First Wave Feminism and Teaching in Canada

Canadian society in the late 19th and early 20th century was patriarchal in nature. Women were expected to fill childbearing roles while men were supposed to be the sole breadwinners for their families. Nevertheless, industrialization and an influx of immigrants into Canada created such an intense population growth that the demand for teachers exploded. Because teaching was the only profession available to most women, many of them, both in urban and rural areas, applied for positions. Female teachers were subjected to poor working conditions, salary inequality, and gender-based disparities in administrative roles. Furthermore, gender became a crucial factor in policies and decisions regarding education. Although women tried to fight for equality in education, many of these efforts were in vain because they were almost always outnumbered.

Background: Canadian Workforce

The industrial revolution not only led to innovation in technology but also fuelled women’s desire to participate in formal wage work. The rise of women in the labor force in many regards simply shifted the location that women performed their traditional roles without changing the nature of the tasks. Canada saw some of the most dramatic changes as this female workers’ revolution took root between 1880 and 1940. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, in many Canadian cities, the majority of women were housewives, performing their traditional jobs of childbearing and rearing, as well as tending to household chores. Nevertheless, these duties did not tie all of them down. A few women worked outside the home chiefly as domestic workers, nuns, prostitutes, midwives, innkeepers, washerwomen, and dressmakers; a very small number were governesses.

Background: Fist Wave Feminism

First wave feminism in Canada had a number of strains with some of these strains being more authentically feminist than others. The driving force behind first wave feminism in Canada was the push for an increase in women’s presence in public life. This increased presence revolved around increased property rights, women’s suffrage, increased access to education, and legal recognition of their personhood. One very strong strain of feminism in Canada in the late 19th century and the early 20th century was the idea of women as “mothers of the nation.” However, this strain, while still involved pushing for increased women’s rights, also fed into patriarchy by positioning women as mothers. This form of feminism is known as Eugenic feminism. The idea behind eugenic feminism was essentially to give women increased political and social rights in exchange for their becoming the "breeders" of the nation. This can be seen as a form of feminism that actually demeaned women because it posited that women's main purpose was to reproduce. Eugenics was also problematic because it was promoted as a way to turn Canada into a predominantly Anglo-Saxon country. Therefore, it resulted in a number of government programs aimed at limiting the reproductive capabilities of undesirables, such as Natives and people with disabilities, both of whom were subjected to forced sterilization. Therefore, there were elements of first wave feminism that were actually detrimental to advancing women’s equality. Despite the significant presence of the mothers of the nation movement, other strains of first wave feminism advanced the cause of Canadian women. One of the results of these advancements was women having access to and benefitting from higher education. For example, Grace Annie Lockahrt was the first woman in the entire British Empire to attain an undergraduate degree. Another advancement that was made was women began getting jobs in certain professions, such as journalism, social work, public health and teaching.

Canadian Women and the Workforce

Women struggled to join the Canadian labor force due to intense and persistent occupational segregation, which was backed up by ideological justification and based upon the model of heterosexual, nuclear families. Males were perceived as the obvious breadwinners of their families, while women were expected to be dependent on their husbands. This caused striking salary inequalities between the genders. Women’s work and their contributions were grossly undervalued. Both Indigenous women and women of color suffered oppression, and had to suffer the occupational hazards that permeated their workplaces. Nevertheless, women’s active participation in the Canadian workforce increased substantially from 1800, despite the pervasive segregation. These high numbers were driven by tremendous immigration, the transformation of home and agricultural production to factory and workshop production, and the overall impact of industrial expansion. By 1891, the Canadian workforce saw female participation rates of 11%, and by 1921, that figure had grown to 15%. By 1951 their numbers had soared, comprising 22% of the Canadian work force. The rising trend of women’s interest in entering the Canadian labor force indicates a revolution of women’s mentality during that time, which is directly connected to first wave feminism. They began to shed their old traditions of living as housewives and being dependent on men in favour of greater autonomy.

Canadian Women and Teaching

Although teaching was not the most prestigious or most lucrative career, it drew the interest of many women throughout Canada. Just as with many other professions at that time, women who seemed to be aggressive in teaching faced segregation and mockery. Society believed that women should hold to their traditional roles, as opposed to their endeavours to join the Canadian labor force. For many women who wanted to work, teaching was the only career option available to them. The influx of immigrants that began in 1881 led to a radical increase in population, swelling from 62,260 to 461,394, a 640% increase. As the population soared, the demand for teachers to equip young minds with knowledge and important life skills increased, providing more women an opportunity to enter the teaching profession. By 1920, this combination of cultural forces left the teaching profession highly feminized. In Manitoba, women enthusiastically embraced the teaching profession as a superior career and, in many instances, the only path to gender equality. By 1931, the number of female teachers in Winnipeg had soared to 1,795. In major metropolitan areas 80% of all teachers in the city were women. In Manitoba generally, the number was 5,544, totalling 77% of the total number of teachers. As Canada’s population swelled, birth rates increased dramatically, accelerating the demand for teachers. As a result, the quantity of female teachers continually grew.

Women Teachers and Subjugation

Under Canada’s patriarchal society, female labourers were looked down upon, suffered oppression, and consequently faced greater challenges than their male counterparts, even in the teaching profession. Female teachers, especially those that worked in rural schools, became victims of forced rules of conduct that not only challenged their working conditions, but also saw them live in complete loneliness and isolation. Patriarchy labeled working women as forfeiters of culture and tradition. According to that mindset, women were supposed to stick to their childbearing roles and leave their husbands with the responsibility of providing for their families. This was a mindset that the first wave feminist “mothers of the nation” movement augmented. Entering professional careers seemed to contradict women’s culturally-approved and -respected responsibility; indeed, it was seen as outright competition with men. Their participation in the Canadian workforce made them appear too ambitious and contemptuous of their traditional responsibility; hence, the scorn and denigration women faced from rural societies.

