To Cook or to Conjugate: gender and class in the adult curriculum 1865‐1900 in Bristol, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

The paper compares and contrasts two historical moments in the education of women in Bristol (UK) in the period 1865‐1900. It first traces the university extension movement and the admitting of women to the new University College in 1876. Then, evening classes founded in the 1880s are discussed, where, in contrast to the university curriculum, women and girls were taught domestic skills. These different curricula are related to the social class background of the students. The paper concludes by discussing the predominance of the domestic curriculum in women's adult education today, suggesting that vocational training for working‐class girls has been transformed into leisure education for middle‐class women.