Women education essay

The female faculties in colleges faced social constraints and were limited since they were small especially in the southern region of America where the “the cult of womanhood” was almost religiously upheld. Society’s expectation for women to be homemakers and caretakers left little opportunity for women to pursue personal growth and professional development (Nash 122). Even with later advancements as women became part of the workforce in factories and teaching, their usefulness was not equated to professionalism. As a result of this most women could only uptake courses useful in their personal life such as home economics. Notably, in the precolonial period, the only role women were expected to fulfill in the society was to be useful wives and mothers. Higher education was strictly restricted to men only, and it was until the year 1836 that the first bunch of women were awarded baccalaureate degrees at the Georgia Female College.

Oberlin College would, later on, be the first college to offer a bachelor’s degree to both males and females who were taking the same curriculum. Until the 19th century, there was little attention accorded to women in regards to education as there was a prevalent belief they had little to no use of advanced education since there was little opportunity for them to use anything beyond basic training. This could later be challenged by the efforts of reformists such as Catherine Beecher, Mary Lyon and Emma Willard who propagated the message that women were well suited in influencing young children and it was well suited for them to harness their natural expertise in school teaching. The reformists set to build colleges and seminaries that explicitly focused on educating women, and as a result of this, the typical school reformers were successful in making teaching a woman’s profession by the end of the nineteenth century.

They had had this fear continuously among the population on race extermination, and one of the perceived solutions to the threat was for them was to increase in population. As a result of this notion, it could prove quite a challenge in having more opportunity for women gaining access to education. Through efforts of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and the president of Bryn Mawr College, Dr. Clarke's assumptions were proved to be entirely wrong through the new studies and evidence they provided to thwart the beliefs. The other challenge was the preconceived notion that women had different needs for education and as such, they were to be segregated with a specialized curriculum. The status of women got much-needed attention through improved access to higher education and through initiatives to revise and modify the sexist language in curriculum materials.

Our current understanding of women’s education bears a significant influence from the historical legacies, and it is essential that we recognize the potential impact of longstanding misperceptions and expectations. As the number of educated women rose, the expectations have now become more significant and more liberating. The goals of education in today’s modern world are entirely different from that of the 1800s and going to college is now an accepted part of life. Today’s standards may call for women to still juggle their many responsibilities of being a mother, wife and career person at the same time and this has made the female experience to be much broader overall. " Journal Of Policy History, vol 27, no. 01, 2014, pp.  Cambridge University Press (CUP), doi:10.