Needle & Thread vs. Pencil & Paper Female Education Expectations Through History

Colonial Times Desire for education Most education done at home Family, Community, Religion Most education done at home Benjamin Franklin & Puritan Values Boys educated (social class) Future leaders Girls education was Limited Reading, writing, math

Post-Revolutionary (19th Century) Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Rush Whole nation needed to be educated in order to be strong and have good citizens Both genders taught the basics Men expected to continue education Women use education to teach children Early education done in the home Push for school system

Common Schools Extension of Family setting Focus on citizenship Co-ed (Advantages?) Female teachers for younger students Focus on citizenship Gender roles reinforced Harriet Beecher: Women’s role is as a wife & mother. Occupation is the household.

Turn of the Century… Boys & Girls attend school “Seminaries” Gender roles reinforced in classroom More girls attending school => Lack of work “Seminaries” Committee of Ten (1893) Technical & Commercial studies (Growing Industry) Same Education (college bound or not) Opportunities: Rural vs. Urban

World War Effects… Flappers 20th Amendment Women vote = true citizens Gender roles temporarily disappear Teachers, Nurses, Secretaries WWII = Factories, Military 1,600,000 women joined the workforce between 1914 and 1918 13,000 women enlisted in the US Navy

After WWII Between 1940 and 1945, the female labor force grew by 50 percent. Most encouraged to return to homes, “women’s work,” or college Increase in Co-ed Colleges Educated women start to have new goals for a career

60’s & 70’s Increased college enrollment Feminine Mystique Fall 1961: 38% female Fall 1991: 55% female Feminine Mystique Social, Political, and Economic involvement Title IX of the Higher Education Act (1972) Gender equality at schools (sports, funding, administration) Economic Changes Re-defining Gender Roles & Expectations Change in occupations

Education Level of population, 2005

Employed women 16 years and older as a percentage of selected occupations: 2007

Classrooms Today… More aware of Stereotypes Education Reversal Still a factor in education (boys encouraged in Math & Science) Childhood toys Education Reversal College Enrollment: 57% female Males falling behind (higher drop out rates) Careers encouraged for Females

Overcoming the gap… Awareness of stereotypes Positive Encouragement Confidence through Evidence & Examples Exposure to different learning styles