements.
The calculations based on the judgment of one college dean gave
the following correlations:
Dean's Judgment of Vocational Success and Rank in Scholarship .017.09 n= ::49
Dean's Judgment of Vocational Success and Extra-curricular
Success (Yr. Bk.) --
54+.07 n=43
Dean's Judgment of Vocational Success and Income..
.46+.11 n=22
50
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XXXII
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN VARIOUS MEASURES OF COLLEGE SUCCESS AND OF
VOCATIONAL SUCCESS
Men
Women
y w
P. E Cases
ro
P.E. Cases
.63
.03
.32
.37
.32
.48
.63
.28
.05
.05
.04
.04
.06
100
163
165
80
98
.36
.54
.22
.05
.05
.04
154
154
155
108
43
.09
.69
.04
101
.69
.03
155
.17
.06
100
.22
.05
155
Promise and Extra-curricular Success (C. J.)...
Promise and Extra-curricular Success (Yr. Bk.)...
Promise and Scholarship Rank.
Promise and Vocational Success (C. J)
Promise and Income...
Extra-curricular Success (C. J.) and Extra-curri-
cular Success (Yr. Bk.).
Extra-curricular Success (C. J.) and Scholarship
Rank...
Extra-curricular Success (C. J.) and Vocational
Success (C. J.)----
Extra-curricular Success (C. J.) and Income.
Extra-curricular Success (Yr. Bk.) and Scholar-
ship Rank...
Extra-curricular Success (Yr. Bk.) and Vocational
Success (C. J.).....
Extra-curricular Success (Yr. Bk.) and Income.
Present Vocational Success (C. J.) and Scholarship
Present Vocational Success (C. J.) and Income..
Income and Scholarship..
.35
.21
.07
.08
77
59
.35
72
.07
.05
71
44
.16
.04
290
.21
.05
154
.04
.32
.06
.05
.42
.22
.39
.44
.12
.06
.05
.06
.08
.05
81
169
84
48
193
.24
.06
103
46
104
38
46
.24
-.14
.10.
.09
NOTE: C. J.-Classmates Judgment; Yr. Bk.-Year Book Rating. Classmates' judgment of Present
Vocational Success includes, in the case of married women, success in homemaking.
The nature of much of the data used in calculating these correlations
is too unsatisfactory and the method too crude to give significance to
the absolute size of the coefficients. Considered comparatively, how-
ever, the trends are remarkably consistent and suggest the probable
reality of the relationships indicated. At least they suggest the de-
sirability of further study for verification or negation of the suggested
trend.
So far as weight may be given to these coefficients considered com-
paratively, they serve to support the conclusion, based upon the measure-
ment reported in the first part of this chapter that the relation between
vocational success and extra-curricular activity is somewhat closer than
the relationship between vocational success and scholarship. For the
measurement just reported this holds true whether we measure voca-
tional success in terms of income or of classmates' judgments, and
whether we measure extra-curricular success by the judgments of
classmates twelve and one-half years after graduation, or by ratings
based on class yearbook records.
The results of the measurements reported in this chapter do not
prove that college life contributes more to vocational success than does
Extra-Curricular Activity in Relation to Income
51
the work of the classroom, and that therefore college life is the thing
and studies do not count. It only shows that the extra-curricular ac-
tivities and success of the student probably are a selective agency in
discovering the kind of ability which will later achieve vocational success,
and that these activities should therefore be taken into account in any
prognosis of such success. For the guidance of appointment com-
mittees and educational and vocational advisers of students, it is im-
portant that these findings be verified and that the variations in closeness
of the relationships for different occupations be investigated.
RELATION BETWEEN RANK IN BOTH SCHOLARSHIP AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITY AND RANK IN VOCATION
“General intelligence" and whatever other traits are specifically meas-
ured by marks, play a part in vocational success. Leadership, executive
ability, energy--whatever qualities are measured by extra-curricular
success—also play a part, perhaps a larger part, in such success. It
would be desirable to measure the relationship between vocational
success and the attainment of high rank in both scholarship and extra-
curricular activities. The data available for this purpose are not suffi-
cient for reliable statistical treatment. A tabulation, however, of high
ranking men and low ranking men on the basis of college achievement
in both measures, and the income ranks of these men, is highly interest-
ing and suggestive. Such a tabulation is presented in Table XXXIII.
The tendency shown here suggests the tentative conclusion that the
individual who has the qualities which enable him to distinguish him-
self in both scholarship and extra-curricular pursuits, is likely to rank
well above the average of his classmates in his vocation twelve and one-
half years after graduation, whether his success be measured by income
or by the judgments of his classmates. The tendency seems almost
equally strong at the other end of the scale, for the men who rank low
in college by both measures seem to stand low in vocational achievement.
1 The rather consistently higher rank of men in this lower group, when rated
by classmates' judgment, than when rated by income is probably due to the fact
that only two judges gave any rating of 5, and a number gave no rating, or
almost no ratings below 3.
52
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XXXIII
VOCATIONAL EFFICIENCY RANKS OF MEN STANDING HIGH IN BOTH SCHOLARSHIP
AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY AND OF MEN RATING LOW BY BOTH
MEASURES
Scholarship
Rank 1-5
Extra-cur-
ricular Rank
C. J.
Extra-cur-
ricular Rank
Yr. Bk.
Income
Rank in
Occupational
Group
Vocational
Success
C. J.
Occupa-
tion
L
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1.5
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1.5
1
4.5
5
5
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1S.
1
2.5
1
2
T
L
L
L
if crop IA A crer ANN
crunchipurch A crcr if cronia cria A crcr A NNN
5
4
4
4
5
5
5
E
B
M
B
B
B
B
M
L
L
M
L
E
5
3
3
2
?
3
5
5
4
5
2
3
4
5
4
4
3
4
?
4
ما بنا بر بر هر در هر بر بر بر بر ده بی بر را در بین یہ
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
4.5
4.5
3.5
T
B
Р
T
T-Teaching; B-Business; L-Law; P-Medicine; E-Engineering; M-Ministry; S. W.-Social position or
hereditary wealth, respectively, have in the opinion of the judge greatly influenced success.
CHAPTER V
INFLUENCE OF THE COLLEGE COURSE UPON THE
VOCATIONS OF COLLEGE GRADUATES
In 1910, Frederick P. Keppel,' then dean of Columbia College, under-
took an investigation to discover what influence the college course
exerted on the choice of the life careers of its students. His subjects
included the members of the classes of 1908, 1909 and 1910 of Colum-
bia and Dartmouth Colleges. To these men he sent a questionnaire
containing the following questions:.
Have you come to a fairly definite decision as to what your life work is to be?
Nature of work?
Was the decision reached before entering college?
If after entering, was it in the freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior year, or
after graduation?
If you can conveniently do so, state in a few words the reason for your decision.
If you have changed one fairly definite plan for another, kindly indicate the time
of change and the reason for it.
Of the 800 men addressed, 519 or nearly 65 per cent replied. The
addresses of those who failed to reply were checked up roughly. As
to the reliability of the conclusions drawn from the group replying,
Keppel says, “The number who are apparently in University profes-
sional schools or in teaching positions make it clear that we may safely
draw our conclusions as to the general conditions from the replies
that have been received, provided we remember that the proportion
of men still in doubt as to their future work is naturally greater in the
case of men who did not reply than in that of those who did."
He found that all but 26 of the men who replied had come to some
decision as to their life work. As to the time of choosing, he found
that of the 493 who had made up their minds, 216 had reached their
decision before entering college, 43 had chosen after graduation, 208
had decided during the college course, and 32 failed to specify the time
of choosing. The decisions during the college course were distributed
as follows: freshman year, 20; sophomore year, 38; junior year, 87;
senior year, 63. Thirty-two men did not indicate the year in which
their decision was reached. The junior year appears to be the crit-
ical time of decision for those who choose their vocation during the
college course. Keppel thinks this may be explained by the fact that
a student's twenty-first birthday is more likely than not to fall in his
junior year.
1 “Occupations of College Graduates as Influenced by the College Course,'
Educational Review, Dec. 1910.
53
54
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
The second question considered was, what were the reasons which
determined the plans of these five hundred young men as to what they
would do with their lives, and in particular, just what did their college
experience have to do with the decision? A number of those replying
gave no reason for their decisions and some gave more than one reason.
In checking up the answers the investigator apportioned these pro
rata so that the answers represent not only whole votes but one-half
and one-third votes.
Keppel says that more than half the reasons offered were not very
illuminating, as might be expected from the form of the question put.
The reasons offered may be summarized as follows:
1
1
-
1
I
--
!
!
-
-
Work likely to be congenial..
Best fitted for this work.
Path of least resistance.
Opportunity for service..
Career offering wide opportunities.
Chance for outdoor life...
Liked sample got in summer.
Opening up of specific opportunity
Example of parents or other relatives.
Financial reward, immediate or prospective.
-
84
57
23
35
24
16
19
27
52
23
i
-
-
-
1
1
-
-
Iu the great majority of cases the college was not mentioned as a
factor in the choice, and several men specifically stated that their
college career had had nothing to do with their plans for the future.
Keppel thinks that the college may take some credit for the group who
offered as a reason for choice, “opportunity for service" or 'career
with wide opportunities." The references to undergraduate activities
were scattering, but the investigator says that there were enough of
them to offer one more argument for paying attention to these activi-
ties as an integral part of the educational equipment of the college.
Eighty-seven men, or 16 per cent of those replying, changed their
plans during the college course. Specific reasons for the change were
given in 70 cases, but only 30 of these made any mention of the college
career. Five changes were due indirectly to college influence. For
example, one man decided to enter the ministry as the result of a visit
to Northfield, another decided to become a lawyer instead of a doctor
because of success in college debating. Still another gave up his plans
to be a teacher because college instructors impressed him as being
singularly remote from the affairs of real life. Sixteen of the men
changed their plans because they disliked the samples they got in col-
lege of the work required in their chosen callings. Only twenty-five
changed because of the direct influence of some college subject.
Influence of the College Course
55
Keppel concludes that a large proportion of boys have decided upon
a vocation before entering college and that college officials are not
using this fact as they might to focus the student's interest in the sub-
jects which form the broad foundation for his work or those which
lead directly to it. In the case of those students who have not decided
upon a life career before entering college, the college is missing its
opportunity to stimulate and guide them in this important choice.
Keppel's study covers men who at the time of the investigation had
just graduated from college, or had been out from one to two years
only. It does not reckon, therefore, with the instability of "choice"
based upon chance factors, which are likely to ca use changes in occu-
pation one, two, three, five or ten years after graduation. The writer
of this monograph made a study similar in certain features to that of
Keppel, but based upon the records of men and women who had been
out of college for twelve and a half years-presumably long enough to
have found their vocational level. The specific questions investigated
were:
1. When did these men and women choose their occupations?
2. What reasons determined their initial occupations?
3. What proportion have remained in the initial occupation entered upon grad-
uation and what proportion have changed their occupations?
4. How are these changes distributed among the larger occupational groups?
5. What reasons are assigned for change of occupation?
TIME OF CHOOSING OCCUPATIONS BY COLLEGE STUDENTS
The first question considered in studying the influence of the college
upon the determination of its students' life careers, was the time when
students choose their vocations. If the vocation is chosen before
entering college, manifestly the college has had nothing to do with the
decision. If the choice is made during the college course, it is more
probable, though by no means certain, that the college has contributed
to the decision. If it is made after graduation it is probable that the
college has not influenced the decision in any large measure.
Among the questions sent to the members of the class of 1903 in
the cooperating colleges, were the following:
Did you choose a vocation before entering college?
During the college course?
After graduation?
Was this chosen vocation your present one? If not, what was it?
To these questions 260 men and 136 women responded. Their
answers are summarized in Table XXXIV and grouped according to
occupations. The comparison between results for different occupations
is one of the interesting features which Table XXXIV offers.
56
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
TABLE XXXIV
PERCENTAGES OF COLLEGE GRADUATES WHO CHOSE THEIR OCCUPATIONS
AT SPECIFIED TIMES, DISTRIBUTED ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONS
Percentage Choosing Vocation
Final
Occupation
Number of
Individuals
Before
Entering
During
Course
After
Graduation
Before Enter-
ing and After
Graduation
WOMEN
Teaching
Business---
Other Occu-
pations -
96
16
51
37
25
13
24
50
75
87
24
42
33
25
67
Totals.
136
48
25
27
75
64
-
-
-
71
1
1
-
-
-
-
MEN
Teaching
Business
Law
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
Other Occu-
pations.
