Women academics at Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges, 1939-69

Author: Kirk, Elizabeth

Source: Historical Research, Volume 76, Number 191, February 2003 , pp. 128-150(23)

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Abstract:

This article examines the relationship between female academics and domesticity at Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges between 1939 and 1969. Women scholars in particular have had to juggle the demands of pastoral care and research and the former often took priority, which meant that women lagged behind men in academic publications. The evidence shows that, even though the balance of power in academic appointments shifted dramatically from women to men during this period, Royal Holloway was still committed to employing single women who would live in the college. By contrast Bedford employed women who often combined work and marriage. However, neither model of academic womanhood enabled women who taught at these colleges to escape the notion that femininity rendered them incapable of wielding authority.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.00169

Affiliations: 1: Stamford, Lincs.

Publication date: 2003-02-01