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Title: Women Workers in Seven Professions
Author: Morley, Edith J., 1875-1964
Language: English
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WOMEN WORKERS IN SEVEN PROFESSIONS
A SURVEY OF THEIR ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND PROSPECTS
EDITED FOR THE STUDIES COMMITTEE OF THE FABIAN WOMEN'S GROUP
BY
EDITH J. MORLEY
1914
PREFATORY NOTE
The task of collecting and editing the various essays of which this
book is comprised, has not been altogether easy. Some literary defects
and absence of unity are, by the nature of the scheme, inevitable:
we hope these are counterbalanced by the collection of first-hand
evidence from those in a position to speak authoritatively of the
professions which they follow. _Experientia docet_, and those who
desire to investigate the conditions of women's public work in various
directions, as well as those who are hesitating in their choice of a
career, may like carefully to weigh these opinions formed as a result
of personal experience.
For other defects in selection, arrangement, proportion and the like,
I am alone responsible. I have, from the first, been conscious
that many people were better suited to the editorial task than
myself--women with more knowledge of social and economic problems,
and, perhaps, with more leisure. But at the moment no one seemed to
be available, and I was persuaded to do what I could to carry out the
wishes of the Studies Committee of the Fabian Women's Group. If I
have in any measure succeeded, it is owing to the generous help and
unvarying kindness I have received in all directions. In the first
place, I would express my gratitude to the members of the Studies
Committee, and more particularly to Mrs Charlotte Wilson, the fount
and inspiration of the whole scheme, to Mrs Pember Reeves, and to
Mrs Bernard Shaw. My indebtedness to all the contributors for their
promptitude, patience, and courtesy, it is impossible to exaggerate.
I hope it will not be thought invidious if I say that without Dr
Murrell's sub-editorship of the Medical and Nursing Sections, and the
unstinted and continual help of Dr O'Brien Harris, the book could
not have appeared at all. The latter's paper on "Secondary School
Teaching" has had the benefit of criticism and suggestions from one
of the most notable Head-Mistresses of her day--Mrs Woodhouse, whose
experience of work in the schools of the Girls' Public Day School
Trust was kindly placed at the author's disposal. Similarly, some of
the details mentioned in the section on "Acting," were kindly supplied
by Mrs St John Ervine. Lastly--for it is impossible to mention all
who have assisted--I wish to thank Miss Ellen Smith for her unsparing
secretarial labours, and Miss M.G. Spencer and Miss Craig, of the
Central Bureau for the Employment of Women, for the Table which
appears at the end of Section I. This is unique as an exhaustive
summary of a mass of information, hitherto not easily accessible to
the general public.
EDITH J. MORLEY.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, READING, _December_ 1913.
CONTENTS
PREFATORY NOTE. By the Editor
FOREWORDS. ON BEHALF OF THE STUDIES COMMITTEE OF THE FABIAN WOMEN'S
GROUP
I. THE TEACHING PROFESSION
I. INTRODUCTION. By EDITH J. MORLEY, Oxford Honour
School of English Language and Literature. Professor
of English Language, University College, Reading.
Fellow and Lecturer of University of London
King's College for Women
II. WOMEN AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND UNIVERSITY
TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. By EDITH J. MORLEY
III. SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING. By (Mrs) M. O'BRIEN
HARRIS, D.Sc., London, Hon. Member of Somerville
College, Oxford. Headmistress of the County
Secondary School, South Hackney
IV. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHING. By (Mrs) KATE
DICE, C.T., Class Teacher in the service of the London
County Council, Hon. Sec. of the Fabian Education
Group
V. TEACHING IN SCHOOLS FOR THE MENTALLY AND
PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE. By (Mrs) JESSIE E.
THOMAS, C.T., Class Teacher at the London County
Council School for Physically Defective Children,
Turney Road, Dulwich
VI. THE TEACHING OF GYMNASTICS. By MARY HANKINSON,
Hon. Sec. of the Ling Association. Diploma of the
Dartford Physical Training College
VII. THE TEACHING OF DOMESTIC SUBJECTS. By (Mrs)
MARGARET M'KILLOP, M.A. (Dublin). Oxford
Honour Schools of Natural Science and of Mathematics
Fellow and Tutor of University of London King's
College for Women;
and
E. BEATRICE HOGG, first-class Diploma, National
Training School of Cookery. Instructress, London
County Council Probationary and Training Centres,
Examiner in Domestic Subjects to the City and
Guilds of London Institute, the Nautical School
of Cookery, etc. Some time Hon. Sec. London
Branch, Assistant Teachers of Domestic Subjects
TABLE I. SHOWING THE COST AND DURATION OF
EDUCATION IN ARTS AND SCIENCE, AND THE
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR WOMEN STUDENTS
AT THE VARIOUS BRITISH UNIVERSITIES. Reprinted
(with additions), by special permission, from the
pamphlet, "Openings for University Women," published
by the Central Bureau for the Employment of
Women for the Students' Careers Association
TABLE II. SHOWING SOME ADDITIONAL POST-GRADUATE
RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS IN ARTS AND SCIENCE
AVAILABLE FOR WOMEN STUDENTS, AWARDED BY
BODIES OTHER THAN UNIVERSITIES OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM. Compiled (with additions) by special permission,
from the "Report on the Opportunities for
Post-Graduate Work open to Women" published by
the Federation of University Women
II. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION INCLUDING DENTISTRY. Sub-Editor: CHRISTINE
M. MURRELL, M.D., B.S., London, Assistant Medical Officer of Health
(Special Schools) London County Council; Lecturer and Examiner on
Adolescence, Health, First Aid, Infant Care, etc., London County
Council and Battersea Polytechnic, Honorary Medical Officer,
Paddington Creche, and for Infant Consultations, North Marylebone;
late Medical Registrar and Electrician and late Resident House
Physician, Royal Free Hospital
I. MEDICINE AND SURGERY. By the Sub-Editor
II. DENTAL SURGERY. By (Mrs) Eva M. HANDLEY
READ, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.S.A., L.D.S. Dental
Surgeon to the Royal Free Hospital, the Margaret
M'Donald Baby Clinic, and the Cripple Hostel
Camberwell
III. THE NURSING PROFESSION TOGETHER WITH MIDWIFERY AND MASSAGE.
Sub-Editor: CHRISTINE M. MURRELL
PREFACE. By the Sub-Editor
I. GENERAL SURVEY AND INTRODUCTION. By E.M.
Musson. Matron of the General Hospital, Birmingham
II. NURSING IN GENERAL HOSPITALS. By E.M.
MUSSON
III. NURSING IN PRIVATE HOMES AND Co--OPERATIONS.
By GERTRUDE TOWNEND, Sister in her own Nursing
Home; late Deputy-Sister, St. Bartholomew's
Hospital; late Matron, Royal Ear Hospital, Dean
Street
IV. NURSING IN POOR LAW INFIRMARIES. By ELEANOR
C. BARTON, President of the Poor Law Infirmary
Matrons' Association
V. NURSING IN FEVER HOSPITALS. By S.G. VILLIERS,
Matron of the South-West Fever Hospital
VI. DISTRICT NURSING. By AMY HUGHES, General Superintendent
of the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for
Nurses
VII. NURSING IN SCHOOLS AND NURSES AS INSPECTORS.
By H.L. PEARSE
VIII. NURSING IN HOSPITALS FOR THE INSANE. By a
Matron of one of them
IX. NURSING IN THE COLONIES. By A. FRICKER, Matron
of the Colonial Hospital, Trinidad, under the Colonial
Nursing Association
X. NURSING IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. By the Sub-Editor
XI. PRISON NURSING. By the Sub-Editor
XII. MIDWIFERY AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN (OTHER
THAN DOCTORS). By ANNIE M'CALL, M.D., Senior
Medical Officer and Lecturer, Clapham Maternity
Hospital and School of Midwifery; late Lecturer in
and Demonstrator of Operative Midwifery, London
School of Medicine for Women; Examiner, Central
Midwives' Board; Vice-Chairman of the Committee of
the London County Council for the Supervision of
Midwives in the County of London
XIII. MASSAGE. By EDITH M. TEMPLETON, Secretary of the
Incorporated Society of Trained Masseuses
IV. WOMEN AS SANITARY INSPECTORS AND HEALTH VISITORS. By (Mrs) F.J.
GREENWOOD, Sanitary Inspector, Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, late
Chief Woman Inspector, Sheffield; Associate Royal Sanitary Institute;
Certificate, Central Midwives' Board; Diploma, National Health Society
V. WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE
I. THE HIGHER GRADES: PRESENT POSITION AND
PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE. By a Woman Civil
Servant
II. THE LOWER GRADES AND THE PRESENT POSITION.
By Another Woman Civil Servant
VI. WOMEN CLERKS AND SECRETARIES. By (Mrs) ELSPETH KEITH ROBERTSON
SCOTT
VII. ACTING AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN. By LENA ASHWELL
APPENDIX I. SCHEME OF WORK OF THE FABIAN WOMEN'S GROUP
APPENDIX II. LATEST CENSUS RETURNS OF WOMEN WORKERS IN THE SEVEN
PROFESSIONS CONSIDERED IN THIS BOOK
FOREWORDS
ON BEHALF OF THE STUDIES COMMITTEE OF THE FABIAN WOMEN'S GROUP
The present economic position of women bristles with anomalies. It
is the outcome of long ages of semi-serfdom, when women toiled
continuously to produce wealth, which, if they were married, they
could enjoy only at the good pleasure of their lords,--ages when the
work of most women was conditioned and subordinated by male dominance.
Yet in those days the working housewife commanded the consideration
always conceded to a bread-winner--even when dependent. In modern
times women's economic position has been undermined by the helpless
dependence engendered amongst the well-to-do by "parasitism" resulting
from nineteenth-century luxury--to quote the striking word of Olive
Schreiner. Similarly, dependence has been forced upon large sections
of women-folk amongst the manual workers by the loss of their hold
upon land and by the decay of home industries. Now a new force is at
work: the revolt of the modern woman against parasitism and dependence
in all their forms; her demand for freedom to work and to choose her
sphere of work, as well as for the right to dispose of what she gains.
Six years ago some women of the Fabian Society, deeply stirred by the
tremendous social import of this movement, banded themselves together
to unravel the tangled skein of women's economic subjection and to
discover how its knots were tied. The first step was to get women to
speak out, to analyse their own difficulties and hindrances as matters
boldly to be faced. Whatever the truth may turn out to be with regard
to natural and inevitable differences of faculty between men and
women, it is at least certain that difference of sex, like any other
persistent condition of individual existence, implies some difference
of outlook. The woman's own standpoint--that is the first essential in
understanding her position, economic or other: the trouble is that
she has but recently begun to realise that she inevitably has a
standpoint, which is not that of her husband, or her brother, or of
the men with whom she works, or even that which these persons imagine
must naturally be hers. Her point of view is her own, and it is
essential to social progress that she shall both recognise this fact
and make it understood.
The aim of the Fabian Women's Group was to elicit women's own thoughts
and feelings on their economic position, and to this end we invited
women of experience and expert knowledge, from various quarters and
of many types of thought, to discourse of what they best knew to
audiences of women. After the lectures, the questions raised were
discussed in all their bearings by women speaking amongst women
without diffidence or prejudice. In this manner the physical
disabilities of women as workers have been explained clearly by women
doctors, and carefully and frankly weighed and considered; the part
taken by women in producing the wealth of this country in past times
has been set forth by students of economic history, and much scattered
material of great value unearthed, and for the first time brought
together concerning a subject hitherto deemed negligible by the male
historian. Lastly, women employed in or closely connected with
each leading occupation or group of occupations to-day--from the
professions to the sweated industries--are being asked to describe
and to discuss with us the economic conditions they have directly
experienced or observed.[1]
It is hoped in time to complete and shape for publication all the
material accumulated during these six years. We make a beginning with
this book of essays on the economic position of women in seven of the
leading professions at present open to them. Some of the papers appear
almost in the form in which they were first read to the group and its
women visitors: when the original lectures did not fully cover the
ground, they have been revised, altered, expanded, or re-written,
or essays by new writers have been substituted for those originally
presented. Thus the papers on "Teaching in Secondary Schools" by Dr
O'Brien Harris and that on "Teaching in Elementary Schools" by Mrs
Dice, take the place of an address on "The Life of a Teacher," by
Miss Drummond, President of the Incorporated Association of Assistant
Mistresses. This paper was withdrawn at the writer's request, but many
valuable points from her lecture, which she generously placed at the
disposal of the Editor, have been embodied. The other papers in the
Education Section are all new. Similarly, in the section which
deals with the profession of Nursing, Miss Hughes' paper on
"District-Nursing" is the only one which is based on a lecture given
to the group; the other articles are all supplementary. Together, we
believe they form a unique and almost exhaustive description of the
profession.
That the volume might be made as useful as possible, the same method
has been followed throughout. The paper and discussion at the group
meeting have formed the nucleus from which a thorough treatment of the
subject has been developed.
We hope and believe that this book may help to arouse deeper interest
in the vigour and energy with which professional women are now
striving to make good their economic position; that it may serve
to enlist active sympathy with their struggle against the special
difficulties and hindrances which beset them, and make plain the
value to society of the work they can do. We also believe that the
information here brought together may be useful in helping young women
to choose and prepare for their life-work.
No pains have been spared to make the book as accurate as possible,
and to bring it in every case up to date.
It should be clearly emphasised that each contributor to this volume
has expressed her own opinions freely and independently, and that the
writers have been selected because they are leading members of their
respective professions, not because they represent a particular school
of thought. We have endeavoured to get our material from the most
authoritative quarters, irrespective of the personal views of those
who have supplied it. All the writers have given generously of
their time and labour in order that they might contribute to an
investigation of profound social and national importance--the clear
presentation of the economic position of women as it appears to women
themselves. Widely different as are the professional interests and
divergent the opinions of the writers of these essays, no one can, as
we think, read consecutively the various sections of the book without
arriving at the conclusion that, on certain fundamental questions,
there is substantial agreement among them. Almost all, as a result of
their professional experience, definitely express the conviction that
women need economic independence and political emancipation: nowhere
is there any hint of opposition to either of these ideals. The writers
are unanimous in their insistence upon the importance--to men as
well as to women--of equal pay for equal work, irrespective of
sex. Wherever the subject of the employment of married women is
mentioned--and it crops up in most of the papers--there is adverse
comment on the economically unsound, unjust, and racially dangerous
tendency in many salaried professions to enforce upon women
resignation on marriage. It is clear that professional women are
beginning to show resentment at the attempt to force celibacy upon
them: they feel themselves insulted and wronged as human beings when,
being physically and mentally fit, they are not permitted to judge for
themselves in this matter. Apart from their righteous indignation, it
may be suggested that, even from the ratepayers' point of view,
the normal disabilities of motherhood, with the consequent leave of
absence, would probably in the long run be less expensive than the
dismissal, at the zenith of their powers, of experienced workers,
who have to be replaced by younger and less efficient women. It
is, moreover, a truism that the best work is produced by the
most contented worker. A fundamentally happy woman, continually
strengthened and refreshed by affectionate companionship, is obviously
better able to endure the strain of professional work than her
unmarried sister, who at best, is deprived of the normal joys
of fully--developed womanhood. The action of Central and Local
Authorities and of other employers who make marriage a disability
for their women employèes, is alluded to by our contributors with an
indignation, the more striking for the studied calm with which it is
expressed.[2]
The future as foreshadowed in these papers seems to us bright with
hope. In spite of difficulties, opposition, rebuffs, and prejudice,
professional women workers are slowly but surely advancing in status
and in recognition. They are gaining courage to train themselves
to claim positions of responsibility and command, and to refuse, if
occasion arises, to be subordinated, on the ground of their
womanhood, to men less able than themselves. They are learning by
experience,--many have already learned,--the need for co-operation and
loyalty to one another. While they are thus gaining new and valuable
qualities, they have never lost, in spite of many hardships, the
peculiar joy and lofty idealism in work which are, in part, a reaction
from ages of economic and personal dependence.
[Footnote 1: For an analysis of the whole scheme of work of the Fabian
Women's Group, _see_ Appendix I.]
[Footnote 2: In Western Australia the following Amendment, 340A.,
to the Criminal Code has passed the third reading in the Legislative
Assembly, and is expected to pass the Legislative Council before this
book appears:--
(1) Any person, who, either as principal or agent--_(a)_ Makes
or enters into or enforces or seeks to enforce any rule, order,
regulation, contract, agreement or arrangement in restraint of or
with intent to restrain, prevent or hinder the marriage of _any person
(N.B._ A woman is a "person" in Western Australia) who is in his
employment or in the employment of his principal, and is of the age of
twenty-one years or upwards; or
_(b)_ Dismisses or threatens to dismiss any person from his employment
or the employment of his principal, or alters or threatens to alter,
any such person's position to the prejudice of such person by reason
of the fact that such person has married or intends to marry, or
with a view to restrain, prevent, or hinder such person from getting
married;
is guilty of an offence, and is liable to imprisonment for three
months, or to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds.
(2) The provisions of this section shall apply to corporations so far
as they are capable of being applied.]
WOMEN WORKERS IN SEVEN PROFESSIONS
SECTION I
THE TEACHING PROFESSION
"All stood thus far
Upon equal ground: that we were brothers all
In honour, as in one community."
I
INTRODUCTION
Until recently, girls who desired to earn their livelihood drifted
naturally into teaching, which was often the last refuge of the
destitute. Even nowadays, it is taken too much for granted that some
form of teaching is the obvious opening for educated women, who
aspire to economic independence. But, thanks to various causes and
developments, it is now almost universally recognised that teaching is
a profession, and one which can be entered only by candidates, who are
properly equipped and trained. In a book such as this, it may then
be assumed that the elderly governess, driven to teach by poverty and
lack of friends, with no qualifications but gentility, good manners,
good principles, and a humble mind, is a figure which is mercifully
becoming less and less common. It is still necessary, however, to
insist on the fact that brains and education and training are not
by themselves sufficient to produce a successful teacher. Quite
literally, teaching is a "calling" as well as a profession: the true
candidate must have a vocation; she must mount her rostrum or enter
her class-room with a full conviction of the importance of her
mission, and of her desire to undertake it. This earnest purpose
should not, however, destroy her sense of humour and of proportion;
it is possible to take oneself and one's daily routine of work too
seriously, a fault which does not tend to impress their importance on
a scoffing world. No girl should become a teacher because she does
not know how else to gain her living. The profession is lamentably
overstocked with mediocrities, lacking enthusiasm and vigour, drifting
more and more hopelessly from one post to another. But there is plenty
of room for keen and competent women, eager to learn and to teach, and
this is true of all branches of the profession. No work can well be
more thankless, more full of drudgery and of disappointment than that
of a teacher who has missed her vocation. Few lives can be more full
of happy work and wide interests than those of teachers who rejoice in
their calling.
Yet there is need to call attention to certain drawbacks which are
common to all branches of the profession. As a class, teachers are
badly paid, and many are overworked. The physical and mental strain
is inevitably severe: in many cases this is unnecessarily increased
by red-tape regulations that involve loss of time and temper and an
amount of clerical work, which serves no useful purpose. Teachers
need to concentrate their energies on essentials: of these the life
intellectual is the most important, and this, however elementary the
standard of work demanded in class. No one can teach freshly unless
she is at the same time learning, and widening her own mental horizon.
Too many forms to fill up, too many complicated registers to keep, too
many meetings to attend--these things stultify the mind and crush the
spirit. They are not a necessary accompaniment of State or municipal
control, though sometimes under present conditions it is hard to
believe that they are not the inevitable concomitants of official
regulations. Anything which tends to make teachers' lives more narrow,
is opposed to the cause of education. This truth should be instilled
into all official bosoms. Wherever the State or the local authority
intervenes, wherever public money has been granted, there regular
inspection obviously becomes inevitable, but the multiplication of
inspectors, each representing a different authority, is not necessary
or sensible. At present, in all grant-aided institutions, whatever
their status, inspectors do not cease from troubling, and teachers as
well as administrative officers, though weary, find no rest.[1] This
is as detrimental to the pupil as to the teacher, for it lowers the
intellectual standard by substituting form for matter and the letter
for the spirit. Thus the inspector of an art-school who enquires only
about what are officially termed "student-hours," and not at all about
the work therein accomplished, does not make for artistic efficiency
either in teacher or taught. Yet this instance is of very recent
occurrence, and there are countless parallel cases. No wonder the
Universities demand freedom from State control; no wonder Training
Colleges and subsidised secondary as well as elementary schools groan
under its tender mercies. The present forms taken by this control are
mostly obnoxious to all practical educationists. They arise from lack
of trust in the teaching profession on the part of administrators--a
mistrust which it is of primary importance to allay by increased
efficiency, independence, and organisation. Nationalisation of
the schools is necessary, if a real highway of education is to be
established: it must be obtained without irritating conditions which
make freedom, experiment, and progress too often impossible. The task
before the teaching profession is to retain full scope for initiative
and experiment, whilst working loyally under a public body. This
should be specially the work of the socialist teacher, while the
socialist administrator and legislator must see that their side of the
work leaves full room for individuality.
In the following section it is obviously impossible adequately to
consider all branches of the teaching profession, and it has therefore
been thought the wisest course to select the leading varieties of work
in which women teachers are engaged and to treat them in some detail.
The writers of the various articles express their own points of view,
gained by practical first-hand experience of the work they describe.
Allowance must, perhaps, in some cases be made for personal
enthusiasm, or for the depression that arises from thwarted efforts
and unfulfilled ideals. At any rate no attempt has been made to
co-ordinate the papers or to give them any particular tendency. As
a result, certain deductions may be made with some confidence. Women
teachers of experience are convinced of the manifold attractions of
their profession, and at the same time are alive to its disadvantages
as well as to its possibilities. Alike in University, secondary
school, and elementary school there is the joy of service, and the
power to train,
"To riper growth the mind and will.
"And what delights can equal those
That stir the spirit's inner deeps,
When one that loves, but knows not, reaps
A truth from one that loves and knows?"
Of all teachers, perhaps she who elects to work in an elementary
school is in this respect most fortunate and most rich in
opportunities, since, to many of her children, she is the one bright
spot in their lives, the one person who endeavours to understand and
to stimulate them to the effort which all normal children enjoy. For
her, too, particularly if her work lies in a poor district, there
is the opportunity, if she care to take it, for all kinds of social
interests. There will, of course, be much to sadden her in such
experiences, but at least they will add a sense of reality to her
teaching which will keep her in close touch with life. She will find
that there are compensations for hard work and red-tape regulations,
even for low remuneration and slowness of promotion. Nor must it
be forgotten that, inadequate as is her salary, it contrasts not
unfavourably with that of other occupations for women, _e.g._
clerkships and the Civil Service, in which the work is in itself less
attractive. As compared with the assistant mistress in a secondary
school, her lot is not altogether unenviable. If she has shorter
holidays, larger classes, and at the worst, but by no means
inevitably, a lower stipend, these facts must be counterbalanced by
remembering that she has comparatively few corrections, much less
homework, and no pressure of external examining bodies, that her
tenure is far less insecure, and that her training and education
have been to a very large extent borne by the State or by local
authorities.
