ADMISSION TO UNIVERSITIES
The position of women at Oxford and Cambridge is so anomalous as to
require a good deal of explanation, and indeed it is sometimes said that
the only real grievance these students have is the difficulty of making
people understand what they may and what they may not do. There is no
such difficulty when we come to the newer universities. Here the course
has been one of steady progress, and one after another all the barriers
have fallen.
London was the pioneer in this reform, and its exceptional position made
it an excellent field for experiment. A mere examining and
degree-conferring body, the London University was not obliged to face
those difficult questions of residence, teaching, and discipline which
had to be considered elsewhere. It was natural that women who desired to
obtain professional qualifications without being compelled to seek them
outside their own country, should apply to London for help. As early as
1856 Miss J. M. White had addressed a letter to the Registrar, inquiring
whether a woman could become a candidate for a diploma in medicine.
Counsel’s opinion was taken in the matter and proved adverse. In 1872 it
was again raised by Miss Elizabeth Garrett (now Mrs. Garrett Anderson)
who requested admission as a candidate for matriculation. She was
refused on the same ground. Since it appeared that the University had
not power to accede to these requests, a memorial was drawn up begging
it to seek for such modifications in its charter as would enable it to
admit women to examination. The motion was brought before the Senate,
and lost by the casting vote of the Chancellor. With success so nearly
attained the advocates of the change determined not to let the matter
drop, and after a while a modified proposal was made. It was thought
that a special examination for women might meet the case, or at any rate
serve as an experiment in what was then a very new field. The first was
held in May 1869, and followed the lines of Matriculation with some
modifications. As an isolated examination of no special difficulty and
leading nowhere, it did not attract large numbers, and it became more
and more clear that what women needed was not so much a special course
of study as—to quote the words of the Calendar—‘to have access to the
ordinary degrees and honours, and to be subject to the same tests of
qualification which were imposed on other students.’ The result of this
conviction was that in 1878 it was decided to accept from the Crown ‘a
supplemental charter, making every degree, honour, and prize awarded by
the University accessible to students of both sexes on perfectly equal
terms.’ The charter, however, declared that no woman should be a member
of Convocation until Convocation should itself pass a resolution
admitting them. In 1882, almost as soon as there was any woman eligible,
this resolution was passed, and henceforth both sexes were placed on an
absolute equality in their treatment by London University.
There is no need to dwell on the success of this new departure. The
London degrees have been eagerly sought by women, and they have won
distinguished places in the class lists. Among its graduates London
numbers over fifty female M.A.’s, six D.Sc.’s, one D.Lit., to say
nothing of many hundred B.A. and B.Sc., as well as all the medical
degrees. Class lists show no special division into masculine and
feminine studies, since women have won high honours in classics, and men
in modern languages. Even on Presentation-Day special allusions to the
lady-graduates are seldom made in the speeches; it is no longer
considered a matter of surprise that women should hold their own
intellectually. The London class lists with their rigid equality have
proved to demonstration the equality of the sexes as far as concerns the
domain of examination. And at the particular moment when this was done,
it was the greatest service that could be rendered to the cause of
women’s education, since it settled once and for all the question of
making special conditions for them.
But throwing open the examinations and degrees of London was only an
indirect assistance to their education, since the University examines
all who come, but asks no questions as to how or where they gained their
teaching. There was one institution already in existence which was only
waiting for this new impulse to enlarge the scope of its work. Bedford
College had been gradually developing from humble beginnings into an
institution of first-class educational importance. In 1874 it had been
removed from Bedford Square to its present premises in York Place, Baker
Street, and here it has been gradually expanding, adding another house,
building on at the back, supplying now one laboratory now another, until
it has reached its present condition of efficiency, taking its place as
the leading women’s college of London. Its success is probably due to
the progressive action of its council, ever ready to realise new needs
and meet each fresh demand as it arose. Recognising the transformation
which the opening of the London degrees must effect in women’s
education, they at once proceeded to open classes in the subjects of the
examinations. At the first Matriculation Examination to which women were
admitted, five Bedford College students presented themselves, and all
took Honours. In due course classes for B.A. work were added, then
B.Sc., then M.A., and in all these Bedford College students acquitted
themselves well. The college had now won an honourable place among
university colleges, and in 1894 it was included among the list of those
entitled to a share of the annual grant of £15,000 to university
colleges in Great Britain. From this source it received £700, since
increased to £1200, and it now receives also an annual grant of £500
from the London Technical Education Board, for the further equipment of
the laboratories and development of practical work in science. This is a
speciality of Bedford College. Its laboratories for biology, botany,
chemistry, geology, physiology, and physics meet every requirement.
