UNNATURAL EQUALITY

secondary education, over the decade from 1970 to 1990 women’s achievements converged with and in some cases surpassed men. From 1966 to 1987, the percentage of female high school graduates who completed four years of college increased from 16 to 25 percent, to equal that of men. In 1989, the majority of degrees at all levels except doctorate were earned by women: whereas in 1970, 43 percent of the Bachelor’s degrees and 39 percent of the Master’s degrees were awarded to women, in 1989 it was 53 and 52 percent respectively. Though only 36 percent of the doctorates were awarded to women, that was a substantial jump from 13 percent in 1970. Significantly, too, the proportion of degree in science and engineering earned by women showed a dramatic increase from 1960 to 1990. In 1989, 50 percent of all biological science degrees were earned by women, up from 28 percent in 1970. The proportion of degrees awarded to women in computer science and the physical sciences doubled from 14 percent in 1970 to 31 and 30 percent respectively in 1989. Mathematics, also a traditional preserve of men, saw an increase in degrees awarded to women during the same period of from 37 to 49 percent. And in business, 47 percent of the degrees went to women, compared to 9 percent in 1970. Though in 1989 women earned only 15 percent of all Bachelor’s degrees in engineering, this was up from just 1 percent in 1970. In the medical and other professional areas too, women have become increasingly qualified. In 1989, 26 percent of the dentistry degrees, 33 percent of the medical degrees, 50 percent of the veterinary medicine degrees and 40 percent of the law degrees were awarded to women. From 1975 to 1989 the number of colleges and universities headed by women doubled, but women continued to be under­represented in the upper management of higher education. In 1989 only 10 percent of the ‘chief executive officers of colleges and universities were female. Women’s position in college faculties is likewise still insecure. In 1910 women made up 20 percent of college faculties: in 1985, a full seventy-five years later, just 28 percent of college faculties were female, and most women educators were clustered in the lower ranks, below the level of full professor, with lower pay and less job security. A CLOSER LOOK Western women have come out of the house and into the marketplace in full force, but a closer look raises the question as to how much of this is “liberation,” and, even more important, what is its cost in human and social terms for women and for society. In 1990, 53.5 million women, or 58 percent of all American women, were in the labor force — three fourths of them working full time. From 1975 to 1990, 20 million women had been added to the work force. Labor force participation of all women between 16 and 65 years of age rose dramatically, but the steepest increase was among married women with a husband present in the home. In 1990, nearly 60 percent of all married mothers with children under