Coeducational Institutions Research Articles

Exploring context specific anti-smoking warning labels on cigarette packs: A quasi-experiment.

To evaluate the impact of introducing newly-designed warning labels in relation to the available conventional cigarette packs. The quasi-experimental study was conducted at four co-educational academic institutions selected using cluster random sampling technique in Gulshan-e-Iqbal town of Karachi from September 2016 to October 2017. The respondents, aged 16-24 years, were exposed with an experimental condition using five graphic cards; each comprising of two separate labels; label 1 being a cigarette pack currently rotated, and label 2 being the newly designed graphic and text warning label. Each participant responded over efficacy measures for each label separately. The difference in the efficacy scores between the two labels was assessed using repeated measure ANOVA with Bonferroni correction in analysis. Of the 388 students, 256(66%) were males and 132(34%) were females. The overall mean age was 18±2.76 years. Also, 188(48.5%) subjects were studying in higher secondary, 179(46.1%) undergraduate and 21(5.4%) postgraduate level. Of them, 104(26.8%) were ever-smokers and 284(73.2%) reported to be never-smokers. A difference was observed in the efficacy of the newly designed label "poverty" compared with current cigarette pack on the measure of not to start smoking(p=0.006). Never-smoking males perceived newly-designed label element 'dead person' as fear-arousing (p=0.045), while never-smoking females considered 'look after family' as efficacious (p=0.024). There was some evidence of variation in efficacy scores after stratifying on gender and smoking status. A more holistic approach is needed in this regard.

Students’ Perception on the Indices of Teaching Effectiveness Among Some Senior Secondary School ESL Students in Ibadan Metropolis

The teaching of English language in Nigeria is a herculean task given the fact that models and students operate in a second language environment with its many disadvantages. Many teachers do not seem to understand what is involved in teaching effectiveness as many have different conceptions of teaching. The result is that many evade the intricacies of teaching, to the detriment of students’ achievement in the subject. This paper investigated students’ perception on the indices of teaching effectiveness of ESL in Ibadan metropolis. The descriptive design of the ex post facto type was adopted for the study. Through multi-stage sampling procedure, a total of 500 Senior Secondary School two students was drawn from six co-educational institutions. A self-structured questionnaire – questionnaire on indices of teaching effectiveness (QOITE) (r=.79) was used to collect data. Three research questions and one hypothesis were raised. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data collected. T-test statistic was used to test the only hypothesis stated at 0.05 level of significance.Findings revealed that students perceived the indices of teaching effectiveness to include revision of previous topics, teachers’ friendly disposition, use of instructional materials and take-home assignments. The study however revealed that the most commonly perceived indices of teaching effectiveness are teachers’ knowledge of subject matter (65.8%) and teachers’ ability to provide detailed explanation (57.8%). In addition, more female students perceived that revision of previous work was needed for effective teaching than their male counterparts.The study recommended, among other things, that teachers should make revision of previous work a regular practice and teachers of ESL should exhibit high level of friendliness in class. Keywords: ESL, Ibadan , English language, Teaching effectiveness DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-23-08 Publication date: August 31 st 2020

Influence of Sense of Belonging to a School on Learners’ Loneliness in Single Gender and Co-Educational Institutions in Murang’a County, Kenya

The influence of the sense of belonging to school on learners’ loneliness in single gender and co-educational schools in the world and Kenya in particular is not clearly known and documented. Available literature indicates that the learners’ sense of belonging to school significantly impacts on their loneliness. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the sense of belonging to school on learners’ loneliness in single gender and co-educational schools in Murang’a County in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives, which were to; Compare the levels of loneliness among learners in single gender and co-educational schools in Murang’a County and assess power of sense of belonging to school in determining the loneliness levels among learners in single gender and co-educational schools in Murang’a County. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. The Krejecie & Morgan Table was used to select a sample of 435 participants from a target population of 12,400 form two learners from single gender and co-educational secondary schools in the County. Data was collected using two standardized measurement instruments; the Perth aloneness-loneliness scale (PALs) while sense of belonging to school was measured using five statements in a five point Likert scale developed for the study. Administration of the questionnaire was done during normal school days by trained research assistants. Data was analysed using the descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The findings of the study indicated that low sense of belonging to school for girls in co-educational institutions was correlated to high levels of loneliness. From the findings of the study, it is concluded that there is need to strengthen the psychosocial support systems for learners in co-educational schools through mentorship, guidance, coaching and counselling to facilitate appropriate adjustments of the learners in the schools so as to promote their learning outcomes.

