Sex Differences in Aptitude Maturation in a Noncollege Sample.

Fifty women and 43 men who did little college study in the four years following high school graduation were retested with a multiaptitude precollege battery. Results show that, in the absence of continuing education, the 50 women declined in intellectual growth, while the men grew slightly. The women utilized in the study were employed, for the most part, in low-level office jobs, the men in low-level technical jobs. Only 3 of the 50 females were primarily housewives. The authors cite the men's military training and present college enrollment as the most obvious background differences between the sexes. A general conclusion is that women not enrolled in school suffer more intellectually than do men. (TL)