Coed Higher Education

A basic historical trend in U.S. higher education has been the transition from educating men and [Page 398]women separately to educating them together in coeducational institutions. Almost all colleges and universities today, in contrast to the mid-19th century, are diverse in the gender of their student bodies. Yet coeducation could also be understood to mean that within an institution, men and women receive the same education, which has usually not been the case. Some research indicates that women are disadvantaged within coeducational institutions and benefit from separate women's colleges. The ironic consequence of nearly universal coeducation is that there is less diversity in types of colleges, and higher education may be losing a type of institution that is particularly supportive of women. Today's challenge is ...