Female Teachers Demand

Responses to the Introduction of the Wage Gap in Uruguay (1878-1882)

Abstract

Within the framework of studies on the feminization of the teaching profession, this article examines the introduction of the wage gap between female and male teachers holding equivalent positions in late 19th-century Uruguay. This wage disparity was a key innovation of the educational reform that established the foundations of a nationwide school system. We argue that this discrimination was a constitutive element of the feminization of teaching, which can be understood in the context of 19th-century discourses on the sexual division of labor. By focusing on the moment the wage gap was implemented, the article highlights the dynamics of changing representations and underscores the historical construction of both the sexual division of labor and the sexual division of the labor of teaching. Moreover, the reaction of a group of female teachers against this discrimination, which constitutes one of the findings of our research, can be interpreted as resistance to the feminization of teaching, as they challenged the terms under which this process unfolded. The exceptions and reversals in the implementation of the wage gap reveal that the representation of women teachers’ work as less valuable encountered friction. This study positions female teachers as active participants in the process rather than passive subjects of policies imposed by authorities. The article aims to contribute to the understanding of the specific ways in which the feminization of teaching unfolded in Uruguay, while also offers insights into the social history of educational reform. The primary sources for this research include records from the Ministry of Government archives and the correspondence logs of the General Directorate of Public Instruction.