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…

By looking at the relationship between workplace culture and gender identity, this research examines ways to potentially improve women's satisfaction and perceptions of female workers in this presently disadvantageous work environment in Korea. Drawing from previous criticism for having prioritized inter-group processes over particular social…

This paper examines the impacts of co-residence (admitting women to men's colleges and men to women's colleges) at the University of Oxford beginning in the 1970s. Co-residence increased the representation of women undergraduates at Oxford to near parity with men; the representation of women in academic positions rose but not as substantially as…

Since the 1970's, national universities in Saudi Arabia have created closed centers for women off their main campuses. Though segregated, women study and work in accordance with the same structure and regulation of "mother" universities. This study investigates women administrators work conditions, their role in decision-making, the…

This dissertation is a qualitative study of early 21st century American female college students' experiences of their gender, sexuality, and racial identities, and of institutional politics as their single-sex college transitioned to co-education. It is an ethnography that utilizes feminist theorizing to understand tensions between feminists…

Since their creation in the latter part of the nineteenth century, women's colleges in America have undergone many significant changes. In 1960, over 230 women's colleges were in operation; over the next forty years more than 75 percent chose to admit men or shut their doors entirely (Miller-Bernal, 2006a). This chapter will shed light on the…

This dissertation provides insight into students' and alumnae's experiences during the transition and legal proceedings as their former college for women transitioned to coeducation. Previous research on the transition of single-sex colleges to coeducation has primarily examined the process from an organizational perspective. This study focuses on…

The history of coeducation in U.S. higher education is explored through an analysis of a database containing information on all institutions offering four-year undergraduate degrees that operated in 1897, 1924, 1934, or 1980, most of which still exist today. These data reveal surprises about the timing of coeducation and the reasons for its…

This study examined the founding of the New Jersey College for Women as an exemplary case that illustrates important social and political issues regarding women's access and acceptance to higher education during the Progressive Era. The New Jersey College for Women was founded as a public women's college that was affiliated with the state's…

Since the 1960s the higher educational system in the United States has steadily lost its single-sex colleges; and as of 2008 only 51 women's and four men's institutions remain (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2008). Many of the previous single-sex schools have admitted members of the opposite sex, giving in to the national trend of…

The recent announcement that Randolph-Macon Woman's College will admit male students has triggered yet another round in the continuing debate over women's colleges. At Randolph-Macon itself, the news was met with the usual mix of public displays: As students and alumnae protested with signs reading "Coed is a four-letter word," administrators and…

Offers account of practical and political aspects of maintaining counterpoint, mini-war against coeducation that captured minds and emotions of people and media around the world. Describes story of Mills College and events that followed college's aborted decision to become coeducational. (NB)

Looks at coeducation decisions made by Smith and Amherst Colleges in 1970s, Smith reaffirming its commitment to separate education and Amherst changing from all-male to coeducational college. Describes contrasting bases for the decisions made by the two colleges. (NB)

Describes University of Richmond and Westhampton College, which function in coordinate college model, defending this hybrid. Describes how two cooperating single-sex colleges share joint, common curriculum but maintain somewhat separate identities, as with different faculties, residence halls, student governments, and college traditions. Describes…

Explores the ongoing debate as to whether female students can be better educated in a single or mixed gender environment by reviewing the historical origins of American women's colleges. Discusses the conflicting research surrounding the merit of single gender higher education and explores what coeducational institutions can learn from the women's…