Number Of Women That Have Enrolled

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The study on the trends of higher education in women was studied trough the analysis of researches carried out through the century by various scholars. This enable us to find out how women first began to show interest in higher education and also the struggles they had to go through so as to reach where they are now. An analysis of these researches will also enable us to find out if there have been any inconsistencies in the development and adaptation of the idea of higher education among the women. Factors that affect the enrollment of women in the higher education sector such as race, economic ability and traditional values will be explored, and they will help to shed light on the situation on the ground.

This study will help us to understand higher education in women better. The history of the struggle by the women so that they can be in attendance in colleges will highlight the loopholes in the previous mindsets that believed women should not be educated. It will also help to convince more women to enroll for these programs because of the numerous advantages that are there to be offered. The struggles that women go through to ensure that they attain a high level of education including juggling with family work will also be highlighted, and this will go a long way into understanding the passion they have to better their lives. Women education is of a huge benefit to the economy of a country and also to the education sector as a whole. When women enroll in the higher education institutions they are able to gain knowledge and skills that will prove beneficial to the the country's economy as they contribute to its growth. To the education sector, the women provide the minds that are essential to educate the children of the country in high schools and colleges. This way they are able to bring up a generation of learned individuals who would even surpass their quest for knowledge.

Methodology

The research done is based on the analysis of papers that have been written by scholars that have exploited this topic before. This type of analysis is appropriate for this research because it provides a lot of information that makes it possible to summarize an intensive topic such as this one. Gathering of information is also easy because it is easy to get it and also it is possible to know what the author was thinking about this particular topic. An analysis paper provides an extensive study of the topic on the higher education of women through out the 20th century. This is because this topic is of high importance, so many scholars have tackled it.

An analysis paper is important in highlighting the various advantages and weaknesses of a particular topic. For instance, in this topic it was easy to point out all the advantages that women who have pursued higher education has over those that haven’t enrolled for it. It is also easy to see the weaknesses of a particular topic due to the results of the research. It is also easy to get resources to support the information being revealed in an analysis paper because the issues have been tackled before. This type of analysis also brings to the fore front a good research paper because it combines the best of many researches that have been carried out before. It is also easy to pin point areas that have been neglected. This paper was based on books and articles that have been written by people who deeply researched on the topic. One major source of the information is the book written by Barbara Miller Solomon called In the Company of Educated Women, A History of Women in Higher Education. This book provided much of the information in this paper as it is wide in its coverage of the education issue. Others were articles, Impact of Historical Expectations on Women’s Higher Education by Linda Eisenmann. Surveys done in states such as Utah were also included and statistics borrowed from the National Center for Education Statistics.

The history of women and higher education goes back to the early nineteenth century. During this time, women were not allowed to pursue any form of higher education as explained by Barbara Miller in her book. The situation was worse for black women who were forbidden to undertake any form of education (Ihle, 1992). Their duty was to work in the farms and houses as slaves. The situation became better as some of their masters were enlightened and allowed the women to be taught how to read and write. When the women were allowed to further their education, they were only allowed to do some formal training in sectors pertaining to home economics since they spent most of their time at home. It was seen that women had no use for education because their role was to stay at home and take care of the children. It was also at this time that the women were considered to be the property of men and could therefore not decide anything on their own. The men would go out and provide for them while the women would benefit from all the toiling that the man had done. The economy of the country at that time did not also favor the education of women. The nation was predominantly an agricultural state and therefore there wasn’t much need for the population to be really educated (Lucas, 1994). When the industrial revolution and modernization took over the world, there was a need to have more educated individuals to run things and this was when going to school became important to the population. The schools however were only meant for boys and feeling left out and being convinced that they had something to offer, the women became vocal on their need to improve their education further than just the basics.

