Gender Disparity In Education Essay

The social and legal barriers that have existed for women in our collective history have slowly faded and been replaced with a push toward parity, particularly in the West. Rigid gender roles largely prevailed throughout the greater part of the United States’ existence, until feminist movements slowly but successfully pushed for greater equality under the law. With each of these changes, the disparity in education for women has shrunk and opportunities in education and employment have grown. At this point in our history, legal barriers to educational opportunities for women are virtually non-existent, but the question that still prevails is whether true parity between the sexes exists. In the early years of the United States, it was clear where a woman fit into society – the domestic sphere. In fact, women were largely denied from the political sphere in any way. And despite the revolutionary nature of the United States, this carried over from colonial traditions. …show more content…
Still, the feminist movement reinvented and modernized itself. With Black-Americans now legally permitted to vote and protected from inequality (at least quantitatively if not qualitatively), women used this advance in rights as a springboard from which to launch their fight. Despite being gradual, it was successful: women gained the right to vote through the Nineteenth-Amendment in 1919, a major victory for women. Still, disparity in education prevailed. No law barred discrimination in employment, public accommodations, or education for women. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed granting protection against discrimination for women, but not in educational institutions. But in 1972, Congress passed the Title IX amendment to the Civil Rights Act; finally, women were granted legal protection against discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal