Philanthropy for the middle class: vocational education for girls and young women in mid-Victorian Europe

摘要

1 1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education in Utrecht in August 2009. I would like to thank the audience for comments at that time, and Rebecca Rogers for several bibliographical suggestions. View all notesWithin a 20-year period from the late 1850s to the late 1870s, most European countries created programmes in response to what appeared as a new social problem: unwed daughters of the middle classes in need of jobs. Taking off from the 150th anniversary of the English Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, this paper examines the diffusion of such courses across Europe and the very similar occupations that most thought appropriate for their clientele. It also highlights variations in structures, leadership and funding that emerged, and in particular how the English pacesetter remained much smaller than many later creations. Sponsors seldom sought public funding, but they had no problem seeking charitable contributions to help middle-class young women avoid being ‘de-classed’. View full textDownload full textKeywordscomparative, career, Victorian, vocation, womenRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2011.620011