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• 1 2021-06-29T16:53:19+00:00 Missionaries and STEM 19 This page details the link between majoring in STEM and becoming a missionary. plain 2021-07-28T18:36:19+00:00

  It is important to acknowledge that the findings of this research are inherently biased. In an attempt to try to find more information on the women who majored in STEM at Hope from 1925-1950, I cross-referenced the names from the Milestone  with records at the Joint Archives of Holland, where our research is based out of. Out of the 951 women recorded, only a small portion of them had files in the Archives. It was more likely that there would be information on them if they were a part of an established Dutch family in Holland. The archives had many files on these women’s husbands but rarely information on them. Of the women that did have files, most were prominent missionaries for the Reformed Church of America. 

  Context

  According to the Hope College 1916 Semicentennial Catalog, the founding had a clear religious purpose. The catalog explicitly states that 

  They wanted a Christian school to prepare, in a general way, for high grade American citizenship and the intelligent development of Christian character; but, more specifically, they wanted a school to serve the three-fold purpose— to equip competent teachers, to train ministers, and to prepare missionaries for the foreign field [1].

  This statement hints at the college’s long-standing mutualistic relationship with the Reformed Church of America (RCA). Dennis Voskuil, a scholar and interim president at Hope College, argues that the RCA supplied resources for the college and in return, the college supplied people in his chapter “Continuity and Change” in the Hope College at 150 [2]. This can be seen in the college course bulletin as the college emphasized prerequisites for seminary training and Christian ministry. Voskuil also argues that Hope College was valued by the RCA because of the volume of missionaries coming out of the school. By 1941, over ⅓ of Hope College alumni were missionaries (2,300 people). In 1926, out of 1,410 graduates, 60% were religious workers [3].

  The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was a major Protestant organization sending missionaries abroad. Even now, much of the missionary movement in the United States can be tied back to the ABCFM. Initially, women could only go abroad if they were wives of male missionaries [4]. Many women married in part because it was the most accessible pathway abroad. However, this changed in the 1830s as the ABCFM became desperate for missionaries. According to the Historical Dictionary of Women’s Education in the United States, this policy change resulted in “hundreds of unmarried women” finding employment as assistant missionaries and going abroad [5]. By 1880, women represented 57 percent of the missionary force [6].

  While researching women who majored in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at Hope College from 1925-1950, there was a noticeable amount of students who entered the missionary field after graduating. This makes sense given that science and classical training were perceived to be dichotomous in the United States. Classical training was masculine and prepared men for the public sphere. Science was not as explicitly linked to gender. However, females and science were implicitly linked as science education was utilized by many female seminaries to teach “critical observation and… logical thought” [7].  Classical training was not essential for future female careers since they were most often entering the private sphere. 

  STEM and Missionary Work

  Similarly, missionary work during this time period was founded upon gendered separation and the idea of the “private sphere” as the woman’s domain. Women were seen as inherently pious and religious with special skills in nurturing and teaching [8]. Serving as a missionary complimented women’s perceived influence over religion and the family. Only eight of the women who majored in STEM during this time period (1925-1950) at Hope had files in the Joint Archives of Holland. Of the eight, seven were missionaries. Of that seven, three of them had parents who were missionaries and were raised to enter the field. Those women were Anne De Young, Mary Louise Talman, and Marjorie Van Vranken. Two of them, Helen Zander and Alida J. Kloosterman, decided to become missionaries through religious communities. Women were instrumental in recruiting, retaining, and becoming missionaries. 
  STEM was a logical primer for missionary work because it allowed women to take a pre-medical track and obtain education in nursing. While none of these women have a pre-medical track specified in the Milestone, a few of them specified that they took a pre-medical track in their archival files. This means that the women who majored in STEM might also have taken pre-medical tracks even though that is not noted in my data.

  Moreover, these women may have become missionaries because of the clear alternative to marriage and child-rearing. Women no longer had to be married or mothers in order to live abroad and have careers. The Church has a history of providing a certain amount of independence to women through positions as nuns, missionaries, and other religious work. Therefore, missionary work could have been correlated with STEM as well as other potential factors relating to marriage, motherhood, and family. 
  Of the eight women that have files in the Joint Archives of Holland, four were nurses while serving abroad. The other four women were not employed in the medical field but instead, specialized in education. Eva Van Schaack was the only woman who majored in STEM during this period with an archival file who did not become a missionary. She worked as an associate professor and professor at Hope College in the biology department [9]. 