Athens of the New South: College Life and the Making of Modern Nashville by Mary Ellen Pethel

Reviewed by: Athens of the New South: College Life and the Making of Modern Nashville by Mary Ellen Pethel Dennis P. Halpin Athens of the New South: College Life and the Making of Modern Nashville. By Mary Ellen Pethel. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2017. Pp. xiv, 340. Paper, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-62190-457-1; cloth, $60.00, ISBN 978-1-62190-342-0.) In Athens of the New South: College Life and the Making of Modern Nashville, Mary Ellen Pethel presents a wide-ranging account of the important roles that Nashville's many colleges and universities played in the city's development. Pethel makes expert use of periodicals, newspapers, and college archival material to examine a period of growth for institutions of higher education and the city. Her book joins a growing body of literature that explores the relationship between education and urban development. Furthermore, by situating her study in the Progressive era, she is able to demonstrate how colleges and universities were at once a product of Progressive reforms but also catalysts for urban change. Pethel makes a strong case that colleges and universities were "not simply part of the Progressive Era" but rather were "what marked cities like Nashville as 'progressive' and 'New South'" (p. 31). Today, most people likely associate Nashville with the country music industry. Pethel convincingly demonstrates, however, that beginning in the late nineteenth century, the city's diverse array of higher learning institutions bolstered Nashville's growth. Against the backdrop of the growth of the New South, the rise of Jim Crow, and the dawn of the Progressive era, Pethel's narrative captures a period of tremendous change. It was during this time that Vanderbilt University became a southern collegiate powerhouse, Fisk University became one of the nation's first black colleges, and increasing numbers of young women enrolled in single-sex and coeducational institutions. Pethel spends time at each of the city's colleges and universities, presenting a kaleidoscopic account of the city's diverse higher education options and their particular contributions. In doing so, she is also able to track changes in attitudes toward race, gender, and class in higher education. Pethel's analysis particularly shines when she illustrates the myriad ways that Nashville's college graduates changed their city, both during and after their collegiate careers. Pethel demonstrates how students, while in school, influenced the growth of sports (especially football), changed youth culture and leisure, and established fraternities and sororities. Her most fascinating work explores students' growing political consciousness, especially in the 1910s and 1920s. College women became interested in the suffrage movement, young men at Vanderbilt formed literary and political movements, and African American students rebelled against restrictive student policies at Fisk in the 1920s. Some of these students carried their convictions beyond the classroom after they graduated. Women, both black and white, joined social betterment clubs and undertook other charitable endeavors, such as settlement houses. African American men became doctors, ministers, and social workers who helped change their city after graduation. At times, Pethel could have been more forceful in reiterating her main points and connecting them to her larger argument. In some cases, she presents detailed examinations of the themes she studies but relies on the reader to make her or his own connections to the wider context. Her book is also peppered with [End Page 1027] fascinating details that beg for a more thorough examination, such as the Vanderbilt students' literary magazine Fugitive and the Agrarian movement and Fisk students' 1920s protests. This reviewer hopes that future scholars will build on her research. Pethel's book is a fascinating look at a major force in Nashville's growth, and it makes an important argument for placing higher education at the center of analyses of the Progressive era. Dennis P. Halpin Virginia Tech Copyright © 2018 The Southern Historical Association

Women Students’ Interactions with Faculty and Exposure to Good Teaching at Colleges and Universities with Varying Histories of Admitting Women

This study considers how institutional histories of admitting women are associated with present college experiences, and uses data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to compare the experiences of women at women’s colleges or former women’s colleges to those of women at former men’s colleges and colleges that have always been coeducational. Results indicate that women attending former men’s colleges and colleges that have always been coeducational seem to experience similar or greater frequency and quality of student–faculty interaction and exposure to good teaching practices, compared to women attending women’s or former women’s colleges. Results also suggest that considering the gender enrollment histories of colleges and universities may provide valuable context for evaluating the experiences of women at women’s colleges and coeducational institutions.

