Psychologist Tells GSE Forum Sex Roles Accepted by Age 18

Sexual stereotypes are generally accepted by the age of 18, a professor of Psychology at Holy Cross said yesterday at a conference sponsored by women enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Paul Rosenkrantz, who for the past nine years has done research in the area of sex roles, said that while 13-year-olds do not consider sex to be an occupational prerequisite, 18-year-olds hold traditional sexual attitudes.

Rosenkrantz's findings were based on a survey of 18-year-olds in private colleges, universities and junior colleges in Massachusetts. Results of the survey indicated that social backgrounds do not affect these pre-concieved sexual stereotypes.

The Ed School group organized the conference, which began Thursday, to raise public consciousness concerning the obstacles confronting qualified women seeking administrative roles in education.

Thursday and Friday sessions focused upon the concrete issue of appointing women to responsible administrative positions. Today's program will emphasize how the early childhood attitudes affect the obtaining of professional roles for women in general.

"We're not against men getting jobs, but we have to fight for ourselves," said one participant who asked to remain anonymous because the conference aims to present a "unified effort" of women graduate students.

The conference has presented a series of lectures by professionals in the fields of education and business, movies depicting the image of women given to pre-school children, and workshops composed of graduate students and interested people in the Cambridge and Boston communities.

The conference is funded by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is being held in the Gutman Library.