Rendel , Margherita , b 1928 , educationist

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.