Enrollment in Schools and Colleges Among girls and young women 5 to 24 years of age, nearly 18 million were enrolled in schools and colleges (including kindergartens), according to census reports for 1955. Over nine-tenths of those under 18 years of age, but a much smaller percentage of those 18 and over, are in school. These figures are for regular schools only, including kindergartens but not "special" schools outside the regular system (such as trade schools and business colleges); nor do they include correspondence courses, or training on the job. Of the male population in the same age group, the proportion in school is higher than among women and girls, as table 3 shows. The proportion in school among those of both sexes is larger than it was 5 years ago. Table 3.-SCHOOL ENROLLMENT OF POPULATION UNDER 25 YEARS OF AGE, 1955 AND 1950 1 Includes both public and private elementary schools, high schools, and colleges; enrollment as of October 1955 and 1950. Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-20, No. 66. Types of Schools in Which Students Are Enrolled Nearly three-fourths of the students 5 years of age and up are in elementary schools, including kindergartens, and only 5 percent are in institutions of higher learning. These figures do not represent total college enrollments since they exclude students who are 25 years of age and over. Almost half the elementary and high-school students are girls and young women. Young men predominate in the colleges, however. (See table 4.) It was estimated that enrollments of girls and women as resident college students would reach more than 1 million during the school year 1955-56. Women are about one-third of all resident students. Reports from colleges show that 38 percent of the women in more than 1,800 institutions of higher education in 1955-56 are in universities, 34 percent in liberal arts colleges, 14 percent in teachers' colleges and 13 percent in junior colleges. The remaining small proportion are in other professional or technological schools. Women represent more Table 4.-TYPE OF SCHOOL ATTENDED BY STUDENTS UNDER 25 YEARS OF AGE, 1 Due to rounding, details do not always add to total. than half of the students in teachers' colleges, over 40 percent of those in liberal arts colleges, and nearly 30 percent in universities. A report in School and Society (December 10, 1955) on first-year enrollments in nearly 800 colleges indicates that a large majority of the women are taking liberal arts courses and a considerable proportion, teacher training. Women Earning Degrees Women received 124,000 earned degrees conferred by institutions of higher education in 1954–55, according to figures of the United States Office of Education. (See table 5.) Over one-third of the persons receiving the bachelor's degree, but less than one-tenth of those receiving the doctoral degree, were women. Eighty-four percent of the degrees earned by women were bachelor's or first professional degrees, and most of the rest were master's or second professional degrees; less than 1 percent were doctoral degrees. Table 5.-DEGREES EARNED BY WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 1954-55 1 First-level degrees include bachelor's and first-professional degrees, such as M. D. and D. D. S.; 338 women received the M. D. degree in 1954-55. Second-level degrees include the master's and second-professional degrees. Source: U.S. Office of Education, Earned Degrees Conferred by Higher Educational Institutions, 1954-55. Circular No. 461. Subjects in. Which Degrees Are Earned One-third of the women earning the bachelor's degree in 1954-55, and almost two-thirds of those earning the master's degree, had a major in education. (See table 6.) Many teachers whose first degree is in a subject field continue with a master's degree in education, thus Table 6.—SUBJECTS IN WHICH DEGREES Were Earned, 1954-55 Source: U.S. Office of Education. Earned Degrees Conferred by Higher Educational Institutions, 195455. Circular No. 461. developing the skills of their profession and meeting requirements for advancement. Other highly popular fields for women earning the bachelor's degree were fine arts, social sciences, English, and home economics; together these four fields accounted for nearly a third of the total. Of the few women receiving the doctoral degree, over one-fourth were in education; the biological sciences, psychology, and basic social sciences each accounted for one-tenth. The remainder were distributed among a variety of subjects. Among the men receiving degrees, the subject distribution is very different. Almost one-third of the men receiving the bachelor's degree and one-fifth of those receiving the master's, specialized in business and commerce or engineering. Nine-tenths of the persons receiving the bachelor's degree in agriculture, law, engineering, and medicine were men. As might be expected, almost all of the graduates receiving a degree in nursing or home economics were women. Education and English were the fields in which women received the next highest proportions of degrees granted. Women received 83 percent of the bachelor's degrees and 47 percent of the master's degrees in education; and 61 percent of the bachelor's degrees and 49 percent of the master's degrees in English. Fifty-three percent of the bachelor's degrees in fine arts went to women. The College Degree and the Job The majority of women college graduates take jobs soon after graduation, according to a survey of women who graduated from college in June 1955. Four-fifths of these women were employed 6 months after graduation. About 12 percent were neither studying nor employed, although only one-third of these were seeking work. Onethird of the graduates were married, either before leaving college or soon after, and over two-thirds of them were working. Jobs held were closely allied to the college major subject for over nine-tenths of the working women who majored in education and nursing, for two-thirds of those who majored in biological sciences, and for over half the chemistry majors. The following list shows the percentage of employed graduates with specified major subjects who were working in a field related to their subject of specialization. Source: Employment After College: Report on Women Graduates, Class of 1955. The National Vocational Guidance Association in Cooperation with the Women's Bureau U. 8. Department of Labor, 1956. Women in Public Vocational Courses Almost 134 million women and girls were enrolled in federally aided vocational courses in 1954-55, according to provisional figures of the Office of Education. (See table 7.) This training has a vitally important place in aiding women to develop some of the skills so much needed in this country's production and development programs. It is designed to meet the needs of persons 14 years of age or over-either those who are in school and wish to prepare for a trade, or those who are employed and desire to extend their skill and knowledge. The law provides that at least a third of the funds allotted a State must be used for part-time classes, which may be held by day or may include evening classes for workers 16 years of age and over. Evening instruction must be supplementary to employment. The program is broadly construed to include instruction in such vocational areas as safety, socio-economic problems, or labor laws. Vocational courses were based in the first instance on the SmithHughes Act of 1917. Later acts and modifications of the program have been made as needed, particularly in the Vocational Education Act of 1946—generally known as the George-Barden Act. The program is of special importance to the Nation's girls and women, since relatively few of them benefit from publicly supported training programs provided to veterans or given to men and boys in the military services. Table 7.-WOMEN AND GIRLS IN FEDERALLY AIDED VOCATIONAL TRAINING COURSES, 1954-55 1 Provisional figures on three programs only. Agricultural training not included, as data not available by sex. Source: U. S. Office of Education, Division of Vocational Education. |