Daily
Trojan
Volume LXXI, Number 60
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Monday, May 16, 1977
Ford steps out of prof role as campus bids him adieu
By Steven Hawkins
Executive News Editor
As the small crowd applauded, the gentleman left the steps of the Administration building, entered his limousine and departed. Moments earlier, University President John R. Hubbard had bid him adieu.
But Hubbard wasn't sending a new trustee or wealthy alum on his way. He was saying goodbye to former President Gerald R. Ford.
After three days here. Ford had completed his tenure as a visiting professor, meeting with class after class and responding to question after question.
His appearances were designed to provide students with the opportunity to converse with the former President in an academic environment. The visit was arranged under the auspices of the American Enterprise Institute of Washington. D.C.
"He seemed to enjoy it a 11 very much,” Hubbard said. “I was impressed by his willingness to address himself to a great range of topics. He w ants to come back, and we want him back.”
The final items on Friday’s itinerary included sessions with international relations, communications and social work students and faculty. Throughout the week he had met with a variety of
classes and other student groups. He also had time for some golf with Hubbard and dinner one night with several trustees.
Before his departure Friday afternoon at 3:15, Ford had a final meeting with Hubbard and some of the students and staff involved with his visit. During this time, the tiny crowd outside the Administration building was growing as word of Ford's presence spread.
Secret Service men remained alert as the group milled about the feet of Tommy Trojan. One woman stood reading a book, w-aiting. Another cavorted with a child. People peered out of windows in the Administration building, puzzled or curious. The same was true of the north side of the Student Union.
With the crowd approaching more than 100 people before 3 p.m.. security officials began to clear the path Ford would take from the building to his car. Two bicycles standing next to a w'all were moved to the nearby lawn, prompting one owner to wonder aloud about her vehicle’s future.
Secret Service men periodically walked out of the building to peruse the scene. Three cars were parked on the street next to Tommy Trojan. The first would lead the way and the second would carry7 Ford. Luggage filled the third.
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GOODBYE, JERRY— Former President Gerald R. Ford waves farewell to well-wishers outside the Administration building Friday, having completed his three days as a visiting professor. DT photo by Denis Wolcott.
Graduating women and the job market: what’s it like out there?
Barbara Walters earns $1 million a year as the first network news anchorwoman, Governor Jerry Brown has appointed a woman to the California Supreme Court, and there are now women practicing almost every- conceivable profession.
But Mary, a 1976 graduate of USC. found these women to be the exception rather than the rule concerning women and the job market.
Mar}’ has a degree in business but she has not held a steady job since graduation.
“All through college, all I heard was what great opportunities there are in business for women: jobs just waiting to be taken. When I finally went out to
Every ploce I went for o job, the first thing they asked me was if I could type and take shorthand ‘
find one. I got a rude awakening,” Mary said.
“Every place I went to apply for a job, the first thing they asked me was if I could type and take shorthand.'* she said.
“Women have many specific problems to overcome in finding a job that men do not. Even when a woman has a college degree, many companies will still only think of her as a secretary,” said Deanna Myerson of the Career Planning Center.
The Career Planning Center in Los Angeles counsels women from ri$it out of high school to widows of 20-year marriages who have decided to enter the job market.
“What we do here is help women who tried to find a job on their own and have ended up frustrated,” Myerson said.
“Many women today go out to find a job and they have no idea how to write resumes, conduct an adequate job search, or utilize what skills they have. At the center, we try to help them overcome these problems,” she said.
The center also counsels women who are unsure about their abilities. “Women come in after 20 rejection slips and need a shoulder to cry on. Our coun-
Roger Schroeder, a Daily Trojan assistant news editor, is a junior in journalism. All four women interviewed asked that their names not be used in the article. Mary. Jane, Sue and Cathy are pseudonyms.
BY ROGER SCHROEDER
selors try to bolster their confidence, make them feel better. It’s a lot like therapy.”
Once a woman finds a job, another problem is promotions. Jane, who graduated from USC six years 1955, the median income for a woman was $2,719 and five years. In that time, she has not received one promotion, while several men who have not been working for the company as long have advanced.
“In business, a woman can only get so far,” Jane said. “Companies still do not think of women for executive positions.”
“Things are getting better through such programs as Affirmative Action,” Myerson said. “Men are now realizing they have to make room for women. But the men in the companies still fear women taking jobs away from them. What they don’t realize is most of these women are working because they have to.” “Companies still think a man is working to support a family while a woman is working for fun,” Jane said. “One executive told me he knew I was only working until I got pregnant.”
Myerson said 80% of the women who come into the center want to find work because their husband is not paid enough to support the family, or the woman herself is heading the household.
According to the Business of Professional Women’s Club 76 Factbook, one out of every eight households is headed by a woman. A chief cause is the divorce rate, which has doubled since 1962.
Due to the impact of the Women’s Liberation movement, courts are no longer awarding large settlements in divorce cases. Women being divorced today usually receive a maximum of five years’ alimony. Courts feel in that time, a woman should be able to learn to support herself, Myerson said.
Myerson feels though the recent developments in women’s rights is good, the discontinuation of alimony payments is a bad side effect.
“A woman being divorced today may have been out of the labor force for 10 years. When she was working, women were not playing a major role in the job market so she probably has low' skills.
"There is no way this woman can train herself, get into the job market and earn what her husband had in that time span,” Myerson said.
Contrary to public opinion, the average working woman is making less today in comparsion to men than ever before.
According to Department of Labor statistics, in
1955, the median income for a woman was $2,719 and for a man it was $4,252. In 1970, the median income for a woman had risen to $5,343 while for a man it had risen to $8,966. The gap is still widening.
The reason for the increase in the gap is because for the most part the 13-million women in the labor force are concentrated in six occupations: nurse, teacher, librarian, clerical and service worker, and unskilled laborer.
“As a result, there are so many women looking for jobs in these occupations, businesses see no reason to raise the pay scale to a great extent. There is always someone waiting to take the job” Myerson said.
Despite the Women’s Liberation movement and the Equal Rights .Amendment, only 53% of women over 18are in the work force.
It appears the decision whether or not to get a job is the first obstacle many women must overcome.
Rene Jackson-White, a psychology professor at the university, feels many women in today1 s culture have been conditioned to have a fear of success.
“The phenomenon of fear of success in women,” Jackson-White said, “is women not admitting or striving for success because they are aware several immediate negative consequences will occur as tne result of their being successful.”
Sue is a freshman here with an undeclared major. She thinks about finding success in the working
In that time (five years), she has not received one promotion, while several men who have not been working for the company as long have advanced.
world, yet something is holding her back.
“When I hear about all the career opportunities women have and I see women who have made themselves a success, I know I could do it too.” Sue said.
“But then, so many of my friends from high school have already gotten married. I just keep feeling maybe I should just get married,” she said.
Jackson-White said Sue’s case is not uncommon. “Most women are raised with role models that are always passive, always admitting the male is dominant. Eventually, girls come to believe they should not strive too much; if they do it will lead to negative evaluations from society.”
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