The Effect of Schooling on Social Contacts of Urban Women

This paper examines two sets of data, one derived from a study of 571 housewives and married working women, the other of 301 widows, aged 50 and over, for the association between social relationships and formal schooling. All the women life in a metropolitan area in America. The conclusion is that urbanization and industrialization trends make formal education a major requirement for the social engagement of women. The less educated an urban woman, the more probable her social isolation. This variable is more important than any other in predicting the degree to which a woman is able to engage in society and her attitude toward her social world.