More young Mormon women shelving education for mission trips
By Harrison Golden
USA Today College
April 7, 2014
Susan Madsen remembers how her six brothers each smiled upon returning from their two-year mission treks.
She grew up hearing them, at the family dinner table, describe the people they met and the poverty they saw on Mormon missions. These conversations left Madsen, then a teenager, longing to experience her own missionary trip, just as her brothers did at age 19.
But because of her gender, she had to wait until her 21st birthday.
“I just wanted to be like my brothers,” says Madsen, now a Utah Valley University professor of management who directs the Utah Women and Education Initiative. “They came back such changed people.”
Madsen eventually embarked on an 18-month mission to Tampa, Fla. when she turned 21.
Today, Mormon women must only wait until age 19 to go on such trips. (For men, 18 is the new age threshold.) The Church of Latter-day Saints changed its missionary age requirements in October 2012, hoping to make younger members more active.
Now 18 months since the new rules took effect, more Mormon women are flocking to missions rather than universities. About 23,000 women — compared to some 8,000 just beforehand — are currentlyshelving their education for Church-sanctioned trips. This surge has left colleges in Utah, a state where 62% of residents are Mormons, with 11% less female applicants.
“These numbers are no surprise,” says Utah higher education commissioner David Buhler. “It remains a big challenge we are working our way through.”
Those hoping to hand female Utahans college diplomas face a higher education gap than people in most states. More of the state’s women drop out of four-year programs than graduate from them, a trend largely ascribed to the popular Church’s emphasis on marriage and parenting. Among women in Utah, the average age of marriage is 24, while that of motherhood is 25.
“Many women feel you can either go to college, have a baby or go to work,” Madsen says. “But they don’t think you can do all.”
Economic hardship has spiked the number of multitasking Mormon women. Many of them work long shifts to fund their blooming families. Those familiar with the Church believe the rise in female missionaries will ultimately leave more women trained to handle pressure — and perhaps even graduate college.
“Missionary experience is an asset,” says Philip Barlow, a Mormon studies professor at Utah State University. “It builds a work ethic — better understanding of languages, poverty and religion — that can carry into the home, school and business worlds.”
Some years will pass before Utahans can study the longterm impact of missionary work among women under 21. The average college student takes four years to graduate, while most female missionaries spend 18 months abroad. That leaves between five and six years for most of today’s young Mormon women to both attend missions and graduate college.
“Until then, it’s a bubble we are working through. But when these young people return, looking to restart school, we’ll be ready,” Buhler says. “We’ll talk again in 2019.”
(This article first appeared on USA Today College. Click here to read the original post.)
By Harrison Golden
USA Today College
April 7, 2014
Susan Madsen remembers how her six brothers each smiled upon returning from their two-year mission treks.
She grew up hearing them, at the family dinner table, describe the people they met and the poverty they saw on Mormon missions. These conversations left Madsen, then a teenager, longing to experience her own missionary trip, just as her brothers did at age 19.
But because of her gender, she had to wait until her 21st birthday.
“I just wanted to be like my brothers,” says Madsen, now a Utah Valley University professor of management who directs the Utah Women and Education Initiative. “They came back such changed people.”
Madsen eventually embarked on an 18-month mission to Tampa, Fla. when she turned 21.
Today, Mormon women must only wait until age 19 to go on such trips. (For men, 18 is the new age threshold.) The Church of Latter-day Saints changed its missionary age requirements in October 2012, hoping to make younger members more active.
Now 18 months since the new rules took effect, more Mormon women are flocking to missions rather than universities. About 23,000 women — compared to some 8,000 just beforehand — are currentlyshelving their education for Church-sanctioned trips. This surge has left colleges in Utah, a state where 62% of residents are Mormons, with 11% less female applicants.
“These numbers are no surprise,” says Utah higher education commissioner David Buhler. “It remains a big challenge we are working our way through.”
Those hoping to hand female Utahans college diplomas face a higher education gap than people in most states. More of the state’s women drop out of four-year programs than graduate from them, a trend largely ascribed to the popular Church’s emphasis on marriage and parenting. Among women in Utah, the average age of marriage is 24, while that of motherhood is 25.
“Many women feel you can either go to college, have a baby or go to work,” Madsen says. “But they don’t think you can do all.”
Economic hardship has spiked the number of multitasking Mormon women. Many of them work long shifts to fund their blooming families. Those familiar with the Church believe the rise in female missionaries will ultimately leave more women trained to handle pressure — and perhaps even graduate college.
“Missionary experience is an asset,” says Philip Barlow, a Mormon studies professor at Utah State University. “It builds a work ethic — better understanding of languages, poverty and religion — that can carry into the home, school and business worlds.”
Some years will pass before Utahans can study the longterm impact of missionary work among women under 21. The average college student takes four years to graduate, while most female missionaries spend 18 months abroad. That leaves between five and six years for most of today’s young Mormon women to both attend missions and graduate college.
“Until then, it’s a bubble we are working through. But when these young people return, looking to restart school, we’ll be ready,” Buhler says. “We’ll talk again in 2019.”
(This article first appeared on USA Today College. Click here to read the original post.)