In the late nineteenth century, the women initiated movements that were aimed at enlightening the population on the essentials of women education. Seminars were held, and much advocacy was done to give women and girls an opportunity to pursue higher learning. This was not easy as the women were met with much resistance in a male dominated world. Other women who were convinced that higher education was not a right for women did not help with furthering the agenda. There were people in influential places that were radical in their cause to ensure women did not get a place in the institutions of higher learning, and this slowed down the cause further. All this negativity did not deter the women as they continued to push forward for this right. They argued that it was necessary for a woman to be educated so as to be able to nurture and raise educated children. The woman was in direct contact with the children especially the male children who were considered worthy of education at that time. For these children to turn out alright, the woman had to be educated so that she could be able to influence their decisions especially those that were related to academics.

This argument seemed to win the population over since they were very concerned with the education of their sons. Small colleges that were primarily involved with training women as teachers were opened across the country. These women would then go ahead and train other women on the ways of being of influence in their children’s education. Teaching then became a popular career choice among women of that time. The first major breakthrough in the quest for higher learning by women came in the form of Ohio Oberlin College which was the first college to be opened to women in 1834. This college also opened their doors to black women so that they can also get a chance to be educated (Wagner, 2009). Many other colleges in the Ohio area were predominantly white, so this college was a great milestone in the history of black women education. Although the women were excited by the fact that they could afford to attend college, they still faced discrimination as they were only allowed to pursue fields that were related to home economics. They were yet to shake the stereotype of being the ones who take care of the home.

After much activism by the women who were beneficiaries of the first small scale colleges that had sprung up in the years that followed, many other colleges around the country were able to open their doors to women. There was however some disparities in their education. These colleges were segregated meaning that the women were taught in sections made specifically for them (Fennema and Ayer, 1984). Their education was considered levels lower than that of men. They were also not given opportunities to pursue courses of their choice. The more technical and demanding courses were set aside for men while the women did the easier ones that did not require a lot of time and effort. There were very many debates as to why women were only allowed to study things that pertained to the home. Some argued that the women had inferior brains and therefore could not handle the magnitude and demands of courses such as medicine, engineering and also computing. This was however disputed as we can see today many women have taken up the jobs. There were also inconclusive researches that argued that further learning in women interfered with their reproductive women. Reports indicated that women who joined universities put much more time and effort in their education and forgot about their traditional roles such as having children and getting married (Cott, 1992). These college women were less likely to have children. This argument could be proved to extent because during this time, many women chose their career over their family life, and so many of them went unmarried and without children. The issue about education affecting their reproductive health was later disputed because it was found out that the sports provided in the colleges worked to make the women fit and generally improving their health including their reproductive health (Freeman, 1975).

These opportunities that were presented to the women empowered them to be more vocal in their demands for equal treatment and recognition. It was also during this time that they advocated for their rights. Through their education and better understanding of how things run in the country, they were able to obtain suffrage and got the opportunity to choose their own leaders (Lansford, 2008). The educated women in the society began small movements in their communities that sought to have them vote at the county levels. The activism began to bear fruit as it became a national movement and the law was changed to have them vote at the national level. This political empowerment also meant that they could have their own vying for political office and if they won the elections they could fight for their rights at the highest level in the congress and enact laws that would set them free.

Through out the mid twentieth century many more women continued to enroll in colleges and universities that could accommodate them. The number of women that now attended college was almost equal to that of men although segregation was still being experienced. There was no co-education of the two sexes. The women were still pursuing minor courses in colleges and ended up doing desk jobs in companies. Those who took up science courses also ended up teaching home economics because their education was considered much inferior to that of men due to the segregation. This however changed during the Second World War as many opportunities arose for women to be able to undertake research in science fields even though it was under the supervision of their male counterparts (Rossiter, 1995). The world war also meant that many men would enroll for the army to fight for the country. The positions that they occupied were left open for women to fill. This helped the women to make use of what they had learnt in their time in college. By the time the war was over, there had been a great improvement in careers that women had taken up especially in the scientific fields that require research.

