Title:
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Girls and examinations, 1860-1902
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Examinations in England and Wales were a nineteenth -century invention closely
connected to the ongoing development of a more modern and meritocratic society.
The first examinations in secondary schools began during the 1850s. The middle of
the century also saw active movements to improve the position of women in society
and to secure better education for the poor of both sexes. Against this background of
change, the thesis draws together a variety of sources in order to analyse the
educational, social and economic significance of the development of examinations for
girls from different social classes between 1860 and 1902.
There are two major recurring themes within the thesis. First, the relevance of
orthodox perceptions of appropriate future roles in society according to social rank
and gender that led to different education provision both between middle-class and
working-class children, and between boys and girls. Second, that in spite of such
disadvantages some girls achieved success in examinations benefiting them, within a
limited framework, educationally, socially and economically. Reflecting these major
themes, which can be defined as objective structures on one hand and subjective
action on the other, thesis data is analysed, in five central substantive chapters, within
a gender history methodology allied to the `thinking tools' of the social theorist Pierre
Bourdieu. Gender history methodology acknowledges the way in which gendered
identities contribute to unequal power structures in society, while recognising
women's strengths and individuality. Bourdieu questions how stratified systems of
hierarchy and domination in society persist and are reproduced while arguing against
an apparent determinism by emphasising that individuals have a role in defining their
futures.
The examinations specifically discussed within the thesis include those of the
Universities of Cambridge, London and Oxford, the College of Preceptors, the
Department of Science and Art, the Society of Arts and the City and Guilds of
London Institute. The consequences of the examinations under the Revised Code of
1862 for working-class children in elementary schools are also analysed.
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