The Impact of Lived Experience on Cognitivoethical Development of Today's Women

Abstract

Using Perry's developmental scheme (1970), derived from reflections on knowledge and education (KE), and known for its strong correlation with higher education, the authors examine three problems: (1) the generalisability of Perry's model to other areas of reflection, by comparing women's forms of reasoning on both KE and woman's Social Role (SR); (2) the relative influence of higher education on cognitivoethical development, by comparing university and non-university female adults; and (3) the sensitivity of Perry's model to historicosocial factors, by verifying a cohort effect. Seventy-four housewives and active female workers entering university for the first time (Group 1) and 76 regular university students (Group 2) were interviewed on both KE and SR. Their forms of reasoning were assessed following Perry's adapted grids. High correlations between KE and SR in both groups give support to the first hypothesis. Cross-tabulation analysis comparing both groups on KE and SR reveals no significant difference. Stepwise multiple regression analyses performed on both groups indicate that factors such as non-conservatism, celibacy, cohort, and age explain for 34% and 33% of the differences observed in Group 1, while the level of education and celibacy only explain for 10% of the differences in Group 2. These results are interpreted in terms of a timed sociopersonal development, that is, a dialectical process.