Elizabeth Blackwell Women In The Workplace Essay

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In 1890, less then one half of one percent of women were employed gainfully outside of the home. Over the next hundred years, women have not only gained access to jobs outside of the home, but also fought for equality in the work place. These struggles have not been easy by any means. Women have overcome many obstacles in there journey into the work force, none grater then the views of their male piers. Many males thought and continue to think that there is no place for women in the work place. Women made there strides into the work force by not only following examples of their courageous pioneers, but also by banding together to show their strength. During the mid 1800's a small number of women begin their assault on, what were at…show more content…
It was also thought that Women were to fragile to deal with the work that goes with being a doctor. Elizabeth Blackwell saw first hand the effects of the first problem mentioned. She watched a family friend die because she was embarrassed to bring her problem to the attention of her male doctor. Blackwell was not detoured by the Idea that no medical school would take her, because she could not compete with males. After all almost everyone at the time believed that "the female brain was different then the male brain."(Reifert 78) Blackwell finally gained admittance to Geneva College after a unanimous vote of the student body to let her in. This vote should not be taken as a sign that men were becoming more accepting of women infiltrating what was formally known as male only territory. It should be noted that most of the students believed that either the vote was a joke or that Blackwell would not stay around long. Blackwell proved all the skeptics wrong by graduating in the top of her class, but still no hospital in the United States would allow her to intern. For her internship Blackwell went to Paris. When She got back to

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