We leverage variation in the timing of women's colleges' transitions to coeducation throughout the 1960s-2000s to study how exposure to a gendered social environment affects women's human capital investments. Applying event study and synthetic control analyses to newly collected historical data, we find that the share of women majoring in STEM at…

As this report goes to press, the nation's capital is in the midst of a six-moth, city-wide celebration of William Shakespeare. With this celebration as a backdrop, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) researched how Shakespeare fits into English curricula at 70 of the nation's leading colleges and universities. ACTA surveyed English…

Examination of foundings of four-year women's colleges in three states, 1855-1968, reveals that institutional forces (presence of elite women's colleges, development of Catholic women's colleges, and enactment of the suffrage amendment) increased the founding rate, but rising organizational density later decreased the rate. Argues that…

A case study of an anonymous college that experienced the threat of failure but managed to revitalize its operation is presented. Participant observation, interviews, and document review were used in the study that focused on the period just prior to closing and the period since its reopening. (MLW)

The modern college for women, evolving by rapid growth from recent simple beginnings to its present highly complex state, is unquestionably still in the process of development. A glance over the changes already accomplished brings conviction that the present situation is but a stage in the life history of a virile institution. That present…