Graduation - yay or nay to the mortar board

jos28

I am graduating on Monday and I have just picked up my robes from the hire place. I noticed at previous ceremonies that some women wear the head gear and some don't. I have heard all the controversy about it representing a 'capping' on a woman's education. I tried it on and it is not exactly the most comfortable thing I have worn. I am graduating as a very mature student and part of me feels I have earned the chance to wear it. It has been a long, long struggle to get here. On the other hand I don't want to look like a eejit if everyone else doesn't. Should I wear the mortar board or not ?

Larianne

Going by the pictures I've seen today, lots of people wear them.

Feck that, when I graduate (fingerscrossed) next June I'll be flinging that cap high up in the air.

Stench Blossoms

Go for it.

I wore mine. No regrets

ElleEm

For me, I felt like I DESERVED to wear it after all the hard work!!

I suppose it's like women who wear huge big fluffy wedding dresses, in the whole "it's the only day I'll get to wear it" thing.

KiLLeR CoUCh

I say yay. I wore one to my graduation last year and I only remember seeing one woman not wearing one, and that may have been because she took it off for a minute.

As far as I'm concerned I think the "cap on a woman's education" thing is a bit of an urban legend. I think the other theory that men stopped wearing them in protest of women attending college is also a fallacy.

The best explanation I've heard is that in Oxbridge type colleges the graduation ceremony is generally very mass like or religious in theme. Traditionally, men take off hats when entering the ceremony, but women would leave them on, similar as they would if they were attending mass. Eventually the wearing of caps was phased out for men. I don't know how true that is but it sounds a hell of a lot more plausible to me. I'm also going to stick with that explanation because I'm sick of my mother wringing her hands at my last graduation photo because I decided to wear the cap

Wear it and enjoy tossing it up in the air! I couldn't with mine because the dress hire people had to pin it to my head to get it to stay on

krudler

jos28 wrote: »

I am graduating on Monday and I have just picked up my robes from the hire place. I noticed at previous ceremonies that some women wear the head gear and some don't. I have heard all the controversy about it representing a 'capping' on a woman's education. I tried it on and it is not exactly the most comfortable thing I have worn. I am graduating as a very mature student and part of me feels I have earned the chance to wear it. It has been a long, long struggle to get here. On the other hand I don't want to look like a eejit if everyone else doesn't. Should I wear the mortar board or not ?

Whats this?

username123

You wear it, it represents a cap on education, you fling it in the air, you are throwing off the old traditions and removing that cap!

I wore mine and threw it. I think the men wore them too at mine (DIT).

jos28

Loving all the positivity and knowledge here ! You have made up my mind for me, I WILL wear it and to hell with the begrudgers. As ElleEm says, it's the only day I will get to wear it. Unless I do a Masters.....mmm....maybe:D

rainbow kirby

It was -3C outside in the middle of the day when I had my MSc graduation. I sure as hell wore it - for practical reasons!

Princess Peach

Don't think there was a single girl the day if my graduation not wearing one, I liked having the full outfit anyway

May be your only graduation, go for it if you want. If anyone thinks less of you, who cares!

I have a graduation next year hopefully but won't be able to travel for it so glad I enjoyed my first one.

Stheno

Princess Peach wrote: »

Don't think there was a single girl the day if my graduation not wearing one, I liked having the full outfit anyway

May be your only graduation, go for it if you want. If anyone thinks less of you, who cares!

I have a graduation next year hopefully but won't be able to travel for it so glad I enjoyed my first one.

I'm doing a Masters by distance, but I'm travelling to the UK for my graduation and sure as hell wearing that cap!

2.5 years of hell is going to be recognised! Even if it is a silly photo!

I'm really looking forward to it possibly as I dropped out of my undergrad degree and am doing this while working?

LeeHoffmann

Whats this?

basically that the cap represents the end/height of a woman´s academic achievement - she can go "this far and no further" in other words

Posy

Every girl at my graduation wore a cap.
I wore mine with pride when I got my degree and then my masters.

Just don't wear an 'up-do' and bring hair pins because they're feckers to keep on!

I didn't want to wear one at all but my mum insisted

Princess Peach

Stheno wrote: »

I'm doing a Masters by distance, but I'm travelling to the UK for my graduation and sure as hell wearing that cap!

2.5 years of hell is going to be recognised! Even if it is a silly photo!

I'm really looking forward to it possibly as I dropped out of my undergrad degree and am doing this while working?

Its about a thousand euro return for flights to my university

Twee.

I think I'll wear one (in less than two weeks!!), for outfit completeness

lilmissprincess

Wore mine. It was ridiculously uncomfortable but loved (very carefully) flinging it in the air and have the pics (and a video) to prove it!

awec

This post has been deleted.

