Highlighting pioneering women in education for International Women's Day

With today (8th March) being International Women’s Day 2023, we wanted to honour the occasion by shining a spotlight on a selection of women who were the first to achieve some important feats in the world of education. By highlighting these pioneers, we hope to pique your interest in these fascinating women and their stories, and remind you that while big strides have been made, gender inequality continues in the world of education and beyond. Keeping the conversation going is one vital part of the work that needs to be done. 

Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia 

Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, born in 1646, was thought to be a prodigy from a young age. She had mastered multiple languages by the age of seven and soon became interested in physics, linguistics, astronomy, music and theology. In 1672, two of Cornaro’s tutors petitioned the University of Padua to grant her the degree of doctor of theology. Initially, the bishop of Padua refused to grant it to her because she was a woman but in 1678, after her exceptional course of study and her defense, where she explained passages of Aristotle in Classical Latin, she became the first woman in the world to receive a PhD. 

People still remember the influence that Cornaro has had for women in education, with a 2022 proposal for a statue to be put up of her in a square in Padua which currently features 78 statues of men. Also in 2022, according to HESA data, women outnumbered men on PhD programmes in the UK for the first time, suggesting that there is progress being made in this degree level. 

The Edinburgh Seven 

Back in the 1860s, Sophia Jex-Blake applied to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but her application was rejected as the university court said they could not make the necessary arrangements “in the interests of one lady.” This did not deter Jex-Blake, who then put advertisements in multiple newspapers looking for other women to join her in applying. Four women ended up joining her in 1869, and two more joined later – they would become known as the Edinburgh Seven, the first women in Britain admitted to study medicine. 

Their male fellow students did not approve of women being allowed to study alongside them and would repeatedly harass the Edinburgh Seven. This came to a head when the women went to sit an exam only to be met by a mob of 200 men that pelted the women with mud and abuse. It became known as the Surgeons' Hall riot, and members of the faculty used this to persuade the university to not allow the Edinburgh Seven to graduate. 

But even this did not stop them. Most of the Edinburgh Seven would eventually go on to study or work in medicine, or continue to promote the importance of women being doctors. Their impact is recognised even to this day, with all seven women receiving a posthumous MBChB in 2019, 150 years after the Surgeons' Hall riot. It’s also welcome to note that in 2022, 68% of applicants to medical-related degrees in the UK were female, according to UCAS data. 

Professor Olivette Otele 

Professor Olivette Otele was born in Cameroon in 1970 and grew up in France. She studied for a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at Universite La Sorbonne in Paris, and followed that by studying for a PhD in history, with her dissertation looking at the role Bristol played in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. After working as an associate professor at Université Paris XIII, Otele became a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University in 2013, and eventually in 2018 she was the first Black woman to become a Professor of History in the UK. 

Throughout her career, Otele has experienced both racism and sexism, even after becoming a Professor of History, when critics suggested that she had not deserved her promotion. This has not stopped her from continuing to achieve more and more in the world of academia and beyond. She has gone on to become the Distinguished Research Professor at SOAS University of London, lead projects examining how Bristol is still impacted by the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and write books, including African Europeans, which looks at the overlooked, unrecognised and unacknowledged role Africans had in shaping Europe. 

Sadly, the HESA data on UK university professors can be tough viewing. It suggests that in 2020/21, only 28% of all professors in the UK were female, and that just 1% of all professors in the UK were Black – highlighting the need for developments when it comes to diversity in higher education. 

International Women’s Day is a great reason to celebrate progress while remembering stories of women who have paved the way and women who are currently making a huge difference. But it’s important to not only keep having these conversations about the inequalities that remain across industries but to act on them too – beyond one day a year.