Editing University of Oxford (section)

=== Women's education ===
{{multiple image
| title = First women's colleges
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Lady Margaret Hall (6148510434).jpg 
| caption1 = [[Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford|Lady Margaret Hall]], founded in 1878
| image2 = Somerville College, Oxford - Main quad, summer.JPG 
| caption2 = [[Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College]], founded in 1879
| image3 = St. Hugh's.jpg
| caption3 = [[St Hugh's College, Oxford|St Hugh's College]], founded in 1886
}}
{{see also|Delegacy for Women Students|First women admitted to degrees at the University of Oxford}}
The university passed a statute in 1875 allowing examinations for women at roughly undergraduate level;<ref name="Lannon">{{cite magazine|first=Frances|last=Lannon|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/404111.article|title=Her Oxford|magazine=Times Higher Education|date=30 October 2008|access-date=27 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191641/http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/404111.article|archive-date=2 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> for a brief period in the early 1900s, this allowed the "[[steamboat ladies]]" to receive ''[[ad eundem gradum|ad eundem]]'' degrees from the [[University of Dublin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trinitynews.ie/trinity-halls-steamboat-ladies/|title=Trinity Hall's Steamboat Ladies|publisher=Trinity news|date=14 March 2012|access-date=9 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212042531/http://trinitynews.ie/trinity-halls-steamboat-ladies/|archive-date=12 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 1878, the [[Association for the Education of Women]] (AEW) was formed, aiming for the eventual creation of a college for women in Oxford. Some of the more prominent members of the association were [[George Granville Bradley]], [[T. H. Green]] and [[Edward Stuart Talbot]]. Talbot insisted on a specifically [[Anglican]] institution, which was unacceptable to most of the other members. The two parties eventually split, and Talbot's group founded [[Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford|Lady Margaret Hall]] in 1878, while T. H. Green founded the non-denominational [[Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College]] in 1879.<ref>''Alden's Oxford Guide''. Oxford: Alden & Co., 1958; pp. 120–21</ref> Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville opened their doors to their first 21 students (12 at Somerville, 9 at Lady Margaret Hall) in 1879, who attended lectures in rooms above an Oxford baker's shop.<ref name="Lannon" /> There were also 25 women students living at home or with friends in 1879, a group which evolved into the Society of Oxford Home-Students and in 1952 into [[St Anne's College, Oxford|St Anne's College]].<ref name="Our History"/><ref name="VCH St Anne's">{{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol3/pp351-353|title=St. Anne's College|publisher=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002180544/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol3/pp351-353|archive-date=2 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

These first three societies for women were followed by [[St Hugh's College, Oxford|St Hugh's]] (1886)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.st-hughs.ox.ac.uk/about-sthughs/history-of-the-college|title=History of the College|publisher=St Hugh's College, University of Oxford|access-date=14 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618060830/http://www.st-hughs.ox.ac.uk/about-sthughs/history-of-the-college|archive-date=18 June 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[St Hilda's College, Oxford|St Hilda's]] (1893).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/index.php/history/histconst.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423094628/http://www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/index.php/history/histconst.html |archive-date=23 April 2012 |title=Constitutional History |publisher=St Hilda's College |access-date=25 March 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> All of these colleges later became coeducational, starting with [[Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford|Lady Margaret Hall]] and [[St Anne's College, Oxford|St Anne's]] in 1979,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/about-lmh/history-and-archives/college-timeline|title=College Timeline {{!}} Lady Margaret Hall|website=Lady Margaret Hall|language=en|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827215801/http://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/about-lmh/history-and-archives/college-timeline|archive-date=27 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Our History">{{Cite web|url=http://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/about/history|title=Our History|website=St Anne's College, Oxford |language=en|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428063923/http://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/about/history|archive-date=28 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> and finishing with [[St Hilda's College, Oxford|St Hilda's]], which began to accept male students in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-people/women-at-oxford|title=Women at Oxford |website=University of Oxford |language=en|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507034832/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-people/women-at-oxford|archive-date=7 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 20th century, Oxford and Cambridge were widely perceived to be bastions of [[male privilege]];<ref>{{cite web|first=Joyce S.|last=Pedersen|url=http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=453|title=Book review (No Distinction of Sex? Women in British Universities, 1870–1939)|publisher=H-Albion |website=H-Net Reviews |date=May 1996|access-date=14 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917151721/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=453|archive-date=17 September 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> however, the integration of women into Oxford moved forward during the First World War. In 1916 women were admitted as medical students on a par with men, and in 1917 the university accepted financial responsibility for women's examinations.<ref name="Harrison-1994" />

On 7 October 1920 women became eligible for admission as full members of the university and were given the right to take degrees.<ref>{{cite book|year=1965|title=Handbook to the University of Oxford|publisher=University of Oxford|page=43}}</ref> In 1927 the university's dons created a quota that limited the number of female students to a quarter that of men, a ruling which was not abolished until 1957.<ref name="Lannon" /> Additionally, during this period Oxford colleges were [[Single-sex education|single sex]], so the number of women was also limited by the capacity of the women's colleges to admit students. It was not until 1959 that the women's colleges were given full collegiate status.<ref name="St Anne's History">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=David |date=n.d. |title=St Anne's College: 1952 – 2012 |url=https://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/St._Annes_History_Brochure_David_Smith.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406052535/https://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/St._Annes_History_Brochure_David_Smith.pdf |archive-date=6 April 2024 |archive-format=PDF |access-date=2 October 2018 |website=[[St Anne's College, Oxford|St Anne's College]] |publisher=University of Oxford |language=en-GB |publication-place=[[Oxford]] |quote="Only in 1959 did the five women's colleges acquire full collegiate status so that their councils became governing bodies and they were, like the men's colleges, fully self-governing."}}</ref>

