EDGE HILL began in 1885 as a non-denominational college with an initial intake of 41 women students. Today, some ten thousand study a wide variety of courses in what is now a University College.

No mere institutional history, this account of more than a century of social and economic change is written in a lively, accessible style and throws light on areas of interest to historians, educationalists and feminists. Early chapters discuss the ways in which the education and socialisation of women reflected and reinforced gender divisions, while later chapters deal with the challenges facing higher education in recent years: strategies for independence and expansion, changes in acc ess patterns, teaching methods and funding.

This book will appeal to those interested in women's history, the history of education and
social history.