Graduates, mothers and graduate mothers: family investment in higher education in twentieth century England
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 07:26authored byCarol Dyhouse
The paper examines patterns of higher education, with special reference to gender issues and the role of the family, in the early--middle years of the twentieth century. The evidence is drawn from a large-scale questionnaire survey of graduates, male and female, of the late 1930s. The results presented are primarily qualitative rather than quantitative. Three main questions are raised. First, why did children, and especially girls, want to go to university around this time, when it was not routine behaviour? Second, what role did their parents, and especially their mothers, play in sending them to and supporting them through university? Third, can the 'returns' from such higher education be evaluated? It is shown, inter alia , that girls did not improve their earnings nearly so greatly as boys in a direct economic manner from higher education, but gained in other ways. The latter included fostering inter-generational mobility among their own children and grandchildren.