The following table gives the approximate cost of College education
for elementary teachers-in-training. If it be compared with the
expenses that have to be met by other students from private sources
(_vide_ p. 7, or, in greater detail, pp. 82 _et seq_.), it will be
seen that the elementary teacher begins her career with a substantial
subsidy from the State.
_Elementary Teachers_.
The following is a typical table of annual cost at a University
College which provides for two-year and for three-year students. The
training is obtainable at slightly lower cost to students in some
other colleges.
Grants by Board of Fees payable by students
Education to College. to College.
Tuition. Maintenance. Tuition. Maintenance.
Women students £13 £20 £12 From £12 to
in residence £22 according
to accommodation.
(It is to be noted that the Government maintenance grant
for men students in residence is £40, which can be
made practically to cover expenses.)
Women students £13 £20 £12 ...
living at home (paid to student)
Men students receive _£25 _maintenance grant.
Apparently the Government policy, as evidenced by its maintenance
grants, is to discourage women students from entering residential
colleges. Yet it is a well-known fact that the wear and tear involved
in living at home is far greater than at college--especially for
women--and the educational advantages correspondingly fewer than those
resulting from residence.
County Councils frequently provide "free places" at local colleges,
together, in some cases, with supplementary bursaries for
maintenance. Non-resident students--_e.g._, in London--seldom have
any out-of-pocket expenses for their actual education. Nor must it be
forgotten that education up to college age is free to junior county
scholars and to bursars, who also receive small grants towards
maintenance.
_College Fees for other than Elementary Teachers-in-Training_[2]
Oxford and Cambridge Colleges From £90 to £105 a year for a
minimum of 3 years (of 24 weeks).
Other Residential Universities
and Colleges From £52 to £90 or £110 a
year for a minimum of 3
years (of 30 to 35 weeks).
Non-residential Colleges From £20 to £55 a year for a
minimum of 3 years. (The
cost of maintenance must be
reckoned at about £40 a
year, as a minimum.)
Students who desire to do advanced work will need at least one, and
probably two, additional years at the University, while all women who
intend to teach in schools ought also to spend one year in training.
A large number of County Councils provide "senior" scholarships to
cover or partially to cover college fees. In some counties only one
or two such scholarships are given annually, and there is severe
competition: in others they are comparatively easy to obtain, though
there are never enough for all candidates who desire a University
education. Most of these scholarships are not renewable for a fourth
year of training--an extremely short-sighted policy on the part of the
authorities.
At practically every University, entrance or other scholarships and
exhibitions are awarded annually. Competition for these is usually
very severe, and they are extremely difficult to gain. At Oxford
and Cambridge only quite exceptional candidates can hope to secure
scholarships at the women's colleges. Moreover, scholarships seldom
cover the complete cost of maintenance and tuition; at Oxford and
Cambridge they never do so.
Most secondary teachers, then, must incur liabilities varying from
£60 to £350, apart from school, holiday, and personal expenses, before
they obtain their first degree. On the other hand, a graduate with
good testimonials can very often obtain her professional training at
comparatively small cost by means of a bursary: with luck, she may get
maintenance as well as free tuition. Every year, however, as training
is more widely recognised as essential, the proportion of scholarships
available becomes smaller. With the advent of the new Teachers'
Register, which makes training indispensable after 1918, girls will
more and more often be obliged to find means to pay for their own
training. At present it is often possible to borrow for this purpose
from loan societies specially formed to meet the needs of women
preparing to enter professions.
The training for kindergarten and lower-form mistresses is less
expensive, arduous, and lengthy. Students are required to give
evidence of having received a good secondary education; they can then
take their First Froebel Certificate after one year, and their Higher
Froebel Certificate after about two years' training. The cost of such
training varies from £30 to £58 non-resident; £120 to £150 resident.
If they elect to go to the House of Education at Ambleside, the
training is for two years, and is specially suited to those who
wish to teach in private families. The cost amounts to £90 a year,
including residence, which is obligatory.
Kindergarten assistant-mistresses usually obtain from £90 to £100
salary for part-day work, while for whole-day work the rate is the
same as that of their colleagues. Mistresses in charge of a large
kindergarten department often receive additions to their stipend if
they are willing to train student-mistresses for Froebel examinations.
The Ambleside students usually teach small private classes, or accept
posts as resident governesses in families. Their remuneration varies
in accordance with the work done, but it is usually about the same as
that received by kindergarten and lower-form mistresses.
The stipends of other secondary teachers are considered in the article
by Dr O'Brien Harris (see p. 32). It should be noted that in good
private schools where the standard of teaching is equally high, the
salaries are approximately on the same scale as in public schools. But
private schools vary enormously in standing. When they are inferior,
the teachers are paid miserable pittances, and are often worth no more
than they receive. Such schools, however, are rapidly decreasing in
number, since they cannot survive competition with public State-aided
schools. The best private schools, on the other hand, supply a real
need, and, as a large proportion of their pupils do not enter
for public examinations, it is possible in them, to make valuable
experiments which could not easily be tried in larger subsidised
institutions.
In boarding-schools, the conditions do not markedly differ from those
obtaining in day-schools. The chief danger is lest the teachers should
suffer from the strain of supervision-duties in addition to their
work in school. But in the better schools this is avoided by the
appointment of house-mistresses, the teaching staff living apart from
the girls, either in lodgings or in a hostel of their own. When they
"live in," the value of their board for the school terms is usually
reckoned at about £40 a year, which is deducted from the ordinary
salary of an assistant. The cost of living in a mistresses' house is
usually higher, but there are many counterbalancing advantages, the
chief of which is complete freedom when school duties are over.
It would not be surprising if all women who have incurred the heavy
expenses of preparation for a teaching career, were dissatisfied with
the very small return they may expect by way of salary. Certainly if
we judged by the standard of payment, the profession might well appear
unimportant. Men and women alike receive inadequate remuneration in
all its branches, but, as in other callings, women are worse paid than
men. One might imagine that the training of girls was less arduous
or less important than that of boys, since no one suggests that women
teachers are less conscientious or less competent than their male
colleagues. Now that at every stage co-education of the sexes is
becoming less unusual, it is wise policy in the interests of men as
well as of women, to make the standard of remuneration depend, not on
the sex of the worker, but on the quality of the work. Otherwise
men will gradually be driven from the profession, as is already the
tendency in the United States of America and, to some extent, in
elementary teaching in this country. Needless to say, the women's
salaries need levelling up: it would be hopeless policy to reduce the
men's maxima to those of the women. In many secondary schools and in
at any rate some elementary ones, there is too great a discrepancy
between the salary of the head and that of the assistants. Here
again, teachers might endeavour to arrive at some united expression
of opinion. All would probably agree that the profession should be
entered for the sake of the work itself, and not on the remote chance
of becoming a head-mistress. But while the difference in salary is
very great, it is inevitable that ambitious teachers must aspire to
headships, even though they be better suited to class work.
Finally, it may be repeated, that with all its drawbacks, the teaching
profession has much to recommend it to those who desire to make
it their life-work. It is not suited to all comers: it makes heavy
demands on mind and body and heart; it gives little material return.
But it gives other returns in generous measure. For teachers it is
less difficult than for most people to preserve their faith in human
nature, less impossible, even in the midst of daily routine, to
believe in the dignity of labour, and to illuminate it with the light
of enthusiasm and aspiration.
"... whether we be young or old
Our destiny, our being's heart and home,
Is with infinitude, and only there;
With hope it is, hope that can never die,
Effort, and expectation and desire,
And something evermore about to be."
[Footnote 1: The ideal inspector is, of course, a help and not a
hindrance to the teacher, acting as a propagator of new ideas
and bringing into touch with one another, workers who are widely
separated. But the reach of most inspectors far exceeds their grasp.]
[Footnote 2: See table at end of section, p. 82.]
II
WOMEN AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND UNIVERSITY TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
When a girl is about to leave school at the age of seventeen or
eighteen, she is often as little able to determine what profession
she wishes to adopt, as is her brother in similar case. If she is
intelligent, well-trained and eager to study, her natural impulse is
to go to college, and to get there, it is still usually the line of
least resistance to say that she wishes to become a teacher. When
there are pecuniary difficulties in the way, the decision must be
taken still earlier. The unfortunate child in the elementary school
used to be compelled to make her choice at the age of twelve
or thirteen, often to find later on, when the first barriers of
pupil-teaching and King's Scholarship were surmounted, that she
was not really suited to her profession or that continued study
was uncongenial. Even now, when the system is different and better,
children are bound too early by a contract they find it hard to break.
It cannot be too often insisted that every intelligent child who
is worthy of a junior or senior scholarship, is not therefore of
necessity predestined to the profession of teaching--a profession so
arduous, so full of drudgery and of disappointment that it should be
entered by those only who are sure of their mission, and full of the
spirit that makes learning and teaching a lasting joy.
There should be other paths from elementary and secondary school to
the University than that which leads to the teacher's platform.
Moreover, granted that the desire to teach is a real one, and that
the girl has aptitude, it ought still to be unnecessary to choose
a particular branch of the profession before she has become an
under-graduate. A University career means, among other things, the
discovery of new powers, new interests, and opportunities; sometimes
it brings with it the painful conviction that aspiration has
outstripped capacity. The bright girl who has excelled at school,
may find that she is unfitted for independent honour work: she is not
necessarily worse on that account, but she must substitute some other
plan for her ambition to become a "specialist." The slow plodder who
could never trust her memory at school, may, at College, discover
unsuspected powers of investigation and co-ordination which mark her
out for some branch of higher study. The University, the first contact
with a more independent and larger life, is the "testing-place for
young souls": students should enter its portals as free women, the
world all before them where to choose. In many cases not until the
first degree is taken, has the proper time come to determine finally
the profession which is to be adopted. This is the ideal--for most
people admittedly a far away one at present. But even now, the
would-be teacher should not be asked to decide earlier than this on
the particular branch of the profession which she is to enter. The
average pass graduate will do best to fit herself as an all-round
form mistress: there should be no reason to determine in what type of
school, elementary or secondary. The training required should be the
same if the classes were, as they ought to be, of manageable size, and
the equipment in both types of institution equally good. Teachers
in both kinds of school would benefit if the present absurd division
between them ceased to exist. Children under fourteen require similar
discipline whatever their social status: even if the subjects taught
are to differ somewhat--a matter which is controversial and need not
be discussed here--the teachers need similar training and the same
kind and amount of academic education. Until these are secured, there
can be no real equality of opportunity for the elementary school
child: only the very best intellects in the class of 60 can hope to
compete with the average individually educated child in the form of
20 or 30--and this is true whatever the merits and enthusiasm of the
teacher.
Some girls will welcome the larger opportunities for social service
which are open to the elementary school-teacher: others will prefer
and be better suited to the conditions of the secondary school.
Clearly, the student, whose expenses have been defrayed by the
Government on condition that she enters its service, must fulfil her
undertaking: but that should not in itself limit her to one type of
school in these days of grant-aided institutions.[1] The new four-year
course makes it possible for her, as for independent students, to
train in the year subsequent to taking a degree--an essential reform
if the old over-strain and rush are to be avoided. It is generally
accepted, and in girls' secondary schools commonly acted upon, that
professional training for one year after graduation, is indispensable.
The teacher is born, not made, but she needs help if she is to avoid
mistakes equally disastrous to herself and her pupils: she requires
some knowledge of child-character, some acquaintance with the history
and theory of education, some leisure to formulate, some opportunity
to consider the aims as well as the methods of her teaching. We have,
perhaps, passed beyond the stage when it is necessary further to
discuss the value and effect of training. It is still desirable
to emphasise the fact that the untrained woman teacher finds it
increasingly difficult to obtain satisfactory and well-paid school
posts.[2] Girls should endeavour by every means in their power to
secure this fourth year at college, which is essential to their
competency and to security of employment. It would also be well to
impress on county councils that their work is but half done if they
continue to refuse a renewal of scholarships for training to those who
have taken a degree.
Students who have graduated with honours will have to decide before
they begin to train, whether they wish to become specialist teachers
and whether they have sufficient intellectual capacity to do so.
Generally speaking, a student who has obtained third-class honours
will do better to prepare herself for ordinary form work; she is
not likely to obtain control of the teaching of her own subject in a
first-rate school, though doubtless she will often get the opportunity
to take some classes under the direction of the specialists. Graduates
in high honours will usually desire to devote themselves mainly to the
subject in which they have proved their ability, and their training
must be adapted to their end. Modern language or English specialists
will need practical training in phonetics, for example: mathematicians
require to study modern methods of teaching their subject, and so
forth. The best training colleges, of course, provide for such cases;
in this respect, University training-departments have the advantage
over others, since they can secure the services of experts for the
discussion of their own subjects.
There remains, lastly, the case of the student who, while definitely
desiring to teach, wishes at the same time to go on with her own work,
to undertake research or advanced or independent study. Such an
one will aim at a University or College appointment, in the hope
of pursuing her own work under congenial conditions. At Oxford and
Cambridge a woman is, at this stage and always, definitely at a
disadvantage by reason of her sex. For her there are scarcely any
fellowships or post-graduate scholarships, and too often the promising
scholar is caught up in the whirl of teaching for her daily bread at
the very moment when it is most necessary for her to have leisure and
ease of mind. Few things are more required in women's education at
the moment than liberal endowments for post-graduate study. The
comparatively new Federation of University Women Graduates has done
good work by making a list[3] of the opportunities available for women
graduates, either by open competition or otherwise, at the various
Universities and elsewhere: it has also founded, and twice awarded,
an annual fellowship for a woman who has already published a
distinguished contribution to learning. But much more is needed in
this direction if women are to have the same chances as men to qualify
themselves for the higher university appointments. At almost all the
new Universities men and women are nominally alike eligible for every
teaching post. In practice, women are rarely if ever selected for the
higher positions. Sex prejudice undoubtedly counts for something in
this result. It may be assumed that, with two candidates of equal
merit, preference will certainly be given to the man: indeed, it is
certain that a woman must be exceptionally qualified and far more
distinguished than her male competitors to stand a chance of a
professorial appointment even in the most liberal of co-education
universities--Manchester, for example, where the conditions are
exceptionally good. This fact should not deter _fully qualified_ women
from applying for professorial chairs. The power of suggestion is
very great, and it is well to accustom appointment committees to the
consideration of women's claims: in time it may appear less strange to
choose a strong woman candidate than to reject her in favour of a less
qualified male applicant.
It must be confessed, however, that the case does not at present often
arise. The girl who has had a brilliant undergraduate career, and who
has real capacity for advanced study, exists in her hundreds. But in
almost every case when she is not financially independent, at best
after an interval of preparation for her M.A., she accepts a junior
lectureship or demonstratorship, and from that time onwards is
swallowed up in the vortex of teaching and routine work. Often she
makes heroic efforts and succeeds in producing independent results,
but, so far, to nothing like the extent that would be commensurate
with the promise of her undergraduate achievement. Generally she
is too conscientious about detail, too interested in her students
individually and collectively, to secure sufficient time for her own
studies.
If a lecturer be known to teach between twenty and thirty hours a
week, it is tolerably, though not entirely, safe to assume that it is
a woman who is so foolish. In so doing, she is destroying her chances
of advancement--intellectual and professional--and is laying her whole
sex open to the charge of being unsuited to university work except in
its lower branches.
It is certain that the number of University appointments open to women
is on the increase, and that there is no present likelihood that the
demand for qualified women will remain stationary. On the other hand,
the necessary qualifications, personal as well as intellectual, are
high; the work is hard, though attractive, and it is in every respect
undesirable that those whose talents can better be exerted in other
branches of the profession should endeavour to obtain College posts.
Roughly speaking such openings are of four kinds :--
(1) Administrative posts. These are usually the reward of long and
successful service in junior appointments. The heads of the various
women's University Colleges are often, but by no means invariably,
well paid, and may look forward to a salary ranging from £400 to
£1,000. Such posts are obviously few in number and entail hard work
and grave responsibility. They necessarily preclude much time for
research, or even for teaching. The corresponding, but much less
responsible, influential, and well-paid position in a co-educational
University is that of Dean or Tutor of Women Students. This post
is usually, and should always be held by a woman of senior academic
standing, whose position in the class-room or laboratory commands
as much respect as her authority outside. The Dean or Tutor is
responsible for the welfare and discipline of all women students, and
is nowadays usually a member of the Senate or academic governing
body. Sometimes she is also Warden of a Women's Hostel, but this is
obviously undesirable if there be more than one Hall of Residence,
lest she may appear to favour her own students at the expense of the
others.
(2) Professorial posts and Staff Lectureships.[4] These are almost
entirely confined to Women's Colleges, though there are a very few
exceptions to this rule. The University of London has established
University Professorships and Readerships at the various constituent
Women's Colleges.[5] One of the former and several of the latter
are held by women who have been appointed after open competition. In
addition, a woman, Mrs Knowles, holds a University Readership at the
co-educational London School of Economics. There are also one or two
women professors at the newer Universities, but these as a rule retain
their positions by right of past service in a struggling institution,
not as a result of open competition, when University status had been
attained and reasonable stipends were offered to new-comers. The
National University of Ireland has, however, appointed several women
professors at its various constituent Colleges.
Salaries probably range from £300 to £700, the better paid posts as
yet very seldom falling to women.
(3) Lectureships, assistant lectureships, and demonstratorships. These
are usually open to women in practice as well as in theory, though
much depends on the personal idiosyncrasy of the head of the
department, and on the importance of the post and the salary offered.
But since it is, unhappily, often easy to secure an able woman for the
same stipend as that which must be offered to an inexperienced man,
fresh from college, difficulties are not, as a rule, placed in the
way of such appointments. The salary begins at about £150 (sometimes
less), and rises normally to about £200 or £250. A few senior and
independent lectureships are better remunerated.
(4) Closely allied with University work is the work of training
teachers. In Training-Colleges, and in University training-departments
there is a constant demand for lecturers and mistresses of method.
These posts, which are remunerated on about the same scale as other
University lectureships, are well suited to those whose interest lies
mainly in purely educational matters. Girls who have obtained
good degrees, but who do not wish to devote themselves entirely to
scholarship, will find here an attractive and ever-extending sphere of
influence. Lecturers in Training-Colleges must, of course, themselves
hold a University teaching-diploma: they should have school experience
of various kinds, and they must be enthusiastic in the cause of
training and of teaching. For competent and broad-minded women there
are many openings in this branch of the profession, and there is
much scope for independent and original work in many directions. The
training of teachers, as well as actual teaching, is of the nature
of scientific, experimental, and observational work. Lecturers in
Training-Colleges most of all, but to a large extent teachers of every
degree, must be students of psychology and of human nature. Mistresses
of Method are well aware that the ideal type of training has not yet
been evolved: they are seeking new ways of carrying on their work and
experimenting with new methods at the same time as they are guiding
others along paths already familiar to themselves. This absence of
finality, characteristic of the teaching profession as a whole, and
constituting one of its chief attractions, is especially noticeable in
all work connected with the training of teachers.
Senior appointments at all properly constituted Universities are of
life tenure--nominally until the age of sixty-five, though probably
earlier retirement will be made possible. They are made by the
Council, which usually entrusts the election either to the Senate or
to a committee, on which are representatives of both the Council and
the Senate. Unfortunately this procedure is not universal, and the
teachers are not invariably consulted in their official capacity.
Junior appointments, while subject to ratification by the Council,
are usually made in the first instance by the head of the department
concerned, usually, but not invariably, after consultation with the
Dean of the Faculty or the Vice-Chancellor. They are sometimes of
three years' tenure with or without possible extension, sometimes
subject merely to terminal notice on either side.
In the last four or five years contributory pension schemes for
the professorial body and for permanent assistants in receipt of
a specified income (usually £250 or £200 and upwards) have been
compulsorily established at all British Universities in receipt of
a Government grant. In June 1913, the Advisory Committee on the
Distribution of Exchequer Grants to Universities and University
Colleges laid on the table of the House of Commons a scheme which came
into force on 29th September, and is compulsory on every member of
the staff entering a University after that date at a salary of £300 or
upwards. Members appointed at salaries of between £200 and £300 have
the option of joining the scheme, while those appointed at salaries
of between £160 and £200 may join with the consent of the institution.
Members of existing schemes are entitled to join under similar
conditions. Special facilities are given for the transference of
policies from one University to another, since the view is taken
that the teachers in all the Universities constitute a profession
comparable with the Civil Service, and that transference from one
University to another should not be accompanied by a financial penalty
any more than is transference from one Government office to another.
A competent girl who can bide her time can usually get a footing in
some University. Her future advancement will depend on her value to
the institution, on her original writing and research even more than
on her teaching, work on committees and influence with the students.
Largely, too, it will depend on her tact and popularity with her
colleagues: to a very considerable extent it still rests also on
conditions over which she has no control, and which are part and
parcel of the slow recognition of a woman's right to compete on equal
terms with men.
It seems, as far as can be judged, that future opportunities are
likely to occur when the right candidates for posts are there in
sufficient numbers to make their exclusion on the ground of sex,
already seldom explicitly stated, impossible or inexpedient. Meanwhile
it is probable that individual women will continue, in some cases, to
suffer injustice, while in others, by virtue of their unquestionable
attainments and strength of personality, they may attain the positions
they desire. Slow progress is not altogether bad for the ultimate
cause of women at the Universities: nothing could injure that cause so
much as mistakes at the initial stage. An important appointment
given to the wrong woman, or to one in any respect inferior to her
colleagues, would be used as an argument against further experiment
for many years.
University women teachers can best help to secure equality of
opportunity by rendering themselves indispensable members of the body
corporate. In their case much is required of those to whom little is
given. Above all they must avoid the temptation to live entirely in
the absorbing interests of the present: they must remember that it is
the business of a University to make contributions to learning as well
as to teach. Secondly, they must insist on equality of payment and
status when there is any disposition, overt or acknowledged, to
differentiate on the score of sex. It is not right to yield on these
points, for an important principle is at stake. On the other hand the
time and place for insistence must be wisely selected, and any
claim made must be incontrovertible on the score of justice and
practicability. Lastly, women on committees and elsewhere are
not justified in keeping unduly in the background. When they have
something worth contributing to the discussion, it is not modesty but
lack of business capacity, which makes them silent. "Mauvaise honte"
is as much out of place as undue pertinacity. Women who are unwilling
or unable to assert themselves when necessary, are not in place at
a co-educational University. Most women, however, will derive
intellectual stimulus from the free interchange of opinion, possible
only when both sexes are working happily together, with common
interests and common aims.
