Psychology of Women Students' Self-Concepts,Attitudes,and Assertiveness: A Decade of Research

In two studies, I compared students' pretest-posttest scores on self-concept, attitudes, and assertiveness in Psychology of Women and other psychology courses taught by women. In the 1970s, I conducted the study to determine if emphasizing intellectual mastery in Psychology of Women facilitated personal change. I replicated the study to determine if students in the 1980s differed from students in the 1970s on these measures. The data indicated that intellectual mastery in Psychology of Women facilitated personal change in both decades. Students in the 1980s were neither significantly different from students in the 1970s on pretest scores nor in their reports of personal change at posttest. Students' scores on these measures have not changed, and Psychology of Women courses emphasizing intellectual mastery continue to serve a dual purpose.