Monday, September 30, 2013

Friday, September 27, 2013

Study: Females lose self-confidence throughout college at this coed college

Today I read a USA Today article about a revealing study that I wanted to share with you today. "According to a study conducted last April, female seniors studying at Boston College left the university with lower self-confidence than when they entered as freshmen.” 

This is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about women’s colleges. Women’s colleges build self-confidence and self-esteem (and studies support this as well). 

Read my other blog posts about how women’s colleges build young women’s self-confidence and self-esteem.
Isn't it time to consider attending a women's college?

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Social Activism /Justice is Alive at Women’s Colleges

Meet Victoria Bolden a student at Bennett College, class of 2015 and learn about her social justice work via a short video, A Photo Story by Victoria Bolden. Victoria's video was published on YouTube on September 23, 2103 with the following description - "Bennett College student Victoria Bolden describes her experience with social activism at Bennett College and her leadership in the 2013 Moral Monday march."

Below is a video of Bennett College during the autumn that I know you will enjoy.


Learn more about Bennett College by visiting their Web site or here.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Engineering Programs for Women

Engineering holds great promise for women as a career. If you're thinking about a career in engineering, check out the engineering program at Smith College. The first women’s college to offer an engineering major, they also have a top-notch engineering department.

Here’s an article, “How to reengineer an engineering major at a women's college” that I think you will enjoy and starts with:

“A Smith College professor's program may provide a pattern for how to attract and keep women engineers.

The story is legendary: Glenn Ellis arrives at his engineering class dressed as a mountain climber. He hooks a rope to the ceiling, projects snow-capped scenery on the wall, and asks a volunteer to join him in a mock ascent.

It's not an exaggeration to say that at moments like these, students hang on Professor Ellis's every word.

His continuum mechanics class had been studying the case of a major hotel walkway that collapsed in 1981. By discussing materials and structures from a climber's perspective, he not only made the lesson fun, but he also "masterfully illustrated the underlying concept of what went wrong ... in a completely different context," says Prof. Borjana Mikic. She has known Ellis since they arrived in 2001 to create the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College here.”


Here’s what students have said about Professor Glenn Ellis (source)

“Ellis is AMAZING. He's one of the reasons that I'm staying in the engineering program. The projects are great, and while I have some trouble with the material, Ellis is MORE than willing to help out. In fact, sometimes I think that he wishes that more people wanted his help- that’s exactly how much he wants to help.”

“ABSOLUTELY one of, if not, the greatest professors/teachers I have ever had. He is also the nicest man I have ever met. My advice: Ask about his dog.”

“I love this man. He is definitely one of the best professors I've ever had. He really cares about whether or not you understand something. He wants us to learn, based on what we knew coming into the course, instead of a set bar that we all have to reach. Best class I've taken by far.”

“Oh wow! If every professor were like Ellis, then all teachers would be awesome. His lectures were engaging and interesting as well as helpful. He is one of the best professors I've ever had and by far the best engineering professor in the department. I learned so much that I can't even begin to say!”

To learn more about the engineering program at Smith College, visit their Web site.

If you are interested in other STEM fields, for starters, check out Smith's computer science, astronomy, physics, and/or math/statistics majors. For all STEM majors check out their academic programs page.

Friday, September 20, 2013

What Does Keisha Knight Pulliam, Bernice King, and Esther Rolle Have in Common?

They’re all Lady Jaguars!

I don’t know about you, but I love learning about graduates of women’s colleges. So when I recently came across this online post, “Lady Jaguars: 10 Famous Women Who Attended Spelman College” I knew I had to share it here. While there are many more wonderful women who have graduated from Spelman College, this particular list includes:

Keisha Knight Pulliam
“The House of Payne actress graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2001. While attending Spelman, she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In 2011, she founded Kamp Kizzy at Spelman College, as a means for empowering young girls.”

