Project on the Status and Education of Women

The Project on the Status and Education of Women (PSEW) was the first United States project focused on gender equity in education. Formed in 1971 by the Association of American Colleges (AAC), known today as the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), PSEW worked to improve access to and equity within higher education for women, addressing the needs of university students, faculty, staff, and administrators. PSEW produced and distributed materials about the status of women in higher education, advised colleges and universities about policies related to affirmative action, women’s studies programs, and hiring women faculty, and worked with policymakers to introduce legislation to improve gender equity in American higher education. PSEW’s periodical, On Campus with Women (OCWW), ran from 1971-2013 through the AACU, publishing articles and research related to women in higher education. PSEW also played a significant role in the development and passage of Title IX, the portion of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex.

PSEW was dissolved as a separate project on June 30, 1991 and reincorporated into the AACU as the Program on the Status and Education of Women. The program was directed by Caryn McTighe Musil until its conclusion in 2012. An extensive collection of the materials and publications produced by PSEW is held at the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

The Project on the Status and Education of Women was founded in 1971 as the first step in a shift by the Association of American Colleges (now the Association of American Colleges and Universities) towards attention to student diversity. Located in the headquarters of the AACU in Washington, D.C., the organization operated with a small staff. PSEW received funding through grants, including from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation.

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