The college is still open to girls who attend only single courses, but
the majority enter as regular students, and work either for a London
degree or the alternative college course. Bedford has also added other
departments of study to the ordinary curriculum. It has an art school, a
training department for teachers, and a special hygiene course, for
which certificates are conferred. And finally it has developed, as far
as its accommodation will permit, into a residential college. The
old-fashioned dormitory boarding accommodation has been abolished in
favour of students’ rooms in the bed-study fashion so familiar at
Newnham and Oxford, and the general management has been placed in the
hands of a Principal. Miss Emily Penrose, the first to fill this post,
has now become Principal of Holloway, and her place is taken by Miss
Ethel Hurlbatt, late Warden of Aberdare Hall.
Bedford College, true to its undenominational principles, has never
introduced religious instruction into its curriculum. It is not
unnatural that a wish has been expressed in some quarters for a
residential college, which should prepare its students for London
degrees and at the same time take cognisance of their religious
training. It was for this end that Westfield College at Hampstead was
founded in 1882. Its benefactor was Miss Dudin Brown, who made over to
trustees the sum of £10,000 ‘for the establishment of a college for the
higher education of women on Christian principles.’ The Principal is
Miss Maynard, one of the early students of Girton, who has introduced
into Westfield many of the arrangements of the parent college. The
two-room plan, which has found too few imitators, is the rule here.
Inclusive fees, as at Girton, are £105 a year. The conditions for
admission are similar. There are three entrance scholarships, open to
girls who have passed the London Matriculation in Honours or in the
first division.
The college began its work in hired houses at Hampstead, but building
soon became necessary. It is pleasantly situated in that most attractive
of the London suburbs, and combines some advantages of both town and
country. Though it has no laboratories of its own, students can easily
reach those of Bedford College to which they have access; and similarly
it is easy to supply from London such teaching as cannot be undertaken
by the resident staff. Westfield students take high places in the class
lists, and it supplies an important addition to the London colleges.
In enumerating these we cannot omit Holloway, for though far beyond the
borders of the metropolis, it is more and more assimilating its teaching
to the London work. Such was not, however, its original purpose. Among
those who attended the meeting in 1867 to consider the foundation of a
women’s college, was Mr. Thomas Holloway, and at one time it was hoped
he would prove a benefactor to it. But Mr. Holloway preferred the idea
of an independent college unconnected with a university, like Vassar and
others in the United States, and his wishes were thus expressed: ‘It is
the founder’s desire that power by Act of Parliament, Royal Charter, or
otherwise, should ultimately be sought, enabling the college to confer
degrees on its students after proper examination in the various subjects
of instruction.’ With this end in view he chose a beautiful site near
Egham, and built upon it a most elaborate and fully equipped college,
which should some day develop into a women’s university. Nothing was
spared that could contribute to the comfort and well-being of the
students. Each has two rooms; and the magnificent dining-hall, museum,
picture-gallery, etc. prove that no pains were spared to make the new
college attractive as well as efficient. For all that, it was viewed at
first with some misgivings, for it seemed to lack a definite aim. It was
formally opened by the Queen in 1886, and in the following year Miss
Bishop was appointed Principal, but students came in slowly. A liberal
provision of scholarships, and the beauty and healthy situation of the
college did much to dispel the first misgivings, especially when it
began to appear from results that the teaching too was of the best. The
founder had himself directed that until the power to confer degrees
should have been obtained ‘it is intended that the students shall
qualify themselves to take the degrees at the University of London or
any other university of the United Kingdom whose degrees may be obtained
by them, or to pass any examination open to them at any such university,
which may be equivalent to a degree examination.’ In accordance with
this permission the first students were prepared for the London degrees,
and also for the examinations of the University of Oxford, which under
present conditions are open to all comers, since the delegacy takes no
cognisance of residence. Holloway students may therefore, if they
please, present themselves for examination in Moderations and Final
Schools just as if they were residing at the Oxford halls. They cannot,
of course, obtain the Association’s diploma, and miss the advantage of
the Oxford lectures.
