Reports of the
    ACM Committee on Women's Concerns
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    The Aspirations of Women Students at ACM Colleges

    Spring 1993

    CONTENTS

    INTRODUCTION

    PART I. QUANTITATIVE DATA

    • Summary of Findings 
    • Recommendations 
    PART II. QUALITATIVE DATA
    • Implementation 
    • Findings 
      • Classroom Experiences 
      • Life Outside the Classroom 
      • Life Plans and Aspirations 
      • Variations in Summaries 
    • Conclusions 
    • Recommendations 
    • Classroom Climate 
    • Campus Climate 
    • Career Aspirations 
    • Communications 
    • Research 
    PART III. BIBLIOGRAPHY ON COLLEGE WOMEN'S CONCERNS

    APPENDIX A: Questions for Participants

    APPENDIX B: Bibliography of Source Materials on Focus Groups

    INTRODUCTION

    The 1991-92 ACM Committee on Women's Concerns chose as its agenda the aspirations and experiences of women students on our campuses. Our project was originally conceived as a replication of a study done by the ACM in the 70s, which suggested there were significant differences in educational outcomes and experiences for men and women on our campuses. Because the ACM no longer supports consortial research, replicating the study exactly was beyond the scope and resources of the ACM Committee on Women's Concerns. Nevertheless, we felt the issue was so important that we devoted the attention and energy of the Committee to the issues in the following three ways:
    1. Quantitative Data 


      2. This subcommittee examined available quantitative data on our campuses regarding student aspirations on entry and exit interviews from our institutions, graduation rates, retention rates, distribution of academic major of graduating students by gender, and the impact of gender composition of faculty by department on student choice of major. Part I of the enclosed report summarizes the findings and recommendations of this subcommittee.
       

    2. Qualitative Data 


      3. Focus group interviews were conducted on each campus to elicit detailed information on the current experiences of mostly senior-year women on our campuses. The focus group format allowed students to identify issues, concerns, and experiences that were most important to them, rather than being asked predetermined questions. Many issues were raised by our students concerning their experiences both in and out of the classroom, and the findings and recommendations of this subcommittee is found in Part II of the enclosed report.
       

    3. Bibliography 


      4. The committee was able, with the help of a Richter Apprentice Scholar through the Richter Apprentice Scholar program at Lake Forest College, to obtain a summer research assistant, Heather Brown, who compiled an extensive bibliography of articles and books on issues of concern to ACM women students. A synopsis of this bibliography is in Part III of this report, and additional copies are available for $10 from the coordinators of the ACM Conunittee on Women's Concerns.

    We encourage the ACM to review its policy regarding consortial research, and to encourage the sharing of information in order to reduce the duplication of efforts across campuses.

    PART I. QUANTITATIVE DATA

    The task of the Quantitative Subcommittee was to identify, collect, and review institutional data to determine what happens to the aspirations of women students attending ACM colleges during the course of their education. The draft grant proposal written by the ACM Committee on Women's Concerns in 1979 presented a variety of data, including the results of an ACM study of career patterns of graduates, which indicated that women students enrolled in ACM colleges were selecting majors primarily in fields viewed as traditionally female and were less likely than men to earn advanced degrees, even though both men and women had equally high aspirations upon entry. Our goal was to assess whether those findings were still true.

    The Subcommittee identified the following list of data as being both pertinent to the ACM Committee on Women's Concerns study of the aspirations of women students at ACM colleges and most likely to be readily available: 

    • graduation rates for male and female students 
    • the distribution of male and female graduates by major 
    • the distribution of decisions to change major by gender 
    • the distribution of male and female students in "intro" courses by major 
    • the distribution of male and female faculty by department, full- or part-time appointments, and tenure-track appointments 
    • the proportion of male and female first-year and senior students who intend to earn advanced degrees 
    • the proportion of male and female graduates who enroll in graduate school 
    • the proportion of male and female graduates who earn an advanced degree 
    • measures of male and female students' self-confidence or self-esteem and changes in those measures over four years 
    Members of the subcommittee were charged with contacting the appropriate offices on their campus to find and retrieve as much of this information as possible. The collection of existing information and reports was emphasized; members were not to undertake their own research to compile the data or to expect other offices on the ACM campuses to do so. The result was a collection of data that varied enormously with regard to amount, type, collection and calculation procedures, and time period.

