Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/68

LEFT COEDUCATION 44 C0EDX7CATI0N Coeducation possesses certain advan- tages and disadvantages over separate education. It has the advantage of economy. Many colleges and univer- sities of the Western States were, at their beginning, designed for both women and men, because the people, either as a community or through the churches, believed they ought not to af- ford two colleges in a single common- wealth. Coeducation, also, is said by its defenders to possess certain rich per- sonal advantages. It is declared, how- ever not without dissent, that it tends to make the male students more cour- teous. It is also declared that it tends to promote a high type of moral char- acter. For women, too, it is affirmed by its adherents to have special ad- vantages. It develops the forceful type of character, a type which the woman who is to make her way in the world should embody. It is also believed by some that the freer life of the coedu- cational college tends to do away with fret, and morbidness, and worry, results which are not unknown when women are educated in a group separated from other groups. Women, themselves graduates of a co- educational college, are very emphatic in their belief in its exceptional worthi- ness. One says: "I believe that intel- lectually both sexes are stimulated and helped by association with each other, and that morally the habits of each are improved or kept from deteriorating, as is too frequently the case when either sex gets together in large numbers. There is set up a healthful interchange of thought and magnetic attraction l^- tween the sexes, which, when not de- based, adds the chief charm to society and lays the foundation for the greatest spiritual development and inspiration of both." Another declares : "It does away with much false modesty that afflicts girls who are kept to themselves, while it does not in the least detract from a girl's true modesty and refinement." An- other says: "It leads to a broader sym- pathy, a truer understanding between men and women; and it tends to banish that consciousness of sex which is inim- ical to purity of mind." Another gradu- ate declares: "It makes them stronger men and women; they understand each other better; judge of character better; awe a higher mutual respect. It takes the simpering out of girls— the rough- ness out of men." Two or three disadvantages are, how- ever, to be noted. The coeducational col- lege is more difficult to administer than the separate, and it is the more difficult m proportion to the intimacy of rela- tionship existing between the two sets of students. Different degrees of intimacy are common in coeducation. Simple presence of men and women in common recitation room represent one extreme. The presence, not only in the recitation room, but in the dining hall of the col- lege and in amusements, represents the other extreme. As the intimacy becomes close and personal, the difficulty of ad- ministration for deans and presidents greatly increases. Another disadvantage of coeducation lies in the content of instruction. Cer- tain topics in psychology, in biology, in archaeology, which are perfectly proper for presentation to a class of men alone, or to a class of women alone, would offer serious difficulties in presentation to a class of both women and men. A further consideration which would be reckoned by some as an advantage, and by others as a disadvantage, relates to the college of this type as promoting marriage, or marriage at an early age. On the whole, marriages are more com- mon among women educated in the same coeducational college than among the graduates of the separate women's col- lege.^ The disadvantage lies, be it added, not in the becoming married, but rather in the becoming married at an age when neither party is quite qualified to as- sume the obligations of a family. American life is greatly enriched by the yearly addition of thousands of lib- erally educated women, most of whom come from the coeducational college. There are at least six advantages which American life receives from such a con- tribution. First, the college woman adds a mind trained to think. Second, she also brings a heart, sympathetic with all human problems, and yet not over-sym- pathetic. She is not a merely emotional interpreter of social conditions. With an intellect qualified to think and dis- criminate, she unites a heart which feels the sigTiificance of crises. Third, she is able to offer economic suggestions re- garding the processes of government. Fourth, she also helps to supply that vital lack, the need of humanizing indus- trialism. Fifth, she promotes the giving of a broad freedom for women in all forms of public life and service. In the recent political enfranchisement, the just interpretation and application of such freedom is of special significance. Sixth, she represents the great advantage through her education of the prolonga- tion of the period of youth. The young women of America are liable to bes:in their life's work at a too early age. Civ- ilization desires that all those who can promote its welfare shall have a proper