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.557
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Transactions of the
Women's Institute
Ro. J.
13
お
​5
By
Yrs. H. Sidgwick
Beli
**
The Place of University
Education in the Life of
Women
22

The Women's Institute
(FOUNDED ON STRICTLY NON-PARTY LINES)
COMPRISING
A REFERence libRARY; A ROOM FOR meetingS (of
Business and Social character); A GENERAL INFORMATIO
BUREAU; An ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN LECTURERS
A WOMEN'S BENEFIT SOCIETY; A RE-UNION O
SOCIETIES; A RECREATION DEPARTMENT; A
GENERAL AGENCY FOR MEMBERS; etc.
COUNCIL
The Countess of Aberdeen
Mrs. Hirst Alexander
Mrs. Alfred Booth (Pres. Nat.
Union of Women Workers)
Mrs. H. Percy Boulnois (Liver-
Miss Edith Bradley [pool)
Miss Burstall (North Lond.
Coll, School for Girls)
Mdme, Louisa Starr Canziani
Miss Carpenter (Hall of Resi-
dence, University College
of Wales, Aberystwith)
Miss Cons
Miss Davies (Training School
of Cookery, Univ. Coll., Cardiff)
Miss Ella Hepworth Dixon
Miss Faithfull (King's College,
London)
The Hon, Lady Grey-Egerton
Lady Grove
Miss Grove (Prin. of Coll. Hall
of Residence for Women,
University Coll., London)
Lady Hamilton (Tasmania)
Mrs. Hays Hammond
Viscountess Harberton
Miss Hitchcock (Kensington
High School for Girls)
Miss E. P. Hughes (The Train-
ing College, Cambridge)
Mrs. Alfred Hunt
Miss Hurlbatt (Aberdare Hall,
Cardiff)
Mrs. Brynmor Jones
Mrs. Viriamu Jones
Miss Maitland (Somerville
College, Oxford)
Mrs. Charles McLaren
Mrs. Eva McLaren
Miss Maynard (Westfield Col-
lege, Hampstead).
Miss Moberly
Hall, Oxford)
Miss
(St. Hugh's
Mondy (Sec. of Nat.
Home-Reading Union)
Lady Montagu
Miss Morison Univ.Coll., Lond.
Miss Rosalind Paget (Mid-
wives' Institute)

Mrs. Peile (Christ's College
Lodge, Cambridge)
Lady Philipps
Mrs. Philipps
Mrs. Alfred Pollard (Ass. of
Assistant Mistresses; Hon
Sec. C.A.B. Mem. Fund)
The Countess of Radnor
The Hon. Mrs. Bertrand
Russell (Hon. Gen. Sec. Y.W.
Branch, B.W.T.A.)
Mrs. Russell-Cooke
Mrs. Scharlieb, M.D., M.S.
Mrs. Shurmer Sibthorp
Mrs. Sidgwick (Newnham
College, Cambridge)
Mrs. Bamford Slack
Lady Henry Somerset
Mrs. Stopes (Author of "Brit-
ish Freewomen")
Mrs. D. A.Thomas
Mrs. Verrall (Associate of
Newnham Coll., Cambridge)
Miss Welsh (Girton College)
The Dowager Lady Westbury
Miss Wordsworth (Lady Mar-
garet Hall, Oxford)

The Place of University
Education in the Life of Women
73315-
AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT THE WOMEN'S INSTITUTE ON
NOVEMBER 23RD, 1897
BY
Eleanor Mattres
MRS. HENRY SIDGWICK
l
^
Copies of this Pamphlet may be obtained from the Women's
Institute, 15, Grosvenor Crescent, London.
Price, 4d. each;
or 3s. per dozen.
--classað //-11-32 HUM
The Place of University Education in the
Life of Women.
(
(An address delivered at the Women's Institute on November
23rd, 1897, by MRS. HENRY SIDGWICK.)
So much has been said and written lately about
University Education for women that I perhaps ought
to apologise for making a further addition to the dis-
cussion. But a great volume of controversial utterance
does not always either spring from or tend to produce a
clear grasp of the elements of a problem, though it in-
dicates a wide-spread interest in it. It therefore seemed
to me not inopportune for us to examine the whole sub-
ject in as uncontroversial a manner as possible, and to
try to make clear to ourselves what it is that women
want, why they want it, and how far their needs in this.
matter are satisfied by the opportunities now open to
them.
One thing we may note at the outset. It no longer
seems to be seriously doubted that University education
for women is needed. Almost all, I think, who took
part on either side in the recent controversy about ad-
mitting women to degrees at Cambridge were concerned
≈ to make it understood that they did not dispute
the desirability of women—at least some women—
receiving the higher education which Universities
3
འན་།
4
give. This in many ways simplifies our question.
Thirty years ago we should have been expected to
consider whether women were intellectually capable of
profitting by a University education. Examinations
and the subsequent work of examinees have now
convinced the world that they are. Then we should
have been expected to prove that physically they
were equal to the strain, or supposed strain, and
that their health need not suffer, at the time or after-
wards. Now, statistics collected on both sides of the
Atlantic, not to speak of common experience and obser-
vation, have for most of us placed beyond question the
conclusion that the danger is not materially greater in
the case of women than of men. Then we should have
had to meet the objection that University education.
would unfit women for the functions and duties of wives
and mothers. Now that the daughters of the first
generation of University women are entering our
colleges, this question too may perhaps be put aside.
Those of us who have from the first believed that
opportunities of receiving University education ought to
be open to women, have, of course, the gratification of
finding their own prognostications fulfilled. But it is
upon far more than this that we have to congratulate
ourselves. For these questions were fundamental.
Had experience answered them differently, University
education would really have been impossible for
women, as those who opposed it said; or at any rate,
impossible for all but a few exceptionally constituted
We should have had to acquiesce in the melan-
ones.
5
choly conclusion that nature had given women aspira-
tions after intellectual development, while furnishing
them with bodies and minds unfitting them to receive
it. As it is, the clearing away of these doubts has
practically decided the main question in the affirmative.
It is now beyond question that women are to have
opportunities of receiving University education. I do
not, of course, mean that every one is convinced that
this is desirable; but I do not think its desirability is
any longer seriously doubted by any one who has looked
into the facts, and whose opinion on the question is
worth considering.
And it is not only in this country that the question is
thus decided. It is similarly decided in our Colonies and in
India, in the United States of America, and in most
European countries, Germany and Russia being the
most backward.
It may be interesting to glance at some important
steps in the progress made thus far. As regards
England, Miss Emily Davies-herself a pioneer in the
movement—has summarised its history for us in a
pamphlet which she published last year. The first
serious steps taken were the founding of Queen's
College, Harley Street, in 1848, under the auspices of
the Governesses' Benevolent Institution; and of Bedford
College in 1849. An attempt to gain admission to the
University of London for the sake of obtaining a medical
degree was first made by a woman in 1856; and more than
twenty years later, in 1878, this privilege was at length
granted to women, and with it admission to all degrees
6
F
of the University. In the interval, English women had
obtained medical degrees at foreign Universities. The
London School of Medicine for Women was founded
about 1875. The first College for women in connection
with Cambridge began its existence in 1869, and the
honour degree examinations of the University were
formally opened to students of Newnham and Girton.
Colleges in 1881. Somerville College and Lady Mar-
garet Hall, Oxford, were founded in 1879; and some of
the examinations of Oxford University were first opened
in 1884, and others from time to time afterwards
as required. The Victoria University was opened in
1880; the Scottish Universities admitted women in 1892,
and the University of Durham in 1895.
The new
University of Wales has from the first admitted women
on equal terms with men; and the Royal University of
Ireland, which is an examining body, is, with its affiliated
Colleges, similarly open to them.
In America the movement began earlier ;
we find
Oberlin College opened for men and women in 1833, and
Mount Holyoke, the precursor of colleges for women
alone, in 1836. The wealthy Vassar College for women.
was endowed and opened in 1861. Women were
admitted to the University of Michigan about 1868,
and to Cornell University in 1872. Wellesley and
Smith Colleges, again for women only, date from
1870 and 1871. The so-called "Annex" of Harvard,
now in closer connection with that University as
Radcliffe College, was opened in 1879. Brynmawr
College for women was opened in 1885. Barnard
7
College was connected with Columbia University im
1891, and Yale University opened its graduate courses.
and advanced degrees to women in 1892.
On the continent of Europe, progress has been steady
in the same direction.
In the leading countries of
France and Italy, the Universities are as open to women
as to men. Spain admitted women in 1868; Sweden
opened its Medical Faculty to them in 1870 and the
Faculties of Law and Philosophy in 1873. Zurich was
opened to them formally in 1872, the University of
Copenhagen in 1875, Belgian Universities in 1883,
Christiania in 1884, Athens in 1890.
I conclude, then, that we may take for granted that
some women are to have a University education. The
next question is, what kind of education do they require,
and are their present opportunities of obtaining it
adequate and suitable, or is something more or different
wanted?
