It's certainly not work as I imagine work to be. I know a lot of people who hate their jobs, and I don't feel that way at all. The actual act of doing science is gender neutral. There's only one way to do it - properly. For students, however, being in classes dominated by women frees them from the anxiety of uncertainty and frees them from being intimidated.
Men are better at putting on a front even when they know no more than women know.
That's just the kind of stereotype we don't need to perpetuated. Women's colleges do offer a more encouraging environment for women. Women who go to college knowing they want to be scientists probably don't need women's colleges. But our small size is also very, very, important. From the time a student decides her major she will be guided here.