Bernice King
“The youngest child of the late Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bernice is an ordained minister. She graduated in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and passed the State Bar of Georgia. In 2007, she returned to Spelman to announce the “Be A King” scholarship in honor of her late mother, Coretta Scott King.”

Esther Rolle
“Famous for her roles in popular ’70s shows like Maude and Good Times, Esther attended Spelman in the early ’40s. She was also a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority.”

From Wikipedia:
“Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the fourth historically black female institution of higher education to receive its collegiate charter in 1924. It thus holds the distinction of being one of America's oldest historically black colleges for women.

Spelman is ranked among the nation's top liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Reports. The college is ranked among the top 50 four-year colleges and universities for producing Fulbright Scholars, and was ranked the second largest producer of African-American college graduates who attend medical school. Forbes magazine ranks Spelman among the nation's top ten best women's colleges. Moreover, Spelman has been ranked the #1 regional college in the South by U.S. News and World Report and is ranked among the Best 373 Colleges and Universities in America by the Princeton Review.

The daughters of Bill Cosby, Henry Louis Gates, Gerald Levert, Martin Luther King, Jr., Morgan Freeman and Sidney Poitier attended Spelman. Spelman is also the alma mater of several notable Americans including the CEO of Sam's Club and former Executive Vice President of Walmart, Rosalind Brewer; Pulitzer Prize Winner, Alice Walker; Dean of Harvard College, Evelynn M. Hammonds; and actress, Keshia Knight Pulliam.”


Learn more about Spelman by visiting their Web site.

See How a Sociology, a Political Science, and a Classical Languages Majors Spent Their Summer.


How I Spent My Summer Vacation – students of Bryn Mawr College share their experiences:
 

Highlights from this blog post include:
 

"Sociology major Lisa Merrick ’14 interned in the Department of College and Career Readiness of the Office of Academic Programming and Support in the central office of D.C. Public Schools. Merrick had the opportunity to hear from Chancellor Kaya Henderson about the district goals for public schools to reach by 2017, helped distribute diplomas to a number of Washington high schools, and interacted with deputy chiefs of other departments in the Central Office."

"Political science major Lauren Buckheit ’15 worked on social media and website management for CeaseFirePA, a non-profit organization dedicated to taking a stand against gun violence. She also worked on organizing donations and fundraising for the CeaseFirePA Education Project. “…[F]undraising is key to keeping a non-profit open and knowing I was making a difference made the at times tedious work that much easier,” she wrote."


"During an archaeological dig at Sant’Omobono, located in central Rome, classical languages major Zoe Fox ’14 excavated “everything from intact medieval clay vessels, to waterlogged archaic Roman material far below street level, to fascist orange juice bottles.” The site, a religious sanctuary in the Archaic and Republican periods, was occupied throughout the Middle Ages, rediscovered and first excavated in the Fascist era. Of the dig, Fox wrote, “It’s very exhausting, extremely hot, and I’ve pickaxed through more dirt than I thought possible, but it’s worth every second to discover so many amazing artifacts!”"

About Bryn Mawr College

"Bryn Mawr is one of the world's most distinctive, distinguished colleges. Every year 1,300 undergraduate women and 400 graduate students from around the world gather on the College's historic campus to study with leading scholars, conduct advanced research, and expand the boundaries of what's possible.

  • A Bryn Mawr woman is defined by a rare combination of personal characteristics:
  • An intense intellectual commitment
  • A purposeful vision of her life
  • A desire to make a meaningful contribution to the world.
These attributes create a spirit that is palpable on campus. It is visible, too, in the lives of Bryn Mawr alumnae, women who have become leaders in a wide range of fields, including those in which women are traditionally underrepresented.

We hope that this energy is tangible in these Web pages, and we encourage you to come to campus and experience it for yourself. It is what makes us proud to be Bryn Mawr."

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Women’s College Trivia: Gone With The Wind

We all know this classic book, Gone With The Wind, but did you know that the author, Margaret Mitchell attended Smith College?

