First Female Senior President of Students' Representative Council, 1915

The First World War was a watershed for the participation of women in university life. With nearly 8,000 students and graduates joining the armed forces, there was a steep decline in the number of male students, and a concomitant rise in the number of women matriculating. The number of female students rose from 552 in 1913-14 to over a thousand in 1919-20, assisted by the Faculty of Medicine's decision finally to admit female students in 1915. The greater role played by women in university affairs was marked by the election of Agnes Cunningham as the first female Senior President of the Student's Representative Council in 1915.

Related Events

• The University and the First World War
• Election of Lord Kitchener as Rector, 1914
• Admission of Women to Faculty of Medicine, 1916

Sources

• Robert D. Anderson, 'The Construction of a Modern University', in Robert D. Anderson, Michael Lynch, and Nicholas Phillipson, The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003), pp. 103-207.