In 1974, [[Brasenose College, Oxford|Brasenose]], [[Jesus College, Oxford|Jesus]], [[Wadham College, Oxford|Wadham]], [[Hertford College, Oxford|Hertford]] and [[St Catherine's College, Oxford|St Catherine's]] became the first previously all-male colleges to admit women.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 July 1999 |title=Colleges mark anniversary of 'going mixed' |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/1998-9/weekly/290799/news/story_3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428103218/http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/1998-9/weekly/290799/news/story_3.htm |archive-date=28 April 2013 |access-date=12 March 2012 |website=University of Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Gazette]] |language=en-GB |publication-place=[[Oxford]]}}</ref><ref name="Women_at_Oxford">{{cite web|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/women_at_oxford/index.html |title=Women at Oxford |publisher=University of Oxford |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304201310/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/women_at_oxford/index.html |archive-date=4 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The majority of men's colleges accepted their first female students in 1979,<ref name="Women_at_Oxford" /> with [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]] following in 1980,<ref>{{cite book |last=Brockliss |first=Laurence |date=2016 |title=The University of Oxford: A History |page=573}}</ref> and [[Oriel College, Oxford|Oriel]] becoming the last men's college to admit women in 1985.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/about-college/college-history|title=College History {{!}} Oriel College|date=26 November 2015|work=Oriel College|access-date=4 May 2018|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413053243/http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/about-college/college-history|archive-date=13 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of Oxford's graduate colleges were founded as coeducational establishments in the 20th century, with the exception of St Antony's, which was founded as a men's college in 1950 and began to accept women only in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/about-st-antonys/history|title=History {{!}} St Antony's College|website=sant.ox.ac.uk|date=3 December 2014 |language=en|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031441/https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/about-st-antonys/history|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female;<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Jenifer|last=Hart|title=Women at Oxford since the Advent of Mixed Colleges|journal=Oxford Review of Education|volume=15|issue=3|pages=217–219|year=1989|doi=10.1080/0305498890150302 |jstor=1050413}}</ref> in 2016, 45% of the student population, and 47% of undergraduate students, were female.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-StudentStatistics/DetailTable?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showTabs=y&:showVizHome=no|title=University of Oxford Student Statistics: Detail Table|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205183306/https://public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-StudentStatistics/DetailTable?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showTabs=y&:showVizHome=no|archive-date=5 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/student-numbers?wssl=1|title=Student numbers|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915101523/https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/student-numbers?wssl=1|archive-date=15 September 2017}}</ref>

In June 2017, Oxford announced that starting the following academic year, history students may choose to sit a take-home exam in some courses, with the intention that this will equalise rates of firsts awarded to women and men at Oxford.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sian Griffiths|last2=Julie Henry|title=Oxford 'takeaway' exam to help women get firsts|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/oxford-takeaway-exam-to-help-women-get-firsts-0v0056k8l|access-date=13 June 2017|work=The Times|quote=History students will be able to sit a paper at home in an effort to close the gap with the number of men getting top degrees|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611171840/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/oxford-takeaway-exam-to-help-women-get-firsts-0v0056k8l|archive-date=11 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> That same summer, maths and computer science tests were extended by 15 minutes, in a bid to see if female student scores would improve.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Diver|first1=Tony|title=Oxford University gives women more time to pass exams|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/01/22/oxford-university-gives-women-time-pass-exams/|access-date=24 January 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=22 January 2018|quote=Students taking maths and computer science examinations in the summer of 2017 were given an extra 15 minutes to complete their papers, after dons ruled that "female candidates might be more likely to be adversely affected by time pressure"|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123231746/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/01/22/oxford-university-gives-women-time-pass-exams/|archive-date=23 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://qz.com/1188135/oxford-gave-female-students-more-time-to-take-tests-it-didnt-work/ |title=Oxford gave female students more time to take tests. It didn't work |date=24 January 2018 |access-date=24 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124220255/https://qz.com/1188135/oxford-gave-female-students-more-time-to-take-tests-it-didnt-work/ |archive-date=24 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The detective novel ''[[Gaudy Night]]'' by [[Dorothy L. Sayers]], herself one of the first women to gain an academic degree from Oxford, is largely set in the all-female [[List of fictional Oxford colleges|Shrewsbury College, Oxford]] (based on Sayers' own [[Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College]]<ref>[http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/3606/Dorothy-L-Sayers.html Somerville Stories – Dorothy L Sayers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005002943/http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/3606/Dorothy-L-Sayers.html |date=5 October 2013 }}, Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK.</ref>), and the issue of women's education is central to its plot. Social historian and Somerville College alumna [[Jane Robinson (historian)|Jane Robinson]]'s book ''Bluestockings: A Remarkable History of the First Women to Fight for an Education'' gives a very detailed and immersive account of this history.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blue-stocking.org.uk/2017/03/09/a-conversation-with-jane-robinson-on-bluestockings/|title=A Conversation with Jane Robinson on Bluestockings|date=9 March 2017|work=Bluestocking Oxford|access-date=4 May 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504225627/https://blue-stocking.org.uk/2017/03/09/a-conversation-with-jane-robinson-on-bluestockings/|archive-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>