Episode 128 - Degrees on Arrival: The Steamboat Ladies - 16:1 - An Education Podcast Episode 128 - Degrees on Arrival: The Steamboat Ladies - 16:1 - An Education Podcast

Episode 128 - Degrees on Arrival: The Steamboat Ladies

March 6, 2025

World Events in Education

We offer episode transcripts upon request. Please use our contact form to request an episode transcript.

Degrees on Arrival: The Steamboat Ladies

This episode features the story of how a group of more than 700 pioneering women in the UK smashed through barriers to higher education and claimed degrees from Trinity College Dublin. Denied their degrees at Oxford and Cambridge because of their gender despite successfully completing their exams, the “Steamboat ladies” made use of an early 1900s loophole to earn official recognition by making a trip across the Irish Sea. The episode also explores the broader suffrage movement at the turn of the century and profiles figures like Eleanor Rathbone and Margaret Hills, whose efforts paved the way for academic and professional equity for women attending universities in the UK and around the world.

Sources & Resources:

Steamboat ladies – Wikipedia

Wayback Machine – Women of Trinity College Dublin

In 1904, the ‘Steamboat Ladies’ Kicked Off a Trinity Equality Battle. It’s Still Going – The University Times

Newnham College : Steamboat Ladies Gown, between 1904-1907

How women students put a rocket up Cambridge

‘Under Siege by Women’: Everything We Take for Granted at Oxford

10 Strange Episodes In The History Of Schools – Listverse

The Steamboat Ladies – Trinity News

‘If a female had once passed the gate …’ — Google Arts & Culture

Timeline | Education and Activism: Women at Oxford: 1878-1920).

Guide to incorporation | Bodleian Libraries

“If a female had once passed the gate …”- Exhibition marks 100 years of Trinity Women Graduates – News & Events | Trinity College Dublin.

About Trinity – Trinity College Dublin

Oscar Wilde: Biography, Author, Playwright, Imprisonment

Oscar Wilde | Biography, Books, Poems, Plays, Works, Trial, Wife, Cause of Death, & Facts | Britannica

‘100% feminist’: how Eleanor Rathbone invented child benefit – and changed women’s lives for ever

Eleanor Rathbone – Wikipedia

Family Allowances Act 1945 – Wikipedia

Family Allowances Act 1945 – House of Lords Library

Margaret Hills – Wikipedia

Can you help uncover the history of a ‘dangerous woman’ of Stroud?

R.W. Johnson · Associated Prigs: Eleanor Rathbone

Suffs

16:1 Educator Newsletter

16:1 is launching an email newsletter! Join our mailing list for news and updates designed by educators, for educators!

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

We use Brevo as our marketing platform. By submitting this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Brevo for processing in accordance with their terms of use. You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.

News & Event Announcements
Stay informed on the latest education headlines and learn about upcoming events hosted by 16:1 podcast and Moonbeam Multimedia.
Job Postings & Resources
Sign up for educator resources, job postings from partner organizations, and more!

Contact 16:1

Have a question? Suggestion for an upcoming show? Want to partner with 16:1? We’d love to hear from you. Please contact us using the form below.