Detailing Popular Majors

Modern-Language English

Consistently, some form of English has been in the top two most popular majors for senior women from 1925-1950. Until 1932, the most popular course of choice was modern-language English. The 1925 Bulletin, the equivalent of a modern course catalog, lists the requirements for a major in modern-language English as 30 semester hours in English, 20 in French, 20 in German, 8 in history, 6 in biblical literature, 2 in public speaking, 4 in political science, 4 in psychology, 4 in evidences, and 32 in electives. This list includes general education requirements that other majors also had to complete [1]. In the 1929 Bulletin, the major name switched to English modern language, though the requirements remained identical [2]. This course was recommended for high school teachers, for graduate work in English or modern languages, or for training in journalism. In general, this major was advertised as flexible and adopted to “general cultural work.” [3]

English Modern Language

History

Until 1940, history was also a consistently popular major. According to the 1925 Bulletin, a major in history required 24 semester hours in history, 20 hours in a modern language, 15 in English, 8 in political science, 8 in philosophy, 6 in biblical literature, 6 in history of education, 4 in psychology, 4 in evidences, 2 in public speaking, and 33 in electives [5]. The course was recommended for students who planned to enter “law, the diplomatic or civil service, to teach or to do graduate work in history.” [6] The recommended career paths for history majors is of interest because graduate school during this time period had many barriers for women. 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 [7]. However, graduate degrees were rarer for women from 1925-1950. 

Moreover, law, diplomatic and civil service were all traditionally male fields which fit into the idea of the “public sphere.” Women were expected to enter the “private sphere” which included influence over the family, household, children, and religious affairs [8]. A relevant question is whether these women hoped to pursue these career paths or typically forged a path of their own instead. Our research team found that a portion of women who attended Hope College during this time period used college as a means to find potential partners in marriage. This finding is in alignment with national trends as women found economic returns from attending college through both labor and marriage markets [9]. Therefore, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that while recommended career paths were influential for some women, for others it was less relevant.

Education

The sudden popularity of education in the 1940s gives the false impression that women at Hope were taking a newfound interest in the field. On the contrary, teaching was one of the original three vocations that Hope was founded to train workers for [11]. Originally, teaching was a certification that students could obtain through Hope College but it was not a major to concentrate in. Therefore, women could have been obtaining certifications and attending Normal Colleges but that would not have been listed as their primary major in the Milestone where we pulled our data from. The creation of a teaching major that prepared students for certification was new in the late 1930s at Hope College. Our data reflects this change in available majors. Though it is significant that education became a major later because teaching might have been a less valuable degree before 1935 because married women were barred from employment [12]. Therefore, the creation and popularity of an education major shows the shift in this policy.

Data Analysis

However, for many years, the third most popular majors were still in what we would now call the social sciences or humanities. In 1935, the third most popular major was in Latin with four women in it. The third most popular in 1936 was English modern language with six women in it. In 1937, the third most popular was French with three women in it. In 1938, the third most popular major was modern language with four women in it. In 1940, the third most popular major was Latin with four women in it. In 1943, the third most popular major was education with four women in it. In 1946, French was the third most popular with six women in it. In 1947 and 1949, music, social studies, and elementary education tied for third place with STEM courses as listed above. Lastly, the next highest major was education with ten in it in 1950. 

Other Majors

Least Popular Majors

Typically the least popular majors differed from year to year. Consistently, the classical track was less popular with only ten women taking it from 1925-1950. Possible reasons for the lack of women in this track was that classical training was meant to prepare students for politics, work, law, and graduate school. Plus, classical training was seen as a masculine subject [14]. While analyzing the Milestones from 1925-1950, I noticed that many men took the classical course which illustrates a clear gender division. Similarly, women did not major in engineering during this time period. Engineering tended to be less popular overall at Hope as it was newer. However, men did major in engineering more than women. This pattern of women majoring in certain areas less than men also holds for ancient, classical languages like Greek and Latin, philosophy, business, and economics. Latin was more popular until 1942. After that, only one woman every few years would major in it. Philosophy and economics were consistently unpopular as only two women majored in it for the duration of this study. Though, economics was introduced much later than philosophy. Business was typically a less popular major for all students as business administration was preferred.

Other Majors