Comparative Analysis of Feminism-Related Ideologies Among Students in Single-Sex and Coeducational Institutions

Comparative Analysis of Feminism-Related Ideologies Among Students in Single-Sex and Coeducational Institutions

Still staying away: Women and the economics major and #8211; evidence from two Southern liberal arts colleges

This article extends the literature that examines the underlying reasons for the gender imbalance in the field of economics. Previous research suggests that women are less likely to major in economics because of the lack of female role models in the subject (Ashworth and Evans 1999), math anxiety (Dynan and Rouse 1997), and the influence of parents' education levels (Leppel 2001) and career preferences (Turner and Bowen 1999). These papers have focused on data collected from nonsectarian, coeducational institutions located in the Northern United States. We focus our analysis on the choice of major at two Southern liberal arts colleges, Davidson College, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, and Salem College, a women’s college that is affiliated with the Moravian Church. We find that women are still less likely to major in economics than men, and that attending a women’s college has no effect on this result. However, we find that the likelihood of majoring in economics rises if students have a female instructor for an economics course, if they have completed calculus in high school, or if they perceive that their job prospects are better after majoring in economics.

Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War by Michael David Cohen (review)

Reviewed by: Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War by Michael David Cohen Dan R. Frost (bio) Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War. By Michael David Cohen. (Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press, 2012. Pp. 288. $45.00 cloth; $45.00 e-book) According to Michael David Cohen, “the Civil War was a watershed ” that accelerated significant changes in higher education in the North and inaugurated them in the South (p. 189). Before the war, Cohen familiarly finds collegiate schools nationally committed to a classical curriculum. Such instruction in the North largely served economic elites and produced lawyers, ministers, and physicians. Only a few schools had started developing engineering and scientific programs to attract students from more modest backgrounds who wanted employment other than in those professions. In the South, classical curricula additionally provided a class-identifying education for planters’ sons destined to succeed their fathers as proprietors of the plantation economy. Upper-class northern and southern women might attend a female seminary that taught classics to educate them as socially acceptable wives for their similarly educated husbands. A smattering of northern women could be found in rare coeducational institutions. Coeducation was nonexistent for southern belles. Higher educational opportunities for northern African Americans barely existed. In slave states, even free blacks found no formal educational opportunities of any kind. The Civil War changed higher education. It especially accelerated antebellum changes already occurring in the North. Wartime federal legislation that led to state agricultural and mechanical colleges placed emphasis on science and engineering, not classics. These disciplines attracted middle- and lower-class young men, thereby broadening the socioeconomic base of postbellum students who wanted employment in engineering and scientific fields. During the war, some schools that lost male students to military service turned to coeducation to compensate, thereby expanding opportunities for women and advancing a trend that continued after Appomattox. Opportunities [End Page 261] for African Americans, however, only modestly increased as racial barriers proved more difficult to break down. The death of thousands of young southern men meant that for schools to survive they needed to expand beyond teaching planters’ sons. In order to attract more practically minded and economically diverse students, many southern institutions implemented elective systems that provided more curricular choices by adding engineering and scientific programs, and by doing so they created the South’s first authentic universities. Coeducation made little headway in the South, however, and expensive women’s colleges continued to provide classical instruction to upper-class daughters. Only the growth in public schools, which hired women as teachers, eventually led to some coeducation and curricular reform for female students late in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A very few Republican-controlled southern schools allowed African Americans integrated access to higher education during Reconstruction, and Democratic state legislatures quickly prohibited integrated schools as Reconstruction ended. Still, some opportunities for higher education, unthinkable before the war, emerged as northern philanthropy opened some institutions for blacks, and state legislatures grudgingly used federal land-grant money to support black as well as white agricultural and mechanical colleges. Overall, Cohen provides a fine account of changes in higher education resulting from the war. Problematically, however, he exaggerates the impact of the war in creating postbellum “partnerships” between schools and the federal government, particularly through the Morrill Act (1862) that provided federal grants to states to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges but otherwise required little federal involvement. He especially overemphasizes the impact of the legislative mandate that military tactics be taught on these campuses, which he argues contributed to a supposed militarization of American society. This conclusion is doubtful given that the United States maintained one of the smallest military establishments [End Page 262] among industrializing nations on the eve of the Spanish-American War. Nonetheless, Cohen, through his expansive use of university archives, government documents, and secondary sources, provides a good and needed national look at higher education for a period that most accounts examine only regionally. Dan R. Frost Dan R. Frost is the author of Thinking Confederates: Academia and the Idea of Progress in the New South (2000). He teaches history at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana...