On these lines the college worked for ten years, when circumstances made
it necessary to reconsider its position. At both Oxford and Cambridge
the degree had been refused, and it seemed desirable for the friends of
women’s education to come to some decision on their future policy. Once
again the scheme of a women’s university was raised; and Holloway
College took the lead in calling a meeting to discuss the question.
Opinions were invited as to the future action of the college, and three
propositions were made: (1) That Holloway College should, in accordance
with the founder’s will, seek powers to confer its own degrees. (2) That
a Federal University should be founded, to include in its jurisdiction
all the women’s colleges. (3) That Holloway should associate itself more
closely with London, and seek admission into its teaching University
when this should be founded. The discussion showed a strong consensus in
favour of this last proposal, and it is probable that henceforth the
work of Holloway College will be chiefly directed towards the London
courses. If so, it will be safe to predict for it a brilliant future.
Its healthy situation, delightful grounds, beautiful buildings, and
large endowment, with the prospect of receiving full recognition for
work done, will attract large numbers; indeed with Holloway, Bedford,
and Westfield for their own, London women have little left to desire.
Whatever they may lack elsewhere fullest measure is dealt to them here.
Nor are they even restricted to their own special colleges. The classes
at University College are open to all who care to attend; indeed this
was one of the first, if not the very first, of our English colleges to
try the co-education experiment. After experimenting by holding some
classes for women separately, and admitting them temporarily to others,
the professors decided in favour of joint classes, and the result was
the opening of all except the departments of Medicine and Engineering.
The results proved altogether satisfactory, and this end has been helped
by the appointment of a lady-superintendent, who holds the same position
towards the women students that a vice-dean does to the men. No woman is
admitted as a student except upon her recommendation, and upon
production of satisfactory references. In this way their special
interests are safeguarded, and girls far from home may always secure
friendly advice and guidance. Further, there is a special residence
provided at College Hall, Byng Place, where students may have some of
the advantages of college life while pursuing their studies at
University College, or the Woman’s Medical School close by. With Miss
Grove as Principal, and Miss Morison, superintendent of the women
students, as Vice-Principal, it offers a bright and cultivated home to
its inmates, and keeps up the collegiate idea by admitting only such as
have already passed Matriculation or an equivalent examination, and are
pursuing a regular course of study. The fees for board and residence
vary, according to the room occupied and the length of the term, from
£51 to £90 the session.
To give a complete list of the institutions that prepare students for
the London degrees, would be impossible, since it is open to any person
in any place to hold such classes. A few work for them at the ladies’
department of King’s College, but on the whole the work of this branch
is more on the lines of miscellaneous lectures and general culture. Some
schools, _e.g._ the North London and the Bedford High School, also carry
on their pupils beyond Matriculation to the Intermediate examinations,
or even further. The Ladies’ College, Cheltenham, provides instruction
for the full Arts course. Most of the provincial university colleges
have London degree classes, and many candidates, who cannot get oral
teaching, make use of the University Tutorial and other correspondence
classes.
