International developments in the field of household science, debates about women's rights to a higher education and changes in workforce demographics came together in the first decade of the twentieth century to facilitate the establishment of a School of Home Science at the University of Otago. The early years were characterised by struggles over the nature of the curriculum, conflicts with university administrators and difficulties maintaining a commitment to high academic standards while meeting the competing expectations of the public, university administrators and the Department of Education that students would become technically proficient in the practical household arts. Despite the ongoing struggle for academic and scientific credibility and its location in a low-status "domestic" sphere of higher education, a home science qualification provided an alternative pathway to an increasing range of professional and academic careers, at a time when most women graduating with arts and science degrees entered teaching. (Contains 1 table and 92 footnotes.)