Education

Historically, if you weren’t wealthy, white, and male, access to formal education was limited. That never stopped women and girls from striving to get as much education as possible. Teaching and learning at kitchen tables, in church basements, in one-room classrooms, and at Ivy League universities, women continue to use their agency to push for equal educational access. According to findings published by the Pew Research Center in June 2019, women are now half of the U.S. college-educated workforce.

Read the Story Behind this Object

Collection Objects

Learn about these featured stories or see more examples of education in our collections.

Supporting Revolution with Needle and Thread
A Brave Stand against Segregated Education at Little Rock Central High School
Teaching the Solar System with a Quilt
Immortalizing NASA Women in LEGO® Minifigure Prototypes
$This postcard shows a woman sitting on the observing chair in front of a large refracting telescope. The accompanying text reads, “Prof. Maria Mitchell in the Observatory at Vassar College. June 1878.”$

Astronomer Maria Mitchell Mentored Women in Science
Empowering Black Women through Education

Conversation Kit

Let's Talk! Juliette Gordon Low and the Girl Scouts Conversation Kit

Juliette Gordon Low and the Girl Scouts Teaching and Discussion Guide

Grades 6–12. Time: Variable (1–3 class periods). Aligned to CCSS standards.

In this lesson plan students will learn about Juliette Gordon Low's founding of the Girl Scouts in 1912 and how this helped change expectations of girls and their roles as community members and citizens. Students will examine the question: How can education change expectations of what girls can and should be?