This paper reports on the educational status of women and ethnic minorities. The first part of the paper presents a literature review containing overviews of the past and present status of women and minorities in education and briefly discusses the concept of equality of educational opportunity. The second part of the paper, which comprises the bulk of the document, examines factors that directly or indirectly influence the status of women and minorities in education including educational aspirations, enrollment, retention, educational resources and school environments, educational achievement, subject matter, teachers, and administrators. Inequality of education between the sexes has been most severe at the postsecondary level. The impetus for higher education for women came from two sources. First, contemporaneous with the abolition movement, the ideological conviction that women were entitled to the same educational opportunities as men gained support. Second, the latter half of the 19th century was a time of dire economic need for many colleges because of shrinking enrollments. Women were considered as potential sources of tuition revenues. Today, 43% of bachelor's degrees, 46% of master's degrees, and 23% of doctoral degrees are awarded to women. Large inequalities appear in the content and quality of the educational experiences of whites and Blacks. More Black students have low grade point averages in school than white students, and they are suspended more often and for longer periods than whites. (Author/RM)