Home Economics in Higher Education 1945-1955: The Academic Home Economics Education at Aarhus University and the Emergence of a Female Figure

TY - JOUR

T1 - Home Economics in Higher Education 1945-1955

T2 - The Academic Home Economics Education at Aarhus University and the Emergence of a Female Figure

AU - Nygaard, Pernille Svare

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Umea University. All rights reserved.

PY - 2024/5

Y1 - 2024/5

N2 - In 1945, Aarhus University established the first advanced courses in home economics within the Nordic countries. This reflected the idea of a modern university that provided the blueprint for Aarhus University. However, hidden in the archives are various controversies surrounding the establishment of the courses. Based on 17 applications from 17 women educated within home economics, this article paints a picture of the women who chose to enrol in the academic courses in home economics, as well as the background for its development and the negotiations that took place around higher education for women within the field of domestic services. Sara Ahmed's figures of "the stranger" and "the willful subject" provide a theoretical foundation for examining which female figures emerged due to the early academicisation of a professional education programme for women. By drawing on these figures, the article concludes that a specific female figure emerged as a bridging figure linking notions of the housewife and the female academic.

AB - In 1945, Aarhus University established the first advanced courses in home economics within the Nordic countries. This reflected the idea of a modern university that provided the blueprint for Aarhus University. However, hidden in the archives are various controversies surrounding the establishment of the courses. Based on 17 applications from 17 women educated within home economics, this article paints a picture of the women who chose to enrol in the academic courses in home economics, as well as the background for its development and the negotiations that took place around higher education for women within the field of domestic services. Sara Ahmed's figures of "the stranger" and "the willful subject" provide a theoretical foundation for examining which female figures emerged due to the early academicisation of a professional education programme for women. By drawing on these figures, the article concludes that a specific female figure emerged as a bridging figure linking notions of the housewife and the female academic.

KW - Aarhus University

KW - female figure

KW - feminist theory

KW - higher learning

KW - home economics

KW - women's educational history

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195808031&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.36368/njedh.v11i2.1061

DO - 10.36368/njedh.v11i2.1061

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85195808031

SN - 2001-7766

VL - 11

SP - 101

EP - 126

JO - Nordic Journal of Educational History

JF - Nordic Journal of Educational History

IS - 2

ER -