Women during the rise of The Modern University:

Gender segregation, anti-nepotism laws and sexist

administrative policies are only some of the factors which have
stood in the way of achieving gender parity at the UW around the
turn of the century. These barriers are not something, which
simply eroded over time, but were consciously and laboriously
dismantled by the first two waves of feminism. But the
foundations for these oppressive policies are deeply rooted in
the function the University serves in society.
Although the early days of UW were likely not a panacea of
womens liberation, the University did not always have such
regressive ideas about women in academics. In fact some of the
founding principles of the University of Washington were to
ensure womens access to higher education. During the first 30
years, the majority of UW faculties were women, and the first
graduate of the University of Washington was Clara Antoinette
McCarty Wilt, who earned a bachelors degree in science in 1876.
So what changed?
Margaret A. Hall argues in her 1989 PhD. dissertation A History
of Women Faculty at the University of Washington, that around
1895 we began to see the rise of The Modern University, one
oriented around and dedicated to serving the interests of the
business community. Separation of labor based on gender, then
became the separation of education based on gender. The
following are some excerpts from the first chapter of Halls
dissertation, following two faculty, Caroline Haven Ober and
Theresa McMahon, as they challenged these policies.