When women first asked for University education,
the desires of most were naturally somewhat indefinite.
The important thing was to get higher education
of some kind, to find some outlet for cramped minds
and some satisfaction for aspirations which were eating
out the hearts of some of the best and most thoughtful
women-of those most anxious to be of use in their
generation. Now the situation is different. The
position of women is changed; enlarged opportunities
have given more definiteness to their aspirations. The
academic education of women has been going on long
enough and has been enjoyed by a sufficient number for
8
را
us to be able to form some view from experience, as to
the precise needs that it satisfies. And it seems impor-
tant to form this view, in the new and intermediate
position in which the system now stands.
It is no
longer untried, or even on its trial. But it does not
hold so assured a position as to be taken as a matter of
course, without enquiring what it does for those who
receive it, as it often is taken in the case of men.
Let us begin by examining the general position and
function of Universities in modern society.
If we
survey the University systems of different countries,
we find that, amid much diversity of method, they
all aim at promoting education beyond the school age-
beyond the age when, speaking broadly, what the pupil
does is settled for him; and further, that all have privi-
leges allowed them by law, giving them in some respects
a monopoly as regards such education. This monopoly
is secured to them by the fact that certain professions.
can hardly be entered except through Universities:
their guarantee is required, formally or practically, as
to a man's fitness to enter these professions. This
guarantee in England and America generally takes the
form of a degree. In Germany I understand that the
degree has been largely superseded by Government
examinations, but candidates must be certified by the
University to have attended certain courses of instruc-
tion. In France the whole University system is
practically a department of the Government, just as
our elementary school system is here, and though there
are free schools and colleges-écoles libres-outside of it,
9
these have to send in for University examinations those
of their pupils who wish to enter professions other than
the ministry of the Roman Catholic Church. The
number of professions for which the University guaran-
tee is made necessary by law varies in different coun-
tries. In England the necessity is not in any case
absolute; but in the important cases of medicine, the
ministry of religion, and teaching in secondary schools,
it is increasingly required by public opinion for the
higher kinds of professional work.
One result of this partial monopoly of the higher
education is, in most countries, an immense influence
exercised by Universities on schools. Apart from the
influence exercised through the schoolmasters, of which
I shall speak presently, they can, and do, largely direct
the school studies of boys entering professions by pre-
scribing the examinations to be passed, not only at
the University but before entering it, or before entering
on University studies proper.
So far I have been able to speak of all universities
together; but when I said that they all aim at promoting
higher education, I used the word "promote" instead.
of "provide ” advisedly, in order to be able to include the
University of London and the Royal University of Ireland,
which only examine, and the University of the State of
New York, which only organises. If we leave out these
three institutions-anomalous as Universities, though
performing useful functions-we may say, I think, that all
Universities provide education specially intended for
those who propose to enter certain professions.
IO
And there is one profession or vocation comparatively
small in extent, but of which the social importance is
increasingly recognised, with which Universities have:
a special and peculiar concern. I mean the profession
or vocation of advancing knowledge; which in a
fully equipped modern University is ordinarily con-
nected with the profession of academic teaching. We
may say that all Universities aim, as far as they can, at
having as teachers persons whose abilities and learning
make them leaders of thought in their respective sub-
jects, and at becoming centres of learning and research,
as well as of literary culture. The reputation of a
University depends, no doubt, on many things-its
antiquity, its wealth, the beauty of its surroundings, the
social advantages its pupils enjoy; but, in a continually.
increasing degree it depends, more than on anything else,
on the fame of its teachers and on the adequacy
of its equipment for the promotion of learning and
research.
This function of Universities as organisations for the
systematic advancement of knowledge is, I think, at
least as important as their function of teaching. Indeed
we may say that they are now only necessary for the
latter function, so far as it cannot well be separated
from the former. In the Middle Ages, when books
were scarce and learning could best be handed down
orally, personal communication between disciple and
master was necessary; the presence of the future man of
learning at the fountain-head of knowledge-at the
place where was to be found the greatest authority in
II
the special branch of learning pursued-was indispen-
sable. It is not indispensable in exactly the same sense
now that knowledge, when it has become knowledge, can
be communicated by means of books. But as places.
where the advancement of knowledge is to be systema-
tically pursued and prepared for, and where those who
are to hand on the torch of knowledge, by teaching or
otherwise, may, as far as possible, see knowledge in the
making, Universities are more important than ever.
*
For, on the one hand, the progress of knowledge extends
over a wider range-it is advancing, as it were, from
the circumference of a larger circle; owing to its vast-
ness, co-operation in its advance is more important, as
well as more difficult; while at the same time, the in-
creasingly complicated conditions of modern society and
the need of managing the world's affairs on a large
scale make the growth of knowledge of more and more
importance to us. No doubt, the needs of our age and
commercial competition would lead to discoveries being
made, even if there were no Universities; but many
even of the most practically fruitful discoveries are made
when the discoverer has had no practical aims; and
many branches of research, historical and scientific, can-
not be commercially estimated, and could not be carried.
on as part of a commercial enterprise. So much is it the
case that our age needs the advancement of knowledge,
and that the advancement of knowledge depends on the
existence of institutions like Universities to serve as
centres of learning and research, that if Universities had
not been handed down to us by our forefathers, en-
12
lightened public opinion must certainly have led to
their being founded now. That is one side of the
question.
On the other hand, the practical necessity, in our age,
of disseminating information widely, and testing it by
examination, tends in itself to a too purely commercial
view of education and to false conceptions of the relation
of information to living, growing knowledge. And this is
best counteracted by letting our future teachers come, as
far as possible, under the influence of those who are pursu-
ing knowledge for its own sake. It is thus that they
may be best enabled to inspire the attitude of mind which
alone makes the acquisition of knowledge cultivating,
and it is thus too that they may be best enabled to dis-
cover and develop those who in their turn will help in
the advance of knowledge or creation of literature. I do
not, of course, mean that all who study seriously at a
University necessarily come under the direct influence
of the most eminent men in their University ; but
directly or indirectly it permeates to all who are worthy
to receive it.
And further, both for investigation and for teaching it
is important to have Universities-in the sense of
institutions that "take all knowledge for their pro-
vince"-rather than special schools for particular studies.
The drawbacks of the high degree of specialisation—
limitation of individuals to particular branches of study
-which the vast extent of the whole field of know-
ledge renders more and more necessary, are to some
extent neutralised by bringing together at a common
-7
13
centre those who are working in different departments.
And this is not only desirable because it helps in the
task of bridging over chasms between different lines of
research, and tends to bring the aggregate of knowledge
into a more complete and harmonious whole, but is
advantageous also from the point of view of general
culture, and because it brings differently trained minds
to act on each other.
This last consideration is also an important one in
weighing the advantages of giving the education pre-
paratory to different professions at Universities; and has
doubtless been operative in leading to recent extensions
of University work in preparing students for professions.
Thus, for instance, Cambridge, the University of which
I know most, has in recent years added to itself a School
of Engineering, a department preparing for the Indian
Civil Service, a Day Training College for Teachers, and-
more or less connected with the University-an Agricul-
tural department. And other Universities are similarly
extending their work.
When we have examined Universities, first, as centres
of learning and research, and, secondly, as institutions
providing education in preparation for the professions,
we have, I think, exhausted the functions common to
them all. But there is another ideal of University work
to which we must now turn for a moment. I may call
it, without meaning anything offensive thereby, the
finishing school ideal-the ideal of a University as
furnishing a crown and finish to general education.
In Germany this is scarcely regarded as a function of
14
the University. General education is supposed to be
completed at school, and is tested by a comprehensive
leaving examination before admission to the University.
Similarly in France the schools provide general educa-
tion: the degree of Bachelier is given on passing
the school-leaving examination, and what follows is a
course in some professional faculty. But in England
this ideal survives; and in some Universities at least the
pass degree courses seem at present to represent this
aspect of University work. In Scotland and in America
the Universities provide an Arts course-a collegiate
course it is sometimes called in America-which is
intended to give a general education and to intervene
between school and professional courses, or specialised
work. But improvement in the schools, the later age
at which students come to the Universities, the increas-
ing requirements of professional education, and the in-
creasing difficulty-owing to the growth of knowledge
-of combining thorough study of any branch with wide.
knowledge of many, are all causes which contribute to
reduce the demand for a common general course, and
the numerous options offered to the student tend to
specialisation in the general course itself. The same
tendencies lead American Universities to lay more and
more stress on what is there called graduate work—
work of a more specialised and advanced kind than the
course for the B.A. degree which precedes it. I may
here observe that in America the right to give degrees in
Arts and Science is granted by law to some institutions
which do not call themselves Universities, because they
M
15
do not comprise professional schools of law and medi-
cine, etc. Among these are the four large Colleges for
women already mentioned, Vassar, Wellesley, Smith,
and Bryn Mawr, which cannot be overlooked in con-
sidering University education for women. Their work
corresponds in the main to that of the Collegiate, as
distinct from the professional departments of American
Universities. This Collegiate course, however, really
serves as a professional course as regards one profession—
that of teaching. It does not, of course, instruct the
future teacher in the technique of his calling; but it
guarantees, or is supposed to guarantee, the possession
of the knowledge which he is expected to hand on.
