Margherita Rendel (b.1928) studied history and law at the University of Cambridge and held posts in central and local government, including in Hertfordshire County Council and the Ministry of Labour and National Service, before combining teaching in further and adult education with research for a PhD thesis on The Administrative Functions of the French Conseil d'État, at the London School of Economics, which she completed in 1967. She was a lecturer in comparative government at the University of Exeter, 1960-1961 and in Sep 1964 was appointed as Lecturer in Educational Administration at the University of London Institute of Education. In Mar 1973 she was seconded to the Higher Education Department of the Institute and in 1975 became Research Lecturer in Human Rights and Education. In 1976 she qualified as a barrister. Her research interests focused around discrimination against women, especially in higher education, and the examination of this within a human rights framework and she has published widely on these subjects. She was involved in many initiatives in these areas, presented evidence to parliamentary committees, served on various committees and was actively involved in wide range of national and international organisations including the Fabian Society and Labour Party, the Parliamentary All-Party Equal Rights Group, the Status of Women Committee, the Women's Group on Public Welfare, the Fawcett Society, the National Joint Committee of Working Women's Organisations, the Association of Tutors in Adult Education, the British Institute of Human Rights, the British Sociological Association, the International Political Science Association and the Royal Institute of Public Administration. After her retirement from the Institute she retained the title Reader Emerita in Human Rights and Education and has continued her research and writing.
1. Graduate Administration in Local Education Authorities, 1965-1968
A survey financed jointly by the Department of Educational Administration of the University of London Institute of Education and by the University of London Appointments Board with the support and cooperation of the Association of Education Officers. It was an analytical survey of all graduates serving as administrative officers or as general inspectors in local education authorities in England and Wales, 1965. It examined the educational background and qualifications, teaching, other employment experience and subsequent career histories of the c. 2,000 graduates who held such appointments. Material was collected by postal questionnaire and the results were processed on punch cards and analysed by sorter and computer. The final report was published as Margherita Rendel, Graduate Administrators in LEAs (University of London, 1968).
2. Survey for UNESCO of Courses and Research in Political Science, Law and Related Disciplines Concerned with the Role and Status of Women, 1979-1982
This study was commissioned by UNESCO as part of its programme of women's studies. It focused on how women's studies have developed in different institutional and political environments around the world. A preliminary report was submitted to the World Conference on the United Nations Decade for Women, Copenhagen, Jul 1980 and the final report was submitted to UNESCO in 1982 as The Study of Women and Women's Studies. See also, Margherita Rendel, 'Teaching and research related to women: a world-wide panorama', Cultures Vol III (3), p. 102-120 (Paris: UNESCO, 1982).
