The IOR project (Idea and reality underlying educational reforms of higher education) used women's life stories as case studies to help understand the reforms of higher education during an expansive, "rational" planning period. The project gathered data from 300 women who returned questionnaires. A central topic in the IOR-questionnaires was the so-called "life-line question" in which the women were asked to mark their education, working life, domestic work, childbirths, marriages, divorces and other important events in life on a time-line. This became an important starting-point for the third part of the study in which 30 women contributed their life-stories to the project. It was found that a conflict between productive and reproductive tasks dominated the life-stories of many women. Also, women's life patterns were similar in spite of different educational, social, and regional backgrounds. Most of the respondents had chosen typical "female professions," most of them worked part-time, only a few of them could be found in non-traditional female professions, and very few were in leadership positions. Education is viewed as a catalyst with a great potential for positive change. Women's life stories can provide a better understanding for educational planning and reform. (SM)