Congratulations Graduates of 2013!

As you graduate, I would like to share with you a quote that I feel is especially relevant. It’s from Isadora Duncan.

“You were Wild once. Don’t let Them Tame you.” 

Here’s another insightful quote from Isadora, “Most human beings today waste some 25 to 30 years of their lives before they break through the actual and conventional lies which surround them.”

So you may be thinking what does this have to do with women’s colleges.

Women’s colleges provide an environment that encourages you to get to know who you are, by encouraging you to think and feel for yourself. Numerous examples exist within my blog that support these words. Sadly, this nurturing environment is very much lacking in coed colleges.

Women’s colleges are more relevant today than they ever have been, discover the power of a women’s college education – and dare to be different, dare to dream bigger, and dare to be who you really are!

Congratulations to the Class of 2013!

Why I Decided to Attend a Women's College, Agnes Scott College

Agnes Scott College is a women’s college and is located in Decator, GA.

Wordless Wednesday

 Wordless Wednesday 

Women's Colleges Give Every Woman Equal Ground to Grow

I was thrilled to read the article of a very insightful high school senior, Elise Brown. Last week her article, “Women's colleges give every woman equal ground to grow” was published in a local newspaper.

In Elise's article, she writes about the reasons she decided to attend Wellesley College this fall. (Wellesley College is a women’s college and is located in Wellesley, MA). And she also encourages her classmates to consider attending a women’s college.

Insightful, spot on, and one of the best articles I've read all year! If this is the only post you read on my blog, let it be this one.

Article Highlights:

“Now that I’m leaving high school and moving on to a women’s college, I am often asked why that was my choice. Sometimes, the best answer is that Wellesley just feels “right,” but for bigger reasons, I hope more Lions will consider women’s colleges in their search for a school.

It’s unfortunate we live in a world where women’s colleges are necessary. However, it’s wonderful that the women’s colleges we need exist. In fact, thanks to these gender-specific schools, true gender equality can happen sooner.

For centuries, society has labored under a gender dichotomy that favors the man over the woman. Not until the last century did women have a seat at the political table; a woman in the workplace was not normal until my mom was young. Countless sacrifices have been made over the years to allow our sex to make greater strides.

But women still struggle. Even after the Lilly Ledbetter Act, women make, on average, 77 cents for each dollar made by men. Issues of women’s health are political debates, not private decisions. And in day-to-day life, women are still primarily considered objects of desire.”

Spotlight: Stern College for Women

Spotlight: Stern College for Women

I’m thrilled to spotlight the Stern College for Women today. Located in NYC, NY this women’s college is one for women who are looking to earn their bachelor’s degree in the arts and sciences, while embracing their Jewish heritage.

I’m including highlights about the college’s history from their Web site:

“Founded in 1954 with a major gift from Max Stern, president of Hartz Mountain Products, Stern College for Women is a pioneer in the field of women's education. We offer women the unprecedented opportunity to earn their bachelor's degree in the arts and sciences and immerse themselves in rigorous Jewish studies at the same time, in the same place.  . . .  Today, more than 1,000 students from across the United States and countries that span the globe attend Stern College. It is truly a gathering place of people and ideas, from Colombia to Morocco, Seattle to Teaneck. United by their quest for both unparalleled intellectual engagement and spiritual exploration, our students are ground-breakers. They become pioneers in their fields, whether as the first volunteer to serve on the US base at the South Pole, as a clerk for the Supreme Court of Israel or a professor of comparative literature at a Chinese university.

The S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program, begun with a major gift from philanthropist S. Daniel Abraham in 1999, has attracted students of ever-higher academic caliber to the college, where they engage in once-in-a-lifetime research opportunities and forge rewarding relationships with faculty mentors.

We have come light-years from our simple start with a handful of young women and a visionary dream. Our campus has grown from one building and a hotel to five dormitories bustling with students and three state-of-the-art classroom buildings. In December 2009, the beloved 245 Lexington Avenue building was renamed Stanton Hall in recognition of board member Ronald P. Stanton and his ceaseless dedication to Yeshiva University, including a gift of $100 million dollars to fund the Stanton Legacy.

That's where we've been so far. The best is yet to come.”

And here’s a welcome letter from the college Dean, Karen Bacon, Ph.D.

“Prestigious universities are measured by the research productivity of their faculty, the successes of their alumni, the size of their endowments and the weight of their ivy.

Here at Stern College for Women, we can point to some very impressive statistics on all these counts, save the ivy index. But we also pride ourselves on much more.

The commitment of our entire student body to the study of primary texts in Hebrew and Aramaic is unheard of in higher education in America. The number of our women engaged in community service is enviable. And the percentage of our students majoring, doing research and publishing in nontraditional fields for women, such as the physical and mathematical sciences, competes favorably with the percentages at much larger institutions.

