Women's University Narratives, 1890-1945

From the late nineteenth century women began to have some level of acceptance at British universities. Newly admitted to Oxford and Cambridge, their numbers were relatively small and their gains were hard won and fiercely contested. Yet they inspired a whole new genre of fiction and created a new archetype the ‘Girton Girl’. Stories about women’s lives and experiences while at university proved extremely popular. These works contributed not only to the formation of public opinion about education but also sparked debate about many wider social and cultural issues, from the place of the female writer in the literary scene to the emergence of new discourses around psychology and the body. Yet as women gained greater acceptance in higher education these early stories fell from favour. This collection of largely forgotten and rare texts forms a valuable primary resource for literature scholars and those working on social history and the history of women’s education.