In early years, the position was also known by other names, including preceptress, lady principal, and adviser of women.
[3] The earliest precursor was the position of matron, a woman charged with overseeing a female dormitory in the early years of coeducation in the 1870s and 1880s.
[2] As the number of women in higher education rose dramatically in the late 19th century, a more comprehensive administrative response was called for.
[3] In the initial years, the responsibilities of the dean of women were not standardized,[4] but in the early 20th century it quickly took on the trappings of a profession.
[6] In 1935, Lucy Diggs Slowe formed a separate organization for African-American deans of women, the Association of Deans of Women and Advisers to Girls in Negro Schools, prompted by NADW's habit of holding conferences in racially restricted hotels.