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New AAC&U Report on Women's Progress in Higher Education Honored by National Council for Research on Women with the 2009 Research and Scholarship Award

Washington, DC—June 11, 2009—The Association of American Colleges and Universities has been awarded the National Council for Research on Women’s (NCRW) Research and Scholarship Award for its recent report, A Measure of Equity: Women’s Progress in Higher Education. According to NCRW, the award “recognizes AAC&U for the outstanding research and production of knowledge built on theoretical perspectives that advance understanding of the experiences of women and/or girls in society.”

Published as part of AAC&U’s Program on the Status and Education of Women, A Measure of Equity was written by Judy Touchton, with Caryn McTighe Musil and Kathryn Peltier Campbell. This report documents recent trends in women’s status in higher education data since the last report on women in higher education issued by the American Council on Education in 1995. When possible, it provides data about women across race, ethnicity, age, and income. A Measure of Equity also compares the gains that women have made in the last decade or more and identifies areas still resistant to change.

“It gives me deep pleasure to see this publication receive an award for filling a void in available data on women’s progress toward full equality,” said Caryn McTighe Musil, AAC&U’s senior vice president and director of the program on the status and education of women. “A Measure of Equity and this award also honor AAC&U’s 35-year legacy of national leadership for women’s equity in the academy.”

AAC&U’s Caryn McTighe Musil and Kathryn Campbell were invited to accept the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) Research and Scholarship Award at the NCRW annual conference on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. In addition, the Council will recognize awardees along with others in the NCRW member center and corporate network during the program for NCRW’s Annual Women Who Make a Difference Awards Dinner in March 2010.

To learn more about the report, A Measure of Equity: Women’s Progress in Higher Education, click here.

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1200 member institutions -- including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.