The “advancement of women” was a phrase intended to be vague enough to include all women and their respective ambitions. It was not a term used to imply equality between the sexes, but rather included topics such as higher education and financial independence for women. This movement was a result of expanding possibilities for women in a changing world. Urbanization was on the rise and with it many new conveniences for women to experience on the streets. Department stores were considered part of the woman’s realm and were able to be

It cannot be assumed, however, that since women had an education equal to that of men, that they would enter the professional world with the same status. Many men believed that their degrees had been “cheapened” by the admittance of women into what used to be a strictly male domain. Women often felt that they were treading on man’s turf with encroachment into higher education. Separate colleges such as Vassar (1865) and Wellesley (1875) were then formed, which placed women on more familiar ground. The first generation of formally educated women was viewed as pioneers “and their lapses or failures might jeopardize the whole ‘experiment’ of higher education for women.” 1

2. Kathryn Kish Sklar, “Hull House in 1890: A Community of Women Reformers,” Signs 10 (1985)

Some topics in this essay:
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