The Government and the Universities.—Universities in
Great Britain enjoy a very considerable amount of freedom;
in fact, the curriculum may be said to be entirely in the
hands of the Academic Governing Body (called in most
modern Universities, The Senate, but passing under various
titles in the older Universities). Only such institutions as
are incorporated by a University Charter from Government
may grant degrees, but enactments in matters academic
are made by the University itself, under the constitution
as laid down in each Charter. The Government, through
the Board of Education, makes yearly grants to Universities
and Colleges; but it has hitherto refrained from laying
down any stringent conditions as to the precise use made
of them. The amount of the Government grant is however
very small as compared with what is given in other countries,
and higher education has to depend very largely
upon endowment by private benefactors, with some support
from municipal grants. The present critical state of
national and private finance, together with the largely increased
demand for higher education, has brought about
in all Universities something like a serious financial crisis—for
which at the present moment no adequate remedy
appears.
Universities and Colleges.—There are no degree-giving
Colleges in the United Kingdom; all degree-giving institutions
are called Universities. Colleges are institutions too
much specialised or too incomplete to be incorporated as
Universities in themselves; they may form parts of a
University, or may be independent. There are no degree-giving
institutions for women only, as in the United States.
List of Universities and Colleges Open to Women.
- Universities.—Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge
(partially open), Durham, Leeds, Liverpool,
London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, Wales; in
Scotland—Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Edinburgh,
Glasgow; in Ireland—Belfast, Dublin, the National
University.
- Colleges.—
- (1) Forming part of a University.
- In the University of St. Andrews:—University
College, Dundee.
- In the University of Durham:—University
College; College of Medicine, Armstrong
College—both at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- In the University of London:—Bedford
College, University College, King's College
for Women, East London College,
Royal Holloway College, Westfield College,
London Day Training College,
London School of Medicine for Women,
School of Economics, School of Oriental
Studies, etc., etc.
- In the University of Manchester:—Municipal
College of Technology.
- In the University of Oxford:—Lady Margaret
Hall, Somerville College, St.
Hugh's College, St. Hilda's Hall, Society
of Home Students.
- In the University of Wales:—University College
of Wales, Aberystwyth; University
College of North Wales, Bangor; University
College of South Wales, Cardiff;
University College of Swansea.
- In the University of Glasgow:—Queen Margaret
College.
- In the National University of Ireland:—University
College, Cork; University College,
Dublin; University College, Galway.
- (2) Independent Colleges.
- Girton College, Newnham College—preparing
for the degree examinations of Cambridge
University.
- The Imperial College of Science and Technology
(London)—preparing for its own
Diplomas.
- Exeter, Nottingham, Reading, Southampton
Colleges—preparing for the degrees of the
(External) University of London.
Where there are various Colleges within the University,
it is customary to make application for admission to the
University through the College selected.
Queen Margaret College is the name given to the
women's side of the University of Glasgow; all applications
from women for entrance to the University must be made
through the College.
In Cambridge, all women students must be members
of either Girton or Newnham College, and can only receive
permission to attend University lectures or examinations
through the College.
In Oxford, the body of Home Students ranks as a
College, and has a Principal.
The following Universities are ancient foundations:—Cambridge,
Oxford, Durham, Aberdeen, St. Andrews,
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast (Queen's College), and
Dublin (Trinity College). The other Universities are
grouped together as "Modern." The Scottish Universities,
however, being chiefly non-residential, and situated in large
cities, have many features in common with the modern
group.
Teaching System.—At Oxford and Cambridge the
system is a combination of University, Inter-Collegiate and
College lectures, classes and seminars, with individual
teaching. Each undergraduate student is under the personal
guidance of a tutor or director of studies, who plans
out her course of work for term and vacations, supervises
her studies, advises her as to lectures, teaches her, either
alone or with others, and arranges, if necessary, for additional
tuition. Great importance is attached to written
work (consisting in Oxford mainly of essays, in Cambridge
in answers to question papers), and to a close personal
relation between teacher and pupil. This system has
obvious advantages to the student, as the tutor has scope
for developing individual capacity, but it makes considerable
demands upon the tutor's time. Science students are
admitted to the University laboratories, both in Cambridge
and in Oxford, and in the former University, Natural
Science is one of the subjects most popular and important.
