Women’s colleges are more important than ever — take action now
è˶Ƶ College Vice President for College Relations Kassandra Jolley makes an impassioned plea for alums of women’s colleges.
Women are under attack. Our rights, voices and hard-fought gains are being rolled back. This isn’t an overstatement — it’s a reality that demands the attention and action of women’s college graduates.
Last month, NIH terminated a research grant at a women's college stating that research programs based on gender are “often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans.” In January, The White House eliminated its Gender Policy Council which was established to promote gender equity. In February, following an executive order aiming to end inclusion initiatives, West Point decommissioned its Society of Women Engineers Club and shut down the Corbin Forum, a decades-old leadership club for female cadets.
In 1995, as a recent first-generation college graduate, I witnessed the world unite in to establish a blueprint for achieving gender equality. The United Nations (UN) gathering emphasized that women's rights are human rights and equity benefits all. Thirty years later, “UN Women” notes that nearly a quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash on women’s rights. Women and girls continue to face compounded discrimination due to factors like disability, race, age, income, gender identity and sexual orientation. The statistics remain alarming: only 87 countries have ever had a female leader, and a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a family member or intimate partner.
The impact of women’s colleges
According to the Women’s College Coalition, graduates of women’s colleges are twice as likely to earn doctoral degrees as graduates of all-gender colleges. Forbes reports that one-third of female board members on the annual Fortune 1000 list, 30 percent of the women on Businessweek’s list of Rising Stars in Corporate America, nine percent of female CEOs on the S&P 500 and more than 20 percent of female U.S. Congress members graduated from a women’s college. Women’s colleges have long been incubators for leadership, social mobility and critical social and medical research.
I know this firsthand. My journey began at The Lincoln School, an independent Quaker school for girls, and continued at the undergraduate women’s program at Simmons University. Over the past 30 years, I have devoted my career to higher education leadership at women’s colleges, including Simmons, Spelman College and now è˶Ƶ College. I have seen what happens when institutions explicitly designed to empower women are given the resources to thrive. And I have also seen what happens when they are not.
In 1960, there were approximately 230 women’s colleges in the U.S. Today, fewer than 30 remain, due to shifting enrollment trends, financial pressures and mergers. Each closure or merger represents a loss not just for students, but for society. At a moment when women's rights — from health autonomy to workplace protections — are being reversed, losing spaces and programs that explicitly center and elevate those marginalized on the basis of gender is a blow we cannot afford.
Why this matters for the future
Research in every field — from medicine to economics — is stronger when it includes a gender perspective. Women’s colleges have led the way in challenging harmful stereotypes, exposing biases in policies and developing solutions that benefit everyone. Without the work of our women’s colleges, we risk losing groundbreaking discoveries that shape everything from health care treatments to workplace equity.
Take Suchi Saria, a 2004 è˶Ƶ graduate and founding research director of the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare at Johns Hopkins. Her groundbreaking work uses AI to detect early signs of sepsis and other life-threatening conditions — saving lives in the process. Women’s colleges empower bold thinkers who push boundaries, break barriers and create lasting change.
A call to action for graduates of women’s colleges
We know the power of our institutions. They have shaped our careers, expanded our networks and given us the confidence to lead with purpose. When women’s colleges are strong, the ripple effects are felt in every sector, every boardroom and every community.
It's time to turn our appreciation into action.
Here’s my challenge: as an indicator of your priorities, take a look at your calendar and your checkbook. If you aren’t yet volunteering your time and talents to a women’s college, reach out and lend a hand. And, despite the current economic chaos, women’s college grads still have the ability and responsibility to galvanize financial resources. Our gifts — big and small — collectively make a difference. Remember: women control nearly $11 trillion in assets in the U.S., a number still projected to triple by 2030. And yet, only 2% of all philanthropic giving in the U.S. directly supports organizations serving women and girls.
The time to act is now. Advocate. Participate. Give. If we don’t invest, who will?