Bound by Norms and Out of Bounds: Experiences of PAGFB (Persons Assigned Gender Female at Birth) Within the Formal Education System: Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action (LABIA)

This article is based on a study undertaken by LABIA (Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action), a queer feminist collective in Mumbai, titled ‘Breaking the binary: Understanding the concerns and realities of queer persons assigned gender female at birth across a spectrum of lived gender identities’. We look at how the queer and gender-transgressive existence of our respondents impacts their access to education, and subsequently their livelihood opportunities. Education, specifically formal education (and educational institutions), has an important role in violently producing a gender-normative world. However, education is also a passport to an independent economic existence. In this article, we look at these varied experiences as well as how our feminisms need to take these concerns into account as we grapple with the issue of engendering a new kind of education. We draw upon the stories of queer PAGFB (persons assigned gender female at birth) within the formal education system to posit critical interventions in education, ranging from changing the structures in both gender-segregated and co-educational institutions to building awareness and making changes in syllabi.

Hearing Women's Voices in General Education

“The voice of women needs to be heard” because “when we truly take their lives seriously it changes our whole understanding of who we are and what we are called to become” (Chilcote 10). The revolutionary impact of feminist theory and practice in all areas of contemporary culture illustrates the world-transforming potential of women’s voices. It is now essential to any liberal education, as well as to the intellectual development of individual women students, that women’s voices be richly and intentionally integrated into general education core skills and knowledge requirements, beyond gender and women’s studies programs. Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, one of about fifty women’s colleges remaining in the United States, has designed a new general education structure, the Sophia Program in Liberal Learning, which foregrounds women’s voices in precisely this way.1 Our general model and the lessons we have learned in implementing it are easily adaptable to coeducational and/or secular institutions, even though our distinctive identity as a Catholic women’s college has shaped the specific details of our curriculum. The women’s voices requirement is a “cognitive and communicative skill” that does not add credit hours. Rather, students typically fulfill it by taking courses that also fulfill one of the four general education area requirements: “science for the citizen,” “arts for living,” “cultures and systems,” and “traditions and worldviews.” I say “typically” because a strength of our new general education program is its flexible responsiveness to each individual student’s desire to construct her own education. Students are required to have a total of four women’s voices learning experiences, but only three of them must be three-credit courses taken from at least three of the four general education areas. These areas are represented by the four arms of the French cross, a graphic design taken from the college seal (see Figure 1, next page). The fourth women’s voices learning experience may also be a course, but, alternatively, it may also be an out-of-class learning experience, such as volunteering at Sex Offense Services (S.O.S.), a local sexual assault prevention, and victim assistance, agency. Many Saint Mary’s students currently volunteer

