Running head: HISTORY OF WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Tracing the Historical Changes that Affected Women in Higher Education

Leisha R. Cavallaro

1 Paradise Cove Statesboro, GA 30458

A Historical Monograph in Essay Form Submitted to: Dr. D. W. Calhoun of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for EDLD 7432 01F

FALL 2011 Saturday, November 26, 2011 Statesboro, Georgia

HISTORY OF WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Tracing the Historical Changes that Affected Women in Higher Education This paper will focus on women in higher education. Currently there are still various struggles that women encounter within higher education; however, I find it imminent that we understand the progression of women involvement and how to avoid allowing this to happen to another group. Through research I will analyze the growth of women enrolled in institutions. I will determine the various reasons for women enrollment especially in relation to societal change, events, and viewpoints. I will begin this monograph in the time when women werent admitted to colleges and follow the changes in female education up until present day where women dominate the post-secondary attendance rates. The first college, Harvard, opened in 1636; however, women did not begin to be admitted to colleges until about 200 years later at Oberlin in Ohio in 1833. A lot of this is based on tradition and elements that trickled through from primary education. During the Colonial Era most of the education system was based of European traditions which focused on gender specific dame schools (The History of Women and Education, 2007). Education was based on race, class, and location and the purpose of educating women was to allow them to become skilled housewives teaching them to perform household chores (Eisenmann, 1997). This was what men looked for in women, in turn highly educated women were not sought after by the opposite sex. These viewpoints limited the desire and ability for women to get any form of academic education. These viewpoints slowly began to change, starting with the Revolutionary War. During this period came a shift in social patterns and the image of Republican Motherhood. Due to many of the men being at war there became a focus on independence and self-reliance for people, especially women. There was a push to educate women, though not necessarily for the right

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reasons. Republican Motherhood encouraged women to educate themselves not for personal benefit, but rather in order to properly teach their children (especially male children) how to be proper citizens. This is expressed further in the extreme opposition of women in politics at the same time (The History of Women and Education, 2007). Judith Sargent Murray opposed the focus on education solely for societal benefits. She felt that women need to educate themselves for personal benefit and intellect. She felt that household chores offered no intellectual stimulation and that women had more intellectual ability than given credit for. She proposed the idea that natural abilities to learn were imposed upon genders as they were raised, where boys were forced to learn and women neglected (Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820), 2007). Murrays notion here brings up some important societal impositions of gender roles and expectations that affected gender education not solely important events. Women were expected to be good housewives and provide specific abilities and house made materials for their families. Many marriages were arranged or chosen based on abilities in the earlier period. Slowly after the Revolutionary War many marriages began to focus on romance and companionship which allotted more freedom for women to advance their intellect in academics. With the end of British rule the American education system began to diverge from European traditions in education and gender roles. This deviation for European traditions fostered the continued development and advancement of women in education, creating new American traditions and viewpoints. The Industrial Revolution also posed a large impact on women in higher education. The production line created the ability for mass production and reduced the necessity for handmade items. (The History of Women and Education, 2007) With less need for these homemade items

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middle class women and men had more free time to dedicate to education. This also began to slightly alter the view of womens role in society as they were no longer needed for some of their previously notioned duties as a wife and mother. At the same time print materials became more and more abundant with the assembly line and the press. The increased production and use of print materials made functioning while being illiterate more and more difficult. In turn this encouraged more women to obtain an education for their personal benefit rather than because society needed them to. Religion also helped jumpstart and fuel the education of women. Beginning in 1803 with the Sunday School movement that insisted on the teaching of reading, writing, and religion and stretching through to institutions. Many churches donated land and money to fund religiously affiliated colleges, especially the Catholic Church (Madigan, 2009). These religious movements helped initiate the creation of academies or seminaries in the early and mid. These were specialized secondary schools for specific genders. For women they were less focused on academics but they did provide more education than the typical classes that were solely focused on sewing, knitting, etc. The vast amount of seminaries encouraged the opening of the first official college for women, the Georgia Female College opened in 1836. Soon after and even today there were a number of only female colleges opened to encourage and increase women in higher education; currently there are 53 womens colleges in the US. The secondary school system was booming through the mid to late 1800s and through the 20th century. The increased federal funding and Morrill Land Grants of 1862 and1890 created new funds, lands, and missions for universities and colleges (Cohen, 2010, p. 115-119). The lands and funds from these grants allotted an exponential grown in higher education and institutions as a whole. The increased amount of colleges and universities led to an extreme

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deficit of teachers, consider at the time they only hired males. Soon the need became too high and males refused to choose education as a career figuring they now had an education and can make more money in other professions, so they began to hire women as teachers (Thelin, 2004, p. 142-145). The women received one-third of their male counterparts salary, but it was a giant leap involving women in higher education. Now there were female role models for other women to encourage them to enter college as well as someone that female students could relate to and learn from amid discrimination based on sex. On that note, there were few schools in the early to mid-1800s that had or encouraged coeducation. In 1848 there was a conference in Seneca Falls where education leaders imposed the requirement of coeducation in public institutions (Thelin, 2004, p. 98). By 1860 most primary and secondary public schools were coeducational, however, many courses were segregated and there were restrictions on what courses women could take. This period of time fell within the Victorian Era, which had a strong emphasis on differences in intellect and emotions between men and women; which was a large reason for the restrictions on courses and segregation in coeducational universities and colleges. If the courses did not fit the societal gender role or was not thought appropriate for women to learn about then they were restricted from those courses. The Civil War and its outcomes indirectly impacted women in higher education. This war represented the changing opinions and viewpoints of society, specifically focused on African Americans (Cohen, 2010, p. 107). Despite the war not being directly focused on women, it represented the willingness of a vast amount of Americans that had begun to accept and understand that differences did not mean someone was unequal. On top of the societal changes this war created another opportunity for women to become more independent from men. It allowed them to obtain a furthered education and even jobs while the men were at war.