Black women higher education had many obstacles as compared to the white population. They had to deal with the idea that they were black. They faced racism and also had to suffer segregation of their own as they were not allowed in some of the colleges in the country (James & Farmer, 1993). Colleges that were meant for black students only were built in some areas so as to allow women to receive an education. These colleges were also considered to provide an inferior type of education as compared to the white colleges. It was not until the civil rights movement days that the students were allowed to attend colleges meant for whites. This however did not help to improve their education as they still faced racism and this affected their classroom output. James and Farmer, 1993 also go ahead to explain that women in colleges that were set aside for the black population seemed to have a more stable environment and therefore were said to perform better.

The biggest breakthrough in the struggle for the higher education of women came in 1972 when a piece of legislation concerning the equal opportunities presented to men and women was passed by congress. These laws called Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 abolished all forms of segregation and provided the women with all the necessary opportunities that were once only available to the males. All public education fields were now required to enroll females in their mainstream wings, and this made the women finally get one thing that they had desired for a long time. They were able to pursue any course they wanted without having the risk of being declared redundant because of the quality of their education (Carpenter & Acosta, 2005).

As a consequence of this law, there was a great increase in the number of women that enrolled for colleges in the United States. By the1980s, the number of women in colleges and universities had far surpassed the number of men. This was also made possible by the fact that there was plenty of money in circulaton for them to pay for their tuition fees. To this day, the number of men and women who have at least a degree is the same. This shows the effort that women have put in to be able to be on the same page as the men. When it comes to the masters, women are more likely to go for this than the men. This is according to the National Center for Education Statistics this therefore makes women the leading pack when it comes to having a Masters degree. There are however many more men than women that are pursuing their PhDs.

With regards to courses that are pursued by the two sexes, women are still more likely to pursue things like business, law, social sciences and sciences as compared to the more technical fields. They leave fields such as engineering, computing, manufacturing and construction to the men. According to West and Curtis in their study in 2006 women are still not being given positions of influence in the society even after pursuing higher education. Very few women have broken through certain fields to become influential. They are still, not on an equal footing with the men. Men are still being paid more and they also get considered first for highly influential jobs than the women.

Higher education is very important in everyday life of a woman. Women who have opted to pursue higher education have many advantages over those that decide not to. One of the major benefits of higher education is empowerment. These women are exposed to various ideologies in life, and they are able to make informed choices and decisions due to their increased knowledge and intellect. They are able to rise from the things that define them and are making a life for them based on what they believe in. Higher education enables women to earn more money than what they would have earned had they stopped at the high school level. This gives them an opportunity to escape a life of poverty and live life where they can get what they want when they want it. Higher incomes also enable them to provide better lives for their children. They can afford to pay for their school fees and even send them to the best institutions in the country.

Educated women are better parents to their children. They are more involved in their children’s lives especially when it comes to matters to do with their education. They are actively involved in advising their children to o the right things when it comes to their academic aspirations. They also influence them positively to further their education just by the mere fact that they pursued further education. These women also lead a healthier lifestyle, as opposed to their uneducated counterparts. With the money they get from their income, they are able to get good health insurance and therefore ensure that they are well treated in case they fall sick. The health insurance is also able to cover their families and thus the whole household is taken care of. Due to their job security, the women are less stressed about employment issues. They have a low risk of unemployment and also are well prepared financially in case of emergencies. This makes them less susceptible to risky behavior that is as a result of unemployment such as drug and alcohol abuse. These women avoid such lifestyles and live a healthy whole life.

Higher education opens a world of opportunities to women. They are able to get more high flying jobs and also to compete on the same level as their male counterparts. The education enables them to penetrate fields that were initially reserved for men. It also helps to increase their self esteem and self worth. They feel like equals to men and therefore are able to do so much more in terms of growing their careers.

