Views of European University Professors on the Subject of Women’s Higher Education: An Analysis of Women’s Journals from the Polish Kingdom in the Second Half of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Centuries

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the views of employees of European and Polish universities (Krakow and Lviv) on the possibility of educating women at the tertiary level. The source material taken from four women’s journals—Bluszcz, Tygodnik Mód i Powieści, Świt, and Dobra Gospodyni—as well as Kronika Rodzinna, a journal addressed to families, were subjected to qualitative analysis.

It was found that in the second half of the 19^th century, journals often published articles containing hints and warnings addressed to young Polish women who intended to study at universities abroad. Universities in Switzerland and France admitted their first female students as early as in the 1860s, while universities in Krakow and Lviv only did so 30 years later. Editors and journalists informed readers about the conditions of studying, the requirements for students, and the difficulties they could encounter. Professors’ opinions about women’s ability to undertake higher education were also cited. Initially, these opinions varied quite a lot, but the observation of the growing number of girls taking up studies and their diligence and commitment to the work meant that a significant proportion of scholars thought that girls could study for the benefit of themselves and society.