Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University
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FACTORS INVOLVED IN SUCCESS IN PROFESSIONAL CAREERS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By EDWIN CLARK LEWIS, B.A., M.A. **##*# The Ohio State University 195? Approved bys ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. Sidney L. Pressey for his guidance and suggestions, to Dr. Horace B. English and Dr. John Kinzer for their helpful comments, and to his wife for her unfailing support. ii TABLE OP CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Chapter I. HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM.................. Present interest in Intellectual resources Nature vs. nurture of genius Approaches to the problem Studies of prominent people Summary II. MATERIALS OP THE STUDY.................. The Ohio State Group Selection of the group and source of data ‘ Background information Present status Professional activities Appraisals and other information from The Ohio State faculty Other Materials Used Summary III. THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN CAREER................................ Present Differences Present positions Present areas of interest Background Differences Size of birthplace Age of receiving degrees Areas in which doctorates were received First positions after doctorate Number of different positions after doctorate Background Factors Making Little Difference Sizes of undergraduate schools Number of different areas Number of children Summary TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd. ) Chapter Page IV. THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN CAREER: QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES .................. 70 Faculty Ratings and Comments Factors Common to All Groups Personal influence Early interests Factors Previously Discussed Factors Not Found in All Groups Health Flexible education Achievement drive Prediction of Later Performance Summary V. DISCUSSION.................................. 83 Early start in career Flexible education Utilization of early interests Personal influence Opportunities in first position VI. SUMMARY...................... ............. 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................... 98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY .................................... 102 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Size of Birthplace.......................... 28 2. Age of Receiving Bachelor's Degree ...... 30 3. Age of Receiving Doctorate.................. 32 4. Number of Years between Bachelor's Degree and Doctorate......... 33 5. Number Receiving Doctorates Each Year. .... 34 6 . Areas in Which Degrees Were Received........ 34 7. First Position after Receiving Doctorate . 35 8 . Number of Different Positions Held during C a r e e r .................................... 36 9. Age as of June 30, 1957...................... 37 10. Present Position................. 38 11. Areas of Present Major Interest. ....... 38 12. Convention Participation........... 42 13. Years in Which Doctorates Were Obtained by Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.......................... 51 14. Age as of June 30, 1957, of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.............. 52 15. Present Positions of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.......... 53 16. Areas of Present Interest of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.............. 54 17. Size of Birthplace of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder. .......... 55 v LIST OF TABLES (Cont'd.) Table Page 18. Ages at Which Undergraduate Degrees Were Obtained by Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.................... 56 19. Ages at Which Doctorates Were Obtained by Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.............. ................. 5? 20. Number of Years between Undergraduate Degree and Doctorate for Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder. ......... 58 21. Areas in Which Doctorates Were Received by Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.................................. 60 22. First Positions after Doctorate of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder .. 61 23. Number of Different Positions Held by Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder .. 63 24. Number of Pages Published Two and Five Years after Doctorate by Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.................... 65 25. Sizes of Undergraduate Schools of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder......... 66 26. Number of Areas of Psychology of. Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder......... 67 27. Number of Children of Twenty Most and Least Prominent and Remainder.................... 6? vl INTRODUCTION The gifted or talented student Is still referred to by many writers as the most neglected person In education. However, a perusal of the literature on this subject Indi cates that there has been progress In recent years in the development of special educational programs for the gifted and In an Increased awareness of the need to provide special arrangements for them. Despite these advances, however, there has been relatively little study of the extent to which environ mental factors may play a part in the development of super ior talent or ability* Most of the work which has been done with the mentally superior seems to begin with the assumption that their abilities are so much a product of native constitution that the proper educational facilities release these potentialities but have little to do with their nature or amount. Becently there has been increased interest in the notion that a genius may be, to a considerable extent, the product of his environment, and that more attention should be paid to the possibilities of stimulating the realization of potential superior mental ability. Such approaches require, first of all, inquiry regarding environmental factors important in the development of superior persons in various fields. One method whioh has been used in attempts to isolate some of these important factors has been the study of men prominent in various fields to determine what factors seem to have been important in their success. In some studies, eminent men have been compared with those who are less-so, in an attempt to introduce some sort of control. The most recent example of the latter approach, and the most relevant to psychologists, is the study of America's Psychologists by Clark. One of the purposes of this Investigation was to determine factors which seemed to distinguish between those members of the American Psychological Association who were called *significant contributors" or "highly visible," and the psychologists-in-general (11). Although Clark's work was published after the writer's investigation was already underway, it was possible to revise the present study so as to take into account several deficiencies which seemed to be present in Clark's investigation and others of this type. One limitation of Clark's study was the narrowness of his criteria for selection of the highly visible people. An attempt was made to introduce broader criteria into the present study by having various members of the Ohio State department of psychology rate the individuals in the group studied as to present worth in the field, thus giving publication less weight in the total evaluation. Separate ratings were also made as to contributions to society or success in career, whether primarily in psychology or not. A second limitation was that the information used was primarily of an objective and often relatively super ficial nature. In what would seem to be a unique approach to this problem, this writer investigated those individuals who received the Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State Univer slty prior to 1947. Not only could similar objective facts be obtained for the members of such a group, but it was also possible to obtain qualitative Information about these individuals from faculty members who had known them well as graduate students. The third disadvantage of the Clark study was that it was limited to psychologists of recent "vintage," with no attempt made to compare the results with information about other groups. In the present investigation, the Ohio State group was compared with two other groups of superior scientists: (1 ) the psychologists whose autobiographies are included in Volume TV of A HiBtory of Psychology in Autobiography (23), and the scientists whose early lives are described in Cox's Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses (15). By comparing the information con cerning the early development and careers of these various groups, it was possible to Isolate factors which seem to have been influential in their success. CHAPTER I HISTORY OP THE PROBLEM Until recently, most of the attention paid to those with superior mental ability has concerned their childhood and youth. The leading work on this subject Is that of Terman, whose study of a large group of gifted children is one of the classics In the field (42), Among others who have published on this topic are Witty, who has edited a book on The Gifted Child (46) 5 DeHaan and Havighurst, who have written a new book on Educating Gifted Children (16); Worcester, who has been primarily interested in the early education of the gifted (49) j and Miles, who has written the chapter on the gifted In The Manual of Child Psychology (32). Present interest in intellectual resources.- Lately, however, the problem of the mentally superior has been made more insistent by its relation to the national security. More and more writers are stressing that this country is not using its ablest young people to the fullest advantage in the cold war with the Soviet Union, a country which is apparently using its brainpower more efficiently.