To sum up, we may, I think, conclude that, generally
speaking, it is the main business of a University, to
carry on learning and research, to give the best possible
preparation for certain professions, and, by offering
higher education of all sorts, to draw into itself as many
good students as it can; to select and develop among
these those best able to carry on its own work, and
contribute to the advancement of knowledge, and
by means of the teachers it educates especially, but
also through its other pupils, to disseminate intel-
lectual culture and a healthy love of knowledge.
If we look at the other side of the picture and con-
sider why men go to the University, we find, as we might
expect, that it is regarded in most cases as an avenue to
some profession, and generally also as a preparation for
one-including, in the case of the wealthier men, a poli-
tical career as a profession, though an unremunerated
16
one. There are not, I think, many men who come to
the University to satisfy a pure love of learning, without
avviève pensée as to the career which learning may open
to them. No doubt there are some of the wealthier
class who come to the University solely in pursuit of
culture, or rather of culture and social life combined, the
latter being often the more prominent aim; but these
constitute a comparatively small minority in any
University.
And what is true in this respect of men is on the
whole true of women.
Some ten years ago, in answer to an enquiry as to the
regular occupations or professions in which the women
educated at Cambridge and Oxford had engaged after
leaving College, about 77 per cent. reported themselves
as being or having been engaged in teaching, and of those
who had taken the complete Honours course, about 83
per cent. had been so engaged. The Medical courses
it should be noted, are not open to women at Cambridge
and Oxford, so that teaching is the only profession,
practised by any large number of women, for which they
prepare. Twenty-five
Twenty-five per cent. of the women who
answered the enquiry reported themselves as being en-
gaged in household occupations, but less than 2 per
cent. in household occupations only. In the United.
States, judging from statistics collected somewhat earlier,
about half of the women who had received a College or
University education at that time taught after leaving
College. On the Continent, the demand by women for
academic education is almost purely professional. Pro-
17
bably a similar enquiry made now would show that a
smaller proportion of those who have been at Cambridge
and Oxford had engaged in teaching, and that more were
engaged in secretarial or philanthropic or administrative
work, or in family duties at home; but I do not think
the difference would be very great.
Experience seems thus to show that the women who
want a University education want it, as a rule, for
particular purposes, and those who have other objects in
view do not seek it. A woman who wishes to be an
artist or a nurse, or a woman of independent means who
finds sufficient scope for her energy in home work, does
not, as a rule, come to the University. The women who
do come, are, generally speaking, those who, either from
choice or necessity, hope to do work for which a Univer-
sity education may directly or indirectly be a preparation.
They are directed to this particular line of work, what-
ever it may be, by taste and inclination and the nature
of their individual abilities-or occasionally no doubt by
the views of their parents or guardians as to their tastes
and abilities. Of course exactly the same is true of
men. Among the men who can afford to prolong their
education sufficiently to enter a profession, those who
intend to become soldiers or sailors or artists do not, as
a rule, go to the University; those who intend to become
lawyers, or clergymen, or doctors, or schoolmasters-at
least in the best schools-do.
This professional aspect of University education is
shown in another way, It will be found, I think, every-
where—even in the far West of America, where the
B
18
men are early drawn off into practical life—that where
men and women receive University education together,
there are fewer women than men. In most places, the
number of women is very much smaller than the number
of men.
For instance, in 1894-5, the number of women
at Cornell, which had been for twenty-two years a mixed
University, was less than one-sixth of the number of
men. It may be said that this is because the women
are drawn off into institutions, like Vassar, for their own
sex alone. If, however, the number of men and of women
in the Collegiate, Graduate, and Professional departments
of all the Universities and Colleges for either sex in the
State of New York (in which Cornell is situated)
be added up and compared, the small proportion.
of women to men will be equally apparent.* And
this is at least equally true in our own country.. The
explanation lies in the fact that University education is
regarded as largely a preparation for professional work,
taken in connection with the different relation of marriage
to remunerative work in the case of the two sexes.
This difference is found in all classes of society.
A man generally looks forward to securing for himself
an independent position, which shall enable him to
marry and support a family, and his profession not only
helps him to marry, but his marriage will probably lead
to increased energy in his profession. With a woman it
is otherwise. If she marries, her profession must, as a
rule, become secondary to family life, and this usually
means that it is given up, at least for a time. In ages and
* See Note I., page 31.
G
:
19
countries, therefore, where the conditions are such that
a woman may usually count on marrying if she wishes
to do so, she need only consider how she is to be sup-
ported until she marries, or in case of her husband's
illness or death. But in our own country we have only
to look round us to see how absurd it would be for a
woman in planning her life to regard marriage as any-
thing approaching to a certainty. We have a large
surplus female population-6 per cent., or over a million,
in 1891—and at the same time, the high standard of
living in the middle and upper classes makes it specially
difficult for the less successful men to marry.
A very
large number of women in these classes must perforce,
therefore, lead an unmarried life; we have no means of
estimating the number exactly, but an enquiry which I
made some time ago led me to think that it might even
amount to one-half. At the same time, as most women
would prefer to marry, if the right opportunity offered,
there is for most, during the first decade of grown-up
life, a dual outlook, and life has to be arranged for on
the alternative possibilities of marrying and not marrying.
Under these circumstances, it is clear that parents, who
cannot leave their daughters a sufficient fortune to make
them independent, are bound to see that they are placed
in a position to earn a living for themselves. But more
than this; even if they can leave them an independent
fortune, they are, I think, bound to see that their
daughters have every opportunity of making the pros-
pect alternative to marriage a pleasant one, which im-
plies having some definite sphere of usefulness to look
-
20
forward to. For nothing can be more dreary and de-
moralising, nothing more harmful to a woman in body
and mind, and nothing more likely to lead to an
unhappy marriage, than waiting for marriage, which
may never come, as the only career in life worth having.
And, moreover, not only from the point of view of
women themselves, but from that of society, it is surely
important that women, married and unmarried, should be
doing useful work and not be mere drones, adding to the
burdens that have to be borne and not helping to bear them.
I think, then, that women should just as much as
men propose
to themselves a definite branch of
work-not necessarily remunerative work-and prepare
for it when they are young. Fortunately the complica-
tion introduced by the dual outlook is not so great
as it might at first appear, because marriage does.
not require special preparation. I do not, of course, mean
that there are not domestic arts which a wife and
mother will find useful; but they can be largely ac-
quired by girls at home and at school, and any education
which develops the intelligence will make their acquisi-
tion even later comparatively easy. Nor do I mean that
there are not qualities which we should desire any wife
and mother to possess and which can be cultivated; but
they are mainly moral qualities and such intellectual quali-
ties as may be cultivated in almost any relation of life—
good sense and general intelligence-and which serious.
and steady preparation for any useful work will certainly
aid in developing.
But, desirable as is preparation for definite work, we
2I
¡
must, human nature being what is, recognise that the
dual outlook of a girl's life-making the money, time
and effort spent on a professional education a more
doubtfully profitable investment than it is in the case of
a boy is likely always to operate in diminishing the
number of women who will seek University education.
Parents whose incomes are not sufficiently small to make
it difficult for them to support their daughters at home,
nor sufficiently large to make it easy to give them a pro-
fessional education, will be apt to let immediate economy
prevail. And girls to whom strenuous effort is distaste-
ful will prefer to live, as it were, from hand to mouth,
rather than go through the labour required to train them
for a career, which after all, they would only regard as
a pis aller.
There is another cause-and a more creditable one-
which tends to reduce the number of women who train
themselves for any special branch of work. There will
always be gaps in domestic life which can best be filled by
the unmarried girls and women of the family; help wanted
in the care of old people and children and invalids, or in
making the work of other members of the family go
smoothly, to which a woman may well devote herself at
some sacrifice of her own future—a sacrifice she will not
regret. This kind of work can best be done by women, not
only because they are generally better adapted to it, but
because the sacrifice is not so clear nor so great in their
case as it would generally be in that of a man. Only
let the cost be counted and compared with the gain, and
do not let us ask women to give up their chance of fill-
22
ing a more useful place in the world for the sake of em-
ploying them in trivial social duties from which they
might be spared with little loss to any one.
Let me for a moment repeat what I am urging: it is
that girls should be brought up to feel that, unmarried
or married, it is their duty to the world to make the best
use of the talents-taking talents in the widest sense-
which nature has given them; and to this end care
should be taken that they have the amplest opportunity
of developing their capabilities-their real capabilities,
not those which it is artificially assumed they possess.
