A woman's right to choose

A recent New York Times article looked at female students at top Ivy League schools and interviewed women who saw their futures as being stay-at-home moms rather than pursuing careers after graduation. A 2001 survey found that 31 percent of female graduates of Harvard Business School from the classes of 1981, 1985 and 1991 worked only part time on-contract and 31 percent did not work at all. This left roughly 38 percent of female graduates who were working full time.

In the article, Harvard's director of undergraduate admissions said she is disappointed that Ivy League women are not doing enough with the opportunities, academic and otherwise, available to them.

Women's rights has not progressed as much over time as we'd like to think, and many gender roles have maintained traditional status. Accepting the traditional role of motherhood is seen as the most stable life choice, while balancing both a career and a family is viewed as a more strained and unrealistic option.

When a woman decides to choose between a career and motherhood, she is judged in a specific way based on her decision. If she chooses family, she is perceived as lacking ambition, especially if she has gone through the rigors of higher education. If she chooses a career, she is judged as taking a man's role and her life is void of the greater joy of motherhood.

In reality, women should not have to be judged one way or the other for making these life choices. Even if these Ivy League women are not utilizing their education in the way society dictates, they are making personal choices that no one else should criticize. Saying that these women should feel guilty for not having a career after attending Yale or Harvard is a step back for modern feminism. Women should be allowed the choice of career or motherhood without fear of criticism.