Boston University claims a proud place in the history of women and higher education. In the struggle for equal access to higher education, many "firsts" for women happened right here. In 1872, BU was the first university to open all its divisions to women. In 1877, Helen Magill White, a graduate scholar of Greek at BU, became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the United States. A few years later, in 1881, the first female graduate of the BU Law School, Lelia Robinson, became the first woman admitted to the Massachusetts bar.
Boston University began offering women's studies courses in the 1970s, and it formalized its efforts in this area by establishing the Women's Studies Program (WSP) in 2001. The program explores and analyzes the social, political, and economic forces that influence women worldwide. The interdisciplinary minor concentration in Women's Studies introduces students to scholarship centered on women and gender issues in diverse fields, and it enhances their understanding of traditional academic disciplines by highlighting women's intellectual contributions. Women's Studies is also available as a major concentration through the Independent Concentration Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.