ABSTRACT
Neither single-sex nor coeducational, coordinate colleges are an interesting hybrid that evolved in the late nineteenth century out of women's struggle to gain admission to men's colleges. Rather than taking the more “drastic” step of becoming coeducational, many men's colleges preferred establishing an associated institution for women students in order to maintain the prestige of their all-male institutions. Although coordinate colleges were thus usually established for the conservative purpose of dealing with women's demands for education while avoiding full coeducation, I argue in this chapter that they nonetheless have had advantages for women themselves. I show that women who have attended coordinate colleges have attained some of the same benefits as women who have attended women's college—a supportive environment, leadership opportunities, and women role models among faculty and staff. In other words, women who attend coordinate colleges have not been marginalized to the same degree as women in coeducational institutions. I use my findings about women's experiences in coordinate colleges to suggest ways that coeducational colleges can be changed to promote gender equity.