If relatively too much space in this article has been given to women's
work at mixed Universities, the excuse lies ready to hand. In Women's
Colleges there is, of course, no sex bar, and the way lies clear
from the bottom to the top of the ladder. Conditions of appointment,
tenure, and work do not greatly differ from those described, except
in so far as the stipends tend to be lower, especially for more
responsible posts, when these are ordinarily occupied by women. It is
a sign of the times that in at least one Women's College in a mixed
University, it has been recently necessary to rule that posts are
open to men as well as to women, unless it is specially stated to the
contrary. Thus, when the power is theirs, women also may be unwisely
tempted to erect a new form of sex barrier. To do so would be to
play into the hands of those enemies who are always raising the voice
against equal pay for equal work. The most suitable candidate for a
post is the one who should be selected, irrespective of sex. It is
this principle that women are endeavouring to establish. They must
do so by scrupulous fairness when the power is theirs: by making
themselves indisputably most fitted, when they are knocking at the
closed door.
One further topic needs discussion in this section--the continued
employment of married women in University posts. At present there
is no universal rule, and every case has to be judged on its merits.
Every lecturer who marries, can and ought to help to form the
precedent that continuance of professional work is a matter for her
own decision and is not one that concerns governing bodies. Already a
good many women, mothers as well as wives, have set the good example
and have established their own position, sometimes without question,
sometimes as the result of a difficult struggle. It is clear that
Universities, with their long vacations, and with their established
recognition of long absences for specified purposes, have less ground
than most employers to raise difficulties for married women. Thus the
holder of an A.K. scholarship may travel for a year, in order, by the
wise provision of the founder, to enlarge his or her mind and
bring back new experience to University organisation, research,
and teaching. The woman who fulfils the claims of sex, and to do so
journeys into the realm where life and death struggle for victory,
cannot thereby be unfitted for the profession for which she has
qualified. Enlargement of mind and new experience will help her too,
in the daily routine. It is for her alone to decide whether new claims
and old can be reconciled. If in practice in an individual case they
cannot, then and only then has the University or College a right to
interfere, and on no other ground than that the work suffers. Since
women workers are as a rule only too conscientious, this contingency
is unlikely often to arise.
[Footnote 1: Her local authority may, however, have claims upon her,
if she has promised to teach in an elementary school.]
[Footnote 2: Trained teachers only, men and women, will be admitted to
the new Register.]
[Footnote 3: See tables at the end of this section, pp. 82 to 136.]
[Footnote 4: On the Continent even in Germany, and in the U.S.A.
several women have been elected to University chairs.]
[Footnote 5: Dr Benson, Staff Lecturer at Royal Holloway College, was
raised to the status of University Professor of Botany in 1912 without
open competition; Dr Spurgeon was appointed to the new University
Chair of English Literature, tenable at Bedford College as from 1st
September 1913, after open competition. These professorships are
the only two held by women at the University of London but there are
several women Readers.]
III
SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING
The girls' secondary day schools of this country, largely built up in
the first place by the individual pioneer work of broad-minded women
during the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, are now in
most cases coming, if not under State control, at least into the
sphere of State influence. These women educationists in some cases
worked on old foundations, in others obtained from guilds or governors
a share for girls' education of funds previously allocated to various
benefactions or to the education of boys only. Private enterprise,
individual or, as in the case of the Girls' Public Day School Company,
collective, added schools in most important towns.
Thus by the beginning of the twentieth century there was provision for
a large number of girls of the middle class up to eighteen years of
age, in schools which as High Schools were analogous to the Grammar
Schools for boys dating to a corresponding burst of educational
activity rather more than three centuries earlier. Dependent on the
fees of their pupils or on special funds or endowments, these schools
could not, for the classes unable to pay a fee, adequately supplement
the elementary schools of the country, which provide for such
children education at most up to fourteen or fifteen years of age. The
Education Act of 1902, therefore, placed education beyond this age in
the hands of local authorities, the Board of Education supplementing
the rates by grants for secondary education--so that publicly owned
schools have been started by municipalities and County Councils, while
other institutions receive grants on certain conditions.
Schools of all the types mentioned and a few others, providing
education at least from ten to sixteen (or eighteen) years of age,
are known as secondary schools, and it is to work in them that this
article refers.[1] Various as may be their origins, and different
their aims, the teachers in them form a fairly homogeneous group,
with definite points in common, resulting from the requirements of the
Board of Education for the earning of the grant now paid to most of
these schools, or for the register in force for a short time--as
well as from the co-ordinating influence of membership of the
Headmistresses' or the Assistant Mistresses' Associations and other
professional and educational bodies, and of educational literature
from the publications of the Board of Education downwards.
It would be well if for this, as for other parts of educational work,
people of middle age, or in fact all whose school days lie in the
past, would dismiss their ideas gained from schools of even the end
of the nineteenth century, and realise that the daily life of a school
to-day is, in most cases, very different from that which they have
in their minds. The time-table and the class-room work may not
appear dissimilar to the casual observer, but a difference there
is, nevertheless. The chief alteration, however, is that a girl's
education is increasingly carried on by many agencies other than
these. In the school society rather than in the class-room lesson,
at net-ball and hockey rather than in the drill lesson, on the school
stage or in the school choir she learns, rather than is taught, her
most valuable lessons. Examinations still exist, it is true; but these
come later in a girl's school life, and are more frequently based on
the school curriculum and held in the school than used to be the case.
What does all this new life mean in the work of the teacher and her
preparation for it?
Miss Drummond, President of the Incorporated Association of Assistant
Mistresses, spoke thus on the subject[2]:--
"In a lesson in a good school there is most often a
happy give and take between the teacher and the class.
The teacher guides, but every girl is called on to take her
part and put forward individual effort. The homework is
no longer mere memorizing from some dry little manual,
but requires thought and gives scope for originality. The
whole results in a rigorous mental discipline, real stimulus
to power of original thought, eager enthusiasm in learning.... It
means an enormously increased demand upon the teacher." Again, "it
must not be thought, however, that the work of the school is limited
to lesson hours. We aim not only at giving a definite intellectual
equipment but at producing independence and self-reliance together with
that public spirit which enables a girl quite simply and without
self-consciousness to take her part in the life of a community."
Besides games, which may be organised by a special mistress (see p.
59) or by ordinary members of the school staff,
"there are nearly always several societies, run again by
the girls as far as possible, but almost always with the
inspiration and sympathy of some mistress at the back of
them. Thus there are social guilds of various kinds.
These vary from mere working parties for philanthropic
purposes to large organisations which embrace a number
of activities.... Of something the same kind are the
archaeological and scientific, the literary and debating
societies.... These societies are among the most interesting
and important parts of the work of a teacher, as they are
also among the most exacting. Games and societies together
tend to lengthen the hours of a school day, but even on
leaving school, her work is not finished. There are always
corrections to be done.... Still this is not all if lessons
are to be kept as alive and stimulating as they should be.
First and foremost, it is absolutely essential that the
teacher should not be jaded. She must get relaxation,
she must mix with other people and exchange ideas, she
must go about and keep in touch with all kinds of
activities. But at the same time she has to read in her
own subject, she has to keep up with modern methods of
teaching, she has to think out her various lessons."[3]
Just as the headmaster of a public school often seeks for a cricketer
rather than a classical scholar for his staff, so the headmistress
thinks not only of academic attainments but seeks for an assistant who
can keep going a school society or a magazine (while leaving it in the
hands of the girls), who enjoys acting and stage management, who can
take responsibility for a dozen girls on a week's school journey (the
nearest approach to camping out--and experience of this would perhaps
be a recommendation!). She wants some one not merely to teach or
manage or discipline girls, but a woman who can share the life of the
girls, or at least understand it well enough to let them live it.
Not that the intellectual side is unimportant. A University degree is
normally required in an assistant and this involves a three or four
years' course of considerable expense (see p. 7). An honours degree
is often essential--always, nowadays, in the case of a headmistress.
Whilst well-trained foreigners hold an important place in some
schools, modern languages are more frequently taught by an
Englishwoman who has lived abroad rather than by a foreign governess;
even English, happily, is no longer entrusted to any one not specially
qualified. As will be seen from the article on domestic work, the
graduate in chemistry has in this a promising field, while the
botanist or zoologist and the geologist have the basis on which to
specialise in nature-study or geography. This, however, usually comes
after the preliminary general academic training. It is well to keep up
a many-sided interest apart from bread-and-butter subjects, not
only in view of demands that may be made on one, but because the
intellectual woman will best qualify by developing her own powers as
far as possible. If of the right calibre, she can afterwards readily
take up even a new subject and make it her own. A good secondary
school needs that some of its mistresses should have the habits and
tastes of the scholar who loves work for its own sake, or rather for
the sake of truth. A woman with strong well-trained intellectual power
need not fear the competition of even the capable woman of action
indicated in the preceding paragraph. Both qualifications may, in
fact, exist in the same person.
The woman with brains is indeed needed in the schools. The work of
women's education was but begun by the illustrious pioneers to whom
reference has already been made. There are to-day many new problems
to solve, new difficulties caused by the very success of the older
generation. On the one hand it was necessary that women should at
first, by following the same lines as men, prove their powers on
common ground; now they must find whether there are special fields for
them, and how, if these exist, they may best be occupied. They need
no longer be afraid to emphasise what was good in the old-fashioned
education of girls. Might not, for example, elocution and caligraphy
with advantage re-appear as good reading aloud and beautiful
penmanship? just as physical training carries on the lessons of
deportment and the Domestic Science course revives the lessons of the
still-room, the kitchen, and the store. On the other hand, under the
existing pressure to relieve the burden of childhood, women must see
to it that the mothers of the coming generation are not sacrificed to
the earliest stages of the lives of their children that are to be.
The motherhood of women and their home-making powers are indeed to
be developed, but not at the expense of their own lives and their
citizenship. Women educators, then, must take what is good in boys'
education, what has been good in girls', and must utilise both. This
work is great, and it is specially difficult because legislation and
administration are almost entirely in the hands of men. Now men are
apt to take for granted either that girls should be treated just like
boys, or that they are entirely different and are to be brought up on
different lines; and women who see the truth there is in both of these
propositions are hindered alike by the men who hold the one and those
who hold the other.
The pioneer girls' schools of the nineteenth century did much
experimental work and established the right of individual initiative
and a distinct line of work for each school. Perhaps special gratitude
is due in respect of this to the governing body of the Girls' Public
Day School Trust, since its schools were numerous enough soon to
create a tradition requiring for their Headmistresses great initiatory
power and considerable freedom.
"This freedom," writes a recently retired Headmistress
of thirty-six years' standing (Mrs Woodhouse, late of
Clapham High School), "was of the greatest value as leading
to differentiation of type and character of school. It
ensured a spirit of joy in work for the whole staff; for the
Headmistress and her band of like-minded colleagues were
co-workers in experiments towards development and
sharers in the realisation of ideals. The vitality thus
secured has been appreciated at its true value by His
Majesty's Inspectors when in recent years they have
come into touch with these schools, and as far as my
experience goes, they have left such initiative untouched."
The danger resulting from the progress made in education during the
twentieth century is that secondary schools, coming as nearly all now
do under the cognizance if not the control of the Board of Education,
may become too much office-managed and State-regulated, thus losing
life in routine. The task of resisting this, of working loyally with
local and central government departments, and yet of keeping the
school a living organism and not merely a moving machine is one
requiring by no means ordinary ability. Is there not here a call to
women of the highest power and academic standing?
It is true that the direct facing of these wider problems does not
fall to the lot of the assistant mistress in her earlier years. But
the ambitious aspirant to a profession looks to the possibility of a
judgeship or bishopric in choosing his life-work. The capable woman
then will look at all the possibilities in the teaching profession.
Long before she is Headmistress she will have made her mark in her
school--for not only the numerous activities mentioned but also
the organisation of ordinary school work require initiative and
self-reliance. The head of a large school is only too glad to hand
over to a competent assistant the organisation of her own department
and its co-ordination with other school activities.
Just because there are now openings in other branches of work for
women of the highest power, those of this type should give teaching
some consideration. Since it has ceased to be the only avenue for
trained and educated women, it is no longer so crowded with them, and
as in other callings, there is plenty of room at the top.
In addition to a degree, the qualification of training is a strong
recommendation.[4] It involves, as a rule, a year after graduation, in
special colleges such as exist in Oxford, Cambridge, or London, or
in the Secondary Training Department of one or other of the local
Universities. The expense varies, usually meaning a fee of about £10
to £30 in addition to cost of living; so that a fairly expensive
year intervenes between graduation and the commencement of a salary.
Alternatives to a training-college course have been recently suggested
by the Board of Education, and may shortly be available. During the
training period the intending teacher must, if this is not already
determined, decide on the special branch for which she wishes to
prepare, according to her qualifications and the needs of schools.
If actual teaching experience can first be obtained for two or three
years, it enables earning to begin at once and greatly increases the
value of the training taken subsequently.
The secondary teacher thus spends from three to five years in academic
and professional training; and in accordance with current economic
ideas should receive a salary proportionate to the outlay involved.
The scheme of salaries approved by the Assistant Mistresses'
Association in January 1912 suggests £120 as the initial minimum
salary (non-residential) for a mistress with degree and training,
rising in ten years to £220 in ordinary cases, to £250 where
"positions of special responsibility" are occupied. £100 to £180 is
suggested for non-graduates. "These salaries are higher than those
provided by the Girls' Public Day School Trust, and other governing
bodies outside the London County Council. In most cases £120 to £130
a year may be taken as a fair average for an assistant mistress."[5]
Headmistresses' salaries vary from £200 to, at least in one
exceptional case, £1,500. They often depend in part on capitation
fees. The Headmistresses' Association considers that the minimum
should be £300.
In secondary schools as in other grades of educational work the
salaries of women are lower than those of men, as may be illustrated
by the London County Council scale of salaries.
Men: Assistants . . £150-£300 (or £350)
Heads . . £400-£600 (or £800)
Women: Assistants . . £120-£220 (or £250)
Heads . . £300-£450 (or £600)
The difference between the salaries of heads and assistants is in many
cases greater than is desirable. Things being as they are, it is
well that there should be some prizes to attract ability into the
profession. On the other hand, a woman, whose best work is that of
an assistant, should not be tempted to give it up for the salary of
a headmistress. The assistant has the opportunity for closer and more
personal touch with her girls, being intimately responsible for a
smaller number; she has also better opportunities for working out the
teaching of her subject and improving its technique. Education would
gain if more of the ablest teachers, specially successful in one or
other of these directions, were left in a position to continue this
work, instead of feeling obliged to substitute for it the perhaps
uncongenial task of organisation on a large scale, and that contact
with visitors, organisers, inspectors, committees, and the public,
which occupies the time of the heads of schools. The truth of this is,
I am told, better appreciated in Germany than in this country.
Since local authorities took over the work, secondary teachers have
gained considerably both as regards salaries and tenure. They are now,
as a rule, better paid than elementary teachers, which was not always
the case before 1902.
The tenure of the teacher varies in different schools. It is now less
common than formerly for the appointment and dismissal of the staff to
be entirely in the hands of the Headmistress; and assistants are
thus safe-guarded against possible unfair and arbitrary action. The
Headmistress,[6] however, has almost invariably a preponderating voice
in the selection of her staff--as is right if the school is to be
a living organism, not merely one of a series of machines with
interchangeable parts; but the power of dismissal, if in her hands,
is usually safe-guarded by the right of appeal to the appointing
body--local authority or board of governors as the case may be. This
right of appeal should be universal, and formal agreements should in
all cases be made. (A model form of agreement has been drawn up by the
Association of Assistant Mistresses.)
Pensions are not generally provided for secondary teachers; but a
national pension scheme for them is under consideration, and there is
hope that it will not be long delayed.
The poorer members of the teaching profession come under the National
Health Insurance Act and are provided for by the University, Secondary
and Technical Teachers' Insurance Society which already numbers eleven
thousand members. This society also offers, in its Dividend Section,
to those not compulsorily insured the opportunity for voluntary
insurance against sickness. Association among secondary teachers has
been considerably furthered by the desire to qualify for membership in
the Insurance Society.
The distinctive associations for secondary mistresses are the
Headmistresses' Association and the Association of Assistant
Mistresses in Public Secondary Schools. These are concerned with
general educational as well as professional problems, and their
opinion is sought at times by the Board of Education with regard to
proposed regulations. Each of them is represented on the recently
established Registration Council, which has just reported (November
1913).
Membership of the Teachers' Guild of Great Britain and Ireland, of the
College of Preceptors, and of the National Union of Teachers is also
open to secondary teachers. In the last-named they may join hands with
the great body of elementary teachers; in the first two organisations
with private teachers also. There are also associations for teachers
of certain subjects, the Ling Association and the Association of
Teachers of Domestic Subjects. Membership of such bodies as the
Historical, Geographical and various Scientific Associations is
valuable because not confined to teachers.
Though the President of the Association of Assistant Mistresses
has said that "there would be a strong feeling against definite
organisation for the purpose of forcing up rates of remuneration,"[7]
yet that body has investigated the scales of pay offered by local
authorities, and writes in protest when posts are advertised at low
rates.
Under present conditions the principle of general equality of income,
not yet being considered as a serious proposition, it is surely
economically right for the teaching profession to claim remuneration
sufficient to give it a status corresponding to the worth and
dignity of its work. Above all, women not entirely dependent on their
earnings, and therefore in a position to resist under-payment, should
not act as blacklegs and keep down the rate for others dependent for a
livelihood on their occupation.
Under-payment for teachers means a narrower, more anxious life than
should be theirs who are to live in the strongly electric atmosphere
of a body of girls and young women and yet keep a calm serenity of
spirit--a life less full than is essential for those who have to give
at all times freely of their best.
Similarly, in order that the fullest possible life may be open to the
woman teacher, it seems desirable that continuance in the profession
after marriage should be more usual than it is. Again, from the point
of view of the pupils this is desirable. Mrs Humphrey Ward is not
the only opponent of women's suffrage to state that the atmosphere
of girls' schools suffers from the preponderating spinster element.
Suffragists may for once join hands with her and urge that the
married woman is in some ways better suited for young people than her
unmarried colleague.[8] Often the most valuable years of a woman's
life are lost to the school by her enforced retirement at marriage.
She gives to it her younger, less experienced years, when she knows
less of the world, less of the problems of the household, less of the
outlook of the parents. It must be remembered that the parents' point
of view is important if there is to be right co-operation between home
and school. To the teacher-mother there will come an altogether new
power of understanding, which should ultimately compensate the school
for broken time during the earlier years of the life of her children.
Provision for absence in these cases might well render more possible
provision for a "rest-term" or a _Wanderjahr_, such as should be
possible to all mistresses at intervals in their teaching career.
Mistresses are not as a rule aware that under most existing agreements
they may claim to continue their work after marriage. They would in
a large number of cases be rendering a service to girls' education by
doing so. Many secondary teachers will welcome the idea that they
need not abandon either the career they have chosen or the prospect of
their fullest development as women. The teaching profession would thus
retain many valuable members now lost to it on marriage, and the ranks
of married women be recruited by many well suited to be the mothers of
citizens.
The career of teaching adolescent girls gives to those following
it, in the daily routine, many experiences which others seek for in
leisure hours. The woman among girls has the privilege of handing on
to them the keys to the intellectual treasuries where she has enriched
herself, of setting their feet in the paths which have led her to
fruitful fields. She may watch over the birth and growth of the
reasoning powers of her pupils and guide them to their intellectual
victories, initiating them into the great fellowship of workers for
truth. It is interesting but it is not easy work. We have seen that
the material recompense of the teacher is not great, and if she looks
for other return she will too often be disappointed. And yet there is
compensation. Here as elsewhere he that saveth his life shall lose it;
but he that loseth his life shall indeed find it.
[Footnote 1: "A secondary school ... is a school which provides a
progressive course of general education suitable for pupils of an
age-range at least as wide as from twelve to seventeen" (Board of
Education, Circular 826).]
[Footnote 2: Lecture on "The Life of a Teacher" given to the Fabian,
Women's Group, 1912.]
[Footnote 3: Miss I.M. Drummond, _loc, cit._]
[Footnote 4: By the Conditions of Registration issued November 1913,
one year's training will be required for all entering the profession
after the end of 1918.]
[Footnote 5: Miss I.M. Drummond _loc. cit._ For example, a science
graduate with special qualifications in geography, three years'
experience, and a training diploma has recently been appointed to a
leading London High School at a salary of £110, with no agreement for
yearly or other augmentation. [EDITOR].]
[Footnote 6: The practice of the Girl's Public Day School Trust,
largely followed by other governing bodies, is to give the Head the
right of nomination, and of dismissal during the probationary period
subject to the veto, rarely exercised, of the Committee.]
[Footnote 7: Miss I.M. Drummond _loc. cit._]
[Footnote 8: This is surely a better solution than that proposed
in the November 1913, Educational Supplement to the _Times_. The
suggestion is there made that the "conventual system" prevailing in
some girls' boarding-schools should be changed by having Headmasters
instead of Headmistresses. The writer apparently fails to realise
that one of the greatest difficulties in co-educational schools is to
attract the right sort of mistress, because there is no prospect that
she may ultimately attain a headship. The same danger will inevitably
arise in any schools which introduce Headmasters. If the masculine
element is desirable, and we agree that this may well be so, the
obvious course is either to have some male assistants, or to have
married house-mistresses, on the analogy of the married house-master
at boys' schools. A still better solution, in our opinion, is
co-education, with pupils of both sexes, a mixed staff, and a joint
Headmaster and Headmistress. In many of the new County and Municipal
Secondary Schools this innovation has been successfully adopted,
though the Senior Mistress is unfortunately in all cases definitely
subordinate to the Headmaster. [EDITOR.]]
IV
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHING
Progressive women to-day resent the social system which requires them
to be economically dependent upon others. They realise that social
service needs labour of a highly skilled variety, and they therefore
demand, on the one hand, training for their work as a guarantee of
their efficiency in its performance, and, on the other hand, monetary
payment and security of tenure as guarantees to them of economic
independence. As a natural corollary to woman's lack of political
power, there are no spheres of professional work in which prevailing
conditions are in these respects completely satisfactory. Perhaps the
teaching service in the State schools comes nearest to complying with
progressive demands: at any rate Government recognises the need for
training, and, to a large extent, meets its cost; a salary, more or
less adequate, is paid in return for the teaching given, and security
of tenure is, with few exceptions, assured. Again, the work done
in the State schools is now generally and rightly regarded as of
first-rate importance to the community, and therefore as meriting
national gratitude in the form of Government superannuation. Popular
prejudice against compulsory education, once so strong, may now be
said to have disappeared, and the work of the pioneers who endeavoured
to create a public opinion in its favour, has borne fruit. To-day
the parents' attitude towards the teacher is normally one of friendly
co-operation and respect, with the result that the latter is fast
becoming a powerful factor in shaping and influencing the democracy.
