Part 1

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN.

_President_:

PROFESSOR CAROLINE F. E. SPURGEON, Great Britain.

_Vice-President_:

MRS. MARGARET S. MCWILLIAMS, Canada.

_Treasurer_:

MRS. ALICE LORD PARSONS, c/o Bankers Trust Co., New York.

_Secretary_:

MISS THEODORA BOSANQUET, 66, Avenue Chambers, Vernon Place, London, W.C.1.

_Council_:

The Council is composed of representatives of each national federation or association holding membership in the International Federation, in addition to the four officers elected for the period 1920-22, whose names are printed above.

The purpose of the Federation is to promote understanding and friendship between the University women of the nations of the world, and thereby to further their interests and develop between their countries sympathy and mutual helpfulness.

The means by which the Federation seeks to realise its aims are: (1) encouragement and organisation of exchange of lecturers and students between the Universities; (2) endowment of international scholarships and fellowships; (3) establishment of club-houses and other centres of international hospitality in the cities of the world; (4) co-operation with the national bureaux of international education established in the various countries.

Contributions towards the endowment of scholarships, the establishment of club-houses and other branches of the work of the Federation will be very welcome and should be sent to the Treasurer or to the Secretary.

Further information will be found on the back cover.

HIGHER EDUCATION

FOR WOMEN IN

GREAT BRITAIN.

BY

PHŒBE SHEAVYN, D. Lit. (Lond.).

_Senior Tutor for Women Students_,

(_University of Manchester_).

CONTENTS.

1. Introduction. p. 3.

2. General Education System. p. 4.

3. The Universities. p. 7.

4. Careers for University Women. p. 21.

5. Opportunities for Students from other Countries. p. 24.

_Appendix._

The British Federation of University Women. p. 25.

PRICE SIXPENCE NET.

LONDON.

The International Federation of University Women.

PAMPHLET No. 2.

HIGHER EDUCATION FOR WOMEN IN GREAT BRITAIN.

By PHOEBE SHEAVYN, D.Lit. (Lond.),

Senior Tutor for Women Students, University of Manchester.

INTRODUCTION.

The movement for the education of girls is of recent growth, dating back less than a century, to the decade 1840-50. Before that time there was no public provision for them, educational endowments being used for boys only. The earliest tangible sign of the progress of the movement was the foundation in London of Queen's College, Bedford College and the North London Collegiate School for Girls, and in the provinces of the Cheltenham Ladies' College. This inaugurated the era of public secondary education for girls, who now have their large, well-equipped schools in every town.

At first the education given was necessarily very simple; but as the schoolgirls of the new age grew up, the need for a more extended training became apparent. It was met partly by an extension of the teaching given in certain of the schools; partly by the establishment of a system of lectures for older girls, notably at Queen's College, London, and in Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. Before long it became clear that some more systematic higher education must be provided, and efforts were made to enlist the sympathies of the Universities. University professors undertook to repeat their lectures for the benefit of girls; but the number of girls was for some time too few to finance these schemes, and it was apparent that either their numbers must be increased by the provision of residence, or expenses must be reduced by obtaining the admission of girls to the classes held for men. Both measures were attempted. A residential College for girls was established at Hitchin (1869), afterwards removed to Girton, near Cambridge (1873); Newnham Hall (later "College") was founded in Cambridge in 1871; and in Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall (1878) and Somerville Hall (later "College") (1879). Before long residence in or near London was provided by Bedford College, Westfield College, and the Royal Holloway College at Englefield Green in Surrey.

Meanwhile, a great impetus had been given in 1878 to the higher education of women throughout England by the opening to them of the examinations and degrees of the University of London. This University was at that time purely an examining body, and teaching had to be provided locally; but the possibility of obtaining the hall-mark of a University degree greatly increased the number of girls seeking instruction in the provincial towns, and many institutions gradually opened their doors, among the first being Owens College, afterwards the University of Manchester. At Glasgow, Queen Margaret College, availing itself largely of the services of University lecturers, was founded in 1883.

