Q&A: Undergraduate Focus on Women
Q: Is Ursuline a women鈥檚 college?
A: 90 percent of undergraduates are women, so the many benefits of attending a women鈥檚 college certainly apply.
Q: I鈥檓 on the fence about attending a college with mostly women. How will it improve my education and benefit my future?
A: It鈥檚 an exciting time for women. The world is changing. Women鈥檚 contributions are being valued and advanced more than ever before. Women鈥檚 leadership is on the rise. While preparing you for your career of choice, Ursuline will equip you for maximum success within that career through an education that emphasizes women鈥檚 issues, perspectives, and leadership development.
Q: How does Ursuline do this?
A: In many ways, but most important:
- By promoting teaching, programming, research, and action that recognizes and advances women and their contributions
- By offering a culture where women鈥檚 needs, concerns, and preferences are prioritized
- By equipping students to recognize and address specific challenges women face in careers and society
- By providing many opportunities for women to experience and excel in leadership roles鈥攊ncluding showcasing role models of successful women leaders
- By creating an environment that women find physically, socially, and emotionally comfortable
Q: How does this impact classroom learning?
A: The women-focused approach plays out across our curriculum, with courses highlighting women鈥檚 issues, women鈥檚 learning styles, and women鈥檚 leadership development. A few examples:
- A capstone art therapy course that focuses on developing women鈥檚 leadership skills by placing students in positions as practicing assistants to professional female art therapists.
- Chemistry courses that target development of skills (collaboration, critical thinking, self-advocacy) needed to excel in traditionally male-dominated STEM fields.
- Economics courses that explore such issues as discrimination against women and minorities, women in the labor force, and women鈥檚 leadership.
- Sociology courses that examine the discrimination women experience in society, business, marriage, and careers.
- A historical preservation effort that has students creating an Ohio Women鈥檚 Heritage Trail鈥攊dentifying and recognizing overlooked contributions by women to Ohio history and culture.
- A biostatistics class that emphasizes the scholarship of women researchers to transform perceptions of statistics as a 鈥渕ale鈥� field.
- Core courses that delve into women鈥檚 contributions to art, social justice, and U.S. history (through a project in which students identify a 鈥渇ounding mother鈥�).
- A history course that studies women鈥檚 agency and activism.
- A nursing course focused on women鈥檚 health challenges.
- A math course that prepares students for the financial decisions women need to make when caring for their families鈥攊ncluding money management, student loans, mortgages, and retirement.
- A legal studies course that analyzes women-focused legal problems (pregnancy discrimination, compensation for female employees, and other issues that affect women).
- Art courses dedicated to creating a non-competitive studio space where students are free to make mistakes, embrace risk, and share their stories and ideas.
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