Edith Cowan’s original cottage, now located on the Joondalup Campus grounds.
ECU became a university in 1991. After much debate, including in the halls of the WA Parliament, it was decided to name Australia's newest university after one of the country's most influential and inspiring women.
It made a lot of sense. After all, Edith Cowan (OBE) influenced the course of education in Australia, paving the way for many people to access education they could only previously dream of.
Edith believed that education was fundamental to tackling the social issues of the day and that it was the key to growth, change and improvement. Now that's vision.
How we followed Edith's lead
Taking inspiration from our namesake, we've been a leader in finding ways to give people from all circumstances – from school leavers to mature age students who've not studied for years, to those from challenging socio-economic backgrounds – an opportunity to access higher education.
Entry to uni courses is now possible through different admission pathways, including university preparation courses, an experience-based entry scheme and more. Other universities caught on and eventually followed ECU with similar pathways.
Inclusion and equity
Edith Cowan believed strongly in the values of inclusion and equity. She fought hard to improve conditions for women, children, families, the poor, the under-educated and the elderly.
Prior to a university being built in WA, she raised funds for students to attend universities in other states, obtaining government support for her scheme. If she was alive today, she would have embraced crowdfunding!
Not only was Edith the first woman elected to an Australian Parliament, but she was also instrumental in obtaining votes for women in Western Australia.
Edith's pursuit of inclusion and equity is also part of ECU's DNA.
We not only welcome students from all kinds of backgrounds, but we have support systems and staff in place to assist those experiencing personal or academic challenges.
This includes supporting students who might have a disability or a medical condition or have responsibility for the care of someone with physical or mental health conditions.
We're also a university with a large cohort of mature age students. People are drawn here because we recognise their family, work and other commitments, and can offer them flexibility in how they study.
Finally, we're one of the first 15 Australian institutions to receive an inaugural Athena SWAN Bronze Institutional Award. This recognises how we're proactively redressing gender inequalities and improving education and opportunities for women – especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM).
We think Edith would be proud!
The Story of Edith Dircksey Cowan (2 mins).
