Women in Higher Education
Describe ways in which female college students in the era from 1920 to 1945 influence the present generation of female college students.
It would not be unreasonable to refer to women in the 1920 -- 1930 window of time in American history as pathfinders. Professor Mary McComb explains that in 1930 women workers and students "were perceived as larger threats" than in previous era; indeed, the "new women" in the 1930s received "a fair share of scorn" by pursuing higher education and entering the workforce in substantial numbers (McComb, 2006). But women did not back down. By competing with men for jobs, the female college student of the 1930s was "more suspect…" then her predecessors, and yet she marched forward with dreams and goals that were part of the "American Dream" (McComb, 2006).
In the 1930s women made up about 50% of the American workforce, McComb explains on page 21. By 1930, 96% of stenographers were female (up from 5% in 1870), having received a business education and having forged ahead with their own careers. The women of this generation certainly paved the way for women in education today.
Meanwhile, in 1945, following World War II, the large public coeducational institutions were admitting more women, and they "…created programs that served the higher educational needs of women" (O'Connor, 2010). Women took advantage of these opportunities as coeducational institutions "…became more and more common throughout the country," and this also opened the door for African-American females, O'Connor explains. The substantial number of women who attended colleges during that period -- and the programs that were developed due to the large number of women applying to attend colleges -- has certainly had an influence on today's female student
Analyze the factors, conditions, and values influencing present-day women to enroll in women's colleges.
Essayist Lisa Wolf-Wendel explains that in coeducational settings, women do not "necessarily" have the same positive experiences that men do (Wolf-Wendel, 2012)....
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