A new development on fresh lines is supplied by the Polytechnics. In
most of these, whether in London or other large towns, classes are held
in all the subjects of the London examinations with particular
assistance for Science. With fully equipped laboratories, a large staff
of teachers, and considerable funds at their disposal, the Polytechnics
may yet become formidable rivals to the other London colleges. Some
regret this new departure, and believe that such institutions would be
better employed in confining themselves to their original function, the
encouragement of handicraft; on the other hand, a system of cheap local
colleges is so valuable to large numbers that it is not likely to be
abandoned. Some place must be found in the new organisation of the
London University for these institutes, if they themselves desire it;
but perhaps we shall see, instead of this, a federation of these great
science and handicraft schools into some fresh University of their own.
The example set by London in 1879 was soon to be imitated. Only a year
afterwards a new University was founded, and the principle of including
women was at once adopted. The charter of Victoria University distinctly
stated that its degrees and distinctions might be conferred ‘on all
persons, male or female, who shall have pursued a regular course of
study in a College in the University, and shall submit themselves for
examination.’ The degree is somewhat on the lines of the London, but
attendance at certain prescribed courses of study is required. These
courses must be continued for three years at least. Hence admission to
the Victoria degrees really depends on the action of the individual
colleges, which are quite unfettered by the University. These are—(1)
Owens College, Manchester; (2) University College, Liverpool; (3)
Yorkshire College, Leeds.
The first of these had been in existence as a men’s college some years
before the establishment of the University, and it has not seemed
anxious to make changes in its original constitution. It became
necessary to organise a special department for women, in connection with
which they still receive some of their instruction. But the teaching for
the higher examinations, _i.e._ those beyond the Victoria Preliminary,
is received in the ordinary college classes. As a matter of fact, men
and women are taught together in nearly all the B.A. and B.Sc. classes;
and the Preliminary, like the London Matriculation, belongs to school
work, and has no proper place in a college curriculum at all. Owens
still follows the old plan, now almost everywhere discarded, of offering
special certificates to women on easier terms; but for these there is
little demand.
Since University College, Liverpool was not incorporated till 1881,
_i.e._ after the constitution of the University, it was natural that it
should follow its lead in the recognition of women, but this was not yet
full and ungrudging. The charter says: ‘female students may be admitted
to attend any of the courses of instruction established in the college,
subject to such restrictions and regulations as statutes of the College
may from time to time prescribe.’ At present the regulations stand thus:
‘Female students may be admitted to the classes of the College, except
those of the Medical School, under regulations to be framed by the
Senate and approved by the Council.’ In theory, therefore, University is
a men’s college that admits women. In fact, with the exception of the
medical classes, the two are pretty much on an equality. Men and women
are admitted on the same terms to the day and evening classes;
throughout the regulations the words ‘his or her’ are used. Rules apply
to both sexes alike. Hitherto the college has been of use chiefly to
Liverpool residents, and for such it was doubtless intended, but it is
just about to extend the sphere of its usefulness by opening a Hall of
Residence for Women. The fees for residence are to be £40 to £55 per
annum. College tuition fees are about £20 to £25. The total expenses
would therefore be a little less than at Newnham. Liverpool can hardly
offer the attractions of Cambridge, but the hall should prove useful for
girls in the North who do not wish to go too far from home, or to whom
the right to use the degree letters is of some special value. And since
Cambridge and Oxford can by no means attempt to accommodate the whole of
the ever-increasing contingent of women students, it is well that there
should be many and varied opportunities of study offered them elsewhere.
At the Yorkshire College, Leeds, all the classes are open to women as to
men, and all have been attended by them except the purely professional
ones and the medical school. This college chiefly supplies local needs,
as far, at any rate, as girls are concerned; for its specialities, such
as coal-mining, dyeing, leather, and textile industries, etc. naturally
do not appeal to women. It is to a great extent a technological college,
receiving assistance from the Clothworkers’, Skinners’, and other city
companies. But it has also an Arts department, where students can be
prepared for Victoria or London examinations, and this is of great use
to boys and girls who pass on from their respective schools.
