Women in Higher Ed

Feminism or Fundy?

I grew up in the church, homeschooled in a conservative family, and I still succumbed to the feminist talking points. I knew it was good to have children, but I also had grandiose plans to attend graduate school and ultimately wear the hats of both impressive academic and present mother. I wanted to get married, even at a young age, but I had no intentions of sacrificing my desire to be publicly acknowledged for receiving my BA and MA, maybe even a PhD, for a man. It seems obvious that my attitude and aspirations were incompatible with one another, but this was my view of biblically-grounded, feminine independence for a long time. The Lord has a sense of humor and as He would have it, the man who would become my husband was the first to say, “You need a better reason to pursue graduate studies than just loudly asserting ‘because it would be cool’.” He popped my little feminist ego bubble I had been coddling for years. I realized I had been wanting all the hallmarks of a trad life but without the gentle, feminine parts.

It seems the question of women’s education resurfaces every now and again in differing circles, with various answers presented. Movements have promoted or discouraged female higher education for a broad swath of reasons. The feminists argue women should be in college because of the masculine careerism they have been duped into envying. They, along with most of the world today, believe student debt and a specialized degree are necessary steps in pursuit of a higher position and higher salary in a soul-sucking desk-job. The conservative trad community easily decries such a trajectory for women. The proposed alternative is frequently a denial to see any value in women attending college at all. It’s not a new trend to interpret Christian femininity as a kind of intellectual passivity in an attempt to keep a good distance from the feminist conception. In doing so, rightly-ordered femininity has morphed into dismissing, or worse, discouraging further academic pursuit on account of it not being relevant or useful for young mothers. This is an inadequate yet understandable substitute for what’s really a masculine femininity we see embodied in office buildings as a 35 year-old-business major working fifty-hour weeks who is single and left feeling unfulfilled. But swinging as dramatically as one can in the opposite direction doesn’t necessarily yield virtue either. Purposefully childless cat ladies don’t exhibit true femininity, but that doesn’t mean the only other option is to be a high school graduate whose only ambition is to get married and start popping out babies.

I’m far from condemning being a trad wife right out of high school. For many women that’s exactly what they’re called to do and I have dear friends who do so with grace and faithfulness. This follows the same logic as arguing not every man is called to the pastorate. Attempting to traverse some avenue which you are not called toward or gifted in would be a failing to glorify God. There are varying types of calling for both men and women, all of which can be accomplished with obedience and a heavenly reward.

A particular education

I confess this article’s title is a red herring. While there are specialized programs that are worthwhile in providing the necessary skills and knowledge to enter certain fields, a liberal arts and humanities degree like that which New Saint Andrews offers uniquely prepares its students to shape their souls and minds towards the Good: rooting them in the rich history of the world which our God fashioned and sustains, and in doing so providing them with the tools to master anything. Philip Melanchthon, a German Reformer and friend of Martin Luther, instructed his students on the application of such an education, saying that its end was to prepare politicians and church officers.

“And you ought to keep in view the purpose of your studies, and decide that they are provided for giving of advice for the state, for teaching in the churches and for upholding the doctrine of religion.” (Melanchthon, 6)

Such an education sets its students apart. It passes on the instruments to learn and to lead in whatever setting one finds himself in. It teaches mastery in drive and ambition, and after pushing its graduates out into the world with fistfuls of proverbial talents, the question that remains is what they are going to do with them. Such a program ideally positions those who complete it to perform exceptionally in any area. As a consequence, we expect excellence of a student of the liberal arts. It would be conversely disappointing **if the same student failed to accomplish great things. Men are the naturally more assertive sex and thus seeking out creative applications for these studies tends to be uncomplicated: as Christians, we adhere to the teaching that men are called to provide for and lead in their homes, businesses, and churches. But what of female leaders? Can a woman be a director of the culture without abdicating her motherhood, or more fundamentally, her femininity? If the answer is yes, what would that even look like?

The virtue of ambition

We are in pursuit of returning to the natures of things. Women have a nature. Men have a different, complimentary nature. One would be obtuse to stand wholly opposed to women entering and excelling in typically male-dominated fields and the same applies in reverse. But we must understand the distinction between our natures, and in order to do so there must be a willingness present to work with stereotypes and categories. Men are more interested in things, we can reasonably conclude because Adam was formed from the earth and through the earth he is cursed, while women are more interested in people, for comparable reasons (Genesis 2:7, 21-22; 3:16-19).

These orientations also drive male and female vocations: men work the earth (literally or figuratively) for much of their waking hours: They protect and build and provide. Women work their families and their homes: They give life and teach and beautify. There are different degrees to which a man or woman can complete their respective roles. A man with drive and endurance will be more productive than a man whose life is marked by meeting the bare minimum. And a woman who “rises while it is yet night” shall be praised (Proverbs 31:15a), implying the one who sleeps in will not be.

A politician effects cultural change more significantly than a plumber, and yet a society needs both. Men attend certain schools to be trained in certain professions, and this specific kind of education takes men and produces politicians and the like. A woman who receives a liberal arts and humanities education is likewise held to a higher calling. Those who are single can faithfully take initiative in the context of their communities and jobs as they wait for marriage. Those who are married will do so similarly with more attention directed towards their families. This kind of woman can exercise leadership in the way the woman in Proverbs 31 does. This leadership obviously functions differently than a man’s, but it is a type of leadership nonetheless. Maybe she will teach not only her own children but others as well. Maybe she will build businesses and do side hustles or create art and adorn homes. Maybe she will lead Bible studies and counsel young women. But what is certain is that such a woman could not be cut from the cloth of lifeless, corporate HR management. Rather, her education facilitates making life by ever serving and educating others while she too seeks to be educated.

“For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭48)‬

She is also no longer on the same level as a woman who didn’t pursue the liberal arts. She’s been given an immense responsibility because she has now been trained in her rich tradition and taught how to read the books of Scripture and of Nature. She is set up to lead her children to likewise become high caliber Christians for the Kingdom, and she can be creative, productive, and manage her resources gracefully.

Ergo more mothers in STEM? Not necessarily.

In most cases, the application of this feminine ambition won’t look like merely higher career drive but without the abdication of motherhood, though there is nothing inherently wrong with women laboring and building skills in a working environment. Women who have graduated from NSA are in an advantageous position. It’s easier to see their studies’ relevance in the spheres of their jobs, church community, or in raising their children if they’re mothers, and that is often where the focus of this education’s benefits lie. But an area which receives less emphasis is that of how they have also been prepared for a distinctive calling as wives. They are now equipped to be the fitting companions of doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. when most high school graduates would be a poor match. Men and women alike desire a spouse to whom they would be equally yoked. Just as a construction worker is best helped by a wife interested in and encouraging towards his particular occupation, a pastor is better suited with a wife who can come alongside him in counseling the female members of the congregation, or pour into their church in an administrative capacity. The First Lady doesn’t scrub the White House floors or wait tables at presidential dinners. But she does run the house.

“Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.” (Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭23‬, ‭28‬-‭31‬)

Husbands don't want a slave, they want someone who can aid them in their individual calling. This education prepares women to be the wives of great men who will fulfill specific roles in society. When Solomon describes the excellent man standing before kings (Proverbs 22:29), a woman educated in the liberal arts should want to be the helpmate at such a man’s side.

_{Philip Melanchthon, Orations on Philosophy and Education, ed. Sachiko Kusukawa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).}