Studying with the OU in Scotland in the 1970s set Dr Anni Donaldson on a new path that would transform both her personal and working life.

Dropping out of university in her late teens, the Open University (OU) in Scotland gave Anni Donaldson, now aged 72 and living in Glasgow, the confidence to pursue a new career path that would eventually lead to her becoming an academic.

Married with a young child in the late 1970s, she initially decided to study for a pre-school course that she thought would benefit her daughter.

“The OU sent me a brochure about their degree programmes, and I jumped at the chance!” she says. “Here was a way for me to continue my university education. I loved reading and learning, and I wanted to improve my chances of getting a better job.

 “The OU provided a stepping stone to my future career, changing my sense of myself, and restoring my confidence after dropping out of university.”

‘Educating Rita’

“My story resembled Educating Rita, which was around at that time. My husband was a very controlling man and was not happy about my studies.

“I saw my studies as a possible pathway to a career and financial independence for myself and my daughter. My lovely tutor told me I could transfer to full-time study and suggested I apply to university using my course credits.

“I had no idea I could do that, but it was the answer for me. I could speed up completing my degree and study away from home too.”

Transferring the credits she gained with the OU in Scotland to study at another university, Anni moved away with her daughter to undertake an undergraduate history degree.

Inspired by her time studying with the OU, her first job after graduating from a postgraduate IT course was working for an open and distance learning organisation.  She went on to take a Masters in Adult and Continuing Education because: “The OU had changed my life so dramatically that I wanted to work in that field.” 

In 2000, Anni came full circle and became an Associate Lecturer with the OU over the next six years. 

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After several years as a teacher and feminist academic, she changed to a more practical focus, working in the area of violence against women, later leading a national programme for preventing gender-based violence (GBV) in Scottish universities.

Not finished with studying yet, she completed a PhD at the age of 65. Now retired, Anni says she’s “enjoying a new phase of life returning to my first love of history, learning and writing” working as a GBV consultant, feminist historian, and freelance writer.

‘The OU restarted my education’

Anni says none of this would’ve been possible without the opportunities provided by the OU in Scotland.  

“I can only thank the OU for getting me started back in 1979. Those two years changed my personal life too,” she comments. “I eventually divorced my controlling husband. Having a degree allowed me to get a good job, which gave me the financial independence I so desperately wanted and allowed me to break free.

“The OU restarted my education. It created new pathways in my working life, giving me an academic career and I have never lost my curiosity for learning new things. The multi-disciplinary approach of those first two years at OU were a huge influence on me and it has influenced my teaching practice and my own approach to everything!”

She concludes: “Thank you OU – keep making learning accessible; keep encouraging women to enrol, especially those who can't afford it; keep up the spirit of your founder and don't become a place of learning only for the elite.”

Anni’s daughter Emily has also studied with the OU and says: “The OU changed a great deal for me too. I left school at 16 with no qualifications and felt I was stupid. I came to the OU after the birth of my fourth child when I felt at a bit of a low within myself. I started studying psychology and discovered I wasn’t stupid, in fact quite smart.

“My OU studies gave me the confidence to start on the road I am on just now, which is one essay away from completing an Integration Psychotherapy diploma with another university. I will always be grateful to the OU and the opportunity it gave me to find a part of myself that I didn’t think existed.”