Women at the university

When the modern field of knowledge production became established in the nineteenth century, it did not include women; universities were dominated by men. It took the women’s movement, which fought for women’s right to equal education and against their exclusion from higher education, to bring about change. Surprisingly, several Swiss universities led the way in Europe by admitting women to study beginning in the 1860s, though Basel hesitated.

Legal equality in university access has been just one part of the problem. Real opportunities for success in studies, research, and careers have remained inequitable between men and women into the twenty-first century. From the First World War through the 1950s, the percentage of women students at Swiss universities remained around 15 percent despite open access. Even the steady rise in the proportion of women students since the 1960s has not meant that career opportunities in science and the professional world have automatically equalized in their favor. In the 1980s, women assistants and students particularly highlighted the disadvantages faced by women. In the 1990s, gender equality policies at the University of Basel were institutionalized, aiming for equal opportunities in teaching and research.

The Co-ed Will Be Here Soon: 100 Years of Women Studying at the University of Basel, an exhibition

In 1990, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s admission to study at the University of Basel, Regina Wecker led a seminar in the university’s Department of History. The thirteen participants collaboratively developed an exhibition in the main building titled “D’Studäntin kunnt: 100 Jahre Frauenstudium an der Universität Basel” (The co-eds will be here soon: 100 years of women studying at the University of Basel). It presented different stages:

  • the pioneers of 1890
  • women’s studies as a privilege for a few women in 1930
  • persistent discrimination against women academics in 1950
  • future prospects in the anniversary year of 1990

The catalog additionally features eleven essays by the seminar participants with more background information, along with four interviews.

The women’s staircase in the main building

To this day, the names of the first women students on the steps of the main building staircase remind us of the anniversary of women’s admission to study in Basel and their long path into the university institution over the decades to follow.