Review

Book Reviews 147 Kenneth H. Wheeler. Cultivating Regionalism: Higher Education and the Making of the American Midwest. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2011. Pp. 156. Bibliography. Index. Notes. Cloth, $38.00. In Cultivating Regionalism, Kenneth Wheeler links the development of the Midwest as a distinct region to the founding of colleges. Rejecting the view that the antebellum Midwest was merely an extension of northern or southern culture, he argues that the region had its own identity rooted in religious diversity, egalitarianism, and the culture of usefulness. All three of these elements influenced the region’s higher education. The religious diversity in the Midwest led to a proliferation of denominational colleges, many more than in either the North or the South. These colleges offered instruction to students from a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds and, in opposition to contemporary gender norms, to women as well. Coeducation, however, was just one element in the region’s willingness to experiment. Wheeler found that religious diversity fostered a spirit of open debate at the colleges. He also argues that midwestern egalitarianism influenced the curriculum of higher education, especially in the preference for manual labor over gymnastics or military drill. Students at colleges like Oberlin spent four hours a day chopping trees, building roads, or working on a farm. Unlike the South where slavery degraded manual work, midwesterners embraced the dignity of labor. Cultivating Regionalism is an important reminder that midwestern culture has not been adequately studied. Wheeler offers a fascinating glimpse into the self-conscious construction of a regional identity distinct from New England when he quotes a student who announced, “I have got so sick of yankies [sic] that I don’t want to see one, although my ancestors sprung from that noble race. I boast myself in being a true blooded Buckeye” (p. 62). Hopefully, fascinating comments like this will encourage further study of the formation and promotion of midwestern identity in the press, pulpit, lyceum, and colleges. This work raises many intriguing questions: Did midwesterners contest regional identity? In particular, did identity vary depending upon where migrants to the region came from? How significant was slavery in the formation of a distinct regional identity? As Wheeler distinguishes the Midwest from other sections of the country, however, his comparisons are at times overdrawn. The presentation of New England’s culture as elitist, for instance, certainly accords with the Boston Brahmins, but antebellum New England also possessed a vibrant dissenting tradition that contested the region’s 148 The Michigan Historical Review identity. In addition, this emphasis on New England gentility leads Wheeler to mischaracterize women’s education. He posits that a neat divide existed between the urban sophistication of female academies that emphasized manners and elegance and the rural practicality of coeducational institutions that taught women to be useful. The female academies founded by Emma Willard and Catharine Beecher, however, represent a powerful rejection of the “finishing-school” model in favor of a rigorous academic curriculum that would train women to contribute to the improvement of their society. Despite these concerns, Cultivating Regionalism makes an important contribution to the ongoing study of regionalism in American culture. Melissa Ladd Teed Saginaw Valley State University ...

The Role of Living–Learning Programs in Women’s Plans to Attend Graduate School in STEM Fields

This paper examines the role of living–learning (L/L) programs in undergraduate women’s plans to attend graduate school in STEM fields. Using data from the 2004–2007 National Study of Living Learning Programs (NSLLP), the only existing multi-institutional, longitudinal dataset examining L/L program outcomes, the findings show that women’s participation in women-only STEM-focused L/L programs is positively associated with STEM graduate school aspirations, in comparison to residing in co-educational STEM L/L programs, all other L/L programs, and traditional residence halls. Socially supportive residence hall climates and women’s self-assessments as performing better than men in STEM contexts were also positively associated with STEM graduate school plans, while academically supportive residence hall climates and visiting the work setting of a STEM professional held negative relationships with the outcome. Implications are discussed for L/L programs and the utility of women-only programming within coeducational institutions of higher education.

Tough questions facing women's colleges

AbstractThe transition of women's colleges into coeducational institutions presents fundamental issues and sensitive dynamics.

Putting the “Co” in Education: Timing, Reasons, and Consequences of College Coeducation from 1835 to the Present

The history of coeducation in U.S. higher education is explored through an analysis of a database containing almost all 4-year undergraduate institutions that operated in 1897, 1924, 1934, or 1980. The opening of coeducational institutions was continuous throughout its history, and the switching from single-sex was also fairly constant from 1835 to the 1950s before accelerating in the 1960s and 1970s. Older and private single-sex institutions were slower to become coeducational, and institutions persisting as single-sex into the 1970s had lower enrollment growth than those that switched earlier. Access to coeducational institutions was associated with increased women’s educational attainment.

Broad and Narrow Personality Traits of Women's College Students in Relation to Early Departure from College

Personality traits of coeducational students have been shown to correlate with early withdrawal intention from college (Lounsbury, Saudargas, & Gibson, 2004). The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality traits as well as seven narrow personality traits in relation to withdrawal intention among 103 female students from eight women's colleges (Ridgell & Lounsbury, 2004). As predicted, Conscientiousness, Work Drive, and Sense of Identity were significantly inversely correlated with early departure intention. Three personality traits—Emotional Stability, Work Drive, and Sense of Identity—accounted for 18.3% of the variance in withdrawal intentions. Results were discussed in terms of the role personality traits may play in retention and reasons why females choose women's colleges over co-educational institutions (Langdon, 1998).

