Letters to the Editor
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Well, here is a different spin
Lots of people are trying to explain why women enter college at a greater rate than men, and yet do not succeed in professional life at nearly the same rate. I've heard this phenomenon blamed on everything from childbearing to discrimination to sunspots to religion.
How about throwing in this factor:
There some uncounted percentage of college women who enter the workforce with untreated or even undiagnosed PSTD from rape or sexual assault while attending university.
It has been noted that veterans with PTSD have challenges reentering private life. Some do just fine, but others spiral into substance abuse and family problems. Too many end up homeless because the symptoms are overwhelming.
Some of these women do fine. Some get treatment and others don't, but they muddle along and go on with their lives. But, like veterans, others start abusing drugs and alcohol. And others have chronic marital problems ... or even problems finding someone to marry. Some overeat. Some are re-victimized.
I'll bet you an entire dollar that lots of these women under-perform professionally. They may seem fine on the surface, but they don't have confidence, they lose their edge, they second guess themselves, or they just get overwhelmed by PTSD symptoms under pressure.
This is not merely a problem for the women involved ... as if that would not be tragic enough ... but for their employers, their friends, their communities, their churches, their health professionals, and God knows their husbands and children! Not when we are talking about the sheer numbers of people involved.
We, as a society, lose the best contributions they might give.