Unlocking the potential of mature women students

Sue Long, Student Outreach Officer for Lucy Cavendish (pictured right), and Myra Fonceca (left), a current undergraduate at the College, met Stephen Hackett (centre), the newly-appointed principal of Denman College. Both Sue and Myra took access to higher education courses at their local FE colleges and went on to study history at Lucy Cavendish.

Myra, who is now in her second year at Cambridge, was president of her local WI branch in East Devon, stepping down to return to full-time education after a gap of more than 40 years. “Being part of the WI, and realising that I had the ability to set goals and achieve them, was one of the many factors behind my decision to go to university,” she said.

Lucy Cavendish and Denman College have more in common than first meets the eye. Both are women-only colleges for mature students. Both provide a safe and supportive environment that raises confidence and develops skills. Both value diversity and create an atmosphere that encourages friendship and success.

There are, however, striking differences between the two colleges. Lucy Cavendish exists within the highly academic context of a leading university. Places are competitive and allocated on the basis of intellectual potential.

Founded as a “Fellowship of Women”, the WI is the country’s largest women’s organisation and a powerful lobby group on issues such as the environment, sustainability and rural affairs. Denman College, which this year celebrates its 60th birthday, is owned by the 210,000 strong WI membership. It runs a wide range of short courses with the accent on arts and crafts, hobbies and home economics. Most of its programmes are open to all.

Only the second man to hold the post of principal of Denman, Stephen Hackett is keen to make some “sensitive” changes to the college’s offer to reflect changing times.

“Originally Denman had close informal connections with Oxford University but over the decades these have rather been lost. WI members are incredibly talented, and real all-rounders, but they tend to be modest about their skills. Many are from rural backgrounds, and many older women simply didn’t have so many opportunities to develop their potential, intellectually or practically,” said Stephen.

Myra, who is flourishing in her new student life and describes the atmosphere at Lucy Cavendish as “wonderfully positive and inclusive”, believes that many WI members have the potential to study at an academically demanding level and regrets that so many women “rule themselves out” of learning at a high level due to lack of confidence and knowledge of what is possible.

She said: “Of course, a drastic change to their lives – like the one I made – isn’t for everyone. But it would be good if more people realised the opportunities that are open to them and gave them proper consideration. If you really want to do something badly enough, you can do it, as I have demonstrated. I certainly never considered myself as intellectual.”

The next step will be for representatives from Denman College to visit Lucy Cavendish. “We very much hope to be hosting a visit from Stephen and his colleagues before long and to be discussing possibilities for some kind of joint project such as a day course that would inform WI members about opportunities for mature students to study at Cambridge,” said Sue.