Higher education also has its negative impact on women. One of the major impacts is that on marriage. It has been observed that women who are actively involved in higher education get married later in life (Mason and Goulden, 2002). This was one of the main reasons why women were discouraged from pursuing higher education earlier in the twentieth century. Society felt like, and still feels like, when women concentrate on their studies they neglect their family life and some of them end up completely neglecting the issue of marriage. The traditional roles of the woman are still being considered as important even in the modern day society. When they are neglected the people shun the woman and view her as an outcast and someone who doesn’t want to follow the set rules that should be followed by any other normal woman. Pursuing higher education is particularly demanding on married women and also those who have children. If these women do not plan their time well, they end up having strained relationships with their husbands and children. These women experience time constrains as they try to juggle between education, work and taking care of a family.

The number of women that are currently enrolling in higher education programs is not as high as it was in the twentieth century. There are some women who opt out of educating themselves. This is according to a study conducted in Utah on women and their take on higher education in 2011. One of the major contributors of this decision is the economic burden that comes with signing up for school. In the recent years, higher education has become expensive to the modern day woman. Payment of the tuition fees cannot be done without incurring large amounts of student loans that they are left to pay for many years after they finish school and therefore not enjoy there work life. There is also the issue of unemployment. It is no longer certain to have a job after graduating from college or a university. With no job and an income, it becomes hard for the woman to be able to repay the student loans. When these women consider all these factors they choose to be content with the level of education that they have acquired which doesn’t include higher education.

There is this other group of women who enroll for the higher education programs but do not get round to finish them. This can be due to various reasons for example; lack of finances to pay the school fees with or a general lack of interest in the course they set out to do. Some of them get started on their degrees and then start families. The new responsibilities take their mind off school, and they are unable to continue with their pursuit of higher education. This goes on to have an impact on the number of women in the colleges.

Some women do not find the idea of pursuing higher education as useful at all. These are women who have dedicated their lives to taking care of their families and see no point in pursuing education. They simply do not go to graduate school because they do not see how a degree will help then in their future. This goes to demonstrate that there are still women out there who uphold their traditional roles with high esteem and will keep exercising them in the twenty-first century.

In general, the effort that women have put in over the years to pursue higher education has been fruitful in impacting the modern day education. They have been able to reduce the gap between male and female education. Due to their vigilant effort we are able to see and appreciate many women in the campuses. The educated women raise children who show great interest in furthering their studies. These children bring about a change in the school atmosphere because they are willing to learn and are also much less troublesome than those whose mothers have not pursued higher learning. This has also led to the improvement of standards of learning in schools all over so as to cater for these bright and willing students.

In the universities where these women seek higher education, there has been an expansion of the courses so as to allow many more women to come and join in. The courses that did not attract many women such as the technical fields are now overflowing with women who are eager to learn. There has also been an increase of female teachers who are keen on passing on the knowledge to other women so that they can get to where they are and even surpass them. Higher education has been responsible for the growth of women sports (Sabo, 1997). There are colleges that offer scholarships to women so that they can nurture their talents. These women are spotted while they are still in high school and they are offered an opportunity to grow and exploit what they possess. In years past, sports such as women’s basketball have grown due to the fact that women who participate in these games are found in colleges and universities. The country has benefited a lot through winning international tournaments that have been won by the women whose talents were exploited during their time in the colleges. This has been experienced even up to the Olympic level.

Women are able to vie and take up political and other offices of influence because of higher education. With the knowledge they gain while pursuing education, they are able to identify areas in the society that require change, and they stand for it. Since they are empowered and fight for changes in the system and help individuals to experience a different lifestyle. The person responsible for authoring the Title IX of the education amendments in 1972 was an educated woman who knew so well the plight that women faced when they were discriminated against while they pursued their education. She therefore helped the women to be able to go to school in an environment that is free of discrimination.

In conclusion, women education has been of many benefits to the women folk. All the struggles they went through to be able to get to this place have been worthwhile. They have been able to penetrate many fields and actually help improve the economy of the country and also improve the lives of millions of lives.