First Wave Feminism and the Rights of Women Teachers

In spite of their plight, female teachers in rural, sub-urban, and urban areas did not back down from their fight for equality in the Canadian labor force. Consequently, the oppression of female teachers slowly subsided during the 1920s and 1930s. This subsiding was a result of the work of many women’s groups, including The National Council of Women of Canada, which was formed in 1893; the Toronto Women’s Literary Club, and the Toronto Women’s Suffrage Association. The new struggle began to aim at establishing equality in education. This fight was fuelled by an activist organization called the Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS), which helped establish local divisions that increased society’s sensitivity to women’s educational needs. Although there were many oppressive regulations imposed on female teachers, they never flinched from trying to influence and establish positive developments in public education in Canada between 1880 and 1940.

Gender-Based Educational Policies

Gender was the principle factor that determined practices and policies in education. For instance, appointments to administrative posts and salary schedules were all based on a teacher’s gender. This was a cheaper and more effective way of controlling women and inhibiting their progress, due to their perceived inferiority when compared to male teachers. Consequently, female teachers were also underpaid, earning about 70% of what their male counterparts earned. Even when women tried to overcome these unfair misperceptions by earning training certificates, their efforts were insufficient to overcome the inequality they faced, especially in salaries. A male teacher with first-class certificates was entitled to an annual salary of $3,000, as opposed to the salary of $2000 which was earned by women with similar qualifications. Men who held second- and third-class certificates could expect to earn $2,000 and $1,500 per year, respectively, as opposed to women of the same class who earned $1,600 and $1,200 per year, respectively.

Although there were many attempts to counter salary inequalities, Canada was deeply rooted in patriarchal norms and traditions which made women seem inferior. Female teachers continued receiving lower salaries than their male counterparts, often justified by claims that male teachers had families that depended on them, whereas single women had no dependents. Contrary to these perceptions and justifications, working women often had many dependents, including their children and elderly parents. Just as with female teachers in rural areas, urban female teachers faced salary inequalities. An annual report that was generated on June 30, 1913, by the Department of Education indicated that, on average, female teachers in rural schools earned $544.68 per annum, while their urban counterparts earned $852.00. In addition to the gendered disparities among teachers, men also monopolized administrative academic positions. Women were excluded from these positions because of a claimed lack of self-confidence, which was considered key to being successful in administrative roles. It was claimed that the additional responsibilities that accompanied administrative positions would make women lose focus on their family responsibilities. This meant that principals, superintendents, and other administrators were mostly men. Women were never encouraged to apply for these positions, despite many women’s dedication and desire to advance. What is more, women did not serve as representatives as trustees in the Board of Education, although female teachers comprised over 80% of the teaching staff, and girls constituted more than half of the pupils enrolled in Canada. Unlike men, most women started their career in the country, teaching in single-room schoolhouses. In some instances, teachers lived in the community where the schools were located. As a result, they faced many obstacles, including loneliness and isolation from their loved ones and undesirable living and working conditions. Even though teaching was the only career open for many women, those who applied to teach in rural school settings were sometimes looked down upon because they were perceived as docile transients and inexpensive laborers, vulnerable to male domination. Furthermore, rural school teachers often worked in horrible conditions, struggling to teach in classrooms that were poorly ventilated, insufficiently lit, and ill-equipped. Classrooms were typically overcrowded with students of all grades, ages, and academic abilities. Teachers could not effectively attend to individual students; indeed, the most apparent problem within the classroom involved finding a method of teaching such a diverse student body in one classroom.

First Wave Feminism and Union Formation: Manitoba Teacher’s Society

In response to their hardships, female teachers began forming unions to fight not only for their rights, but also for the betterment of their working conditions. Through 1918, the importance of a teachers’ federation was keenly felt, but female educators were not ready to associate themselves with anything that resembled a labor union. In order to make some progress, in 1919, an activist group known as MFT (which was later named MFS) was created. The major motivation behind this group was to offer teachers the ability to make decisions regarding their profession, including preparation of the educational curriculum which was previously developed by Boards of Education. The women also yearned to improve their horrible working conditions, gain access to advancement, and improve their salaries. Although MFS seemed likely to resolve the female teachers’ many years of oppression and inequality, the educational hierarchy remained dominated by men in the highest levels, inhibiting easy resolution of women’s issues. Although MTS endeavoured to be concerned with its members’ welfare, its ability to secure substantial help was rather limited. Consequently, its dedicated female members were disappointed by its inability to effectively fight the inequity, including policies which required female teachers to retire upon pregnancy or marriage. This culminated in the disintegration of the Winnipeg Teachers’ Association and antagonism between the male and female teachers, each taking different stances and championing different causes.

First Wave Feminism, Canadian Teachers: Accomplishments and Failures

Even though conditions were difficult for female teachers at the end of this period, it set the stage for future gains. Solidarity between women produce a mutual assistance as well as struggles to organize within a range of industries from factory workers to stenographers to laundry workers to domestic servants. While teachers also organized with other white-collar workers, such as clerks, nurses, and social workers, class division kept them from forming associations with working-class women’s campaigns. One of the weakness of first wave feminism was its inability to overcome class barriers. Because teachers' associations replicated paternalistic social norms, female teachers campaigned to form their own associations; in 1918, the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario and the Saskatoon Women’s Teacher’s Association fought for pay equity. Inequality spurred by the patriarchal refusal by male teachers to alter gender norms and a fear of competition from women teachers contributed to the hardships faced by female teachers during this time. These same conditions also produced the seeds of dissent that led to organizing, mutual assistance, and the legacy that women teachers work and live in today.