Family and Consumer Sciences

The field of family and consumer sciences is an offshoot of home economics, which entered the public psyche in the mid-1800s, chiefly through the efforts of Catherine Beecher Stowe, who believed that women should be educated in the domestic sciences. By the middle of the century, there was a push to add “dom sci,” as it was called, to the curricula of land-grant colleges, so that women would be prepared to help husbands run family farms. In the late 19th century, Ellen Swallow Richards began applying scientific methods to domestic work and gave birth to the home economics movement. Despite its continued association with home economics, the contemporary field of family and consumer sciences has a broader reach that combines social and natural sciences to encompass all aspects of family, domestic, and community life in areas such as political and social change, nutrition, parenting, aging, the environment, and consumerism.

Many schools at the K-12 level now offer courses in family and consumer sciences, and Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America serves as a career and technical resource in a large number of schools. A national survey of students in family and consumer science programs conducted in 2003 revealed that there was relative gender equity at the middle school level, with boys making up 49.7 percent of all students and girls making up 50.3 percent. That equity disappeared at the high school level, where boys made up only 37 percent of the student population in such classes compared with the 63 percent that were girls. At the college and university level, family and consumer science is dominated by women.

A number of prestigious institutions, including Iowa, Texas, and Florida State universities, offer degrees in family and consumer sciences, and East Carolina University offers degrees through the College of Human Ecology. In some countries, entire facilities are devoted to the discipline. Australia has the Home Economic Institute, and the Philippines has the University of the Philippines, Diliman College of Home Economics.

Courses included under the umbrella of family and consumer sciences may vary across institutions, but they are many commonalities. At Eastern Kentucky University, for instance, students may obtain associate degrees in Early Childhood Development. Four-year degrees are available in Apparel Design and Merchandising, Child and Family Studies, Family and Consumer Sciences Education, and General Dietetics. Master's degrees focus on teaching, community nutrition, and health. Individuals with degrees in family and consumer sciences are employed in jobs that [Page 510]range from teaching and research to social and consumer services.

There are a number of associations designed to meet the needs of those involved in family and consumer sciences. For instance, in the 21st century, the American Association of Family and Consumer Science had more than 7,000 members who had expressed commitment to improving the well-being of individuals, families, and communities; raising their voices concerning the development, delivery, and evaluation of consumer goods and services; lobbying for public policies that promoted their interests; and shaping social changes designed to improve life in the United States.