The last of the English Universities to admit women was Durham. As
compared with Oxford and Cambridge, it is a recent foundation, since it
received its charter in 1837. Since one of its most important faculties
is Divinity, it seemed a less suitable field than others for feminine
study, but a change was effected by the foundation, in 1871, of the
Newcastle College of Science, in connection with Durham, which admitted
students of both sexes to scientific and medical classes. It then became
important to win the University hall-mark for the women, and after a
while Durham was induced to apply for the necessary powers. In 1895 it
received a supplementary charter, giving power to confer degrees on
women in all faculties except divinity. With this exception, women are
admitted as members of the University on the same terms as men. All
lectures are open to them. Male students reside for the most part in
college as at Oxford and Cambridge; the women studying at Durham are
therefore at present unattached members. This state of things will be
remedied as soon as a regular women’s college is opened at Durham;
special scholarships for women are already offered, to attract larger
numbers. At Newcastle, which at present receives the majority of the
women students, a hostel has been opened for them. The number of lady
graduates is as yet of necessity small.
It is significant of the steady advance of public opinion on the subject
of women’s education, that the youngest of all our universities is the
one to do them fullest justice. It is the proud boast of the University
of Wales that its charter contains the following clause: ‘Women shall be
eligible equally with men for admittance to any degree, which the
University is, by this our Charter, authorised to confer. Every office
hereby created in the University, and the membership of every authority
hereby constituted, shall be open to women equally with men.’
The University of Wales is a federation of three constituent colleges,
all much older than the University itself, and they in their turn
represent aspirations which the fable-loving Cymry trace back to hoary
days of antiquity. Caerleon-on-Usk, they tell us, was the precursor of
the present _Prifysgol Cymru_; and when in the ninth century Alfred the
Great determined to found the comparatively modern University of Oxford,
it was to Wales he sent for professors. When, in 1893, the royal seal
was set to the charter of the Welsh University, it symbolised the
revival of ancient and departed glories.
However little faith we may attach to some of these tales, one thing is
certain. The aspirations which expressed themselves in the foundation of
Aberystwyth College had dwelt among the people for many generations. At
last, in the early fifties, it was resolved to found a University
College for Wales, but the problem whence to obtain the funds was not
easy to solve. Appeal was made for voluntary contributions, and they
came, some large, some small, all giving according to their means. Still
it was not till twenty years after the first suggestion that the college
came into being. In 1872, when Aberystwyth was opened, Girton had
already made its first start at Hitchin, and the house of residence,
that was to develop into Newnham, had been opened at Cambridge; but
these beginnings were too small to attract general attention, and the
new college became, as a matter of course, an institution for male
students only. There was nothing to forbid the admission of women, it
was simply a thing no one had contemplated; and when, at last, in 1883,
a few women students did present themselves, no one thought of shutting
the door on them. When the college charter was conferred in 1889, it
simply recognised the fact of their presence by the clause: ‘Female
students shall be admitted to all the benefits and emoluments of the
College, and women shall be eligible to sit on the Governing body, on
the Council, and on the Senate.’
Prosperity did not come all at once to Aberystwyth. It had at first to
struggle against two great evils: lack of funds, and the insufficient
preliminary training of its students. Appeal was made for Government
help in both directions, and the result of frequent representations was
the appointment, by the Lord President of the Council, of a departmental
committee, to inquire into the whole state of Welsh education. In 1881
this committee reported that a case had been made out for Government aid
to both secondary and higher education in Wales, and recommended the
establishment of two colleges, one in North and one in South Wales, and
the eventual foundation of a Welsh University. A grant of £2500,
afterwards increased to £4000, was at once made to Aberystwyth; in 1883
the South Wales College was founded at Cardiff, and in the following
year the Northern College was begun at Bangor, each receiving an annual
grant of £4000. Both, from the first, opened their doors to women.
