Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-5-2016 12:00 AM Femininity and Higher Education: Women at Ontario Universities, 1890 to 1920 Marilla McCargar The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Katherine McKenna The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Marilla McCargar 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Social History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Recommended Citation McCargar, Marilla, "Femininity and Higher Education: Women at Ontario Universities, 1890 to 1920" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3765. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3765 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Abstract and Keywords This dissertation examines the experiences of women studying at six institutions of higher education from 1890 to 1920. The universities include Queen’s University in Kingston, The University of Western Ontario in London, the University of Toronto and its affiliates Victoria University, University College, and Trinity College in Toronto. While pioneering women who attended universities in the 1880s were opposed by people who believed that women’s intellects were inferior to men’s, women in this study faced the belief that by engaging in the “masculine” pursuit of higher education they risked their future as wives and mothers and thus jeopardized their femininity.