Gilligan worked closely with Kohlberg at Harvard, and they co-authored an article which reported on the use of his theory in analyzing adolescent development.(Kohlberg, and Gilligan, 1971,pp. 1051-1086). But the more she used Kohlberg’s criteria to judge moral sophistication, the more she became uncomfortable with the way women are categorized in his model of development. According to his method of analysis, the average young adult female scores a full stage lower than her male counterpart.
Gilligan notes that men respond decisively to Heinz-type dilemmas, using set prescriptions or formulas to line up each person’s rights. It’s like a math problem to be solved. The story contains enough information for the listener to plug in the variables and solve the equation to get the "right" answer (Stage 4).