you’ve come a long way, baby
DESCRIPTION
WST-2010TRANSCRIPT
A Journey in Women’s Education Kimberly D. Banish WST 2010:Introduction to Women’s Studies
“YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY”
Education primarily for the wealthy Few had formal education prior to 19th Century Trades and professions learned through family or
apprenticeships
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
the Bible was often the only book read Reading considered dangerous for lower class citizens I l legal for slaves
EDUCATION AND LITERACY
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
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
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
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
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
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-fif th of all New England women served as teachers at
some point(Jones 1980,48)
LEADERSHIP ROLES IN EDUCATION
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
“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
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 i l legal
WOMEN AS EDUCATORS FAMILY LIFE
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
Home economics and domestic science How to be a modern housewife Advanced studies in nutrition, psychology, sociology biology
and organic chemistry A woman should stil l be able to leave here career if needed
for family obligations.
“NEW” FIELDS IN WOMEN’S EDUCATION
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
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
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?
Differences in the class room can appear in dif ferent 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
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
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
Still unexplained dif ferences 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
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
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
Gender inequalities (while subtle) stil l 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
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