64
65
34
33
25
13
45
23
65
61
44
77
36
29
23
39
36
23
19
48
12
0
20
0
-
1
77
61
64
77
-
-
26
35
38
27
62
Totals
260
44
33
23
67
It should be remembered that the 136 women included in this group
represent a sampling of those who have remained unmarried and are
engaged in gainful occupations twelve and one-half years after grad-
uation. About 50 per cent of the women graduates of the class of
1903 are married, and many of these women were, before marriage
employed in gainful occupations. It is not possible to say whether or
not the relative proportions for different times of choosing would be
affected had we the data necessary for including the women who have
been withdrawn from paid occupation through marriage.
Table XXXIV shows that of these 136 women engaged in gainful
occupations twelve and one-half years after graduation, 48 per cent
chose their occupations before entering college, 27 per cent chose their
occupations after graduation, and only 25 per cent during the college
A considerably larger proportion of teachers than of business
women chose their occupations before entering college. Of the busi-
ness group 50 per cent decided on their occupations after graduation.
The other occupational groups are represented by too few individuals
to be considered separately.
The table shows that 44 per cent of the 260 men who answered this
question chose their occupation before entering college. This is about
the same proportion as found by Keppel. Twenty-three per cent made
course.
Influence of the College Course
57
their decision after graduation-a considerably larger proportion than
Keppel's corresponding group. His group, however, was composed
of very recent graduates, and, as he suggests, probably does not in-
clude a large number of those men who had not yet come to a decision.
Thirty-three per cent chose their vocation during their college course-a
somewhat smaller proportion than Keppel found.
Analysis of the table by occupations indicates important variations
as to time of choosing the vocation. Law, medicine and the ministry
show the highest percentages of choice before entering college.
Teaching stands next, but well below the other three. Business shows
the lowest percentage of choice before entering college. In percent-
age of decisions after graduation, business holds the highest rank,
engineering and teaching standing second. The ministers and doc-
tors had all made their decisions before graduation. About equal
percentages of the doctors, teachers and engineers chose their vocations
during their college course, the doctors having a slightly larger percent-
age than the other two occupations. Business stands next, followed
by law and the ministry. On the whole, the variations in percent-
ages among the different occupations are not so striking for the men who
chose their vocations during their college course as for those who chose
before entering or after graduation. In no occupation does the per-
centage choosing during college rise above 39 per cent.
In general, the facts revealed in this study agree fairly closely with
the facts reported by Keppel. Both studies show that so far as the time
of choosing the occupation may be used as a criterion, the college has,
in these cases at least, exerted no influence upon a very large per-
centage of its graduates.
REASONS ASSIGNED BY COLLEGE GRADUATES FOR ENTERING
THEIR INITIAL OCCUPATIONS
Taken alone, the time of choosing the occupation does not tell us
conclusively what part the college has played in the graduate's decision
as to his life work. The choices made during college may or may not
have been influenced by the student's college course. In an attempt
to discover what reasons actually determined the student's choice
of a career, the following question was included in the question blank
sent to the members of the class of 1903 of eleven colleges:
"Upon graduation from college what determined your first occupation? In-
dicate by checking or by adding to the appended list:
Chance to earn for further study.
Vocation of my choice.
Best thing that offered.
Experimenting—had made no choice."
58
College Achievement and Vocationa Efficiency
Replies to the question were received from 251 men and 140 women.
Their answers are summarized in Table XXXV.
TABLE XXXV
REASONS ASSIGNED FOR ENTERING INITIAL OCCUPATION
Percentage of Times Given Reasons Were Assigned
II
III
IV
V
Initial
Occupation
I
Number
of Cases Chance to
Earn for
Study
Vocation
of
Choice
Best Thing Experiment- Influence
that ing. No of Parents
Offered Choice or Friends
WOMEN
Teaching --
Other Occupations -
7
113
27
1
0
61
70
20
17
2
7
2
11
Totals
140
1
65
20
6
8
-
+
15
11
17
57
7
9
12
12
3
-
.
-
-
1
-
MEN
Teaching
Business.
Law.
Medicine
Engineering-
Ministry
Other Occupations
68
68
28
28
19
13
27
59
18
93
100
74
92
63
-
-
1
-
-
-
26
-
1
-
-
1
1
--
8
4
6
19
9
Totals
251
8
59
25
7
2
In reading Table XXXV for women it should be recalled that this
group represents only about one half of those whose initial occupation
was teaching. The other half, having married, were not included in
this study which deals only with paid occupations. For the women
who were in gainful occupations at the end of twelve and a half years,
the table shows that a little less than 1 per cent entered their first
occupation as a chance to earn for further study. “Choice” was as-
signed in 65 per cent of the cases; "best thing that offered" or "ex-
perimenting-had made no choice,” in 26 per cent of the cases; “in-
fluence of parents or friends” in 8 per cent of the cases. Teaching
is the only specific occupational group whose size is large enough to
offer a suggestion as to the trend of factors influencing choice. The
reasons assigned to the various factors by the teaching group do not
vary markedly from those assigned by the group as a whole.
Examination of the table for men shows that 8 per cent went into
their first occupation as a means of earning for further study; 59 per
cent gave "choice" as the reason for entering their initial occupation,
25 per cent took the best thing that offered, 7 per cent were experi-
menting, 2 per cent were determined in their selection by the influence
of parents or friends.
Influence of the College Course
59
Analysis of the table on the basis of initial occupation reveals some
interesting variations. "Chance to earn for further study" was as-
signed by 15 per cent of the men who entered teaching, and by 11 per cent
of the men who entered business as their first occupation. “Choice"
was assigned by 59 per cent of the men whose initial occupation was
teaching, by only 18 per cent of the men whose initial occupation was
business, by more than 90 per cent of the men whose initial occupation
was law, medicine or the ministry, and by. 74 per cent of those whose
initial occupation was engineering. “Best thing that offered" and
"Experimenting-had made no choice," taken together were assigned
by 26 per cent of the men with teaching as an initial occupation, by
69 per cent of those with business as an initial occupation, by 7 per cent
of those who entered law, and by 26 per cent of those who entered
engineering as their first occupation. "Influence of parents or friends"
was not included in the checking list of reasons printed in the ques-
tionnaire. This reason was specified, however, by a few of the men
with business or the ministry as an initial occupation. This reason
doubtless played a part in the decisions of some of those who kept
strictly to the checking list.
Variations in the percentages for law, medicine, and the ministry
are not large in amount, and since the percentages are based on small
numbers of cases for these occupations, the variations may be without
significance. Considering all occupations comparatively, however,
there is a marked tendency for "choice" to predominate as a reason
for entering, as the initial occupation, vocations which require extended
preparation beyond graduation, such as medicine, law, the ministry,
and to a lesser degree, engineering. This result is, of course, to be
expected. Teaching and business, the latter in particular, show much
larger percentages drifting into "the best thing that offered," or "ex-
perimenting," having made no choice. This tendency of college grad-
uates to drift into teaching and business because they have made no
real decisions as to their life work at the time of graduation, is familiar
to college officials who have been concerned with the vocational place-
ment of students about to graduate.
Of the reasons for entering the initial occupations here listed, the
college could, at best, claim credit only for “Choice” and possibly
for “Chance to earn for further study,” which implies a deferred but
chosen vocational goal. Elimination of these two reasons leaves a
little more than one-third of the cases for both men and women deter-
mined by chance opportunity, pure drifting, experimentation in the
absence of choice, or in a few cases, influence of parents or friends
60
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
But the case for college influence is not so good as these proportions
might indicate. In the first place there is no assurance that the college
can take credit for any large proportion of these "choices.” This
fact is clear from Keppel's study, which showed that of the men who
decided on a life career during college, or who changed their plans for
a life career during college, the great majority either did not mention
the college or actually stated that their college career had nothing to
do with their decisions.
The present study only indirectly throws further light on this spe-
cific question. Here and there a graduate explains more definitely
why he chose a given occupation or why he changed his original deci-
sion during his college course.' Sometimes inference as to the reason
for the choice or change is fairly safe from the answers to several ques-
tions taken together. There is too little uniformity in these chance
comments to give them statistical worth, but as one reads of the deci-
sion during college to give up a tentative choice of law for business be-
cause, “I needed to get money quickly to get married," and coupled
with this, "Went into business on graduation with a friend made in
college”; or in connection with choice of business during college a state-
ment that, "My father owns the business and wanted my brother or
me to continue same when he no longer could,” etc., one gradually gets
a cumulative impression that a fair proportion of the changes or
choices during college had causes other than the college curriculum.
Extra-curricular activities evidently played some part in choices and
changes. Change to social service work in certain cases was rather
evidently based on student Y. M. C. A. activity. In one case a man
went into the journalistic field as a result of experience in handling
the class book during his senior year.
Only two men specifically mention the influence of teachers as a
reason for choosing or changing the vocational plan. One, a chemist,
says, “The personal popularity of a professor at college was at least a
strong factor in inducing me to take up chemistry. Hence I went to
Tech for further study." The other, a teacher, states that his change
of vocational decision from law to teaching during his senior year was
in part due to the influence of the college president and two college
teachers. In the majority of cases there is no certain means of know-
ing from the statements made whether or not, or how much, the
choice or change was influenced by the college career.
1 In reply to the question, "Was this chosen vocation your present one? If
not, what was it?"
Influence of the College Course
61
Another observation seems to limit further the scope of influence
which we might reasonably ascribe to the college administration for
the vocational decisions of those who list "choice" as the reason for
entering the initial vocation. Study of the table showing the occupa-
tional distribution of different times of choosing occupation (page
56), indicates that those occupations which furnish the largest per-
centages of individuals offering "choice" as the reason for their initial
occupation, namely, law, medicine and the ministry, are just the occu-
pations which furnish the largest percentages of men who chose their
careers before entering college.
Again, it is questionable whether we should credit the college with
any large share in the vocational goals of the men who entered their
first occupation as a chance to earn for further study and who therefore
presumably had a vocational goal. Their initial occupations were usual-
ly teaching or business. In a later section it will be shown that most
of these men eventually went into law, medicine, the ministry or
engineering-again representing fields in which a large proportion of
the men had chosen their careers before entering college.
The results of this study of the reasons which influenced the initial
occupations of the class of 1903 in eleven colleges support Keppel's
conclusions that the college is not meeting its responsibility and op-
portunity in guiding the students in making one of the most important
decisions of life.
FREQUENCY OF CHANGE IN THE OCCUPATIONS OF COLLEGE
GRADUATES
It was shown in the last section that 40 per cent of the college men
and 35 per cent of the college women considered in this study entered
upon their initial occupations for reasons other than "choice.” If in
addition to this fact one reflects that “choice” may mean anything
from a reasoned decision based upon known facts as to one's own abil-
ities and the demands and opportunities of a given life career, to such
vague leanings as, “Had for many years wished to be a nurse," "Decid-
ed when a small child to be a teacher," "Had always planned to be a
teacher," "Father had taught," "Decided to be a teacher the first day
I went to school,"' 1 there will be little surprise if it be found that there
is a considerable percentage of college graduates who do not remain in
the initial occupation which they enter upon graduation. Just how
1 Sample quotations from questionnaires giving “Choice" as the reason for
changing initial occupation.
62
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
much change does occur and how it is distributed among different
vocations is the subject of this section.
The data used in investigating the frequency of change in the oc-
cupations of college graduates were: (1) the initial and final' oc-
cupations of the 1092 living academic graduates (men) of the classes
of 1897 to 1902, inclusive, of Bowdoin College, Colgate and Brown
Universities, and the 818 graduates (women) of the classes of 1898 to
1901 of Mt. Holyoke College, and 1898 to 1900 of Smith College;
(2) the initial and final occupations of those academic graduates of
the class of 1903 (men and women) in the cooperating colleges listed
in Chapter III for whom the essential data were available. The oc-
cupational records for the first group were tabulated from the latest
alumni catalogues of the colleges studied. The occupational records
of the second group were tabulated from the questionnaires returned
by about 60 per cent of the men and women of the class of 1903 in the
cooperating colleges, supplemented in some cases by the alumni re-
cords.
The 1092 men included in the first group had been out of college for
periods of from 10 to 17 years, an average of 13.5 years, the latest
bulletins having been issued for Bowdoin in 1912, for Colgate in 1913,
and for Brown in 1914. The first figures reported are for these 1092
men.