    While it was impossible to combine the data with any degree of confidence into numeric averages and rates for the ACM as whole, we did identify several general trends. The applicability of these to any particular ACM college can be verified by obtaining a copy of the data from that college's representatives to ACM Committee on Women's Concerns. Data from individual campuses are not included in this report.

    Summary of Findings

    Overall, there was little difference between the retention of male and female students to graduation; where differences did exist, more women than men were retained to graduation.

    Women attending ACM colleges tend to graduate in anthropology, art, comparative literature, education, languages, psychology, and sociology; men tend to graduate in chemistry, computer science, economics/business, history, mathematics, philosophy, physics, and political science. Allowing for some variation between colleges, men and women still tend to pursue stereotypical academic majors. Too little data were available to determine whether the final choice of major was consistent with the students' original intentions or the result of switches in majors made during the course of their education.

    The evidence is inconclusive regarding a possible correlation between the percent of faculty who are women (possible role models) and the percent of graduates who are women within different departments.

    The pattern for students attending graduate school varied across campuses. At some colleges, male graduates are more likely than female graduates to pursue advanced education; at other colleges the reverse is true; and at still other colleges, there is no substantial difference between the proportion of male and female graduates pursuing advanced degrees.

    Compared to their predecessors in the late 70s, women attending ACM colleges today still tend to select disciplines traditionally associated with women. We do not have enough information to determine whether this is a function of their original intentions or of their post-enrollment experiences and choices. Since the ACM study of career patterns of graduates from the late 70s has not been replicated and our search for such information on individual campuses turned up very little data, we were unable to evaluate career achievement by gender.

    Recommendations

    In making the following recommendations, we recognize that needs and resources vary from campus to campus, but we believe that gender equity and outcomes issues are important enough to deserve regular, ongoing attention. Information about student aspirations, experiences, choices, attainment of advanced degrees, and career achievements can be used to address a wide variety of issues, gender equity being but one example. To the extent that collection of such information can be standardized and accomplished at the consortial level, we believe that each of the ACM colleges stands to gain in terms of more effective use of time and resources. 
    • Regularly review the distribution of majors by gender at the time students enter (intended major), declare a major, and graduate. 
    • Study the correlation between the gender distribution of faculty by departments and the gender distribution of student majors by departments. 
    • Regularly compare the aspirations (career, advanced degree) of new students by gender with their achievements after graduation. 
    • Standardize data reporting and the use of surveys (particularly retention statistics and the CIRP surveys) across the ACM. 
    • Monitor the number and gender of faculty by department who also teach in women's studies. 

    PART II. QUALITATIVE DATA

    The Qualitative Data Subcommittee of the ACM Committee on Women's Concerns conducted focus group discussions with mostly senior women students on each of the ACM campuses and at the ACM Urban Education Program during the winter of the 1991-92 academic year. Our purpose was to elicit information from the students regarding their experiences in college and how those experiences had shaped, changed, or confirmed their original aspirations.

    Focus groups are "interactive discussion groups" made up of individuals who are like each other with regard to the topic under discussion, but who are not necessarily a representative, or random, sample of the population under investigation. Focus group discussions are designed to gain insights into the subjective experience, to explore the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the participants (Fern, 1982; Lederman, 1990). The content of such discussions provides a rich source of information which can be used to clarify and enhance the understanding of quantitative data (e.g. survey data, including rating scales, averages, etc.) on behavior, attitudes, and opinions. Most often described as a qualitative method of gathering data for marketing and advertising research (Folch-Lyon and Trost, 1981), focus groups have recently been recognized as a useful tool for the assessment of educational/instructional effectiveness (Lederman, 1990). A bibliography of source materials used by the Qualitative Subcommittee can be found in Appendix B.

    The focus group methodology seemed well suited to the needs of the committee for several reasons. Focus groups generate a significant amount of detailed data in a short period of time and do not require as great a commitment of time and resources as the preparation, administration, and analysis of a standard survey instrument. The moderator provides general questions for discussion, but does not force the group to meet a rigid agenda--an important consideration since not all the members of the committee were trained researchers. Most of the assumptions underlying focus group methodology--including acceptance of the subject's ability to accurately report her or his experiences--are shared by other data collection techniques, such as surveys. In addition, the dynamics of the group can help to support honest and open discussion of sensitive issues.

