Why Study Womens Colleges?
The landscape of higher education has changed dramatically over the past few decades. More students are attending higher education institutions part-time, more students of nontraditional age are pursuing opportunities in higher education, and there is more racial and ethnic diversity on college campuses today than ever before. One of the more important changes is that women are now the majority of students at the postsecondary level. Therefore, the study of how women progress and succeed in our higher education institutions is vital to the continued success of the American system of postsecondary education. To assess the current status of American women in higher education, we must first understand the history of women in higher education, and an important part of that history involves institutions known as women’s colleges. A women’s college is defined as an institution where there is an institutional mission to serve the needs of women in higher education as well as a predominantly f
