This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services, part of the Committee on Education and Labor to hear testimony on the Equality Act, H.R. 5, ensuring the right to learn and work free from discrimination. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Suzanne Bonamici, Chairwoman,…

The function of the first women's colleges in the USA is singled out. They expanded opportunities for women to get higher level of education, taking into account the fact that at that time women were not allowed to enter higher education establishments on equal footing with men. Some structural peculiarities of the first women's colleges are…

Women's colleges, which have generally considered sports an integral part of academic life, now face pressures to compete with coed institutions at which sports have taken on a more competitive attitude. Many fear compromising their ideals if they endeavor to match the athletic programs of other institutions. (SLD)

Diversity has been a focus of higher education policy, law, and scholarship for decades, continually expanding to include not only race, ethnicity and gender, but also socioeconomic status, sexual and political orientation, and more. However, existing collections still tend to focus on a narrow definition of diversity in education, or in relation…

No matter what social goals or federal laws exist, it will be a long time before the informal social environment in America's male-dominated colleges and universities will serve women students as well as men, suggests the president of Smith College. Until then "for women only" institutions are needed. (Author/LBH)

A federal appeals court has ruled that there are legitimate reasons a state can operate a single-sex college, provided appropriate programs exist for men and women. Virginia Military Institute provides "adversative" education, grueling physical training without privacy, that would suffer if women were admitted. A proposed separate…

Mary Lyon was the founder of Mount Holyoke College and a pioneer in science education. She was an early proponent of the laboratory method of teaching, disseminating it throughout nineteenth-century schools. Lyon established a distinguished chemistry faculty and founded an excellent department which has trained many women chemists. (SM)

The role of the women's rights press in reporting on and advancing coeducation in the United States is considered. The women's rights press was linked to the women's rights movement and articulated the goal that women should enjoy full participation in all aspects of U.S. life, including higher education. This analysis is based on 12 of the most…

The executive director of the Women's College Coalition examines the role of women's colleges and explains how they may serve as models in issues of educational equity for coeducational institutions today. The employment of women, encouragement of nontraditional studies, response to women's needs, and recognition of priorities are discussed.…

Lydia Shattuck was responsible for the excellence in science instruction at Mount Holyoke Seminary. Shattuck graduated in 1851 and remained there as a faculty member, specializing in chemistry and botany. One of the first women to join scientific societies, she helped enlarge the sphere of women engaged in scientific research. (SM)

Twelve essays by contemporary scholars explore, from a historical perspective, the meaning of collegiate coeducation in the United States, including its value, utility, significance, and successes and failures in supplying equal education for both sexes. An introductory first section contains the essay "Coeducation in a Gender-Stratified…

Proceedings of AACRAO's 63rd annual meeting deal with: college courses in high schools; women's colleges; special programs for underprepared college students; and the role of the admissions officer in identifying and selecting high-risk students. (LBH)

Three recent books ("In the Company of Women,""Alma Mater," and "Women in College") focus on very different but interrelated topics: the general history of women in higher education in America, the history of women's colleges, and the shaping of women's identities through higher education. (MSE)

Examines the historical contributions of women's colleges and their role in providing access to higher education for women, exploring contemporary contributions toward educational equity for women, particularly in the areas of positive role modeling and mentoring, leadership, achievement in male-dominated major fields such as mathematics and…

This collection of essays describes women's ongoing search for equity at Brown University, Rhode Island, since their first entrance there in 1891. After a preface by Joan W. Scott and an introduction by Polly Welts Kaufman, the volume contains the following 10 essays: "The Woman's Club Movement Creates and Defines the Women's College" by…