Stern College is alive with a cacophony of voices from all over the United States and the world. These women are attracted by our unmatched Jewish Studies Program; our ambitious offering in the humanities, social and natural sciences; and our involvement with the culture of New York which is our campus.

All of this is coupled with opportunities to contribute to and learn from communities as distant as Guatemala and Thailand through our service-learning options.

If you see yourself as someone committed to Jewish studies, to academic achievement, to being part of a network of women who are developing themselves as leaders, movers and shakers, then you belong at Stern College. 

We look forward to adding your voice to our joyous cacophony.””

Pros and Cons of Women’s Colleges

I love how this article, “Pros and Cons of Women’s Colleges,” written by Laina Chin and published on December 30, 2012 begins, “When I met with my college guidance counselor for the first time in eleventh grade, one of the many questions she asked me was, “Would you consider applying to a women’s college?” to which I almost immediately responded, “Of course not!” Having gone to an all-girls’ school since sixth grade, there was no way I wanted to spend the next four years of my life in another single-sex environment.” I hope this opening sentence encourages you to read the entire article.

Is There Still a Need for Women’s Colleges?

I very much enjoyed reading this insightful article and as the title implies answers the question, “Is there Still a Need for Women’s Colleges?” The article also talks about how effective women’s colleges are for those interested in STEM careers as well as how to go selecting the right one for YOU!

Article highlight:
“There are still plenty of reasons to explore women’s colleges as an option, particularly when it comes to honoring the objectives around which they were founded — lessening the gender gaps and ensuring the safest, healthiest, most supportive spaces where women can learn.”

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Single Sex Colleges: Are they right for you?

I enjoyed reading this article, "Single Sex Colleges: Are they right for you?" written by Lisa Jenkins, Writer/News Editor and published on September 20, 2012.

I believe that the power of a women’s college is its supportive environment, an environment that is simply not available in a coed college.

From the article, Lisa writes, “But why is it important for a woman to feel “empowered”? It may have to do with American society today. In Congress, men outnumber women nearly five to one. And Ms. Gabel pointed out the fact that women are still earning less to the dollar as compared to men. Ms. Monkemeier notices the disparity, and feels that “as women gain more of a foothold in the workforce… less of that empowerment will be needed.””

I hope you enjoyed reading Lisa’s article as much as I did and I encourage you seek the answer to the question, Single Sex Colleges: Are they right for you?

Why I Chose a Women's College

 

Learn more about Smith College.

Quote: Women's colleges are empowing and provide a life-changing experience.

Diane C. from Rochester, NY says, “Single sex education is so important, especially for young women who have grown up learning that girls are the lesser sex. Going to an all women's school is an empowering, life-changing experience that every woman should have the opportunity/choice to experience.”

More Quotes: The Power of a Women’s College

Here’s what Lydia A. from Oakland, CA says about women’s colleges, “I attended a women's college and a co-ed college. I learned so much more in the women's college than the co-ed college.”

And here’s what Margee C. from San Francisco, CA wrote, “My women's college education created a safe environment for me to help reach my potential and excel in ways I never thought possible before.”

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Quote: Going to an all-women's college, Mills College, was the BEST decision I have made in my adult life so far.

Here’s what A.L. from Oakland, CA wrote, “Women's colleges are necessary in cultivating strong, independent women. Going to an all-women's college, Mills College, was the BEST decision I have made in my adult life so far. I would not be the person I am if I had gone to a co-ed school. Women need a place where they are allowed to speak openly and not be afraid to speak up or overlooked. All-women's colleges foster leaders and we need more strong women leaders! Thank you.”

Quote: Regrets Not Attending a Women’s College

Jan W. from Newaygo, MI writes, “As a woman and one who did not pursue her dreams to become a veterinarian until her late 30's (received that DVM three-months before I turned 43), I firmly believe if I had been able to attend an all women’s college I would not have been so discouraged early on. There is a real need and place for schools where only women attend.”

The Role Women’s Colleges Play in STEM Careers

Research shows us that young women who attend a women’s college are more likely to engage in meaningful research projects while attending a women’s college; more likely to attend graduate school (especially in STEM programs); and more likely to earn her PhD.

Coed colleges simply do not provide the same supportive environments that build confidence (especially in male-dominated fields like STEM).

If you are serious about a STEM career, please consider attending a women’s college.

The Competitive Advantage of a Women’s College

For today’s blog post, with permission from the author, I’ve included an article by  Dodge Johnson, Ph.D., CEP (Certified Educational Planner), "The Competitive Advantage of a Women’s College." Since 1984, Dr. Johnson has helped many students and their families navigate the college selection process.