The school is extending its influence in every sphere which touches
on the social, physical, intellectual, and spiritual well-being of the
people. Activities which, until recently,[1] were associated only
with institutions distinctly religious in character, are now regularly
connected with the work of primary schools. Thus the teacher has
every opportunity for the exercise of public spirit, within school
and without. He is daily confronted with the problem of evolving and
developing an educated democracy, which will demand and obtain proper
conditions of life.
The nature of the work asked of the teachers in primary schools, has
led to insistence by the State on the necessity for their professional
training, as well as for their academic proficiency. These
requirements have met with the counter-demand on the part of
the teachers in State schools, for State registration. When this
Register,[2] now in process of creation, has become an accomplished
fact, one of the chief remaining obstacles to the progress of the
teaching service will be removed.
It is now time to turn to the conditions of training, service, and
remuneration prevailing in English and Welsh elementary schools. The
Scotch service differs in some respects, while the state of primary
education and the position of elementary teachers in Ireland[3] are
altogether worse than in Great Britain.
The Board of Education recognises the following grades of men and
women teachers in public elementary schools: pupil teachers, bursars
and student teachers, uncertificated teachers, and certificated
teachers. Women, over eighteen years of age, who have been vaccinated,
may, without any other qualifications, be engaged as supplementary
teachers, although the Board cannot entertain any application for the
recognition of men in this capacity. A supplementary teacher may teach
(I) infants' classes, that is to say, classes in which the majority of
the scholars are under eight years of age, or (2) the lowest class
of older scholars in a school or department in a rural parish, if the
average attendance in the school does not exceed 100.
The number of supplementary teachers employed in the schools of
England and Wales in the year 1910-11 was 14,454.
If we turn to uncertificated teachers, we find that during the year
1909-10 there were 45,549 employed in the schools of England and
Wales, and that this number was increased by 182 during the year
1910-11. Of the uncertificated teachers of England in the year
1910-11, 5,106 were men and 35,222 were women.
The vast majority of rural schools have only one certificated teacher
on the staff, and in hundreds of rural schools the head teacher is not
certificated.
The following statistics with regard to certificated teachers have
been taken from the published return of the Board of Education,
1910-11:[4]--
England. Wales.
Men. Women. Men. Women.
Trained 22,134 30,410 2,260 1810
Untrained 9,060 33,121 539 1598
These figures show that of men teachers, 70 per cent. in England and
81 per cent. in Wales are trained, while of women teachers only 46 per
cent. in England and 51 per cent. in Wales are trained.
These statistics are indicative of the urgent need for total abolition
of uncertificated and supplementary teachers, since the recognition
of these grades offers a direct incentive to girls just to bridge
over the period between leaving school and getting married, without
qualifying even for what ought to be regarded as the lowest ranks of
the profession. This fact is at once realised, when one contrasts the
percentage of women teachers who are untrained, viz., 54 per cent, in
England, 49 per cent, in Wales, with the corresponding figures for men
teachers, viz., 30 per cent, in England and 29 per cent, in Wales.
Every candidate for teachership, who has passed through a Training
College, is required by the Board of Education to serve in a
recognised school--a woman for five out of the first eight years after
leaving College; a man for seven out of the first ten years after
leaving College--or pay the whole or part of the Government grant
in respect of College training. But, notwithstanding this agreement,
enforceable under Act of Parliament,[5] the Board of Education neither
takes steps to find employment for such candidates in the State
schools of the country, nor admits any responsibility on its part for
the conditions under which teachers are employed. By the Education Act
of 1902, local authorities, of which there are 318, were made
chiefly responsible for the work of education, and it is these local
authorities who lay down the conditions of appointment.
This refusal by the Board of Education of responsibility for
appointments and conditions of appointment to teaching posts, leaves
it for local authorities to fix scales of salaries, and to decide such
questions as, for example, whether married women teachers shall be
employed. The grave effect of this state of things on the economic
interests of the teachers of the country cannot be too much
emphasised, having regard to the fact that local authorities are
bodies composed mainly of men elected on a rate-saving principle.
The salaries paid to bursars and student teachers are insufficient
to cover charges for maintenance, clothes, books, etc. Speaking
generally, a quite substantial sum must also be found during each
year of the collegiate course, for college expenses and for board
and lodging during vacations, so that a candidate's parents must hold
themselves financially responsible for her during the various
stages of her training, except in so far as the cost is covered by
scholarship and maintenance grants. Women candidates are in this
respect far worse off than their male colleagues, as, at every stage
of their training, they receive a smaller maintenance grant. At a
residential college, while men receive £40, women receive £20; at a
non-residential college the grant for men is £25, for women £20.
As the whole supply of teachers for each year leaves the Training
Colleges in July,[6] it follows that many of these must wait for
varying periods before finding employment: during these periods the
burden of maintenance must again be borne by the parents. The need for
legislation in the economic interests of teachers is borne out by the
fact that highly trained students of good character are unable to
find employment, even at low salaries. Of 4,384 teachers who left
the training colleges in July 1908, at least 1,226 were, three months
later, without employment, and 259 were known to be without employment
even twelve months later; whilst of the 4,386 students who left the
Training Colleges in July 1909, 1,528 were still without employment in
October 1909. These figures are for both sexes, but by far the larger
number of teachers are women.
These facts explain why it is that local authorities, bent on
keeping down the rates, have been enabled to obtain the services of
certificated teachers at the scale of salaries which they advertise
for uncertificated teachers: in fact many fully qualified certificated
teachers have been forced to work for a rate of payment lower than
that received by an unskilled labourer; a natural corollary to this
condition of things is that many would-be teachers refuse to expend
time and money on training.
This state of affairs has had one other effect which is of vital
importance when the economic position of women teachers is being
considered, namely, that local authorities, in order to appease the
popular outcry against this apparently overstocked market, have been
led to sanction regulations for the compulsory retirement of women
teachers on marriage. Happily the London County Council has not
succumbed to this temptation, and there are other equally enlightened
authorities. But constant watchfulness is needed in order to prevent
retrogression in this matter. Young teachers, anxiously awaiting
promotion, sometimes foolishly resist the appointment or retention of
married women. This is a suicidal policy, to be resisted at all costs,
both in the interests of the teachers and of the children. Salaries
are bound to remain low, while women are forced to consider their
profession in the light of a stop-gap until marriage, and not as
a life-work. Moreover, there are real dangers in entrusting girls'
education entirely to unmarried women. The salaries of assistant
teachers vary very considerably. In no single instance is a woman
teacher paid the same rate of salary as a man of the same professional
status. This is true even when the work is identical in character, as
is the case in mixed schools and pupil teachers' centres. One of the
results of this inequality of payment is that women teachers are often
employed to teach the lower classes in boys' schools, and some rural
schools are staffed entirely by women, not because the woman teacher
is deemed more suitable for the work, but because her labour is
cheaper; hence the need, in the teaching profession, for recognition
of the principle of "equal pay for equal work." Without it, the
status of the woman becomes lower than that of the man, inferior
or unqualified women are appointed, and men are driven from the
profession. Only when there is equality of pay can there be security
that the best candidate will be appointed, irrespective of sex.
The following table taken from the latest returns of the Board of
Education contrasts the number of women and men employed in the
elementary schools of England, and the number of women and men
employed in the better paid higher elementary schools of the country,
for the year 1910-11.
Higher
Elementary Elementary
Schools Schools.
No. of Head Teachers (certificated) Men : 12,477 : 36
" " " " Women : 16,648 : 4
" Assistant " " Men : 18,659 : 161
" " " Women : 46,881 : 117
" " (uncertificated) Men : 5,091 : 4
" " " Women : 34,910 : 2
An examination of statistics with regard to the salaries of teachers
in England, taken from the same returns, year 1910-11, shows that--
I. Average salaries (Elementary Schools) were:--
£ s. d.
Head Teachers (Certificated) Men 176 3 11
" " " Women 122 18 1
" " (uncertificated) Men 94 8 0
" " " Women 68 3 5
Assistant Teachers (certificated) Men 127 9 11
" " " Women 92 8 6
" " (uncertificated) Men 65 2 11
" " " Women 54 14 1
II. (1) 67.93 per cent. of the certificated head masters receive less
than £200 per annum.
(2) 93.9 per cent. of the certificated head mistresses receive less
than £200 per annum.
(3) 93.38 per cent. of the certificated assistant masters receive less
than £200 per annum.
(4) 97.73 per cent. of the certificated assistant mistresses receive
less than £150 per annum.
III. The salaries of certificated teachers (England) were:--
Head Teachers. Assistant Teachers.
Men. Women. Men. Women.
Under £50 1 2 2 352
Totals £50 and under £100 394 4,967 3,838 29,915
" 100 " " 150 4,506 8,032 9,933 15,548
" 150 " " 200 3,575 2,631 3,651 1,065
" 200 " " 250 2,395 742 1,235 1
" 250 " " 300 963 209 ---- ----
" 300 " " 350 422 65 ---- ----
" 350 " " 400 125 ---- ---- ----
" 400 " " 450 93 ---- ---- ----
" 450 " " 500 2 ---- ---- ----
" 560 1 ---- ---- ----
IV. The salaries of uncertificated teachers are usually lower than the
wage of a skilled artisan--the average for men _head_ teachers being
below £100, and for women _head_ teachers below £70, whilst 7,855
assistant teachers receive less than £50.
V. Supplementary teachers usually receive, of course without board
or lodging, a salary equal to the money-wage of an average domestic
servant. They are commonly less well qualified than is she, for the
work undertaken.
The chances of promotion to a headship are obviously so few, that the
certificated teacher will probably remain an assistant all her life.
Chances of head-teacherships are being still further reduced by the
amalgamation of departments under a head _master_.
In the schools of many large urban education authorities, less than 1
per cent. of the assistant teachers obtain promotion in twelve months.
The total number applying for the 163 places to be filled in the last
promotion list that was formed by the London Education Authority, was
2,337, so that, as a direct result of the publication of that list,
2,174 teachers resumed their work after the summer vacation of
1911 with feelings of less hopefulness with regard to their future
prospects. The issue of a promotion list is in itself a fact to be
deplored, seeing that it acts as a check to mental alertness. For the
2,174 unsuccessful candidates for inclusion, their application has now
either destroyed hope, or suspended any chances of its realisation
for at least two years. There is a consciousness in the unsuccessful
applicant of somehow being worth less than she was before, since
she is now an assistant mistress without potentiality for head
teachership. This feeling does not promote good work. The issue of a
promotion list is from every point of view bad policy, and although
its direct action is confined to London, its sphere of indirect
influence is very far-reaching, since London County Council applicants
for country posts are often asked whether they have been included in
it.
The essential qualification in a mistress of an elementary school is
ability to teach a great variety of subjects: she must be qualified
for and prepared to teach all the subjects which make up the
curriculum of her school. The diversity of these will be seen from the
subjects taught in an average typical elementary school:--
_Girls' Department_.--Reading, writing,
arithmetic, English grammar, literature, history,
geography, nature study, hygiene, physical
training, drawing (including brush-work),
needlework (including cutting-out), knitting,
scripture.
_Infants' Department_.--Reading, writing,
number, kindergarten and other varied
occupations, physical exercises (dancing
and games), needlework and knitting,
singing, drawing, painting, modelling,
recitation, oral composition, dramatising
stories, scripture.
The ordinary day is divided into two sessions: the morning session
lasting from 9 A.M. to 12 noon, and the afternoon session from 2 P.M.
to 4 P.M. (infants), 4.30 P.M. (girls).
The strain of a teacher's life in an elementary school, and the
deadening influence of routine work will be realised when it is stated
that, besides teaching all the subjects above-mentioned, she is
in front of her class of sixty pupils during the whole of the two
sessions each day, from Monday morning to Friday afternoon.
In addition to the purely teaching work the mistress has to take
her share in the various activities which are now centring in the
school--Care Committees, After-Care Committees, the feeding of
necessitous children, the cleansing of children, medical inspection,
and so forth. There are also such social activities as old girls'
clubs, school journeys and school parties, in which she has to
co-operate; finally, the strain is not lessened by the fact that she
has to satisfy two sets of inspectors, viz., those of the Board of
Education and those of the local authority who require her to keep
special report books, varying in character and in the amount of detail
required, according to the idiosyncrasies of the particular inspectors
who may happen to be allocated to her district.
In spite of the building regulations of the Board of Education, many
school premises are far from satisfactory with regard to lighting,
ventilation, construction, and often even cleanliness; these defects
naturally have their effect on the health of the teachers, so that
notwithstanding medical inspection during training and the rejection
of the unfit, an alarming number of cases of consumption has been
reported to the Benevolent Fund of the National Union of Teachers.
In addition to this, the strain (already referred to) under which
teachers in the Metropolitan and larger urban districts work, is
resulting in an increasing number of nervous breaksdown.
The conditions under which a teacher works in a school in a rural
district are so unsatisfactory that they deserve special mention.
There are 245 schools in Wales and 2,199 in England with an average
attendance of less than 40; such schools are staffed by a head
teacher, assisted, in all probability, only by a supplementary
teacher. Education suffers in these circumstances as a result of the
number and the manysidedness of the responsibilities which devolve
upon the head teacher; while the consciousness of her inability to
realise her ideals will re-act unfavourably upon her health. Another
factor that must be borne in mind is that these rural schools, being
small, should, to secure efficiency, be proportionately expensive for
up-keep. In order to keep the cost of maintenance as low as possible,
however, the remuneration offered to teachers in rural schools is so
small as to be a national disgrace. To this must be further added the
fact that many rural teachers are compelled to live 5, 10, and even 15
miles away from a railway station, so that the cost of living is much
more than it would be in town. Thus it is that rural schools which
should cost more for up-keep than large urban schools, work out at a
smaller figure per scholar.[7]
Not only is her salary low, but a mistress in a rural school often
has to live in a state of semi-isolation from social and intellectual
activities. It should excite no surprise, therefore, that mistresses
are reluctant to apply for such posts. This difficulty of shortage
of supply is having a sinister and subtle effect on the economic
interests of married women teachers, for, owing to the difficulty in
obtaining assistant teachers in rural districts, it frequently happens
that where the head teacher is a master, his wife, who may be a
fully qualified certificated teacher, has to act as his assistant and
receive the pay of a supplementary teacher.
During her years of service, each mistress in an elementary school
is required to contribute £2, 8s. per annum to the Government
Superannuation Fund. These contributions purchase a small annuity to
which the Government add a pension at the rate of 10s. for each year
of service. When she becomes qualified for a pension, the mistress
must surrender her certificate and cease to practise as a teacher,
so that, if we assume she has begun work at the age of twenty and
has continued teaching to the age of sixty-five, she will, after
forty-five years of recorded service, receive a pension of £22,
10s. per annum, plus the annuity which her contributions will have
purchased. It should, however, be mentioned that London and a few
other towns have established complementary schemes whereby teachers,
though contributing more, obtain pensions more commensurate with their
salaries. Under the Government scheme, the superannuation allowance
cannot become payable until the teacher has attained the age of
sixty-five years, and, even then, it can be obtained only by a teacher
whose years of recorded service are not less than half the number of
years which have elapsed since she became certificated; thus, if the
mistress, being certificated at the age of twenty, marries and, by the
regulations of the local authority, is forced to resign, she forfeits
all claim to the Government contribution, unless she has completed
twenty-two years of recorded service: nor are her contributions
returned to her.
Teachers in elementary schools are well organised for the purpose of
self-protection. The National Union of Teachers is a powerful body,
having a membership of 78,000 men and women teachers. It is directly
represented in Parliament, both on the Liberal and Labour sides, and
owes its influence largely to the voting power of its members.[8]
When the National Insurance Act of 1912 came into force, there were
85,000 elementary teachers to whom its clauses applied, and who
therefore found it advisable to join an approved society. For this
purpose the Teachers' Provident Society of the National Union of
Teachers was re-organised as an approved society under the Act. In
addition to providing protection for its members, the National Union
of Teachers, by means of its Benevolent and Orphan Fund, helps those,
who, through ill-health or other causes are in need of assistance.
It also maintains two orphanages--one for boys in London, and one for
girls in Sheffield.
At the present time there is a strong probability of a dearth of
qualified teachers for elementary schools in the near future. There
are several factors which have been influential in bringing about this
state of affairs--one is, the uncertainty of employment, even after a
long and comparatively costly training. This defect will be remedied
only when a rational method of regulating the supply of teachers
is established, so that each candidate may be certain that, if she
qualifies, she will be guaranteed employment.
Many desirable persons are debarred from entering the teaching
profession, because the rate of remuneration is low, considering
the responsibility of the work; and this drawback is still further
emphasised by the very inadequate pension which is offered at the
close of the teacher's career. This difficulty can be overcome only
when the main burden of the cost of education is removed from local
taxation and placed on the national exchequer.
Another factor which tends to make the teaching profession
unattractive, is the very strenuous life which it entails under
modern conditions. Again, so far as women are concerned, there is not
complete security of tenure, though apart from the regulation that
obtains under some local authorities, requiring women to resign on
marriage, teachers in elementary schools, owing to the efforts of
their various organisations, possess far greater security of tenure
than teachers in any other branch of the profession. Another point in
favour of the teachers in elementary schools, is their freedom from
the burden of extraneous duties, and from the nightmare of external
examinations.
When schools can be more generously staffed, so that, for example,
the number of assistant teachers exceeds the number of classes to be
taught, a good deal will have been done to relieve the strain under
which teachers are at present working.
Finally, when education authorities and the public generally, become
sufficiently enlightened to realise that it is uneconomical to dismiss
a teacher when she marries _i.e._, when by her experience she is
most capable of preparing her pupils for life--then women will be
encouraged to enter the teaching profession, and to realise that they
must equip themselves as well as possible for what is to be their
life-work.
[Footnote 1: In this connection, the work of the Care-Committees, now
an integral feature of the elementary education system, must not
be forgotten. It will be fully considered in a later volume of this
series. [EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 2: The conditions for registration were issued on 22nd
November 1913, after this book had gone to press. [EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 3: _Vide_ Article on Education in Ireland, by May Starkie
in _The New Statesman Supplement_ on "The Awakening of Ireland," 12th
July 1913. [EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 4: Since this paper was written, a fresh report (Code 6707)
has been published by the Board of Education. The statistical tables
do not materially differ from those given above.]
[Footnote 5: On the other hand, the Board seldom proceeds against
teachers who have broken their bond. [Editor.]]
[Footnote 6: The experiment of ending the College course for certain
students at Easter, is now being made. But the movement is too young,
and the Colleges experimenting are too few, to make it possible
to draw deductions. At any rate it looks like a move in the right
direction.]
[Footnote 7: This is a matter, the investigation of which should
be included in Mr Lloyd George's Land Campaign. There is an obvious
connection between the status of the agricultural labourer and the
inefficiency of rural schools. [EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 8: The women members are in a large majority, but, being
women, do not, as yet, possess the vote. Their peculiar interests, of
course, do not obtain representation.]
V
TEACHING IN SCHOOLS FOR THE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE
The particular branch of teaching which forms the subject of this
paper--namely, that carried on in schools for mentally or physically
defective children--affords scope for a lifetime of very happy work to
women who are really fitted for it.
The qualifications required by teachers in these schools are the
ordinary certificates accepted by the Board of Education, but, in
practice, a preference is given to women who have taken up studies
which bear on their particular work. For instance, it is obvious that
a good grounding in psychology, physiology, and hygiene is especially
valuable in schools of this description, and proofs of the successful
study of these subjects undoubtedly carry weight in deciding
appointments to these schools. Also, it is unusual to appoint young
teachers, coming straight from Training Colleges, with very little
practical experience in dealing with children, though under special
circumstances such appointments are occasionally made. The large
majority of women appointed to the London mentally defective or
physically defective schools are, however, teachers of several years'
standing, who are also under the age limit of thirty-five.
The salary of assistant teachers in the London special schools is £10
a year more than the salary such assistants would be getting in the
ordinary Council schools. This extra pay only obtains until the normal
maximum salary of assistant mistresses is reached, _i.e._, £150, so
that the monetary advantage is confined to reaching the maximum a
little earlier than would otherwise be the case. With regard to head
teachers, the extra salary varies with the size of the school, £10
being allowed for a one-class centre, £20 for a two-, three-, or
four-class centre, and £30 for a five- or six-class centre. Schools of
six classes are unusual; the majority of schools contain three or
four classes. Elder mentally defective boys from several neighbouring
schools are frequently grouped together in a special centre under
masters, and there are a few schools specially for elder mentally
defective girls, naturally under mistresses. For elder physically
defective girls there are centres in London where they may be
specially trained in blousemaking and fine needlework. These centres
have, in addition to an ordinary teacher, a trade mistress duly
qualified in the particular branch of work undertaken. The age of
compulsory retirement from teaching in special schools is sixty-five,
as in the case of ordinary schools. For both branches of the service
married women are eligible. The hours of work in mentally defective
schools are from 9.30 to 12 and from 2 to 4. In physically defective
schools the hours are nominally from 9.30 to 12, and 1.30 to 3, but in
practice they are longer, as the children begin to arrive at school
in their ambulances by 8.45, and in the afternoon the last children
rarely leave till an hour after the time of stopping actual lessons.
It is usual to arrange things so that the teacher who comes "early"
one week, is free to come "late" the next, and it is also usually
taken in turns to stay late in the afternoons. The short dinner recess
is due to the fact that most of the children necessarily have their
dinner at school, so there is no reason to allow the usual two hours
for going home and coming back. During the dinner-hour the children
are in charge of the school nurse and the ambulance attendants.
Work in both sorts of special school has its own particular
difficulties. One great drawback is the impossibility of adequate
classification. In a small three-class centre, there will be
children from five years old up to sixteen years. That, of course, in
physically defective schools means that the work usually divided
among all the classes of an ordinary infant school must be done in the
lowest class, the second class must take the work of standards I. to
III., while the highest class must take that of standards IV. to
VII. It is true that the special schools have a great advantage
over ordinary schools in that the classes never contain more than
twenty-five children, but even granted the small numbers, the need for
taking several groups in a class makes the work very exhausting. The
more successful the teacher, that is to say, the more truly she draws
out the individual powers of each child, the harder does her work
become, for she tends more and more to have a class of children
working at varying stages. In the mentally defective schools it is not
possible to reach the work of the higher standards, so that there
is not the _same_ difficulty, but there is the even greater one of
dealing with different standards of defect, instead of different
standards of attainment.
Another difficulty encountered in the physically defective schools
is the interrupted school-life. Children will frequently drop out for
three months, six months, or a year at a time in order to have some
operation performed in hospital, or to go to a convalescent home, or
because of an attack of illness. Both branches of the special schools
are faced with the peculiar difficulty of the "spoilt" child--the lame
girl who, by reason of her helplessness, has been indulged and waited
on by the healthy members of her family; the ill-balanced boy whose
brain-storms have been so disturbing that any opposition to his will
has been shirked. It must not be thought that these children are in
the majority at special schools, but they do form a certain proportion
of the children there; they give much trouble, and they call for a
great deal of tact and patience. Patience is so continually needed in
special-school work that women who are not particularly patient would
find themselves definitely unfit for it. Indeed, although patience
and the hopeful spirit do not figure on the list of qualifications
demanded of candidates, they might well head it, for most certainly
an irritable or despondent woman could not find any work for which she
was more unsuited, or in which she was more likely to be miserable and
unsuccessful.
