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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• women’s educational history
• higher learning
• home economics
• Aarhus University
• feminist theory
• female figure