the education crusade

The Women’s Liberation Movement The 1970s saw a revival of the Women’s

Liberation Movement in Australia called

‘second-wave feminism’, which pushed

for women’s access to the ‘public

sphere’. The Women’s Liberation 1

Movement in Australia aimed for women

to be able to access paid work, to be

equally paid as men in the same working

roles, greater access to contraception and

education, being able to have equal

employment opportunities as their male

counterparts, and the creation of public child care services. These aims of the Women’s Liberation 2

Movement were mainly centred around heterosexual middle-class Anglo-Australian women,

leaving out working-class women and Australian Aboriginal women. This revival of the Women’s 3

Liberation Movement in Australia was brought about because of the continuation of Australia’s

‘western’ dominated society and culture greatly segregating men and women, as well as being

inspired by the rise of the movement of women’s liberation across the world in countries such as

America, Canada and France. The push for a large-scale alteration of Australia’s culture and 4

society, which historically has firmly asserted ‘feminist phobia’, by the Women’s Liberation

Movement received strong opposition, as women changing their status was seen as upsetting the

‘natural order’ of the whole social system due to Australia being a male dominated society, for a 5

woman’s lifestyle, status and standard of living was to be determined be either her father or her

husband and not decided by herself. Women’s education was a large part of the Women’s 6

Liberation Movement, as education was seen as a key element in changing a woman’s status, but

getting women more of an education was a tough task, as women have had to struggle for their

education for a long time, especially for adult education. There was a strong push for change to the 7

Shaye Malsem Making History 2015 Page !1

Picture: John McKinnon, Women on the march wave their placards at the International Women's Day march, Melbourne, March 8, 1975, 1975, in Trove [online database].

The Education Crusade The Australian Women’s Liberation Movement and their fight for women’s education

educational system by many feminist teachers, with Australia leading the way for women’s

education due to the co-operation between the Australian Women’s Liberation Movement and

Whitlam’s federal Australian Labor Government (1972-1975). 8

Changing the Tertiary Education System

There are many reasons why the Women’s Liberation Movement wanted improvements made to the

tertiary educational system of Australia to mainly benefit women. The first reason for changing the

tertiary education system is the fact that women aged 17 or 18 are more likely to undertake higher

educational studies than men of the same age, who are more likely to go and acquire jobs. Despite 9

the actuality that these women are frequently denied the opportunities for higher education or find it

hard to enrol in higher education due to the sexism of society in where once a young woman has

completed her necessary schooling, she is to go about marrying a man who will dictate her future. 10

Second-wave feminists also wanted improvements made to the tertiary education system, as it is

someone’s education, occupation and wealth that measures their status in society, and in order to

achieve a high status in society, women first have to gain a higher education which will also

enhance their job prospects, which creates a broader selection of jobs with equal pay and proper 11

working conditions. In addition, women who have not gained a higher education, have to work 12

mostly unpaid subsistence jobs for long hours, or work poorly paid and hazardous jobs where they

receive minimal education and health care. Being able to further their education through tertiary 13

studies and trade school also gives women a freedom to be able to choose their own future and not

have it decided by their fathers or husbands, with many feminists stating that women should be

individuals and not people sit in society’s ideal of the perfect role of domesticity. However, there 14

was an abundance of criticism of the Women’s Liberation Movement and its push for the

improvement of the tertiary education system to benefit women, from many people who did not

want the society and culture of Australia to change, as people cling to what is familiar as it makes 15

them feel safe. Many feminists, such as Lyndsay Connors, challenged this criticism to the

improvement of women’s education, stating that “there is no justification for anyone to cling to the

old belief that girls do not need education…[when] about four in every five women aged between

35 and 45 are at work.” To help improve the education received by women and girls, the 16

