Right to Learn: Women's educational opportunities in nineteenth century Britain

Right to Learn: Women's educational opportunities in nineteenth century Britain

The history of women’s education in nineteenth century Britain has received scant attention when it comes to addressing women’s educational opportunities in specific educational areas across all social classes. Historians have considered individual schools, individual classes and even individual countries, but the broad picture of women’s education in Britain has remained underexplored. By concentrating on the history of women’s education in trade, secondary and higher education for working-class, middle-class and elite women, this study has analysed the public opinion, funding and broader historical forces, including legislation, that played a part in the expansion of women’s education in Britain. This thesis examines five key periods of the nineteenth century, identifying how each of which had its own contributing factor that gave women more opportunities for education. Tracing these changes across the nineteenth century, this thesis reveals how the opportunities for women’s higher learning expanded or stagnated depending on the era and the women’s class. Overall, it was not just the actions of one person or a few, the contributions of one class, or school, that allowed women’s educational opportunities to expand. Instead, it was the actions of many, all intersecting in unexpected ways, which allowed the nineteenth century to lay the foundations for the future growth in British women’s education during the twentieth century.