A further difficulty of the special-school teacher lies in the
"all-round" demands made on her. The children she must teach, are
defective in mind or body, or both. Some will respond to one subject,
some to another; some will make poor progress with headwork, but will
do excellent handwork. The teacher must be able to help each child
along its own path, and must be familiar with the various forms
of simple handwork as well as with the more usual school subjects.
Basket-weaving, clay-modelling, raffia-work, fretwork, bent-ironwork,
strip-woodwork, rug-making, painting, and brush-work, as well as
different forms of needlework and embroidery, are all branches
of handwork helpful in different degrees to these children.
The importance of handwork to them is felt so keenly, that the
special-schools time-tables usually show a morning devoted to headwork
followed by an afternoon occupied by handwork.
But as well as the difficulties attendant on teaching in
special-schools, there are some very real advantages. Foremost,
perhaps, is the opportunity it affords of knowing and understanding
each child in a way that is not possible when the class consists of
sixty children. Very closely allied with this, is the great advantage
of freedom in the preparation of syllabuses, in the choice of subject
matter and the manner of teaching it. Time-tables must be approved by
the proper authorities, and the superintendents and inspectors must
be satisfied as to the character of a teacher's work, but, when those
conditions are fulfilled, originality on the part of teachers is
welcomed, and completely happy relations between teacher and children
are possible. It can be readily understood that with a class numbering
twenty-five, each child can take a much larger and much more active
share in the work, can be free to express his own views, ask his own
questions and work out his own ideas in a way impossible with a class
of sixty. When, in addition, it is remembered that the teacher is
free to frame her plans of work according to the actual needs of
the children, as shown to her through discussions and questions,
the reason why the work attracts women in spite of its obvious
difficulties is apparent.
The real thought and care spent by the education authorities on these
schools must have struck every one who has worked in them. If we
compare what is now done for these deficient children with what was
done some fifteen years ago, the stage of progress at which we have
arrived is nothing short of wonderful. Yet every one must also be
convinced that things are not well, so long as the supply of children
for these special schools continues to grow; those who work in them
can see two ways in which that supply might be checked. Teachers in
mentally defective schools continually mourn the sad fact that the
children under their care have been guarded from wrong, and guided to
right along happy paths of busy interest until they are sixteen, only
to be turned adrift into the world at an age when, more than ever
before in their lives, they need a kindly and wise influence "to
strengthen or control." For want of some further plan of continued
supervision, the patient work of years is too often rendered nugatory,
and the child slips back into the very slough from which the school
had hoped to save it. It must be remembered that the defect in many
children in these mentally defective schools shows itself as a lack
of self-control, a want of mental balance, a missing sense of moral
values, an incapacity for concentration--the very characteristics
which render their unhappy possessors the easiest prey to the
evil-minded. Teachers who know both the good to which the child can
attain when properly safe-guarded, and also the evil into which it
will too probably fall when left alone, are very anxious to see some
step taken which will ensure that every child who needs continued
control shall have it.[1]
Teachers in physically defective schools can also see the need for
prevention of defect rather than its mere alleviation. The more usual
forms of defect are missing limbs, tuberculous troubles (notably in
joints), heart cases, paralysis, cases of chorea, and cases of general
debility. The list must not be taken as complete, for there are, of
course, various unusual forms of defect too. It sometimes happens that
after a stay of some time in a physically defective school, a child
becomes so much better that it is able to return to the greater strain
of an ordinary school; on the other hand, it is often apparent,
that if certain children had been admitted earlier to the physically
defective school, their particular trouble might have been greatly
minimised, if not altogether avoided. What then appears to be needed
is an intermediary type of school to which children might be drafted
who are not as yet absolutely defective, but who are liable to become
so. Children of tubercular tendencies, who should be guarded
against falls or blows more carefully than normal children; those
highly-strung nervous children who, if exposed to the strain of
ordinary school life run the risk of chorea; children suffering from
the after-effects of diseases such as rheumatic or scarlet fever,
who need particularly to avoid over-exertion or too violent exercise;
children of such marked general debility that their power of resisting
disease is abnormally low--all these, if neglected, tend to become
qualified candidates for the physically defective schools. If they
could attend a school designed to suit their needs, they would in many
cases be quite able to return, after varying periods, to their places
in the ordinary schools. The open-air schools are an attempt to meet
this need on the very best lines, but there are far too many of these
border-line children for the available accommodation. If the great
expense entailed by new schools of this description be considered, it
seems not unreasonable, while waiting for them, to allow the admission
of these children to the invalid schools already working, by simply
making the term "physically defective" elastic enough to include a
latent as well as a developed defect. Whatever the apparent expense
of such measures may be, any extension of the preventive side of this
work cannot but be a real economy.[2]
There is just one other point for the consideration of women who think
of taking up work in special schools. They should be thoroughly strong
and healthy, or they will prove unequal to a strain which tells at
times even on the strongest. But to women of good health who possess
the right temperament, these schools offer a field of useful and
congenial work.
[Footnote 1: Something in this direction will be achieved by the new
Act, to which, however, there are counterbalancing grave objections
which cannot be considered here. [EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 2: Open-air schools, and school sleeping camps such as those
established experimentally in various urban slum-districts, are other
efforts to meet the needs of physically defective children. Teachers
in open-air schools in provincial towns, work under approximately
similar conditions to those described by Mrs Thomas. [Editor.]]
VI
THE TEACHING OF GYMNASTICS
No school of any importance is considered properly equipped unless
the staff includes a gymnastic and games mistress. Several systems
of gymnastics are practised in England, but the Swedish system is
steadily proving its superiority; so much is this felt that a number
of teachers who have previously taken a two years' course of training
in some other system, are at the present time taking, or have just
completed, a second two years' course in the Swedish system. As long
ago as 1878 the London School Board introduced the Swedish system into
its schools, but it was not till 1885 that the first physical training
college was opened in this country, and this was for women only. In
1903 this system was adopted for the navy, and in 1906 for the army;
it has also been adopted in the Government schools and Training
Colleges, as well as in all the principal private schools and colleges
for girls, and in many boys' schools, including, among others, Eton,
Winchester, Clifton, and Repton. The following remarks, therefore,
apply only to the Swedish system.
Until 1885, the rationally trained teacher of gymnastics was unknown
in England, and the physical training of the girls in this country was
monopolised by dancing mistresses and drill sergeants, most of whom
were ignorant of the laws which govern the human body. In that
year Madame Osterberg started a Physical Training College for women
students at Hampstead, the college being removed to Dartford Heath,
Kent, in 1895. Since then similar institutions have been opened at
Bedford, Erdington, Chelsea, etc., and there is a growing army of
women qualified to teach gymnastics and games, and in many cases
dancing and swimming. These trained teachers have studied Anatomy,
Physiology, and Hygiene; they have themselves experienced what they
teach others; they have been trained to observe, and deal gently and
carefully with growing girlhood. They have also studied deformities
such as spinal curvature, round shoulders, and flat feet, and are able
to take all such cases under their special care.
The course of training lasts from two to three years, and the cost
in a residential college, is about £100 a year. To ensure success as
teachers, students should be tactful, observant, and sympathetic; they
should be medically fit, and physically suited to the work, and should
produce evidence of a good general education. The requirements of the
colleges vary as to educational qualification, some being satisfied
with a school-leaving certificate while others demand Matriculation.
This raising of the standard is a step in the right direction and may
hasten the time when the gymnastic teacher will be thought worthy of a
University degree or diploma.
The training includes theoretical as well as practical work, and the
idea which used to be prevalent, is now practically exploded, that
a girl who could not pass examinations but who was fairly good
at gymnastics or games might make a good gymnastic teacher. The
theoretical subjects include Physiology, Hygiene, Anatomy, Theory of
Movements, Psychology, and a certain amount of Pathology; whilst the
practical side includes Educational Gymnastics and Teaching, Remedial
Gymnastics and Massage, Games (hockey, cricket, lacrosse, lawn tennis,
net-ball, and gymnasium games), Swimming and Dancing. Dancing is
becoming more and more, a necessary part of the equipment for the
successful gymnastic teacher, who must be able to teach the ordinary
ball-room dances as well as Morris and country dances.
A typical week's work in the second year's course in one of the
colleges includes six hours' Gymnastics; five hours' Remedial
Gymnastics, and five hours' actual treatment under supervision, of
patients in the clinic; six hours' Anatomy, two hours' Physiology, two
hours' Hygiene, two hours' Vaulting, three and a half hours' Dancing.
In addition to this, four afternoons (from 2 to 4 P.M.) are devoted to
games; class singing-lessons are given twice a week for half an hour,
in addition to a quarter of an hour's practice every day, and each
student teaches in the elementary schools three half hours a week, and
also gets some practice in the high school. Add to all this the time
required for private study, and it will be seen that the work is
fairly strenuous and that none but strong, healthy girls should
undertake it.
After the course of training the gymnastic teacher usually takes a
post in a school, and having had a few years' experience, may then
become an organiser or inspector to an education committee, a trainer
in an elementary training college or physical training college, the
head of the gymnastic department of a school clinic, or she may
prefer to start a private practice, holding classes, treating cases
of deformity, and also acting as visiting gymnastic teacher or
games-coach to schools in the neighbourhood.
The rate of remuneration varies according to the kind of work
undertaken; the initial salary in schools is usually £60 to £80
per annum resident, or £100 to £120 non-resident. Organisers and
inspectors command a much higher salary; the three Government
inspectors start at £200 rising to £400 with first-class travelling
expenses, and the four woman-organisers employed by the London County
Council Education Committee start at £175, rising by £10 a year to
£240 plus actual travelling expenses. Some women do well in private
practice, making from £200 to £300 a year. The salaries of the
gymnastic teachers in the London County Council secondary schools are
fixed at £130 a year with no possibility of advancement, and, though
this may compare favourably with the initial salaries of other
teachers on the staff, it must be remembered that the teaching life of
a gymnastic teacher is shorter and there are no headmistress-ships
to which to look forward. The few "plums" of the profession are the
inspectorships of the Government and of the more important education
committees. For the latter, women have often to compete with men, and
even in cases where both men and women inspectors are employed--the
men doing the same work in the boys' schools as the women do in the
girls'--the men's salaries are considerably higher, despite the
fact that most women give up professional work on marriage, either
voluntarily or compulsorily, and have therefore a shorter time in
which to recover the cost of their training, whereas if they do not
marry, they have to make provision for old age and in many cases to
contribute to the support of others besides themselves.
With regard to this employment of women after marriage, there would
seem to be no reason why the principals or assistants of colleges or
institutes, or the women with private practices should not continue
their work; but in schools, even where the terms of the appointment
do not demand resignation on marriage, it is not customary for married
teachers to be employed.
Up to the present, the supply of trained gymnastic teachers has
scarcely satisfied the demand, and fresh openings are from time to
time created. When physical exercises were made compulsory in all the
elementary schools, the class teacher had and still has, to give this
instruction to her class, but there has been an increasing demand for
organisers to teach the elementary school teacher and superintend her
work. This has also led to specialist teachers being appointed to all
the elementary training colleges and pupil teachers' centres. Then
came medical inspection, and with it the need for school clinics,
which could not be complete without a department for treating
curvatures, flat feet, etc., and giving breathing exercises,
especially after the removal of adenoids. Though these clinics are
only in the experimental stage they are sure to expand, and it is
expected that a large number of trained gymnastic teachers will be
required for them. Further it is possible, and may be found desirable,
that specialist teachers should be appointed for groups of elementary
schools, so relieving the class teachers of this part of their work.
Large secondary and private schools often appoint two, three, or four
trained teachers who are jointly responsible for gymnastics, games,
dancing, swimming, and the treatment of deformities throughout the
school. Besides all these openings a considerable number of gymnastic
teachers find work in the colonies, especially in South Africa,
Australia, and New Zealand.
To band together the teachers of Swedish gymnastics and to guard their
interests generally, the Ling Association was founded in 1899. Though
it is open to men and women, very few men have joined, as the number
of men with the necessary qualifications is very small. Members must
have trained for at least two years at a recognised college, and it
was not till 1912 that the first training college for men was opened
in England.
With a view to standardising the training and diplomas of gymnastic
teachers, the Ling Association in 1904 started a diploma-examination.
Though the syllabus drawn up is practically the same as those used
in the different colleges, most of the colleges still grant their own
diplomas at the end of the course.
It is hardly possible at present, to specify the usual age of
retirement for gymnastic teachers, but when a woman becomes too old
for regular school teaching she can organise, supervise, and inspect,
or continue to practise remedial work which includes massage.
Most of the gymnastic teachers who come within the scope of the
Insurance Act have joined the University, Secondary and Technical
Teachers' Provident Society.
VII
THE TEACHING OF DOMESTIC SUBJECTS
There are several reasons why instruction in the domestic arts and in
the management of a house has not until quite recently formed part of
the curriculum in girls' secondary schools. In the first years of
the existence of these schools, no handicraft was encouraged except
needlework, and this was soon almost crowded out of the time-table. It
was assumed that household management was taught by the mother. There
was a second assumption made even more confidently than the first,
that a well-informed young woman with an active brain would find no
difficulty in arranging her domestic affairs. This theory was founded
on still another assumption--that there would always be on hire a
sufficiency of servants already well trained for their work.
It is obvious nowadays that the mistresses of the first two decades
of high-school teaching, being the first college-bred women, were
suffering from a reaction against domestic interests, and the manner
in which these had absorbed the old-fashioned woman. Their best pupils
were at once destined for college; they were considered too good
for mere domestic life, and were prepared for careers, mostly for
teaching. This tendency was naturally accentuated by the fact that
all mistresses were single women, with little prospect of any but a
celibate life.
In the earlier stages of girls' education, then, it was the teacher
who urged the promising girl to have a career; but the more recent
development is that the parents, harassed by increasing economic
pressure, and encouraged by the instances they meet of successful
professional women, press more and more strongly for their girls to
be educated for professions, whether they are exceptionally gifted or
not. It is recognised in almost all grades of the middle class that
the chance of a daughter marrying, and, further, the chance of her
marriage being an assured provision for her maintenance throughout
life, is by no means a certainty.
These considerations must militate against the appearance of domestic
subjects in the school time-table, but there are others working in
exactly the opposite direction. These are the increase in house rent
and general rise in prices which make economy in domestic affairs, and
good management, more valued; the dearth of servants; and the decay of
the old traditions of housekeeping. Another factor is the new cult
of hygiene, and increased interest in diet, shown especially by
the inhabitants of large towns, who bewail their lack of energy and
fitness.
If the home is to establish itself as an acknowledged success in
modern conditions, it ought to be run by women with brains. It is
now becoming acknowledged that the work needs the application of the
scientific method of thinking. It may be true that home-making in the
non-material sense is an art, but housekeeping nowadays is a science;
and so much a science that a woman who has the chance of making
herself an expert will be tempted to make housekeeping a career, and
to undertake the job on a much larger scale than is needed in the
ordinary house.
Thus, while there was practically no teaching of domestic subjects
in girls' secondary schools until about seven years ago, a demand
for teachers of the kind has sprung up very recently, and is rapidly
increasing.
The headmistress anxious to undertake something of the sort has had
many difficulties to face in the immediate past. The only teachers
of domestic arts whom she could engage had received a very different
education from the other members of her staff. If their whole time
were not taken up with teaching their subject, they had few or
no subsidiary subjects to offer, nor were they prepared for those
curiously mingled clerical and pastoral duties which fall to the
lot of a form mistress. In general education they might, indeed, be
obviously below the girls in the upper forms, whose general culture
had been sedulously cultivated for years. If teachers of this kind
were, nevertheless, not to be kept for selected "stupid girls," it
was possible (1) to introduce domestic work of the simple handicraft
nature into the middle school, leaving it out of the upper school
where there was a greater pressure on the time-table, or (2) to
organise a post-school domestic course for girls who were not
preparing for a profession.
The type of woman offering herself as a teacher in domestic arts
has meanwhile been changing and developing, owing to the fact that
a marked advance has taken place in the facilities for training. The
minimum qualifications now required by most education authorities
are diplomas for cookery, laundry-work, and housewifery, granted by a
training school recognised by the Board of Education. It is advisable
to take a fuller course which includes needlework and dressmaking.
Most training schools for domestic arts provide a two or three
year-course, according to the subjects taken. The three-year course,
including cookery, laundry-work, housewifery, dressmaking, and
needlework, costs about £75. Scholarships are offered both by the
training schools and by public bodies. These cover the whole normal
period of training, and an extension course for scientific study.
The subjects included are the principles and processes involved in
cookery, laundry-work, and household management, the last comprising
such diverse matters as the selection and furnishing of various types
of houses, repairing furniture, the choice and care of household
linens, simple upholstery, management of income, first-aid,
home-nursing, and the care of infants and young children. Many
training-schools arrange for their students to gain experience in a
crêche or similar institution, and to visit homes of various
types. Practical experience is gained in housekeeping and catering,
superintending the arrangements for meals, ordering stores and keeping
accounts. Voice production and blackboard drawing are also taught,
while science is studied concurrently with the above. The course in
science embraces some Theoretical and Practical Chemistry, Physics,
Physiology, Hygiene (personal and school hygiene and preventive
measures), and the Theory and Practice of Education. Domestic Science
students gain teaching experience not only in the various departments
of the training-school, but also in elementary and secondary schools;
happily the training is the same for those intending to take up either
elementary or secondary teaching.
Thus it is seen that the present-day teacher of household arts is
much more fitted to train the well-educated girl to organise household
matters, than was her predecessor. Not only is manipulative skill
acquired, but scientific reasons for processes and methods are
outlined, and improvements are suggested. There is, however, still the
danger that the student's training in science has been so subordinated
to the acquirement of manipulative skill that her knowledge of
scientific facts is not sufficiently based on scientific training and
method.
Much, then, is to be urged in favour of the woman with a science
degree taking courses in domestic arts, but it is essential for her to
attain a high standard of practical work. It has sometimes been found
that a very academic and scientific method of treatment has tended
to lower the standard of manipulative skill. Nevertheless qualified
graduates find themselves, at the moment, greatly in demand. The
economical headmistress must always be on the look out for an
acquisition to her staff who will, like Count Smorltork's politics,
"surprise in herself many branches." If the headmistress can solve her
difficulty about her domestic arts teacher by engaging a college-bred
woman, with a degree to put on the prospectus, all sorts of ordinary
subjects for her odd hours and undertaking to teach cooking as well,
she will jump at the chance, and pay her £10 to £20 more salary than
the ordinary assistant-mistress. She will economise greatly by the
arrangement. If she has some amount of money to back her schemes,
and a large school to administer, she will prefer two people to
one composite one. But she will beg them to collaborate and to work
together. She will not expect the woman with the science degree and a
brief subsequent training in the arts to have the manipulative skill
of the one who has done something like one thousand hours of actual
practice, according to the prescription of the Board of Education. She
will ask the former to show the girls how modern science is connected
with the modern house, and how the scientific way of thinking helps in
keeping a house, as it does in keeping one's own health and fitness.
During the past five years one secondary school after another has
taken up Domestic Arts as a school subject. The initiative usually
comes from the headmistress, and is a matter of personal judgment, so
that the introduction is still an experiment on trial, and the method
of trial varies. Before giving some indication of the methods tried,
we must return to the demand for teachers. It will be clear from what
has been said, that a science graduate who has studied and practised
household arts and cooking, or a trained teacher of Domestic Arts
who has also some science certificate and a high standard of general
education, will at this moment command a higher salary than the
ordinary secondary schoolmistress, and is practically certain of
a post. But either of these individuals requires an unusually long
period of training, for which most people have neither the time nor
the spare capital.
One woman's college in London has started courses of its own in "Home
Science and Economics," and awards a three-year certificate to its
students; also a diploma for science graduates who take a year's
course, and a certificate to Domestic Arts teachers who take a closely
related year's course. This is King's College for Women, which has
just obtained the formal approval of London University for its three
years' curriculum. In a very short time arrangements will be made to
grant a University Diploma to the students who have taken this course,
the fee for which amounts to 30 guineas a session. A scholarship,
covering the cost of tuition, is from time to time awarded to
undergraduate students, and there is also a one-year post-graduate
Gilchrist scholarship of 50 guineas. The name of "Household and
Social Science" is recommended by the Royal Commissioners for the new
co-ordination of subjects. Various American universities and colleges
give diplomas of the same kind: and the New Zealand University has
just initiated one. The three-year course at King's College for Women
may possibly be modified by the University authorities: at present it
consists of two years' training in various branches of pure science,
and a third year in which these branches are applied to household
matters of all kinds. For instance, the usual type of academic course
of Inorganic, Organic, and Physical Chemistry gives place in the third
year to the study of food, cooking utensils and cookers, soap and
other cleansing materials, and woven materials. Biology and Physiology
give place to household Bacteriology and Hygiene. Practice in
Housewifery and Cooking occupies one day per week throughout the three
years. A very important feature in this course is the introduction of
Economics. As with the natural sciences, two years' study of ordinary
Economics, chiefly industrial, is followed by a year of Economics
applied to the household, in which an attempt is made to show the
present and past relations of the household to society. King's
College for Women is the first institution in England to see the
great importance of studying the connection of domestic life with
the outside industrial world, instead of treating it as an isolated
phenomenon.
This is the outline of the three-year course: students are encouraged
to stay a fourth year for special work; the appointments which they
take up at the end of three or four years are not always as teachers,
but in various other vocations which need not be specified here. As
teachers, the holders of these certificates are subject, of course, to
a double fire of criticism. The science specialist thinks they do
not know enough science, and points out that, beyond a few elementary
facts in Chemistry, Physics, and Physiology soon picked up in an
elementary training in these subjects, there stretches a region of
very abstruse science which cannot be attacked except by specialists
in Organic Chemistry, in the Physiology of Nutrition, and so on.
But it is now suggested that many scientific problems connected with
domestic subjects are waiting for solution. If some of these were
solved, they would bridge the gulf between the elementary and the
abstruse, but they must show themselves of sufficient interest to
investigators. Here is a field for work eminently suited to the
scientific woman with a practical turn of mind. Meanwhile, the cookery
diplomée thinks, often justifiably, that the new teachers have not had
sufficient practice in the art of cooking. Criticism of this kind is
inevitable whenever a new co-ordination of subjects is attempted, and
it will keep the new arrangement on its trial until it can justify
itself. The question at issue in this case, as probably readers will
have divined if they are interested in the problem, is whether the
whole method and tradition of teaching housekeeping ought not to be
under revision, so that it may in a few years be a "subject" vastly
different from the traditional handing-on and practising of receipts.