Australian Women’s Education Coalition was formed in the early 1970s to lobby for policies to

change the educational system for the better. 17


The Australian Women’s Liberation Movement believed that if they wanted to change the tertiary

education system for the benefit of women, they first had to remove the teaching of sexism in the

primary and secondary schooling system, as the

teaching in schools instils boys to make a future for

themselves and instructs girls that their future is

decided by their husbands. This sexism taught in 18

schools creates segregation between males and female

from a young age, and teaches children that it is alright

for males to be privileges and dominate, and for female

to be submissive and be the weaker gender, which

leads to the continuation of a segregated society for

future generations. This segregation and the teaching

of boys being the ‘choosers’ and girls being the

‘chosen’, prevents the growth of Australia’s society 19

and culture, as well as making it harder for young

women to believe in their self worth, and the belief

that they can be more than a wife and mother through

furthering their knowledge and skills by going to

university or trade school. Many high schools also instructed their students what occupational 20

roles were suitable for each gender to undertake, with boys offered a whole range of roles from

doctors and lawyers to engineers and builders, while girls were only offered a selected few roles,

being a wife and mother or being a secretary. This instruction in high schools of what girls are 21

allowed to do after they finished their required schooling adds to the prevention of the culture and

society of Australia growing, as well as also having a severe impact on young women’s belief in

themselves and their outlook on life. The teaching of sexism in Australian primary and high schools

that inhibited girls and young women from achieving tertiary education was merely one of the

reasons why the Women’s Liberation Movement and the Australian Women’s Education Coalition

wanted to change the educational system of Australia to mainly benefit Australian women.

The Australian Women’s Education Coalition and the Women’s Liberation Movement pushed for

many changes to the tertiary education system to help improve the lives of Australian women, as

well as to improve Australia’s culture, society and economy. The first change they wanted was

easier entry into higher education for women, as in 1970 a mere 38% of those enrolled in Australian Shaye Malsem Making History 2015 Page !3

Picture: Pamela Harris, Australian Women's Education Coalition Adelaide Conference, 1979, National Gallery of Australia.

universities were women. The two groups also wanted more freedom of choice in what women 22

could study at university, instead of being limited to only studying nursing or teaching, women

should be able to study courses such as architecture or engineering, two courses that were seen as

‘male only’ courses by the society of Australia, as a woman’s brain is equal to that of a man’s land 23

therefore gender segregation of courses should not be permitted in the tertiary education system of

Australia. There was also a push for the change of the scholarship system of universities, as many

university scholarships were not on offer for women, making it harder for women to financially

fund their tertiary education. The last change the Australian Women’s Education Coalition and the 24

Women’s Liberation Movement pushed for was the right for both pregnant women and unmarried

mothers to be able to remain at university or trade school without disadvantages to their education,

as they have as much right to tertiary education as any other person. All the changes wanted by the 25

Australian Women’s Education Coalition and the Women’s Liberation Movement to the tertiary

education system and the changes made by the Australian federal government created numerous

benefits, but there were also a small number of disadvantages that came along with the changes

made to the tertiary education system.

The changes to the tertiary education system lobbied for by the Australian Women’s Educational

Coalition and the Women’s Liberation Movement, and those that the Australian federal government

acted upon brought about both benefits and disadvantages. There were many benefits gained from

the changes proposed and made to the educational system of Australia that affected both males and

females, as well as the culture, society and economy of Australia. In 1973, the newly chosen federal

Schools Commission supported the Australian Women’s Education Coalition and its belief that the

education taught is primary and high schools should be equal for both girls and boys, as girls were

educationally disadvantage to boys. Making schooling equal for girls and boys would bring about 26

the end of the teaching of sexism in schools, which would in turn create a future society of equality

between genders. Allowing easier access for women to tertiary education saw an increase in

enrolment by women, which created a number of benefits. Firstly, there are many individual 27

benefits to women who have received tertiary education, they are able to work jobs that have a

higher wage than women in jobs that do not require further education. Higher educated women 28

also have a more positive outlook on life, as they are now able to be an individual alongside their

male counterparts and not a figure who assumes a gendered role. The increased number of women 29

gaining tertiary education also positively impacted Australia’s economy, as there was a higher

female labor-force which reduced unemployment rates, and households had higher earnings, as a Shaye Malsem Making History 2015 Page !4

result they spent more money creating a

stronger economy. Even though there were 30

many benefits from changes made to the tertiary

education system, there were many

disadvantages still. Women in higher education

had to deal with built-in sexist attitudes from

their male colleagues, as well as still having to 31

look after their families by providing health

care, looking after their children and generating

food, all while trying to improve their education

and livelihood, this is because not enough

changes were made to the education system.

