Study Overseas

Even though women have outperformed men in coeducational campuses for the last 20 years, gender is still a powerful force shaping education. What often gets overlooked is whether the quality of women's educational experience is equivalent to their male contemporaries. According to Jillian Kinzie, Associate Director for the National Survey of Student Engagement, women are more likely then men to have high aspirations for their education and to stick with college until they earn a degree. Women's high hopes and conscientiousness often deteriorate when they encounter the learning environment at many coeducational colleges.

Women's colleges offer notably different conditions for learning. Teaching, curricula and environments are women-centred and focussed on academic and personal growth and development. Learning takes place in a gender-equitable environment where women get more access to leadership roles and inspiration from female role models. The association of women's colleges and universities in the USA and Canada is The Women's College Coalition who have promoted women's education to the higher education community, policy makers, the media and the general public since 1972. Top of their agenda for equal opportunity in education is the recruitment and retention of women in traditionally male subject areas and the development of women in leadership roles.

Higher Academic Achievement

Leonard Sax, a physician, psychologist and author of Why Gender Matters, firmly believes that the innate differences in males and females often turn into limitations on both parts if exposed to a learning environment that doesn't reflect the appropriate brain maturity. By age 12, children have formed firm beliefs about the subjects in which they will fail and the subjects in which they will excel. These attitudes of success and failure are not wholly attributable to ability, rather, the way in which we are taught. The under representation of women in computer sciences and engineering reflects this. However, women's colleges have a great record of success in teaching mathematics and the sciences. Students from women's colleges are graduated in these disciplines at one and a half times the rate of women from coeducation school.

Greater Involvement and Interaction

Jillian Kinzie describes how 'micro-inequities' experienced by women in coeducational colleges cumulatively damage a woman's confidence and self esteem. This does not occur in women's colleges, a climate is created where women are encouraged to realise their potential and become involved in various facets of campus life inside and outside the classroom. Kinzie remarks how students at women's colleges are generally more engaged, more likely to experience high levels of academic challenge, and more likely to engage in collaborative learning. Similarly, students are more likely to take part in activities that allow them to integrate their curricular and co-curricular experiences.

Challenge and Confidence

The National Survey of Student Engagement 2004 comparing the experiences of women in coeducational colleges and women's colleges found that both first-year students and seniors at women's colleges report significantly higher levels of academic challenge than women at coeducational institutions. Students at women's colleges expect to work hard to meet the high expectations of their instructors. The availability of more female tutors and role models among faculties encourages students to set higher expectations for themselves and achieve greater goals. In an all female-environment, there is greater opportunity for and participation in student leadership roles.

Diversity

The survey also observed that the largest difference between women's colleges and coeducational colleges was related to experiences with diversity. Women's colleges create a campus environment that encourages and supports diverse interactions and understanding of diversity to a deeper level. Women's colleges encourage and provide more opportunities for students to interact with people of different economic, racial and social backgrounds.

Women at Work

When it comes to employment and successful career progression, women's colleges prepare their students very well. Through singular study and study groups, students at women's colleges gain a greater understanding of the self and others. Having these skills is the key to success both academically and in the workplace, which is why it is no surprise that so many graduates from women's colleges achieve positions of leadership in their careers. Still, only a small percentage of women have the top jobs in most corporations, something that is largely attributed to insufficient role models for young women to aspire to. Studying at a women's college will overcome these barriers and enable you to reach your potential.

Choosing a College

A good choice of college comes from a good understanding of who you are, who you aspire to be and how you want to get there. It is important to choose a college where you think you will be most engaged, where you will thrive and reach your academic and personal potential. As well as considering academic reputation, location, size and cost, ask yourself what the relationship is between college and student success? What role does the college play in helping you maximise your inherent strengths?

Good luck!

For more information on studying at a women's college, visit: www.womenscolleges.org