A History of the Education of Women in Science

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Since its founding in the mid-nineteenth century, Mt. Holyoke College strongly supported science and contributed to the development of a place for women in science and of a scientific community that reached far beyond the walls of the college. In their study, Drs. Mack and Levin take a broad view of the development of science education in America and the contributions women have made to it. Their work sheds light on the way in which science at Mt. Holyoke was affected by the professionalization of science, changing attitudes in the larger society towards the role of women, and shifting economic and social circumstances in which liberal arts colleges operated. Specifically, Drs. Mack and Levin are pursuing three lines of inquiry. The first is concerned with the ideology and policies of the school's administrators, trustees, and faculty, the social and economic circumstances within which these ideologies and policies were formulated, and the manner in which they changed over time; the second, with the actual programs, activities, expansions, and reforms that were enacted; and the third with exploring the results of these policies and programs and assessing their possible influence on the scientific community and the interested public for science. Not only will the study contribute to our understanding the historical processes that account for the participation as well as the lack of participation of women in American science in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but in doing so, it will also add to our comprehension of the circumstances under which we can expect women to respond to opportunities in science. This funding of this project is being shared with the Science Engineering Education Directorate.