<p>Last night my daughter (an incoming Smith transfer) and I watched a wonderful program on PBS (FRONTLINE/World). A segment on the show was on a matriarchal society in China, the Mosuo tribe. It was amazing how confident and energetic these woman were at relatively young ages. It made me think that it some respects a women's college can be like that matriarchal society and produce young women with a strong sense of self. </p>
<p>You can read more about the Mosuo and view the film at the link below:</p>
<p>Funny, while you were watching that, my Smithie daughter and I were watching the Sylvia Plath film with Gwyneth Paltrow. (Only one scene supposedly at Smith, and that indoors - the entire film was shot in England.) Message? Don't let your d. go to Smith! :)</p>
<p>No, seriously, so much of the film was about Plath's struggle to define herself in a world and career that was virtually 100% controlled by, and defined by, men (and which kept her in the house with the two kids, despite the fact that she was an infinitely more talented poet than her husband.) Sadly, these issues still remain with us, and, as long as they do, the compelling need for women's colleges will remain.</p>
<p>Incidentally, of the six female U.S. Poet Laureates/Consultants since 1945 who graduated from college at all, four of them attended women's colleges - Leonie Adams (Barnard), Elizabeth Bishop (Vassar), Maxine Kumin (Radcliffe), and Louise Gluck (Sarah Lawrence). The only other two were Mona Van Duyn (University of Northern Iowa), and Rita Dove (Miami University of Ohio.)</p>
<p>Elizabeth Bishop graduated from daughter's high school and is quite an inspiration for the students. Her poem "Behind Stowe" is of her time at WHS. My daughter participated in a reading of the poem for alumni set under the tree behind Stowe.</p>
<p>Perhaps tangential or perhaps not: I've always had little question about the level of my D's talents. But after two years at Smith there's a confidence and growing assertiveness that there wasn't before. It's as if she's becoming more like herself, if that makes any sense.</p>
<p>RLT...thanks for the info. This is what I've been trying to say all along with this post going way back.
[quote]
Of particular significance was the study's finding regarding how women's colleges help their students develop quantitative skills and facilitate opportunities to interact around differences. Also, first-year students and seniors at women's colleges scored higher on the NSSE measures of active and collaborative learning and interacted more often with faculty and participated in more integrative learning. These activities require integrating acquired knowledge, skills and competencies into a meaningful whole.
[/quote]
In particular, I think Smith does a great job dealing with the above mentioned quote.</p>
<p>one of my best friends is going to a catholic girls hs, and i think the all female experience has been really good for her as she is a somewhat shy person
however, do you think it really helps for girls that already speak up in class and are assertive?
just wondering, i'm sure there are lots of benefits but I'm a public school girl
ps smith is awesome
gloria steinem and betty friedan went there!</p>
<p>I was always assertive and spoke up in class at my public school (elementary and middle school), but I never blossomed socially until I got into my all girls HS. In elementary and middle school, I never got on with the boys or the popular crowd, and I felt like I was constantly on the defensive and alienated for being a smart, talkative girl. All girls HS saved my life, and women's college is awesome. that's my two cents.</p>
<p>I’ve been able to define myself without a male comparison or, worse yet, without a comparison to females for the sake of male attention. The measuring stick, then, becomes a standard, not a person; standards can be raised without fear of collapse— people never can. I’ve picked math, science, and research-intensive coursework and accepted executive leadership roles without being intimidated by their gendered connotations.</p>
<p>I’ve learned that beauty and intelligence, kindness and assertiveness, and grace and strength are neither mutually exclusive nor poles on a continuum of femininity. By living in a learning community defined by the sameness of our sex, the differences in our selves— who we are— have become celebrated additions to the richness of what we share. Because we value uniqueness so highly, I’ve learned to stand out, up, and firm. </p>
<p>Though I’m a woman, I don’t have to roar for you to hear me— no, all that is required is speaking in my own voice with words of my own choosing. You’ll listen because I’m not just “anybody” any more.</p>
<p>As SmithieandProud said- I was always one of the "loudest" kids in my HS in the classroom (teachers have actually shut me up to give others a chance to talk).</p>
<p>While I didn't feel that Smith improved on that part much, I felt greater improvement in social life- being around other women helped me to find my own voice for the "real life." It's the biggest reason for why I don't regret going to Smith for my first year. I have more self-confidence in social situations. :)</p>
<p>There's always a place somewhere on campus for Smithies to find their self-confidence- doesn't always have to be in the classroom (as I discovered too late after transferring out....).</p>
<p>You may have already said this, but where do you go now and why, in particular, did you leave Smith? if you don't mind my asking, i don't mean that in an accusatory way, just to give me some guidance in my college search.</p>
[/quote]
Note that "Wesleyan College" is a women's college in Georgia. It is commonly confused with "Wesleyan University," a coed LAC in Connecticut. </p>
<p>Whether Mt. Holyoke or Wesleyan College is older depends on your definition. Mt. Holyoke opened in 1837, but it was officially a "female seminary", and not a degree-granting college, until 1888. Wesleyan College opened in 1839, and did grant degrees, but the curriculum at that time was apparently geared towards women's vocational training; it was not comparable to college education for men.</p>
<p>The first undisputed college degrees granted to women were by Oberlin (a coed school) in 1841. The first undisputed women's college was Elmira College in 1855 (now coed), which was the model for the more-successful Vassar College in 1865.</p>
<p>So anyone have the link (or the quote) on the engineering program?</p>
<p>"The first undisputed college degrees granted to women were by Oberlin (a coed school) in 1841."</p>
<p>Lest one think the education was "comparable", the women were assigned to doing laundry and ironing for the male students, and most of the classes were not coed. It was the college's hope that the future ministers being produced at Oberlin would find marital partners there before they went out to preach the Gospel. Women did not take the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew taught in the Collegiate Institute, but were rather confined to the "Ladies Course". </p>
<p>One of the first women graduates was Lucy Stone, an extraordinary abolitionist, who was asked to write a commencement address for the graduating class of 1847. She, however, refused, as, being a woman, she wouldn't be allowed to deliver it.</p>