The procedure used was as follows: From the alumni catalogues
the initial or first occupation entered after graduation was recorded
for each man. In a parallel column the final occupation of each of
these individuals was entered. The individuals were tabulated in
groups according to initial occupation, all those whose initial occupa-
tion was business being tabulated in one group, those whose initial oc-
cupation was teaching in another group, and so on. Later these same
individuals were retabulated according to final occupations. From
these two sets of tabulations the percentages of constancy and change
in occupation were calculated. In Table XXXVI, which presents
these percentages, only those occupational groups are recorded which
include 90 or more cases. There are five such groups: teaching, busi-
ness, law, medicine, and the ministry. Table XXXVI also shows
the percentage of men engaged in each of these occupations at the end
of the 10-17 year period who had begun their vocational careers in
a different occupation:
Summarizing the facts of Table XXXVI, it will be seen that for the
men included in this study, teaching easily leads all other fields as an
Throughout this chapter “final" will be used to designate the occupation
recorded as “present occupation" in the latest obtainable record.
Influence of the College Course
63
TABLE XXXVI
DISTRIBUTION OF COLLEGE MEN ACCORDING TO INITIAL AND FINAL OCCUPATION
(10–17 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION). PER CENT OF CONSTANCY, CHANGE
AND GAIN FROM OTHER OCCUPATIONS, VOCATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED
No. in Occupation
Occupation
Per Cent with
Same Initial
and Final
Occupation
Per Cent with
Different Init-
ial and Final
Occupation
Per Cent of
Final Group
Recruited from
Other Occupa-
tions
Initial
Final
Teaching-
Business,
Law----
Medicine.
Ministry-
343
283
156
98
93
224
304
205
113
91
60.6
87.3
96.8
96.9
91.4
39.4
12.7
3.2
3.1
8.6
7.7
18.7
26.3
13.3
6.6
Totals.---
973
937
80.7
19.3
16.1
entering occupation. It is at the same time a temporary occupation
for college graduates to a higher degree than any other, since nearly
40 per cent of the men who enter it upon graduation leave it for other
work within a 10–17 year period. Forty-four per cent of these men
who left teaching used the profession as a stepping-stone to other pro-
fessions, while about 32 per cent went into business. Teaching not
only loses a large percentage of its entrants, but it has small drawing
power for men who begin in other occupations. Only about 8 per cent
of the men who are teachers at the end of the 10-17 year period were
recruited from other occupations, and of these about 60 per cent began
in business. Nevertheless, despite the large percentage of loss and the
small percentage of gain, teaching takes second place as an occupation
for this group of college men at the end of the 10-17 year period.
Whether, and how much, teaching as a profession suffers from the
presence of such a large number of vocational transients, is a question
worthy of consideration. It could only be answered by a study of the
comparative teaching success of those who entered the vocation as a
temporary occupation and those who expect to make it a life work.
The latter group is far from homogeneous. It includes men of little
initiative, who simply followed the line of least resistance into the oc-
cupation whose doors open most readily to the college graduate, men
who have tried unsuccessfully business or some other field, as well as
gifted men whose interest in teaching was strong enough to offset the
temptation to larger monetary rewards offered by other fields. Until
teaching as a profession can be made more attractive financially to able
men, it may be that as a nation we shall profit by having gifted college
graduates give two, three or four years of service en route to their final
vocations. Some of these men for one reason or another will turn aside
64
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
from their original goals and remain teachers, to the very great gain of
the profession.
Business stands second as an initial occupation for this group of
college men. It lost 12 per cent of the initial entrants, a higher per-
centage than that sustained by any other occupation except teaching,
whose percentage of loss is three times as great. Nearly one-half of
the men who dropped out of business became lawyers. Rather more
than half of them became teachers. But the relatively high percentage
of loss of its initial entrants which business sustained is more than
counterbalanced by its gains from other fields. Of the men whose final
occupation is business, eighteen and three-fourths per cent began their
careers in other occupations. This surplus of gains over losses is suffi-
cient to place business in the first rank as a final occupation for col-
lege men.
Law, medicine, and the ministry stand numerically third, fourth, and
fifth in the order named, in both the initial and the final groupings.
Law, while showing a very small percentage of loss, 3.2 per cent, from
its initial group, has taken in the final group, first place in the percentage
recruited from other occupations, having gained 26 per cent of its
numbers, mainly from teaching and business. Medicine shows about
the same small percentage of loss from its initial group, 3.1 per cent,
and also shows a high percentage of gain from other occupations, 13.2
per cent, mainly from teaching and business. The ministry is not only
lowest numerically in the list of occupations for college graduates, but
its drawing power as a final occupation is even lower than that of teach-
ing-6.6 per cent. At the same time, it stands third in rate of loss
of its initial entrants.
The second table for men (Table XXXVII) was based upon data as
to initial and final occupations drawn from the questionnaires returned
by men of the class of 1903 in Bowdoin College, Brown University,
Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Illinois,
the University of Missouri and Oberlin College. The treatment of data
was the same as that used for the group reported in Table XXXVI.
The relative order of professional groups, as indicated in Table XXXVII,
shows no marked differences from that shown in Table XXXVI, which
presents the same facts for a different group of college men, except that
the ministry is displaced by engineering for fifth place in the list. Busi-
ness shares with teaching the first place as an initial occupation, however,
instead of taking second place, and medicine shares third place with
law. These latter differences may be due to the fact that Table XXX-
VII was tabulated from the records of those men who replied to the
Influence of the College Course
65
TABLE XXXVII
DISTRIBUTION OF COLLEGE MEN REPLYING TO QUESTIONNAIRE, ACCORDING TO INITIAL
AND FINAL OCCUPATION (12) YEARS AFTER GRADUATION). PER CENT OF
CONSTANCY, CHANGE AND GAIN FROM OTHER OCCUPATIONS
VOCATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED
No, in
Occupation
Occupation
Per Cent with
Same Initial
and Final
Occupation
Per Cent with
Different
Initial. and
Final
Occupation
Per Cent of
Final Group
Recruited from
Other Occu-
pations
Initial
Final
-
Teaching -
Business
Law.
Medicine.
Engineering-
Ministry-
Other Occupations 1
69
69
28
28
20
13
30
65
68
36
31
20
13
24
81.1
79.7
92.9
100
95
100
83.3
18.9
20.3
7.1
0
5
0
16.7
.
-
-
13.8
19.1
27.7
9.7
5
0
16.6
- -
-
-
Totals.
257
84.4
15.6
15.6
1 Journalism (8), chemistry (5), research (4), forestry (4), social service and religious work (2), farming (2),
librarian (2), government service (2), architecture (1).
2. It should be noted that this is the final distribution of those replying to the questionnaire. The final
distribution of the entire group is given in Chapter III, Table XV.
questionnaire, while Table XXXVI was based upon the alumni cata-
logue records of all men in the classes studied. Reference to Table
XV, Chapter III, will recall the fact that different vocations furnished
different percentages of replies to the occupational questionnaire as
follows: Teaching 76.5 per cent, business 46.4 per cent, law 54.7 per
cent, medicine 59.3 per cent, engineering 65.4 per cent, ministry 61.9
per cent. If in connection with these percentages of replies we take the
percentages of change among those who did reply and the totals of the
final occupational groups as given in Table XV, Chapter III, the ques-
tion is left indeterminate as to whether there are marked differences
between business and teaching as initial occupations, since each has a
high percentage of change.
Since, however, law and medicine show relatively small percentages of
change, and since law shows larger absolute numbers in the final group
than does medicine (66 as against 54), it is fairly safe to infer that in
this group of college men, as in the first group studied, law would take
third place as an initial occupation. Reference to the same data for
the ministry and engineering lead to the inference that for this group of
college men, engineering would retain its lead over the ministry if the
facts as to initial occupations were available for all the men of the class
of 1903 in the cooperating colleges.
This table shows the same relative positions for the different voca-
66
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
tions as final occupations for college men as did Table XXXVI, with
the exception that engineering has displaced the ministry for fifth place
just as it did in the initial occupational distribution. The absolute
numbers in these vocations at the end of twelve years (Table XV) are
as follows: Business 149; teaching 83; law 66; medicine 54; engineer-
ing 39; ministry 21.
As to the relative amounts of change in different occupational groups
as indicated in Table XXXVII, the order is as follows: Business 20.3
per cent; teaching 18.9 per cent; law 7.1 per cent; engineering 5 per cent;
medicine and the ministry 0 per cent. The only difference between
Table XXXVI and Table XXXVII as to relative positions in per cent
of change, is the reversal of teaching and business for first place.
Whether or not this difference is due to the differences in percentages
replying in these two occupations, we have no way of discovering.
In order of percentages recruited from other occupations, few differ-
ences are noted between Table XXXVII and Table XXXVI. In both
tables law stands easily first, and business second in drawing power. In
Table XXXVII teaching and medicine reverse the places held in Table
XXXVI, teaching here taking third instead of fourth place in drawing
power. In both tables the ministry stands at the end of the list in
this respect.
This measurement of change in the occupations of two groups of
college graduates yields results for the two groups which are in essential
agreement. While the actual percentages of loss and of gain in different
occupations do not agree closely for the two groups in every case, the
relative ranks of the occupations (1) as initial occupations for college
graduates, (2) as final occupations, (3) as to amount of change from
initial to final occupations, and (4) as to gains from other occupations,
remain practically the same.
The study of frequency of change in occupation for college women
covers two groups of graduates. The first includes the 818 living grad-
uates of the classes of 1898 to 1901, inclusive, of Mt. Holyoke College
and the classes of 1898 to 1900, inclusive, of Smith College. The data
for this group were tabulated from the latest alumni catalogs—1910 for
Smith and 1911 for Mt. Holyoke. The final record, therefore, covers
a period of from 10-13 years from the time of graduation. The second
group comprises the women of the class of 1903 in the cooperating col-
leges. Table XXXVIII gives the essential facts for the first group of
818 women.
Influence of the College Course
67
TABLE XXXVIII
DISTRIBUTION OF COLLEGE WOMEN ACCORDING TO INITIAL AND FINAL OCCUPATION
(10-13 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION). PER CENT OF CONSTANCY, CHANGE
AND GAIN FROM OTHER OCCUPATIONS, VOCATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED
Per Cent of Change to
Occupation
No. in Occupa- Per Cent
tion
with Same
Initial and
Final Oc-
Initial Final
cupation
Other
Gainful Mar-
Occupa-riage
tions
Per Cent
Total Recruited
Change from other
Occupa-
tions
No
Rec.
Occ.
-
-
1
I
1
Teaching
Business
Soc. and Relig.
Librarian
Other Gainful
Occupations.
448
17
14
18
209
18
14
11
45.8
47
35.7
44.4
5.4
11.8
14.3
5.6
39
35.3
42.9
44.4
9.3
5.9
7.1
5.6
54.2
53
64.3
55.6
1.9
55.5
64.3
36.3
ot
26
23
61.5
15.4
23.1
0
38.5
21.7
Total Gainful
Occupations
523
275
48
6
38
8
52
12
Marriage.
188
389
48
52
I
-
-
-
I
1
T
No Recorded
Occupation
107
152
-
-
-
Analysis of Table XXXVIII shows that 523 or a little more than 64
per cent of these women entered some gainful occupation after gradua-
tion; 188 or about 23 per cent married without engaging in any gainful
occupation; 107 or about 13 per cent had neither married nor engaged
in gainful occupation at the end of the 10-13 year period. Of the gain-
ful occupations teaching is by far the largest group, including 448 wo-
men or nearly 86 per cent of all those engaged in gainful occupations.
Of the 523 women who entered gainful occupatilns after graduation,
48 per cent were engaged in the same occupation and 52 per cent had
changed at the end of the 10-13 year period. Of the 52 per cent who
had changed, 38 per cent had married, 8 per cent had no recorded oc-
cupation, and 6 per cent were engaged in other gainful occupations. If
we use as a base the 322 women who were not married during the period
studied, the change to other gainful occupations is 10 per cent. As
to variations among different occupations with reference to amount
of change, there is nothing worthy of note. Teaching is the only
occupational group large enough to offer significant percentages and
these percentages differ little if any from the percentages for the
entire group.
68
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
At the end of the 10-13 year period 389, or about 48 per cent, of these
women were married, 152, or about 18 per cent, were neither married nor
engaged in gainful occupations, and 277 (including 2 students who
presumably would return to gainful occupation), or about 34 per cent,
were engaged in paid occupations. Of this working group 209 or 76
per cent were teaching. Of these, 98 per cent had begun as teachers and
2 per cent had been recruited from other occupations. The percentages
for other occupational groups are based upon so much smaller numbers
of cases that they have little value as bases of comparison. Taken at
their face value, however, they indicate that teaching loses less to other
occupations and gains less than does any other occupation.