"Margaret Mitchell grew up in Atlanta at the turn of the 20th century. As a child she heard many stories from Civil War veterans and had an active imagination of the Old South, which she projected through her book. She went to Smith College in MA, one of the top women's colleges in the US at the time. She returned to the south to work as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal. She was said to have had quite the personality, very headstrong, confident and a firecracker. Her mother was a suffragette and she grew up in the movement. She spent ten years writing Gone With The Wind, her only book." Source

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Life After A Women’s College: Roller Derby

I have always wanted to partake in roller derby, so when I saw this announcement from Smith College, I knew I simply had to post the information.

Announcement Highlights:

"Perhaps it has something to do with Smith students’ feistiness, their willingness to take on challenge, turn toward conflict, get ahead of anyone slowing them down, and overcome obstacles.

Or maybe they just like to skate around an oval track.


Whatever the reason, several Smith alumnae (and a visiting faculty member) have taken up the fast-growing sport of roller derby. Half a dozen Smith women compete with the local league, Pioneer Valley Roller Derby (PVRD), the premier flat track roller derby club in Western Mass., and nearly as many have past experience in local roller derby. 

For those who haven’t noticed, flat track roller derby has seen a wheel-spinning growth since the sport evolved in 2001. Unlike the roller derby of the 20th century, which became overshadowed by theatrics and fixed outcomes, modern roller derby has grown into a widely respected competitive game, played internationally. The sport is dominated by women's amateur teams, though it is quickly adding men's, co-ed and junior teams, and is among consideration for inclusion in the Olympics. PVRD is a co-ed club with a budding junior program.

“Roller derby embodies a lot of the values I saw being cultivated on campus during my time at Smith,” says Teresa Huang '10, whose team is slated for competition this weekend. “The importance of teamwork, perseverance, pushing through obstruction, leadership. The culture of the sport is very do-it-yourself, and has very woman-centric roots.”"


About Smith College: “Since its founding in 1871, Smith College has provided women of high ability and promise an education of uncompromising quality. A world-class faculty of scholars are fully engaged with their students' intellectual development, and an open curriculum encourages each student to explore many fields of knowledge. Mentors for scholarship, leadership and service, across all spectrums of endeavor, allow Smith students to observe different models of achievement, then set their own course with conviction.”

Learn why an education is as unique as you!

Great information for First Year Students.

Learn why Smith College is a women’s college! (YEA!!!!!!!)

Learn about College Affordability at Smith College.

Learn about how Smith alumnae enjoy success after Smith.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Quote: Graduates of Women's College Have Happier Lives and Careers

Sarah F. from Coraopolis, PA says this about women’s colleges: "Women's colleges provide a unique educational experience for young women in very formative years. Women's college alumnae are more successful than their co-ed counterparts and generally report that they are happier in their lives and careers."

Friday, September 13, 2013

Learn a Foreign Language

Wellesley College announced earlier this week that Portuguese is their newest language you can learn at the college. You also can learn Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi-Urdu, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili.

Wellesley College is a women’s college and is located in Wellesley, MA.

Wellesley is known for the excellence of its education, the beauty of its setting, its gifted faculty, and the uniqueness of its campus culture.


But most of all, Wellesley is known for the thousands of accomplished, thoughtful women it has sent out into the world for over 100 years—women who are committed to making a difference.”


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Smart Women Sweat

"The women of Agnes Scott College prove "Smart Women Sweat" in this tour of their campus to the hit song, "Roar" by Katy Perry. Check out more on Agnes Scott College and their programs or learn more  about the athletics program at ASC."


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Thinking of a Career in Public Service?

Consider attending a women’s college!

I really enjoyed reading this post: Advice for Tomorrow’s Women Leaders and if you are thinking about a career in public service I know you will as well. In this blog post, you’ll read about advice from various 2013 commencement speakers including:

  • Arianna Huffington editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post speaks at Smith College 2013 commencement

Monday, September 9, 2013

First-Year Students Doing the Roanoke Romp!

