| Summary: | This thesis examines the experiences of the first women who entered the initial five mixed-sex colleges at Oxford University in 1974. The University allowed Brasenose, Hertford, Jesus, St Catherine’s and Wadham, previously male-only colleges, to accept one hundred women undergraduates between them from autumn 1974. Unlike previous studies of the introduction of mixed-sex colleges at Oxford, this thesis uses an oral history methodology. The thesis analyses the personal testimonies of forty-one women from this cohort to examine their attitudes towards and experiences of mixed-sex colleges, and their post-university career trajectories. It argues that the first mixed-sex colleges were not fully accommodating or welcoming of women students, who faced various difficulties living and learning within them. This resulted from a lack of effective consideration of women’s needs by the men running these institutions. The spaces, communities and cultures of the first mixed-sex colleges remained essentially male, being led and dominated by men, catering primarily for the needs of male students, and having cultural atmospheres which revolved around stereotypically masculine behaviours. Women responded to these institutions in various ways, some actively embracing the masculine behaviours and rituals associated with the student cultures of their colleges. When facing difficulties, women developed individual strategies and resilience. This enabled the majority to continue to participate as members of the male-led and dominated institutions they had wanted to attend. A collective feminist mentality or critique of the general way that colleges responded to their first female undergraduates did not develop among the first cohorts of women. Furthermore, attending a mixed-sex college did not enable all women to have career trajectories resembling those of their male peers, as employment inequalities persisted. Where women entered male-dominated professions, their experiences of the male spaces, communities and cultures of their colleges informed their response to masculine working environments.
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