Study Probes Girls' Minds After College

In an attempt to determine why "women's intellectual achievements seem to go to seed" after college, a distinguished female psychiatrist is launching an investigation at Radcliffe of what educated young women do with their education.

Dr. Grete L. Bibring, clinical professor of Psychiatry, emerita, last night conducted the first of a series of seminars which will explore what she termed "the universal tendency of young women to drop carefully acquired interests when they start to raise a family." She will meet once a week to explore causes of the problem with 12 Cliffies selected by their deans.

Dr. Bibring explained yesterday that the structure and goals of the seminars have not yet been clearly defined. Pointing out that this will not be a "rescue operation or therapy group," she said that she hopes for "a sound and frank exchange of ideas; more of a study group."

She said that by "sounding out the problem together as the girls see it the group may come to understand why so any women abandon a definite pursuit.

Do Women Care Less

Mentioning lack of commitment as a possible reason. Dr. Bibring said that said that she would like to explore with the group the degrees of academic commitment in different areas of interest. She also plans to investigate the question of whether young women have less actual dedication their work than young men.

Common explanations of the situation are not convincing, she stated. In a country where almost everything is possible. Dr. Bibring went on, the argument at "there is too little help in the house seems to indicate some acceptance of a problem which might, if taken seriously, find some resolution."

A wife and mother herself, Dr. Bibring taught at the Harvard Medical School for 19 years and served as chief of psychiatry at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. She first became aware of "the over-allness and acuteness" of the problem about five years ago when she addressed a group of Radcliffe students who wanted to know more about reseach in psychiatry. "The discussion puzzled me," she said. "It constantly veered off into the question "But what if we got married?"

Noting that the students seemed troubled about being "caught," Dr. Bibring said that while combining marriage and a career "is a struggle, girls should be more active in thinking about the situation rather than being paralyzed by it.