Table XXXIX presents for the second group studied the facts as to
initial and final occupations, constancy and change in occupation. The
data were tabulated from the occupational questionnaires returned by
the women of the class of 1903 of Barnard, Mt. Holyoke, Goucher, and
Oberlin Colleges, the University of Illinois and the University of Mis-
souri.
TABLE XXXIX
DISTRIBUTION OF COLLEGE WOMEN (MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 1903 FOR WHOM THE
NECESSARY DATA WERE AVAILABLE), ACCORDING TO INITIAL AND FINAL Occu-
PATIONS. PER CENT OF CONSTANCY, CHANGE AND GAIN FROM
GAIN FROM OTHER
OCCUPATIONS
No. in Occu-
pation
Per Cent of Change
Per Cent with
Per Cent
Same Initial Other
Recruited from
and Final Occu- Gain- Mar- Total Other Occu-
pation
ful riage Changel pations
Occ.
Occupation
Initial
Final
Teaching-
223
99
42
10
48
58
en
Other Gainful
Occupations
39
42
48
18
33
52
57
Total Gainful
Occupations
262
141
43
11
46
57
20
Married.
64
184
34
66
-
1
No Recorded
Occupations
44
59
1
Influence of the College Course
69
Table XXXIX shows the same general characteristics for this group
of women as were revealed by the study of the first group. About 70
per cent entered some gainful occupation upon graduation, 85 per cent
of this number becoming teachers. A little more than 17 per cent
married, without entering gainful occupations and 12 per cent had
neither married nor engaged in gainful occupations after graduation.
At the end of the period studied, 48 per cent were married, a little
less than 37 per cent were engaged in paid occupations (about 71 per
cent of these were teachers) and about 15 per cent were neither mar-
ried nor engaged in paid occupations. Of the initial group 57 per cent
changed their occupations, 46 per cent for marriage and 11 per cent for
other gainful occupations. Teaching is by far the largest of the voca-
tional groups both as an initial and as a final occupation. Its loss to
other occupations is about twice its gain from other occupational fields.
This study of change in the occupations of college graduates, men
and women, takes account only of initial and final occupations. A
complete record would take account of all changes between graduation
and the date of investigation. It was not possible to base the measure-
ment upon such a record because of the incompleteness of the avail-
able data. Where complete records for individual groups are avail-
able they suggest that the amount of occupational turnover is far greater
than our figures show. Not infrequently there are one, two, and
occasionally three or more changes intervening between the initial and
final occupations. The measurement we have used, records for the
individual one change only. In other cases experimentation has oc-
curred which is not registered at all in our tabulations, because the in-
dividual's groping for vocational equilibrium finally led back to the
initial occupation. The following instances will illustrate this group of
cases: (1) Business one year, teacher seven years, business; (2) teacher
one year, business two years, teacher; (3) teacher two years, farmer
four years, teacher; (4) business one year, law five years, business.
It would be a difficult task to measure the extent to which these
changes in occupation have affected or will affect the success of the
individuals concerned. Undoubtedly the individuals who have not
changed their occupations do not represent a homogeneous group,
Some of them entered the occupation because of reasoned choice.
some drifted in, found the work congenial and stayed, some drifted in
because of chance circumstances and had not push enough to get out
when they found the occupation unsuited to them or were financially
unable to start in a new field. The group which has changed is not
more homogenous. Changes are few or many, have taken place all
70
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
the way from one year to twelve years after graduation, and represent
all degrees of relationship and lack of relationship to the preceding oc-
cupations. It is probably safe to assume that so much vocational
drifting' must represent an unwarranted waste of human energy and
social effectiveness.
REASONS FOR CHANGE IN THE OCCUPATIONS OF COLLEGE GRADUATES
As a basis for determining the reasons for change in the occupations
of college graduates, the following question was included in the occupa-
tional questionnaire sent to the graduates of the class of 1903:
"If your present occupation is different from your initial occupation, indicate
by checking or by adding to the appended list the reasons for the change:
Better salary
More congenial occupation
Vocation of earlier choice
Better adapted to my abilities
TABLE XL
FREQUENCY OF REASONS FOR LEAVING INITIAL OCCUPATION
Law
Reasons Assigned for Change
from Initial Occupation
Teach- Busi-
ing ness
Medi-
cine
Engin- | Minis-
Minis- | Other Total
eering try
Occu- Fre-
pations quency
MEN
5
3
2
1
7
18
-
6
7
13
1
-
-
I
-
-
I
U
1
I
1
Better Salary-
Vocation of Earlier
Choice
More Congenial
Occupation..
Better Adapted to
Abilities
Chance
Better Opportunity--
4
8
4
16
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
3
1
-
-
-
--
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
!
-
-
I
-
1
1
1
!
-
-
5
1
9
1
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
-
-
-
1
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
.
-
1
-
-
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Total
21
22
2
1
12
58
WOMEN
2
3
5
1
.
-
1
1
1
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
1
1
1
1
1
-
Better Salary--
Vocation of Earlier
Choice
More Congenial
Occupation -
Better Adapted to
Abilities.
Other Reasons
11
2
13
-
--
--
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
f
-
-
I
-
1
-
--
-
1
-
-
-
-
1
1
-
1
1
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8
11
2
3
10
14
.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
1
1
1
1
1
Totals..
33
11
43
-
-
I
1
1
-
Influence of the College Course
71
In answer to this question some individuals checked one reason while
some checked two or more reasons for their change in occupation. In
order to simplify the following tables which summarize the tabulation
of these answers, each vote is counted as one whether it was combined
with other reasons or not. Table XL is based on a classification
according to initial occupations of the individuals responding and
shows the reasons which led these graduates to leave certain occupations.
The reasons which operated most frequently to induce change in
occupation are, for men: better financial returns, more congenial oc-
cupation, entrance upon vocation of earlier choice and occupation bet-
ter adapted to the individual's abilities, in the order named. Analysis by
occupations shows that those who left teaching were influenced by
these factors in almost equal amounts. Those leaving teaching who
were influenced largely by the financial factor are distributed as to
final occupation among the various professions and business.
of those whose change was determined by earlier choice left teaching
for law or medicine. Those who sought more congenial work or work
better adapted to their abilities are scattered among different occupa-
tions. Those who left business did so chiefly for vocations of earlier
choice and for more congenial occupation. Financial considerations
played a lesser part, and were usually only one of several reasons as-
signed. Those who left business for vocations of earlier choice went
mainly into law or medicine. About half of those who were seeking
more congenial occupations went into teaching, the remainder being
scattered among different occupations.
The chief reasons responsible for change in occupation among women
graduates are the desire for more congenial work or for an occupa-
tion better adapted to the individual's abilities. Need to be at home
is another large factor in the case of women and constitutes a major
part of the causes of change listed under “other reasons." “Vocation
of earlier choice" seems a negligible factor in producing change in
women's occupations. This is consistent with the fact shown in Table
XXXV, page 58, that few women entered their initial occupation as
a chance to earn for further study.
The number of cases upon which this study of reasons for change
in occupation is based is too small to merit its presentation except for
consideration in connection with the study of reasons for choice and
the measurement of change. No conclusions will be drawn from it
except in connection with these studies.
CHAPTER VI
OTHER FACTORS HAVING A POSSIBLE BEARING UPON
SUCCESS IN COLLEGE AND SUCCESS IN VOCATION
cess.
The fact that a student is self-supporting wholly or in part during
his college course may have some bearing upon his record both in
scholarship and in the extra-curricular life of the school. It may also
indicate qualities which have a measurable relation to vocational suc-
The amount and kind of professional training after graduation
may be related in a measurable degree to later vocational achievement.
Early marriage and children may have something to do with success,
either as a spur to greater effort, or as a hindrance to further study.
Data with respect to these matters were secured on the occupational
questionnaire for men, and on self-support and study after graduation
for women. It was found impossible, however, to isolate the separate
factors to be studied and retain groups large enough to justify any
sort of suggestion as to trends in relation to vocational efficiency, for
in this matter as well as in the other problems considered in this study
inspection of the tabulations showed the necessity of distributing the
data according to occupations. The attempt to measure such relation-
ships, even crudely, was therefore abandoned. However, certain facts
of interest are brought out by the tabulations and some of these facts
will be presented briefly in this chapter.
SELF-SUPPORT IN COLLEGE
The data for determining the amount and kind of self-support in
college were obtained in reply to the following questions included in the
occupational questionnaire.
If wholly or partially self-supporting during your college course, what was the
gross amount earned during the four years?
What part of this was earned while college was in session (i. e., exclusive of
summer vacations)?
How was it earned?
Table XLI summarizes the replies of 203 men and 117 women now
engaged in paid occupations. It shows that of the 203 men reporting
two-thirds were wholly or partly self-supporting, earning a median amount
72
1
Other Factors
73
TABLE XLI
SELF-SUPPORT OF COLLEGE STUDENTS DISTRIBUTED ON THE BASIS OF OCCUPATIONS
121 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION
Approximate Amounts
Kind of Work
Earned During Course
Occupation
Total Reporting
Not Self-Supporting
Wholly or Partially
Self-Supporting
Amount not Specified
$50.-$399.
$400.-$599.
$600.-$999.
$1000 or over
Median Amount
Earned
Unskilled Manual
Skilled Manual
Unskilled
Intellectual
Skilled
Intellectual
Business
MEN
1
I
-
-
--
-
1
Teaching
Business
Law---
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry -
-
60
54
31
29
16
13
11
28
16
8
2
2
49
26
15
21
14
11
6.
5
2
3
1
1
8
3
5
3
2
1
8
3
2
4
4
1
91 18 $700 34
78 $800 23
33 $3751 13
3 8 $950 13
43 $600 14
26 $1100 5!
4
3
2
6 261 13
4 9 11
10 5
2 101 13
11 11 7
7 3
-
-
-
2
Total.
203
67
136
181 221 22 28 46
$700|102 15 13 73 52
WOMEN
58
3
4
71 16
92
8
73
5
19
3
3
2
$300 10
$900 4
1
1
1
1
1
1
Teaching
Business.
Social and Religious
Work.
Librarians.
2
1
1
1
1 1 1
10
7
8
7
-
Total
117
93
24
6
8
361
1
1+1
41 81 17
3
of approximately $700. There are marked differences among the different
vocations as to the proportions of men who were partially or wholly
self-supporting during college. Teaching and the ministry lead the list
with 82 per cent and 85 per cent respectively. The small number of
ministers reporting makes the exact percentage for this group some-
what unreliable. Medicine with 72 per cent comes next, then engineer-
ing with 69 per cent. Somewhat less than half of the business men and
lawyers were self-supporting. If we contrast business with its high
percentage of non-self-supporting men and its low scholastic distri-
bution, with teaching which has a low percentage of non-self-support
and high scholastic range, there is a suggestion that probably the matter
of self-support does not play so large a part in scholarship as do some
other factors
74
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
Of the 117 women reporting, only 20 per cent were partially or wholly
self-supporting. The median amount earned was approximately $300.
The groups other than teaching are represented by too few cases to
serve as the basis of comparisons.
The kinds of work were classified somewhat arbitrarily under the
heads: unskilled manual, skilled manual, unskilled intellectual, skilled
intellectual, and business. The most frequent type by far is unskilled
manual. A better idea of the ways in which these students earned
their way can be gained by a more detailed analysis of the methods of
earning. It should be noted that the same student frequently reported
different types of work.
Unskilled manual (men) included: waiter and kitchen work, janitor,
caretaker about house and lawn, night watchman, farm labor, caring for
sick, sawing wood, driving milk wagon, coachman, stable work, bell
boy, brickyard work, miscellaneous jobs. Skilled manual: print shop
work, painting, barber shop, tailor shop, athletic coach, brakeman,
reading gas meters, shoemaker, machine shop, photographic work,
gymnasium assistant, jewelry shop. Skilled intellectual: teaching and
tutoring, library work, clerical, surveying, editorial work, orchestra, choir,
teaching music, pharmacist, laboratory assistant, bookkeeper, report-
er, engineering, surveying, weather bureau, preaching, chaplain, editor of
college paper. Business: clerk, canvassing, bill collecting, bank clerk,
college supply store, salesman, running a boarding house, club steward,
collecting rents, book agent, life insurance, handling ads., laundry agency,
store delivery, managing the college paper.