Advanced students obtain advice and supervision in their
work from Professors and other specialists.
In other Universities, instruction is carried on mainly
by means of lectures; the amount of written work is smaller,
and there is practically no "coaching," either of individuals
or of small groups—except where the number studying a
given subject is extremely small. There is a trend of
opinion in favour of the appointment of Tutors to give
general guidance to those wishing for it, but the expense
at present bars any innovation on a large scale in this
direction. Some of the residential Halls provide tutors for
their students. In all scientific subjects a considerable
amount of practical work in the laboratories is required of
the student, with more or less individual guidance from
the Demonstrators in charge of the laboratories.
It is the vice of most of the modern Universities to
require attendance at too large a number of lectures, leaving
too little time for study and thought. And though the
evil is readily recognised, and efforts are made from time
to time to reduce the amount of attendance required, the
zeal and autocratic power of the Professor in charge of
any given subject has usually succeeded in defeating them.
In English Universities it is customary to call courses
for a first degree either Honours or Pass Courses. The
Honours Course is specialised—only one subject (say, a language
or a science) with a minimum amount of one or two
related subjects. A Pass Course is more general. Both
types of Course cover, as a rule, a period of three years
before the Final Degree Examination; which may, or may
not, be preceded by subsidiary examinations in the earlier
years. It is the rule in most of the Women's Colleges in
Cambridge and Oxford that Honours Examinations only
may be prepared for; in other Universities and Colleges,
the women, like the men, can choose between Honours and
Pass. There has been of late years a growing tendency
to choose the more specialised course; it has more prestige,
and the Headmistresses of Girls' Secondary Schools have
preferred specialists as teachers. But there are slight indications
that this preference is becoming less marked; and
there may possibly before long be seen a revival of the
demand for a more general education—which is manifestly
suited to certain types of mind.
Degrees.—The degrees conferred by the Universities
are those of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor. Not all of these
degrees, are, however, conferred in every Faculty. The
Course for a Bachelor's degree usually covers three years[2];
the Master's degree is sometimes (as in Oxford and Cambridge)
conferred for a payment without further examination;
sometimes, as in most of the modern Universities, it
requires a further examination; in Scottish Universities it
is the first degree, obtained after three years' study. Hence
this degree connotes a surprising variety of attainment.
The Doctor's degree is in all Universities awarded only
upon the production of original work which can be regarded
as a serious contribution to knowledge.
Recently every University has created a Ph.D. degree,
open to graduates of any approved institution, British or
foreign. It is given for advanced work only, the results
of which must be embodied in a dissertation; and study
must have been prosecuted during the greater part of two
(or three) years in the University conferring the degree.
It may be conferred in any Faculty. Many of the other
higher degrees, M.A., M.Sc., B.Litt., etc., etc., are also
open to graduates from other approved institutions.
The Imperial College of Science and Technology,
London, holds a special position among independent Colleges,
granting a diploma of its own which is regarded
as equal in standard to a University degree.
Subjects Studied.—The greater number of women
students enter the Faculty of Arts, but large numbers also
enter for Science and for Medicine; a few for Commerce,
Technology, Law, etc. The study of Medicine can now
be carried on under the same conditions as for men in
practically all the modern Universities. In some, however,
situated in comparatively small towns, the clinical facilities
are inadequate, and it is customary to continue clinical
study in one of the larger Medical Schools, London, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Liverpool, or Manchester. Edinburgh,
with a long-established prestige in medicine, attracts large
numbers of students. Tradition inherited from early days
of controversy has long limited the opportunities of women
in Edinburgh, but a more liberal policy now admits them
to substantial privileges.
In London, the position of medical study is peculiar.
