Rise of Women in Higher Education

The story of the American university in the past half century is about the rise of women in participation as students, faculty members, college athletes, and in subsequently changing the overall university culture for the better. Now almost sixty percent of the overall college student population in America is female, and still growing. By the year 2000, women surpassed men worldwide in attendance at higher education institutions. At the same time, after years of a disproportionate dominant male professoriate, female faculty members are now becoming the majority of university professors. While top university presidents are still largely male, women have achieved real gains in the overall administrative ranks and trustee positions. In all areas of the university disparities still exist in terms of compensation and balance in key areas of the academy, but the overall positive trend is clear. Few to this date have recognized and chronicled this extraordinary change in college education—one of society’s fundamental and influential institutions. For universities the test for the future is to make the changes needed in broad areas within higher education from financial aid to curriculum, student activities, and overall campus culture in order to better foster a newly empowered majority of women students.

In this slim, clearly written volume, Berg, an expert on education, offers a broad overview of women in higher education as students and faculty members. He focuses mainly on the US with an occasional global perspective, combining research drawn from scholarly monographs, statistics, and personal interviews to argue that women have made impressive progress over the last two centuries. Despite the overwhelming number of women students in most colleges and universities, however, the majority of faculty are white males. Women, especially minority women, incur greater debt throughout their educational journeys and, given pay inequity, struggle more to repay it. . . An intriguing chapter looks at the traditions of women's informal learning outside the academy as readers and writers, and the author later describes the positive but limited impact of women's studies scholars on curriculum and teaching strategies. This work could serve as a short introductory textbook (with the discussion questions) to prompt students to dig deeper into individual inquiry projects. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels.-- "Choice", Gary, brings out important issues of Women and Men in Sports and the Business World. An informative read for all ages!--Ann Meyers Drysdale, Olympian, Basketball Hall of Fame, VP Phoenix Suns and Mercury Broadcaster, In his new book, The Rise of Women in Higher Education, Dr. Berg describes how socio-political events such as the Suffrage Movement, anti-Vietnam War Protests, Civil Rights Movement, First Wave Feminism and Title IX sparked increased access to higher education for women. Even though more and more women have ascended into faculty, staff, and leadership roles at colleges and universities, a significant gap in employment and income equality persists. Dr. Berg provides a keen historical, social, and political narrative that captures the "Feminization of Higher Education." Students, faculty and administrators alike will benefit from Dr. Berg's scholarship.--Gayle Hutchinson, president, California State University, Chico, There are reasons to celebrate advancement of women in higher education. Women outpace men in college attendance and performance, both domestically and internationally. Women have excelled in leadership roles including in higher education. But even with mounting evidence of women's leadership successes, challenges and barriers continue to persist. By examining existing policies, inequities, and disparities through a global, contextual lens, a new appreciation for the complexities is important in order to move forward.--Sheila Thomas, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean, Professional and Continuing Education, California State University, This book addresses the crucial topics of education of women in the STEM fields and women leadership in higher education in the international context of increased access to higher education. As a woman of color serving as the president of a university with a large majority of diverse female students, the continuing challenges described for women faculty and presidents, especially for people of color, ring true. This is an important and insightful book for those inside, and outside, of the academy.--Ching-Hua Wang, President and CEO, Samuel Merritt University

Gary A. Berg, PhD, MFA, is the author/editor of eight previous books including Low-Income Students and the Perpetuation of Inequality and Lessons from the Edge: For-profit and Nontraditional Higher Education in America, and numerous academic journal articles, as well as interviews and opinion pieces in popular media. His research has spanned topics such as technology uses for educational purposes, public policy issues on admissions and financial aid, and innovative work in universities and non-profit organizations.