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The early 20th century was a time of struggle for women in higher education with low wages, strict rules, and a seeming glass ceiling of progression. There were a multitude of policies for women working in education; an exceedingly imposing one was the marriage bars. This required that primary and secondary institutions fired or did not hire married women. In addition to the obvious restrictions this also implanted more gender based expectations of the womens place being at home, and the misfit of them in the educational setting. The steaming response of society began to show its face beginning indirectly with the Civil Rights Acts. These acts were intended to end discrimination based on race, color, or origin. Though it did not specifically state gender it fumed the womens rights movement which had hit a wall after the womens suffrage movement in 1920. The slow and steady change in expectations of women and limiting gender roles now started sky rocketing. World War II provided more opportunities for women to obtain an education, without their attendance and tuition many schools would have went under. This period of time helped convince society that women were capable of learning and being independent as a student and an individual. At the end of World War II came the G.I. Bill, providing an extensive amount of federal aid for veterans to get back on track in American society, including education (Cohen, 2010, p. 207). Though many of these veterans were men, there were a multitude of women veterans who also could and did take advantage of these opportunities. Despite the aids for female veterans education there was a sharp increase in male attendance which generally diminished the female enrollment and slightly set back the progression in female education for a few years. Toward the mid to late 1900s many strides were made in reigniting and boosting women in higher education. In 1941 the marriage bars were ended which showed the ever-changing

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societal viewpoint of women. One of the most potent pieces of legislation happened in 1972, Title IX. This law states that No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance (Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972, 2000). This law specifically addressed the issue of equality of women in education and has had immense impacts since its implementation. In 1974 the Womens Educational Equity Act by Congress further enforced equality of women in the educational setting (Madigan, 2009). Both pieces of legislation faced harsh retorts from some Americans, however, it set the stage for the rest of the 20th century; asserting women as equals with men. These movements were so strong that by 1981 women were the majority of undergraduates in secondary education institutions. Though women have moved mountains in their advancement in higher education there are still some issues today. For instance, teacher rates are not even close to proportionate to higher education attendance rates (Lindsay, 1999, p. 189). There is still sex discrimination, which is evident in the hiring processes. Another example is the underrepresentation of women in degrees involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Morganson, Jones, & Major, 2010, p. 169). A possible explanation of these deficits could be expectations and encouragement of society for women to be involved in those subjects. Despite these downfalls, I think women in higher education are still progressing and will soon be able to overcome the sex discrimination as well as change societal viewpoints and expectations. On the other hand, women have become dominant in higher education and it is important to not over compensate and then neglect other groups such as men. I find it interesting that there are 53 only female colleges yet only 3 all male colleges in the United States. I appreciate the

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effort and encouragement of women to be involved in higher education, however, it is expected that women will dominate enrollment rates with 60% enrollment by 2016 (Wells, Seifert, Padgett, Park, & Umbach, 2011, p. 1). Yes, there are still issues previously stated with sex discrimination, but it is important to learn from the struggles overcome by women in education and not allow them to become obstacles to other groups. Education professions should aim for equality in all aspects from enrollment, to specialties and employment. Educating themselves on the differences between various groups can help educators better serve their population (Wells, Seifert, Padgett, Park, & Umbach, 2011). One needs to also be aware of current events and societal views that can alter the attendance and performance of certain groups of students. If anything, this analysis of women in higher education has shown that events and mindsets of the world around us can greatly impact the education system.

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References Eisenmann, L. (1997). Reconsidering a classic: Assessing the history of womens higher education a dozen years after barbara solomon. Harvard Educational Review, 67(4), 689717. Retrieved from http://ejournals.ebsco.com/Direct.asp?AccessToken=9IIQ4II8XKZ1E9J5QMJEMUUZ94 9X8MJDM&Show=Object Cohen, A. M. (2010). The shaping of American higher education (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Digest of education statistics. (2006). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_258.asp Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820). (2007). National Womens History Museum. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http://www.nwhm.org/educationresources/biography/biographies/judith-sargent-murray/ Lindsay, B. (1999). Women chief executives and their approaches towards equity in american universities. Comparative Education, 35(2), 187-199. doi:10.1080/03050069927964 Madigan, J. (2009). The education of girls and women in the united states: A historical perspective. Advances in Gender and Education 1. 11-13. Retrieved from http://www.mcrcad.org/Web_Madigan.pdf Morganson, V. J., Jones, M. P., & Major, D. A. (2010). Understanding women's underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: The role of social coping. Career Development Quarterly, 59(2), 169-179. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=01446834-3ed8-46e6-a925bb870d401587%40sessionmgr15&vid=3&hid=9

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Nidiffer, J. (2007). When i went to college is now considered history! American women's participation in higher education in the twentieth century. History Of Education Quarterly, 47(3), 377-388. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5959.2007.00106.x Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972. (2000). Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/cor/coord/titleixstat.php The History of Women and Education. (2007). National Womens History Museum. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http://www.nwhm.org/onlineexhibits/education/Introduction.html Thelin, J. R. (2004). A history of american higher education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press Wells, R. S., Seifert, T. A., Padgett, R. D., Park, S., & Umbach, P. D. (2011). Why do more women than men want to earn a four-year degree? Exploring the effects of gender, social origin, and social capital on educational expectations. Journal of Higher Education, 82(1), 1-32. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=217e9219-3806-4d5e-80be7dcf3770a771%40sessionmgr14&vid=3&hid=9