January 12. Oxford University has ended the prestigious Randall- McIver junior research
fellowship as it was deemed to be “discriminatory on the grounds of gender” by Oxford
Council. Established in the 1930s, the fellowship was open exclusively to women studying
fine arts, music or literature. As per the administration of the university, the women only
fellowship breached the equality law and therefore has been opened up for male candidates as
well. This is for the first time that a historically female only fellowship has been opened by
Oxford for male applicants.
Randal-McIver Fellowship was started in 1932 with a stipulation to be awarded to
women only
The fellowship is funded by the estate of David Randall-McIver who was a British born
archaeologist and a graduate from Oxford. He had set it up in the name of his wife after her
death in 1932 with a stipulation that it would be awarded to female candidates only.
The decision has attracted a considerable amount of criticism from female scholars,
particularly former recipients of the fellowship. They are of the view that this decision could
spark a row in other places as well and many female only research fellowships could be under
threat. These also include the ones run by Newnham- the women’s college under Cambridge
University.
Oxford faces backlash from former recipients and scholars
A recipient of the Randall- McIver fellowship in the 1970s, Professor Elizabeth Cullingford
is currently the Chair of English at Texas University. She commented that history has been
male only for a very long time. Women were not even allowed at universities and there is still
a significant amount of catching up to do. She said that although there might be a semblance
of parity in terms of numbers but there is still a long way to go in terms of power. She cited
her own example saying that she was the first female chair of English in a university which
has been around since the 19 th century.
Among the many well-known recipients of the fellowship are Tate’s Head of Art Historical
Research Jennifer Mundy; renowned archaeologist and first woman ever to reach
Afghanistan’s Lapiz Lazuli Georgiana Herrmann and Professor of Music and Cultural
History at Oxford Brookes Alexandra Wilson. All these scholars, and many others, have
voiced their strong opinions against the decision of the University.