Once the barrier is broken down between the scientifically trained and
the domestic woman, the whole aspect of affairs changes. It is a sign
of the change that the training-colleges and cookery-schools, besides
introducing more Chemistry, Hygiene, and Physiology into their
curricula, are definitely asking that the teachers they employ for
these subjects, shall be women with science degrees as well as some
knowledge of domestic arts. For instance, at the Gloucester School
of Cookery at least one former teacher had taken the Natural Science
Tripos at Girton as well as Domestic Science Certificates: at
Battersea Polytechnic a recent appointment is that of a Domestic
Science diplomée, who subsequently took a science degree at Armstrong
College, while at the National Training School of Cookery, one member
of Staff is at present a science graduate, who subsequently obtained
the King's College for Women Diploma in Home Science and Economics.
Again, the new Government report just issued on handwork in secondary
schools, while in many ways non-committal, distinctly prefers special
training for teachers of Domestic Subjects following on a good general
education--_i.e._, a University degree plus technical qualifications,
rather than a teaching diploma in Domestic Subjects plus a little
science. There is, then, likely to be an increasing number of openings
for women who can afford the double training. Schools of housecraft
to give all-round training to educated women, are springing up in
all parts of the United Kingdom: in those which are attached to
Polytechnics and similar institutions the fullest advantage is
taken of the pure and technical science teaching available in their
laboratories.
To those who look for a real advance in household science the weak
point of the present situation is the want of proper correlation and
standardisation of the work going on. The Board of Education does not
examine; it accepts the diploma given by any one of a fairly large
number of domestic science schools. In consequence, teachers from
different quarters may be using quite different processes and methods
in laundry work, cooking, or housekeeping. It is time some fundamental
things were agreed upon, and although standardising must not be
allowed to become stereotyping, at present constructive generalisation
is needed, as well as the upsetting of out-grown traditions. In this
context it would be well to discuss a question more properly to be
taken at the end of this paper--the connection between the teaching in
elementary schools and that in secondary schools. There is no reason
to introduce differentiation in the training of the teachers: it
is obvious, for instance, that the recent development of including
economics in that training, is of extraordinary value to the
elementary school teacher. But it is difficult to correlate the
instruction given in the management of a middle-class household, with
from eight to twenty rooms, and from one to a dozen servants, with
that given in the management of a workman's cottage or of a flat
without assistance. The connection which does need systematising and
establishing is between the management of a middle-class house and the
training of domestic servants, which ought naturally to form part of
the trade or technical after-school work for elementary scholars. Here
again, if training is to be followed by certificates, and the
domestic servant is to be in the smallest degree an expert, some
standardisation of training is necessary. We may, of course, find that
domestic service becomes so much a matter of expert work that it is
taken up on a large scale by middle-class girls, but that can
hardly be prophesied yet, although the "lady servant" is an existing
phenomenon. It is, of course, also possible that a modern curriculum
of "Household and Social Science" may attract a certain number of
men of the suitable type of mind. The attitude of the community is
changing so rapidly that one may hope those fears to be groundless
which speak of "relegating women back to the limited sphere of
domesticity," and thereby losing so much that has been gained with
regard to their education.
We must now return to give a few particulars which have been passed
over. Any information on this subject is, however, liable to be very
soon out of date. A secondary school that elects to teach cooking and
laundry work will want a specially fitted room, which will cost about
as much as a simple science laboratory, and will be arranged in as
close connection with the science laboratory as is convenient. This
means serious expense, and the headmistress is naturally anxious
to have considerable use made of the room. Thus she will be led to
introduce the subject into a large proportion of the classes, instead
of limiting it to one or two middle-school forms, or to a selected
part of the upper-school. She may, however, try to solve the economic
problem by making it a post-school course for which special fees are
charged. Certain schools, notably Clapham and Croydon High Schools and
Cheltenham Ladies' College are able to make a very important feature
of this type of course. To make it a success, the prestige of the
school, its influence over girls and their parents, must be great and
commanding. Otherwise, unless the girls are aiming definitely at some
professional work after the course, there is a tendency to laxness in
attendance, or to the relinquishment of the work in the middle, which
tendency is engendered by the nature of the subject. The mother's
excuse for getting her grown-up girl's company and help will naturally
be, "Gladys can boil the potatoes at home instead of at school." A
valid answer will be that Gladys is being taught to free her mind
from the eternal English boiled potato by learning many other ways of
treating it, and at the same time learning its proper place in a diet.
Failing the post-school course, the admittance of domestic subjects to
a notable place in the general school curriculum leads to great stress
being laid on the teaching of the elements of Physical Science. The
eminently "feminine" subject, Botany, gives place to Physics and
Chemistry in the middle-school, followed by Physiology and Hygiene
in the upper-school. The subjects are to be illustrated whenever
convenient, by reference to home life. A student choosing her science
subjects at College should bear these in mind as likely to be at
present of the best market value. Though it is very true that a
practical woman who is a good teacher will nowadays connect any
science subject with home life, still a parallel course of domestic
arts will draw chiefly on the lessons given in these four.
Another fact worthy of notice is that a married woman who is anxious
to continue her former profession of science teaching will not as a
rule have to suffer the usual unfavourable handicap. That a married
woman should teach the domestic subjects is quite a reasonable
proposition to many who would exclude her from most professions:
if she be also a mother it may even count as an asset instead of a
disadvantage.
The Delegacy for Oxford Local Examinations has been the first, as far
as we know, to set a paper in domestic science to senior candidates.
There has been a demand for it in the London Matriculation, but
objection has been raised on the score of its being a smattering and
a soft option. The Oxford Delegacy has introduced two new
headings--Domestic Science and Hygiene--and sets two papers under
each, without any practical work. The first paper is the same under
both headings--Elementary Physics and Chemistry, and the preparation
for this is intended to be made at least one school year before the
preparation for the second paper. It should be noted that the Hygiene
paper is for boys and girls; it includes a little Physiology, Personal
Hygiene, and Hygiene of Buildings. The Domestic Science paper is for
girls only; it has several details in common with that in Hygiene, but
its main features are the simple outlines of the chemistry of foods
and of cleansing substances. In a few years the suitability of these
subjects for both sexes may have impressed the community.
We may notice, lastly, the arrangements made for instruction in
Domestic Subjects in elementary schools.[1] This is given in a
specially equipped Centre attached to a public elementary school, the
girls from that and other schools attending either for a half or whole
day weekly during their last two years at school. In some cases for
about fifteen weeks before they leave school, girls give half the week
to Domestic Subjects. This experiment has been so successful, that it
is likely to be extended in the future. A carefully graded syllabus is
followed; due proportion of time is given to theory and demonstration
as well as to practical work. Each girl is required to do a certain
amount of work by herself, and much thought has been expended in order
to make the lessons as useful as possible. The care of infants and
young children is receiving increased attention, and it is hoped that
much may be done to mitigate evils of wrong feeding and treatment. As
far as possible, the teaching in the Centres is correlated with that
in the schools. Where there are science laboratories the experiments
are made on food-stuffs, changes wrought by application of heat in
various ways, the chemistry of common objects, and so on.
The opportunity for definite science training in connection with
Domestic Subjects teaching in elementary schools is still very small,
and will probably remain so while the school-leaving age is fourteen.
The problem before the teacher in some instances is to combat not only
an entire ignorance of the home arts, but also, in poor districts, an
active experience of household mismanagement and vicious habits. The
teaching in these cases has to be intensely practical, and to aim
chiefly at character-building; the manual work of the subject has been
found of the greatest educational value in this respect. Though the
training of all Domestic Subjects' teachers should reach the same
standard of scientific knowledge, yet the actual work to be done
in different types of schools is thus seen to be necessarily widely
divergent in character.
In higher elementary or "central" schools, where the pupils normally
remain until the end of the school year in which they reach the age of
fifteen, Domestic Subjects' teaching may have a much wider scope than
at the ordinary Centre, as the pupils are at a very intelligent age,
and represent the best of the elementary scholars. A special syllabus
is prepared according to the individual need of each school, by the
Domestic Subjects' teacher and the headmistress; the instruction is a
very definite part of the curriculum, and the teacher a member of the
school staff.
In London and other large towns, and with certain County Councils,
the Centre is under the general supervision of the headmistress of the
school to which it is attached, but technical details are entirely
in the hands of the teacher of Domestic Subjects and of the
superintendent who visits periodically. In some rural areas, the
conditions are not so satisfactory. Frequently one teacher has to
serve several villages, visiting them for instruction on certain days.
The accommodation in such places is often sadly deficient, and much
ingenuity and resource are needed to overcome difficulties which do
not occur when the Centre is well-equipped and in continuous use, and
the teacher, as she should be, a regular member of the school staff.
On leaving school, there are many scholarships open to the girls for
further training, (_a_)for a home course, (_b_) for domestic service,
(_c_) for the trades of laundress, needlewoman, dressmaker, and cook.
These scholarships are held at Technical Institutes, or Trade Schools,
and the training given is admirable in kind.
A qualified teacher who wishes to take up elementary school work will
have no difficulty, if physically fit, in obtaining a post under a
County Council or other educational authority at a salary of £80 per
annum, usually rising by annual increments to £120. The maximum is not
so high as that for teachers of ordinary subjects, and pensions are
not universal, though most councils make fairly adequate provision for
retirement, breakdown, and ill-health.
There is at present very little direct promotion open to the
Domestic Subjects' teacher in elementary schools. In London there are
practising-centres for students in training, and training centres for
teachers during the probationary period, the managers of which hold
very responsible posts that carry extra salary. The inspecting staff
is usually chosen from teachers of experience, but this is necessarily
limited in numbers, vacancies occurring only rarely. The salary
attached to these posts is from £150 to £300. Many good posts in
the Colonies have been obtained by Domestic Subjects' teachers in
elementary schools. Some teachers have become foreign missionaries,
Children's Care Committee visitors, or home mission workers and
visitors. Some have established model laundries, others have taken
charge of students' hostels and boarding-houses; while many have
been successful in the needle-trades, luncheon and tea-rooms, and in
lecturing and demonstrating for gas and electric companies.
Several organisations for self-protection and the advancement of the
profession are open to teachers of Domestic Subjects. The Association
of Teachers of Domestic Subjects was founded in 1896, and has done
valuable work for the members. It is affiliated to the Association of
Teachers in Technical Institutes, and is thus enabled to obtain
good legal advice. A representative has been appointed to sit on the
Council for the Registration of Teachers. The Association is helping
to educate public opinion, and to review and consider the pedagogy
of domestic subjects in all classes of schools. Domestic Subjects'
teachers are also admitted to membership of other Teachers'
Associations, which safeguard the interest of their members and offer
advantages for training and travelling. Members of the Association of
Teachers of Domestic Subjects have the right to join for the purposes
of the Insurance Act the "Approved" section of the Secondary,
Technical and University Teachers' Provident Society. The London
County Council has secured "exception" from the Act for their Domestic
Subjects' teachers, their allowance for sick leave being better than
the provisions of the Act. The Association of Teachers of Domestic
Subjects has obtained special terms for members from two assurance
companies for deferred annuities or endowment assurances. The London
Teachers' Association has also a provident section.
We have seen that Domestic Arts may now claim a position of importance
in both the elementary and secondary school curricula, and that the
teaching of these subjects may rank as a profession in which there is
a great deal of scope. The attitude of mind towards these subjects has
much changed during the last few years, largely owing to the efforts
of those who have taken them up as subjects of scientific study.
Much, however, remains to be done, both in organising the teaching in
schools, and in the training of teachers in domestic subjects. Only
those who have had scientific training, are competent to put the work
on a sound scientific basis.
[Footnote 1: An interesting sidelight on economic conditions is
afforded by the instructions issued by the London County Council for
the guidance of teachers of Domestic Subjects (Syllabus of Instruction
in Domestic Economy. Revised, March 1912). The girls are to be taught
account-keeping in order to "cultivate a well-balanced sense of
proportion in spending and saving. ... Weekly incomes suitable for
consideration in London, to begin with, are 35s., £3, and 28s. taken
in that order." The number in family is supposed to be six, _i.e.,_
parents and four children.
The obvious inference is that experts do not find it possible to deal
satisfactorily with cases in which there are, say, six children and
an income of 25s. An income of £1 a week is not even mentioned, though
many a London school-girl must know "in the last three years of
her school-life" that her mother has not more than this to spend.
Translated into concrete quantities of food, clothing, and rent,
this "living wage" is found insufficient for daily needs. The teacher
therefore is encouraged to ignore the economic conditions of most of
her pupils. [EDITOR]. ]
TABLE I.
Cost and duration of courses for the first degree in the Faculties
of Arts and Science, together with Scholarships in those Faculties
available for Women at the Universities and University Colleges[1] of
the United Kingdom.
_NOTES_.
1. Scholarships, etc., printed in _italics_ are available for Women only.
2. Scholarships, etc., printed in #black type# are not restricted to
graduates of any one University.
3. County Council and Borough Scholarships are included only when tenable
at a specified University or College. Particulars of others should in
each case be obtained from the respective Director or Secretary of the
Education Committee.
4. No scholarship or prize is included of which the value is less than £15.
[Footnote 1: University Colleges are those in receipt of a Government Grant
and doing work of a University standard. Thus the Polytechnics and Colleges
such as the Albert Memorial College, Exeter, are not included, although
they prepare students for degree examinations.]
#ENGLAND#.
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honours (M.A., M.Sc.) in Arts or Science: 4 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: 54 guineas for the course.
Cost of Tuition in Science: From 47 guineas to £186, 2s. for
the course, according to subjects chosen.
Cost of Residence (optional): From 40 to 55 guineas per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
Entrance(2) Not more than £25
1 year
Fentham's Trust £75 3 years Awarded on to candidates
who have resided for 5
years in the City of
Birmingham
University(2) £30 1 year Science
University(2) £30 1 year Arts
University(15) Free tuition and not
more than £30
maintenance 4 years
Theodore Mander £24 2-3 years Open to sons and daughters
of burgesses of
Wolverhampton, and
awarded to those
intending to take Degree
Courses in the Faculties
of Science of Commerce
Polytechnic(2) £45 _circa_ 3 years
Ascough £36 _circa_ 1 year Chemistry
(renewable)
George Henry £45 3 years Classics
Marshall
German £50 -- Offered each year for 5
years from 1913.
Education Committee £50 3 years
Major(5)
Corbett £28 _circa_ 1 year For 2nd year students.
Mathematics.
#Post-Graduate#
University(4) £50 1 year Arts and Science
Research(4) £50 1 year Arts and Science
Priestley(3) £96 _circa_ 1 year Chemistry Research
(renewable)
1851 Exhibition £150 2 years Scientific Research
UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science, Pass or Honours: 3 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: 18 guineas per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: 20 guineas per annum.
Cost of Residence (optional) at Clifton Hill House: 40 guineas per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
Bursaries, variable Tuition fees and
in number maintenance grant
1 year Awarded (to children of
Bristol ratepayers only)
according to
qualification
Vincent Stuckey Lean Interest on Science
Scholarship £1,000 1 year
#Post-Graduate.#
_Catherine Winkworth_ £30 1 year Arts
_Catherine Winkworth_ £30 1 year Science
Capper Pass Scholarship £25 1 year Metallurgy
Hugh Conway Scholarship £20 1 year English Literature
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
The only University Scholarships for which women are eligible
are the Arnold Gerstenberg Studentship (income of £2,000) for
Philosophical Research and the Benn W. Levy Studentship for
Research in Biological Chemistry (£100 a year). Scholarships at
Girton and Newnham are for women only.
The University does not grant degrees to women.
GIRTON COLLEGE.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science: 3 years. (Pass candidates
are not accepted.)
Cost of Course: £105 per annum, including tuition, examinations,
and residence. For out-students the fees are £12 a term.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
_Jane Agnes Chessar_ Not less than
£88 4 years Classics
_Russell Gurney_ £40 3 years History
_Sir Francis Goldsmid_ £45 3 years
_Mary Anne Leighton_ About £16 3 years
_Barbara Leigh Smith_ About £44 3 years
_Bodichon_
_Todd Memorial_ About £35 3 years
_Higgins_ £40 3 years
_Henry Tomkinson_ At least £20 3 years
_Clothworkers_ £60 3 years
_Skinners_ £50 3 years
_Gilchrist_ £50 3 years Also tenable at Newnham
_Queen's School,_ £30 3 years
_Chester_
_Dove_ £20 3 years For girls from St.
Leonard's School, St.
Andrew's. Classics
#For Certified Students#
_Gilchrist Studentship_ £100 1 year For Professionals. Open to
Students at Newnham and
Girton
_Old Girtonians'_ Not less than
_Studentship_ £48 1 year
_John Elliot Cairnes_ Not less than
£58 1 year For research in Political
Economy or Economic
History
_Sir Arthur Arnold_ £30 1 year
_Harkness_ About £70 1 year Geology. Also tenable at
Newnham. Awarded
biennially
#Fellowships.#
_Pfeiffer_ £120 2 years
#Girton College# £300 Various Open to students of all
Universities
#Prizes.#
_Gamble_ Interest on £500
_Therese Montifiore_ Interest on £1,700
NEWNHAM COLLEGE.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science: 3 years (Pass candidates
are not accepted).
Cost of Course: From £90 to £105 per annum, including tuition,
examinations, and residence. For out-students the fees are
£12 a term.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
_College_(2) £50 3 years
_Clothworhers_ £50 3 years
_College_(1 or more) £35 3 years
_Classical_ £50 3 years Also tenable at Girton
_Modern Languages_ £50 3 years Also tenable at Girton
_Liverpool Clough_ £50 2-3 years For those entering the
teaching profession, only
_Gilchrist_ £50 3 years Also tenable at Girton
_Mary Ewart_ £100 3 years For students who have been
in residence three terms
_Harkness_ £70 1 year Geology. Also tenable at
Girton. Awarded
biennially
#Certificated Students#
_Arthur Hugh Clough_ £40 1 year
_Mary Ewart_ £150 1 year Travelling scholarship
_Gilchrist_ £100 1 year Tenable only by those
entering a profession.
Held alternate years at
Newnham and Girton
#Bathurst# £75 or under 1 year Awarded from time to time
for proficiency in
Natural Science. Not
restricted to Newnham
students
_Marion Kennedy_ £80 1 year Holder eligible for 2nd
_Studentship_ year
#Fellowships.#
_Associates_(2) £100 1 year Awarded alternate years
_Mary Bateson_ £100 1 year
_"N"_ £100 1 year
#Prizes.#
_Creighton_ £15 Awarded for an essay on
_Memorial_ History or Archaeology
UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM.
DURHAM COLLEGE.
Duration of Course in Arts: Pass 2 years; Honours, 3 years.
Duration of Course in Science: Pass and Honours, 3 years.
Cost of Tuition, Arts and Science: £21 per annum.
Cost of Residence in Abbey House (optional): From £12 to £16 a term.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Foundation Scholarships £70 1 year May be renewed. Arts
Foundation Scholarships £40 1 year May be renewed
Foundation Scholarships £30 1 year May be renewed
Entrance Exhibitions(2) £20 1 year May be renewed
Pears Scholarship £50 3 years Arts
_Scholarships_(2) £70 1 year
_Scholarships_(2) £30 1 year
Exhibitions(2) £20 2 years Persons of limited means
#Undergraduate.#
Scholarships(2) £30 1 year 2nd year students
Scholarships(2) £30 1 year 2nd year students
Gisborne Scholarship £30 1 year 2nd year students
University Classical £30 1 year
Scholarship
University Mathematical £30 1 year
Scholarship
University Hebrew £20 1 year
Scholarship
Thorp Scholarship £20 1 year
Newby Scholarship £18 2 or 3 yrs. Arts
Scholarships(3) £20 1 year Modern B.A.
#Prizes.#
Gibson £20 Essay
ARMSTRONG COLLEGE, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Arts or Science: 3 to 4 years.
Cost of Tuition: £20 per annum.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Exhibition £20 1-2 years Science
Exhibition £15 1-2 years Science
Exhibitions(2) £15 1-2 years Arts
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Free admission to a Open to candidates
Corporation degree course resident in Newcastle.
Exhibitions(10) 2 years Arts
(renewable)
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Free admission to a Open to candidates
Corporation degree course resident in Newcastle.
Exhibitions(10) 2 years Arts
(renewable)
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Free admission to a Open to candidates
Corporation degree course resident in Newcastle.
Exhibitions(10) 2 years Science
(renewable)
Gateshead Corporation Free admission to a Open to candidates
Exhibitions(10) degree course resident in Gateshead.
2 years
(renewable)
#Undergraduate.#
Junior Pemberton £30 and remission of Awarded on the results of
two-thirds of the the first B.Sc.
class fees 1 year examination
Thomas Young Hall £20 with remission of Awarded on the results
two-thirds of the of the first B.Sc.
class fees 3 years examination
Nathaniel Clerk £15 1 year Awarded on the results
of the first B.Sc.
examination
Senior Pemberton £40 and fees 1 year Candidates must have
passed the first B.Sc.
examination
#Post-Graduate.#
Research Studentships(2) £62, 10s 1 year
1851 Exhibition £150 2 years Science
1851 Exhibition
Probationary Bursaries £70 1 year Science Research
Johnston Chemical £60 1 year Open to Bachelors of
Science of any British
University of not more
than 3 years' standing
#Fellowships.#
College £125 1 year
Pemberton £120 3 years Open to graduates in
Science of Durham
University of not more
than 6 years' standing
from their first degree
UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS.
Duration of Pass Course, Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honour Course, Arts or Science: 3 to 4 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £19 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £27 per annum.
Cost of Residence at University Hall (optional): From £32 to £41 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
Emsley £20 2 years
Edward Baines £20 2 years
Charles Wheatley £25 3 years Arts
William Summers £35 3 years Arts
Brown £40 2 years Science
(renewable)
Senior City(14) £50 3 years Open to candidates of not
(renewable) less than 17 and not more
than 30 years of age
County Major £55 _circa_ 3 years Open to candidates of not
(West Riding)(14) less than 16 and not
more than 30 years of
age
Free Studentships Tuition Fees 3 years
(West Riding)
Major (North Riding)(4) £60 1-3 years Open to women of not less
than 16 and not more than
20 years of age
Scholarships (East £60 1-3 years
Riding)
Salt £20 2 years Arts
City Council Not specified
#Post-Graduate.#
1851 Exhibition £150 2 years Science
University (limited £25 1-2 years Awarded ordinarily on
number) Final Honours Examinations
Gilchrist £80 1 year Modern Languages
John Rutson £70 1 year Arts
(renewable)
#Fellowships.#
University £100 1 year
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Arts: 3 to 4 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Science: 4 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £19 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £25 per annum.
