Many people think only of African Americans when the phrase segregation in education is spoken, but how often do we think of women? Women have gone through tremendous struggles to receive the same rights as men to an equal education. The following pages will explain many aspects of the history of the women's struggles for desegregation, accomplishes made for desegregation, and the affects of sex or gender segregation still present in today's educational system. In the early colonial times, women's roles were very defined. Men and society expected women to have children, raise those children proper, and be the best homemaker of all time. In the beginning, women were educated for the sake of family and society: the new republic needed educated mothers to produce reasonable, responsible male citizens. (Kaminer 1998) They were taught knowledge so they could pass that on to their daughters. Most of this knowledge included the skills on how to be the best homemaker to her husband and children. Women all over the world and throughout centuries have fought numerous battles for every accomplishment that has been made. One such accomplishment is the following. The first women received a baccalaureate, a high school leaving exam, in 1861. (Bessis 2000) This feat started a chain reaction of events
Many people think only of African Americans when the phrase segregation in education is spoken, but how often do we think of women? Women have gone through tremendous struggles to receive the same rights as men to an equal education. The following pages will explain many aspects of the history of the women's struggles for desegregation, accomplishes made for desegregation, and the affects of sex or gender segregation still present in today's educational system. In the early colonial times, women's roles were very defined. Men and society expected women to have children, raise those children proper, and be the best homemaker of all time. In the beginning, women were educated for the sake of family and society: the new republic needed educated mothers to produce reasonable, responsible male citizens. (Kaminer 1998) They were taught knowledge so they could pass that on to their daughters. Most of this knowledge included the skills on how to be the best homemaker to her husband and children. Women all over the world and throughout centuries have fought numerous battles for every accomplishment that has been made. One such accomplishment is the following. The first women received a baccalaureate, a high school leaving exam, in 1861. (Bessis 2000) This feat started a chain reaction of events