This study takes a multifaceted approach to group consciousness. The authors assessed changes in women’s feminist consciousness due to their exposure to feminism through women’s studies. Feminist consciousness was measured at the beginning and end of a semester during which some research participants were enrolled in an introductory women’s studies course. Women’s studies students were compared with students who were interested, but not enrolled, in women’s studies. As expected, women’s studies students showed an increase on several aspects of feminist consciousness, whereas non-women’s studies students did not. Non-women’s studies students became less sensitive to sexism. It is also noteworthy that, although they became more feminist, women’s studies students did not become more negative toward men.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alwin, D. F. , Cohen, R. L., & Newcomb, T. M. (1991). Political attitudes over the life span: The Bennington women after fifty years. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
2.
Anderson, J. B. , & Bryjak, G. J. (1989). Out of the tower and into the street: University students and social justice issues. Educational Research Quarterly, 13, 47-56.
3.
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
4.
Bargad, A. , & Hyde, J. S. (1991). Women’s studies: A study of feminist identity development in women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15, 181-202.
5.
Bartky, S. L. (1975). Toward a phenomenology of feminist consciousness. Social Theory and Practice, 3(4), 425-439.
6.
Biner, P. M. (1988). Effects of cover letter appeal and monetary incentives on survey response: A reactance theory application. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 9(2), 99-106.
7.
Boxer, M. (1982). For and about women: They theory and practice of women’s studies in the U.S.Signs, 7, 661-695.
8.
Brewer, M. B. (1979). Ingroup bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 307-324.
9.
Bunch, C. , & Pollack, S. (1983). Learning our way: Essays in feminist education. Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press.
10.
Butler, J. E. , Coyner, S., Homans, M., Longenecker, M., & Musil, C. T. (1991). Liberal learning and the women’s studies major: A report to the profession for the National Women’s Studies Association. College Park, MD: National Women’s Studies Association.
11.
Carden, M. L. (1974). The new feminist movement. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
12.
Chamberlain, M. (Ed.). (1988). Women in academe: Progress and prospects. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
13.
Chapman, J. (1987). Adult socialization and out-group politicization: An empirical study of consciousness-raising. British Journal of Political Science, 17, 315-340.
14.
Cherniss, C. (1972). Personality and ideology: A personological study of women’s liberation. Psychiatry, 35, 109-125.
15.
Crosby, F. J. (1987). The denial of personal disadvantage among you, me, and all the other ostriches. In M. Crawford & M. Gentry (Eds.), Gender and thought. New York: Springer-Verlag.
16.
Cross, W. E. (1971). The Negro-to-Black conversion experience. Black World, 20, 13-27.
17.
Culley, M. , & Portuges, C. (Eds.). (1985). Gendered subjects: The dynamics of feminist teaching. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
18.
Dahlerup, D. (1986). The new women’s movement: Feminism and political power in Europe and the U. S. A.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
19.
Delmar, R. (1986). What is feminism? In J. Mitchell & A. Oakley (Eds.), What is feminism? (pp. 8-33). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
20.
Dey, E. (1989). College impact and student liberalism revisited: The effect of student peers. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Los Angeles, Graduate School of Education, Higher Education Research.
21.
Downing, N. E. , & Roush, K. L. (1985). From passive acceptance to active commitment: A model of feminist identity development for women. The Counseling Psychologist, 13(4), 695-709.
22.
Farnham, C. (Ed.). (1987). The impact of feminist research in the academy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
23.
Feldman, K. A. , & Newcomb, T. M. (1969). The impact of college: Epilogue. In K. Feldman & T. Newcomb (Eds.), The impact of college on students (Vol. 1, pp. 325-338). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
24.
Fisher, B. (1978). What is feminist pedagogy?Radical Teacher, 6, 18, 20-25.
25.
Freeman, J. (1989). Feminist organization and activities from suffrage to women’s liberation. In J. Freeman (Ed.), Women: A feminist perspective (4th ed., pp. 541-555). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
26.
Griffin, C. (1989). “I’m not a women’s libber but...”: Feminism, consciousness and identity. In S. Skevington & D. Baker (Eds.), The social identity of women (pp. 173-193). London: Sage Ltd.
27.
Gurin, P. , Miller, A. H., & Gurin, G. (1980). Stratum identification and consciousness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43, 30-47.
28.
Gurin, P. , & Townsend, A. (1986). Properties of gender identity and their implications for gender consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 139-148.
29.
Henderson-King, D. H. , & Stewart, A. J. (1994). Women or feminists: Assessing women’s group consciousness. Sex Roles, 31, 505-516.
30.