For the first ten years the colleges directed their courses of study
towards the degrees of the University of London. Their students did
well, but the desire for their own University and their own degrees
never faded from the minds of Welshmen. A few eager spirits met again
and again in conference, then followed meetings of educationalists all
over the principality, and in 1891 the main lines of a university were
laid down by public conference, details were discussed by a
representative committee, referred back to the conference, then to the
colleges, and the sixteen Welsh county councils; lastly, the press and
the general public were called upon for an opinion, and then the scheme
was laid before the President of the Council. If ever there was a
national University, the Welsh may claim to have established one. In
November 1893 the royal seal was affixed to the charter, and in June
1895 the University held its first Matriculation Examination.
The degree course of the University of Wales is a complicated one, and
is by no means planned so that he who runs may read. It has a twofold,
or rather a threefold aim. The University not only takes cognisance of
residence, but also lays down very careful directions as to the manner
in which students shall obtain their knowledge. Not only does it demand
a three years’ course in a constituent college of the University, but it
also prescribes the nature of the courses, and the number of lectures to
be attended. After Matriculation, which must be passed in five subjects,
three compulsory, and two optional, and may be taken in one year or in
two, the regulations require each student to pursue not less than ten
courses, of which one must be in elementary Logic, and one, at least, a
course of Latin or Greek. Apart from the Logic, the nine courses must be
chosen in not less than three, or more than six departments. The
possible courses are designated according to their degree of difficulty,
as intermediate, ordinary, and special; four, at least, must be of
higher grade than intermediate. In order to distribute them evenly over
the whole term of residence, no candidate may take more than four in any
one year, or more than seven in the first two years. A course is held to
include not less than eighty lectures, and the corresponding
examination; and since, in most subjects, the intermediate course must
be pursued before the higher ones are attempted, every student has to
attend some very elementary lectures before proceeding to anything at
all like university work. As sixteen is the college age of admission,
this arrangement is probably intentional; the colleges are meant to
continue school work for one year at least, and gradually lead the
student on to more arduous labours.
Since the colleges are independent institutions, they have a good deal
of freedom in the organisation of their work, and may, if they please,
submit new schemes for the consideration of the Senate, the other two
colleges, and the University Court. Without the sanction of all these
they cannot attempt any innovation. The superior stress laid on the
actual instruction rather than on the ensuing examination is emphasised
by appointing the three professors of each subject as examiners, with
the help of one outside person, who must be some one of distinguished
attainments and authority.
Thus the University of Wales proceeds on lines which, though new to us,
bear considerable resemblance to the plan of many American colleges,
where the number of hours to be spent weekly in the lecture-room counts
as part qualification for the degree, and the examinations are spread
out over the whole term of residence, and not concentrated into one or
two supreme efforts. Of course this greatly relieves the strain, and it
is too soon to say whether the degree will at all lose in prestige from
the numerous efforts made to clear the student’s path of thorns. It is
probably the best system for Wales, where the Intermediate schools only
profess to keep their pupils till seventeen, and there is nothing to
prevent able students from competing for scholarships, which shall
enable them to continue at Oxford or Cambridge the studies begun in one
of their own colleges. Eventually it is probable that facilities will be
offered for doing advanced work without forsaking their own country.
Even before the establishment of the University, the colleges attracted
many women students from England as well as Wales. All three are
pleasantly situated in healthy spots, and the cheapness of both teaching
and living helped to attract many girls. It thus soon became necessary
to consider the question of a mixed university, which had no residential
colleges to simplify the problem. Soon it became clear that, where young
people of both sexes were very frequently thrown together, it was
desirable in the interests of all concerned to exercise some sort of
control. A hall of residence for the women seemed the best way out of
the dilemma, and it had the advantage of drawing them away from lonely
and often uncomfortable lodgings, and giving them some of that feeling
of corporate life which is valued so highly at the older universities.
Still it is noteworthy that, to make the plan a success, residence has
had, under certain conditions, to be made compulsory. The first attempt
at Aberystwyth was a failure, but in 1887 another house was taken, and
compulsory residence required. This arrangement seemed to attract
students; in the following session their numbers increased, and
continued to average about forty, till in 1891 it was resolved to build
a large new hall. The numbers then again went up, and have already
reached 175. Alexandra Hall was opened with much state by the Princess
of Wales in June 1897. It can accommodate 200, a number which must soon
be reached.