It is mainly in the hands of ancient Medical Schools, each
with its own large Hospital—Bartholomew's, St. George's,
Guy's, St. Thomas's, Westminster, etc.—out of which, in
fact, the Teaching School has developed. These great
Medical Schools followed the policy of the University of
Edinburgh, opposing to the admission of women such relentless
hostility that eventually the women had to create and
finance a separate school. Thus came into being the London
School of Medicine for Women, which succeeded in making
a working arrangement for clinical instruction at the Royal
Free Hospital. Though women are now admitted to the
Medical Schools of University and King's Colleges, and
the Charing Cross Hospital, most of the great Hospital
Medical Schools are still closed to them, and the London
School of Medicine for Women remains the chief centre
for the medical education of women in London.
Pharmacy is taught at most of the Universities, but
all pharmacists must prepare, at the Universities or in
special schools, for examinations held by an outside body—the
Pharmaceutical Society. Degrees in Dentistry are conferred
by some Universities, and an excellent training is
provided, but the profession of Dentistry is still unregulated
by the State, and unqualified persons freely practise. This
makes Dentistry less popular as a profession among persons
of University education; but there is a great field for qualified
dentists, and women would do well to enter upon it in
larger numbers.
Languages studied at the Universities are Greek, Latin,
French, German, Oriental languages, and more recently,
Italian, Spanish, and Russian. The teaching in modern
languages is carried on partly by native, partly by foreign
lecturers; except in Oriental languages, which are practically
always taught by Englishmen. There is a tendency
observable at present in the Secondary Schools, and in the
Universities, to give less attention than hitherto to Greek
and Latin.
Faculties of Commerce have been established in the
great civic Universities of Birmingham and Manchester,
and recently in London; Leeds and Liverpool also give
teaching in Commerce. Economics is a subject of study—sometimes
the subject of an Honours Schools—in most of
the Universities. The London School of Economics has
unrivalled facilities for research and advanced study.
In the Fine Arts there is practically no University
study. Throughout the country there are Schools of Music,
some of which are recognised, as in London and Manchester,
as institutions affiliated to the University; but none
of them are mainly under University control. The Schools
of Art existing in many of the larger cities are also self-governing
institutions. A movement has been set on foot
for bringing some of these into closer connection with the
Universities, and the Slade Art School in London is closely
connected with University College; but on the whole very
little progress has yet been recorded. The nearest approach
to recognition of the existence of the Fine Arts (outside the
Slade School), is the establishment of Schools of Art and
Architecture in the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester,
but these are concerned very largely with Architecture
rather than with the Fine Arts.
The study of Law in England is carried on to some
extent in the Universities, many of which have Faculties of
Law; but the examinations which admit to practice as
Barristers are controlled by the Council of Legal Education
(established by four ancient foundations, the Inns of
Court in London), and those admitting Solicitors are held
by the Law Society. Preparation for these examinations
is mainly post-graduate, and must, in part at least, be
carried on in the Inns of Court or under the Law Society.
Colonial and foreign students may, under certain conditions,
be admitted. The admission of women is of very
recent date. No woman has as yet quite completed all the
formalities entitling her to be "called to the Bar"—that
is, to be recognised as qualified to plead before the Courts;
but a considerable number are now engaged in preparing
for the profession, as solicitors or barristers.
The study of Agriculture, Horticulture and kindred
subjects is provided for in nearly all the Universities, which
maintain their own practical and experimental farms. It
is, however, more usual to pursue these studies in various
independent colleges, where practical work plays a larger
part than scientific training. For women there are, among
others, Horticultural Colleges at Swanley and at Studley,
and the Edinburgh School of Gardening for Women. These
colleges for the most part prepare pupils for the examinations
of the Royal Horticultural Society. The University
College of Reading makes special provision for education
in Horticulture and Agriculture, which is rendered valuable
by close co-operation with the Department of Science; and
the College awards its own Diploma.