Henderson-King, D. H. , & Stewart, A. J. (1997). Feminist consciousness: Perspectives on women’s experience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 415-426.
31.
Holland, D. C. , & Eisenhart, M. A. (1990). Educated in romance: Women, achievement, and college culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
32.
Howe, K. G. (1985). The psychological impact of a women’s studies course. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 13, 23-24.
33.
Johnson, M. (1982). Research on teaching the psychology of women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 7, 96-104.
34.
Jones, G. P. , & Jacklin, C. N. (1988). Changes in sexist attitudes toward women during introductory women’s and men’s studies courses. Sex Roles, 18, 611-622.
35.
Kamen, P. (1991). Feminist fatale: Voices from the “twentysomething” generation explore the future of the “Women’s Movement.”New York: Donald I. Fine.
36.
Klein, J. T. (1990). Interdisciplinarity: History, theory and practice. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
37.
MacKinnon, C. A. (1982). Feminism, Marxism, method and the state: An agenda for theory. Signs, 7, 515-544.
38.
Maher, F. (1987). Toward a richer theory of feminist pedagogy. Journal of Education, 169, 91-99.
39.
Maher, F. A. , & Tetrault, M. K. T. (1994). The feminist classroom. New York: Basic.
40.
Miller, M. M. (1994). “You’re going to be the only guy in there”: Men’s minority experience in Introduction to Women’s Studies. NWSA Journal, 6, 452-467.
41.
Miller, W. E. , & Miller, A. H. (1977). The CPS 1976 National Election Study. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
42.
Nassi, A. J. , & Abramowitz, S. I. (1978). Raising consciousness about women’s groups: Process and outcome research. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 3, 139-156.
43.
O’Connell, A. N. (1989). Psychology of women students’ self-concepts, attitudes, and assertiveness: A decade of research. Teaching of Psychology, 16(4), 178-181.
44.
Rowland, R. (1984). Women who do and women who don’t join the women’s movement. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
45.
Ruble, D. , Croke, J., Frieze, I., & Parsons, J. (1975). A field study of sex-role attitude change in college women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 5(2), 110-117.
46.
Sapiro, V. (1990). The women’s movement and the creation of gender consciousness: Social movements as socialization agents. In O. Ichilov (Ed.), Political socialization, citizenship education, and democracy (pp. 266-280). New York: Teachers College Press.
Schuster, M. , & Van Dyne, S. (1985). Women’s place in the academy. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allenheld.
49.
Scott, R. , Richards, A., & Wade, M. (1977). Women’s studies as change agents. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1, 377-379.
50.
Sherif, M. (1966). In common predicament: Social psychology of intergroup conflict and cooperation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
51.
Sherif, M. , & Sherif, C. W. (1969). Social psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
52.
Shreve, A. (1989). Women together, women alone. New York: Ballantine Books.
53.
Stake, J. E. , & Gerner, M. A. (1987). The women’s studies experience: Personal and professional gains for women and men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 277-284.
54.
Stake, J. E. , Roades, L., Rose, S., Ellis, L., & West, C. (1994). The women’s studies experience: Impetus for feminist activism. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 17-24.
55.
Stake, J. E. , & Rose, S. (1994). The long-term impact of women’s studies on students’ personal lives and political activism. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 403-412.
56.
Stanton, D. , & Stewart, A. J. (1995). Feminisms in the academy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
57.
Stewart, A. J. (1994). The women’s movement and women’s lives: Linking individual development and social events. In A. Lieblich & R. Josselson (Eds.), The narrative study of lives: Exploring identity and gender (pp. 230-250). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
58.
Stewart, A. J. , & Healy, J. M. Jr. (1989). Linking individual development and social changes. American Psychologist, 44, 30-42.
59.
Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behaviour. Social Science Information, 13(2), 65-93.
60.
Tajfel, H. (1978a). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. London: Academic Press.
61.
Tajfel, H. (1978b). The social psychology of minorities (Report No. 38). London: Minority Rights Group.
62.
Tajfel, H. (1982). Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 1-39.
63.
Tajfel, H. , & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
64.
Tajfel, H. , & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7-24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
65.
Unger, R. K. , Draper, R. D., & Pendergrass, M. L. (1986). Personal epistemology and personal experience. Journal of Social Issues, 42, 67-79.
66.
Vedovato, S. , & Vaughter, R. M. (1980). Psychology of women courses changing sexist and sex-typed attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 4, 587-590.
67.
Wilder, D. H. , Hoyt, A. E., Surbeck, B. S., Wilder, J. C., & Carney, P. A. (1986). Greek affiliation and attitude change in college students. Journal of College Student Personnel, 27, 510-519.