Here's a short video that I think you'll really enjoy!

"First-year students from Hollins University spent an afternoon getting to know their new host community by visiting the Mill Mountain Star and downtown Roanoke."




Hollins University is a women's college and is located in Roanoke, VA. At Hollins you'll receive the women's college advantage! In addition to excellent academics, you'll have lots of fun.

Schedule a campus visit to see if Hollins is right for YOU!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Friday, September 6, 2013

Article: 5 Great Colleges for Women (Sorry, guys)

I really enjoyed reading this article by Tom Kleese, an independent college planning consultant, “5 Great Colleges for Women (Sorry, guys).”

Tom begins his article with the following:

"March is Women’s History Month. In celebration, I offer this list of 5 great colleges for women…and women only. Single-sex education may seem like a remnant of the past, but according to research conducted by the National Survey of Student Engagement and published by the Women’s College Coalition, “women who attend a women’s college are significantly advantaged in terms of the nature and frequency with which they engage in educationally purposeful activities and in the progress they make in a variety of desirable outcomes of college”. Put simply, it works."

And concludes with:

"Finding the best fit colleges (emphasis on the plural) is not about going where you think you should go, or where you heard you should go, or where they said you should go – it’s about going to a place called the University of You, which for thousands of bright, talented, ambitious young minds happens to be a women’s college."

Learn more about Tom’s college planning services via his Web site, OnCampus College Planning.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Bryn Mawr Welcomes the Class of 2017

Last week, Bryn Mawr College welcomed the Class of 2017. It was a rainy week in this are of the country. Interim President Kim Cassidy welcomed the new students by saying, “People always say that when it rains on your wedding day, it’s good luck. So for you, Class of 2017, I want to tell you that the rain means that in four years when you leave Bryn Mawr, you will each be accepted into the graduate school of your choice, your parents will be happy to know you will receive multiple offers of employment, and the world will be yours to explore.”

Follow the link to read the blog post plus view many great move-in photos, for soon you too will be going to college.

From Wikipedia - "Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The phrase bryn mawr means "big hill" in Welsh."

Learn more about the college or the academics, including the many fields of studies: Africana Studies, Anthropology, Arabic, Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, Asian Studies, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Child and Family Studies, Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Comparative Literature, Computer Science, Creative Writing , Dance, East Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, English, Environmental Studies, Fine Arts, Film Studies, French and Francophone Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Geology, German, Greek, Latin and Classical Studies, Growth and Structure of Cities, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, Latin American, Latino and Iberian Peoples and Cultures, History, History of Art, International Studies, Italian and Italian Studies, Linguistics, Mathematics, Middle East Studies, Music, Neuroscience, Peace, Conflict, and Social Justice Studies, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Romance Languages, Russian, Sociology, Spanish, Theater, Urban Studies, and Women's Studies.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Basketball and Smith College

Big congratulations go out to Devon Quattrocchi '13, who recently signed a professional basketball contract in Denmark. Gratuating from Smith College, Devon is excited and looking forward to playing internationally, "With my basketball commitments, I did not go abroad while I was a student, but now I have been given a chance to do so, and also to continue to play a game that I love."

But did you know that women's college basketball began at Smith College?

From Wikipedia:

"Women's basketball began in the winter of 1892 at Smith College. Senda Berenson, an instructor at Smith, taught basketball to her students, hoping the activity would improve their physical health. Basketball's early adherents were affiliated with YMCAs and colleges throughout the United States, and the game quickly spread throughout the country.

