Spotlight On… Women’s Colleges

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about women’s colleges. But they’re just that.  Misconceptions. Read on to learn what women’s colleges have to offer, and why you might want to consider them.

You won’t necessarily be taking classes only with other women. Many women’s colleges have consortium agreements with other nearby co-ed colleges. Students who take advantage of these agreements can take courses at multiple colleges, and students at other schools can take courses at the women’s college. This means it’s likely that  at least some – and perhaps many –of your classes will be mixed-gender. For instance, students at Barnard and Columbia, Bryn Mawr and Haverford, and Scripps and the other Claremont Colleges all easily participate in class exchanges.

You may be more likely to pursue a math or science major at a women’s college. As much as we may be reluctant to admit it, men still far outnumber women in math and science fields, even though more women currently attend college than men. At women’s colleges, however, the sciences are highly-enrolled majors.

You may be more likely to pursue – and obtain – leadership experience. If you look at the gender breakdown of America’s leaders in government (248 members of Congress are men and 83 are women), business (32 Fortune 500 companies are run by women), education (approximately 25% of college presidents are women), and other fields, there is a noticeable difference between the numbers of women and men in leadership positions. One of the keys to help level the playing field is for women to obtain more leadership positions in college. At a women’s college, women hold all of the leadership positions, and career services and advising are focused on women. This means that if you are planning to become a leader in business, technology, education, politics – or any field, really – you may be more likely to get that crucial experience at a women’s college.

Women’s colleges provide an environment with strong female role models in numerous academic fields and plenty of opportunities for student leadership…all good reasons to see if one of the women’s colleges might be a good fit for you.