In 1964, more than half of working female college graduates in America were teachers; by 1996 it was under 15 percent. As law, medicine, and business opened to women, the classroom lost talent it had never had to compete for. The episode weighs economists' competing explanations and the parallel destruction of the Black teaching corps as Southern schools desegregated.
Who's who
- Howard W. Smith+1 more episodeVirginia congressman who added sex to Title VII in 1964
- Pauli MurrayBlack lawyer whose memorandum helped keep the sex amendment
- Sandra Day O'Connor+5 more episodesStanford Law graduate offered only secretarial work by law firms
- Claudia Goldin+2 more episodesNobel-winning economic historian of women's careers
- Caroline HoxbyEconomist who argued pay compression pushed talent out of teaching
- Andrew LeighEconomist who argued pay compression pushed talent out of teaching
- Adam FaircloughHistorian of the destruction of the Black teaching corps
- Elizabeth Duncan KoontzFirst Black NEA president, later head of the Women's Bureau
Where it happens
- American South+2 more episodesRegion where desegregation displaced Black teachers and principals
- North Carolina+1 more episodeBlack elementary principals fell from 620 to 170, 1963-1970
Timeline
- February 8, 1964Rep. Smith moves to add sex to Title VII; the House keeps it
- July 2, 1964Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
- 1968Green v. County School Board begins real faculty mergers across the South
- 1972Title IX bans sex discrimination in federally funded education
- 2000Top-decile share of new female teachers falls to about one in ten
- 2023Claudia Goldin wins the Nobel Prize in economics
Still debated
Economists dispute whether top talent was pulled away by outside opportunity or pushed out by compressed teacher pay. Estimates of displaced Black educators vary with scope, and historians disagree on why Smith added sex to Title VII.
Connected episodes in other series
The Opening: The Laws That Changed, and the ERA That DiedHaving It All · Episode 2Also features Howard W. Smith
The Lemon Test: The Rule That Governed Church and State for 50 YearsA Wall of Separation · Episode 6Also features Sandra Day O'Connor
The Supreme Court on Trial: Is It Really a Neutral Umpire?The Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 1Also features Sandra Day O'Connor
The Accord: The Treaty of Detroit and Who Was Left OutThe Long Argument: Capital vs. Labor · Episode 8Also features Claudia Goldin