It is important for women's success in higher education and their careers to understand development that is unique to gender. Whether inspired by nature or nurture, understanding one's development helps to increase self-esteem and success in career and leadership. Below are summaries of some foundational models of development specific for women.
Downing and Roush (1985) developed a model of feminist identity development for women based on the work of William Cross's (1978) Black identity development model. This model is constructed with five stages: Passive Acceptance, Revelation, Embeddedness-Emanation, Synthesis, and Active Commitment. Passive Acceptance involves a woman buying in to the traditional sex roles and discrimination, a belief that men are superior, and a devaluation of women and feminine characteristics. An open questioning of the self and roles catalyzes the Revelation stage. This can be characterized by anger and guilt, with men being perceived as negative. Stage three, Embeddedness-Emanation centers on the connectedness to other women, gaining affirmations of self, and strengthening a new identity. In Synthesis, the woman develops a more authentic and positive feminist identity, transcends sex-role proscriptions, and can evaluate men on an individual basis. In the final stage, Active Commitment, the consolidated feminist identity inspires her to commit to meaningful action to create a non-sexist world. Men are considered equal to, but not the same as, women.
Carol Gilligan's (1982) moral development theory was ground-breaking in that she not only validated women's development, but challenged the notion of centralizing theory in White, male development. She proposed three levels of development, Pre-conventional, Conventional, and Post-conventional, with transitionary crossroads that are as significant as the levels and are relationally situated for women in their care for and about others. Level I is the Orientation to Individual Survival (Pre-conventional) where one is oriented toward self-interest, survival and preservation of self. The first transition, from Level I to Level II, is identified as From Selfishness to Responsibility. Here the woman develops Attachment and connection to others, with an ability to see in herself the potential for social acceptance/approval. She learns to Integrate responsibility and care into moral decision-making. In Level II, Goodness as Self-Sacrifice (Conventional), a woman develops greater engagement with others. Her survival now is based on social acceptance and she may give up her own judgment in order to be accepted. She may also experience disequilibrium over conflict between her self-definition and her care for others. The second transition occurs from Level II to Level III is called From Goodness to Truth. Here the woman moves from self-sacrifice for conformity to a new inner judgment. As she begins to see her own needs as truth and not as selfishness, she begins to take responsibility for decisions. In Level III, The Morality of Nonviolence (Post-conventional), the woman has a new respect for the self, with no dichotomy between selfishness and responsibility to others any longer. She balances a moral equivalency between self and others, between survival and care. Gilligan states that a morality of nonviolence is then extended to self and others.
Another significant work comes from Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule's (1986/1997) research on women's intellectual development. They studied the ways in which 135 women learn and how they developed voice. From that, they delineated five different perspectives to women's learning. The first perspective is Silence, where the woman views herself as having no independent thought and as being controlled by authorities. The second perspective is Received Knowledge, where the woman learns by listening. She does not conceptualize herself as having a legitimate voice and the absolute truth is in authority figures. In stage three, Subjective Knowledge, she develops an awareness of the inner voice and it is this voice that has all knowledge. Knowledge is seen as personal and private. She may discount knowledge from outside the self at this stage, but it is significant in the quest for self. In Procedural Knowledge, there is an emphasis on the process of learning. Voices of reason dominate as she learns to think critically in response to others. In the sixth phase, Constructed Knowledge, the woman has developed an ability to separate and connect her knowing. Knowledge is relative and contextual, subjective and objective.
(summarized by Wanda L.E. Viento)
References
Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. (1986/1997).
Women's ways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind. New York: Basic Books.
Cross, W. E. (1978). The Thomas and Cross models of psychological nigrescence: A
review. Journal of Black Psychology, 5, 13-31.
Downing, N. E., & Roush, K. L. (1985). From passive acceptance to active commitment:
A model of feminist identity development for women. The Counseling Psychologist, 13 (4), 695-709.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
