Women at Michigan Technological University

This article is about the history of women as students and staff at Michigan Technological University from soon after its establishment in 1885 to the present day. It focuses on their presence, status and attitudes towards them.
History
Women began to attend classes at Michigan Technological University, then the Michigan College of Mines, around 1890. The early female students were mostly daughters of professors or wealthy businessmen of the Houghton, Hancock area. They were allowed to take classes and were given special student status, which meant that they could be enrolled in courses but were not able to receive a degree. In other words, they paid the same money as the men in order to come to class and do all the work but received little for their work.
Early Women
The first woman to receive a degree from MCM was Margaret R Holley, who was born in Lake Linden and received a liberal arts degree at a different university outside of the Upper Peninsula. She then moved back to Houghton to work on a chemistry degree, which she received in 1933 and two years later received a masters in chemistry from this school.
The first woman faculty member of the Michigan College of Mines came in 1927, her name was Ella Wood and was hired as an assistant professor for the Humanities department. She was made an associate professor by 1928, a full professor by 1935 and the head of geography and languages by 1937. Professor Wood was accepted into the university five years before women were allowed to pursue degrees. She also worked in the library and taught meteorology to assist with pilot training sessions to students during WWII. Her presence encouraged many young ladies to apply for special student status and take classes at the school and ultimately allowed women to receive degrees at this school. As co-ed enrollment increased, she promoted women involvement on campus and co-educational programs. She also became the academic advisor to all female students and thoroughly enjoyed the role of "mother" Of those students, 1,713 of them were females; which means female students make up about 25.4% of the enrollment at Michigan Tech.<ref name="EnrollmentStatistics2010"/>

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