Female Academics at the University of Latvia (1919–1940): A Brief Insight into the Key Issues
Female Academics at the University of Latvia (1919–1940): A Brief Insight into the Key Issues

Summary/Abstract: The establishment of the University of Latvia encompassed the recruitment of highly trained teaching staff and the training of a new generation of academics that entailed the inclusion of woman as an equal. Although there were no legal restrictions for a woman to hold an academic position, the recruitment process was marked by a masculine orientation. Women’s academic careers were hindered by practical circumstances: the low salary, the workload, family circumstances, as well as informal factors such as the negative attitude of male colleagues towards the presence of women in academia. This kind of attitude was a reflection of the resistance of Latvian society towards professionally active women. The issue of women’s equality in academia was recognised as an existing problem, acknowledged also by the Latvian Association of Academically Educated Women which had been set up specifically to represent the interests of women who had received higher education. However, almost no practical action was taken to address the problem.

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