Physical Culture.—Very little attention is at present
paid by University authorities to physical training and
education, no University giving a professional training in
physical culture. For women a number of independent
Colleges provide full courses of instruction suited to prepare
teachers in the subject; for men teachers there is practically
no provision. Any systematic teaching in gymnasium
exercise is usually given to men by ex-Army instructors;
coaching in games (football, cricket, rowing, etc.), is given
by special experts. For a nation which, unofficially, attaches
immense importance to physical "fitness" and to athletic
games, the neglect of scientific study of the subject, and
the absence of official provision for systematic exercise, is
astonishing. Universities and Colleges for the most part
limit themselves to supporting financially the provision of
gymnasium and athletic grounds, where such students as
desire if may indulge in open-air games or indoor exercise.
In the residential Universities the early part of the afternoon
is by common consent left free for recreation; but
in the great civic Universities, for the most part non-residential,
this is rendered impossible by the necessity for
freeing the later afternoon for the return journey of students
from a distance. As a result, large numbers of students
never take any recreative exercise; and for all of them the
possibilities are extremely limited. In these civic Universities,
moreover, the athletic grounds are nearly all inevitably
situated at a considerable distance from the University
buildings. In these circumstances, opportunities for
playing games are practically limited to "match teams,"
the chief game played by women being hockey. The part of
the average student is therefore mainly that of an onlooker,
and this is likely to continue so, unless the Universities
should decide to take more full official direction of the
physical development of their students. There are signs
of a movement towards this; but the difficulties are great,
and very little has been achieved. The Board of Education
has set an example by insisting that all students training
to be teachers, at the Universities or elsewhere, shall take
a minimum of some form of physical exercise.
Social Science.—Several Universities carry on Departments
(or Schools) for the study of Social Science, usually
in close connection with University Settlements and with
such organisations for charity and relief as exist in the
district. Women enter these "Schools" in some number;
since there are many openings for them as organising secretaries,
and some few as investigators into social conditions.
Birmingham, Glasgow, and Liverpool are good
centres for this study; and the London School of Economics
offers an excellent training in methods of research.
Household Economics.—Very little has as yet been
done by the Universities for this subject of study. Most
of the large cities support Municipal Schools of Domestic
Economy; but these are unconnected with the Universities,
and give a training which is purely practical. It is much
to be desired that encouragement should be given to a more
scientific study of questions of nutrition and diet, and
methods of institutional management. The only institution
of University rank concerning itself with this study is
King's College for Women (Household and Social Science
Department), London.
The study of Education has already been discussed.
Sessions and Terms.—The whole period of study in
any given year is called a Session, and the session usually
consists of three terms—Michaelmas, Lent, and Easter (or
Summer)—each of about ten or eleven weeks. In Cambridge,
however, the terms are about nine weeks each, and
in Oxford, eight. Terms in Faculties of Medicine (and
Dentistry) are often longer than in other Faculties; and in
Scotland, some Faculties still adhere to the old plan of
two terms. The session begins in October.
There are vacations at Christmas and at Easter, dividing
the terms, and varying in length from a fortnight to
four or five weeks. In the Long Vacation (July to
September) there is no systematic instruction for the
ordinary University student, though from time to time
"summer schools" are held for students from outside,
more especially in Universities situated in an attractive
environment. In Cambridge there is also a Long Vacation
term, during which tuition is given, without lectures, to
those University students who desire it.
Lectures are usually given and laboratory work done
in the morning and afternoon; in Faculties of Commerce
there are also evening lectures.
Women on the Staff.—In spite of the fact that, nominally
at least, professorial appointments have now been open
to women for a good many years, very few women professors
have as yet been appointed. There are two or
three in Departments of Education; women have quite
recently been appointed to professorial chairs in French
and Italian; and the National University of Ireland has
appointed one or two women. Oxford, opened to women
only in 1920, has already a woman as Acting-Professor
of French. But the number of women professors is still
disappointingly few; and it is difficult to say whether the
chief cause is lack of applications from women or prejudice
on the part of appointing bodies; both causes undoubtedly
operate.