    We particularly wanted to allow the women to express their experiences freely, to give voice to their perceptions of what it has been like to be women on our campuses. While survey and statistical methods allow researchers to describe a population based on a random sample, by necessity those methods require the imposition of categories (e.g., yes or no, discrete lists of items rated on a numeric scale, etc.) Our decision to use focus group discussions means we cannot quantify the extent to which the experiences described by the participants are shared by other women enrolled at ACM colleges. We can, however, give those experiences shape, substance, context, and meaning in order to better understand them.

    Implementation

    The participants in our study were women currently enrolled (most of them seniors) at each ACM campus and at the Urban Education program. While their selection was random, an attempt was made to ensure that women representative of the major ethnic groups found at each campus were included in each group. The resulting groups ranged in size from three participants to as many as thirteen. Eighteen women of color were included in the total sample of 109 students.

    Members of the committee developed a list of required and optional questions which were distributed to the moderators on each campus. The moderators were given the freedom to reorder and revise the questions, and were asked to keep in mind the effect of class and race on students' lives even though the discussion questions did not directly address those issues. The topics covered and the amount of discussion devoted to each varied from campus to campus. Some groups spent most of their time on non- academic experiences, while others focussed mainly on experiences in the classroom. The complete list of questions can be found in Appendix A.

    Findings

    In the spring of 1992 the members of the ACM Committee met and shared the results of the focus group discussions held on each campus. We identified a number of experiences common to all campuses as well as some unique occurrences on individual campuses. The following summary provides an overview of the classroom experience, the campus climate, and career aspirations as expressed by the women participants. Some representative samples of comments made by these women have been included. Many of the institutions requested anonymity and therefore the quotations are not directly attributed to any single institution.

    Classroom Experiences

    On almost every campus, the women started by saying that the climate in the classroom was positive and supportive, but as the conversation developed the overall sense of well-being was challenged by individual instances of exceptions to this "supportive" climate. Most of these exceptions were related to how women were treated in class discussions. While many women felt male and older professors were less likely to have discussions in class, the most striking similarity across campuses involved situations where the communication styles of male peers (seen as more combative or competitive) silenced women or blocked their contributions in class discussions.

    For example, while women might offer statements such as "I believe it might be this way," male students were more likely to state affirmatively "this is the way it is." Differences in communication styles were mentioned in various ways, but perhaps best expressed as "male students speak with more conviction while the female students articulate their response in more tentative terms." It was suggested that the most successful classes for women were those in which the climate encouraged students to work together in study groups, partnerships, small group discussions, etc., and not to compete.

    Women who adopted male patterns of communication were seen in a negative light. Indeed, most of the exceptions to a positive and supportive classroom climate involved class discussions where students were labeled negatively--women if they were assertive, and men if they were insensitive, during discussions dealing with feminist issues. In several summaries, women mentioned the fear of being labeled "feminist," since feminism was equated with being a lesbian, which was equated with "hating men." On many campuses situations were described where outspoken women were labeled as "lesbians" both by male and female peers.

    The issue of males being "judgmental" was also raised. As stated by one woman, 

      "I've found that I'm much better at being the articulate, intelligent person that I am around women, because I don't feel as if they have--there isn't as much judgment going on. Many more things are judged about [you] than how smart you are when you are in a class with men." 
    Another attitude expressed was that if women did voice strong opinions, male professors would treat that as an emotional response as opposed to an intellectual response. Other issues, such as women being ignored in class or comments not being taken seriously because they were offered by women, also appeared in the comments.

    Several campus summaries noted that certain departments were viewed as "female unfriendly." Women in the sciences were perceived as having less respect from their male peers. Religion and business were also mentioned as disciplines considered more "male oriented." On the other hand, one theater major stated there was less gender distinction in her department because theater majors "are pushing to fill out lots of parts of themselves rather than containing and trying to limit."

    There were also a few descriptions of sexism in the classroom or preferential treatment of males or females by faculty. One student, commenting on being a minority, stated: 

      "A lot of times in the classroom being black and being well...sometimes being black and being a woman are very much connected.... I was taking a class called Slavery in the Old South.... In this class, oftentimes because we were relating to my history...people would look at me and either expect me to say something, or look at me as if they were going to say, 'Oh, God, now she's going to say something.' It was either wanting me to say something or wanting me to keep my mouth shut so they didn't have to feel uncomfortable.... So it's either people being mad at me because I make them uncomfortable or me being mad at people for making me uncomfortable." 