Siuin

I won't be wearing mine next year- I prefer updos and I'm not crazy about the reasons being put forth as to why we have them and not men (even if some of them could be fabricated)

Procrastastudy

Open to correction but for those interested.

When women were admitted to Trinity College for the first time the men threw away their mortar boards in disgust. Women where only allowed to attain bachelors degrees so the board became a symbol of that 'cap' and men don't wear them.

In Oxford (and probably Cambridge and other universities) students have to wear the gowns and boards into exams. You frequently see them trudging around Oxford with them on.

Pembily

I wore mine and as the only girl in my class I wore it with pride They are feckers to keep on, so defo bring hair pins.

openup

I'm not graduating till next year year but I'm already trying to decide what to do! I don't want to be the only girl not wearing one but I don't like what it symbolizes (or has come to symbolize anyway) and I think a nice up-do might look nicer. I'm also doing my dissertation on women's emancipation so I don't know if it would feel appropriate!

The Idyl Race

The real story about women, mortar boards and the NUI colleges is a lot more prosaic. It has nothing to with men throwing mortar boards away in disgust at women joining, and absolutely nothing to do with a "cap" or otherwise on womens' education.

In Oxford, when women were admitted to the University, instead of a mortar board they wore a soft cap vaguely shaped like a mortar board, and mortar boards were for men only.

A Dublin company, Walter Conan Limited, became the robemaker for the NUI colleges and for reasons of cost the NUI colleges all adopted the mortar board for both men and women. This worked well until an incident in the 1950s where a woman complained of getting alopecia from a hired mortar board because of the ingrained hair oil from a man.

The NUI colleges promptly decided to avoid legal trouble that men should not wear mortar boards for NUI graduations. The same issue never arose for doctorate bonnets.

TCD had its own robemaker, a company called Armstrong and Oxford Limited, and both men and women continued to wear mortar boards.

Ziphius

The Idyl Race wrote: »

TCD had its own robemaker, a company called Armstrong and Oxford Limited, and both men and women continued to wear mortar boards.

Well not quite, officially both men and women graduating from DU may wear the cap if they choose but in practice only women wear it.


From TCD academic dress: http://www.tcd.ie/vpcao/administration/records-awards/academic-dress.php

"The prescribed dress for men (clergy or military excepted) is dinner jacket, white shirt, black or white bow tie. Female (clergy or military excepted) candidates wear black, or white, or a combination of both.

All candidates must wear the hood and gown of the degree they are qualified to receive; the wearing of caps is optional."

jos28

Nothing wrong with the levels of knowledge in The Ladies Lounge, it's amazing to get so much information in a thread about academic headgear. Well done everyone !
Openup, I would love to read your thesis on female emancipation when it's finished.

The Big Red Button

Ziphius wrote: »

Well not quite, officially both men and women graduating from DU may wear the cap if they choose but in practice only women wear it.


From TCD academic dress: http://www.tcd.ie/vpcao/administration/records-awards/academic-dress.php

"The prescribed dress for men (clergy or military excepted) is dinner jacket, white shirt, black or white bow tie. Female (clergy or military excepted) candidates wear black, or white, or a combination of both.

All candidates must wear the hood and gown of the degree they are qualified to receive; the wearing of caps is optional."

I've heard about how girls graduating from Trinity had to wear black or white, made me happy that I dropped out from my course when I did. :pac:

So, eh, going by Trinity's strict rules ... technically a dude could go there for graduation wearing his dinner jacket, white shirt, bow tie ... and boxers?! :P :cool:

sunbeam

As far as I'm aware women students at Oxford always had the option of wearing a mortarboard. The soft hats were introduced as an option for those who found mortarboards unflattering.

I remember going through some old TCD calenders in the late 1990s and from the 1970s the academic dress regulations stated that women must wear caps, so I'm glad to see that that has been removed.

The NUI regulations never actually stated that, but up to about a decade ago mortarboards were the prescribed hat for PhD graduands, with doctoral bonnets for higher doctorates only (D.Litt, D.Sc etc). MD graduands used to wear the bonnets too, even through that wasn't a higher doctorate-I think the robe-makers probably just didn't quite know what to do with them. Similarly some graduands from the first doctorates in clinical psychology wore the higher doctorate gowns and hats. Since the regulations were revised mortarboards are optional for everyone up to masters level and bonnets are supposed to be mandatory for all PhDs and higher doctorates.

The Idyl Race

sunbeam wrote: »

As far as I'm aware women students at Oxford always had the option of wearing a mortarboard. The soft hats were introduced as an option for those who found mortarboards unflattering.

I remember going through some old TCD calenders in the late 1990s and from the 1970s the academic dress regulations stated that women must wear caps, so I'm glad to see that that has been removed.