Cost of Residence in University Hall (optional): From 35 to 50 guineas a
session.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
Bibby(2) £20 3 years Open to candidates of not
more than 18 years of age
Morris Ranger £20 3 years
_Ladies' Educational £30 3 years Open to women of not less
Association_ than 16 and not more than
19 years of age
Elizabeth James £40 3 years Arts or Law
Tate (Arts) £35 3 years Open to candidates who
have been educated in one
of the schools of
Liverpool or the
neighbourhood and who are
not more than 18 years of
age
Tate (Science)(3) £35 3 years
Senior City(8) £30 and free admission Open to candidates of not
to lectures less than 16 and not more
3 years than 19 years of age
Senior City Technical(2) £50 and free admission Open to candidates of not
to lectures less than 16 and not more
than 25 years of age
3 years
Derby(2) £35 3 years One without limit of age,
one for candidates of not
more than 18 years of age
Canning £28 3 years}
Iliff £20 3 years} Arts including
Mathematics, or B.Sc.
Honours in Mathematics
William Rathbone £20 3 years}
Gossage £70 _circa_ 3 years Open to pupils of schools
in the Borough of Widnes
Lundie Memorial £15 3 years
Wallasey Borough £35 3 years Open to candidates under
Council 19 years of age
W.P. Sinclair Interest on £1,000 Arts or Honour School of
3 years Mathematics
Henry Deacon £50 3 years Open to candidates of not
more than 19 years of age
who intend studying in
the Honour School of
Chemistry
Sheridan Muspratt £50 2 years Chemistry
Thomas Hornby £20 1 year Greek
(renewable)
Korbach £20 1 year Undergraduates reading
(renewable) German in the Honour
School of Modern
Languages or graduates
wishing to proceed with
German study or research
Henry Warren Meade-King Interest on £1,000 Economics
2 years
Holt Travelling £50 1 year Architecture
Isaac Roberts(2) £50 1 year Science. Open to graduates
(renewable) and under-graduates
Sir John Willox £50 2 years Chemistry
#Post-Graduate#
Korbach £20 1 year __See above, undergraduate_
(renewable) _scholarship of same name_
Gilchrist £80 1 year Modern Languages
Isaac Roberts(2) £50 1 year _See above, undergraduate_
_scholarship of same name_
1851 Exhibition £150 2 years Tenable at any University
in England and abroad,
and to be used for
Science Research work
University(2) £25 1 year
1851 Exhibition Bursary £70 1 year
Derby £45 _circa_ 1 year Mathematics
(renewable)
Owen-Templeman Interest on £450
1 year
(renewable) Celtic
Stanley Jones Interest on £1,300 Economics
#Fellowships.#
University -- 1 year
Charles Beard £75 1 year History
Oliver Lodge Interest on £2,650 Physics
1 year
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.
The duration of the Course in Arts or Science, Pass and Honours,
is 3 years. (_See_ under separate Colleges for Fees.)
All students of the University are eligible for University Scholarships,
Exhibitions, and Prizes in accordance with the regulations
laid down in each case.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#University Undergraduate.#
Exhibitions(5) £40 2 years Arts and Science
Scholarships(19) £50 1 year Arts and Science
Mitchell Exhibitions(4) 2 of £25} 1 year For candidates from the
2 of £20}(renewable) city of London
_Si Dunstan Exhibitions_ £60 3 years For residents in London of
_for Women_(3) restricted means
_Gilchrist_ £40 2 years One in Arts, one in
_Scholarships, for_ Science (the latter may
_Women_(2) be increased by £10)
#University Post-Graduate.#
The Lindley Studentship £100 For research in Physiology
(awarded every 3rd year)
The University £50 For research
Studentship in (undergraduates are also
Physiology eligible)
George Smith Studentship £100 + £5 worth Awarded to the best
of books Internal Candidate for
B.A. Honours in English
on condition of
preparation for M.A.
_Gilchrist Studentship_ £100 For graduates in Honours
_for Women_ who undertake to prepare
for and practise some
profession
Gilchrist Studentship in £80 For internal graduates in
Modern Languages Honours (French or
German) who undertake to
follow abroad a course of
preparation for the
profession of Modern
Language Teacher
Carpenter Medal (or its £20 Awarded every 3 years for
pecuniary equivalent) a Thesis in experimental
Psychology presented for
a Doctor's Degree
Ouseley Memorial £50 Oriental Languages, not
Scholarships(3) restricted to graduates
Gilchrist Scholarships(2)£50 Oriental Languages, not
restricted to graduates
Grants are also made from the Dixon Fund in aid of scientific
investigations.
BEDFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: 27 guineas per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: From 27 to 38 guineas per annum.
Cost of Residence in College (optional): From 58 to 68 guineas per annum.
All Scholarships at Bedford College are open to women only.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Undergraduate.#
_Reid Scholarships_(2) £30 3 years Arts
_Clift Scholarship_ £30 3 years Arts
_Courtauld Scholarship_ £30 3 years Arts
_Henry Tate Scholarship_ £50 3 years Science
_Arnott Scholarship_ £50 3 years Science
_Pfeiffer_
_Scholarships_(2) £50 3 years
_Reid Scholarship_ £60 3 years
_Jane Benson_
_Scholarship_ £60 2 years Awarded biennially to a
student of Bedford High
School
#Post-Graduate#
_Reid Fellowship_ £50 2 years Awarded biennially either
to an Arts or a Science
graduate
EAST LONDON COLLEGE.
Cost of Tuition in Arts or Science: £10, 10s. per annum.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Drapers' Company(2) £40 3 years Arts. Candidates must not
exceed 19 years of age
Drapers' Company(2) £40 3 years Science. Candidates must
not exceed 19 years of
age
#Post-Graduate.#
Research Studentship Conditions not yet
published
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON KING'S COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £25, 4s. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £31, 10s. per annum.
Cost of Residence in King's Hall (optional): From £17, 10s. to £26, 5s.
per term.
All Scholarships, etc., except the three which are specified, are open to
both men and women, and are tenable by the former at King's College,
Strand.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
_Skinners' Company_ £40 3 years Arts
_Scholarship_
_Merchant Taylors'_ £40 3 years Arts or Science
_Scholarship_
Sambrooke Scholarship £25 2 years Classics
Sambrooke Scholarship £25 2 years Science
#Undergraduate.#
Inglis Scholarship £30 1 year English or History in
alternate years
Sambrooke Exhibition £50 1 year Classics
#Post-Graduate.#
Inglis Studentship £100 1 year Awarded on the result
of the B.A. Honours
Examination in English
and in History in
alternate years. The
selected Student is
required to prepare for
M.A. and to give some
assistance in teaching
Layton Research £150 2 years Science
Studentship
Gilchrist Scholarship £52, 10S 1 year For graduates intending to
in Home Science take the Post-Graduate
Diploma in Home Science
and Economics. For women
only
#Prizes.#
Carter Prize £15 in books and gold English Verse
medal
Carter Prize £15 in books and gold Botany
medal
ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE.
Cost of Residence and Tuition: £100 per annum.
Cost of Tuition for out-students: £12 per term.
All Scholarships at Royal Holloway College are for women only.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
_Founder's_ £60 3 years
_Scholarships_(4)
_Entrance_ £50 3 years
_Scholarships_(8)
_Martin Holloway_ £35 3 years
_Several Bursaries_ Not exceeding
£30 3 years
#Undergraduate.#
_Driver_(3) £30 3 years For students who have been
at least three terms in
residence
_Christie_ £60 2 years For History
#Post-Graduate.#
_Several_ Varying 1 year For students wishing to
_Studentships_ in amount take up post-graduate
work
#Prizes.#
_R.C._
_Christie, Esq._ £21 French literature
_Martin Holloway._ £15, 15s.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: From £24, 3s. to £42 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £35 per annum.
Cost of Residence in College Hall (optional): From £53 to £82 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Andrews Entrance £30 1 year Arts and Science. Age
Scholarships(3) limit, 18
Campbell Clarke £40 3 years English Language and
Entrance Scholarship Literature. Age limit, 18
Goldsmid £30 3 years Science. Age limit, 18
Rosa Morison £30 3 years Arts. Age limit, 18
Member's Scholarship £30 3 years Classics
West £30 1 year English and English
History
Morris £16 2 years
St Pancras College fees for Limited to candidates born
3 years in St Pancras
Campbell Clarke £40 2 or 3 years English Language and
Literature
#Undergraduate.#
Andrews Scholarships £30 1 year Arts and Science
Derby Zoological £60 2 years
Ellen Watson Memorial £15 1 year Science. Candidates must
be under 21
Fielden Research £50 1 or 2 years Research in German
_Eleanor Grove_ £30 1 year Research in German
(may be renewed)
John Oliver Hobbes £20 1 year Modern English Literature
Hollier £60 1 year Greek and Hebrew
Jews' Commemoration £15 2 years Arts or Science
Joseph Hume £20 1 year Jurisprudence and
Political Economy
Malden Medal and £20 1 year Proficiency in Greek
Scholarship
Mayer de Rothschild £40 1 year Pure Mathematics
John Stuart Mill £20 1 or 2 years Philosophy of Mind or
Logic
_Rosa Morison_ £30 1 year English Language and
Literature
Ricardo £20 3 years Awarded every third year
for Political Economy
Tuffnell £100 2 years Science. Candidates must
be under 24
#Post-Graduate.#
George Jessel £50 1 year Research in Mathematics
Studentship
Jevons Memorial £35 1 or 2 years Research in Political
Economy
Physics Research £60} 1 year
Studentships(2) £40}
Quain £150 3 years English. Awarded every
third year
Quain £100 3 years Biology. Awarded every
third year
#Prizes.#
Quain £50 English Essay
WESTFIELD COLLEGE.
Cost of Residence and Tuition: £35 a term.
Cost of Tuition for Out-students: £15 a term.
All Scholarships at Westfield College are for women only.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
_Draper's Company_(2) £50 3 years Candidates must be under
age of 20
_Amy Sanders Stephens_ £50 3 years
_College Scholarships_ £35 to £50 3 years
(2 or more)
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science, Pass and Honours: 3 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £18 per session.
Cost of Tuition in Science: Pass, from £20 to £30 per annum.
Honours, from £12, 12S. to £45 per annum.
Cost of Residence in Ashburne Hall or Langdale Hall (optional):
From £40 to £52, 10S. per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
Rogers £40 2 years Biennial. Classics
Seaton £40 2 years Biennial. Mathematics
Dalton £40 2 years Mathematics
Hulme £35 3 years English and History
Jones £35 2 years History
James Gaskill £35 2 years Mathematics and Chemistry
John Buckley £30 3 years Mathematics and Science
Grace Calvert £30 2 years Science. Biennial
Bleackley £15 3 years Science (not till 1915)
Theodores £15 1 year French and German
_Dora Muir_ £30 3 years
_Alice Fay_ £25 Not more than 3 years
_Ashburne Hall_ £60 3 years
_Marjory Lees_ £40 3 years
_Old Ashburnians_ £30 1-3 years
Jevons £70 1 year Economic Science (once in
six years)
Russian £60 1st year} 2 years
£25 2nd year}
Bishop Fraser £40 2 years Classics
Oliver Heywood £50 2 years Classics
Dieschfield £30 1 year
Robert Platt £50 1-2 years Zoology and Botany
Robert Platt £50 2 years Physiology
Education(2) £50 1 year Intending Teachers
Faulkner (Arts) and £100 1 year
Beyer (Science)(3)
Victoria £40 1 year Classics
Wellington £30 1 year Greek. Biennial
Walters £30 1 year French. German
Bradford £35 1 year History
Shuttleworth £45 1 year Political Economy
Dalton £35 1 year Mathematics
Derby £30 1 year Mathematics
Heginbottom £15 1 year Physics
Dalton £50 2 years Chemical
Mercer £30 1 year Chemistry
#Post-Graduate.#
Roscoe £50 1 year History
(renewable)
Gilchrist £80 1 year Modern Languages
Graduate £25 1 year One in each Honours School
in Arts and Science
Travelling £60 for 1st year, Russian
and £75 for 2nd year
#1851 Exhibition# £150 2 years Science
Schuster £50 1 year Engineering or Chemistry
#Fellowships.#
John Harling £125 1-2 years Physics, English
Honorary Schunk £100 1 year Chemistry
Jones £150 2 years History
John Bright £100 2 years
Public Health(2) £50 1 year
#Prizes.#
Lee Greek Testament £15
Senior
Warburton £30
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science: 3 to 4 years. (Pass
candidates are not accepted at the Women's Colleges.)
Women are not eligible for any University Scholarships or Prizes.
All Scholarships at the Women's Colleges are for women only.
The University does not grant degrees to women.
SOMERVILLE COLLEGE.
Combination Fee: From £84 to £105 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
_Entrance £40-£60 3 years
Scholarships_(3)
_Entrance £20-£30 3 years
Exhibitions_(2)
_Shaw Lefevre_ £50 Awarded only to students
in residence
#Certificated Students.#
#Mary Ewart Travelling#
#Scholarship# £100-£200 Awarded occasionally, and
open to women graduates
of Durham and Dublin,
as well as to all
certificated students of
the Women's Colleges at
Oxford and Cambridge
LADY MARGARET HALL.
Cost of Tuition: £27 per annum.
Cost of Residence (obligatory): From £65 to £75 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
_Jephson Scholarship_ £50 3 years
_College Scholarship_ £40 3 years
_College Scholarship_ £35 3 years
ST HILDA'S HALL.
Cost of Tuition: £26, 5s. per annum.
Cost of Residence (obligatory): £75 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
_College Scholarship_ £50 3 years
_College Scholarship_ £30 3 years
_Hay Scholarship_ £25-£45 3 years
_Cheltenham Scholarship_ varies in amount Open only to pupils of
3 years Cheltenham Ladies College
ST HUGH'S COLLEGE.
Combination Fee: From £70 to £95 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
__Old Students'_ £30 3 years
_Scholarship_
_College Scholarship_ £30 3 years
_College Scholarship_ £25 3 years
_Clara Evelyn Mordan_
_Scholarship_ £40 3 years Awarded every third year
SOCIETY OF HOME STUDENTS.
Cost of Tuition: From £24 to £30 per annum.
The Society of Home Students provides for the education of
students who are not in residence at any College. It undertakes
to prepare students for pass as well as honours examinations.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
_Ottley Scholarship_ £40 3 years Open only to pupils of
Worcester High School.
_Gilchrist Travelling_ £100 1 year Open to certificated women
students at Oxford
UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science, Pass and Honours: 3 years.
Cost of Tuition varies according to subjects chosen.
Cost of Residence in the University Hostel (optional): From
29 to 43 guineas per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Fifth £30 3 years Arts, Science
Corporation £30 3 years Arts, Science
Town Trustees(2) £50 3-4 years Tenable at Sheffield,
Oxford and Cambridge
Education Committee £15, 1st year}
£20, 2nd year}3 years
£25, 3rd year}
Town Trustees(4) £50 3 years Open only to candidates
under 19 years of age
educated in Sheffield
Education Committee £50 3 years Applied Science
Earnshaw[1] £50 at least 1 year Open to inhabitants of the
or more City of Sheffield, and
tenable at any University
in the United Kingdom.
Awarded for Mathematics
or Classics.
Mechanics' Institute £50 and free admission
to lectures 1-2 years
Whitworth Exhibitions(30)£50 3 years Awarded on the results of
Examinations of the Board
of Education
Whitworth(4) £25 3 years Awarded on the results of
Examinations of the Board
of Education
Technical £20, 1st year; £25, 2nd
year; £30, 3rd year;
and free admission to
lectures 3 years
Education Committee £50 3 years Arts
Education Committee(4) £50 3 years Pure or Applied Science
#Post-Graduate#
Frederick Clifford £50 _circa_ 2 years Open to graduates residing
within a radium of 40
miles of the University
#1851 Exhibition# £150 2 years Science
#Fellowships.#
Sorby Interest on £15,503, Chemistry. Next award 1914
16s. 6d. 5 years
Town Trustees £75 1 year
[Footnote 1: This does not appear to come under either of the categories of
County and Borough Scholarship alluded to in Note 3, p. 28. The Editor
therefore includes it here.]
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, NOTTINGHAM.
Students read for the external degrees of the University of London.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £12, 12s. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £18 per annum.
Cost of Residence at Hylton House (optional): £30 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Scholarships(3) £30 1 year Arts and Science. For
(renewable) students not over 19
years of age
Studentships Remission of fees
1 year
(renewable)
_Parker Senior_ £25-£50 3 years For daughters of residents
_Exhibitions_ in Nottingham
County Council College and travelling Open to candidates under
Scholarships fees, and books 19, ordinarily resident
in the County
#Undergraduate.#
Weinberg Scholarship £15 1 year For students in need of
pecuniary assistance
College Studentships £10 to £18 1 year For students in need of
pecuniary assistance
#Post-Graduate.#
Science Research(2) £50 and free admission
1 year
Heymann Research £35 1 year May be divided between two
candidates. Preference
given to students in the
Faculty of Arts
#1851 Exhibition# £150 2 years For Research work in
#Scholarship# Science. Tenable at any
University.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, READING.
Students read for the external degrees of the University of London.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £20. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: From £20 to £24 per annum.
(There is a reduction for local students.)
Cost of Residence in St Andrew's Hall, Wessex Hall and St
George's Hostel (obligatory for students not residing with
parents or guardians): From £32 to £42 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Open Scholarships-- £69} 2 years Science
Major(2) £65} (renewable) Arts
Minor(2) Remission of College
fees 2 years
(renewable)
County Borough of
Reading--
Minor Scholarships(2) Remission of College For candidates educated
fees. 1 year in Borough of Reading
(renewable)
_St Andrew's Hall._ £40 2 years
(renewable)
_St Andrew's Hall_ Amount variable Students in need of
_Bursaries_ pecuniary assistance
_Exhibition_ Remission of College For graduates, whether
fees 1 year already students of the
College of not. Secondary
Education Course
HARTLEY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, SOUTHAMPTON.
Students read principally for the external degrees of the University of
London.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £20 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £24 per annum.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
College(2) £26, 8s., 1st year}
£34, 8s., 2nd year} 3
£36, 8s., 3rd year}years
College(2) £26, 8s., 1st year} 2
£34, 8s., 2nd year}years
Exhibitions(4) £15 and £18 3 years Open to candidates between
the ages of 16 and 19
Thomas Godolphin £23 1 year Open to candidates who
Rooper have been educated for at
least 2 years at a Public
Elementary School in the
late Mr. Rooper's
Inspectorial District
#IRELAND.#
UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN.
TRINITY COLLEGE.
Duration of Arts Course, Pass and Honours, 4 years.
Duration of Science Course: Pass, 4 years; Honours, 5 years.
Cost of Tuition: £16. 16s. per annum.
Cost of Residence in Trinity Hall (for women not residing with
their parents or guardians): From £11 to £15 a term.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Exhibitions(12) £20 (6)} 2 years Examination results
£15 (6)} of Irish Board of
Intermediate Education
Junior Exhibitions(16) £20 (12)} 2 years Candidates under 19
£15 (4) }
Sizarships(10) College fees Students in need of
pecuniary assistance
Non-foundation £30 5 years Arts or Science
Scholarship
James Patrick Kidd £80 4 years Arts or Science
_Irish Society_ £60 3 years Open only to pupils of an
_Scholarship_ Intermediate School in
Londonderry or Coleraine
#Undergraduate.#
Senior Exhibitions(16) £20} 2 years Arts or Science
£15}
Lloyd Exhibition £16 2 years Mathematics
Mullins Exhibition £17 3 years Classics
Ekenhead Scholarship £32 3 years Science. Open only to
natives of Antrim
FitzGerald Memorial £50 1 year Research in Science
Scholarship
Blake National History £85 4 years
Scholarship
#Prizes.#
Bishop Law's Mathematics £20 Algebra and Trigonometry
McCullogh £30 and £20 Mathematics
Townsend Memorial £22 Mathematics
Vice Chancellor's £20 Classics
Ferrar Memorial £18 Classics
Marshal Porter Memorial Interest on £500 Classics
Wray Prize £30 Mental and Moral
Philosophy
Cobden Prize £20 Essay on Political Economy
Hebrew Chaldee and £40
Syriac
Ferguson Memorial £20 Celtic Literature
M'CREA MAGEE COLLEGE LONDONDERRY.
(In connection with the University of Dublin.)
Duration of Course in Arts: Pass, 3 years 9 months to 4 years;
Honours 4 years.
Duration of Course in Science, Pass and Honours: 4 years.
Cost of Course in Arts or Science: From £32, 12s. to £50. 8s.
for the course.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
Bigger £30 1 year
Grocers' Company £25 1 year
M'Crea Science £25 1 year Mathematics and Physics
Adams' Bursary £15 1 year
M'Crea Science £30 1 year Mathematics and Physics
Grocers' Company £25 1 year
Findlater £25 1 year
Irish Society £20 1 year
Mabel £20 1 year Modern Literature
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND.
All students of the University are eligible for University
Scholarships in accordance with the regulations laid
down in each case.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#University Undergraduate.#
Dr Henry Hutchinson £30 3 years Awarded on results of
Stewart Literary First Examination in Arts
Scholarship
Tipperary County £50 3 years
Council
#University Post-Graduate.#
Coyne Memorial £32 1 year Awarded in alternate years
Scholarship for Essay on Political
Science
University Travelling £200 2 years In Arts and Science
Studentships(3) subjects in rotation
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science, Pass and Honours: 3 years.
Cost of Arts Course: £28, 10s.
Cost of Science Course: Variable, according to subjects chosen.
Cost of Residence in Loreto Hall or St Mary's Dominican Hall
(optional): From £30 to £40 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance#.
Scholarships(4) £50 1 year
Scholarships(4) £40 1 year
Scholarships(4) £30 1 year
Scholarships(4) £20 1 year
#Undergraduate.#
Scholarships(4) £50 2 years Arts and Science. For 2nd
year students
Scholarships(4) £40 2 years Arts and Science. For 2nd
year students
Scholarships(4) £30 2 years Arts and Science. For 2nd
year students
Scholarships(4) £20 2 years Arts and Science. For 2nd
year students
First Class Exhibitions £20 1 year Result of Examination in
(4) 2nd year
#Post-Graduate.#
Scholarships(5) £60 1 year Result of B.A. and B.Sc.
Honours Examination
Scholarship £30 1 year
Scholarships(2) £15 1 year
First Class Exhibitions £20 1 year Result of B.A. and B.Sc.
(3) Examination
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, GALWAY.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £10 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £15 per annum.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance#.
College(4) £30 1 year
College(8) £25 1 year
#Under-Graduate#.
