Dr. Deondra Rose, Moreau Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political Science
Citizenship by Degree: U.S. Higher Education Policy and the Changing Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship
Since the 1980s, the United States has seen a growing gender gap in the composition of undergraduate student bodies, whereby female students matriculate into the nation’s higher educational institutions and earn college degrees at higher rates than their male counterparts. This trend of greater higher educational attainment among women has coincided with a substantial increase in women’s socioeconomic status and their political engagement. Given women’s strong presence in American colleges and universities, it may be difficult to remember that, prior to the 1960s, women were disadvantaged in U.S. higher education. Using a mixed-methods research approach that draws upon a variety of data, including elite interviews, historical documents, and survey data, I examine the role that higher education policy has played in the progress that American women have made since the mid-twentieth century. I find that, through a combination of redistributive and regulatory higher education policies, U.S. lawmakers facilitated greater gender parity in social and political citizenship.
Deondra Rose is a Moreau Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science. She holds a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, with a specialization in American politics and public policy. A summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, she earned her B.A. in political science in 2005; and in 2009, she received her M.A. in government from Cornell. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including Cornell’s Provost’s Diversity Fellowship and LaFeber Research Grant; and, in 2010 she was inducted into the Edward A. Bouchet Honor Society at Yale University. A native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Rose has also lived in Georgia, Minnesota, New York, and Indiana.
In order to advance the program’s commitment to inter-disciplinary research and inquiry into the subject of gender, the Gender Studies Program is pleased to announce an upcoming series of research workshops. The events will include presentations by advanced undergraduates majoring in Gender Studies as well as graduate students and faculty members from a variety of departments who work in the area of gender and sexuality. The workshop will begin with the week’s presenter giving a brief lecture on his or her current research in the field, followed by a seminar-style discussion.
Workshops are held on Fridays from 12:00 – 1:00 pm in 339 O’Shaughnessy unless otherwise specified.
If you would like to reserve a date for a presentation at one of the Research Workshops please contact either of our Research Workshop coordinators: Meagan Simpson or Robinson Murphy.