Project on the Status and Education of Women (Association of American Colleges)

The Project on the Status and Education of Women (PSEW) was formed under the auspices of the Association of American Colleges (AAC) in 1971. At its inception, PSEW was the first national project concerned with achieving equity for women students, faculty, and administrators in colleges and universities. PSEW was primarily funded by grants, mainly from the Carnegie Corporation and the Ford Foundation. AAC sporadically provided monetary support for the project and its employees, and the project operated out of the AAC headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Bernice Resnick Sandler was hired as the Executive Associate and Director at the project's inception, and ran the project for the next 20 years. Sandler's previous experience had been in the nonprofit and government sectors; she worked with the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) to file administrative charges on behalf of women college faculty, and as a Congressional subcommittee staff member, organizing the first hearings on women's status in employment and education in 1970. Sandler's numerous contacts throughout government, academia, and the women's movement aided her work with PSEW. Sandler's personal papers ( MC 558 ) are also held by the Schlesinger Library. The PSEW office usually functioned with a small number of staff: generally one to three higher-level researchers and a few lower-level administrative staff members. Margaret C. Dunkle was Associate Director of PSEW from 1972 to 1977. Her personal papers ( MC 530 ) are also held by the Schlesinger Library. Other higher-level staff included Roberta M. Hall (1980-1985) and Grace L. Mastalli (1977-1980).

PSEW served as an information clearinghouse and distributor, a lobbying organization, a research institute, and a speakers and advisory bureau. In its work as an information resource, PSEW disseminated original and reprinted materials addressing the needs of women as students, staff, faculty, and administrators in education. Project staff monitored federal statutes and regulations for the ways they affected women on campus. PSEW issued more than 100 reports in its 20 years (some written by staff, some written by outside consultants), including reports on Title IX, financial aid for women students, campus sexual harassment, peer sexual harassment, and the "chilly climate" for women in academe (how men and women are treated differently in the classroom). PSEW also published booklets and pamphlets intended to help women know their legal rights and meet their educational needs. They published a newsletter, On Campus with Women, that appeared quarterly, and informed readers of programs, regulations, research, conferences, and other relevant information about women and education.

PSEW staff worked to assist and cooperate with academic institutions regarding the formation of programs and policies for and about women, and to aid those institutions in understanding government regulations affecting women and minorities in education. Administrators and faculty sought PSEW's help with regard to forming affirmative action policies and other policies and programs, setting up women's studies programs, and recruiting and hiring women. Staff answered numerous letters and phone calls, and also traveled to campuses to consult with administrators on policies and programs, or to conduct workshops for students and faculty.

Subjects addressed by PSEW in its newsletter, research, or reports were: recruitment of women students and faculty, minority women in academia, re-entry (returning) women students, child care on campus, financial assistance, discrimination, personnel policies, sex bias in research, development of women's studies curricula, sex discrimination claims in hiring and promotion at educational institutions, and affirmative action policies. PSEW staff wrote the first national reports on discrimination against women in collegiate sports, classroom "chilly climate," campus gang rape, students sexually harassed by faculty, and student peer sexual harassment. Materials were distributed widely: to college presidents and other personnel, faculty and students, men as well as women.

In addition to studying and educating women students and educators, PSEW staff were active in ensuring women's equal rights in education, as well as other areas. They worked in conjunction with Congressional staff and other interested organizations and coalitions on the development and passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, mandating that educational institutions that received federal funding could not discriminate on the basis of sex. Title IX became law in June 1972, yet the final regulation on its application from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) were not published until June 1975. During the interim period, PSEW acted as a clearinghouse for educational institutions on Title IX implementations and assumed policy, as can be seen in the incoming letters from universities in Series III. PSEW staff also continued to work to ensure the law would be enforced vigorously. Some of this advocacy work was done as part of the National Coalition for Women and Girls Education (NCWGE), a nonprofit organization of more than 50 organizations formed to actively advocate for more government regulation, enforcement, and funding of education-related programs for women. Margaret Dunkle was the first chair of NCWGE from 1975 to 1977. Coalition members, including Sandler and Dunkle, met with HEW officials, White House staff, and other federal officials and staff to discuss the shape and direction of relevant regulations. NCWGE members, including PSEW staff, reviewed and commented on drafts of regulations, and monitored enforcement.

Through NCWGE and other advocacy work, PSEW staff aimed to educate policymakers and government officials about issues facing women on campus. Staff members' campus visits allowed them to identify emerging issues and trends, and work for more resources and relevant litigation. Beginning in the 1970s, and continuing through the 1980s, PSEW addressed issues of rape and sexual harassment on campus. In the 1980s, PSEW worked to develop educational materials on sexual harassment and related topics to be used in educating students, faculty, and university administrators.

In 1990, AAC (now the Association of American Colleges and Universities) decided to change its focus on issues relating to women, and tried to integrate women's issues into all its programs. Bernice Sandler was asked to step down. PSEW under Sandler's direction ceased to exist on June 30, 1991. AACU continues to fund a "Program on the Status and Education of Women" (also known as PSEW), with a much smaller scope, at the time of this writing.

The PSEW, begun in 1971, is the oldest national project concerned with achieving equity for women students, faculty, and administrators in colleges and universities. Dr. Bernice Resnick Sandler has directed the Project since its founding. To promote its primary goal the PSEW monitors federal legislation, policies and a wide variety of publications; develops and disseminates summaries and analyses of sex equity issues in education; serves as a clearinghouse for information about women in academe; publishes a newsletter and occasional papers on such topics as financial aid, sexual harassment, minority women, and women in higher education administration; and testifies before government bodies. Additional information is available from the PSEW office (1818 R Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20009) and in the Organization File of the Schlesinger Library.