THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 101 



ness of thought as more or less different from the plain thinking which 

 is called manly. The brightest work in woman's colleges is often 

 accompanied by a nervous strain, as though its doer were fearful of 

 falling short of some outside standard. The best work of men is nat- 

 ural, is unconscious, the normal result of the contact of the mind with 

 the problem in question. 



In this direction, I think, lies the strongest argument for coeduca- 

 tion. This argument is especially cogent in institutions in which the 

 individuality of the student is recognized and respected. In such 

 schools each man, by his relation to action and realities, becomes a 

 teacher of women in these regards, as, in other ways, each cultivated 

 woman is a teacher of men. 



In woman's education, as planned for women alone, the tendency 

 is toward the study of beauty and order. Literature and language take 

 precedence over science. Expression is valued more highly than action. 

 In carrying this to an extreme the necessary relation of thought to 

 action bcomes obscured. The scholarship developed is not effective, 

 because it is not related to success. The educated woman is likely to 

 master technique, rather than art; method, rather than substance. She 

 may know a good deal, but she can do nothing. Often her views of life 

 must undergo painful changes before she can find her place in the 

 world. 



In schools for men alone, the reverse condition often obtains. The 

 sense of reality obscures the elements of beauty and fitness. It is of 

 great advantage to both men and women to meet on a plane of equality 

 in education. Women are brought into contact with men who can do 

 things men in whom the sense of reality is strong, and who have defi- 

 nite views of life. This influence affects them for good. It turns 

 them away from sentimentalism. It gives tone to their religious 

 thoughts and impulses. Above all, it tends to encourage action as 

 governed by ideals, as opposed to that resting on caprice. It gives 

 them better standards of what is possible and impossible when the 

 responsibility for action is thrown upon them. 



In like manner, the association with wise, sane and healthy women 

 has its value for young men. This value has never been fully realized, 

 even by the strongest advocates of coeducation. It raises their ideal 

 of womanhood, and the highest manhood must be associated with such 

 an ideal. This fact shows itself in many ways; but to point out its 

 existence must suffice for the present paper. 



At the present time the demand for the higher education of women 

 is met in three different ways : 



1. In separate colleges for women, with courses of study more or 

 less parallel with those given in colleges for men. In some of these the 