However, Berenson was taking risks simply in teaching the game to women. She worried a little about the women suffering from "nervous fatigue" if games were too strenuous for them. And, in order to keep it "acceptable" for women to play at all, she taught modified rules. These included a court divided into three areas and nine players per team. Three players were assigned to each area (guard, center, forward) and could not cross the line into another area. The ball was moved from section to section by passing or dribbling. Players were limited to three dribbles and could hold the ball for three seconds. No snatching or batting the ball away from a player was allowed. A center jump was required after each score. Peach baskets and the soccer ball were the equipment. Variations of Berenson’s rules spread across the country via YMCAs and colleges."



 
Smith College is located in Northampton, MA. Academics at Smith are world-class as well as academic life:

"Experience a living tradition of intellectual rigor and scope. Take a risk on an untested concept. Develop the acuity to frame an argument, and the eloquence to persuade others of its merit. Take an art class even though your major is engineering. Work with a faculty of scholars who respect their students enough to expect the highest standards of academic achievement."

"A Smith education is about thinking for yourself instead of figuring out what a teacher wants you to say or echoing what your classmates believe. For every nine students, there’s a Smith professor to help you discover new information and reconsider theories and opinions you once took for granted.

There’s much more to Smith teaching than the "chalk and talk" approach you may be used to in high school. Smith professors expect students to speak up in class, contribute original ideas, question assumptions, even challenge their teachers’ views. The lively intellectual exchanges taking place in Smith classrooms (and student houses, snack bars and study lounges) prove that great minds don’t necessarily think alike.

Many institutions talk about employing teacher-scholars, but not every college lives up to that ideal. Smith's faculty members are truly dedicated teachers and active researchers, performers and writers. Our professors belong to top organizations like the National Academy of Sciences, lead national academic groups and are regularly recognized for their scholarly contributions. Ninety-six percent have doctoral degrees. Nearly half of Smith’s professors are women, and many of them serve as mentors and role models as well as teachers and advisers."


Learn why Smith College is a women's college. Learn about Smith's notable alumnae or the history of the college. Visit Smith College and see if Smith is for YOU!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Why I Chose a Women's College

I'm now blogging over at The Huffington Post and wanted to share with you my first blog post, "Why I Chose a Women's College." In this blog post, I connected with several first-year students to understand why they decided to attend a women's college.

Highlights:

"Even though women's colleges provide an amazing environment where young women thrive, these colleges are often overlooked for one of two reasons. Sometimes, college-bound high school girls don't realize that a single-sex college option exists; and when they do, many buy into the various myths about women's colleges that ensure these colleges remain on their "do-not-consider list."

Although a women's college is not for everyone, I simply can't accept the myth that women's colleges are no longer relevant or that young girls are not interested in attending one. Having graduated from a women's college many years ago, I thought I might be out of touch with today's high school girls, so I decided to contact incoming college students to see why they decided to attend one. Their response was overwhelming. And my hunch is correct. Teenage girls are passionate, excited, and thrilled about choosing a women's college for their higher education."


 Consider Jenni Miller. She selected Stephens College, and here is why she chose a women's college:

    "I learned about my college, Stephens, before I really looked into women's colleges. I knew they existed but never thought about going to one. When I began considering them, I was more worried what my classmates would say about me choosing an "all girls school" than I was actually attending one. It was when I started looking into what Stephens offered that I realized I wouldn't be attending an all girls school but a women's college. Where I'm going, women are strong and opinionated, and that's okay."

    "On the first visit I could already feel the support being given. The students at a women's college don't care about what you're wearing or what state you're from; they care about who you are as a person and intellectual. I've never felt judged while walking around campus, and I've never had to worry that I won't fit in. My friends like to joke that I'll never see boys and that I'll become a crazy feminist, but I'm not worried about any of that. Education is something I value, and I know that by choosing a women's college I won't be pushed to the back burner for leadership opportunities and that when I graduate I will be standing alongside some of the strongest and most driven women in the country. The bottom line is that I wanted an institution that would give me the chance to focus on my education and future career, and Stephens does just that."


Read the entire blog post to see why additional first-year students are attending women's colleges.