The NUI regulations never actually stated that, but up to about a decade ago mortarboards were the prescribed hat for PhD graduands, with doctoral bonnets for higher doctorates only (D.Litt, D.Sc etc). MD graduands used to wear the bonnets too, even through that wasn't a higher doctorate-I think the robe-makers probably just didn't quite know what to do with them. Similarly some graduands from the first doctorates in clinical psychology wore the higher doctorate gowns and hats. Since the regulations were revised mortarboards are optional for everyone up to masters level and bonnets are supposed to be mandatory for all PhDs and higher doctorates.

Thanks for that. Is it now the case that men can wear the mortar board then? I also remember the whole issue around the PhD mortar boards with the coloured tassel depending on the discipline - one unfortunate helper (not me thankfully) made audible reference to a "full doctorate" and was corrected fairly sharpish.

sunbeam

I know there were a couple of guys in my BA class in the nineties who were very disappointed to be told they could not wear mortarboards, but I saw one man wearing a mortarboard to a graduation at NUI Galway about seven or eight years ago after the regulations were updated. I think it's now a case of most guys just assuming that they are for women only as that's all they have ever seen.

I forgot to mention the Oxford ladies soft cap was considered more practical by many women as you could fit a bun of hair within it, in the era when up-dos were the norm.

Ziphius

chatterpillar wrote: »

I've heard about how girls graduating from Trinity had to wear black or white, made me happy that I dropped out from my course when I did. :pac:

So, eh, going by Trinity's strict rules ... technically a dude could go there for graduation wearing his dinner jacket, white shirt, bow tie ... and boxers?! :P :cool:

Still do! Both men and women must wear black or white (with military and clergy excepted) during commencements. The dress code is black-tie despite the majority of the ceremonies taking place in the morning. Crazy old Trinity, eh?

I always thought the term dinner jacket implied a full dinner suit but perhaps not, maybe there is no obligation to wear any trousers :P

cdaly_

Ziphius wrote: »

I always thought the term dinner jacket implied a full dinner suit but perhaps not, maybe there is no obligation to wear any trousers :P

I'm pretty sure dinner jacket, tie etc is perfectly acceptable over a kilt...

Larianne

Ziphius wrote: »

Well not quite, officially both men and women graduating from DU may wear the cap if they choose but in practice only women wear it.


From TCD academic dress: http://www.tcd.ie/vpcao/administration/records-awards/academic-dress.php

"The prescribed dress for men (clergy or military excepted) is dinner jacket, white shirt, black or white bow tie. Female (clergy or military excepted) candidates wear black, or white, or a combination of both.

All candidates must wear the hood and gown of the degree they are qualified to receive; the wearing of caps is optional."

Yeah, I just saw some photos on Facebook. All girls wearing the caps, none of the guys wearing caps.

I really want to wear a red dress at my graduation. They'll hardly not allow me to graduate will they??

Ziphius

cdaly_ wrote: »

I'm pretty sure dinner jacket, tie etc is perfectly acceptable over a kilt...

I think just in Scotland.

Larianne wrote: »

Yeah, I just saw some photos on Facebook. All girls wearing the caps, none of the guys wearing caps.

I really want to wear a red dress at my graduation. They'll hardly not allow me to graduate will they??

You'll certainly stand out. Everyone wears black and white. I really don't know how strict they are, some girls in my year got away with red shoes.

Stench Blossoms

Ziphius wrote: »

Still do! Both men and women must wear black or white (with military and clergy excepted) during commencements. The dress code is black-tie despite the majority of the ceremonies taking place in the morning. Crazy old Trinity, eh?

I always thought the term dinner jacket implied a full dinner suit but perhaps not, maybe there is no obligation to wear any trousers :P

One of my mates went to Oxford University. They have to do exams in gowns. He wore shorts under his.

stinkle

I wore mine at my BA graduation, chose not to for my PhD one this year, much to my mother's horror! Both were in TCD. I had a lot of grief during my PhD, mostly arising from a sexist male supervisor, and while I don't believe most of the urban legends anyway I felt really strongly about not wearing the cap this time around, as I never thought I'd see the day after all the upset I'd experienced.

The photographer had a right old laugh at the conversation between mam and me when I refused to wear it in my official photo, though I plonked it on for a few regular photos. Mary Robinson was awarding the degrees on the day and wasn't wearing hers either, so if it's good enough for Mary it's good enough for me!

Misticles

rainbow kirby wrote: »

It was -3C outside in the middle of the day when I had my MSc graduation. I sure as hell wore it - for practical reasons!

The snow made for a good backdrop!

Emeraldy Pebbles

chatterpillar wrote: »

I've heard about how girls graduating from Trinity had to wear black or white, made me happy that I dropped out from my course when I did. :pac:

Yup, this is true, or was at least when I graduated in 2009. You MUST wear black, white or black and white together, no other colours permitted. I have to say, I liked it, the congregation was very coordinated and classy! (if you ignored the odd oompa loompa :pac:) But it's a rule for both males and females, not just females. I mean, a guy could turn up in a coloured suit!

