Vocational Schools for Women’s Occupations in the Bohemian Lands (1918-1938): Spaces for Shaping the Modern Woman
Vocational Schools for Women’s Occupations in the Bohemian Lands (1918-1938): Spaces for Shaping the Modern Woman

Summary/Abstract: Background: Emerging in the late nineteenth century and reaching their peak during the interwar period, vocational schools for girls provided educational opportunities for less affluent social groups while shaping contemporary ideals of Czechoslovak womanhood. Objectives: This study examines the skills, attributes, and virtues vocational schools sought to instil in future wives and mothers. It explores how principals, teachers, and politicians defined the role of ordinary girls in the new state and promoted vocational education for women, as well as the motivations of female students and the Czechoslovak state in supporting this form of schooling. Methods: The author connects pre-1918 vocational education with the interwar period, drawing on research in women’s education and related fields. The study is situated within the context of educational reform and state-building in the Czechoslovak Republic and contributes to economic and social history, educational history, and gender history. The answers to the above questions were sought from statistical sources, annual school reports, ministerial and vocational school bulletins, and archival sources from the Ministry of Education and National Enlightenment, held at the National Archives in Prague. Results: The study explains the continuity of vocational education for girls from the Austro-Hungarian era through the Czechoslovak Republic, their organisational development, and their propaganda role in the interwar era. It discusses their funding and, above all, clarifies their economic and ideological significance, as well as their formative role toward women and the state. Discussion and Conclusions: By attending vocational schools for women’s occupations, ordinary girls gained access to socially and economically acceptable forms of higher education that aligned with prevailing ideals of womanhood as wives, mothers, and housewives. These schools were supported by the Czechoslovak state, professional organisations, and, above all, municipalities and associations – most notably Ženský výrobní spolek český [Czech Women’s Manufacturing Association], Ústřední Matice školská [Central Czech School Association]; Vesna Association and Slezská Matice osvěty lidové [Silesian Czech School Association for Public Enlightenment] took a positive stance toward supporting these schools, both economically and ideologically. These schools supplied the labour market while reinforcing traditional ideals of women’s domestic roles.

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