One of the first studies entirely devoted to religious congregations of women in higher education in the United States today, this unique collection of papers by the Brookland Commission explores the present and future of women religious engaged in works of intellectual life: Who are they? What influences affect them? How do they envision religious life for themselves? What is the future of women religious in America? The Brookland Commission, eight women of different religious congregations, began in 1988 a discussion of these issues that culminated in 1992 in a national conference held in Washington. Complemented with a national survey of attitudes regarding intellectual life and social ministry conducted by the Commission, this work provides a compelling analysis and thought-provoking findings that will be of interest not only to women religious, but to the religious and education communities in their entirety.