Historic Women: Why is Bradford renaming its streets?

In attempt to tackle gender imbalance, the city of Bradford has made a move to name more streets after historic women in Bradford’s history.

A group called the Bradford Pioneering Lasses have created a campaign which aims to acknowledge and promote the important role of women in the city's history. The group is using street names and the naming of public places as focal point for gender imbalance, specifically regarding the weak representation of women throughout history.

Students who are applying for Education at Cambridge or History at either university may want to think about the percentage of male figures taught in History in the school curriculum compared to the percentage of female figures. Students who are applying for Psychology or Sociology should think about how the way that female figures are represented in history and wider contemporary popular culture can impact on young people, especially young girls.

In Bradford, the first step will be to name a new street after a local suffragette called Lillian Armitage. Lillian Armitage, who was born in 1885, campaigned for women's right to vote and was briefly imprisoned. Students applying for Politics may want to think about how important it is for equal representation of gender within history to a healthy representative democracy, especially in an age of great political uncertainty creating a gap for real democratic revival.

Law students might be asked about the legal validity of quotas that protect minorities in the context of the law, and whether a policy like Bradford’s could be adopted on a national level.