Conflicts of Ideas in the Development of American Women’s Higher Education From 1870 to 1920

Abstract

Abstract:

From 1870 to 1920, women’s higher education in the United States was a critical period from experimentation to expansion. People conducted three major debates on whether co-education harmed women’s health, whether the decline in the marriage and childbirth rate of female college students would cause racial suicide, and whether gendered courses were reasonable. One side opposes coeducational schools on the grounds of women’s biological characteristics, advocates the cultivation of good wives and mothers, and advocates that women learn courses appropriate to their gender; the other side supports coeducational schools based on empirical facts and women’s social roles, and opposes the solidification of women’s gender roles, advocating that men and women study the same courses and enjoy equal rights to education. The debate expresses the different views of different groups on the form, purpose, and content of women’s higher education, and reflects the conflict between biological determinism and social constructionism of gender. The debate has promoted the change of the concept of women’s higher education and the development of practice, indirectly promoted the transformation of women’s gender roles, and finally promoted the modern transformation of American higher education.

Key words: coeducation, women’s health, race suicide, feminization of disciplines, home economics

CLC Number:

G649

Jiang Yujie, Li Zijiang. Conflicts of Ideas in the Development of American Women’s Higher Education From 1870 to 1920[J]. Education Science, 2022, 38(6): 67-75.

References 68

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