Women
Colleges
This was where woman began to have a jump start on men. In higher education, there were not many places where woman could go to school with men until the mid or late-1800s. When these colleges began to open it was decided that someone should be brought in to help the female students adjust to their lives as college students. The first school in Michigan to have this was the University of Michigan in 1896. Studies showed that the problems that were had in coeducational colleges were not because of gender, but because of, “well administered Student personnel practices” (Daisher, 132). This is believed to be the effect of having a Dean of Women for the female students. Having a Dean of Men at the University of Michigan was not even considered until 1919 (Bentley Historical Library).
Article By: Melissa Winters
“The perception of many people during this period was that women were incapable and too emotional to receive formal education outside the home” (Weber, 44). Christy Weber was referring to the early and mid-1800s. Most people believed that a woman’s place was in the home, cooking and taking care of the children. What about the women without children or without a husband? The only job they were allowed to have was to be a primary school teacher or a librarian. Many women did not believe in this and they fought for their right to be educated. “Changing the pattern of women’s education was challenging and uneven, sometimes occurring one person or event at a time” (Weber 44). However, the change was made.
By the end of the 1800s, all of the effort and hard work woman such as Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, and Judith Sargent Murray could be seen (Weber, 20). “The proportion of women's colleges increased from 12 percent in 1870 to an all-time high of 20 percent in 1890” (Kilson, 936). As times changed and women were seen as people who deserved an education, schools such as Michigan State University, which was open to women in 1870, began to treat woman as equal students. Female advisers were brought in to help female students with their college life so that the president would not have to, these female advisers eventually became known as the Dean of Women (Daisher ,135).
Women in Education
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