The women who earned by unskilled manual labor served as mothers'
helpers, maids, waiters; cared for sick; served at teas; did cooking,
sewing, laundering, cleaning, kitchen work; waited on table; did mis-
cellaneous jobs; and one was an artist's model. Skilled manual for
women included: remodeling hats, typewriting and massage. Some of
the activities listed under unskilled manual may easily belong under
skilled manual. It is difficult to draw the line in many cases. Unskilled
intellectual occupations included: library work, sorting papers, reading
to people, clerical work. Skilled intellectual for women included: tutoring
and other teaching, laboratory assistant, playground work. Business in-
cluded: magazine subscriptions, catering, clerk in store.
SPECIAL STUDY OR TRAINING AFTER GRADUATION
To what extent is the education offered by the liberal arts college
supplemented by later training for the vocations its graduates enter?
What and how long is this training and to what extent does its amount
Other Factors
75
differ for different occupations? In attempting to answer these questions,
the following queries were included in the occupational questionnaire:
What special study or training for your vocation have you had since graduation
from college?
In the following table, indicate the amount and the dates of such training.
All of time for
years.
One half time for
years.
One quarter time for
years.
TABLE XLII
NUMBER OF YEARS OF SPECIAL STUDY FOR VOCATION AFTER GRADUATION
FROM COLLEGE
Occupation
Years and Part Years of Graduate Study
1 |13|2|3|43| 54
None Unknown tol to tol to
to to to Over Med-
1 17 27 37 43 511 6
6 ian
Number
Reporting
MEN
6 3 2
11
-
-
1
10
39
4
5
1
-
-
-
1
4
-
-
-
.
Teaching 1
Business__
Law
Medicine
Engineering
Ministry
1
8/15/12 10
11 24
2 321
1
2
11 3 2 1
3
66
51
34
26
17
11
97
4
wocowo
-
-
-
3
2
1
8
-
-
.
-
1
6.) 2
- -
61
10
14122121134 (16/12/11
4
11
مراه
205
1
21
1
1
Totals.
WOMEN
Teaching
Business
Social and Religious
Librarian
1
15
4
-
-
-
-
1
1
1
-
232714 8
2 2
5) 21 2
3
91
8
11
4
2
1
-
-
-
1
-
Totals
20
3
130130118110
2 11 0 0 0
1
114
1Unlike preparation for law and medicine, this graduate study does not necessarily or usually precede
the entrance upon professional work.
Some of the replies were difficult to tabulate because of the irregular-
ity of the training. For example, one man, a lawyer, checked all of the
time for four years and one quarter of the time for five years. Opposite
the first statement he records, college, worked my way," and opposite
the second, "studying law and working." His first occupational record
is, "Physical director 1903–10." Another records, "Two fifty-minute
periods (4.50-6.30 p.m.) six days a week for three full scholastic years."
For teachers, summer sessions or summers abroad are not infrequently
76
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
reported. These irregular records have been equated as well as possi-
ble in terms of years and parts of years. Table XLII summarizes
the reports which were received. "Home reading" and "experience"
have been reported in many cases, but obviously could not be included
in a tabulation based on amounts of time given to special training. In
the case of medicine, hospital work was included under training, while
for law, experience in a law office was not so counted. This distinction
is somewhat arbitrary, but is based upon the fact that the young lawyer
is usually paid for such work, while the young doctor, until very recently,
received no remuneration.
The kinds of training reported are as follows: Teachers: university,
college, or normal school graduate work-part-time, full-time, or
summers; correspondence study; research; travel (language); private
lessons: conservatory of music; school of expression; business school.
One woman teacher had taken nurse's training. Business: law school,
medical school, engineering school, forestry, university post graduate-
full-time, part-time, summer schools (one took M.A. in economics);
correspondence schools; business schools. In most cases "experience”
or “hard work” is the report given. “Reading-trade papers and
books,” is also frequently reported. The lawyers usually report law
school, very often followed by office experience of from six months to
two years. Occasionally the law degree is preceded by a year's study
for the Master's degree. In one case the L.L.B. was followed by three
years' study for the Ph.D. The four lawyers who record no graduate
study, report "experience" or "constant reading and practice.” It is
possible that they misinterpreted the question, and reported with
reference to training after graduation in law. The same may be true of
the men who reported less than three years for the study of medicine.
Several of the physicians report work for the M.A. degree and one for the
Ph.D. In general they report the medical school plus hospital experi-
ence of from one to six years. European or other post-graduate medical
work is reported in a number of cases. The engineers report technical
school, university graduate study, correspondence and night school
courses. Beyond that they report home study and practical experience.
The ministers report work in theological schools mainly. Home reading
and short courses at the university are also mentioned. The women
social and religious workers report Y. W. C. A. training schools, lectures
and correspondence study; business college; theological seminary; college
and university graduate work; travel (language).; music; and home
study. The librarians studied in library schools and held apprentice-
ships in libraries.
Other Factors
1
77
YEARS BETWEEN GRADUATION AND MARRIAGE
Table XLIII shows, for the college men in the larger vocational
groups, the distribution by occupations of (1) the number of years
between graduation and marriage and (2) the number of children.
TABLE XLIII
YEARS BETWEEN GRADUATION AND MARRIAGE OF MEN IN DIFFERENT
OCCUPATIONS. NUMBER OF CHILDREN 123 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION
Frequency for Each Occupation
Time of Marriage
Teaching
Business
Law
Medicine Engineering Ministry
1
-
1
2
1
1
1
.
.
-
.
-
1
-
-
-
I
-
1
4
1
1
1
3
3
2
3
Before Graduation...
Year of Graduation.-
One Year After..
Two Years After.
Three Years After..
Four Years After..
Five Years After
Six Years After.
Seven Years After---
Eight Years After..
Nine Years After...
Ten Years After..
Eleven Years After..
Twelve Years After..
4
3
5
7
7
7
10
6
2
1
1
2
4
-
U
1
2
1
5
7
3
6
5
9
2
4
2
1
1
2
3
5
1
6
1
6
2
3
6
2
2
1
2
3
2
1
1
1
-
- - - -
1
Approximate
Median Years.
4
5
7
6
5
3
Not Married..
.5
4
4
8
3
2
1
I
Number of Children
.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5..
6.
7.
14
10
16
14
5
5
4
6
5
16
20
5
1
1
5
9
10
4
1
2
6
9
4
3
3
2
-
-
1
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
.
-
-
1
1
1
1
1
-
1
1
1
Approximate Median
Number of Children
2.
2
?
?
1
2
CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1
The more important results of this survey of the vocational distribu-
tion and income of college graduates in relation to college marks and
extra-curricular activity, and of the study of choice and change in the
occupation of these graduates, are summarized in this chapter, together
with the conclusions which these results suggest.
1. The relation between college standing and income twelve and one-
half years after graduation is too slight to warrant the use of marks as
the chief basis for predicting the kind of success that the average em-
ployer has in mind when he consults the appointment committee in
regard to its students or graduates. Marks should, however, be con-
sidered as one factor in prognosticating vocational success, since the
coefficients of correlation found were positive. The relative weight to
be given scholarship in predicting later achievement in any given
occupation can only be determined through further investigation.
In so far as the individuals concerned in this study were really meas-
ured in scholarly ability by the tests of the college, the low correlation
between marks and income probably means that the qualities which
lead to vocational efficiency, as indexed by the world at large, are only
in part, in smaller part than we had believed was true, the qualities
measured by success in the college curriculum. It may well be true,
however, that another cause of the low correlation is the fact now be-
ing fairly faced by progressive college teachers and administrators, that
the college has failed in very large measure to relate its curriculum so
directly to the student's life interests as to convince him of its worth.
If able students consider other activities more worthy of effort than
their studies, their marks will fail to measure anything, so far as these
students are concerned, except the valuation placed upon the studies.
To the extent that this cause contributes to the low correlation-and
the degree to which it contributes can only be a matter of conjec-
ture—the result is an indictment of the vague, unanalyzed “culture"
aim of the college and of the "general training" methods of instruc-
tion based upon the old faculty psychology.
1The results summarized in this chapter differ in reliability, as the writer
has taken pains to point out in earlier chapters. At this point the reader is
reminded of this fact, but to avoid verbosity statements in regard to reliability
are, in the main, omitted from the summary.
78
Summary and Conclusions
79
2. The relation between extra-curricular activity and income is some-
what closer than that between scholarship and income. This empha-
sizes the necessity of faculty and administrative recognition of student
life as a selective agency of even greater importance than the curricu-
lum so far as the qualities that make for future vocational success are
concerned. Administrative officers, therefore, should give serious
attention to the problem of measuring and recording these non-academic
achievements. Vocational counselors, student advisers generally, and
appointment committees should make careful study of these records
in relation to all diagnostic and placement decisions. Undoubtedly
there are vocational variations as to the prognostic significance of extra-
curricular activity, both as to kind and amount. This question merits
further investigation.
3. The results here reported prove nothing as to the relative contri-
butions of college studies and of extra-curricular activities to the pro-
duction of vocational success, nor as to the effects of study or neglect
of study upon vocational success. Rather, they serve as measures of
the two sets of activities, curricular and non-curricular, as selective
agents in identifying the qualities which operate in later life to produce
vocational success. Until we can measure the initial traits and abili-
ties which a student possesses when he enters college we have no cer-
tain means of measuring the degree to which either college studies or
extra-curricular activities have contributed to the final product.
4. Scholarship seems to be a selective factor with reference to voca-
tion to a considerably greater degree than with reference to success in
a specific vocation. This fact should be given due weight in any meas-
urement, or in the interpretation of any measurement of the relation
between scholarship and later success.
5. The college plays a very small part in the vocational decisions of
its graduates. The majority (at least two-thirds) choose their vocations
before entering or after leaving college. The reasons for choosing and
other evidence seem to justify the inference that the college has played
little or no part in the decisions of many of the one-third who decided
during their college course. Both the large number who have decided
on vocations before entering college and those who have made no de-
cisions before entrance, offer the college a large unutilized opportunity
and a grave responsibility for service to student and to society.
6. There is a large amount of change in occupation, a part of which
at least is probably indicative of waste both to the individual and to
society. The change here measured takes no account of the normal
80
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
shifts within a large field of work such as business, which really com-
prehends a great diversity of occupations. Some of this occupational
experimentation is doubtless of ultimate service to the individual and
some of it is not. In this study it was not possible to isolate and meas-
ure change as a conditioning factor in vocational success. Such meas-
urement is desirable in determining just how costly is the laissez faire
policy which we pursue with reference to the choice of life careers.
In any case the frequency of change, barring that which is accounted
for by entrance upon the occupation of earlier choice, measures one,
though not the only serious effect of this policy.
7. The liberal arts college sends more of its male graduates into
business than into any other single occupational field. These business
men as a group stand lower scholastically than their fellows who enter
other fields of work. This seems to indicate that the college curriculum
is ill-adapted to their abilities, or interests, or both. Either adjust-
ments should be made in the college course to meet the needs of these
men, or they should be advised to enter institutions which are better
adapted to their interests and abilities.
8. One of the outstanding results of this investigation is the emphasis
it throws upon variations among different occupations in practically
all the factors studied, whether these factors are components of the
scholastic or of the graduate careers of the subjects. The occupational
variations as to (a) rank as initial and final occupations, (6) reasons
for entering initial occupation, (c) time of choosing, (d) change and
reasons for change, (e) income distribution, (f) scholarship distribution,
(8) cooperation in research work, (h) self-support as a student, (i)
amount of graduate study, 6) time between graduation and marriage,
are summarized below. The data are presented for men only because
of the small numbers of women in occupations other than teaching.
TEACHING
Teaching holds first place as an initial occupation for the group
studied. As a vocation twelve to thirteen years after graduation it
holds second place.
As to the time of decision, about 36 per cent chose their work during
their college course. This is about the same proportion as for medicine
and engineering and considerably larger than for law or business. That
one-fifth decided after graduation is also worthy of note.
As to reasons for entering teaching as an initial occupation, 59 per
Summary and Conclusions
81
cent assigned "choice"; 26 per cent “best thing that offered" or "ex-
perimenting, having made no choice"; and 15 per cent "chance to
earn for further study."
As a transient occupation it ranks far above any other calling except
business. As to its rank as compared with business in this matter
of change, there is some doubt. For one group studied, much the
larger one, teaching has by far the highest percentage of change. For
the second group, including only men who replied to the questionnaire,
business has a slightly larger percentage of change, but the replies
represent a smaller proportion of the whole number engaged in that
occupation than is true in the case of teachers. Teaching not only
loses a high percentage of its initial entrants, but its gains from other
fields of work are relatively small, though the magnitude of the results
on this point also differs for the two groups studied.
The reasons assigned for change from teaching to other occupations
are distributed fairly evenly among, (1) better salary, (2) vocation of
earlier choice, (3) more congenial occupation, (4) occupation better
adapted to abilities.
