ABSTRACT
This quotation captures perfectly the rich irony of the expansion of educational opportunities for females during the period since 1964. There has been a real opening-up of opportunities to participate in a growing number of areas which were previously male preserves, and the legislative framework within which women operate has been significantly changed. But the net effect has been a general reinforcement of gender divisions within society as a whole. If the rhetoric has from time to time suggested that the education system was participating in a major social restructuring, the day-to-day experience of the majority of females has been otherwise. Why was this so?
