ved that a "woman's brain was smaller in capacity and therefore inferior in a quality to that of a man" (Flexner, 1975, p.34). Moreover, many believed that the social system would demolish if women were allowed to be educated. It was thought that women would abandon their traditional roles of mother and wife, causing family life to suffer tremendously. It was even believed that women risked brain fever or sterility is he became educated (Flexer, 1975, p.35). Some of the earliest women to demand greater educational advantages did not desire better opportunities for women; they merely believed that more knowledge would make them better mothers and more efficient housewives (Flexner, 1975).
             Education has prevented women from obtaining equal status in society, separating them from their male counterparts. However, it has also been the stepping stone to equality. Prior to women's rights and privileges of higher education, they were defined as lower-class citizens, not allowed to vote or own property. Without education to empower them, many felt they should not have the authority to influence politics or even make decisions concerning their own property. "Women were stripped of their dignity and privileges by men of the community and even by their own husbands" (Carlson, 1973, p.48). However, they were finally able to escape from the social constraints through education.
             The struggle for women's education has been a difficult battle that has yet to be reached. Today's girls continue a three-hundred-year old struggle for full participation in America's educational system (Sadker, 1994). For nearly two centuries, following European traditions, girls were barred from school. The majority of girls received no education or just a few years in a dame school (Sadker, 1994). A dame school was a "low-level primary school in the Colonial and other early periods, usually conducted by an untrained wo...