When the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in 1966, one of its initial projects was the Task Force on Education. Along with employment, equality for women in education was arguably one of the two most important issues to the founders of NOW. Several of the founders were education reform advocates, including Gene Boyer, Sister Mary Joel Read and Alice Rossi.
Making a Statement
The NOW Statement of Purpose, written in 1966, explained that although higher education was increasingly essential in modern society, "too few women are entering and finishing college or going on to graduate or professional school." Furthermore, many people perceived a college degree as just something that a woman could, as they put it, "fall back on" if she were left without a husband. This completely disregarded the fulfillment of a woman's own potential.
The NOW Statement of Purpose said that "it is as essential for every girl to be educated to her full potential of human ability as it is for every boy." NOW was critical of the prevalent attitude that expected less from girls in school than from boys. Feminists insisted that educators could and should encourage girls and convey an expectation that girls, too, would use their education.
Opening Minds to Equality
NOW called for an end to admissions quotas that limited the number of women who could be accepted to universities. The Task Force on Education tried to find and eliminate discrimination, whether intentional or inadvertent, practiced by officials, educators, counselors and parents. Local chapters of NOW examined school curricula and questioned the assumptions that were taught to children from an early age.
Educational Achievements
In addition to the NOW Task Force on Education, feminists across the United States wre fighting for women's equality and new perspectives in education. Among their achievements were the first Women's Studies department, created at San Diego State in 1970, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.