Gender and Learning

Historical Overview

During American colonial times, schooling was mostly the privilege of boys from wealthy and middle-class families of European descent. It has been estimated that in New England in 1780, women's literacy rate was about half that of men's. One of the aims of education at that time was the development of the literacy skills needed to read the Bible and other religious texts. Women, whose primary domestic responsibilities included the education of their young children in religious matters, were expected to have such skills.

With the birth of the new republic, some U.S. reformers advocated for the improvement of girls' education. They argued that mothers needed to be able to educate their sons about the new values, rights, and responsibilities of republican citizenship. By the end of the 18th century, girls and boys were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic at the primary level. Women's role in society at this time limited their access to higher levels of schooling. Education was a marker of wealth for young women. Boys were instructed in the classics in preparation to meet college entrance requirements. For the most part, higher education was the sole domain of men during this period.

The 19th century saw the expansion of educational opportunities across gender and social-class boundaries in two ways. At the beginning of the century, female academies proliferated, providing higher education for women who could afford their fees. The mission of these academies was to educate their students for responsible motherhood. At the same time, these institutions stressed academic subjects, thus expanding the intellectual development of women. A few of them even offered the same subjects and methods of instruction as boys' schools.

The education of boys continued to focus on the classics, but the education of girls was opened to curricular innovation. Many of the female seminaries offered scientific subjects, including astronomy and chemistry. Before the growing industrialization of the U.S. economy, women were considered quite capable in the scientific fields. As advances in science became the driving force in industrial America, it became primarily men's intellectual domain.

Leaders in the development of female academies, such as Emma Willard and Mary Lyon, also stressed teacher education. By advocating teaching as a profession for women, female academies significantly transformed their participation in the [Page 952]public sphere. By the middle of the 19th century, the first seminary for the exclusive education of Black women was established in Washington, D.C. The need to train Black women teachers was the major factor that led to its establishment.

Girls measuring piece of ground in arithmetic class at Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, 1899 or 1900

Source: Frances Benjamin Johnston, photographer; Library of Congress, LOT 1105104.

Students in the female academies were taught how to be good mothers and housewives, but some of them preferred to spend their lives as teachers, midwives, or geologists. Some alumnae never married. There was opposition to the growing number of female academies. Some educators believed that this kind of knowledge made women unfit for their traditional roles, but the continued success of the seminaries in attracting new students legitimized their role in society.

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