The biggest disadvantage was that two groups

of women were left out of the changes made to

tertiary education, and the first group was low socio-economic women who could not financial

afford or spare the time to gain tertiary education, and the other group that was disadvantage was 32

Australian Aboriginal women, as all Australian Aborigines lacked chances and opportunities for

tertiary education, as it was seen as an Anglo-Australian privilege to be educated. 33

In conclusion, women’s education in Australia was changed as a result of second-wave feminism

and the two feminist groups, the Women’s Liberation Movement and the Australian Women’s

Education Coalition, push to change the tertiary education system of Australia. The changes made

to the tertiary education system because of this push by second-wave feminism saw more women

entering the male dominated ‘public sphere’, as well as bringing about the start of social equality in

modern Australia that is still continuing in Australia today. Educated women of present-day have to

be thankful of the second-wave feminist movement of the 1970s for enabling them the chance to

further their education through university and trade school, as well as being able to be equal their

man in the world of education.

34


Picture: Education - Universities - general - Women's liberation meeting, Canberra College of Advanced Education: new women's study course at Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1974, 1974, in Trove [online database].

Notes

Kate Pritchard Hughes (ed.), Contemporary Australian Feminism (Melbourne, Victoria: Longman 1

Australia, 1994), 1.

Ibid. 1.2

Ibid. 1.3

Jane Gaskell and Sandra Taylor, ‘The women’s movement in Canadian and Australian education: 4

from liberation and sexism to boys and social justice’, Gender and Education, 15/2 (2003).

Rosemary Munday, ‘Working Women’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 25 Oct. 1978, 13, in 5

Trove [online database], accessed 13 Oct. 2015.

Merle Thornton, ‘Women and Inequality’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 23 Nov. 1966, 73, in 6

Trove [online database], accessed 14 Sep. 2015.

Maggie Coats, Women’s Education (Great Britain: The Society for Research into Higher 7

Education & Open University Press, 1994), 10.

Jane Gaskell and Sandra Taylor, ‘The women’s movement in Canadian and Australian education’.8

‘More women seen in tertiary education’, The Canberra Times, 22 Jan. 1976, 3, in Trove [online 9

database], accessed 12 Oct. 2015.

‘Education of women faulted’, The Canberra Times, 16 Jan. 1975, 3, in Trove [online database], 10

accessed 17 Sep. 2015.

Joan E. Martin, Second Chance: Women Returning to Study (Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin 11

Books, 1988), 18.

Rosemary Munday, ‘Working Women’, 13.12

Kate Pritchard Hughes (ed.), Contemporary Australian Feminism 2 (South Melbourne, Australia: 13

Addison Wesley Longman Australia, 1998), 277.

Lorraine Hickman, ‘Generation gap is an education gap…’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 9 14

Sep. 1970, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed 12 Oct. 2015.

Merle Thornton, ‘Women and Inequality’.15

Lyndsay Connors, ‘Time for a fair go for girls’, The Canberra Times, 2 Sep. 1974, 2, in Trove 16

[online database], accessed 13 Aug. 2015.

Jane Gaskell and Sandra Taylor, ‘The women’s movement in Canadian and Australian 17

education’, 156.

‘Education of women faulted’, 3.18

Sylvia Passioura O’Connor, ‘Sexism in Education’, The Canberra Times, 23 Aug. 1976, 2, in 19

Trove [online database], accessed 12 Oct. 2015.

