Scientific Education,Girls’ Schools and the Industrial Fund: a research note

During the 1950s a group of major companies launched the Industrial Fund for the Advancement of Scientific Education in Schools to build and equip laboratories in independent and direct grant schools. The Industrial Fund remains as one of the most impressive industrial initiatives in school education. It is sometimes criticised for either neglect or parsimony towards girls’ schools. This research note provides a brief account of the initiation and operation of the Industrial Fund. Although the Industrial Fund did provide fewer resources for girls’ schools this outcome stemmed from using the same and not different criteria for boys’ and girls’ schools and reflected the state of schools at the outset of the Industrial Fund.