And I plead for this, not only because all human
beings ought to be working together for the good of
the whole, but for the sake of the happiness of women
themselves, who are not only half the human race, but
the half on whose health and happiness the well-being
of future generations probably most depends. Why
do we so often hear girls wish that they were boys
and women wish that they were men? It cannot
be right that this should be so, it must be a sign of
something wrong somewhere. And I believe that what
is wrong is that women have not been allowed enough
freedom of development, but have, to use a metaphor,
been kept intellectually, as well as physically, in tight-
laced stays-their lives cramped in all directions, and
their health and happiness too often sacrificed to make
them conform to an artificial feminine ideal.
What we
want is freedom, and then nature will take care of itself.
I have no fear that women will cease to be women, or
cease to retain feminine qualities which are of any value,

G
23
because they are allowed to develop freely the intellectual
tastes and talents with which nature has endowed them.
If this be granted, we are now in a position to con-
sider what women should receive a University educa-
tion. In the future, as in the past, those will of course
seek it who wish to enter professions for which the
University is a preparation, especially the higher walks
of the medical and of the teaching professions. That
teachers should as far as possible go to the Universi-
ties seems specially important on account of their great
influence on the rising generation, and the important
function, already spoken of, which teachers perform in
disseminating the culture and the interest in advancing
knowledge fostered at the Universities. Women in-
tending to take up practical careers not exactly pro-
fessional, e.g., philanthropic or administrative work in
which economic problems occur, or in which historical
knowledge may be useful, will often find a University
education of value. But, speaking generally, the
women who should be encouraged to go to Universities
are those who, whatever future lies before them, have
marked intellectual tastes in any direction, those who
most desire to learn for learning's sake. For among
these will be found some who will add to our literary
stores, and some who will help in advancing knowledge,
by reflection, observation, experiment, or research,
or more humbly-by rendering accessible the work
of others. Those who advance knowledge will not
be many probably, judging from the small number of
men who do so, but there will be some; and the
24
others, if they have been really interested, will not
have wasted their time; they will have increased their
power of enjoyment, they will have received a training
which will directly or indirectly help them in any work
that they may undertake, and they will form part of
the audience—the cultivated, interested and intelligent
public---without which scientific progress and literary
production is well nigh impossible.
It remains to consider how far the educational oppor-
tunities enjoyed by women are adequate and suitable.
In this country, as we have seen, they have now prac-
tically almost the same advantages as men, so far as
Universities are concerned. They share with men the
teaching and examinations of the Scottish Universities,
of the University of Wales and its affiliated Colleges,
of the University of Durham, of the Victoria Univer-
sity and its affiliated Colleges, and the teaching of
University Colleges elsewhere; while the University of
London and the Royal University of Ireland afford to
those who are unable to leave home, but are still anxious
and able to study, academic courses duly tested by
examinations and attestations of proficiency. They
also enjoy, though more precariously, the educational
advantages of Cambridge and Oxford.
Their only
important disadvantage lies in the formal inferiority of
their position in these ancient seats of learning. The
failure of the recent attempt to remove these disadvan-
tages is not, however, a matter of vital importance.
There is no doubt that the women's colleges at Cam-
bridge and Oxford will continue to flourish in the
25
future, as they have flourished in the past, under
existing conditions. The symbol refused them was
important for professional purposes; but it is far less
important than the advantages of education and exam-
ination which Cambridge and Oxford have liberally
granted. The continuance of these is indeed of vital
importance. Cambridge and Oxford are the wealthiest
of our Universities, and those with the greatest prestige,
and they draw to themselves more of the leaders of
thought than any other British Universities can do.
It would be a serious blow to education were women
deprived of the possibility of coming in contact with
these teachers. We must for our best women have
access to the best educational opportunities; but there
is, I think, really no fear of losing them.
The question still remains, is there further need-in
addition to this abundant provision of educational op-
portunities—of new courses of University study specially
devised to suit the requirements of women? This view
was urged by some of our opponents in the recent con-
troversy. Their argument was: “The courses of study
at our Universities were planned for men, and we may
therefore assume that they will not suit women." The
argument is specious, but a simple test will show its
hollowness. The fitness of the established courses of
study-non-professional, or only preparatory to the pro-
fession of teaching-in our higher schools and Univer-
sities has long been the subject of active discussion; the
share allotted to Classics, Mathematics, Modern Lan-
guages, Science, History, has been scrutinised, ques-
26
tioned, attacked, defended, in prolonged and incessant
controversy. Now, if we take any part of this
controversy, we shall find that every single argument
used applies not to men as masculine, but to men as
intellectual beings seeking knowledge and culture; and
therefore applies equally to women having similar aims.
Let us take the time-honoured studies of Classics and
Mathematics, for these are especially the studies which
our opponents wish to retain as masculine privileges.
Why do boys and youths spend so many hours through
so many years in learning Greek, instead of, say, Ger-
man or Italian? To be quite up to date, I will give the
accepted answer in the words of to-day's Times.* · It
dwells partly on the literary advantages derived from
the study, partly on its superiority as an intellectual
exercise. On the one hand we are told Greek is the
"key to the noblest thoughts that have moved mankind,
the influence of which is still felt in every department of
mental activity, while their power and beauty must of
necessity evaporate in the best of translations." On the
other hand, we are bidden to take account of "the im-
mense value of Greek as a mental discipline in compari-
son with languages that may be acquired by " merely
((
living abroad or of foreign nurses or teachers." I do
not now discuss the validity of these arguments; I
simply point out that, whatever they may be worth,
each of them obviously applies with precisely the same
force to women who aspire after intellectual training and
literary culture. And similarly every argument used for
* November 23rd, 1897.
27
substituting the study of French or German for the
study of Greek is found to apply to boys just as much as
to girls.
In the case of mathematics I might speak even more
strongly. It is not only that the training given by
mathematics is likely to be as useful to women as to
men; it ought, if we may trust the current masculine
judgment of feminine minds, to be even more useful.
Among the sarcasms directed by men against women,
there is none more trite and familiar than the sneer at
"feminine logic." Now an important part of the aim
of education is to correct natural deficiencies; and if
men are right in thinking women deficient in reasoning
power, surely they ought to be specially encouraged to
pursue the study which claims to be an unrivalled in-
strument for developing the faculty of exact deduction
and analysis, so far as they are found capable of pursu-
ing it with intellectual profit.
Intellectual tastes and abilities may no doubt be dif-
ferently distributed among men and women, and this, in
addition to professional aims, may lead to a somewhat
different distribution among the various options offered
by modern Universities; but this distribution may be
trusted to arrange itself. That the dividing lines be-
tween different subjects will not be one of sex, and that
there is as great diversity of intellectual tastes among
women as among men, the highly specialised courses for
a degree in honours at Cambridge give us an excellent
opportunity of judging. Looking at the Tripos lists of my
own College since the examinations were formally opened
28
*
to women in 1881, I find that, omitting second parts of
Triposes, ninety-five women have taken honours in
Mathematics, seventy-one in Classics, thirty-five in
Moral Sciences, eighty-nine in Natural Sciences, eighty-
one in History, sixty-four in Mediæval and Modern
Languages— the smaller number in this latter Tripos
arising from its having only been established in 1886.*
The University in no way points students to any one of
these diverse honour courses rather than to another; nor
does the College exercise any pressure.
Demand in
schools does no doubt affect the choice of future teachers
somewhat, as is shown by the smaller number who take
Moral Sciences; but among subjects that are taught in
schools, there is no reason to suppose that a woman
selects one course rather than another, except because
she prefers it and feels herself likely to succeed in it,
—except, in fact, in obedience to the "gentle callings of
nature," which judging from the fairly even distribution
among subjects, must be fairly impartial.
It appears then that neither the educational value
attributed to different subjects, nor what we know of the
intellectual tastes and capacities of women, leads to the
view that the general intellectual education of the two
sexes should be different, and I do not, therefore, anti-
cipate that any considerable demand would be found to
exist among women for courses of academic study for
which there is no demand among men. Certainly my
own experience has not shown me any such demand.
Nor do our leading school-mistresses appear to be aware
* See Note II., page 32.
:
29
of any. But if any should be discovered, the critics of
the educational work of the past generation will
have the opportunity of turning from criticism to
construction and providing what is needed. I do not
deny that Colleges for women alone, apart from Univer-
sities, can do good work and attract many students..
We know from American experience that they can—
though in America, by the way, the education they
offer is much the same as that in the men's colleges..
But do not let us imagine that such a College can ever
take the place of the older Universities. It cannot have
their comprehensiveness, it cannot have their teaching
power, it cannot in the same way be a centre of learn-
ing and research. To say it can, is to say that in some
department, or departments, it would have on its staff
the foremost thinkers and teachers of the time in
England. But if this happened, men, too, would wish
to profit by the instruction offered.
One word more before I conclude. In what I have
said of the finishing school ideal of Universities, I may
have seemed to take small account, both for men and
for women, of the social expansion, the intellectual
companionship, the opportunities for friendship, which
University education, and especially the College life so
generally in England an accompaniment of it, affords.