Annasopra

My mum wanted me to wear one at my graduation in 2002. (I'm male) I borrowed one from a friend for the photos.

Shivers26

The parentals seem to love seeing you all decked out in the cap and gown. I know mine did

Anyway, if you want to wear it, wear it. You've earned the right. It does look nice in the pictures. Tip for the girls, bring some plain hair clips in your bag, you can use them to secure the cap to your hair so its sits neater. They were a life saver on my graduation day.

Congratulations to everybody with impending graduations

Lyaiera

I'd have loved to have be in the military, just so I could have worn the dress uniform to my graduation. Even more so if I could have had a sword.

cloud_dancer

Larianne wrote: »

Yeah, I just saw some photos on Facebook. All girls wearing the caps, none of the guys wearing caps.

I really want to wear a red dress at my graduation. They'll hardly not allow me to graduate will they??

All the girls at my graduation wore the caps. Sure, there was a lot of bravado before hand from girls saying they wouldn't wear it but in the end, not many people bought into the rumours surrounding the caps.

There were a few at my graduation that wore coloured dresses. It looked a bit trashy under the gowns tbh. Black is much classier. Most people wore plain black and then changed into their dress for going out that night after the ceremony. You have to think of what it will look like under the robe as it can show quite a bit of your clothes underneath when you walk up to collect your scroll.

Malari

I'd never heard of this before, about "capping" your education. I wore mine none the wiser! Also coloured dresses weren't a problem. I wore silver, but a few of my friends had different coloured dresses on.

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

One of my mates went to Oxford University. They have to do exams in gowns. He wore shorts under his.

You have to wear a gown to eat in the halls too But they're only half length gowns. Like capes really. :pac:

confusticated

Lots of people at mine wore coloured dresses and they were lovely because they were such a contrast to the black - I had black & white as it turned out but it wasn't mandatory, my friend wore yellow and it was fantastic...the main thing is check for length of the dress! A few at my graduation were wearing really nice dresses, but they were going-out kind of dresses and looked really short and a bit inappropriate going up to get their scroll I thought. Nobody changed between the ceremony and out that night though, but our ceremony was late in the afternoon so it could've been a question of time.

And to answer the OP, I wore the cap - why not sure! The whole thing is about traditions and standing on ceremony, so one more thing can't hurt. Also I don't really intend to go back and do any more for quite a while, if ever, so it was my one chance to wear it.

Stench Blossoms

Actually the only thing I didn't like about wearing the cap is that it ruined my fringe.

sunbeam

Lyaiera wrote: »

I'd have loved to have be in the military, just so I could have worn the dress uniform to my graduation. Even more so if I could have had a sword.

In some of the nordic countries those graduating with doctorates wear a top hat, black dress or suit-and a sword!

awec

This post has been deleted.

Shivers26

Lyaiera wrote: »

I'd have loved to have be in the military, just so I could have worn the dress uniform to my graduation. Even more so if I could have had a sword.

My husband wore his dress uniform for our wedding. It looked lovely (and saved us a fortune on suit hire).

I don't recall there being a dress code for us for our graduation just that we dress 'smart'. St. Pat's must be having graduations today because I see a load of them and done up to the nines outside it and I saw 1 guy in a tux.

I never went to my graduation for a variety of reasons but I am thinking of going back to go for the level 8

When my daughter graduated she had to were the cap for the ceremony and I made her were it for the photos:P, she does not like the photo although she looks lovely IMO.

rainbow kirby

mariaalice wrote: »

she does not like the photo although she looks lovely IMO.

I hated my pics, short hair gets absolutely mashed by the mortarboard! :mad:

convert

I wore a mortar board for my BA and MA, and then the floppy hat for my PhD. I didn't have a problem wearing it, despite all the rumours and connotations. For me, the traditions only apply if you let them. Clearly, if I took them seriously, I wouldn't have completed my MA and PhD (or I wouldn't have worn them at all!) :pac:

A lot of my male friends were actually quite disappointed they couldn't wear a mortar board as they liked the idea of them, especially throwing them up in the air at the end (or, as one of my best friends said, using them as a frisbee!!).

A few girls at my graduations decided not to wear them, and, in all honesty, I thought their turnout looked incomplete and less smart than those who wore them. I feel the same about guys not wearing hats, too. I liked our PhD ceremony when everyone, male and female, were wearing hats. It looked so smart, professional and complete. Therefore, rather than getting rid of hats for girls, I'd like to see hats introduced for all (optional, of course).

jos28

Well, I am happy to report that I graduated yesterday and I wore the full regalia. I had a wonderful day and enjoyed every minute. I reluctantly handed the robes back at the end, I could have worn them forever. A very special day, thanks for all the encouragement and good wishes Ladies.