Further advance was marked by the statutory permission given in 1892 to the Scottish Universities, granting them power to admit women to graduation and to provide for their instruction. And in 1893 the Royal Charter for the new University of Wales definitely enacted that women should be eligible for all privileges accorded to men. Every University incorporated since that date has adopted a similar enactment. The last two strongholds of masculine privilege, Oxford and Cambridge, held out for many years. Quite recently, in 1920, Oxford has capitulated with a whole-hearted grace, which has won for this ancient University the gratitude of all women. Cambridge alone now still refuses to women the privilege of membership and graduation, but it cannot be long before there also admission will be granted. One may safely prophesy that the completion of the century (1940) will see the admission of women to full University rights.[1]

[1] Except a few privileges likely for some time to be reserved for men at Oxford and Cambridge, and certain which cannot legally be bestowed (_e.g._, scholarships with special trust deeds limiting them to men).

THE GENERAL EDUCATION SYSTEM.

Elementary education is entirely free in public schools, supported jointly by the State and the Municipal and County Councils. Many of the good Secondary Schools, moreover, have preparatory departments, in which fees are charged; and there is a large number of private Kindergarten and other Preparatory Schools, charging small fees and offering a mediocre education. Middle-class parents prefer to send their children to these rather than to the public Elementary Schools, fearing possible contamination to morals and manners in the latter.

Secondary education in England and Wales is carried on in several classes of institution.

1. "High Schools," under the management of specially established educational corporations, pioneers in secondary education.

2. Endowed Schools—few in number for girls.

3. Municipal or County Schools—some for girls only, others for girls and boys. These have usually been started on a lower educational level; but they are rapidly improving, and many of them now give an education quite equal to that given by the good High Schools which led the way.

4. Private Schools; of which some are expensive, and excellently equipped and staffed; others expensive and poorly provided, relying mainly on their social prestige; others inexpensive and poor.

Many parents of the more wealthy or aristocratic families still entrust the education of their girls to private governesses, from whom they require chiefly a knowledge of languages and the usages of polite society, supplemented, perhaps, by music and painting. The movement for the more complete education of women has not as yet gained much strength among those sections of society in which a girl is not expected to earn her own living.

Teachers of the public schools are for the most part prepared professionally, after completing their Secondary School course, at special Training Colleges, supported by State and Municipal grants—in some cases supplemented by fees from the student. This professional course for teachers in Elementary Schools covers two years. In a few of the Universities also, arrangements are made for a two-year course; in others, however, only teachers for Secondary Schools are now prepared. These study first for their degree (Bachelor) during three years, following this up by a fourth year devoted to professional training. During the whole course the University fees are paid by the State through the Board of Education, and a substantial grant is made to the student for maintenance. Many women who could not otherwise meet the expense of a University career are thus enabled, at the cost of undertaking to teach for a certain number of years, to pass through the University practically without expense.

In some Universities, and particularly in those which still offer a two-year training course for teachers in Elementary Schools, the "training students" form a class somewhat apart from the others, regarded as to some extent socially, and perhaps also intellectually, inferior. In others no distinction whatever exists, except that the "training" student has to satisfy the fairly stringent regulations of the Board of Education, in regard to making satisfactory progress year by year.

Teachers in the preparatory departments of Secondary Schools have usually received a thorough professional training; but those in the small private Kindergartens have commonly very meagre qualifications.

In the better schools the education of girls is good, and though there is cause for complaint as to "overpressure," attention is given to the physical condition of the pupils; of late, it is becoming customary to have girls medically examined at school from time to time. Science and Mathematics are often not as well taught as in boys' and mixed schools; but the teaching has rapidly improved during the last decade, and a good deal of practical work is always included. In languages, much headway has been made and new methods are earnestly followed; but the general level of linguistic study is still below that in most continental countries. The general level of Secondary education is good; but the schools suffer from a multiplicity of external examinations, for which public opinion compels them to prepare pupils.

The more advanced pupils are prepared for the Entrance Examinations (usually called Matriculation) of the different Universities, and they afterwards compete for one of the many scholarships offered by the local educational authorities or by the Universities. Competition for these is very keen. Recently an examination of higher standard—for the "Higher Certificate"—has been instituted by the Board of Education, preparation for which is regarded as carrying on the school education to a level comparable with that of the first year at the University. It is still, however, in an experimental stage, and the amount of recognition to be awarded by the more conservative Universities is as yet uncertain.

