Seven women who were among the first females to be admitted to a British university are being awarded posthumous degrees 150 years after they started their studies
The group, known collectively as the Edinburgh Seven, enrolled to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869.
But they faced substantial resistance from their male peers and were ultimately prevented from graduating and qualifying as doctors.
Their campaign against this won them national attention and prominent supporters such as Charles Darwin.
In 1877, legislation was introduced to ensure women could study at university.
The seven women – Mary Anderson, Emily Bovell, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Sophia Jex-Blake, Edith Pechey and Isabel Thorne – will be awarded posthumous honorary Bachelor of Medicine degrees as part of a ceremony at the university’s McEwan Hall.
Seven female students from Edinburgh Medical School will pick up the certificates on their behalf, with the graduation part of a number of events being held by the university to honour the achievements of the women.
Third-year medical student Simran Paya, who will collect an award on behalf of Sophia Jex-Blake, said: “We are honoured to accept these degrees on behalf of our predecessors, who are an inspiration to us all.”
Professor Peter Mathieson, the principal and vice-chancellor at the University of Edinburgh, said: “We are delighted to confer the degrees rightfully owed to this incredible group of women.
“The segregation and discrimination that the Edinburgh Seven faced might belong to history, but barriers still exist that deter too many talented young people from succeeding at university.
“We must learn from these women and strive to widen access for all who have the potential to succeed.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel