There are several common themes that link the female faculty members at Hope College. Women tended to be single or widowed when they came to Hope College, aided by administrators of Hope College in various ways, and were members of the Reformed Church of America.

Women composed a minority of the Hope College faculty based on observations in The Milestone ranging from 1925 to 1950. In 1925, 5 women and 12 men comprised the faculty, while in 1950 the faculty expanded to 14 women and 48 men instructors and professors out of 62 total faculty members. Typically, women occupied assistant positions to administrators or served as librarians at Hope College, rather than instructors or professors. Furthermore, women tended to dominate the language and music departments, while women were rare in the math and science departments. 

Even among the women faculty, many only earned the title of instructor, rather than professor. In 1950, 40 of the 48 male instructors were considered professors, while 7 of the 14 women were granted the title professor.  A majority of the female faculty members earned the title instructor or assistant or associate professors, while a higher proportion of males became full professors of their subject, which impacts the amount of money a woman faculty member earned because of the pay discrepancies of the ranks of professors. 

The balance between education and family was a controversial topic. One source published in 1929 in the North American Review presented the argument that motherhood is the most important task for women and the most successful mothers are intelligent women. The article declares “Raising children requires, for its proper fulfilment, more intelligence than any other task which the human race is ever called upon to do… But highly intelligent women have long been avoiding it because they appreciate, far more clearly than their dumber sisters do, the enormous difficulties of managing children so that they develop the best that is in them” [1]. This article attempts to persuade intelligent women to forgo careers and raise children because working and raising children is taxing. Furthermore, the author argues that intelligent women will find the most happiness when raising children and in a way it is their duty to the human race to raise children. Women likely were surrounded by the social expectations expressed in this article, which influences women's entry into higher education. 

This article is one of many asserting that the home should be the highest priority for women instead of higher education. In addition to the North American Review, the media played a role in developing the idea that women should only be a homemaker and mother. The article, “The Celluloid Ceiling: Women Academics, Social Expectations, and Narrative in 1940s American Film” crafted an argument around the influence the media has on the image of female professors. This article pinpointed 63 films for study and only found female academics in 6 of the films. The women professors portrayed in these films surveyed painted female professors as beautiful and young women that left their positions to marry a man by the end of the movie or became old and plain women. Additionally, enrolling in higher education cost money and families were more likely to educate their sons than their daughters, which prevented some women from receiving the higher education necessary to acquire the title professor [2]. 

The trends these articles discuss can be seen in the female faculty population at Hope College. Many of the women that worked at Hope College were single or recently widowed. For example, Metta Ross, Janet Mulder, Laura Boyd, Ella Hawkinson, and more were single women who focused on their teaching career. Several of the female professors, such as Metta Ross and Janet Mulder or Laura Boyd and Eva Van Schaack lived together as professors and retired Hope faculty. Winifred Durfee, Marian Stryker, and Esther Snow came to Hope after their husbands died. Esther Snow and Marian Stryker became widows and needed to support their younger children, thus they did not have the option to focus only on motherhood. Robert Snow, the son of Esther, wrote a biography of Esther Snow’s life. He made notes about her progression from a temporary faculty member to an instructor and eventual assistant professor stating, “In any case, I’m sure she was grateful for employment and didn’t worry as much about titles as she was about getting the job done, and the necessary remuneration involved” [3]. It is notable that Hope College hired majority single or widowed faculty members despite expectations for women to be homemakers and mothers. 

I found several indications that President Lubbers or other administration members aided these women and made accommodations for personal matters. For example, Marian Stryker became an employee in the Office of Alumni Relations after her husband died leaving her the sole caregiver of her children. Lubbers wrote to Stryker explaining, “Due to family circumstances, it will be permissible for you to open your office as late as ten o’clock in the morning and to make substitution by taking home such work as can be done away from the office” [4]. Additionally, Lubbers encouraged Mildred Schuppert to attend library school at Michigan State University and he petitioned the Army to defer Louise Van Dommelen from active duty so she could continue directing female physical education [5]. Finally, Hope College offered Esther Snow her husband's position after his death. Snow aided her husband with his duties, thus she was qualifified for the position and needed income as a single mother. This desire by administrators may have been motivated by compassion, concern, or a sense of duty as members of the Reformed Church of America. 

Lastly, female faculty were respected members of the Reformed Church of America since it still endorsed Hope College in the 1930s and 1940s. The women hired at Hope College attended the Reformed Church and the women faculty took an active role in their church. Several of these women, such as Esther Snow and Mildred Schuppert played the organ at churches in the Holland community. Additionally, tithes and offerings came out of the faculty member's paycheck. Correspondence from Mildred Schuppert indicated that Hope College paid 3% of the 6% tithe to the Reformed Church from Schuppert’s income [6].