I hope you enjoy his article.

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF A WOMEN'S COLLEGE
by Dodge Johnson, Educational Consultant
from his Philadelphia Inquirer Column "Countdown to College" 

Women's colleges aren't for everyone. But they are a choice every college-bound woman should consider seriously, regardless of any preconceptions about herself or what women's colleges are like.

Less than 5% of women attend women's colleges. Yet, look who their graduates are:
•    10 of the 24 women in congress.
•    1/3 of women on boards of Fortune 1000 companies.
•    30% of women Business Week picked as rising stars in Corporate America.

They are also far more likely be lawyers, managers, or doctors, to earn advanced degrees, to hold doctorates in natural sciences. And in case you're wondering if they have only careers in mind, know that more than three quarters marry and half have children.

Equally important for candidates: because women's colleges are out of fashion, even the best - the ones where resources rival the Princetons and Dartmouths - are far easier to get into.

What makes women's colleges so successful?

Some ingredients are obvious. Students with the courage to make a less usual choice of college are likely to make courageous graduates. When roughly half the faculty who teach them are women, many balancing family and career, they are inspired by examples of what they themselves may become.

But the real secret is more subtle.

College can be a make-or-break time as students stretch the wings that will carry them into adulthood. And women who mature in an environment powered by women often learn a confidence their co-ed sisters find harder to come by.

It's not that co-ed colleges mean to discriminate. But all too often the atmosphere reflects male assumptions and rewards male behavior. That's a Catch-22 for women, who are disadvantaged in the competition to be, say, a doctor if ambition is considered gentlemanly but not ladylike.

There's more. Studies by Roberta Hall for the American Association of Colleges show that faculty tend to maintain more eye contact with men, to call on them more often, to ask them more searching questions and generally encourage persistence.

They don't do it consciously, of course, which makes the effect all the more insidious. And such built-in bias may explain findings by Alexander Astin, an astute researcher of student behavior at UCLA, that academic and career aspirations of many women actually decline during their college years.

Forces outside the classroom also take their toll. Women may find it harder to capture top leadership positions or maintain control when they do. Fraternities and sororities conspire to foster a climate where men dominate - and women let them.

These constraints simply don't, can't, occur in women's colleges. And the confidence women learn there as undergraduates equips them later to swim with the sharks in a prestigious law firm or a dog-eat-dog business or medical school, where often the rules were invented by - and for - men.

What are women's colleges really like? They are hardly cloisters - they wouldn't attract students if they were. But because men are not central to college life, students often have to work a bit harder at dating than they would in a mixed environment. The trade-off is that men are not ubiquitous or inescapable, nor are they rivals in either the classroom or campus activities.

And women's colleges today are hardly white gloves and finger sandwiches, although some like Sweet Briar guard traditions that make them gracious and distinctive.

Most will let you register for courses at nearby co-ed colleges, as Wells students do at Cornell. And some are entwined with co-ed colleges:

Mt. Holyoke and Smith are part of a yeasty five college group, all within ten miles. Scripps is across the sidewalk from the four other Claremont colleges, and students take courses at all five. Bryn Mawr is knit so closely with Haverford that students not only study on the other campus but can live there as well. Men are around these colleges, in class and out and at all hours. But men will never run them.

Who belongs at a women's college? Women themselves often don't know till they investigate - although if all your close friends are men or you detest women in groups, a women's college is probably not for you.

Jane Cox included a women's college among her campus visits only because her counselor talked her into looking. She fell in love with Marymount, and now only graduation could tear her away.

Beth Talliafero wanted a first-rate education. She chose Mills despite it's being a women's college, but she stayed because she discovered the magic of an ecology that forced her to grow individually while nourishing her and women in general.

But most attend a women's college because they're convinced it can help them become the person they want to be. Carol Hernandez of Mount St. Mary's in Los Angeles says grinning, "I chose a women's college because I put learning first. A husband I can catch anytime!"

To learn more about Dodge Johnson, Ph.D., CEP (Certified Educational Planner), click here.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Quote: My Experience at a Women’s College

Janice B. from Newport, PA says, “When I attended a women’s college from 2001-03 as a transfer student, I felt the atmosphere of the college was significantly supportive of my education because it was a group of driven women. Some elements that exist on co-ed campuses that hinder a focus on education simply did not exist. The small class sizes and one-on-one discourse between faculty and students is the number one thing I valued as a student, and now value as an adult. Whenever anyone asks me about my unique college experience the first thing I mention is the fact that the college was all women and every woman counted and was pushed to bring their very best. Expect more, get more.”

College’s for Women, The Many Advantages of Attending

The Advantages of Women's Colleges
By Christine Hand

Although women's college graduates account for a mere 4 percent of college-educated women, they have made impressive contributions to all facets of society. So what would a woman gain by attending a women's college?