Catholic Women’s College Students’ Constructions of Identity: Influence of Faculty and Staff on Students’ Personal and Professional Self-Understanding

This article investigates the influence of faculty and staff on women student’s constructions of their personal and professional identities. Situated in two Catholic women’s colleges, this qualitative study analyzes the ways in which in-class and out-of-class interactions among students, faculty, and staff helped students envision their future intentions. Students described ways in which college personnel served as career role models, modeled a work/family balance, and advised them as they planned for their futures. This study’s implications for the empowerment of women at both Catholic women’s colleges and nonreligiously affiliated coeducational institutions relate to the benefits of college personnel who model a personal and professional life balance, the need to consider both service and leadership in learning experiences, and the ways in which Catholic women’s institutions articulate their missions to students.

Character Development in Business Education: A Comparison of Coeducational and Single-Sex Environments

This study questions the widely held assumption, particularly in the United States, that coeducation is best. Previous research supports the development of single-sex education for both female and male students. This study examines how the learning climate of the coeducation environment seems to affect the character development of female business students. Female business students from 11 single-sex colleges (secular and religious) perceived more reinforcement in 13 of 21 character traits than female (and male) students in 3 coeducational institutions. Several of these character traits are related to ethical behavior, such as honesty, compassion, and independence, and are sorely needed in the workplace. Improved ethics education may enable women to play a larger role in avoiding future ethical crises.

Women Students at Coeducational and Women's Colleges: How Do Their Experiences Compare?

This study compared the experiences of women attending women's colleges with those of women attending coeducational institutions. Analyses of data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) from random samples of female first-year and senior students from 26 women's colleges and 264 other four-year institutions were conducted. Women at single-sex institutions were more engaged in effective educational practices and reported higher levels of feelings of support and greater gains in college. With regard to the effect of different backgrounds on college experiences, transfer students at women's colleges were as engaged or more engaged than students who start at and graduate from the same school, and students of color tended to be less engaged than White students.

Racial Identity Attitudes, Womanist Identity Attitudes, and Self-Esteem in African American College Women Attending Historically Black Single-Sex and Coeducational Institutions

This study examines racial identity attitudes, womanist identity attitudes, and self-esteem of 111 African American college women attending two historically black higher educational institutions, one coeducational and one single-sex. the major findings indicate that preencounter and encounter attitudes of racial and womanist identity are correlated with each other, but negatively correlated with self-esteem. Follow up analyses revealed that womanist or racial identity attitudes do not mediate self-esteem. Suggestions for future research are given and implications for student affairs practice are discussed.

Studying ourselves: Sociology discipline-building in the United States

self-studies, internal evaluations, and in the various histories of the discipline and of its professional organizations. In the early years of discipline-building, those who were, or wanted to be, sociologists studied themselves prodigiously and attempted to chart a course for posterity Prompted by the centennial anniversary of the American Sociological As sociation in 2005, it is timely to look back at how we defined and studied ourselves and at what was said as well as what was left unsaid. The "fathers" of American sociology and their network of associates engaged in dis cipline-building as they studied and directed the progress of the new science of sociol ogy. They collected data, analyzed it, reported their findings at professional meetings, and published them in the prominent journals of the day Of particular interest is who documented the history of early American sociology, how, and why? Peter Baehr di chotomized contributions to the development of sociology as either discursive or institu tional. Discursive contributions are those of ideas, and institutional those establishing "some artifact or institution demonstrably related to the sociological enterprise" (2002: 6). This work deals with the latter, specifically with sociology in institutions of higher education in the United States as it was introduced, defined, measured, and publicly presented. As is evident in the literature, the early history of academic sociology was written by white males and focused on selected male and coeducational institutions. In addition to looking at that history as a sociology of sociology, we will also seek out and examine the treatment of the "special mission" institutions for women and for blacks