This is far from being my feeling. It would be impossible
to live in a College, as I have done, without realising that,
whatever has been gained for women by the work of
the last thirty years, the happiness springing from free
and unconstrained intercourse with congenial com-
30
panions, from the sense of membership of a community
with large interests and high aims, from pleasant mem-
ories and from lasting friendships, is no small part of
it. These advantages were hardly included in the
view of those who began the work to which I have
succeeded, nor do they naturally come to the front in
polemical discussion: but experience, and converse with
many generations of students, has impressed me with
a continually increasing sense of their value; and they
cannot be ignored in any wise consideration of the place
of University education in the life of women.
1
NOTE I.
(Being a note to page 18.)
Taking the figures given in the "Report of the
United States Commissioner of Education" for 1894-5
as the basis of calculation, we find that the proportion
of women in the Collegiate and Graduate departments.
of Universities and Colleges of the United States was
in that year 25'4 per cent. of the whole number. In
the North Atlantic Division it was 19′9, and in the
Western Division 33.1. Colleges for men alone and for
women alone, as well as those for both sexes, are in-
cluded. Professional departments are not included, as
they are in the case of Cornell University in the text.
If they were, the proportion of women would be re-
duced.
The same kind of proportion prevails in the degrees
of A.B. and B.S. given in the year 1894-5. The num-
ber of such degrees received by men was 5363, and by
women (including those given by women's Colleges),
1379. The proportion of women receiving them was
therefore about 20 per cent. of the whole.
There is some interest in observing that in secondary
schools in America there are more girls than boys.
Taking public and private schools and preparatory
departments of Colleges, 55 per cent. of the pupils are
girls. This probably means that the girls who go to
secondary schools stay on the average longer than the
boys who do so. This is indicated by the larger num-
ber of girls in the graduating class, as it is called. The
girls contributed 62 per cent. of the numbers in these
classes in 1894-5. The same tendency for girls who go
to secondary schools to remain in them longer than
boys is shown, by the returns furnished to the Royal
Commission on Secondary Education, to exist in Eng-
land.
31
-
32
In connection with secondary schools, I may here
remark that a recent writer in the Quarterly Review
might have saved himself some unnecessary alarm had
he noticed that the marked preponderance of female
teachers over male in the United States occurs in the
primary schools only, a department in which it is in-
creasingly prevailing in England also. In the secon-
dary schools of the United States-public and private
-the proportion of female teachers to the whole num-
ber of teachers was in 1894-5 decidedly less than the
proportion of female pupils to the whole number of
pupils.
NOTE II.
(Being a note to page 28.)
The whole number of women students of Newnham
and Girton Colleges, who have taken Honours in the
various Triposes (Honour Degree Examinations) at
Cambridge, since they were opened to women in 1881,
is distributed as follows :
Mathematical Tripos
Classical
Moral Sciences
Natural Sciences
Theological
Law
Historical
Oriental Languages Tripos
Medieval and Modern Languages
"
"}
""
"}
"}
>>
1
1
I
1
10
1
|
1
203
181
57
139
I
3
126
I
95
806
As regards standard, the following analysis for the
five years 1892-1896 inclusive, may be of interest. I
only give the figures for the six Triposes taken by any
large number of women, and Second Parts are not
included.
* Second Parts of Triposes are not taken account of in these
numbers.
33
Class I.
Class II.
Class III.
Total classed
14
Ægrotant in Honours
Attained standard of Ordi-)
nary Degree
Excused the General
Examination
Failed completely
Men.
449
581
629
1659
16 |
124)
140
72
No.of men
unknown
to me
Women.
56
151
106
313
I
8
9
No. of women to
100 men under
each head.

12'5
26.0
16.9
18.9
6.4
125
8°5
It will be seen that the ratio of women to men is
less, both in the first class and in the third class, and
very much less among the failures, than it is in the
whole number classed, the deficiency being made up in
the second class. (The true proportion of women
among the failures is considerably less than appears in
the last column, as all the women who failed completely
are included and none of the men.)
Of course among the women who come up, a con-
siderable proportion do not take Tripos examinations.
The reasons for this are various. Some come up know-
ing that they cannot stay for the necessary length of
time; some are called away by family and other cir-
cumstances before their course is finished; some take
courses of study other than Honour courses. In some
cases there is failure of health, or it is discovered that
the student has not the ability necessary to complete
advantageously the course she has embarked on. The
number of women who entered at Newnham and Girton
Colleges in the five years 1889-1893 inclusive, and.
would therefore, had they completed an Honours Degree:
course, have taken Tripos examinations in the years
1892-1896 inclusive, was 453. Of these, 316, or 70 per
cent., actually did take Tripos examinations and obtain
Honours in them. Of the 4782 men who entered in
the same years, 2030 or 42.5 per cent., took Honours
in Tripos examinations.
C
APPENDIX A.
Prepared at the request of the Executive Committee of
the Women's Institute by C. S. BREMNER, author of
"Education of Girls and Women in Great Britain,'
""
etc.
WOMEN IN THE BRITISH UNIVERSITIES.
COMPILER'S NOTE.
[THE following tables have been compiled with the
object of showing the number of women studying at the
Universities of Great Britain and Ireland. The reader
should be on her guard against the idea that the tables
are intended to be comparative, since the differences
between universities, their curricula, standard of
degrees, and so forth, are very great, and scarcely
admit of tabulation. Moreover, at some colleges
women are admitted to read for matriculation, and at
others not. It would have caused secretaries and
registrars a very great amount of trouble to discriminate
between matriculation students and others.]
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDge.
(Formal permission to students to enter for the Tripos
Examinations granted in 1881.)
The examinations for degrees in honours, called
Tripos Examinations, have been open since 1881 to
women who have resided for the required number of
terms at Girton or Newnham Colleges and have passed
prescribed preliminary examinations. Degrees are not
conferred on women, but those who are successful in
passing the examinations receive a certificate signed by
34
35
the Vice-Chancellor, stating what place in the class list
they have attained.
No. of students at Girton (109) and Newnham (166)
Working for tripos examinations, Girton (106), Newn-
ham (154)
275
260
Two of the remaining students at Girton and one at
Newnham have already taken triposes, and one is an
advanced student; six at Newnham are working for
second parts of triposes, or second triposes.
Number of students who have entered for tripos
examinations since they were formally opened and
obtained First, Second or Third classes in honours.
Girton (370), and Newnham (436)
806
In these numbers a few women who have taken two
different triposes are counted twice over.
Second parts
of triposes are not counted.*
!!
...
The undergraduate students (men) at Cambridge
number about 2,500.
The medical examinations at Cambridge are not open
to women.
"
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
(Examinations at Oxford first formally opened to
women in 1884.)
...
There are now four halls or Colleges for women
students. All the examinations for the B.A. degree,
B.Mus. and D.Mus. are open to women.
...
""
Somerville College opened 1879, accommodating about
Lady Margaret Hall
St. Hugh's Hall
1879
1886
1893
""
19
St. Hilda's Hall
There are moreover home students working in Oxford
placed under the supervision of a Principal and
Committee of the Association for the Education of
Women in 1893, and numbering at Michaelmas,
1897
"}
...
...
"}
...
"}
32
194
* See Note II., page 32, for particulars as to subjects studied by
women students at Cambridge.
Students.
73
48
24
17
...
36
Of the past students, some 300 have passed the Ox-
ford examinations open to women, and of these nearly
one-sixth were in Class I. A certain proportion of these
300 students, amounting in all to forty, passed examina-
tions open to women only, many taking such tests
before the examinations were opened to women.
The arrangements for the admission of women to
University lectures are made, and other lectures and
teaching provided by the Association for the Educa-
tion of Women in Oxford, which gives a special
diploma independently of the University, to "those
of their registered women students who, taking
honours in part of the course, pass all the examina-
tions required for the degree of Bachelor of
Arts in the order, and under the conditions as to.
standing prescribed for undergraduates, fulfilling the
conditions both of residence and of examinations re-
quired by the University for the degree of B.A." Office:
Clarendon Building, Oxford.
The present students at Oxford are classified by
subjects as follows:
Modern History
Classics
English
Mathematics
...
···
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
•••
...
...
...
...
Natural Science
Modern Languages
Various
Unclassified
Working on the lines of the B.A. course
The Medical Examinations are not open to Women.
A special Honour Examination in Modern Languages is open
to Women only. Women are not admitted to matriculate or
graduate.
...
...
69
...
46
29
IO
IO
IO
9
ΙΟ
64
LONDON UNIVERSITY.
Chartered 1836.
A supplemental charter opened its degrees to women in 1878.
The following table of women's successes at London
University is compiled from the Calendar for 1897-98,.
i.e., to December, 1896.
37
B.A.
M.A.
...
D. Litt.
B. Sc....
D. Sc....
Mus. B.
