If you're a woman pursuing a career that requires a degree, you're living in a paradox. Nowadays, more women than men are attending college. However, women still contend with a significant gender-based pay gap throughout their careers. American society as a whole needs to manage vast amounts of inequality when it comes to getting women the right pay and the jobs they deserve. But one place where this is especially true is in college.
As institutions of learning and knowledge, colleges should be striving to educate their female students without bias. They should also be proactively challenging societal injustices and providing ways to readdress women's pay issues. Colleges can't do everything to fix the inequality that women face, but they can definitely play a part and be a key component in ensuring that the world is a more just place, in terms of pay equality.
Some colleges are already doing the things discussed above and have a proud history of advocating for female equality. Certain institutions can truly claim to educate women without prejudice. They are at the forefront of the fight for equality, not just for women, but also for minorities and anyone else who may face discrimination. But which colleges are these?
The things that make a college ideal for female students are wide-ranging. They need to have a non-sexist culture, a campus that feels safe for all, no history of sexism (or an attitude of fighting historical sexism,) accomplishments for women's rights, tenured female professors and a healthy network of successful female graduates. If you're wondering which colleges have all of the above, then this list will show you. The 30 selections below represent the best of the best when it comes to providing a great education for women. However, the selections will also demonstrate to you what you need to look for if none of the below are right for you. They'll show you what every college should be advocating and implementing. And you can use that to see if your college choices are doing anything similar.
MethodologyOur list uses a range of different sources. We've ensured that our selections represent the most pro-women colleges in America by using lists that have different ranking criteria. For instance, Niche.com is powered by student reviews. Others factor in post-college earning stats, evidence of a safe campus and representation in classes where women have low enrollment nationally. And some focus on female-only campuses, while others look at ones that are mixed.
The sources are here:
Niche.com, 2018 Best Women's Colleges in America: https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-womens-colleges/Huffington Post, The Top 50 Coed Colleges For Women: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-top-50-coed-colleges-for-women_us_581d0344e4b044f827a78cc6
Forbes, The 13 Most Important STEM Colleges For Women: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2016/03/29/13-best-value-stem-colleges-for-women/#83362e77686aFortune, These Are the Top 10 Universities for Female Entrepreneurs: https://fortune.com/2017/09/01/top-colleges-women-entrepreneurs/College Magazine, Top 10 Colleges for Aspiring Women Leaders: https://www.collegemagazine.com/top-10-colleges-for-aspiring-women-leaders/College Xpress, The Best Colleges for Women Athletes: https://www.collegexpress.com/lists/list/best-colleges-for-women-athletes/616/The Street, The 10 U.S. Colleges With The Smartest Women: https://www.thestreet.com/story/12744333/1/the-10-us-colleges-with-the-smartest-women.htmlWomen's Choice Award, The Only College Guide for Women, by Women: https://www.womenschoiceaward.com/best-colleges/Our final rankings combine the aggregated score of colleges on these lists and use our own research into the colleges themselves. This means that our list is the most definitive guide to female colleges that you can find on the internet and even comes with explanations as to why the college has made our list.
The results are here:
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