The development of the system of higher education for women in the United States (the second half of the XIX century)

Abstract

The XIX century is the era of fundamental change in the status of American women, which marks non only transformation of the attitude towards woman as an equal subject of social and family relations, but also their pursuit of self-actualization. Such changes among the middle-class American women could not have happened without receiving higher education – as the opportunity for employment and increase of self-consciousness. Special attention is given to the emergence and development of higher education institutions since the first instance of admission to the establishment of the system of education of the American women. The conclusion is made that the changes that took place in the U.S. society after the Civil War and during the industrialization era contributed to the change in the status of American women in the second half of the XIX century. This is the time of establishment of multiple colleges for women; private and public coeducation institutions opened their doors to American women; and the myth of the negative impact of education upon women's health was shattered. Generalization of the foreign sources and research demonstrated the difficulties faced by women during their college and university years, as well as the transformation of attitude of the American society towards the changing status of women with regards to receiving higher education.