Courtesy degrees - ad eundum gradum

"Steamboat ladies" was a nickname given to a number of female students at the women's colleges of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge who were awarded ad eundem University of Dublin degrees at Trinity College Dublin, between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities refused to confer degrees upon women. The name comes from the means of transport commonly used by these women to travel to Dublin for this purpose.

An ad eundem degree is an academic degree awarded by one university or college to an alumnus of another, in a process often known as incorporation. The recipient of the ad eundem degree is often a faculty member at the institution which awards the degree, e.g. at the University of Cambridge, where incorporation is expressly limited to a person who "has been admitted to a University office or a Headship or a Fellowship (other than an Honorary Fellowship) of a College, or holds a post in the University Press ... or is a Head-elect or designate of a College".

Although an ad eundem degree is not an earned degree, both the original degree(s) and the incorporated (ad eundem) degree(s) are given in post-nominals listed in the Oxford University Calendar.

Before modern transport had shrunk the world, it was common, when a graduate from one university moved into the neighborhood of another, for the new university to admit the graduate as a courtesy, "at the same degree" (ad eundem gradum). Thus if someone was a bachelor of arts in the university that they had attended, they would likewise be a bachelor of arts of their new university. (Not every college extended this courtesy to all other colleges, however.) The practice of incorporation diminished in the early 19th century, but it continues at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and Trinity College, Dublin. At the University of Oxford, incorporation first appears in the University Statutes in 1516, though the practice itself is older: In the 15th and early 16th centuries, incorporation was granted to members of universities from all over Europe. This continued until the 19th century, when in 1861 incorporation was restricted to members of Cambridge University and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1908, incorporation was further restricted to specific degrees from these universities.

A number of female students at Oxford and Cambridge were awarded ad eundem University of Dublin degrees at Trinity College, Dublin, between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities refused to confer degrees upon women.