The Role of Ecumenism and Education in Transnational Women’s Organizations: A Network Analysis of Colonial Missionary Agencies

Kerby Goff, The Pennsylvania State University

Higher education and voluntary associations expanded dramatically over the 20th century. While many have noted the impact of colonial Protestant missionaries on these transformations, none have examined the unique influence of Protestant women and women’s organizations. Drawing on a unique historical data set of Protestant missionary societies at the height of their global reach and ecumenical collaboration (1925), I construct an affiliation matrix of 49 missionary agencies and the 34 global colleges they cosponsor. Employing novel two-mode social network measures—dual-projected flow betweenness and bi-cliques, I explore the nature of ties between mission agencies and mission colleges, considering the role that women’s colleges and organizations played in shaping transnational collaboration. I find that women’s organizations exhibited greater collaboration among themselves, compared to the network as a whole, and women’s colleges played a critical role in fostering transnational collaboration.

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 Presented in Session 143. Organizing for Change: Ecumenism, Inclusion and Morality