Neither Bangor nor Cardiff can boast such numbers, but in both the
hostels are doing well. At Bangor, after a few years’ experiment, it was
decided to make residence compulsory for all girls under twenty-one. The
hall and college were brought into close connection by the appointment
of a lady, who was also an officer of the college, to act as
superintendent of all the women students. Permission is given to women
to reside in any house which, in the judgment of the Principal and
Lady-superintendent, provides hostel conditions of supervision. At
Aberdare Hall, Cardiff, there is compulsory residence for women who do
not live in their own homes. At all three halls the fees are very low,
forty guineas being the usual annual payment for board and residence,
and £10 for the composition tuition charge. At Bangor and Cardiff there
are also a few cubicles, for which the charge is only thirty guineas.
This plan hardly appears to answer, nor does it seem desirable to let
the standard of comfort fall below a certain minimum. There is a talk of
abandoning it.
In estimating the numbers at these colleges, we must remember that they
do not represent only students in Arts and Science. All three have
established day training-departments, and to these students, too, the
halls are open, as well as to those who attend the Cardiff Cookery
School. In attempting to put the training for domestic economy and
elementary school teaching on the same footing as university work, Wales
is acting in accordance with its democratic traditions, and trying also
to induce a higher class of students to take up the elementary teaching.
The experiment is certainly worth making, and it will be interesting to
watch its success. English high school girls who wish to take up
elementary teaching might here combine their training and their work for
the Welsh degree in a three years’ course.
With the help of the wardens of halls and the ladies’ committees, the
colleges are able to face the complications of joint clubs and societies
for both sexes. All these involve some special regulations, in regard to
the composition of committees, the return from evening meetings, etc.
but the difficulties have not proved insuperable. It would hardly be
going too far to say that the women’s halls of residence have saved the
situation in Wales, and made this most complete example of co-education
possible. It is not surprising that they are being adopted elsewhere.
The advocates of educational equality for the sexes, even where the
instruction is given to both together, have assuredly no desire to
complicate or revolutionise social relations, nor yet to confer full
liberty on those who are hardly emerged from the schoolgirl stage. For
both sexes the residential arrangement seems on many grounds desirable,
and while congratulating the women on their pleasant halls of residence,
we can but hope that the male students may not be left out in the cold
much longer, without the chance of learning for themselves the true
meaning of collegiate life.
The opportunities for advanced study open to women have indeed increased
and multiplied at a rapid rate during the last few years. Beyond the
northern boundary we find all the Scottish Universities have admitted
them freely to membership, and if we cross St. George’s Channel, the
Royal University of Ireland—like London, only an examining body—takes no
note of sex, and even Trinity College, Dublin, is making some tentative
essays in the teaching and examining of women. This represents what has
been done in our own islands, but the same movement has been going on
simultaneously all over the world. Thanks to Mr. M. E. Sadler,[15] we
are now in a position to compare the position of women at a hundred and
thirty-nine different Universities. Questions were sent to the
Universities of Great Britain and Ireland, the continent of Europe, the
United States of America, Canada, India, and Australia. ‘It appears,’
says Mr. Sadler, ‘that at a hundred of these, the distinctions between
men and women students are, if any, comparatively unimportant; at seven
Universities women students are admitted, by courtesy or special
permission, to some lectures and examinations; at twenty-one others
women are, by like favour, admitted to some of the lectures; and at
eleven Universities they are not admitted at all.’ Of the exceptions
five are in Germany, three in Russia, one in Ireland, one in Belgium,
one in the United States. France and Italy are specially remarkable for
their generous recognition of women, and Germany, long obdurate, is
making constant fresh concessions; but intending students should study
the special conditions of the one they wish to attend, since many of the
regulations are most complicated.[16]
This general advance all over the civilised world is the chief gain this
half century has brought to women’s education. Though each country has
proceeded on its own lines the movement has unconsciously been an
international one. That gives it a strength which will make it
permanent.