Women lecturers are not so rare, though their numbers
are still comparatively small. They are most numerous in
Education, but are appointed also in other Faculties, salaries
being the same as for men. The main avenue to University
teaching for women lies through the Colleges for women
only, where they, of course, form the entire residential staff;
the tutorial system of Cambridge and Oxford thus affords
employment in higher teaching to a considerable number
of women. Further, the residential Halls attached to the
mixed Universities provide posts of responsibility and prestige
for a considerable number of educated women as
Wardens or Principals. The recognition accorded to these
officials by the University itself is, however, not always entirely
satisfactory.
Upon the whole, the present position of women upon
the staffs of the Universities and Colleges is one of comparative
subordination. Very few occupy senior posts of
importance and prestige. Except in the Women's Colleges,
the higher direction of the teaching and the general administration
are still almost wholly in the hands of men;
and this is the case even where, as in Wales, the number
of men and women students is fairly equal.
On account of the comparative scarcity of women in
senior positions, it is usual in most non-residential Colleges
and Universities to employ some senior woman as a member
of the administrative staff, charged with the duty of superintending
the general welfare of the women students.[3] Her
status and duties vary greatly—from those of a mere
chaperon to those of a Senior authority, consulted in all
matters concerning women students individually and collectively,
and responsible for making representations as to any
matter, academic or social, affecting them. It is partially
realised that women students, having often received a different
education from that given to boys and having the
prospect of other careers and other spheres of work, may
be specially affected by academic legislation; and in matters
of building and equipment their needs are always to some
extent special. The most enlightened Universities and
Colleges therefore afford considerable powers and status to
this woman official (who is known by various titles—Dean,
Senior Tutor, Censor, etc). In residential Universities the
Heads of the Women's Colleges have the necessary academic
information, official status, and knowledge of their students'
needs.
Residence.—All Universities and Colleges (except the
University of London on its external side) require students
to live in the district and to receive instruction or guidance
in the institution itself. Certain Universities and Colleges
also require all students to be members of organised bodies,
for the most part resident in Colleges or Halls.[4] This is
the case in Cambridge and in Oxford. In London, Bedford,
Holloway, and Westfield Colleges are largely or
mainly residential. The University College of Wales,
Aberystwyth, is, for women, entirely residential; and the
University College of Reading requires both men and
women to live in Halls. All the other Universities (except
Aberdeen) have Halls, large or small, for women students,
but do not compel residence. Lists of Halls can be obtained
from the University prospectuses; and applications for
residence (as distinct from entrance to the University) should
be made direct to the various Wardens or Principals. The
demand for accommodation is everywhere very great; and
it is practically impossible to secure admission unless application
is made at least a year in advance. It is usually
a great additional benefit for foreign students to reside
in a Hall; and every effort should be made to secure provisional
acceptance beforehand.
Discipline varies from one University to another—from
the comparatively strict discipline necessitated in old
Universities with a long tradition of obedience and convention;
or in smaller Universities which are the centre of
interest in small towns such as Reading and Aberystwyth;
to the freedom of the great civic University, compelled to
accord almost complete social liberty to the large numbers
of men and women living in their own homes; and comfortably
sheltered from censorious criticism among the many
more exciting attractions existing in every great city. In
some Universities men and women students may not converse
together in the streets; in others they may freely meet,
walk, take meals, and study together.
In all Universities and Colleges there is much Social
Intercourse and gaiety. Dancing is very frequent; dramatic
performances, debates (for one sex only, or mixed) are
common; and almost every Honours School or Department
has its Society for the encouragement of its special subject,
and the promotion of social intercourse among its members.
Even in Oxford and Cambridge some of these Societies
include both men and women.
