Want Your Daughter To Go To The C-Suite? Send Her To A Women’s College

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Over the past five decades, the number of women’s colleges in the United States has dropped drastically—from 200 schools in the 1960s to just 37 in the Women’s College Coalition this year.During that same period of time, however, women’s social and economic roles have also undergone a dramatic transformation for the better.True gender equality, though…

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Over the past five decades, the number of women’s colleges in the United States has dropped drastically—from 200 schools in the 1960s to just 37 in the Women’s College Coalition this year.During that same period of time, however, women’s social and economic roles have also undergone a dramatic transformation for the better.True gender equality, though still quite far out of reach and severely hindered by recent pandemic-related setbacks , has arguably never been closer.So, this begs the question: What role do women’s colleges play in today’s society?

Networks

In addition to being 28% less likely than men to have a strong network, women are twice as likely as men to report feeling excluded from the networking process.Women’s colleges, however, serve as a network of their own.

Just as graduates of Ivy League institutions or Big Ten schools benefit from extended networks, women’s colleges are working to create the same for their alumnae.“As we’ve seen the numbers of women’s schools shrink, it seems that alumnae have banded together as one bigger unit—not just each school on her own,” said Jenny Harrington, an alumna of Hollins College.

“In my estimation, women’s college grads have always had fabulous networks, both formal and informal,” said KC Maurer, a Mount Holyoke College alumna.

“The digital age has made it simpler for alums to network through Facebook groups like the WCAN (Women’s College Alumnae Network) and the Seven Sisters Alumnae Association, as well as through the alumnae associations of the various women’s colleges.”

In a world where the “old boys’ club” is still alive and well in the workplace, it’s as important as ever for women to come together and use their networks to help each other succeed.

“I will make any professional connection for any women’s college graduate when asked,” said Lindsey Garland, who attended Agnes Scott College.“For me, being a women’s college graduate is the definition of a bond that ties.” Added Mount Holyoke College alumna Kate Winick, “When it comes to things like hiring and networking, I will treat anyone from any women’s college the way I would a graduate of my own school.There’s a real allegiance there and a real love for what the experience of a women’s college undergraduate education is like.”

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While women in general hold far too few leadership positions, the numbers tell a slightly more optimistic story for women’s college graduates specifically.

Research continues to show that women’s colleges prepare their students and provide a pipeline for women’s leadership in ways that co-ed institutions have been unable to.81% of women’s college graduates report their college was extremely or very effective in helping prepare them for their first job, compared to 61% of those who went to public institutions—and students from women’s colleges are almost twice as likely to complete a graduate degree as public university alumnae.

Also notable is the list of “firsts” among women’s college graduates.It includes Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated by a major U.S.political party for president; Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to represent a major U.S.

political party as a candidate for vice president; Katharine Graham, the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company; Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House; and Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state.

Graduates of women’s colleges also comprise over 20% of women in Congress, and represent 30% of a Businessweek list of rising women in corporate America.This is significant on its own, but even more so when you take into account that women’s college graduates make up only 2% of the female college graduate population.

“People often express concern that women’s college graduates won’t be prepared to compete in a male-dominated world, but it’s actually quite the opposite,” said Winick.“Being in an environment where people other than cis men hold every leadership position, run every project, lead every team, and sit at the top of every class is empowering in the extreme.You’re given the opportunity to get comfortable with the sound of your own voice and get used to being heard, and you go out into the world ready and expecting to lead.”

Equity & Access

Equity and access are at the core of what women’s colleges stand for.“The earliest iterations of women’s colleges, and later HBCUs, were founded in response to the exclusion of women and people of color from traditional educational institutions,” said Garland, who authored her graduate thesis on the topic.“The historic tradition of women’s colleges and HBCUs is one that inherently pushed, and continues to push, students against social norms of gender and race, and many times both.”

Financially, women’s colleges walk the walk when it comes to broadening access to higher education and resisting elitism.They give disproportionate amounts of financial aid compared to other institutions.

Mount Holyoke, with an endowment of $789 million , has 78% of students receiving financial aid.Harvard, on the other hand, has a $41.9 billion endowment but gives financial aid to only 55% of its undergraduate students.Despite generally having significantly less money than peer institutions, women’s colleges give more.

Next is gender—in recent years, admissions policies that are inclusive of trans and gender non-conforming students have been adopted by more than a dozen women’s colleges.“Many women’s colleges today are leading the conversation against binary conceptions of gender altogether,” said Garland.“Women’s colleges have been doing this for years, and doing it despite the fact that their traditions are largely rooted in hyper-gendered norms.They do this, like they have throughout history, because it is an essential academic tradition of women’s colleges to question the norm.”

Racial and ethnic diversity rounds out the major ways in which women’s colleges are leading the way.More than half of students (51.2%) at women’s colleges identify as students of color , compared to 38.5% at private liberal arts colleges and 43.6% at public universities.

Additionally, the proportion of Black women attending women’s colleges has risen dramatically over time—a trend that was not evident in the comparison groups.

With the events of the past year and a half having set women back to an unforeseen degree, it’s never been more important to have spaces that, by their very nature and history, are focused on empowering women.A women’s college, as Harrington put it, is “the most effective place to train confident, capable, well-connected, well-experienced women.

[It’s a] space to learn, develop, and become the person that you were born to be.”

Carrie Kerpen

Carrie Kerpen is the CEO and co-founder of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media agency that achieved Crain’s 6th “Best Place To Work in NYC” and was recently

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Carrie Kerpen is the CEO and co-founder of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media agency that achieved Crain’s 6th “Best Place To Work in NYC” and was recently acquired by digital transformation company 10Pearls.She is also the author of WORK IT: Secrets For Success From The Boldest Women In Business.Follow her on Twitter @carriekerpen or visit her at carriekerpen.com.

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