Li Wei, Director and Dean of IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, at the launch event for Punnett Hall. He stands in front of a slide with a picture of Margaret Punnett and the text “IOE Events”. Credit: IOE Communications.

22 October 2024

By Georgina Brewis

As IOE celebrates one of its founding leaders, Margaret Punnett, in the naming of its space, Georgina Brewis, Professor of Social History, reflects on the path of pioneering women in the early 1900s and their recognition in the fabric of university campuses today.

Margaret Punnett (1867–1946) was born in Lincolnshire in 1867. She was born just at the right time for middle-class women to receive a better education than their mothers – she was educated at South Hampstead High School and went on to take a University of London BA in German and Mathematics in 1889. Again, this was good timing, as the University had only opened its degrees to women in 1878. (more…)

News from the UCL Institute of Education. 
Choosing the right field of study is more important than attending an elite university for those aiming to become a top earner by middle age, according to new findings from the UCL Institute of Education.
Researchers analysed data on more than 6,000 people born in England and Wales in a single week in 1970, who are taking part in the 1970 British Cohort Study.
The research looked at who made it into the top 5 per cent of earners at age 42 –those on salaries of around £80,000 or more. They found that, after taking into account a wide range of factors, including school level educational attainment, childhood cognitive scores and social background, there were clear differences in the advantage gained from degrees in different subjects and from different institutions.
Degrees in Law, Economics and Management (LEM) were the most likely tolead to top salaries. A LEM degree from an elite university was the most rewarding of all, with graduates having a 6.5 times greater chance (more…)