Women\'s Higher Education From 1920 to 1945

Women's Higher Education From 1920 To 1945

The female college students from 1920 to 1945 have had a lasting impact on women's education in the United States, which is not surprising since that generation of women was the first generation to attend colleges or universities in large groups. One of the most significant impacts is that they helped shift the face of higher education, so that women at colleges and universities are frequently in the majority and it is no longer seen as unusual for a woman to seek a higher education. However, achieving educational parity was in no way synonymous for achieving cultural parity. While women may have obtained degrees that would have enabled them to move into professional careers, that educational background did not match reality. Many employers were reluctant to hire women. Furthermore, even women who attended universities may have had attitudes that were steep in the past, and their eventual spouses may have had significant opposition to them working outside of the home (Faehmel, 2009). Therefore, these women were the first ones to really have to consider the career-life balance, though they were certainly not the first women to be the primary or sole wage earners for their families. In many ways, the cultural push-back against educated women created a generation of women that were determined to prove that they could have it all, and many of these women handled all of their prior domestic responsibilities in addition to handling any additional responsibilities linked to their careers. In addition, these women traditionally pursued liberal arts degrees and related careers, because careers such as social work or education were seen as aligning with the traditional feminine sphere. This distinction remains today, where women are overrepresented in the social science and underrepresented in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.

The choice to attend an all-women's college is based on a number of factors, conditions, and values. Factors that impact that choice include financial considerations, knowledge about women's colleges, and exposure to women's colleges. Some women entering college may be unaware that women's colleges are still an option or may have antiquated ideas about them. Moreover, many students may have to consider finances, and, because women's colleges are private schools, not state schools, for the average student they will be more expensive. A woman with adequate resources and prior exposure to the idea of a women's college, such as the child of an alumni, may be more likely to consider the school. One of the conditions that may impact a woman's choice to attend an all-woman college may be a desire to avoid males in school, whether because women tend to excel in all-female classroom environments, because of sexual orientation, or because of recovering victim status or the desire to avoid sexual victimization .

Finally, women who attend all women's colleges usually have a feminist value base. These women may find value in an all-female educational environment, and this value is substantiated through evidence: "Only 2% of female college graduates received degrees from all women's colleges in the U.S., but 20% of women in Congress attended women's colleges. It seems that even though these women didn't go to school with men, they're doing just fine in the post-college world" (Bullock, 2013).

The choice to attend a coeducational college is based on a number of factors, conditions, and values. First, women's colleges are frequently smaller and private, which means that they have limited admissions. Practically, it is simply not possible for all people seeking admission to women's colleges to get admission. As a result, women's colleges can be very selective in their admission process. One of the conditions that could impact a woman's choice not to attend an all-women's college may be the availability of a degree in a woman's chosen field. For example, women's colleges have not traditionally focused on STEM degrees, but may be very highly ranked for other fields. Furthermore, values may drive a woman's choice to attend a co-educational university. For many women, college is the time to find a mate or a partner, and rather than finding males to be a distraction, they can find partners to provide crucial emotional support during college (Wei, 2012).