Graduate Students

Morrison, Janet - M.A

Formative Higher Education for Women in Canada: The Macdonald Institute - Dr. James Snell, advisor

         The writing of women's history in Canada has improved significantly over the course of the past decade. Advances in the areas of methodology and analysis have allowed for a re-evaluation of old themes and the development of new ones based solely on women's historical experience.' These advances have, however, largely ignored the experiences of women at institutions of higher learning during the late nineteenth century in Canada. The literature available deals only topically with the important changes in socially accepted norms that allowed for the enrolment of women at Colleges and Universities, and examines their individual experiences largely within the context of a male sphere. To obtain a more holistic view of higher education for women during this time period, scholarship that places an emphasis on the female perspective and actual experience is required.
         In an effort to address the apparent oversight in current literature, this paper will endeavour to examine the development of higher education for women at both the macro and micro level during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Toward this end, Chapter I will focus on the historiography of higher education for women. Chapter II provides a case study in educational opportunity using the Macdonald Institute located in Guelph, Ontario. This single-sex institution opened in 1903 and aimed to provide women with a formal education in domestic science. The reality of educational deliverance and the applicability of a strictly prescribed curriculum can best be explored at this level.
         This dual faceted approach is intended to provide a more holistic understanding of formative higher education for women in Canada.
         Central to the debate regarding higher education for women was the issue of its intended purpose, a consistent theme in this paper. Why should women be educated beyond the secondary level? What was the social value associated with providing University level education to this sector of society? Initially, the provision of higher education for women was contingent on the premise that the fulfilment of women's traditional role in society could be maximized through education at the post-secondary level, a philosophy articulated by the curriculum and institutional objectives of the Macdonald Institute. The academic rigours of the school's programs in Domestic Science challenged women to think independently in a variety of contexts pertaining to household management. In the process, the curriculum facilitated an increase in student self-confidence and the professionalization of women's role as wife, mother and keeper of the home. The provision of higher education at the Macdonald Institute was less controversial because of the course content. The benefits were, however, equally important to the move towards the attainment of women's rights.
          Widespread acceptance of universal access to higher education for women required significant changes in the societal norm that dictated women's sphere of influence and her participation in the labour market. The struggle encouraged women to challenge their prescribed role and lobby for official recognition of their intellectual capacity and ability to contribute to the public sphere.