M.B....
M.D....
B.S.
M.S.
...
...
··
Masters of Arts
...
Bachelors of Science
...
Bachelors of Arts
...
...
..
...
Men
Women
...
ARTS.
Men
Women
...
...
...
MEDICINE.
Total no. of men and women students in
faculties of Arts, Laws, and Science
Number of women students
Faculty of Medicine, men only
Men
Women
...
Men
Women
..
...
••
...
...
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON.
Founded 1826.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
··
...
..
Graduates who have studied at this College during
the past ten years:
Doctors of Science
•
:
...
:
...
:
..
...
...
...
...
...
603
49
I
··
109
5
2
53
16
II
...
II
2
ไป
18
9
2
79
33
63
36
•••
720
310
296
...
13
27
II2
99
There is no separate department for women students
at University College; students are admitted to the
classes on the recommendation of the Lady Super-
intendent, Miss Rosa Morison. Women are admitted
to the faculties of Arts, Science and Laws, but ex-
38
cluded from engineering and medicine with the excep-
tion of hygiene and public health. Women medical
students work at the London School of Medicine, but
many of these attend classes at University College,
where they work for the preliminary Scientific M.B.
examination, these classes being in the faculty of
Science.
A Hall of Residence, College Hall, Byng Place,
was established in 1882, where women students of
University College and the London School of Medicine
for Women, find accommodation to the number of
thirty-four. A majority of these were studying Medicine
and Fine Art at the Slade School at Michaelmas
1897.
LONDON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE FOR WOMEN.
The London School of Medicine for Women was
opened in 1874.
No. of women students (Dec., 1897)
First year students
Second,,
Third ""
Fourth
Fifth
"
"
Taking single classes
4
No. of women trained at the London School of Medicine
and now qualified to practise medicine
""
})
""
",
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
32
47
34
23
22
...
162
216
BEDFORD COLLEGE, 1849.
(For women only.)
Bedford College is one of the oldest of the women's
colleges. It supplies all the teaching necessary for the
examinations of London University in the faculties of
Arts and Science. Since the opening of the University
to women in 1878, this College, which is strictly un-
denominational, has assimilated its curriculum more
and more to what is requisite for obtaining London
degrees.
The College has obtained Government recognition in
39
a share of the Parliamentary Grant to Colleges of
University rank.
No. of students
Working for degrees
Following professional courses
Residence provided for
...
...
Art and General Culture students
Past students holding degrees of London University
136
49
I
I
Arts...
Nat. Science
Music
Law
...
"}
...
...
...
...
...
...
Nat. Science
Not working for degrees
1
...
...
..
...
...
WESTFIELD COLLEGE, 1882.
(For women only.)
No. of students (all resident but one)
Preparing for degrees
Arts
Nat. Science
Medicine
Past students holding degrees of London University
...
M.A.
B.A.
B.Sc.
···
No. of students, 1897-98
Working for London degrees
...
..
...
..
...
···
••
...
..
"}
Oxford Honours examination
In Arts
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE, 1887.
(For women only.)
...
•••
47 in honours
16
•••
···
...
..
···
...
...
Westfield is an outcome of the decision of the Senate
of London University to open its degrees to women; its
avowed object is to prepare women for the University
examinations "in harmony with the doctrines of the
Church of England." Students largely enter the teach-
ing profession, both at home and in the Colonies. A
number have become missionaries.
···
"
...
··
36
3
3
...
I
31
5
..
...
88
30
···
...
...
...
192
IOO
...
43
39
49
187
44
42
37
III
64
39
ΙΟ
40
Past students who have graduated in London University…..
B.A.
M.A.
···
••
B.Sc.
Royal University of Ireland
Oxford University Honours.
...
...
...
...
Total no. of graduates, men and women
No. of women graduates
Degrees held by women, M.A.
B.A.
M.Sc.*
B.Sc.
Mus. Bac.
...
...
···
...
•••
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, 1880.
(Open to men and women alike.)
...
···
The Calendar of the Royal Holloway College shows
that a large number of past students enter the teaching
profession. As appears from the table, students at
Holloway work both for the examinations of London.
University and Oxford.
···
69
...
4
15
...
...
...
18
85
2
13
2
88
2
61
(a) OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHester, 1851.
(Women first admitted 1883.)
IOII
120
Total I20
* Master of Science, intermediary of B.Sc. and D.Sc.
(These figures are believed to be correct. The
Calendar does not separate men and women, so that the
counting is rather intricate.)
Victoria University has three constituent Colleges :
Owens College, Manchester, 1851; Yorkshire College,
Leeds, 1874; University College, Liverpool, 1881.
Women follow classes at the College, except medical
courses; certain preliminary medical teaching in Bio-
logy, Chemistry, and Physics can however be obtained.
There is a separate department for women at 29ª, Dover
41
Street, with a small number of separate classes. Most
classes are now attended by men and women together.
Total no. of men and women students at Owens
Women students
Men Arts and Science
Women
""
Men Medical
Men working for Arts and Science degrees
}"
No. of men students
Working for degrees
""
""
"
...
"}
...
Teachers
In Honours Schools, Victoria University
Women graduates from Owens: M.A.
B.A.
M.Sc.
B.Sc.
Mus. B.
""
Women
""
No. of women students in the Day Training College for
}}
···
...
Working for degrees
Hospital work
...
...
in Arts
•
...
···
...
Science
Medicine
MEDICAL SCHOOL.
...
...
...
The Medical School is closed to women, and they
cannot take the degree. They obtain teaching in
Biology, Chemistry, etc., constituting the first year
of a medical course.
There is some difficulty in separating Arts from
Science students.
(b) YORKSHIRE COLLEGE, LEEDS, 1874.
(No separate department for women.)
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND ARTS.
WOMEN.
No. of women students (Dec., 1897)
Working for University degrees
...
···
Arts
Science
Prelim. Med.
..
...
...
···
...
•
...
..N
•••
...
···
...
...
522
102
390
···
...
...
...
...
19
102
27
17
II
I
...
...
...
•••
••
..
...
964
102
•••
302
67
23
19
13
49
2
II
2
353
148
134
28
104
29
42
Non-university students...
Past students have taken Victoria University degrees
""
""
"}
";
"}
Number of men students
Arts
Science
Medicine
""
...
"}
""
"}
...
Women cannot complete their courses for the medical
degree at Yorkshire College. Most students take up
teaching.
...
(c) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LIVERPOOL, 1881.
(No separate department for women.)
...
··
...
...
...
B.A.
B.Sc.
...
...
...
...
……
...
...
No. of women students
40
6
Arts
Science
No. preparing for University degrees
Arts
Science
No. of students following College courses but not working
for degrees
Women students who have passed through University College
and hold Victoria or other University degrees
Arts ...
Science
Of these numbers passed
...
...
...
...
...
···
...
...
...
···
...
...
...
··
...
6
I
...
...
49
..
IO
116
171
175
86
II
...
54
5
..
...
75
7
...
462
97
in Honours
Almost all women students look forward to teaching,
other professions being practically closed. The organisa-
tion of men and women students has been in every
respect parallel, each having their own common and
reading rooms, representative council for administering
all students' interests, debating societies, etc. At many
points, such as joint debates and entertainments, men
and women combine, on both sides, under strict consti-
tutional rules and prerogatives, self-devised, not imposed
though approved by the authorities. Results have entirely
justified the policy; criticism has come almost solely
from outside, not from the students or their responsible:
friends.
46.
44
59.
w
43
DURHAM UNIVERSITY, 1831.
(Degrees opened to women, 1895.)
The University consists of (a) a Theological School
at Durham, 1851; (b) College of Medicine at New-
castle, 1832; (c) College of Science at Newcastle, 1871.
No. of men students at the College of Medicine
No. of women students in College of Medicine
""
Science
preparing for University degrees
57
14
12
""
"
>>
"J
Arts
Medicine
Science
...
Medicine
Science
...
...
...
...
Following college courses, but not working for degrees
No. of women holding degrees of Durham or other
Universities:
...
···
...
…….
A
··
...
No. of men students at Aberystwyth
Matriculation and Arts
Science and Medicine
Not working for degrees
...
...
Arts
Music
Two science students obtained honours in special subjects.
...
..
A
...
...
19
8
IO
I
UNIVERSITY OF WALES, 1893.
(Men and women admitted on equal terms.)
(a) ABERYSTWYTH.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES, 1872.
...
...
Most students join the teaching profession; a few
prepare for the medical profession.
Nothing at Durham University is closed to women
except theology.
Residence is provided for women medical students
at Eslington Tower, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
-
196
7
163
46
3
133
83
82
212
44
No. of women students
...
Working for degrees, Arts
""
Wales
Aberdeen
No. of men students
Not working for degrees
Resident in Alexandra Hall and overflow houses
"}
""
...
Working for degrees, Arts
B.A.
M.A.
B.Sc.
M.B.
M.D.
B.S.
