Epistemological Development of Women

Belenky, et al. improve the understanding of the epistemological development of women. Perry confined his sample to the men of Harvard College. This parameterized the sample to well educated, privileged young men. Perry, by choosing a sample with the prerequisite of admission into Harvard College, has a sample population which had been screened, by the college, for a minimum level of epistemological development. In general, the sample male population had been supplied with all social and academic opportunities available to succeed in life according to the male-dominated, capitalistic society which is found in America.

The choice of women for Belenky et al.'s study varied to a greater degree; the study pulled from both ends of the social and economic stratum, although it did not deliberately test for epistemological development in women who were not at either end of the scales. Inclusion of women from welfare or social service agencies included women who were not able to succeed in a society with rules written by and for men. These women had not developed the ability to voice their own ideas and utilize language in an effective manner. Perry's study of men did not include a grouping of subjects who had not demonstrated competence in language utilization. The subjects in Perry's study can be more easily compared to the women studied by Belenky et al. chosen from academic settings. The findings for these two groups were more similar.

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k along relational lines instead of impersonal, adversarial terms. The last stage of epistemological thinking in the ability to integrate internal feelings and external facts to create personal knowledge. Belenky defines this as constructed knowledge; Perry as relativism. "The knower is an intimate part of the known." The knower owns the content and subject, meaning the knower is able to manipulate the ideas and use them to formulate their own concepts. Belenky et al. believe that the pressure cooker of formal academics often hinders a woman's ability to develop her own thinking processes. Women value the discussion and relationships which are build as oral culture is passed between women. The role of literature is more formal. The analytical response must be developed along the lines of male-dominated academia. Until women are given an equal voice in societies institutions and social dynamics, women will always be forced to adapt to the more valued, by society, argumentative mode of production for their ideas to gain acceptance. Endnotes Bibliography Belenky, Mary Field, Blythe McVicker Clinchy, Nancy Rule Goldberg, and Jill Mattuck Tarule. Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and

Category: Psychology - E