*** In light of the ongoing situation with the Coronavirus, this event has been cancelled. ***
From 1988 to 1990, King’s College Cambridge employed social anthropologist Andrea Spurling to carry out an investigation into the state of gender equality and barriers to women’s professional advancement in the College. The results of the study were published as the ‘Report on Women in Higher Education’ in May 1990. As well as providing an analytical summary of interviews with students, fellows, and staff, the report offered a number of recommendations with a view to promoting gender equality. These included the creation of an Equal Opportunities Officer, a review of appointment procedures, and the creation of a College policy on parental leave.
The preface to the Report notes that ‘For Andrea Spurling this report presents a task completed; for King’s and for Cambridge it represents an important step in a process which must go on.’
30 years on, however, the state of play at King’s is unclear. Few recent members of the College have heard about the Spurling Report, the Equal Opportunities Officer role no longer exists and, although gender equality has made much progress in numerical terms, numerous aspects of the report continue to ring true to current and recent students.
The findings of the report on topics ranging from the gendered aspects of the ‘Cambridge style’ of teaching to sexual harassment seem nearly identical to issues regularly brought to the University’s attention by the Women’s Campaign or the Colleges’ women’s officers. Meanwhile, at the University level, gender attainment gaps persist in at least 22 out of 37 subject areas.
In this context, the Spurling Report appears highly relevant, 30 years on.
In this event, we bring together a number of fellows and researchers involved in the original report and current students involved in a project to update it in order to reflect on the progress that has been made since its publication – as well as some areas where progress remains to be made.
Speakers:
- Professor Caroline Humphrey, member of King's Research Committee at the time of the Spurling Report
- Dr Rosanna Omitowoju, King's welfare tutor, member of the College since 1987
- Dr Felicity Cooke, first Head of Equality and Diversity at the University of Cambridge
- Dr Gillian Sutherland, specialist of the social and political history of education, in particular that of women
- Kate Falardeau and Molly O'Gorman, King's current graduate and undergraduate 'women's and non-binary officers' respectively.
The event is free, and open to all. Suitable for ages 14+. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult. Booking required.
Access: The University Library has full access.
Image: Courtesy of King's College Archive Centre.
This event is part of The Rising Tide: Women at Cambridge programme hosted by Cambridge University Libraries, and generously supported by Cambridge Assessment, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation, and the Friends of Cambridge University Library.