EDUCATION AND THE WOMAN QUESTION

The ''woman question'' refers to the nineteenth century debate about w hether the rights and freedoms available to men should be extended to women. The intent of this paper is to explore the expression of this d ebate within the context of the post-secondary education system. Selec ted examples of the historical arguments in support of the exclusion o f women are outlined (i.e., women are lower on the evolutionary scale; reproductive harm; loss of femininity) followed by a more contemporar y analysis of gender differences in graduate education with a particul ar focus on access, graduation rates (i.e., attrition) and time to com pletion of graduate degrees; The ''chilly climate'' construct is prese nted as a possible explanation for the alleged gender differential on these latter two;variables. According to this model, the structures an d operation of academic institutions embody significant elements of sy stemic discrimination and micro-inequities which disadvantage women. A series of six studies are described in which various aspects of the c hilly climate (i.e., mentoring and supervision, sexual harassment) are explored especially in terms of the effects on attrition and time to completion. Paradoxically, although the research reveals a failure of educational institutions to fully resolve the woman question, women co ntinue to operate effectively under conditions of inequity. Despite ge neral dissatisfaction with the quality of their educational experience , and the concomitant experience of significant life stress, women did not withdraw in larger numbers nor take longer to complete their degr ees than did men. The paper concludes with a few modest speculations a bout the future constructions and deconstructions of this debate.