The historian William Chafe has written that `sending a daughter to college [was] like letting the genie out of the bottle.` Why was this so? What long-term effects did the higher education of a significant number of women have?

William Henry Chafe 's has written sending a daughter to college [was] like letting the genie out of the bottle ' Chafe , a historian , is writing about a time period in the not-so-distant past , an era where women were not encouraged , and in fact were specifically discouraged from attending college . Chafe 's comment indicates that the exposure to the world of learning was analogous to opening up a wide range of possibilities for women . Much like a genie that has been trapped in an enclosed environment and then released into the world , women were

br released from their enclosure in the domestic sphere and exposed to the possibilities than are concomitant with the college experience

Genies , however , must eventually return to their bottles , and the expectation for college-educated women was similar : women were expected to return to the domestic environment and continue their roles as wives and mothers . The immersion in another world , a world full of possibilities , led women to be increasingly dissatisfied with their traditional social functions . Options for work were slim for those women who did seek employment

Over time , the education of a large number of women has had a profound effect on the workforce and family structure . Increasing numbers of women work , but even today they are not always perceived as equals . The fact that pay equity and non-discrimination clauses must be legislated points to the fact that women 's roles as equals cannot be assumed . In terms of family structure , many children are raised in families...