1. A Journey in Women’s Education
Kimberly D. Banish
WST 2010:Introduction to Women’s Studies
“YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY”
2.
Education primarily for the wealthy
Few had formal education prior to 19th Century
Trades and professions learned through family or apprenticeships
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
3.
the Bible was often the only book read
Reading considered dangerous for lower class citizens
Illegal for slaves
EDUCATION AND LITERACY
4.
Debate over women speaking in public
What was appropriate for women to say and write
Women could preach but only to each other
Women could teach but only the thoughts of their husbands or minister
EDUCATION AND RELIGION
5.
Enlightenment theories suggested education was the vehicle for a stronger more adept society
Jean- Jacques Rousseau argued men and women could not be educated in the same way
Mary Wollstonecraft argued that a liberal society should include women as well as men
AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
6.
Changes in 1830s and 1840s
Founding of free public schools for boys and girls
Primarily in the Northeastern United States
Girls included in primary education
Girls mostly excluded from secondary education
Until after the Civil War
NEW OPPORTUNITIES ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
7.
First colleges – Harvard ( 1636) and William and Mary (1693) closed to women
1821 Troy Female Seminary
1832 Oberlin College opened its doors to men and women (whites and blacks)
NEW OPPORTUNITIES POST SECONDARY EDUCATION
8.
Wheaton college open in 1834- first real women’s college
Other followed
Mount Holyoke-1937
New England Female Medical College-1848
Philadelphia Women’s Medical College-1951
While only a small percentage of women attended, these intuitions were influential to women’s lives
WOMEN’S COLLEGES
9.
In the early 19th Century majority of educators were men
By the late 1880s (as much as 90% in some locations) majority were women
One-fifth of all New England women served as teachers at some point(Jones 1980,48)
LEADERSHIP ROLES IN EDUCATION
10.
Theories on proliferation of the women’s role as teacher
Cheaper labor
Women did not have families to support
Deserved less pay as they would quit jobs after marriage
Women accepted the lower pay
WOMEN AS EDUCATORS
11.
“Seven Sisters”
•
Mt. Holyoke (1837)
•
Vasser (1861)
•
Wellesley (1870)
•
Smith (1871)
•
Radcliffe (1879)
•
Bryn Mawr (1880)
•
Barnard (1889)
Bethune - Cookman (1904)
•
School for black students
SCHOOLS BY WOMEN FOR WOMEN
12.
Until WWII most school boards required married women to resign
Women were once forced to resign upon marriage and pregnancy
1964 Civil Rights Act would make these activities illegal
WOMEN AS EDUCATORS FAMILY LIFE
13.
Late 1800s saw a rise in clubs and organization to improve education
Suffrage groups increased
Women active in the ASSA ( American Social Science Association)
1870s saw the rise of “moral education” and “moral science” societies
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
14.
Home economics and domestic science
How to be a modern housewife
Advanced studies in nutrition, psychology, sociology biology and organic chemistry
A woman should still be able to leave here career if needed for family obligations.
“NEW” FIELDS IN WOMEN’S EDUCATION
15.
Edward Clark theorized women who became too educated a woman’s brain would rob her womb - creating a poor pregnancy
The 1950s women would fight for more access to universities and training in male dominated fields
In the 1980s men and women saw equal numbers in bachelors and masters degrees earned.
QUEST FOR POST SECONDARY EDUCATION
16.
1970s and forward saw growth in women's education
Advocacy groups, legislative changes, cultural values
Education Amendments Act (1972)
Women’s Educational Equity ACT(1974)
IMPROVEMENT THROUGH CHANGE
17.
Minimum education standards may not prepare youth for job market
Research shows – for a woman to earn the same amount as a man, she needs more education than a man.(Sapiro,150)
Current legislation requires school attendance from age five or six to 16
Students are not required by law to complete high school
Dropout rates vary based on gender and race
IS IT ENOUGH?
18.
Differences in the class room can appear in different ways
Amount of attention teachers pay
Type of attention
Degree teaching method reaches boys vs. girls
Degree subjects studied challenge boys and girls
Teachers’ gender based behaviors toward students are usually not conscious or deliberate
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATION
19.
Some traditions uphold gender segregation
Reformers of the 19th century advocated mix-sexed schools
Co-education was the new enlightened methodology
Gave opposite sex an opportunity to learn about one another
SEGREGATION
20.
Most schools segregated for vocational purposes
Girls – cooking and sewing
Boys- metal, wood working and mechanical drawing
Sex education often still segregated
SEGREGATION AND EDUCATION
21.
Still unexplained differences in salaries
Minorities earning less than white counterparts
Student evaluations are gender based
Male evaluations show more bias than females(Sapiro,165)
Women more likely than men to pick a women as their “best” professor ( Sapiro,165)
GENDER AND RACE
22.
The higher the degree the lower in woman’s share
The higher the teaching position, the lower in woman’s share
Men hold higher percentages of educational governance
WOMEN AS EDUCATORS
23.
More women educators feel more stress over not having more personal time
Women also face more pressure to help balance family and work
Women hold less faculty positions than men
EQUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
24.
Gender inequalities (while subtle) still exist in the class room.
Student evaluations are confidential
Students not aware of how they are evaluated
Unconscious sex discrimination in college and university prevalent in faculty promotion process
THE GREAT GENDER DIVIDE
25.
Education for women was historically about making them better wives or mothers
1990s controversy over “alternative lifestyle” education in the class room and its impact on traditional gender roles
Current research shows a woman’s education do not return the same monetary return as men
Well-educated women do face a glass ceiling (Duncan 1996)
Women’s education still considered a special topic
WOMEN’S EDUCATION
