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Citizenship By Degree: U.S. Higher Education Policy and the Changing Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship

Online ISBN:
9780190867300
Print ISBN:
9780190650940
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Citizenship By Degree: U.S. Higher Education Policy and the Changing Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship

Deondra Rose
Deondra Rose

Assistant Professor of Public Policy

Duke University
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Published online:
18 January 2018
Published in print:
23 January 2018
Online ISBN:
9780190867300
Print ISBN:
9780190650940
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

Since the mid-twentieth century, the United States has seen a striking shift in the gender dynamics of higher educational attainment as women have come to earn college degrees at higher rates than men. Women have also made significant strides in terms of socioeconomic status and political engagement. What explains the progress that American women have made since the 1960s? While many point to the feminist movement as the critical turning point, this book makes the case that women’s movement toward first-class citizenship has been shaped not only by important societal changes but also by the actions of lawmakers who used a combination of redistributive and regulatory higher education policies to enhance women’s incorporation into their roles as American citizens. Examining the development and impact of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, the Higher Education Act of 1965, and Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, this book argues that higher education policies represent a crucial—though largely overlooked—factor shaping the progress that women have made. By significantly expanding women’s access to college, they helped to pave the way for women to surpass men as the recipients of bachelor’s degrees, while also empowering them to become more economically independent, socially integrated, politically engaged members of the American citizenry. In addition to helping to bring into greater focus our understanding of how Southern Democrats shaped US social policy development during the mid-twentieth century, this analysis recognizes federal higher education policy as an indispensible component of the American welfare state.

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