Empowering Women in Higher Education and Student Affairs: Theory, Research, Narratives, and Practice from Feminist Perspectives ed. by Penny A. Pasque and Shelly Errington Nicholson (review)

As a doctoral student in higher education with a master's degree in women's studies and as an assistant professor of higher education, we approached this collection combining our backgrounds in higher education and feminist scholarship. Empowering Women in Higher Education and Student Affairs: Theory, Research, Narratives, and Practice from Feminist Perspectives, edited by Penny Pasque and Shelly Errington Nicholson, has the purpose of examining women's multiple, intersectional identities throughout their careers in student affairs while also providing a historical, feminist perspective.

In keeping with a feminist ideology that rejects having one voice speak for the experiences of all women, the editors have assembled a diverse group of contributors who work in higher education or student affairs. Also illustrating feminism's commitment to representation outside of traditional academic formats, the chapters are not solely articles reporting results of empirical studies; they include narratives, theoretical explorations of sexuality, gender, race, class and the evolution of identities as well as historical analyses of women in higher education.

Each section concludes with narratives that draw on personal experiences that provide firsthand examples of the ideas illustrated in the preceding chapters. While each of the chapters helps to illustrate the experiences of women on college campuses, due to space limitations, we provide a broad overview of the various sections and highlight particular chapters that offer novel perspectives on the experiences of particular groups of women in higher education.

Section 1 lays out the historical and current context for women in higher education and student affairs by exploring the ways in which the institution of higher education has affected female students, faculty, and staff in a variety of contexts. In Chapter 1, Shelley Errington Nicholson and Penny A. Pasque, offer a historical introduction to feminism including the three waves, general definitions of broader themes within feminism, and an overview of feminist methodologies that influenced other chapters in the book.

Chapters 2, 3, and 4 provide examples of how women in student affairs and higher education have been shaped by policy and campus changes such as the roles of women's and gender centers on campus and the effect of Title IX. These chapters offer a complex view of history and how policy changes can have both positive and negative impacts on the populations they are attempting to help. This section provides the foundation for the rest of the book by offering a broad history of feminism and women in higher education.

Section 2 delves into the lives of women in varying positions within colleges and universities, including students, faculty, and staff. In Chapter 5, Rachael Stimpson and Kimberly Filer focus on how female graduate students navigate work/life balance issues and report research documenting that women are less satisfied with their ability to find a work/life balance than their male counterparts.

Annemarie Vaccaro, in Chapter 7, explores how 59 nontraditional-age undergraduate women at a women's college struggled with forming positive self-images. The author used the intersections of race and gender to analyze these students' personal motivations, self-value, and the degree to which they felt empowered in their studies. Vaccaro's study is important in drawing attention to the fact that spaces presumed to be safe may not have that effect for all women and that steps should be taken to ensure that spaces are inclusive and supportive for everyone. The chapters in this section underscore the importance of addressing the need to assess women's satisfaction with their educational experience to provide support and encourage degree completion.

The chapters in Section 3 explore the intersection of class, gender, race, and sexuality. Venice Thandi Sulè makes a strong contribution to the collection in Chapter 9 as she delves into the way race and gender interact to...