The Board of Education is the Government Department, which concerns itself with the education of both boys and girls in all stages. It maintains an army of Inspectors, men and women, for schools of all types; it conducts examinations for Secondary Schools; and it makes arrangements, through Training Colleges founded by various bodies, for the professional training of teachers for both Elementary and Secondary Schools. It works for the most part through locally appointed Education Committees, paying grants to them for all Schools and Training Colleges under their control. It lays down a scale (or rather scales) of salaries to be paid to teachers in various types of Public School. The Board also undertakes, when requested, to inspect and certify as "efficient" schools privately conducted, but it does not exercise any supervision over the larger number of such schools. Recent regulations, raising the salaries of teachers in "State-aided" Schools, and providing good pensions, are likely to crush out of existence many of the less efficient of the private schools; some educationalists fear that even the more efficient may now find it difficult to secure good teachers; and they hold that in that case, valuable freedom of initiative in education may be lost to the nation.

The University Training Departments in the larger Universities regard it as part of their natural function to initiate new and experimental methods in education; and some of them have special schools established for the purpose. Excellent pioneer work of the kind is described in the records of the Fielden School, under the University of Manchester. This University has established a Faculty of Education, in which one of the Professors devotes his whole time to the superintendence of the work of students for the research degree of Master of Education.

THE UNIVERSITIES.

_The Government and the Universities._—Universities in Great Britain enjoy a very considerable amount of freedom; in fact, the curriculum may be said to be entirely in the hands of the Academic Governing Body (called in most modern Universities, The Senate, but passing under various titles in the older Universities). Only such institutions as are incorporated by a University Charter from Government may grant degrees, but enactments in matters academic are made by the University itself, under the constitution as laid down in each Charter. The Government, through the Board of Education, makes yearly grants to Universities and Colleges; but it has hitherto refrained from laying down any stringent conditions as to the precise use made of them. The amount of the Government grant is however very small as compared with what is given in other countries, and higher education has to depend very largely upon endowment by private benefactors, with some support from municipal grants. The present critical state of national and private finance, together with the largely increased demand for higher education, has brought about in all Universities something like a serious financial crisis—for which at the present moment no adequate remedy appears.

_Universities and Colleges._—There are no degree-giving Colleges in the United Kingdom; all degree-giving institutions are called Universities. Colleges are institutions too much specialised or too incomplete to be incorporated as Universities in themselves; they may form parts of a University, or may be independent. There are no degree-giving institutions for women only, as in the United States.

_List of Universities and Colleges Open to Women._

_Universities._—Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge (partially open), Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, Wales; in Scotland—Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow; in Ireland—Belfast, Dublin, the National University. _Colleges._— (1) Forming part of a University. In the University of St. Andrews:—University College, Dundee. In the University of Durham:—University College; College of Medicine, Armstrong College—both at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In the University of London:—Bedford College, University College, King's College for Women, East London College, Royal Holloway College, Westfield College, London Day Training College, London School of Medicine for Women, School of Economics, School of Oriental Studies, etc., etc. In the University of Manchester:—Municipal College of Technology. In the University of Oxford:—Lady Margaret Hall, Somerville College, St. Hugh's College, St. Hilda's Hall, Society of Home Students. In the University of Wales:—University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; University College of North Wales, Bangor; University College of South Wales, Cardiff; University College of Swansea. In the University of Glasgow:—Queen Margaret College. In the National University of Ireland:—University College, Cork; University College, Dublin; University College, Galway. (2) Independent Colleges. Girton College, Newnham College—preparing for the degree examinations of Cambridge University. The Imperial College of Science and Technology (London)—preparing for its own Diplomas. Exeter, Nottingham, Reading, Southampton Colleges—preparing for the degrees of the (External) University of London.

Where there are various Colleges within the University, it is customary to make application for admission to the University through the College selected.

Queen Margaret College is the name given to the women's side of the University of Glasgow; all applications from women for entrance to the University must be made through the College.

In Cambridge, all women students must be members of either Girton or Newnham College, and can only receive permission to attend University lectures or examinations through the College.

In Oxford, the body of Home Students ranks as a College, and has a Principal.

The following Universities are ancient foundations:—Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast (Queen's College), and Dublin (Trinity College). The other Universities are grouped together as "Modern." The Scottish Universities, however, being chiefly non-residential, and situated in large cities, have many features in common with the modern group.