Comparison of income distributions places teaching lower than any
of the other vocations except the ministry, whether we consider the
median alone, or the median and the range of the middle 50 per cent.
As to scholarship rank, just the opposite holds true. The median
rank for teaching is higher than for any other occupation, and the
same comparative results are found when the percentage included in
successive halves, fourths and fifths of the class are considered.
These facts are corroborated by figures from other sources and give
teaching easily the highest place as a scholarly profession. It also takes
first place as to interest in investigation, or at least interest in this
investigation since more than 76 per cent of the teachers returned
replies to the occupational questionnaire.
Eighty-two per cent of these men were wholly or partially self-sup-
porting as students--a larger proportion than for any other vocation
except the ministry. The median amount of professional study after
graduation was approximately 13 years; 15 per cent had no special
preparation beyond college. The median number of years between
graduation and marriage is four, one year more than for the ministry
and from one to three less than for the other occupational groups.
BUSINESS
Business ranks second as an initial occupation. As a final occupa-
tion it ranks first, claiming nearly 32 per cent of the class of 1903 in
82
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
the cooperating colleges. This is almost twice as large a percentage
as for teaching which ranks next.
As to time of choosing, 48 per cent report decisions after gradua-
tion—more than twice as large a proportion as for any other occupa-
tion; 23 per cent decided before entering college; and 29 per
cent during college. Extra-curricular activities and summer work
are occasionally mentioned in incidental comments as factors in the
decisions.
The most frequent reason assigned for entering business as an initial
occupation is "best thing that offered," which represents 57 per cent
of the reasons assigned. Add to this the 12 per cent for "experiment-
ing, no choice," and we have 69 per cent who were drifting. Eleven
per cent entered as a chance to earn for further study. Only 18 per
cent of the reasons assigned were choice.''
In the light of these facts we are prepared to find that in frequency
of change business vies with, or may even surpass, teaching as a tran-
sient occupation. In drawing power as a final occupation, however,
it stands second, being surpassed only by law.
The chief reasons assigned for leaving business for other occupations
are more congenial occupation" and "vocation of earlier choice.”
The chief reasons assigned for entering business from other occupations
are "better salary” and “more congenial occupation."
The income distribution shows the median for business slightly
lower than that for law and almost the same as that for medicine.
Its mid-fifty per cent range, however, is somewhat better than that for
law and very slightly poorer than that for medicine. Its lower range
reaches as far down as that of any occupation, but its topmost range is
far higher than that of any other occupation-$5000 higher than the
next highest level. In the interval—$10,000 and above-fall 12 per cent
of the business men, 6 per cent of the lawyers, 3 per cent of the doctors,
and 11 per cent of the teachers.
As to scholarship rank, the business men as a group stand lowest,
with the exception of the ministry which is represented by too few cases
to serve as a reliable basis for comparison. This result is corroborated
by data drawn from other sources.
Only 46.4 per cent replied to the occupational questionnaire--the
smallest proportion for any occupational group. Something less than
one-half were self-supporting in college. Beyond experience and home
reading, 76 per cent report no special preparation after graduation
from college. The median number of years between graduation and
marriage is five.
Summary and Conclusions
83
Law ranks third both as an initial and as a final occupation. For
some colleges it ranks second as a final occupation, displacing teaching.
Sixty-five per cent of the lawyers chose their occupation before
entering college and only 12 per cent chose after graduation. As to
reasons for entering law as an initial occupation “choice” was assigned
in 93 per cent of the cases and "best thing that offered” in 7 per cent.
Most of the men who began in this field remained. In both groups
studied, the percentage of change was low-3.2 for the larger group and
7.1 for the smaller. In percentage recruited from other occupations
it stands first.
"Better salary" was the reason assigned for change by those who
left law. The chief reasons assigned for entering law by those who had
different initial occupations were better income and vocation of earlier
choice.
From an economic point of view law for college men ranks high.
Its median income is higher than that of any other group, but business
and medicine are somewhat better in terms of the range of the mid-
fifty per cent. The upper range for business is decidedly higher than
that for law.
Its scholastic position is also good. Considering all available data
it would probably rank third scholastically, being outranked by teach-
ing and perhaps engineering. Legal caution may account for the rela-
tively low percentage (54.7) who replied to the occupational question-
naire.
As a group lawyers seem to have been relatively free from economic
pressure as students. In common with business less than half of those
reporting were wholly or partially self-supporting, and this in spite
of the fact that after graduation they took in the main three years of
professional training. This relatively large amount of professional
training after graduation probably accounts for the median of seven
years between graduation and marriage.
MEDICINE
Medicine ranks fourth both as an initial and as a final occupation.
About 60 per cent chose before entering college and about 40 per cent
during their college course. “Choice" is the reason uniformly ascribed
for entering the profession, and little change is reported. This might
be expected in the light of the long preparation beyond college grad-
uation which these men undergo. The median number of years of
special preparation is five. As might be expected the median num-
ber of years beyond college graduation and marriage is also high (6)
84
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
for those who were married at the end of twelve and one-half
years.
About 30 per cent were not married at the end of this period.
Considering median and range of middle fifty per cent the financial
position of the doctors is relatively favorable. The extremes, how-
ever, place the profession as low financially as any occupation without
carrying it as high within the twelve and one-half year period, as law
or business.
Scholastically the doctors hold an intermediate position, being lower
than teaching, law or engineering, but higher than business. A little
over 59 per cent replied to the occupational questionnaire.
ENGINEERING
Engineering ranks slightly lower than the ministry in some colleges
and slightly higher in others, both as an initial and as a final occupation.
Forty-four per cent chose this field before college entrance, 20 per
cent after graduation, and 36 per cent during their college course.
“Choice” is assigned as the reason for entering in 74 per cent of the
cases and "best thing that offered” in the remainder. Engineering
has a relatively small percentage of change and also a low percentage
of gain from other fields.
Its income position is slightly better than that of teaching, but
much poorer than that of medicine, law or business. Its scholastic
position is second only to that of teaching. These men report a much
smaller amount of special preparation beyond graduation than might
be expected, being little better in this respect than business. About
half report no special preparation beyond experience. The median
number of years between graduation and marriage is five. These
statistical facts are somewhat unreliable because of the small number
of cases upon which they are based. Sixty-five per cent of the
engineers sent in the occupational data requested.
THE MINISTRY
The ministry has declined from its original dominant position as
an occupation for college graduates to fifth place for the country as
a whole. The percentages as to choice, change, etc., are not very
reliable because of the very small number of cases upon which they are
based. So far as they show anything they indicate that the ministry
is entered preponderantly from choice, determined in a large measure
before entering college, that it suffers a relatively small amount of
1Burritt places it lower for the country as a whole, giving it sixth place,
though it is slowly increasing while the ministry has been steadily decreasing.
(Professional Distribution of College Graduates, p. 78.)
Summary and Conclusions
85
change, and recruits relatively few men from other fields. Its finan-
cial attraction is relatively small. As to scholastic distribution this
group stands low, but other available data are conflicting upon
this point. It stands with law as to median number of years of study
after graduation (three). The median number of years between gradua-
tion and marriage is three, less than for any other occupational group.
About 62 per cent replied to the questionnaire.
9. The occupational distribution for women is not nearly so wide
as that for men. Of the 37 per cent of the class of 1903 engaged in
paid occupations at the end of twelve and one-half years, about seven-
tenths were teachers. Considering the great variety in natural endow-
ment it is questionable whether there is such a preponderant proportion
of this group of women who are better equipped by nature for teaching
than for any other field of work.
The largest single occupational group for women is constituted by
those who are listed as "homemakers." About 50 per cent of the
women in the classes studied are included in this group. No criteria
for measuring success in this composite vocation are available. The
college has recognized in practice, if not in theory, the need for some
vocational preparation for teachers. Should it not also consider its
responsibility with reference to the 50 per cent who will assume the voca-
tions of child rearing, household administration, feeding and clothing a
family, etc., with, in the main, no scientific preparation for a life career
whose success is peculiarly bound up with both individual happiness
and social well-being ?
The initial occupation of the 50 per cent who later marry is also a
matter of concern to the college. About two thirds of this group
engage in gainful occupation for anywhere from one year to twelve
years with a median of from five to seven years before marriage. The
occupational distribution of the women included in this investigation
is, however, of little practical service to college administrators because
of the unprecedented expansion of the vocational field for women due
to the War."
The 15 per cent neither married nor engaged in gainful occupations
represent an unanalyzed group. Doubtless many of them are also
engaged in some of the homemaking duties which claim the married
group. We should discover, however, what their activities are if we
are to know how the college has succeeded in serving and how it may
better serve all of its graduates.
1 Bulletin of the Association of American Colleges, IV, No. 4, p. 11.
86
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
The very complex problem created by the temporary nature of the
initial occupation for about one half of the college women graduates,
by the composite nature of the final occupation of this 50 per cent,
by the fact that some of them continue to earn after marriage, by
the fact that many of those who do not marry are limited in their
vocational possibilities by home demands--all of these conditions make
the responsibility of the college for vocational direction of its women
students especially binding.
CHAPTER VIII
SOME PROBLEMS OF COLLEGE EDUCATION
SUGGESTED BY THIS STUDY
The discussion offered in this chapter is presented, not as conclusions
of this investigation, but as the author's opinions of certain desirable
adjustments in the college field. It is her belief that this study offers
some support to the conviction which is shared by many friends of high-
er education that some readjustments are urgently needed if the college
is to give to American life and American youth its highest potential
service.
That the college student has little respect for scholarship is generally
acknowledged both within and without college halls. The result of
this low estimate of scholarship undoubtedly registered as one factor
in reducing the correlations between scholarship and income reported
in this investigation. Until the students can be convinced that the
work of the classroom is worthwhile for them, apart from the marks
attained, this condition of affairs is unlikely to be changed no matter
what method we adopt to exalt scholarship itself. In his report for
1914' President Mickeljohn of Amherst, after pointing out the fact
that in Amherst and other colleges from forty to fifty per cent of the stu-
dents who enter leave without graduating, expresses his belief that the
fundamental reason for this state of affairs is that “many of our students
are not sufficiently convinced of the value of the college studies to work
at them seriously while they are with us, or to remain with us when ob-
stacles arise or counter attractions appear
Some way must be
found to convince a Freshman that these four years of college life are
burning with such opportunities as he never again will have, and to keep
that conviction strong within him until we have done our work upon
him.
How can that conviction be established and maintained? I presume
it will be said that, as in the case of other beliefs, the best way to ensure
its acceptance is to make it true."
To the writer it seems evident that to make this conviction true will
require changes both in the curriculum of the college and in the methods
of instruction employed. Just what these changes should be, however,
must be determined in the light of (1) a clear definition of the goal of the
American college, conceived in both individual and social terms, and (2)
President's Report, Amherst, 1914.
1
87
88
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
the facts of modern educational psychology, taking full account of the
motives which control human behavior and of the laws which govern
the modification of such behavior whether original or acquired.
The aim of the college is usually defined as “culture" or "liberal ed-
ucation." All too often these terms carry with them an academic aloof-
ness from the practical affairs of life. It is claimed that the college
should "fit men to live, not to make a living,' and anything which might
have vocational applicability is looked upon askance as likely to inter-
fere with and degrade the high purpose of preparing men to live. Yet
withal there has been little agreement as to just what constitutes a lib-
eral education when we pass to the discussion of its details. With re-
spect to this lack of unanimity of aim, Charles Francis Adams said in a
Phi Beta Kappa address at Columbia University in 1906, “The authori-
ties are as wide apart now as ever they were. There is no agreement;
no united effort to a given end.” President Schurman of Cornell, in
his report for 1906-07, wrote, “The College is without clear cut notions
of what a liberal education is and how it is to be secured
and the
pity of it is that this is not a local or special inability but a paralysis
affecting every college of arts in America.''1
To the writer a liberal education connotes an education which liber-
ates the energies of the individual for the fullest, richest and most
effective functioning in every aspect of living: in his use of leisure; in
his relationships as a member of a family and of the body politic; in his
occupation, through which he both earns his living and makes his contri-
bution toward the satisfaction of human wants. This interpretation of
a liberal education implies, of course, a repudiation of that attitude
toward human activities which conceives of work and culture as oppo-
site poles in life--work connoting the practical, the material, the sordid;
culture being held synonymous with the refined, the uplifting, the
spiritual. The conception of culture here adopted sees the habits,
attitudes and knowledge which constitute culture as growing out of and
reacting upon every phase of life. It does not separate a man's culture
from his activities as a member of a family, as a member of the body
politic, or as a producer of goods. His culture illuminates, gives mean-
ing and significance to his life, to his work. Vocation is conceived not
merely as a necessary means of winning for oneself and dependents the
necessities and embellishments of life but as an activity instinct with
social values through which the individual may continue his growth and
realize his promise. ?
