Opening Doors in Education
Women have made great strides in education due to Title IX, a federal law
prohibiting sex discrimination in federally-funded education, and affirmative
action programs that have increased hiring, promotion, training, athletic
and admission opportunities in educational institutions.
The dramatic increase in the enrollment in and graduation of women from
medical schools is one example of the gains women have made as a result of
affirmative action programs.
Percentage of Female Enrollees and Graduates
of
Medical Schools, 1969-19901 |
|
1969-70 |
1979-80 |
1989-90 |
| Total Enrolled |
9% |
25.3% |
36.2% |
| Graduates |
8.4% |
23.1% |
34.5% |
Affirmative action programs also improve the quality of life of communities.
A study of graduates of the University of California School of Medicine in
San Diego found the physicians who had been admitted with the assistance of
the Special Admission Subcommittee saw more patients daily and were more likely
to practice primary care medicine in traditionally neglected rural and inner-city
areas than graduates admitted through traditional mechanisms.2
Women have significantly increased their share of doctoral and professional
degrees since affirmative action programs began. In 1971, women received only
14.4% of doctorates. In 1991, the number of female doctoral recipients had
jumped to 36.8%.3
Affirmative action has increased women's opportunities in vocational education.
The Perkins Act, implemented in 1985, requires states to use 10.5% of federal
funds for vocational education for services to girls and to women such as
displaced homemakers and single parents. Seventy-one percent of displaced
homemakers and single parents found jobs after completing a Florida program
funded by these grants, and their average salaries doubled.4
Women's participation in college and high school sports has greatly increased
over the past two decades. In 1972, women comprised only 15.6% of college
athletes. As of 1993, that percentage had grown to 34.8%.5 In
high school athletics, the numbers of girls participating in interscholastic
sports increased from seven percent in 1972 to 37% in 1992.
Discrimination Continues in Higher Education
The fight for equal educational opportunities, however, is far from over.
Women are receiving doctorates in greater numbers, but gains have been less
in non-traditional fields. In 1991, Ph.D.s in the fields of social science
and humanities were awarded in almost even numbers to women and men. But women
comprised only 8.7% of engineering doctorates and 18.4% of doctoral degrees
in the physical sciences.6
Women are also shortchanged in scholarships and other forms of financial
support for post-graduate education. Women rely on their personal and family
resources to finance their education, while men can count on university financial
support. According to the National Research Council, 56.1% of male doctoral
recipients financed their graduate education with university support, compared
with 39.9% of women. Of women doctoral recipients, 50.4% paid for their education
through personal resources, while only 31% of men relied on their personal
finances.7
Vocational Education Remains Sex-segregated
Men are given more vocational education opportunities than are women. Women
and girls enrolled in vocational education are clustered in fields that are
traditionally female and pay less.8 In 1992, 70% of enrollees in
health courses and 76% of students enrolled in occupational home economics
were women. Men accounted for 77% of enrollees in trade and industry courses
and 72% of students concentrating in technical education.9
Glass Ceiling Exists in Teaching
While the number of women faculty members at colleges and universities has
increased as a result of affirmative action, women are concentrated among
the junior faculty and are much less likely than men to hold tenure status.
In 1991, women held only 20.5% of tenured faculty positions.10
| Women on College and University Faculties
by Academic Rank, 1991 11 |
|
Total |
Women |
Percentage |
| Professors |
144,341 |
21,168 |
14.7% |
| Associate Professors |
116,631 |
32,320 |
27.7% |
| Assistant Professors |
126,344 |
50,215 |
39.7% |
| Instructors |
78,082 |
36,958 |
47.3% |
| Lecturers |
11,275 |
5,913 |
52.4% |
Women faculty members receive far lower salaries than their male counterparts.
Overall, women faculty make 80.8 cents for every dollar men faculty are paid.
The wage gap persists even among tenured faculty members. Women who are full
professors make only 88.5% of the salaries of men who are full professors.12
Despite being the majority of high school and grammar school teachers, women
are under-represented in administrative positions. Women accounted for only
30% of all principals at public schools during the 1990-91 school year.13
Barriers Remain in Athletics
Although more than a third of college athletes are women, men receive a
disproportionate share of the money spent on college athletics. Male athletes
receive 70% of scholarship money, 77% of operating budgets, and 83% of recruitment
money.14
The percentage of girl athletes has been increasing very slowly and in some
cases decreasing since the late 1970s.15 The percentage of high
school girl sophomores participating in athletic teams actually declined from
46% in 1980 to 41% in 1990.16
Real Preferential Treatment in Education
The children of alumni -- not women and minorities -- are the prime beneficiaries
of preferential treatment at colleges and universities. The slots reserved
for children of alumni are called "legacy" seats.
The legacy preference in admissions in many cases results in the acceptance
of less qualified candidates over better qualified candidates. The legacy
preferences are believed to especially benefit whites, males, and the children
of wealthy alumni.
Children of alumni at Harvard University in 1991 were three times more likely
to be accepted than other prospective students. At Yale, children of alumni
are two and a half times more likely to be admitted.
Dartmouth in 1991 gave admission to 57% of its legacy applicants, and only
27% of other students. Sixty-six percent of alumni children were accepted
at the University of Pennsylvania. Twenty-five percent of Notre Dame's freshman
class is saved for the children of alumni.17
1 American Medical Association (AMA), Women in Medicine
in America: In the Mainstream, (Chicago: AMA, 1991) 3.
2 Nolan E. Penn et. al., "Affirmative Action at Work: A Survey
of Graduates of the University of California, San Diego, Medical
School, American Journal of Public Health 76 (September
1986) 1145-46.
3 National Research Council Office of Scientific and Engineering
Personnel, Summary Report 1991: Doctorate Recipients from United
States Universities, (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press,
1993) 11.
4 National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education Vocational
Education Task Force, Empowering America's Families: Documenting
the Success of Vocational Equity Programs for Women and Girls,
(Washington, DC: National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education,
March 1995)
5 NCAA, The Sports and Recreation Programs of the Nation's
Universities and Colleges, Reports #3-7; and NCAA Participation
Studies, 1987-93.
6 National Research Council, 11.
7 Ibid., 18.
8 National Assessment of Vocational Education, Summary of Findings
and Recommendations, (Springfield: U.S. Department of Commerce,
July 1989) 57.
9 National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, 8.
10 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 1994.
11 Ibid.
12 US. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, Salaries, Tenure, and Fringe Benefits 1993-94,
4.
13 US. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990-1991.
14 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Final Report
of the NCAA Gender-Equity Task Force, 1992.
15 National Federation of State High School Associations, 1993
Sports Participation Survey (Kansas City, MO).
16 US. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, America's High School Sophomores: A Ten Year Comparison
(June 1993) 32.
17 John Larew, "Why Are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids
Getting Into Our Top Colleges," Washington Monthly 23,
6: 10.
