UCLA graduate Katherine Watson has accepted a position as an art history professor at prestigious Wellesley College. The all-female institution prides itself on tradition. Katherine prides herself on change. It's 1953. This season the girls of Wellesley are going to get a lesson in life. Miss Watson has a plan-to motivate her students to do more than measure success by how well they marry, and discover a freedom they never thought possible.
But the independent young woman is about to face a challenge of her own. Encouraging these women to strive for a more enlightened future, Katherine must stand up to the administration in order to inspire her students to look beyond the image of what is, and consider the possibilities of what could be.