1 Quoted by Flexner in The American College, The Century Company, 1908.
2 For a discussion of these concepts see Dewey, Democracy and Education,
especially Chap. XXIII.
Problems Suggested by this Study
89
If this conception of culture and work is adopted, the college which
aims to fit its students for effective functioning in the varied relations of
life must accept responsibility for making a contribution to the vocation-
al as well as to every other phase of life. Indeed, since vocation occupies
so central a place in the lives of most individuals, one of the surest ways
of fixing permanently those attitudes, ideas and habits which consti-
tute culture, is to associate them with and bind them to vocation while
they are being acquired. Tie up a man's philosophy, his psychology, his
sociology, his history, his religion, his economics, his ethics and his
politics to work which is bound to be a part of his life, and we are assured
at least of many occasions for recall, a condition essential to their retention
as possible shaping influences in the absorbing life beyond the college walls.
But let these subjects be acquired as something apart from and supe-
rior to the practical affairs of life and they will be put aside with the cap
and gown, neatly laid away, as it were, in a dust and mothproof box,
safe from the contaminating influences of the utilitarian world.
From the standpoint of acquisition as well as from that of retention
there is a distinct advantage to gain through making vocation one of the
organizing centers of college studies. The acquisition and modifica-
tion of habits, ideas, attitudes and skills which constitute education,
proceed most effectively when energy is released and effort induced in
response to urges or drives from within. For the youth of college age
the vocational motive constitutes such a drive which it is highly waste-
ful to ignore even if guidance with reference to vocation itself were not
the goal.
The belief that the vocational aspect of life should be given a definite
and important place among the objectives of the liberal arts college does
not imply necessarily that the college is responsible for the development
of specialized vocational knowledge and skills. Such training is the
specific function of the technical and professional schools. This belief
does imply, however, that the college has a large responsibility for lead-
ing the student to realize the important part that vocation will play in
his life, for helping him to choose his vocation wisely, for bringing him
to appreciate the necessity of a broad, yet none the less specifically
determined foundation for this work and perhaps for specialized training
after graduation. Finally, since the college has a social as well as an
individual goal, it is responsible for helping the student to see the social
significance of the various fields of work and the social responsibility
which each entails upon the men and women who choose it.
This social goal of the college is bound up, indeed, with its individual
goal. Through neglect of the former it must inevitably fall short of
90
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
the latter. The institution may send forth its graduates equipped
with noble ideals and purposes, but the functioning of these purposes,
the opportunity to live nobly and fully will be largely conditioned by
the social environment which provides or withholds the stimuli for those
responses toward which the college has bent its highest effort. If the
growth and development which the college has striven to foster in the
undergraduate are to continue along the same basic lines after graduation,
if the old ideals and purposes are not to be abandoned as unworkable
and unproductive, the social environment must become more truly
adjusted to human needs and human aspirations. If the college is to be
a dynamic force in reorganizing this social milieu which conditions the
final effectiveness of its product, it must send forth men and women who
carry into their work not merely the technical skill which the professional
schools may supply as an aid to personal advancement, but a realiza-
tion of the critical social problems of the time which are so largely
economic in their origin, an appreciation of the relation which the work
of each bears to these problems, and a desire to really do something
toward their solution.
The tragedy of the age is the dearth of enlightened, effective leader-
ship in the hour of the world's greatest need and richest opportunity.
The need is for men and women who have not only a social purpose, a
social vision and the personal qualities which make men willing to
follow their leadership. These qualifications are essential. But to
make such leadership issue in productive social change instead of being
dissipated in will o' the wisp strivings for phantom Utopias, it must be
enlightened by knowledge of social origins, social changes, the original
nature of man and the laws by which original nature may be effectively
modified. In no field more than in business is such enlightened leader-
ship needed, for the crux of the social unrest lies in the maladjustment
of capital and labor. The American college sends to-day 30 per cent
of its male graduates into business. To train leaders has always been a
prominent aim of the liberal arts college. To realize the type of leader-
ship demanded by the present and the immediate future, is the first
requisite for meeting this responsibility. But if the college is to make
such training effective, it must abandon its faith in formal discipline,
and educate the college youth specifically for the kind of social func-
tioning it expects of him.
The vocational phase of the writer's interpretation of a liberal educa-
tion has been stressed here, not because it is the singly important aspect
of the graduate's life, but because it has been so largely ignored or re-
pudiated in the past. The writer is convinced that for the student
Problems Suggested by this Study
91
vocation is a highly effective motive and a vital organizing centre for
study, and that for the graduate it constitutes one, perhaps the most
important organizing center of his life, with intimate interrelations with
practically all other phases of his activity. At the same time his attitude
toward vocation, and his effective, enlightened functioning in vocation is
of basal significance to social welfare.
A growing appreciation of the necessity for courses more clearly rela-
ted to the life needs of students, is evidenced by the introduction of
courses in contemporary social problems which a number of colleges are
now offering for Freshmen. Columbia prescribes such a course, called
Introduction to Contemporary Civilization, which is a direct descendant
of the War Issues Course of the S.A.T.C. Dartmouth' gives a
course called Problems of Citizenship, prescribed for Freshmen. The
college announcement says, “The purpose of this course is to open the
minds of men at a very early stage of their college course to intelligent
consideration of the great problems of life which lie about them and
with which they must be prepared to cope, as individuals, as members
of society, as citizens of the United States of America." President
Meiklejohn of Amherst announced in his report for 1914 a course on
Social and Economic Institutions as a new elective for freshmen.
There are hopeful signs that the need for better teaching in the college
is being increasingly appreciated. In addition to numerous articles in
educational and semi-popular magazines voicing this need, a book deal-
ing with teaching methods in college has recently appeared;? Yale
College has appointed a Dean of Freshmen to administer the new plan
of a joint freshman year, which plan carries with it a chance for promo-
tion to men who have the instinct for classroom teaching'';' and
most interesting of all, the Faculty of the School of Agriculture of
sylvania State College recently undertook a serious study of methods of
teaching under the instruction of Professor Kilpatrick, of Teachers Col-
lege, Columbia University.
A tendency to assume some responsibility for vocational guidance has
been developing rapidly in the last five years, more extensively in the
women's colleges than in the men's colleges. These guidance activities
have frequently had their beginnings in placement or appointment
committees, which have gradually extended their function to include
the providing of vocational information and often more or less thorough
individual diagnostic work. Sometimes, however, the initiative has
i Dartmouth College Catalogue, 1920–21, p. 64.
2 Klapper: College Teaching.
8 President's Report, Yale University, 1920.
92
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
been taken by the dean, student advisers or other interested members of
the faculty. These attempts to help students to find themselves voca-
tionally have usually got under way with no attempt to square the
developing practice with existing theory as to the purpose of the
liberal arts college.
The proportions that vocational activities are assuming in the colleges
was emphasized by the conference in New York on February 23 and 24,
1921, of the deans of women and secretaries of appointment committees
in colleges having women students, who met to exchange experiences
and ideas on the subject. Fifty-six men and women representing
forty-four colleges and vocational bureaus were present. Barnard and
Smith reported appointment bureaus operated separately from the
dean's office, which furnished vocational information and advice in ad-
dition to carrying on the work of placement.' Smith has also a
system of vocational talks to sophomores and seniors and an annual
vocational conference. Vassar reported an occupational bureau under
the department of wardens (heads of halls), a faculty vocational com-
mittee with one member from each department to whom students
might be sent for advice; preparation by this committee and the voca-
tional bureau of a vocational bulletin; an alumnae committee on social
work which will gather information as to opportunities in this field from
groups of alumnae all over the country; plans for the formation of simi-
lar committees for other fields of work; vocational conferences; articles
in the college paper; provision of books on vocations, and a personnel
research bureau under the direction of the department of psychology.
Holyoke, Northwestern, Pennsylvania State, Ohio State and the Wo-
men's College of Delaware reported the work carried on through the
dean's office. Holyoke and Wellesley have as a visiting adviser, Miss
Jackson of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union of Boston.
Her work is the giving of information rather than advice. She has
weekly or bi-weekly conferences at Wellesley and monthly meetings at
Holyoke. Goucher has a resident vocational adviser who is also as-
sociate professor of economics and sociology.
Pennsylvania State College has a student vocational committee which
is valuable in arousing interest. They study books and pamphlets
under the guidance of the dean, take the census of vocational interests,
answer questions of students and take charge of bulletin boards. Mills
College reported a course on vocational opportunities. Miss Hirth, of
1 It is interesting to note that both of these colleges have recently reported
a very decided swing away from teaching and toward other types of work on the
part of their graduates.
Problems Suggested by the Study
93
1
tion. 3
the Bureau of Vocational Information, reported that a movement had
been inaugurated for a system of occupational bureaus for men with a
clearing house in New York for the colleges in that section of the
country.
Leland Stanford Junior University has a very active faculty commit-
tee on vocational guidance. Each member of the committee is assigned
a group of vocations, for knowledge of which he is made responsible.
This committee supplements the work of the departments and provides
especially for students who have not selected a vocation. It issued in
June, 1919, a very helpful bulletin of vocational information dealing
with seventeen major fields of work, with suggestions in regard to each
as to the nature of the work, personal qualifications demanded, finan-
cial considerations and other rewards, opportunities for promotion,
entering the profession, cost of training, most helpful courses, etc.
Dartmouth just a year ago established the office of associate dean
with the purpose of eliminating, or at least reducing materially, the post-
graduate period of business floundering which many college graduates
must undergo before they settle down to their life work."
Brown University has a committee on educational advice and direc-
This committee will make careful study of individual students
as a basis for educational and vocational guidance. The head of the
psychology department is its chairman.
At Cornell, 4 the university adviser for women has for a number of
years been carrying on rather extensive work in vocational guidance,
including personal conference, courses by non-resident lecturers, books
on vocations, and cooperating alumni clubs.
Alfred College has a vocational committee of the faculty under the
auspices of the Twentieth Century Alumni of the College, one member
of which is usually the head of the department of education. Personal
advice, lectures by alumni and other outside speakers, vocational chats
in the college paper, and books are the chief modes of guidance.
If these changes and others which are taking place in the college are
to be rationally evaluated and developed along intelligent lines, they
should be unified and related within a well thought out college policy
based upon clearly envisaged goals. Such terms as "liberal education,"
"general culture,'' are too vague to serve as the basis for scientific deter-
mination of policies, selection of subject matter, or evaluation of method.
1 Vocational Information Bulletin, No. 22, June 1919, Leland Stanford Junior
University, California.
2"Vocational Guidance at Dartmouth College,” School and Society, April 3, 1920.
Report of President of Brown University, 1919.
4 Report of President of Cornell University, 1910.
3
94
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
They must be replaced by specific objectives in terms of habits: mental,
emotional, and physical; attitudes; ideals and appreciations; knowl-
edge, both for understanding and control; skills; psychological pro-
ducts to be established in the nervous systems of individuals, each by
the application of appropriate psychological methods.
Just what these specific goals ought to be in order to contribute in
greatest measure to individual and social well being can only be deter-
mined in the light of facts. These basal facts are to be found first in an
analysis of social needs, and second, in an analysis of the activities of
college graduates in their everyday life. One very large group of such
activities centres in vocation, which indeed is so intimately related to
those centering in family life, civic functioning and recreation that it
may, in fact, be considered a conditioning factor in most of the others.
The survey which formed the basis of this study could not, in the
nature of the case, be comprehensive enough to furnish sufficiently exact
data to serve as a guide in determining college objectives as they relate
to the vocations of college graduates. It suggests, however, some of
the possibilities of such a survey which might well be undertaken on a
larger scale by the cooperative efforts of the colleges themselves.
Assuming, in the light of practices already developing, that the college
will eventually assume conscious responsibility for some vocational
direction of its students, what administrative provisions can be sug-
gested which may most effectively aid the student in finding himself
vocationally? The writer believes that an orienting course for fresh-
men, which will have as its prime object the arousal of definite life pur-
poses, not merely with reference to vocation but with reference to other
aspects of life as well, might profitably be the initial college approach.
