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From the very start women have had to fight for their rights to an equal education, one that does not only train them for
certain jobs. During the colonial period, if young girls were lucky enough to be in a school they were taught only domestic
skills and reading. As for the young boys, the schools taught them the same as the girls but added writing and prepared them
for a more formal education.
Elementary schools eventually opened their doors to female students and the girls that had families that were financially
able were soon let in to secondary schools in the form of seminaries. These seminaries were still very gender biased and taught
girls how to be devout wives and Christian mothers. Seminary graduates were allowed to become teachers until they decided
to marry. This finally gave single women another option for work. When women were allowed in colleges there was uproar within
the professional male community. In Sadker and Zittleman's article on Gender Bias, they quote Dr. Clarke, a member of Harvard's
medical faculty, concerning women in secondary schools and colleges as medical risks, "The women attending college were
overwhelmingly White, and education delayed marriage and decreased childbearing. As a result, while women of color were reproducing
at alarming rates, wealthy White women were choosing college rather than motherhood. The dangers to the White establishment
were clear" (Sadker and Zittleman, 2007, p. 137).
By the twentieth century, women were gaining greater access to educational programs. In 1972, Title IX was passed, showing
significant progresses towards women gaining more access to educational programs, but not equality.
"Every public school and most of the nation's colleges and universities are covered under Title IX, which prohibits
discrimination in school admissions, in counseling and guidance, in competitive athletics, in student rules and regulations,
and in access to programs and courses, including vocational education and physical education" (Sadker and Zittleman,
2007, p. 138).
This was a huge gain for females, but it didn't mean that all teachers were going to follow these new rules. Women could
get in to the universities and try to get the same treatment as men, but not everyone would give it to them. Teachers, especially
in the universities had a hard time conforming to these new regulations. Women are still being channeled into certain professions
that are the least prestigious and least profitable.
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