A Study On Women’s Higher Education Of The United States:1837-2000

Women’s higher education of the United States began in the early19th century, whichhas been nearly200years hitherto, full of sinuosity and achievement. From the first time theOberlin College recruits female students to the actual situation that female students catch upwith the male at nearly every step of higher education, there is a quantitative change ofWomen’s higher education of the United States; from focusing on enrollment to the equalityof educational procedure and outcome, there is a qualitative change of developmental logos;from satisfying the needs of the mainstream group to the minority and margin group, Women’s higher education becomes more multiplex. Running back over this history, we can find thatit is a story about women who fight for and vindicate their own rights. As a historicaldisadvantaged minority, women are especially influenced by factors, such as traditionalgender culture, women’s self-awareness, public policy, social background, the developmentof higher education and etc. With the spread of gender-equality consciousness and the laws ofanti-sexual discrimination in educational filed in the end of the20th century, there are lots ofchanges in American higher education, for example, the breaking down of the limits ofgender-based differences in major/subject, the forming of female-friendly environment inclassroom and on campus. Besides, women’s studies has become an important part of themulti-cultural curriculum revolution on American campus. However under the influence ofmajor choice and the “glass-ceiling effect”, the educated American women still couldn’tenjoy the full equal status as men. The relationship between higher education and women’seconomic and social advancement remains alienated.According to the chronological order，this dissertation narrates and evaluates the historyof Women’s higher education in the United States under the perspective of Feminist, usingthe methods of gender analysis, documents analysis, charts, comparative analysis etc. It focuson the historical accomplishment and experience of American women’s history, and tries togive some proposals on Chinese women’s higher education.This dissertation is divided into three parts: Introduction; the principal part which consists of four chapters; and the Conclusion. In each chapter of the principal part, it bothoutlines the history of American women’s higher education from the macro-level, andanalyses the contributing factors on the micro-level. Accounting detailedly, Chapter1discusses the women’s Academy and the origin of American women’s higher education; theforming of the mode of American women’s higher education: the coexistence of single-sexcollege, the coordinate and the coeducation; and taking Catherine Beecher as the example toexplore the thought of women’s higher education in the early times. Chapter2relates to theperiod between the Great Depress and the mid-1960s, expatiating the recession of women’shigher education, and find out the reason why it came forth. At the end of this chapter, there isa discussion about how the public policy may effect on women’s higher education, taking theG. I. Bill of1944as example. Chapter3relates to the period of Contemporary Women’sRight Movement to the late1970s, focusing on the fast and the overall resuscitation ofAmerican women’s higher education, especially the great development of coeducationalhigher education, and the federal policy of anti-sex discrimination in higher education.Chapter4relates to the period of early1980s to2000, under the context of female caught upwith male in enrollment comprehensive, it discussed the "new gender gap" on Americancampus and its challenge for women. The part of Conclusion is based on the former part ofthis dissertation, focusing on the principle factor which effect on American women seek forhigher education. Combining with the situation of Chinese women’s higher education, it triesto give some proposals.