Studying the Student Body

If you've ever wondered what makes certain Dartmouth students happier and more successful than others, you've got company. In the summer of 1989 education professor Andrew Garrod and English professor Priscilla Sears decided to study a randomly selected group of the class of 1993. "In some ways we were asking what the process of adaptation to college life was like for this group," says Garrod. "We were asking what major challenges they faced, what their major surprises and joys and triumphs were."

The major finding: on the most widely used measures of moral and ego development, "the women score significantly higher than the men both in their fresh and senior years," Garrodsay.

He adds that the difference between Dartmouth men and women is greater than what has been found in other studies.

The bad news: the female advantage does not seem to translate into greater academic achievement.