    Life outside the Classroom

    In most discussion groups, this topic elicited the greatest response. It was clear the women felt there was a double standard between their academic life and social life. As stated in one summary,
      "There arose a virtual outpouring of anecdotes and attitudes all illustrating scenarios that led one to conclude that there is considerable tension, resentment, ambivalence, apprehension, and at the very least awkwardness in the relationships between men and women on our campus, and that no one really knows what to do about it.... The students felt that both men and women were to blame for this situation, and there was little hope of a resolution in the near future." 
    The physical safety of women was a major concern. Date rape and the way the college handled counseling and other support services were mentioned in several discussion group summaries. Date rape was seen as a serious campus problem, one greater than the statistics indicate, since too many women refuse to come forward for fear of harassment. "Rape happens more than people think. It takes a strong personality to prosecute over rape, to put your life in the public eye takes a lot out of you."

    The term "meat market" appeared in several summaries as a description of how fraternity members and other men viewed women in public settings, such as cafeterias. Men were seen as being much more likely to evaluate women based on negative points and to vocalize those opinions in public areas. Many of the women felt it would be "desirable to better prepare students about how to have healthy social lives without all the self-abuse that women often go through to be acceptable for male students." Women in several discussion groups noted the societal double standard regarding sexual attitudes. "This whole idea, that if a man sleeps around he's a stud, if a woman sleeps around she's a slut, this whole idea is so infuriating."

    Another area mentioned in the discussion summaries was the disparity in women's and men's sports. This included not only the lack of funding for women's sports, but also the lack of media attention. One student commented that the student newspaper "still refer[s] to men's basketball as 'basketball' and to women's basketball as 'women's basketball'." She noted, however, that "this is changing now that only the women's teams are winning." Several summaries mentioned women being made to feel uncomfortable in the weight rooms.

    One of the discussion questions concerned the relationship of female students with mentors. On one campus, the women were very concerned that if they had a male mentor, it would be assumed by others that there was a sexual attraction or connection. A "male" version of this appeared in at least one other summary, "They felt few males had female mentors because everyone would suspect them of sleeping with the professor." Several groups mentioned a lack of role models or available female mentors for women in the sciences.

    One student shared her experience in changing from a male to a female mentor. She had developed a working relationship with a male faculty member and felt she was his protege. He was her mentor for two and one-half years. She shared the following experience which struck a chord with her discussion group: 

      "I really see him teaching me things, him taking a special effort to teach me things about the field and I thought this was a great...learning relationship because he took a special effort to point out 'why don't you read this article, why don't you think about this topic, why don't you do this kind of a project to broaden your learning in this field.' And I thought this was great.... Then I took a 'Gender and Communication' class. I just was introduced to a lot of issues that I had never been exposed to growing up in a third world country...this was really fascinating...this thinking about being a women stuff is very fascinating.... I've never been exposed to it before. It was just a great semester, it was just exciting...all these thoughts and all these new experiences and suddenly a lot of these things about the United States and especially here...made sense now. Ah, this is what people mean when they talk about women's issues, such 'n such, such 'n such. And I started...to understand some of the feelings inside that I hadn't had the language for. And I started having a lot of trouble with this mentor of mine because I suddenly felt stifled that I started to look at the kind of stuff that he was introducing me to and felt like this is all very one-sided--not only that, but its all a very male way of thinking. Ever since then I have had a lot of trouble with this sort of protege relationship and have leaned a lot more now toward a woman in the department that I feel is much broader thinking and that just exposed like a whole range of things, rather than a narrow discipline that this former mentor of mine was into." 
    The women also discussed what it was like to be a woman on campus. The following excerpt is representative of the opinions expressed by students in other discussion groups: 
      "I feel particularly close if not close safe, around my female friends Even if I'm not close to them...at least I can express my opinion on anything If they don't agree with me, at least they are listening to me and respect that I have an opinion, and it may not be what they agree with, but at least it is an opinion that is equal to their opinion." 
    For the most part, the discussion of life outside the classroom revolved around attitudes about male and female relationships. Many women felt they had insights to offer first year students, but no opportunity to share their "knowledge" and "experience.'

