Running Head: Women in Education

Women in Education
Karen Flores
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302

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Women in Education

Women in Education
It may come to your attention that women were not allowed to attend college in
1636, it took another 200 years in order for women to be able to receive a college
education. Women were excluded from the education system until recently as1980.
Women education in colonial America was to become an expert at household chores
and duties in order to be able to find a suitable husband. It was really rare to find a welleducated women it depended on their race, class, and location. In colonial America high
class girls were able to receive an education from the government or at a convent and
learn reading and writing basics only, middle class families could only afford to provide
education for their sons and lower class families were not able to afford any type of
education to neither their sons or daughters. By learning about the history of women in
education people learn to appreciate how far women can come and how much women
can contribute to the education system. Thanks to media and other sources we are now
able to get more informed about this topic.
Audience and Purpose
The first genre, is an interview of an El Dorado High School female educator for
senior and junior math in high school, the interview was conducted on September 19,
2016. The purpose of this interview was to inform the audience about a real experience
of a female educator throughout her career as a teacher. The second genre, is an article
called Women in Higher Education since 1970: The More Things Change, The More
They Stay the Same by Gerdes, Eugenia. This article was created to demonstrate the
experience of women educators from 1970 to present day and the changes and norms
that have occurred throughout their career as women educators.

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The intended audience of the interview with the El Dorado High school female

educator are future women educators who are interested in knowing what to expect and
what environment they will be facing once they enter the education system. By
informing ourselves who the audience would be for the first genre, we can conclude that
they are informed about the injustice towards women in education. For the article, the
target audience is college students who are trying to get information or are researching
about how women have influenced the education system, especially those alumni who
are trying to pursue a career in the teaching field.
Both genres cover different information about the same topic and gives us
different type of views towards woman in education. Even though both genre cover the
same topic and have almost the same information, sometimes the audience tend to
incline towards personal experiences rather than third person experiences. Some
listeners rather listen to a recording that may be six minutes long while they can be also
be doing something else like writing down important information form the recording
rather than spend more time reading something that may not even be accurate.
Both genres purpose is to educate their audience of subjects that deal with
injustice and changes for and against women in education, yet the way the information
is presented by the article and the interview are different. In the interview the purpose is
to inform and persuade the audience of the experiences and actions that have been
taken to stop further injustices in women education. The purpose of the article is to
inform college students to never underestimate women in education, and inform any
readers about importance of women being able to have an education and make an

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Women in Education

impact in society, and being able to look at women not as the stereotypical householder
but as independent and strong gender.
Rhetorical Issues
The audience can get any type of rhetorical appeal from each of the genres,
which are implemented differently in both genres.
Ethos
While listening to the first genre of the interview, in which is presented form a
personal experience of female educator, the audience can catch up to what is really
happening and the treatment of women in the education system and her story. This
genre is easier for the audience to be able to follow up quicker in order to receive a
better understanding of this topic and convince themselves that this social issue was a
big problem in the past and it not over yet. Even though genre number two has a better
organization and it has being certified in order to be able to be publish in the internet,
the audience cannot always assume that the information in the article is accurate. The
author of this article helps the alumni feel the moral injustice that females have faced in
order to be able to be accepted in the education system.
Pathos
In the first genre, the teacher being interview utilizes emotional appear by talking
about what her experience has being ever since she first enrolled in school. She
explains what she has gone through and all of her struggles in order to become a math
educator in a high school. Since this genre can cause a more emotional appeal than
genre number two due to it being more of a personal experience and a first-person view

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Women in Education

rather than just an article that someone can just go and write about from a third person
view. The second genre doesnt really have any emotional appeal due to the fact that is
only an article and even though is written by a female author the article had more of a
logos or ethos appeal rather that pathos.
Logos
The first genre used logos through its tone and the way it was presented. The
proof used to support the claims of injustice and experience of women educators were
victims, past experiences, and protest. The proof presented is dependable because the
female educator interviewed is an honest and professional teacher. The second genre,
the article presents some facts such as the title IX which was passed by government
and the glad ceiling which has been supported and believed to be correct by other
professionals.
Structure and Delivery
The way in which the information of both genres has being presented and
organized gives the audience a better understanding of what to expect from each genre.
In the first genre, the educator began by introducing herself and giving us a background
of her life and then move on by talking about her career and her experience throughout
the process of becoming what she is today. On the other hand the second genre begins
by giving more facts to what the issue is and how has it change through time and how
women are now seen in the education system.

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Conclusion
Both genres gives us a better understanding of the issue. The first genre was
more of a personal experience and had more of an emotional impact toward the
audience, rather than a historical and more informative appeal. Each genre had different
sides towards the issue but both demonstrate how important women have become in
this field and how they have impacted the system ever since they were allowed to
receive an education.

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References
National Womens History Museum, (2007) Colonial Education. Retrieved from
https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/education/1700s_1.htm
Mrs. De Leon. (2016). Interview from a female educator. El Dorado High School.
Gerdes, Eugenia (2006) Women in Higher Education since 1970: The More Things
Change, the More They Stay the Same. Retrieved from
https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-1183861091/women-in-higher-education-since-1970the-more-things