_Teaching System._—At Oxford and Cambridge the system is a combination of University, Inter-Collegiate and College lectures, classes and seminars, with individual teaching. Each undergraduate student is under the personal guidance of a tutor or director of studies, who plans out her course of work for term and vacations, supervises her studies, advises her as to lectures, teaches her, either alone or with others, and arranges, if necessary, for additional tuition. Great importance is attached to written work (consisting in Oxford mainly of essays, in Cambridge in answers to question papers), and to a close personal relation between teacher and pupil. This system has obvious advantages to the student, as the tutor has scope for developing individual capacity, but it makes considerable demands upon the tutor's time. Science students are admitted to the University laboratories, both in Cambridge and in Oxford, and in the former University, Natural Science is one of the subjects most popular and important. Advanced students obtain advice and supervision in their work from Professors and other specialists.

In other Universities, instruction is carried on mainly by means of lectures; the amount of written work is smaller, and there is practically no "coaching," either of individuals or of small groups—except where the number studying a given subject is extremely small. There is a trend of opinion in favour of the appointment of Tutors to give general guidance to those wishing for it, but the expense at present bars any innovation on a large scale in this direction. Some of the residential Halls provide tutors for their students. In all scientific subjects a considerable amount of practical work in the laboratories is required of the student, with more or less individual guidance from the Demonstrators in charge of the laboratories.

It is the vice of most of the modern Universities to require attendance at too large a number of lectures, leaving too little time for study and thought. And though the evil is readily recognised, and efforts are made from time to time to reduce the amount of attendance required, the zeal and autocratic power of the Professor in charge of any given subject has usually succeeded in defeating them.

In English Universities it is customary to call courses for a first degree either Honours or Pass Courses. The Honours Course is specialised—only one subject (say, a language or a science) with a minimum amount of one or two related subjects. A Pass Course is more general. Both types of Course cover, as a rule, a period of three years before the Final Degree Examination; which may, or may not, be preceded by subsidiary examinations in the earlier years. It is the rule in most of the Women's Colleges in Cambridge and Oxford that Honours Examinations only may be prepared for; in other Universities and Colleges, the women, like the men, can choose between Honours and Pass. There has been of late years a growing tendency to choose the more specialised course; it has more prestige, and the Headmistresses of Girls' Secondary Schools have preferred specialists as teachers. But there are slight indications that this preference is becoming less marked; and there may possibly before long be seen a revival of the demand for a more general education—which is manifestly suited to certain types of mind.

_Degrees._—The degrees conferred by the Universities are those of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor. Not all of these degrees, are, however, conferred in every Faculty. The Course for a Bachelor's degree usually covers three years[2]; the Master's degree is sometimes (as in Oxford and Cambridge) conferred for a payment without further examination; sometimes, as in most of the modern Universities, it requires a further examination; in Scottish Universities it is the first degree, obtained after three years' study. Hence this degree connotes a surprising variety of attainment. The Doctor's degree is in all Universities awarded only upon the production of original work which can be regarded as a serious contribution to knowledge.

[2] In Cambridge the examination for the first degree is called the "Tripos"; in Oxford it is called "Schools."

Recently every University has created a Ph.D. degree, open to graduates of any approved institution, British or foreign. It is given for advanced work only, the results of which must be embodied in a dissertation; and study must have been prosecuted during the greater part of two (or three) years in the University conferring the degree. It may be conferred in any Faculty. Many of the other higher degrees, M.A., M.Sc., B.Litt., etc., etc., are also open to graduates from other approved institutions.

The Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, holds a special position among independent Colleges, granting a diploma of its own which is regarded as equal in standard to a University degree.

_Subjects Studied._—The greater number of women students enter the Faculty of Arts, but large numbers also enter for Science and for Medicine; a few for Commerce, Technology, Law, etc. The study of Medicine can now be carried on under the same conditions as for men in practically all the modern Universities. In some, however, situated in comparatively small towns, the clinical facilities are inadequate, and it is customary to continue clinical study in one of the larger Medical Schools, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, or Manchester. Edinburgh, with a long-established prestige in medicine, attracts large numbers of students. Tradition inherited from early days of controversy has long limited the opportunities of women in Edinburgh, but a more liberal policy now admits them to substantial privileges.