  Higher Education

  Moreover, an interesting trend became apparent while analyzing these women’s files - all of them obtained some form of higher education. Eva Van Schaack and Bernadine Siebers De Valois both received doctorates, though Siebers De Valois’ was an honorary degree from Hope College [10]. Van Schaack obtained a PhD from John Hopkins University [11]. Helen Zander attended Columbia University and got an M.A. degree in rural education with emphasis on industrial arts after taking a furlough in 1940 [12]. Mary Louise Talman received an M.A. from Albany State Teacher’s College in 1944 [13]. Marjorie Van Vranken got a master’s degree in physiology from the University of Illinois in 1949 [14]. Jeanette Veldman recieved a M.A. from Columbia University in 1946 for Nursing Education and Administration [15]. Lastly, Bernadine Siebers De Valois obtained a M.D. in 1936 while specializing as an E.N.T [16].
  Though the sample size is small, the proportion of women who majored in STEM and received higher degrees after college is noteworthy. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, even though women participated in science before it was formalized in higher education, the professionalization of science pushed many women from the field. Women found barriers blocking them from graduate school, gaining doctorates, and getting jobs in equal value to their level of training. Some women were able to obtain entrance into colleges through attending women’s colleges, taking advantage of quotas in co-ed colleges, finding advocates on their behalf, or moving to Europe. Still, most women found themselves at the margins of science and the women who had gained entry in the field were the minority. 

  Nevertheless, women still pushed for space in education and science. Prior to 1900, nearly 30 percent of doctorates earned by women were in the sciences. By 1900, American women had earned 229 doctorates and at least 60% of the doctorates were in the sciences. However, women scientists lacked employment opportunities unless they found employment at a women’s college. If they did find employment at a college, they were typically valued as teachers over researchers. Government and industrial employment followed this same pattern of valuing teaching over researching which further marginalized female scientists. By the mid-twentieth century, land-grant institutions became significant employers of female scientists rather than just women's colleges [17].

  Career Paths

  Though these eight women from Hope College majored and obtained advanced degrees in STEM, most of their career trajectories followed the pattern described above as they became employed as teachers. Helen Zander, Mary Louise Talman, Eva Van Schaack, and Alida J. Kloosterman found teaching as their primary employment. Helen Zander specialized in English and stenography. Mary Louise Talman taught general science. There is no information on what Alida J. Kloosterman specialized in. Eva Van Schaack is the anomaly in that she obtained a doctorate, taught, and researched - though it is noted in her file that she did less research than other professors in her department. 
  Meanwhile, Jeanette Veldman, Anne De Young, Marjorie Van Vranken, and Bernadine Siebers De Valois found their primary employment in the health field. Regardless, teaching became an important part of their vocations as they trained future health professionals and locals. Bernadine Siebers De Valois, a practicing surgeon and doctor, emphasized the importance of education in both preventative and reactive health interventions. Her method emphasized educating mothers and caretakers in order to influence domestic life. This pattern is significant not because of an unimportance of teaching degrees but rather, the lack of female scientists. Teaching has been historically feminized and women rarely achieved higher positions. Even highly trained and degreed women in STEM rarely purely stayed in STEM. Teaching was a clear vocational route when employment for women had many barriers. 

  World War II gave women job opportunities as the men went off to war and positions opened up. However, as can be seen by these women’s stories, this change was not inherently lasting after the war. The veterans came back and entered higher education in large amounts and reclaimed their positions. The 1950s, introduced a need for “scientific womanpower” during the Cold War as the United States’ technological weaknesses were shown. Women were an untapped resource of trained, educated, and willing workers. Still, the national rhetoric “never matched the reality of women’s employment opportunities” [18]. Eventually, the Civil Rights and Feminist movements made gains for women’s rights. However, this is an issue still relevant today inside and outside of STEM.
  
  References:
  [1] 1916. V54.01. May Bulletin. (Holland: Hope College, 1916), 13-14, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/catalogs/49.
  [2] Jacob Nyenhuis, Hope College at 150 (Holland: Van Raalte Press, 2019), 150.
  [3] Nyenhuis, Hope College at 150, 165.
  [4] Linda Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary of Women’s Education in the United States (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998), 48, EBSCOhost.
  [5] Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, 49.
  [6] Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, 48.
  [7] Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, 350.
  [8] Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, 350.
  [9] "Biographical, 1950-1969." Van Schaack, Eva (1904-1981). Papers, 1911-1976. (H88-0177), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [10] Bernadine Siebers De Valois, “Science Plus-Miracles in India."
  [11] "Biographical, 1950-1969."
  [12] “Helen Zander: Educational Work in Japan,” Woman’s Board of Foreign Missions, July 1942. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [13] “Hope Graduate Buried in Peru,” Holland City News, July 24, 1947. Hope Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [14] “Marjorie Alice Van Vranken,” Board of Foreign Missions Reformed Church of America, September 1953. Western Biographical File,  Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [15] "Biographical Materials," Box 5.Veldman, Jeannette (1901-1994). Papers, 1912-1989. (W89-1012), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.; Greg Carlson and David M. Vander Haar, "Veldman, Jeannette Oral History Interview: Old China Hands Oral History Project I and II." in Old China Hands Oral History Project (former missionaries to China) (H88-0113) (Holland: Hope College, 1976), https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/old_china/?utm_source=digitalcommons.hope.edu%2Fold_china%2F15&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.
  [16] “Dr. and Mrs. J. J. De Valois,” Board of Foreign Missions, October 1955. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10). Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [17] Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, 351-352.; Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, xvii-xix.
  [18] Eisenmann, Historical Dictionary, 352.