Rosemary Munday, ‘Working Women’.20

Sylvia Passioura O’Connor, ‘Sexism in Education’, 3.21


education’, 152.


Annie Lesley, ‘Women in Education?’, Woroni, 1 Jun. 1978, 12, in Trove [online database], 23

accessed on 16 Sep. 2015.

Merle Thornton, ‘Women and Inequality’, 73.24

‘Education lobby by women’, The Canberra Times, 5 Dec. 1974, 9, in Trove [online database], 25

accessed on 13 Aug. 2015.


education’, 156.


education’.

Joy Murray, The Wider Social Benefits of Education: A research report (2007) <http://28

www.isa.org.usyd.edu.au/publications/documents/ISA_Wider-Social-Benefits_Report.pdf >, 10, accessed 15 Oct. 2015.

Lorraine Hickman, ‘Generation gap’, 2.29

Joy Murray, Social Benefits of Education, 10.30

Annie Lesley, ‘Women in Education?’.31

‘Economic position, education linked’, The Canberra Times, 28 Jun. 1977, 11, in Trove [online 32

database], accessed 18 Sep. 2015.

Ibid. 11.33


Bibliography Primary Sources Commonwealth Schools Commission, The National Policy for the Education of Girls in Australian Schools (Woden, A.C.T.: Commonwealth Schools Commission, 1987). Connors, Lyndsay, ‘Time for a fair go for girls’, The Canberra Times, 2 Sep. 1974, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed 13 Aug. 2015. Hickman, Lorraine, ‘Generation gap is an education gap…’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 9 Sep. 1970, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed 12 Oct. 2015. Lesley, Annie, ‘Women in Education?’, Woroni, 1 Jun. 1978, 11-12, in Trove [online database], accessed on 16 Sep. 2015. Munday, Rosemary, ‘Working Women’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 25 Oct. 1978, 12-13, in Trove [online database], accessed 13 Oct. 2015. Passioura O’Connor, Sylvia, ’Sexism in Education’, The Canberra Times, 23 Aug. 1976, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed 12 Oct. 2015. Powles, Margaret, Women’s Participation in Tertiary Education: A Review of Recent Australian Research (Belconnan, A.C.T.: The Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, 1986). Thornton, Merle, ‘Women and Inequality’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 23 Nov. 1966, 72-73, in Trove [online database], accessed 14 Sep. 2015. ‘Economic position, education linked’, The Canberra Times, 28 Jun. 1977, 11, in Trove [online database], accessed 18 Sep. 2015. ‘Education lobby by women’, The Canberra Times, 5 Dec. 1974, 9, in Trove [online database], accessed on 13 Aug. 2015. ‘Education of women faulted’, The Canberra Times, 16 Jan. 1975, 3, in Trove [online database], accessed 17 Sep. 2015. ‘More women seen in tertiary education’, The Canberra Times, 22 Jan. 1976, 3, in Trove [online database], accessed 12 Oct. 2015.

Secondary Sourcesl Arrow, Jodi and Arrow, Michelle, ‘“The high priestess of Women’s Lib”: Germaine Greer & the Australian Women’s Liberation Movement’, Teaching History, 45/2 (2011), 11-13. Coats, Maggie, Women’s Education (Great Britain: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press, 1994). Gaskell, Jane and Taylor, Sandra, ‘The women’s movement in Canadian and Australian education: from liberation and sexism to boys and social justice’, Gender and Education, 15/2 (2003), 151-168. Pritchard Hughes, Kate (ed.), Contemporary Australian Feminism (Melbourne, Victoria: Longman Australia, 1994). –Contemporary Australian Feminism 2 (South Melbourne, Australia: Addison Wesley Longman Australia, 1998). Martin, Joan E., Second Chance: Women Returning to Study (Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books, 1988) Joy Murray, The Wider Social Benefits of Education: A research report (2007) <http://www.isa.org.usyd.edu.au/publications/documents/ISA_Wider-Social-Benefits_Report.pdf


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