• Women are more likely to perceive their colleges as caring about them and their learning
• Promotes a woman's intellectual and social self-confidence, academic ability and cultural awareness
• Women participate more fully in and out of class and engage in higher order thinking activities
• Students are likely to trust institutions missions and exhibit leadership traits such as public speaking skills and promote racial understanding
• Overall satisfaction academically, developmentally, and personally
• Students often have higher academic and professional aspirations
• These institutions employ many women faculty members who are high quality teaching-oriented individuals
• Students score higher on standardized achievement tests
• Women tend to receive more doctoral degrees and enter medical school
• An increase is salaries along with opportunities for women alumnae to develop leadership and management skills, and lifelong career advancement
• Higher percentage of majors in economics, math, life science and engineering
• There are strong benefits from mentoring, small classes and personal interaction with professors
• Resources are set aside for sophisticated research equipment to preeminent athletics facilities to internship and fellowship funding, all focused on and available to women students
• Women's colleges underscore the need for critical thinking, global knowledge, intercultural competence, and real-world abilities; women's colleges surpass all public and private colleges in helping students learn to think analytically, bring social and historical perspective to issues, work as part of a team, write and speak effectively, make sound decisions, gain entry to a career, prepare for career change or advancement, and be politically and socially aware
• Indicate greater gains in understanding themselves and others, general education, ability to analyze quantitative problems, and desire to contribute to the welfare of their community
• Tend to be more involved in philanthropic activities after college
• Some statistics about women who graduated from women's colleges:
• In the 2008 election, a record number of women won seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives of the 111th Congress. Of the 100 seats, 17 are held by women and two of those were graduates of women's colleges.
• Four women on President Barrack Obama's new administration were women's college graduates - Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Desiree Rogers, and Mona Sutphen.
• Of Business Week's list of the 50 women who are rising stars in corporate America, 15 - or 30% - received their baccalaureate degree from a women's college.
• Of the 4,012 highest paid officers and directors of 1990 Fortune 1000 companies, 19 - or less than one-half of 1% - were women. Of these women, 36% are women's college graduates.
• In a 1997 magazine survey, 20% of the 100 most powerful women in Washington, D.C., attended women's colleges.
• Graduates of women's colleges are more than twice as likely as graduates of coeducational colleges to receive doctorate degrees, and to enter medical school and receive doctorates in the natural sciences.
• 20% of women identified by Black Enterprise Magazine, as the 20 most powerful African-American women in corporate America, graduated from women's colleges.
• Almost half of women's college graduates in the work force hold traditionally male-dominated jobs at the higher end of the pay scale such as lawyer, physician or manager.
• 9 out of 10 women's college alumnae have participated in at least one civic or professional organization since college.

This article is an excerpt from the interactive e-book College Bound - Proven Ways to Plan and Prepare for Getting Into the College of Your Dreams by Christine M. Hand available at http://www.college-path.com/college-path-store.

About The Author: Christine M. Hand, Ed.D, has spent the last 20 years as a consultant, instructor, high school college counselor, and registered therapist. Her work with high school juniors and seniors focuses on career exploration and college counseling. Dr. Hand is a graduate of St. Lawrence University where she received a B.A. in Art Education and Economics. She earned a Masters in Counseling Education from the University of Bridgeport, and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Argosy University. She is an instructor for UCLA's online College Counseling Certificate Program and provides college search and admissions advice on her website, http://www.college-path.com.

Article Source: The Advantages of Women's Colleges

Wondering Why You Should Attend A Women's College?

Click here if you would like the answer to this question.

Advantages of a Women's College

Women’s colleges are committed to educating women. Bay Path College is one such college.  

Why attend a Women’s College?

"Bay Path College is committed to remaining a women’s college because it believes strongly that a women’s college education provides opportunities and experiences that foster confidence, creativity and collaboration.

For generations, women were limited in their options of pursuing a college education. Women’s colleges were founded largely on the belief that women should have access to higher education equally with men, and, in doing so, women would become valued and active participants on many levels (international to community) and in many fields (science, education, politics, and the arts).

Today, more than ever, that imperative still holds true. In fact, with our increasingly complex and global world, the success of Bay Path (and other women’s colleges) in the areas of science, technology, and focused disciplines is emphatic and undeniable. At Bay Path, the personal attention, the focus on academics, and the development of the whole person are qualities that are not only timeless…they provide value that stands the test of time."

The above is from Bay Path's Web site. To read the entire post, click here.
 
Bay Path College is located in Longmeadow, MA.To learn more about this women's college, click here.

Wordless Wednesday

 Wordless Wednesday