Studies Of The History Of Women's Higher Education In The United States

Women's Higher Education in the United States started in the 19^th century, and has been developing in the last two centuries. The history, present and future of women's entry into higher education have been integrally linked with economic and cultural factors that have shaped the American social life. Among these, the impact of industrialization, the significant decline in fertility rates, and the introduction of formal schooling for youth, have all contributed to the release of women from expected societal roles. For women more than for men, education evoked opposition, because it gave women an identity outside the family. While the utility of educating women gradually gained acceptance, anxiety over their possible abandonment of traditional roles endured. At every stage of women's progress, individual woman persisted in exploiting opportunities. The history of women's higher education in the United States reveals a dialectic between women's demands for education and the opposition they have encountered. Public controversy over women's academic training has surrounded each struggle for educational access. Yet advocacy for women's education grew, in large part because women's education proved advantageous to society. Education has profoundly changed the contours of women's lives. While the impact of women's education has had revolutionary implications for the whole society, educated women have still not achieved equal status with men either within or outside the sphere of education.This dissertation in seven parts intends to explore the significances of the unfinished revolution from the process of women's higher education in the United States. The Introduction will justify choice of this thesis topic, review the international and domestic literature, and describe the structure and methodology of the paper. Chapter One depicts the historical progress of women's higher education in the United States from the macro perspective. Chapters Two, Three, Four and Five attempts to gain insights into the major problems in the development of American women's higher education from micro perspectives. Specifically, Chapter Two discusses the relationship between coeducation and women's higher education; Chapter Three explores the link between the modernizing of liberal education and women's higher education; Chapter Four deals with the connection between black and native women and women's higher education; Chapter Five focuses on the uneasy association between feminism and women's higher education. The Conclusion summarizes the historical implications from the course of women's higher education, predicts the future of women's higher education in the U. S., looks into its related global issues and reflects on women's higher education in China.