    Life Plans and Aspirations

    Women on a number of campuses indicated they had changed their view of success and now placed less emphasis on money and concentrated more on how to achieve happiness and personal fulfillment. One student noted that instead of seeking to change the world, she merely wanted to "survive." Overall, the women became more confident and positive when discussing their futures and how they had changed during their four years of college. Many commented on the growth they experienced.
      "I think when I came here I wanted to fill a resume, but since I've been here I've made a lot of commitments to a lot of things that can stay with me for a long time. I think it has a lot to do with experiences and people, and specific classes. It is so important that people have the opportunity to share ideas, form commitments and form ideas.... I've changed a lot. I think I might have ended up not caring, and doing whatever comes next on the checklist that my parents made up twenty years ago, but now I take into account whatever that check list is and am starting to define that for myself." "When I first got here, well,...where I came from was very different. This as a completely new environment because [I'd] grown up on welfare my whole life.... So when I got here, I was going, 'Yeah, I'm going to get out of it [poverty].... I'm going to become a doctor'.... I guess I found that my community back home was real and that [it] was me.... I've been looking into programs...Third World countries...community clinics...community medical services, and there's no money in it; there's no anything.... I think my definition of success was just finding out more of who I am and just knowing [that success is] not that money thing. It's being with your own people and helping them." 

      "It's being able to set a goal that you don't even think that you might be able to achieve...just to make yourself work a little bit harder to get what you want. Being a successful college graduate is, I think, being able to look at the world outside of your major.... I think that it's important that you expand your horizons and look at areas outside of your primary focus in college was. My dad, I think, is the picture of success because [although] he's an electrical engineer.... He's interested in everything. He knows things about anything you want to talk to him about. He can talk to you for half an hour on any subject, and I think because of that's he's very successful." 

      "[Many women by] coming here...what they needed to become themselves. Of course college is a 'becoming time' but each college has it's own personality.... Going [institution] hasn't changed my career plans. Not what I want to do, but how I'm going to do them, because I just grew into myself--like I knew what I wanted to do, but before I came [institution] I didn't have the means to say I'm going to do it in a way that is me, not my dad or my mom or someone else and that I will be happy with. I think that is what [institution] gave...whatever I needed to find what was them and how to be them..." 

      And, from one summary report: "One student spoke of moving from 'rugged individualist' to more attentiveness to relationships, and this year moving toward a sense of the need for community. She did not see [her institution] as contributing to this growth, however. Other students disagreed. They cited intramural sports, band, and the approach of particular professors who fostered collaboration rather than competition as influences that fostered community." 

    Variations in Summaries

    Not all campuses were able to obtain representative viewpoints from ethnic groups on campus. Some summary reports concluded that women of color identified more by their ethnic group than their female identity. In addition, the few ethnic students who participated in the focus groups felt they had a lack of role models and had a greater need for a support system.

    Conclusions

    In comparing the information obtained through the focus group discussions on each of the ACM campuses, we identified the following as the most critical issues expressed by the student participants: 
    • physical safety 
    • attitude of male students--inside and outside of class 
        • "meat market" atmosphere
        frequent silencing by male peers
        competition in the classroom that blocks the contributions of women
    • self-image/self-concept 
        • need for mentors
        perceptions of being labeled a feminist
        double standard between academic and social life
        women of color--gender vs. racism
        lack of a forum for upper-class women to share knowledge 
        women feet lack of voice 

    Recommendations

    The fact there were so many similarities in the experiences of women students across the ACM campuses, even though the participants represented a small sample of enrolled women, has led us to conclude there is a definite need for a more systematic study of the campus climate for women students. There were certainly many positive comments made about all the campuses. Support networks and individual successes were commonplace. In almost all cases, however, a more negative picture of the quality of life for women students developed as participants shared their experiences. In the words of one summary report: 
      "At the end one woman commented, 'There's lots of sexism here! It's a big one! LOTS from the students, from female students too, that's harder.' and the group, who had begun by saying everything was equal, emphatically agreed with her. 'You just adjust things and learn how to cope.'" 
    A positive outcome of this project was the opportunity it gave women students to speak. Several reports mentioned that the students were grateful and "flattered" to have had their opinions solicited. They enjoyed the opportunity to express themselves and wished they had more opportunities to do so. A continuation of this study could include developing more opportunities for women students to meet and share their experiences. It was also suggested that a group of first year students be identified and their experiences studied over the course of four years.