Residential Colleges and Halls usually provide
"Common" (or "Combination") Rooms where staff or
students can meet each other; and the mixed Universities
set apart rooms, usually separate for men and for women,
for the hours of the day not devoted to study. These
may be simply sitting-rooms with restaurant attached, as in
the smaller institutions, or may be, in the more established
modern Universities, large, well-furnished Union Buildings
or club-houses, as provided in Edinburgh, Liverpool, or
Manchester. The management of these Unions, as to both
finance and discipline, is usually in the hands of the
students themselves. In no University, however, does the
accommodation for women compare in dignity, commodiousness,
or spaciousness with that provided in many American
institutions. With the exception of some of the oldest
Universities, where the provision for men is ample and
beautiful, University and College buildings in Great Britain
are upon a wholly different scale from those in the United
States. While laboratories are often excellently equipped,
libraries and lecture-rooms are not infrequently inadequate,
and the provision for recreation, physical well-being, and
social intercourse is sometimes seriously wanting. Nothing
exists in our modern Universities at all comparable with the
magnificent buildings, the extensive grounds, woods and
lakes, the immense gymnasiums and swimming baths, provided
for women students in the United States. And in the
older of our civic Universities, the cramped conditions of
existence in the midst of an immense city are responsible
for the absence of many social amenities. In the smaller,
younger Universities an attempt is being made to secure
more space for future development before it is too late;
but the standards even there are far below those known
in the United States. English girls of aristocratic or
wealthy parentage do not as yet go to the University in
large numbers; most of the students come from homes of
limited means, and their demands, except in the matter of
education pure and simple, are modest. At the same time,
one never hears of students, as in American Colleges,
paying their expenses by giving personal service; it would,
in fact, be very difficult for the average student to spare
sufficient time from her studies, which are exacting enough
to leave her only the minimum amount of leisure essential
for recreation.
Finance is a matter for serious concern in our Universities,
largely dependent as they are upon small public
grants and private benefactions; and in Women's Colleges
and Halls this question is still more pressing. It should be
remembered that the numbers in our Women's Colleges are
small; all the five Women's Colleges together in Oxford
do not number 700 students. Moreover, though the
generous benefactor exists in this country, his gifts are on
a comparatively modest scale, and institutions specially for
women do not attract the largest.
Libraries.—The most complete collections of books are
those of the privileged libraries, the British Museum Library,
the Bodleian (Oxford), the Cambridge University Library,
the Advocates' Library (Edinburgh), the Trinity College
Library (Dublin), and, more recently, the National Library
of Wales. Each of these is privileged to receive a copy
of every book published in Great Britain. Other valuable
libraries are those of the London School of Economics, and
the School of Oriental Studies (London). In Manchester
a rich storehouse of early printed books, mediaeval manuscripts,
and general literature is provided by the lavishly
endowed John Rylands Library, the ancient Chetham
Library, the University (Christie) Library, and the Municipal
Reference Library.
Expenses.—University education in Great Britain is
not free, as in some countries; although in the case of a
certain number of students, Government grants or local
scholarships cover the expenses more or less completely. It
is extremely difficult to give any figures as to the cost of
a University training, on account of the great difference
in the fees and the general absence of any inclusive charge.
It is, moreover, to be noted that, where the University includes
several Colleges, there are often both College fees
and University fees. The fees for residence in College,
again, may or may not include also the fees for tuition and
lectures. Life at Cambridge is, for women, rather more
expensive than in other Universities; but in Oxford it is
less expensive to be a member of the Society of Home
Students than to reside in a College, and in Cambridge
the small number of older students permitted by the Colleges
to be "out-students" can live more cheaply. Again,
the extreme brevity of the terms in Cambridge and Oxford
entails heavy vacation expenses for the foreign student.
At Oxford and Cambridge the cost of board, lodging
and tuition for the session, consisting of three terms of eight
to nine weeks each, varies from £135 to £150.
Next in order of expense comes London, where the
fees for residence in College, apart from tuition, are £90
to £100. In the larger University cities of England, residence
costs about £70; in the smaller places, in Wales
and in Scotland, it is lower (£40 to £50).
Where the fees for guidance or tuition in advanced
work are charged separately from those for residence, they
vary from £5 to £15 in the Faculty of Arts; in the Faculty
of Science they usually depend on the nature of the practical
work involved. For the examination of these the
charge may be from £5 to £10, and for the conferment
of the degree from £5 to £20.
