Complete Dissertaton - Final for Print with new editing - Dallas ...

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increased over the years, the leadership of DTS recognized the change in the student
population and eventually created a part-time position, the Advisor for Women Students.
She was hired specifically to support, train, encourage, mentor, counsel, and create
programs which address the issues and needs of the women students. This D.Min. study
is the first of its kind to seek to identify and to evaluate the unique and specific personal
needs, issues, and struggles of the women attending Dallas Seminary.
Methodology
This study was based on a descriptive survey (Appendix B) of the female
students enrolled at Dallas Seminary in the spring 2008 semester to identify the specific
personal needs and issues they struggle or deal with as women seminarians. The research
question for this study asked, “What are the personal issues and needs of the Dallas
Theological Seminary Twenty-first Century female students?” The survey was mailed to
each woman student and included a detailed, fifty-nine question inventory used to
discover the women students’ personal needs and issues and to ascertain the degree to
which they struggle personally in these areas. The DTS Office of the Registrar provided
the original list and mailing labels. A total of 567 women students received surveys in
January 2008 and 296 valid surveys were returned by March 1, 2008. An analysis of the
data informed the writing of this dissertation.
Overall Results
Demographic Summary
The response to the survey reflects the personal needs and issues of 52% of
the female students attending DTS in the spring of 2008. These 296 respondents represent
a broad age range from 20 to over 70 with the majority of the women currently in their
20s to 40s (80%). The remaining 20% of respondents represent women students 50 or
older. The single largest group of respondents fall into the 20-29 age range (47%). The
respondents also have an almost equal representation of those who are single (49%) and