    Beyond further research, we also recommend the following list of actions, programs, and activities as possible ways to address the critical issues identified above. A number of these are already in place on several ACM campuses.

    Classroom Climate

    • encourage the organization of faculty development workshops for alternative, female-friendly teaching and learning methods which address the social dynamics of the classroom as they affect diversity and gender issues 
    • encourage more curricular integration of diversity and women's issues across the disciplines 
    • provide assertiveness training for female students 
    • provide sensitivity training for male students 

    Campus Climate

    • create a supportive climate, which includes a standing committee for women's concerns; a women's center as "safe space" where women can engage in discussion of mutual concerns and have access to a resource area; an accessible and non-intimidating (a designated, non-administrative) resource counselor for women students; and improved communications between women's concerns, academic, and student service groups of the college 
    • review, maintain, improve campus safety, including regular evaluation of lighting, doors, etc.; provide a coeducational escort service; hire and integrate into the campus female security officers; and provide of self-defense training opportunities 

    Career Aspirations

    • develop mentors sensitive to women's issues: encourage efforts to hire women, including women of color; train advisors to be sensitive to gender issues within existing advising system; invite outside career people to mentor; invite alumnae to come to campus to talk about their careers either in departments or for homecoming events; and establish alumnae network list of people willing to allow students to spend a few days in their work places 
    • encourage career development staff to network among students and faculty about gender issues; educate students regarding issues of gender and race in the workplace; and counsel men on balancing career and family 

    Communications

    • create a more direct connection between the members of the ACM Conunittee on Women's concerns and student life deans and departments 

    Research

    • conduct follow-up studies (e.g., exit interviews, focus groups, interviews, and surveys) of minority students 

    PART III. BIBLIOGRAPHY ON COLLEGE WOMEN'S CONCERNS

    The task of the Bibliography Subcommittee was to compile a list of the literature dealing with women's aspirations and college experiences. The bibliography includes scholarly articles, general interest articles, and some books published, in the main, between 1974 and 1991. The works cited cover sexual harassment, campus atmosphere, career plans, educational goals, advisors, mentors, marriage and family plans, women in nontraditional fields, minority women, feminism, womanism, methods for studying college women's concerns, and the effects of high school education and life background on women and their plans. While extensive in scope, it is not comprehensive and tentative plans are being made to update it as needed. 

    The final compilation and production of this document was done by Heather Brown through a summer research appointment as a Richter Apprentice Scholar through the Richter Apprentice Scholar Program at Lake Forest College. We greatly appreciate the energy, enthusiasm, and commitment that Heather brought to this project.

    The bibliography has been produced and bound as a document separate from this report. Additional copies may be obtained at a cost of $10 each by contacting the current coordinators of the ACM Committee on Women's Concerns through the ACM office.

    APPENDIX A: Questions for Participants

    1. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A WOMAN IN CLASSES HERE? 
      • What frustrations have you experienced? 
      • What successes have you experienced? 
      • Have you ever felt isolated in a class? 
      • Have you ever felt silenced in a class? 
      • Have you noticed any differences between the way women and men are treated in class? 
    2. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A WOMAN OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM HERE? 
      • What successes have you experienced? 
      • What frustrations have you experienced? 
      • Do you have a mentor? Who is she or he? Describe your relationship with your mentor. How important is this relationship to your success in college? 
      • Do you feel you are part of a community here? 
      • What influence has this community had on your success? 
    3. WHAT ARE YOUR LIFE PLANS AND HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED SINCE YOU'VE COME HERE? 
      • What do you hope to accomplish in your life? 
      • How is this different now than when you came to (individual institution)? 
      • How do you define success? Has this definition changed during college? How? 
      • If your life plans have changed, what role has (this institution) played in the process? How? 

    APPENDIX B: Bibliography of Source Materials on Focus Groups

      Fern, E.F. "The use of focus groups for idea generation: The effects of group size, acquaintanceship, and moderator response quantity and quality." Journal of Marketing Research, 1982, 19(l):1-13. 

      Folch-Lyon, E. and Trost, J.F. "Conducting focus group sessions." Studies in Family Planning, 1981, 12(12):443-449. 

      Lederman, L.C. "Assessing educational effectiveness: The focus group interview as a technique for data collection." Communication Education, 1990, 38:117-127. 


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