The Process of Inclusion

Abstract

The historical study of higher education in the nineteenth century is prolific. In both the United States and the United Kingdom there were numerous changes in legislation and policy that revolutionized the nature of university education, primarily by opening it to a wider section of the public. Previously, institutions on both sides of the Atlantic were intended for the elite, the sons of wealthy citizens who were born to a social class that included higher education in its expectations. Beginning in the eighteenth century, there were new philosophies of democracy and equality emerging that encouraged access to all levels of schooling for all members of society. Women in both countries who desired higher education often argued that they could make worthy contributions to society outside the home, if they were only given the chance. By the nineteenth century, women in several countries began to take on new societal roles. One of the most significant of these was the introduction of women to higher education. Although many advances were adopted slowly, by the early twentieth century women were allowed into most fields of study and were able to work toward the same degrees as men.