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261 SECTION VI Coeducation beyond Liberal Arts The chapters in this section describe educational institutions that are often overlooked in discussions of higher education: military academies and forpro fit technical colleges. Both chapters focus on women’s experiences at these schools and use interviews with students—women, and in some cases men—as a primary source of information. The United States Military Academy at West Point became coeducational in 1976 as a result of a federal law mandating women’s admission, whereas Virginia Military Institute (VMI) did not admit women until 21 years later, following a protracted legal battle. Diamond and Kimmel describe the different approaches each military institution used in dealing with women cadets—integration at West Point, which allowed for some physical differences between men and women, and assimilation at VMI, which required women to meet exactly the same physical standards as men. Regardless of the approach, however, women cadets faced hostile receptions at both institutions. Interviews with cadets reveal how the young women dealt with hostility and how, over time, both their modes of adapting and men’s reactions to them changed. The last case study concerns women’s entrance into technical fields, such as computers and electronics, at for-profit technical colleges and community colleges. Women were never formally barred from these programs, but neither were they encouraged to enroll before the 1970s. Deil-Amen’s study of women students, a high percentage of whom were minority students from low-income families, in two for-profit technical colleges and six community colleges, reveals the importance of women receiving encouragement in their pursuit of nontraditional majors. In the right environment, women can succeed, even if they are somewhat older than traditional age college students, have not done well in secondary school, and have other responsibilities, such as, childcare and jobs. Women’s confidence is key, and that confidence is directly affected by an educational institution making it easy for them to enroll and feel comfortable. CoingCoedFinalPages.indd 261 5/26/04 4:54:22 PM CoingCoedFinalPages.indd 262 5/26/04 4:54:22 PM ...

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