Between wanted and forced identity: example of the female graduates of the University of Latvia as teachers (1919-1940)

• In Event: Baltic Women's Stories / Women's Roles and Agency in Baltic Societies

Abstract

In Latvia women gained full right to higher education with the foundation of the University of Latvia in 1919, that was accompanied with strong belief that education is one the most important factor for expansion of women’s occupational spheres and professionalization and their self-empowerment. However, cultural traditions, gender ideologies, perceptions of the social role of women, as well as other circumstances, such as socio-economic and political conditions, restricted women’s “entrance” in different professions, but favoured the feminisation of the teaching profession - the process which had already started at the beginning of the 20th century. The paper will reveal specifically the fluctuation of academically educated women in teaching profession, academically educated women’s perceptions of the teacher’s profession as wanted or forced identity, as well as importance of higher education in their employment possibilities. Different historical sources were used, including personal files of female students, personal files of female teachers, as well as statistical data and periodicals that reveal perceptions of women’s social role in society that were closely linked to teaching profession.

Short Bio

PhD candidate in history

Author

• Zane Rozīte, National Library of Latvia