Gilligan\u27s theory of women\u27s moral development: Implications for student affairs practitioners

More and more educators are beginning to recognize the difference between the moral development of men and women. Rogers (1989) found patterns in recent research that revealed the nontraditional feminine characteristics of care, empowerment, cooperation and emphasis on relationships are starting to be valued, and that there is less emphasis on the traditional male oriented values of competition and independence. Rogers also suggested that the difference between the moral orientation of men and women is a controversial theme that calls for a redefinition of human nature. According to Rogers, in the heart of this redefinition will be a realization of the validity and the worth of the values of the female ethos, which in the Western culture have long been unrecognized and unresearched (p. 1)