Education Limited for Women

Women over 55 and considered to be in the ‘senior citizen’ generation were caught in a limiting educational experience when we graduated from high school. Social expectations were strong and heavily influenced our lives.  There were four options for us when we completed high school:

• get married
• go to secretarial school
• go to nursing school
• get a degree in teaching

That’s it.  For the vast majority of women, all other doors for careers and educational experiences were shut.  Options for pursuing other dreams were non-existent.

Education Should Be Free

Now, in our senior years, those doors are open and we can learn about anything we want, anything we ever dreamed about.  Are there some university courses you always wanted to take and never did?  What about that poetry class?  Or Greek and Roman mythology?  Or developing a better understanding of the world of finance?  Well, senior friends, it is now available online.  And it’s free.

Online classes are available to anyone who registers at Coursera.  So what’s the hitch?  There isn’t one.  The Coursera home page says this:

“We offer high quality courses from the top universities, for free to everyone. We currently host courses from Princeton University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University of Pennsylvania. We are changing the face of education globally, and we invite you to join us.”  Coursera.org

The free online courses are an experiment in offering learning to everyone.  The premise is that the world of information should be free and available to anyone who wants to learn. There should be no restrictions, particularly if one cannot afford the tuition charged at colleges and universities across the nation.

What a marvelous way to equalize the playing field!  Increasingly adults, and particularly women, will not be excluded because they cannot afford education, or–as it was 60-70 years ago–if you were a woman. All you need is the desire to learn.

Check it out, Seniors.  Coursera.org.  You just might find a dream awakening.