Vocation, through such a course, would be interpreted to the student
in terms of its social significance and in its intimate interrelations with
other activities which will constitute his life, rather than as an isolated
process having only to do with earning a living. So interpreted, the
student will be better able to appreciate the motives other than financial
which should enter into his choice of a life work. He should realize
that "To find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an opportunity
to do it is the key to happiness. Nothing is more tragic than failure to
discover one's true business in life or to find that one has drifted or been
forced by circumstances into an uncongenial calling. A right occupation
means that the aptitudes of a person are in adequate play, working with
the maximum of satisfaction."1 Both from the standpoint of indi-
vidual happiness and of effective social functioning the college may
1Dewey, Democracy and Education, page 360.
Problems Suggested by This Study
95
worthily aim to develop something of the attitude toward vocation
which is conveyed by Van Dyke's poem “Work.”
Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
"This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
Of all who live, I am the one by whom
This work can best be done in the right way.”
Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
Then shall I cheerful greet the labouring hours,
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall
At eventide, to play and love and rest,
Because I know for me my work is best.
The approach, then, to vocational guidance would be through educa-
tional guidance. This orienting course would naturally carry with its
arousal of purposes, direction as to means of carrying them to fulfill-
ment by helping the student to appreciate the contributions of the
different studies of the curriculum as well as the potential training
value of the non-academic activities of the college. If the student's
purposes and the purposes of the college could be brought into harmony,
the energy necessary for effective work would be released. But it is
essential that the student see the relation of college requirements to
ends which he holds valuable. Vocation will be one of these ends but
by no means the only one.
In helping the student to appreciate the relation of the various studies
to his life purposes, the cooperation of the different departments
should be enlisted. Through short units, perhaps, they may give the
student some understanding of the contributions made by each field of
study not as a "discipline" but as a means of understanding, enjoying,
controlling activity and environment. This relating must, to be effect-
ive, necessarily be in terms of the student's experience and ability to see
the relationships in question. One phase might well be a suggestion of
the different fields of work into which a given study or group of studies
may lead, or for which it forms a valuable background, or even a founda-
tion stone.
Such a course would, needless to say, require vital teaching in the col-
lege courses which followed it. To whet a student's appetite and then
send him away disappointed and disillusioned would be serious.
But it may well be that if students were made conscious of what they
had a right to expect, and really demanded satisfaction of felt needs in-
stead of passively accepting as much of what is handed to them as is
96
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
necessary to make a gentleman's grade, we should have a surer guaran-
tee of more vital college teaching than even the much needed supervision
of college teaching could secure.
So far as the vocational aspect of this course is concerned it should
lead to a student demand for two things. First, it should create a de-
mand for help in personal analysis to discover aptitudes, strength and
weakness, to serve as a guide in choosing and eliminating certain fields
of work, and also as a guide for personal, self-directed effort toward
improvement along needed lines, using the facilities which the college
provides through its general life, its curriculum, and its faculty.
The second demand created should be for specific, accurate and de-
tailed information in regard to vocations suitable for college graduates.
This information should include the remuneration which these fields of-
fer, not only initially but their ultimate possibilities, the rate at which
one may expect advancement, the returns other than financial, oppor-
tunity for service, leisure, study, etc., the amount and kind of further
preparation necessary, where this preparation may be secured and its
approximate cost, the qualities essential to success, including the general
intelligence level of the men in any field with whom an individual would
have to compete, the college courses which would be directly helpful
vocationally, serviceable as preparatory or as background courses for
the specialized training to follow.
The diagnostic work should be carried forward as scientifically as
present knowledge will permit. Something in the nature of a person-
nel bureau such as Vassar is developing would serve not merely to bring
together data from all available sources as to the students' traits: mental,
physical and social, but would constitute the occasion for devising
better methods of rating on qualities other than the purely scholarly,
and stimulate the attempt to develop vocational tests applicable to
college graduates. The only such test which we now have is the intelli-
gence test. Intelligence tests should be given to college students and
follow-up records should be kept to show the degree to which the scores
achieved correlate with success in various callings. Such a bureau would
constitute the research or student survey department of the college,
serving it in many other ways beside that of diagnosis in connection
with vocational guidance.
The informational phase of the work may well be carried on in a vari-
ety of ways. A course of lectures and conferences given by members of
the faculty and successful men and women in the various fields, books,
and where possible some actual trying out of tentative choices during
the summer vacation would be helpful. Whether the work was under
Problems Suggested by This Study
97
the direction of the dean, a faculty committee, or a resident adviser
would depend somewhat upon the facilities of the college. Some one
person, a very well trained person, would be directly responsible for the
direction and coordination of the work, but he should have the assistance
of a great many people, each responsible in detail for some part small
enough to enable him to know and keep up to date with reference to it.
In particular each teacher should be expected to know intimately the
chief fields of productive work into which his subjects lead. This type
of responsibility would be one of the best stimuli to the kind of contacts
which will keep the teacher alive and growing.
In conclusion, the writer believes that if the American college is to
fulfill its high calling of preparing men and women to live, it must recog-
nize the necessity of redefining its objectives in terms of the actual
needs of society and of its graduates who must live and work in that
society. It must reorganize its curriculum in the light of these well
thought out and scientifically determined and analytic aims. It must
enlist the energies of the student to utilize to the limit of his capacity
the facilities which it offers, by arousing his purposes and making them
one with the purposes of the college for him. It must develop through
investigation the knowledge which he needs to direct his purposes in-
telligently toward fulfillment. It must recognize and apply the
principles of modern educational psychology in the teaching through
which it strives to bring about the knowledge, the habits, the skills,
the ideals and the appreciations which constitute its goals.
REFERENCES
BOOKS
BIRDSEYE: The Reorganization of Our Colleges.
BLOOMFIELD: Readings in Vocational Guidance.
BREWER: The Vocational Guidance Movement.
CRAWFORD AND OTHERS: The American College.
DEWEY: Democracy and Education.
ELIOT: Educational Reform.
FLEXNER: The American College-- A Criticism.
FOSTER: Administration of the College Curriculum.
GUNDELFINGER: Ten Years at Yale.
HALL: Vocational Guidance Through the Library. A. L. A. Publishing Board.
HOLLINGWORTH: Vocational Psychology.
HUDSON: The College and New America.
KEPPEL: The Undergraduate and His College.
KELLEY: Educational Guidance.
KING: The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States.
KLAPPER: College Teaching.
KOLBE: The Colleges in War Time and After.
RALPH AND ALLEN: Record Aids in College Management.
SNEDDEN: Problems of Educational Readjustment.
SNEDDEN: Social Determination of Objectives in Education.
Snow: The College Curriculum in the United States.
STRAYER AND THORNDIKE: Educational Administration. Sec. 16: The Inefficiency
of College Entrance Examinations. Sec. 17: The Studies Actually Taken
for the A. B. Degree.
STREIGHTOFF: The Distribution of Incomes in the United States.
THWING: College Administration.
THWING: The American College. What It Is and What It May Become.
Who's Who in America: Editions of 1910–11; 1914–15; 1818-19.
PERIODICALS
BEVIER: "College Grades and Success in Life." (Educational Review, Nov. 1917)
BREWER: "The Need for Vocational Guidance in Colleges." (School and Society
May 1, 1920)
BIRDSEYE: “The College Curriculum as a Preparation for Vocation.” (Education,
Jan. 1912)
Boyd: "Extra-Curricular Activities and Scholarship.” (School and Society, Feb.
5, 1921)
CAPEN: "The Dilemma of the College of Arts and Sciences.”(Educational Review,
April 1921)
CAPEN: "The New Task of the American Colleges." (School and Society, Sept.
4, 1920)
CATTELL: “A Statistical Study of Eminent Men.”(Popular Science Monthly,62:359)
CRAYTHORNE: "Change of Mind Between H. S. Entrance and College as to Life
(School and Society, Jan. 3, 1920)
DEXTER: "High Grade Men; in College and Out.” (Popular Science Monthly, 62:
429)
98
Work."
References
99
FOSTER: "Should Students Study?" (Harper's Magazine, Sept 1916)
Furst: "Tests of College Efficiency.” (School Review, Vol. XX, No. 5)
HADLEY: “Choosing a Career." (Yale Alumni Weekly, Mar. 3, 1916)
HUTCHINSON: "Vocational Interests of College Women." (Columbia University
Quarterly, June 1915)
JENNINGS: “Vocational Guidance in College and University." (Educational Re-
view, April 1916)
KEPPEL: “Occupations of College Graduates as Influenced by the College Course.'
(Educational Review, Dec. 1910)
Krtson: "Psychological Tests and Vocational Guidance." (School Review, March
1916)
KNAPP: "The Man Who Led His Class in College and Others.” (Harvard Graduate
Magazine, March 1916)
KUNKEL: "Standing of Undergraduates and Alumni." (School and Society, May
12, 1917)
LEONARD: "Occupations of the Graduates of the College of Liberal Arts—State
University of Iowa." (Midland Schools, Sept. 1914)
LOWELL: “College Studies and Professional Training." (Educational Review, Oct.
1911)
MAGRUDER: “The Junior Colleges as a Relief." (Educational Review, April 1921)
MEAD: “Orientation Course for Freshmen at Brown University.” (School and
Society, March 18, 1916)
MINER: “A Vocational Census of College Students." (Educational Review, Sept.
1915)
MOORE: "Three Types of Psychological Rating in Use With Freshmen at Dart-
mouth." (School and Society, April 2, 1921)
MYERS: "Present Day College Problems." (Educational Review, April 1921)
NICHOLSON: "Standardizing the Marking System.” (Educational Review, October
1917)
NICHOLSON: "Success in College and in After Life." (School and Society, Aug.
14, 1915)
Payne: "Scholarship and Success in Teaching.” (Journal of Educational Psychol-
ogy, April 1918)
PAULL: "The Relative Standing in College of Graduates Entering Various Pro-
fessions." (School and Society, May 26, 1917)
SIMPSON: “Reliability of Estimates of General Intelligence With Application to
Appointments to Positions.” (Journal of Educational Psychology,
April 1915)
SMALLWOOD: “The Fate of the Liberal Arts College in American Universities.''
(School and Society, Aug. 30, 1919)
Taylor: “The Study of Methods of Teaching by a College Faculty." (School and
Society, March 6, 1920)
THORNDIKE: “The Permanence of Interests and Their Relation to Abilities."
(Popular Science Monthly, Nov. 1912)
THORNDIKE: "Educational Diagnosis.” (Science, Jan. 24, 1913)
THORNDIKE: “The Selective Influence of the College."(Educational Review, 30: 1)
VAN KLEEK: "A Census of College Women." (The Journal of the Association of
Collegiate Alumnae, Vol. XI No. I, May 1918)
WALTERS: “The Scholastic Training of Eminent American Engineers.” (School and
Society, March 12, 1921)
WELLS: "Systematic Observation of the Personality.” (Psychological Review,
July 1914)
WITMER: “On the Relation of Intelligence to Efficiency.” (Psychological Clinic,
May 1915)
:
100
College Achievement and Vocational Efficiency
Woods: "The Social Waste of Unguided Personal Ability.” (American Journal
of Sociology, Nov. 1913)
EDITORIAL: "Vocational Guidance at Dartmouth College." (School and Society,
April 3, 1920)
UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETINS
BURRITT: Professional Distribution of College and University Graduates. Bulletin,
1912, No. 19.
CAPEN: Recent Movements in College and University Administration. Bulletin,
1916, No. 46.
JOHN: Requirements for the Bachelor's Degree. Bulletin, 1920, No. 7.
McDOWELL: The Junior College. Bulletin, 1919, No. 35.
RYAN: Vocational Guidance in the Public Schools. Bulletin, 1918, No. 24.
ROBINSON: The Curriculum of the Woman's College. Bulletin, 1918, No. 6.
OTHER GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF SURGEON GENERAL: Army Mental Tests.
COMMISSION ON CLASSIFICATION OF PERSONNEL IN THE ARMY: Personnel Work in
the United States Army, Adjutant General's Department.
COLLEGE PUBLICATIONS
BREWER AND KELLY: A Selected Critical Bibliography of Vocational Guidance.
Harvard University Bulletin, No. 4, Feb. 1917.
COMMITTEE ON VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE: Vocational Information. Leland Stanford, Jr.,
University Bulletin, No. 22, 1919.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF COLLEGE PRESIDENTS, 1914–1920, especially:
Amherst
1914
Brown
1919
Columbia
1918-1920 Darthmouth
1920
Cornell
1910
Harvard
1918-1919
Yale
1920
COLLEGE CATALOGUES. 1914-1920.
ALUMNI REGISTERS of colleges covered by this study.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 05867 9393
Preservation
NOV - 9 2005
Digital copy. Available
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