Studying Accomplishments of Highly Able Women

parts on standard measures valued by the culture. Some charge that females are denied opportunities especially in traditional male domains and that they under­ achieve. Others assert that females are presented with a wider range of oppor­ tunity in life than males because they are accepted as homemakers as well as pro­ fessionals whereas men are not (Rejskind, 1993). Impassioned discus­ sion surrounds the assertions. Prompted by discussion of "accom­ plishment in superior adult males" 35 years after graduation from an Ivy League College (Gowan, 1972), a study was designed that examined a comparable group of 167 women, ages 45-70 who resided in Martha Cook, an honors dor­ mitory at the University of Michigan. One of the study's guiding questions is ripe for study today: What are the attributes that distinguish women who are actualized?