The first woman student was enrolled at Aberystwyth
in 1884. The growth in numbers has been astonishingly
rapid.
(b) CARDIFF.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF S. WALES AND
MONMOUTHSHIRE, 1883.
B.A. 5
M.B. I
ܳܝ
"}
No. of women students
""
""
"
"}
""
University of Wales
Science and Med.
Working for degrees, Arts
""
""
Past students holding degrees of London or other Universities
(men):
London
Science
Medicine
...
B.A.
M.A.
B.Sc.
B.Sc.
B.Sc. 3
Pass
30
ΙΟ
Science
Medicine
...
•·.
•••
9
3
4
2
58
...
...
...
in Day Training Department
in Intermediate Training Dept.
...
5
I
...
••
..
··
147
25
3
...
...
|
Not working for degrees
Women students residing in Aberdare Hall
Past and present women students holding degrees of
Pass
28
Honours
IO
London University
6
17
64
42
46
Honours
9
8
...
40
14
4
53
4
59
175
156
...
285
IIO
41
45
(c) BANGOR.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOUTH WALES, 1884.
No. of men students
For Arts degrees
""
Science
Medical
>>
""
...
""
Past students possessing degrees of London, Oxford, Cam-
bridge and other Universities (men)
No. of women students
Working for degrees
Taking College courses only
...
Normal training students not working for
SCOTLAND.
Nos. of men students (1896-97)
Arts
Science
Medical
Divinity
···
...
...
...
···
...
...
..
degrees
38
Men and women students at the Welsh colleges are classed as
University students when they are preparing for matriculation.
There is a hostel for women students in which 34 reside. The
remainder live at home or in lodgings.
...
Welsh students are not wealthy, although the people are distin-
guished by a genuine love of learning. Many students cannot afford
to remain at College until they have graduated. Those reading
for London degrees not infrequently graduate as a result of private
reading after leaving College. It is a convincing proof of Welsh
devotion to the cause of education that a number of students, after
earning money by teaching and other occupations, return to their
College to graduate.
...
ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY, 1411.
(Degrees opened to women 1892, by a special Ordinance of
the Scottish Universities' Commission.)
..
..
63
...
32
I
Of these, there reside at University Hall (opened 1895)
In lodgings or with friends
...
...
46
5
Approximate no. of men alive holding St. Andrews degrees
Nos. of women students
125
16
12
22
176
141
89
...
...
175
1,450
74
24
50
46
The following information refers only to the resident
students studying for a degree
For the M.A.
Medicine
Working at preliminary
Past students holding degree of M.A.
""
";
...
No. of men students (December, 1897)
women
??
3"
""
Arts, M.A.
Science, B.Sc.
Medicine, M.B.C.M.
...
...
...
...
3
The Warden, Miss L. I. Lumsden, reports that
nine students will probably teach; seven have no pro-
fessional aim; others intend to become missionaries,
enter the medical profession, take up literary work; and
one desires to become a minister of religion. Nothing
is closed to women at St. Andrews. University Hall is
the property of the University, and governed by it.
All the faculties at the United College are open to
women. In 1877 the University instituted a special
examination and degree for women, Licentiate of Arts
(L.L.A.). There are now 1,653 women holding that
degree. The Registrar states that it is practically the
M.A. degree. Special degrees and examinations for
women have usually failed to attract them, so that this
large number deserves to be mentioned.
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY, 1450.
(Degrees opened to women, 1892.)
...
...
···
···
···
...
??
? 1
preparing for University degrees:
...
Less 2 students counted in 2 faculties
...
...
...
..
··
...
For triple qualification of College of
Physicians and of Surgeons
...
17
I
5
···
Students from Day Training Colleges, working for
certificates of Education Department and
taking University classes
Students following College courses, not working
for degrees
...
...
•*•
...
23
...
1,466
257
75
7
74
3
55
45
259
2
257
47
Number of students who have passed through Queen Margaret
College, and now hold Glasgow University or other degrees :
Arts, M.A.
M.B.C.M., Medicine, Glasgow University,
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY, 1494.
(Degrees opened to women, 1892.)
No. of men students
26
Of these, three Art students and one Medical student in honours.
Queen Margaret College is an integral part of Glasgow
University, ruled and staffed by the governing body of
that institution. It has the full University curriculum,
and is the only College in Scotland where women receive
instruction in classes of their own, and in buildings
devoted to their exclusive use.
Women students
No students reside in it. There is a Hall of Resi-
dence in connection with the College, for the accom-
modation of 22 students. The vast majority of women
students [257 in all] live with their relatives, lodge in the
city, or travel daily. A certain number reside in the
Normal College House of Residence.
Nothing is closed to women at Glasgow. No record is
kept of successes of Glasgow students at other
Universities, but in Medicine 9 students took the triple
qualification of the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
L.R.C.P. and S. The Secretary, Miss J. A. Galloway,
reports: "No woman has yet wished to go into Law or
the Church, but if she did, it is not likely that any
obstacle would be put in her way."
Arts
Science
Medicine
Law
Divinity
...
………
Arts...
Medicine
...
...
...
··
...
...
...
276
34
285
40
20
8
18
··
65
655
71
5
(Great increase since 1896, when the numbers were 43 and 1
respectively).
No Hall of Residence.
48
Thirty-eight have passed the whole or part of the preliminary
examination, and are presumed to have M.A. degree in view. The
five medical students are working for degrees.
No women students have yet completed the curriculum, but a
few are expected to do so at the end of this winter session (1897-98).
Women are admitted to graduation in all the faculties
on the same conditions as men, and the whole of the
University classes are open to them. Clinical instruc-
tion in medicine and surgery is provided at the Royal
Infirmary.
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, 1582.
(Opened to women, 1892.)
No. of men students
Faculty of Arts
···
Science
Medicine
Music
Divinity
Law
No. of women students
Faculty of Arts
...
...
..
..
...
..
•
...
..
...
...
Medical Preliminary
Entered for the M.A. Examination
···
...
·
···
Science
Medicine
...
Music
Attending extra-academical classes with a view to gradua-
tion in Medicine in the University
Women students working for University degrees:
···
...
·
···
...
...
...
Entered in Oct., 1897, for Arts and Science Pre-
liminary Examination
...
...
...
...
···
586
149
1417
...
5
бо
390
191
4
6
5
The Masson Hall of Residence was opened on November 24th,
1897, to accommodate fifteen resident students.
No. of women students following classes in connection with
their training at normal colleges
No. of women holding degrees of Edinburgh University :
M.A.
B.Sc.
Medical degrees
About half-a-dozen of these passed in honours in special subjects
Women enter the medical and teaching professions;
divinity is closed to them at Edinburgh.
...
··
...
••
2607
206
...
74
46
6
26
65
45
I
~H
7
49
ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, 1880.
(Open to men and women on equal terms; including degrees,
prizes, scholarships, and junior fellowships. Women first took
degrees, 1884.)
The Royal University, chartered 1880, is an examin-
ing body. Up to 1882, the Queen's College at Belfast,
Cork and Galway, formed the Queen's University; in
that year, Queen's was dissolved, the three Colleges
being thenceforward recognised Colleges of the Royal
University.
Women graduates (to end of 1896):
Pass and Honours
B.A.
M.A.
LL.B.
LL.D.
M.B., etc.
M.D.
""
M.A.O.*
B. Mus.
D. Mus.
B.Sc.
Arts
Medicine
Music
313
35
5
2
16
2
I
+
I
313
16
4
or
No. of men students (1896-97)
working for degrees
Honours
89
18
I
4
I
Total 333
* Master of Obstetrics.
It should be noted that persons holding the M.A., LL.D., M.D.
degrees, must have previously gained the B.A., LL.B., M.B. The
total number of degrees, 333. here represents the number of persons.
Within the last four years, the Royal University of Ireland has
awarded nine junior fellowships on the results of examinations.
Three of these have been obtained by women.
I
QUEEN'S COLLege, Belfast, 1845.
...
No. of women students, all working for medical degrees
(Several work in other faculties besides medicine '
D
368
215
I2
50
No. of past women students holding degrees of Royal or
other University (of whom a number in honours)
Arts
Law
Medicine
···
...
...
Of these students there are of College age
Working for University degrees
***
...
...
•••
The paucity of women students must be explained
by the existence of a large College, the Victoria College,
Belfast, with 350 students, including the secondary
section.
No. of men and women students
No. of women students
...
...
...
A
...
...
Arts...
Nat. Science
Following College courses but not working for degrees
No. of past students holding degrees of London, Royal, or
other University
Of these in Honours
Residence is provided for Students
...
444
···
...
•
QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CORK, 1845.
•
...
...
35
QUEEN'S COLLEGE, GALWAY, 1845.
2 3
65
8
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
The Queen's Colleges were opened to women in
1893. The Principal of Victoria College, Mrs. Byers,
reports that past students devote themselves to teaching,
a smaller number to medical and mission work.
