Women–And Men–Aren’t “Born” Teachers

When I was younger, I asked my mom why she decided to become a teacher. Aside from the obvious factors–she liked working with kids, she wanted to help students learn, she had a passion for teaching–she also said that in her day there were more or less two professional options for college-educated women: nurse or [...]

Ms. Goes Back to School

By Karon Jolna As a women’s studies PH.D.and instructor, here’s the challenge I face in today’s classroom (and one I’m sure many feminist educators encounter daily): How do we engage the next generation of computer-savvy students in feminism and women’s studies? How do we effectively go where they live: on laptops and tablet computers and [...]

Scapegoating Black Women in a Recession

You know the media spin cycle and the propagandists are winning when you advise a young, promising black woman undergraduate student about her prospects for doctoral studies, and she immediately takes herself out of the running. Not because there are fewer fellowships to help pay for graduate school or because she wants to pursue a [...]

Go East, Young Woman

Ever since I made my decision to attend Wellesley College, I find myself having to defend it to most of my high school classmates. Many of them know nothing about the school, and when I tell them about it they ignore its academic reputation and amazing alumnae. To them, it is simply a women’s college. [...]

Gender and Race Determine the Worth of Your Degree

Researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce have compiled a new report on how education affects people’s earnings, based on 2007-2009 American Community Survey data. Not surprisingly, higher education significantly increases lifetime earnings of U.S. workers: But education doesn’t pay off equally for all groups. Women make less at every level of [...]

New York City Mandates Comprehensive Sex Education in Public Schools

You have to hand it to New York City for doing the right thing(s) for sexual health and rights lately. First, the city passed a law mandating that crisis pregnancy centers, which use misinformation and ideology to misdirect women trying to make a life-changing decision, disclose whether or not they have medical staff and/or offer birth [...]

Setting The Record Straight… Or Rather, Queer!

Hey, my fellow queer folk! Guess what? We’re finally making history! Or rather, California is finally acknowledging that we’ve always been making history. In an it’s-about-time turn of events, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the FAIR Education Act into law on July 14. The act: …would amend the Education Code to include social sciences instruction on [...]

A Feminist Economist Speaks Out: Deficits are a Grrrl’s Best Friend

Listen up, sisters! Deficit hawks will eat your lunch, your kids, your jobs and your retirement. An economy without a deficit is like a fish without water. Reducing the U.S. federal deficit will make unemployment and poverty worse–way worse. And that means that women’s economic condition will deteriorate even further. Today’s deficit hawks (and way [...]

Victory! Detroit High School Will Stay Open

June 17 was supposed to be the day Catherine Ferguson Academy, the much-lauded Detroit school for pregnant and parenting students, would close. The news since the closing announcement had been bleak. A demonstration by students in April had been quickly quashed by police, and the community had little power as the decision to close the [...]

School for Teen Mothers, “Jewel of Detroit,” Closes

How many stories do we have of education that works right? How many stories do we have of young women being empowered? How many stories do we have of pregnant and parenting students being given childcare, support and a chance at completing their education and going to college? How many stories do we have of [...]

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