If the term “women’s college” conjures images of limited social life, supervised visiting hours or rampant feminism, your thinking needs an update. Rather than the traditional view that women’s colleges prepared young women to find “suitable” careers and become philanthropists, or that they were hotbeds of social and political radicalism, the current reality is far different. Today’s approximately fifty women’s colleges are as varied and modern as the young women who attend them.
Women’s colleges run the gamut in history, mission, and academic selectivity. Mount Holyoke College, one of the first women’s colleges, is über-selective, with a bold mission to prepare women to assume leadership roles. Spelman College, founded to provide Black women educational opportunities, accepts 40% of applicants. Mt. St. Mary’s College, founded to educate women with an “emphasis on building leadership skills and fostering a spirit to serve others,” admits 95% of its applicants. Single-sex education for women is clearly not “one size fits all.”
Nevertheless, myths persist. Perhaps the biggest myth about women’s colleges is that they are isolated, there are no men, and social life is minimal. Not so. Barnard College, situated in the heart of Manhattan, is across the street from Columbia University. Most classes at both institutions are open to Barnard and Columbia students alike, and there are numerous coed extracurricular activities and living options. Students at Scripps College regularly interact with students at Pomona, Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, and Harvey Mudd, which has a predominantly male student body. Many women’s colleges are part of collegiate consortia and others have developed either formal or informal relationships with neighboring coed institutions, providing their students with ample ways to interact with men.
Why should a thoroughly modern young woman consider attending an all women’s college? While incredibly diverse, women’s colleges share a commitment to fostering the development and success of women, preparing them to balance private commitments and public responsibilities. These schools encourage young women to pursue their dreams, whether in public service, the corporate world, science, engineering, or the arts. Women’s colleges typically have a disproportionately high percentage of women in senior faculty and leadership positions. Exposure to confident and competent women allows students to see a variety of successful role models and envision a wide range of paths for themselves. Women faculty, staff, and administrators mentor students, and are heavily committed to their success. This is especially crucial for those who wish to pursue untraditional lives or careers in which women are still underrepresented. Women’s colleges are full of women committed to helping other women thrive.
Research has shown that women’s colleges enjoy several advantages over their coed counterparts. Students are more likely to study abroad, assume significant leadership positions during college, and have access to academic facilities and equipment. They are also more likely to earn their degrees within four years than their peers at coed institutions. While women’s college graduates make up only a small minority of the college-educated population, one-third of the women board members of the Fortune 1000 companies are women’s college graduates. Women’s college graduates are twice as likely to earn Ph.D.s., more often going on to study the sciences and attend medical school. Of Business Week’s list of rising women stars in corporate America, 30 percent are women’s college graduates and of women members of Congress, 20 percent attended women’s colleges. These results speak for themselves. When conducting their college searches, young women might want to consider this uncommon option.