•
...
40
107
73
...
IO
...
3888
(The Registrar was unable to show in what faculties
the women students are working, but stated that all
aim at degrees.)
85
бо
Total no. of students in all faculties, 1896-97
Of these are women students
(Both reading for B.A. degree of Royal University.)
The Queen's Colleges are not residential; there
are excellent lodging-houses licensed by the College
authorities.
20
206
8
105
2
51
ALEXANDRA COLLEGE, DUBLIN, 1866.
In Dublin we find no "recognised" College of the
Royal University. Alexandra College supplies classes
for about 320 students.
No. of students (circa)
Working for University degrees
...
Arts
Nat. Science
...
...
...
...
...
*..
...
...
Following College courses but not working for degrees
Past students holding University degrees
Of whom in Arts
..
85
10 2
...
...
95
320
87
25
113
(Of these 45 hold Honour degrees.)
The College only prepares for preliminary medical examinations.
There is a Hall of Residence accommodating 50
students. Miss White, the Principal, states that 66 per
cent. of the students adopt the teaching profession;
others take up secretarial, medical, journalistic, and
missionary work.
There are five colleges recognised by the Royal Uni-
versity of Ireland. It should be noted that Alexandra
College, Dublin, and Victoria College, Belfast are not
formally "recognised," in the sense that the three
Queen's Colleges, Magee College, Londonderry and
Belfast, and Maynooth College are so. Magee College
is a Presbyterian Training College for Theology; May-
nooth trains the Roman Catholic priests. As might
be expected, from both of these women are excluded.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY, 1591.
(Closed to women.)
The only University in the United Kingdom which
remains closed to women is that of Dublin. Trinity,
its sole College, has a special examination for women,
of which very few avail themselves. Along with the
general public, women may attend certain lectures.
After discussing the question of the admission of
women to University privileges for ten years, the
Mor M
52
Governing Board requested the Academic Council to
prepare a scheme for their admission. After the adverse
vote at Cambridge in May, 1897, the Board dropped
the question, and now maintains its former attitude
of passive resistance.
APPENDIX B.
It was proposed to compile a list of books, articles, etc.,
which might be useful to those interested in the higher
education of women. The labour exacted by such a
compilation is very great, and the work has already been
well done in America. The Secretary to the Associa-
tion of Collegiate Alumnæ, Miss Annie Howes Barus,
observes that: "The increasing number of requests.
coming to the officers of the Association for information
as to the history, development, and value of the higher
education for women, made it evident that there existed
a need for a full and accurate compilation of all available
literature on the subject." The Trustees of the Boston
Public Library appear to have lent valuable assistance,
and many of the books and articles are indexed as on
their shelves. The pamphlet is entitled Contributions
towards a Bibliography of the Higher Education of Women,
compiled by a Committee of the Association of Collegiate
Alumnæ, edited by Mary H. Rollins, Boston, U.S.A.
(The Trustees of the Public Library, 1897.)
It may not be out of place to summarise the contents
of this valuable pamphlet:—
I. General and Historical.
II. Higher Education in Relation to Health.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Muoll
Co-Education.
Professional and Scientific Education.
Post-Graduate Study.
Occupations and Opportunities for College-bred
Women.
53
}
VII. Colleges and Universities wholly or partly open
to Women.
VIII. Societies for the Education and Advancement
of Women.
Handbook of Courses open to Women in British, Continental
and Canadian Universities, compiled for the Graduate Club of
Bryn Mawr College, by Isabel Maddison, B.Sc. (Lond.)
(The Macmillan Co., 66, Fifth Avenue, New York).
This book covers a wide field. So far as Great Britain
and Ireland are concerned, particulars are given as
to the status of women in the different universities,
college fees, terms, degrees (if any), lists of university
professors and lecturers and college lecturers, money
value of prizes and scholarships, whether hall of resi-
dence is provided. There are several omissions (e.g.,
Aberdeen University), and the merest allusion to the
University of Wales, but the compilation is a valuable
A Supplement for 1897 has just appeared shewing
changes during the year. It is the intention of the
Graduate Club of Bryn Mawr College to reissue the
Handbook at intervals, so that it may be up-to-date.
Both these books will shortly be found on the shelves
of the Women's Institute Library.
one.
The Special Reports on Educational Subjects, 1896-7,
compiled for the Education Department by Mr. M. E.
Sadler, Director of Special Inquiries and Reports,
should also be mentioned. Besides special articles on
the education of girls, the twenty-fifth report, in which
Mr. Sadler was assisted by Mr. J. W. Longsdon,
entitled " Arrangements for the Admission of Women
to the chief Universities in the British Empire and in
Foreign Countries," bears directly on the subject. In
all, 139 Universities furnished the compilers with in-
formation, much of it both interesting and valuable.
Some registrars of Universities have marked the
position of women towards the prizes and scholarships
of the Universities. In the older and wealthier Univer-
sities hardly any allusion is made to the subject. The
54
Scottish Universities record that certain prizes and
bursaries are open and certain others closed to women.
London University and the Royal University of
Ireland have opened their prizes, scholarships and
honours, as well as degrees, to women, making no dis-
tinction between the sexes. It is noteworthy that both
are comparatively poor Universities.
Report of the Commissioners of Education, United States,
1891-92, contains information about Universities and
Colleges in America. The volume for 1894-95 includes
an article on the educational status of women in
different countries.
Addresses and Proceedings of the International Congress of
Education, Chicago, 1893, embraces a section on Higher
Education, and an appendix largely dealing with
women's education. Mrs. Henry Fawcett and Miss
Louisa Stevenson have contributed to it articles on
Women's University Education in England and
Scotland.
Education of Girls and Women in Great Britain, by C. S.
Bremner, shows in Section III., "Higher Education,"
how and when the Universities have opened their
doors to English women during the century. Miss J.
A. Galloway traces the progress of the movement in
Scotland.
LECTURE DEPARTMENT.
Miss Burstall
Miss Llewelyn Davies
Miss Faithfull
Miss E. P. Hughes
Miss Hurlbatt
Committee.
Miss Maitland
Miss Moberly
Hon. Mrs. B. Russell
Mrs. Stopes
Mrs. Verrall
The object of this Department is to improve the
position of women as lecturers by keeping up a high
standard and by making their work widely known, so
as to increase their opportunity in this important field
of usefulness.
Lecturers are sent to any part of the country where
they may be required, and short courses will be
delivered by them as preparatory to the more advanced
work of the University Extension Societies. Lectures
are provided on History, Literature, Science, Art,
Hygiene, Domestic Economy, and other subjects.
The lecturers are classified according to their qualifi-
cations, and the fees arranged accordingly. There are
also elementary lectures at a low fee, suitable for work-
ing women's clubs, village societies, girls' clubs, etc.
Lectures on Constitutional History and the Duties of
Women as Citizens are given from time to time at the
Institute, and classes in various subjects are arranged
when sufficient names are given in. Further informa-
tion may be obtained from the Chief Secretary, Miss
· Elsbeth Philipps.
·
Type-writing and indexing is undertaken at the
Women's Institute, and qualified Secretaries are sent
out by the day or the week, and can be recommended
for permanent positions and responsible posts.
Members of the Musical Society of the Women's
Institute are open to engagements, and concert parties
can be arranged.
For terms and particulars, apply to the General
Secretary, The Women's Institute, 15, Grosvenor
Crescent, S.W.
55
LONDON:
PRINTED BY THE WOMEN'S PRINTING SOCIETY, LIMITED,
66, WHITCOMB STREET, W.C.
TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP. -
Agreement to abide by and be subject to the
Rules and Bye-Laws of the Club for the time
being in force.
The fees are:
(a) One guinea entrance-fee and one guinea annual
subscription, and for country members` one guinea annual
subscription without entrance-fee.
(b) For women who are professionally occupied or who
hold a position by government appointment or by public
election, the entrance-fee is half-a-guinea and the annual
subscription half-a-guinea, and for country members, who
come within this category, the annual subscription is half-a-
guinea without entrance-fee.
(c) Members of the Grosvenor Crescent Club are
entitled to join the Institute at an annual subscription of
half-a-guinea without entrance-fee.
The Proprietor reserves the right to raise the subscrip-
tion of any members who enter under the above clauses,
provided that she shall have given three months' notice
previous to the termination of any financial year of her
intention to do so.
For further particulars apply to Mrs. PHILIPPS,
Founder of the Women's Institute, 15, Grosvenor Crescent,
Hyde Park Corner.

H
A Dictionary
OF EMPLOYMENTS OPEN TO WOMEN
With details of wages, hours
of work, and other information
BY
-BY
PHY...
MRS. PHILIPPS
ASSISTED BY
MISS E. DIXON
AND
WILL SHORTLY BE PUBLISHED
{
MISS MARIAN EDWARDES
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3 9015 01096 7118
···
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VITAMINS ÁSA ALVISHALLE
LINTE MUS
24

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{
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