Women Colleges Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Women Colleges - Coursework Example Originally steeped towards providing education in the liberal arts (Kiss, 2006), these colleges offer educational opportunities that equal that offered to boys in the men’s colleges. Women’s colleges, especially southern women colleges, were attended mostly by white women; however, black women’s colleges sprang up in the post-Civil War years that significantly contributed to the advancement of the educational opportunities of the black women (Guy-Sheftall, 1982). For instance, Bennett College, an originally co-ed institution, was converted into a liberal art college for black women. Unlike it precursors, the seminaries, which were restricted to women from the upper class, the mid- and late- 19 century women’s colleges were opened to women from the middle classes (Harwarth, Maline, & DeBra, 1999). Indeed, women from the middle class were able to afford a decorous education probably due to increase in philanthropic gestures from donors. The liberation of wom en from their traditional role in the post World War II years led to a corresponding increased in the role of women in the academia and in government (Harwarth, Maline, & DeBra, 1999).