Research in Higher Education

, Volume 59, Issue 4, pp 461–488 | Cite as

Women Students’ Interactions with Faculty and Exposure to Good Teaching at Colleges and Universities with Varying Histories of Admitting Women

  • Teniell L. Trolian
  • Elizabeth A. Jach
  • Christine A. Ogren
  • Jana M. Hanson
Article
First Online:
Received:

Abstract

This study considers how institutional histories of admitting women are associated with present college experiences, and uses data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to compare the experiences of women at women’s colleges or former women’s colleges to those of women at former men’s colleges and colleges that have always been coeducational. Results indicate that women attending former men’s colleges and colleges that have always been coeducational seem to experience similar or greater frequency and quality of student–faculty interaction and exposure to good teaching practices, compared to women attending women’s or former women’s colleges. Results also suggest that considering the gender enrollment histories of colleges and universities may provide valuable context for evaluating the experiences of women at women’s colleges and coeducational institutions.

Keywords

College experiences Women students Good practices Student–faculty interaction 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

A generous grant from the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College supported this research at the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at The University of Iowa.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Teniell L. Trolian
    • 1
  • Elizabeth A. Jach
    • 2
  • Christine A. Ogren
    • 3
  • Jana M. Hanson
    • 4
  1. 1.University at Albany, State University of New YorkAlbanyUSA
  2. 2.University of Wisconsin-MadisonMadisonUSA
  3. 3.University of IowaIowa CityUSA
  4. 4.South Dakota State UniversityBrookingsUSA

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