Barbara Corlett was a staunch supporter of women's rights and education, establishing a Society for Promoting the Employment of Women to further her main goal of bringing attention to the urgent need to provide training to women.
Throughout her life Corbett had been a staunch supporter of women's suffrage and women's rights despite her conservative approach to gentility. Led by Anne Jellicoe and Corlett a committee of well to do Irish women established a Society for Promoting the Employment of Women on 19 August 1861. The main aim was to highlight the urgent need to provide training for women. 