College, 2nd year £30 1 year Arts
College, 2nd year(3) £25 1 year Arts
College, 2nd year £30 1 year Science
College, 2nd year(2) £25 1 year Science
Blayney £30 1 year Scholars must attend
Honours Courses
Dr and Mrs W.A. Browne £32 1 year Modern Languages
#Post-Graduate.#
College(4) £60 1 year
#Prizes.#
Irish £15
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, CORK.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £9 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science varies according to subjects chosen.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate#
College Scholarships(12) £20-£40 1 year
Honan Scholarships(3) £50 3-5 years To candidates born in
one of the counties of
Munster other than Clare
Cork County Council(10) £24 3 years
Kerry County Council(2) £50 3 years Open to candidates of not
more than 19 years of age
Kerry County Council(3) £30 -- Open to candidates of not
more than 19 years of age
Waterford County £50 3 years Open to candidates of not
Council(3) more than 19 years of age
Waterford County £50 3 years Open to candidates of not
Borough(2) more than 19 years of age
College Scholarships(8) £20-£40 2-3 years Open to 2nd year students
#Post-Graduate Scholarships.#
Studentships (2) £150 3 years
QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science, Pass and Honours: 3 years.
Cost of Tuition varies according to subjects chosen, but does
not exceed £11, 11s. per annum for the Arts Course.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate#
Entrance(12) £40 1 year Arts, Science, and
Medicine
Second and Third Year £40 2 years Arts and Science
Porter £20 1-3 years
Porter £40 1 year
Sullivan £40 _circa_ 1 year Open to pupils of the
Royal Belfast Academical
Institution
Sullivan(2) £40 _circa_ 3 years Open to teachers in Irish
National Schools
Sir Hercules Pakenham £20 1 year Science
Emily Lady Pakenham £20 1 year Arts
Reid-Harwood £40 _circa_ 1 year Modern Languages
Andrews Studentship £36, 10s. 2 years Awarded alternate years
for Chemical and Physical
Science
Blayney £27 1 year Arts
County Borough(4) £40 3 years Arts, Science, Medicine,
Law, Commerce
Antrim(2) £40 3 years Tenable at any University
in Ireland
Donegal(2) £45 3 years Tenable at any University
in Ireland
Kildare(4) £50 3 years Tenable at any University
in Ireland by non-Roman
Catholic students
King's County £50 3 years Tenable by non-Roman
Catholics
Monaghan(3) £50 3 years Tenable at any University
in Ireland by a non-Roman
Catholic student
Monaghan Bursaries(2) £25 3 years Tenable at any University
in Ireland by a non-Roman
Catholic student
Westmeath(3) £50 3 years Tenable in the National
University of Ireland or
in Queen's University,
Belfast
Wexford(3) £50 3 years Tenable in any University
or College in Ireland by
a non-Roman Catholic
student
Wexford Bursaries(2) £25 3 years Tenable in any University
or College in Ireland by
a non-Roman Catholic
student
#Post-Graduate#.
Studentships(5) £50 1 year Arts
Studentships(4) £50 1 year Science
Dunville Studentships(2) £50 1st year }
£100 2nd year}2 years Physical Science and
Biological Science
Purser £108 1 year Mathematics
Studentship £80 1 year Arts
ALEXANDRA COLLEGE, DUBLIN.
Students read for the Examinations of the University of Dublin, the
National University of Ireland, and Queen's University, Belfast.
Duration of Course in Arts or Science, Pass and Honours: 3 to 4 years.
Cost of Tuition: From £17 per annum.
Cost of Residence in Alexandra Hall: From £58 to £68 per annum.
Alexandra College is for women only.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate#.
_Skinners' Entrance_ £22 total value Candidates must be under
_Scholarship_ 17 on 1st. Jan.
_Governess Association_ £42 total value Candidates must be under
_Scholarship_ 17 on 1st. Jan.
_Pfeiffer Entrance_ £30 total value Candidates must be under
_Scholarship_ 17 on 1st. Jan.
_Stearne Scholarships(2)_£20 total value Candidates must be under
17 on 1st. Jan.
_Wilson Suffern_ £15 Candidates must be under
17
_Skinners' Senior_ £27 total value Awarded in alternate years
_Scholarship_
_Pfeiffer Senior_ £30 total value
_Scholarship_
_Pfeiffer Literature_ £30 total value
_Jellicoe Memorial_ £24 total value
_Scholarship (Governess_
_Association)_
_Jellicoe Memorial_ £25 total value
_Trench Memorial_ £15 total value
_(Senior)_
_Trench Memorial_ £15 total value Candidates must be under
_(Junior)_ 17
_R.P. Graves Memorial_ £15 total value
#SCOTLAND#.
SCHOLARSHIPS TENABLE _AT ANY_ SCOTTISH UNIVERSITY.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
David Anderson(2) £30 4 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
Duart £32 3 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
Maclean £25 4 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
James Stewart £35 3 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
Strang-Steel £30 4 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
Glenbuck £27 3 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
Ferguson Bursaries £25 to £30 4 years Restricted to candidates
from specified schools or
districts
Louson £20 4 years
Dumfries £30 3 years
Spence(2) £30 1st year} 2 years For 2nd year Arts students
£40 2nd year}
Menzies £45 4 years Tenable at St Andrews,
Glasgow, or Edinburgh
Patrick A. Lowson £70 2 years Tenable at any University
in the United Kingdom
Cowan £30 for 2 years } Tenable alternately at
£20 for 3rd year} Edinburgh and Glasgow
3 years
SCHOLARSHIPS, ETC., OPEN TO STUDENTS _OF ANY_ SCOTTISH
UNIVERSITY.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Undergraduate#.
Franco-Scottish Society £15 1 year For students wishing to
Travelling Scholarships study in France
Spence Bursaries -- -- _See above,_ Scholarships
tenable at any Scottish
University
James Stewart Bursary -- -- _See ante,_ Scholarships
tenable at any Scottish
University
#Post-Graduate#.
Ferguson Scholarships(3) £80 2 years Arts and Science. Open to
Masters of Arts
Carnegie Research £150 2 years Arts, Science, Medicine
Fellowships
Carnegie Research £100 1 year Arts, Science, Medicine
Scholarships
1851 Science Scholarship £150 2 years Tenable at any approved
institution
Shaw Philosophical £150 5 years Mental Philosophy. Open to
Fellowship Arts Graduates
_George Heriot_ £30 1 year Open to graduates of
_Bursary for Women_ the United Kingdom for
training as teachers.
Tenable at St. George's
Training College,
Edinburgh
UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honours Course in Arts or Science: 5 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts : £10, 10s. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science : £21 per annum.
There is no Hall of Residence.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate.#
Adam(9) £20 (3)} Arts
£15 (6)} 4 years
Campbell(6) £18 4 years Arts
Cargill(8) £20 4 years Arts
Crombie(8) £15 4 years Arts
Fullerton(9) £15 4 years Arts
Gammie £35 2 years French and German
Gordon and Cuming £20 4 years
Hutton(7) £29 (2) } Competitors must not be
£20 (3) } 4 years under 14
£18 (2) }
Macpherson(3) £20 4 years Arts. Gaelic-speaking
candidates.
Mather(4) £15 4 years Arts
Melvill(2) £15 4 years Arts
Milne and Fraser £20 4 years Arts
Moir(14) £20 (4) } 4 years Arts
£15 (10) }
Red Hyth, Smith and £25 4 years Arts or Science
Short
Reid and Cruden £20 4 years Arts
Rolland £25 4 years Arts
Rose £20 4 years Arts
Simpson(5) £30 4 years Arts
Highland Society of £15 3 years Gaelic-speaking candidates
London
#Post-Graduate#.
Robert Fletcher £30 2 years Mathematics
Fullerton, Moir, and £100 (4) } 2 years Arts
Gray(7) £75 (3) } 3 years
Fullerton £100 2 years Science
Knox Income on £2,000 Arts
1 year
Reid Scholarships --- 1 year Amount not specified. Arts
or Science
Croom Robertson £200 3 years Arts
Fellowship
James Day Scholarship £100 1 year Graduate in Arts intending
to take up teaching
Fullerton Scholarship £100 2 years Science
#Prizes#
Arnott Interest on £1,000 Natural Philosophy
Dr Black £28 Latin
Blackwell £20 English Essay
Caithness £20 History
Greig £30 Natural Philosophy
Simpson and Boxill £65 and £28 Mathematics
Simpson £65 Greek
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Arts: 4 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Science: 5 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £10, 10s. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £15, 15s. per annum for 5 years
for M.A. and B.Sc. £21 per annum for B.Sc. only.
Cost of Residence in Muir Hall (optional): From £10 to £13, 10s.
a term.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Bursaries.#
George Heriot Bursary £20 3 years Arts or Science
Heriot High School £30 3 years
University
R. Johnstone Bursary £19, 13s. 4 years
Chrystie Bursary £18 4 years
Pringle and Wardrop £19, 4s. 4 years
Bursary
Mitchell and Shortt £27, 5s. 4 years
Dundas £36 4 years
Fraser £22, 4s. 7 years Arts
Grant £45 4 years Arts
Stuart £17, 12S 3 years Arts or Science
Jardine £42, 12S. 6d. 4 years Arts or Science. Limited
to natives of Scotland
Bruce(4) £40 (1) } 4 years
£30 (3) }
Patrick £45 4 years
Ayrshire Club £30 2 years
Peebleshire Society £20 4 years Arts or Science
Rhind £20 4 years
Bruce of Grangehill and £35 (3) } 3 years Arts. 1st and 2nd year
Falklands Bursaries £20 (2) } 3 years Students
Horsliehill Scott £39, 16s 2 years 3rd year Arts Students
Harrison £25, 18s. 6d. 2 years 3rd year Arts Students
Border Counties and £30 (1) } 4 years Arts or Science. For
Walter Scott £20 (1) } students having attended
schools in certain
specified counties.
Natives of Argyllshire,
Bute, or Western Islands
Argyllshire £20 3 years Arts or Science. For
students having attended
schools in certain
specified counties.
Natives of Argyllshire,
Bute, or Western Islands
Ardvorlich £15, 13s 4 years Arts. Students must come
from certain specified
parishes
Sibbald £30 3 years Arts and Science.
Specified parishes
Edinburgh Angus Club-- £25 4 years Preference given to
Dalhousie Bursary candidates from the
County
Orkney and Zetland £40 3 years For natives of Orkney and
Zetland
Grierson(5) £20(4) } 4 years Preference given to
£24(1) } natives of parishes of
Cranford or Leadhills
Lanarkshire £20(4) 4 years
Johnstone of Harthope £17,2s. 4 years Natives of Moffat,
Bursary Peebles, and students of
name of Alexander or
Johnstone preferred
Marshall £36,18s. 4 years Restricted
Fothringham and Forrest £24 4 years Restricted
Marquess of Zetland £40 3 years Arts. For natives of
County of Orkney and
Zetland
Thomson £25 4 years
Patterson £16 2 years In Anglo-Saxon Grammar or
Literature
John Welsh(8) £20 4 years Mathematics and Classics
Mackinnon(3) £22,4s.6d. 3 years Arts. Gaelic-speaking
students
Whitelaw(3) £24,12s. 3 years Arts
Renton £19,11s. 1 year Student must be between
age of 16 and 21. Arts
and Science
Newton £23,5s. 2 years Natural Philosophy and
Mathematics
Mann £29,6s.6d. 3 years Candidates must reside in
Nairn
Allan £30 3 years Arts or Science
James Fairbairn £33,4s.6d. 4 years
Jardine or Thorlieshope £40,10s. 4 years Open to natives of
Roxburghshire and
Dumfriesshire
Mackenzie £22 4 years
Maclaurin £91,12s.8d. 4 years Restricted to students
of name of founder
Bailie Cousin's £32,15s. 3 years
Maule £21,2s. 6 years
Donald Fraser £50 1 year For Science Research work
Baxter of Balgavies £30 3 years For students educated at
High School, Dundee
Masterton Memorial £30 3 years For sons and daughters of
ministers of United Free
Church
London Inverness-shire £18 3 years Preference to students of
Association County of Inverness
Lanfine £35 2 years
Auchairne £53,15s.4d. 3 years Natives of County of Ayr
Edinburgh Morayshire £20 3 years Arts or Science. Natives
Club of County of Moray
#Undergraduate#.
Vans Dunlop £100 3 years Arts and Science
Fettes Exhibition(2) £60 4 years
Skirving £50 3 years
Mackay Smith £27 2 years Natural Philosophy
Nichol Foundation £50 1 year Laboratory Work
Hope Prize £30 1 year Chemistry
Misses Baxter of £40 1 or 2 years Men and women educated in
Balgavies High School of Dundee
#Fellowships.#
Guthrie £86 4 years Classical Literature
Hamilton £100 3 years Philosophy
Edmonstonne Aytoun £85 3 years English Literature
Falconer Memorial £123 2 years Science
#Post-Graduate.#
Pitt Club Classical £76 4 years
Mackenzie Club Classical £118 4 years
Sir David Baxter £68 4 years
Mathematical
Sir David Baxter £68 4 years
Philosophical
John Edward Baxter £100 3 years Arts and Science
Drummond Mathematical £103 3 years
Bruce of Grangehill and £100 3 years Classical
Falklands
Bruce of Grangehill and £100 3 years Mental Philosophy
Falklands
Bruce of Grangehill and £100 3 years Mathematics
Falklands
Gray £97 2 years Arts or Science
Rhind £95 2 years Graduates and
undergraduates of not
more than 3 years
standing. Arts
Charles Maclaren £110 3 years Mathematics and Natural
Philosophy
Neil Arnott £40 1 year Experimental Physics
George Scott(Travelling) £40 1 year To enable graduates to
travel for purpose of
Research
Macpherson £85 1 year For study of Celtic
Kirk Patrick £64 1 year History
C.B. Black £74 2 years Greek. Open to graduates
and undergraduates
George Heriot's £100 1 year To graduates intending to
Travelling become teachers of Modern
Languages
Baxter Physical Science £80 2 years
Baxter Natural Science £80 2 years
#Prizes.#
Ellis £30 Physiology
Lord Rector's £26.5s. Essay
Bruce of Grangehill and £20 Logic and Metaphysics
Falkland
Scott and Dunbar £15 Greek
Cousin £15 Essay
Blackie Celtic £60
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW.
QUEEN MARGARET COLLEGE.
Duration of Arts Course: Pass, 3 years; Honours, 4 years.
Duration of Science Course, Pass and Honours: 3-4 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £10, 10s. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £63 the course of 3 or 4 years.
Cost of Residence at Queen Margaret Hall (optional): From
17s. to 25s. a week without lunch.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Barbour (Kilbarchan)(1) £25 3 years Arts. Candidates must not
be over 18
John Clark(24) £30 4 years Arts
Crawford and Brown(1) £19, 13s. 4d 4 years Arts
Forfar(5) £58 4 years Arts
Forrester(1) £20 3 years Arts
Foundation(2) £20 4 years Arts
Gartmore(1) £22 3 years Arts
General Council(5) £20 2 or 3 years Arts
Glasgow City Education £25 4 or 2 years Arts
Endowments(10) £50
George Grant(1) £40 3 or 4 years Arts
George Grant Junior(1) £40 4 years Arts
Hamilton Educational £20 3 years Arts. Competitors to
Trust(3) pupils from public or
State-aided schools in
burgh and parish of
Hamilton.
Hastie(1) £27 4 years
Highland Society, £20 3 years
Glasgow (12)
Hill(6) £20 3 years Arts. For pupils in School
Board district of Govan
James Laing(8) £25 4 years Arts. For candidates
educated at least 3 years
in schools in County of
Stirling
Lanfine(6) £27 2 years
Lorimer(4) £25 and £17 3 years Mathematics
Alexander Manderson(1) £15 3 years Arts. Natives of the Lower
Ward of Renfrewshire
Marshall Trust(20) £30 4 years Arts. Pupils from public
or State-aided schools in
Lanarkshire or
Stirlingshire
Sir Walter Scott £25 4 years
A. and B. Stewart(13) £20 3 years Arts
Stewart(3) £15 4 years Arts
King Williams(2) £15 3 years Arts
Ayrshire Society(4) £15 3 years Arts or Science. For
descendants of Society or
natives of Aryshire and
Glasgow
Denny(4) £30 4 years Arts or Science. Students
over 14 who have been 2
years at Dumbarton Burgh
Academy
Dumfriesshire Society(2) £15 4 years Arts or Science
Hart(2) £30 5 years Arts or Science.
Preference to students
born in Ayrshire
Pratt(2) £20 4 years Arts or Science
#Undergraduate.#
Will. Houldsworth £150 2 years Research in Science
Mackay Smith £48 2 years Natural Philosophy and
Chemistry
MacKinnin £60 1 year Science and Modern
Languages
Thomson Experimental £20 1 year Science
#Post-Graduate.#
Breadalbane (2) £56 3 years Arts or Science
George A. Clark £170 4 years Arts or Science
John Clark £50 4 years Arts
Alexander Donaldson £44 2 years Chemistry
Robert Donaldson £66 2 years Science
Eglinton £65 2 years Arts
William Euing £80 5 years Arts
Luke £95 3 years Arts
Metcalfe £120 3 years Arts
Reid Stuart £60 3 years Arts
Walter Scott £80 2 years Arts
Mackinnon £60 1 year Geology, Natural History,
Modern Languages
Examination as for Final
Hons. Degree
#Prizes#
Arnott £25 and £15 Examination
Cobden £20 Essay
Findlater £38 Examination
Gladstone Historical £25 Examination
Henderson £21 Essay
William Jack £35 Thesis for D.Sc.
Kelvin £35 Thesis for D.Sc.
Macfarlan and Cook £21 Examination
MacKenzie £25 Essay
Reid £25 Original Research
Watson £50 Examination
UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS.
UNITED COLLEGES.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts: 3 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Arts: 4 years.
Duration of Pass and Honour Courses in Science: 4 to 5 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £10, 10S. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £15, 15s. per annum.
Cost of Residence in University Hall (optional): From £45 to
£75 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate.#
Foundation Bursaries(4) £20 4 years
Foundation Bursary(1) £50 4 years
Patrick Kidd £32 3 years
William Byers £39 3 or 4 years Preference given to
students of Mairs and
Strathmartine. Arts
Russell(6) £30 (5) } 3 years Arts and Science
£40 (1) }
Simson(6) £20 (5) } 3 years
£30 (1) }
_Valentine_ £25 3 years Restricted to women
residing in the County
of Fife, Ross or
Cromarty, or in village
of Findhorn, Morayhire
Fife, Clackmannan, and £5 3 or 4 years Restricted to students
Kinross Bursary coming from the above
counties
Wilkie £19 4 years
Henry £15 4 years
Madras £20 4 years
Fairweather £25 3 years Arts or Science. For
pupils from any school in
Dundee
Blyth(2) £20 3 years
George Scott £27 3 or 4 years Arts. Restricted to
applicants who are
natives of the Parishes
of Dull, Weem, Logierait
in Perthshire
Wood of Orkie £20 3 or 4 years Restricted to pupils who
have attended public or
state-aided schools in
the Parishes of Newburn,
Kilconquhar, Scoonie,
Largo, Kennoway, Elie,
Largoward
_Lumsden_ £35 1 to 3 years For women students
educated at St Leonard's
School, St Andrews
Ramsay £40 4 years
Baxter(2) £21 2 years For 2nd year students
Cheape(2) £23 3 years For 2nd year students
Thomas Thow £50 1 year Arts. For 2nd year
students natives of and
resident in Dundee or
the County of Forfar
Stephen Williamson £47 1 year For 4th year Honours
students
Smeaton £20 1 year For 4th year Honours
students
#Post-Graduate.#
Bruce and Falkland £50 2 years
Berry £80 1 year May be continued for 2nd
year. Arts or Science
Grants(6) £20 1 year For students entering on
Course of Training for
Secondary Teachers
#Prizes.#
Miller(2) £30 Arts and Science
Arnott(2) £20 and £10
Chancellor's £21 Essay
DUNDEE COLLEGE.
Duration of Course in Arts: Pass, 3 years; Honours, 4 years.
Duration of Course in Science: Pass or Honours: 3 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £10, 10s. per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £21 per annum.
Cost of Residence in Mayfield Hostel (optional): £1 per week.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance.#
Armitstead £20-£15 1 year
David Myles -- --
Entrance Scholarships(9) £15 1 year
Educational Endowment £25 3 years
#Undergraduate.#
Bursaries(11) £15 to £20 1 year For second and third year
Bursaries(8) £15 to £20 1 year For fourth and subsequent
years
Bute Bursary Income of £1,000
3 years
#Post-Graduate.#
William Strong(2 Income of £3,240
or more) 1 year
#Prizes.#
Gladstone Memorial £20 (in books) Essay
WALES
UNIVERSITY OF WALES
Scholarships, etc., not connected exclusively with one College.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Undergraduate#.
Price Davies £30 2 years Tenable at Aberystwyth or
Scholarship(2) Bangor
#Post-Graduate#.
University £125 2 years
Fellowships(3)
University £65 2 years Awarded on nomination by
Studentships(6) the Colleges
Eyton Williams £65 2 years
Studentships(6)
#Isaac Roberts# £150 1 year Open to graduates of any
#Scholarship# (renewable) University in the United
Kingdom. Science. Tenable
at Cardiff
1851 Science Scholarship £150 2 years Tenable at any approved
institution
Gilchrist Modern £80 1 year Open to graduates
Language Studentship intending to teach
Modern Languages.
Tenable abroad
ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.
Duration of Pass Course in Arts or Science: 3 years.
Duration of Honour Course in Arts or Science: 3 to 4 years.
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £12 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £16 per annum.
Cost of Residence in Alexandra Hall (optional): From £11,11s.
to £17, 17s. per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate#.
David Davies £40 1 year Entrance
(renewable)
Open £40 1 year Entrance
(renewable)
Visitor's £15 1 year Entrance
(renewable)
Commercial Travellers of £20 1 year Entrance
North Wales (renewable)
Scholarship(1) £20 1 year Confined to students
(renewable) intending to proceed to
the Degree of B.Sc. in
Agriculture and Rural
Economy
Brereton £15 1 year Entrance
(renewable)
_Elizabeth Davies_ £20 1 year Entrance.
(renewable) Limited to women natives
of Cardiganshire or
Carmarthenshire
Cynddelw Welsh £20 1 year For students undertaking
Scholarship to pursue a course of
Welsh study
Humphreys Owen £20 1 year
(renewable) For natives of
Montgomeryshire
#Post-Graduate.#
Keeling Resewell £40 1 year
Scholarship
Thomas Davies £54 1 year For Research work in
Chemistry or Agriculture
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NORTH WALES (BANGOR).
Cost of Tuition in Arts or Science: £12 per annum.
Cost of Residence in University Hall (optional): £25 to £42 per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Undergraduate.#
Eyton Williams £40 3 years
Eyton Williams £30 3 years
Eyton Williams £20 3 years
Exhibition
Piercey £30 3 years Confined to candidates
from Flintshire or
Denbighshire
Richard Hughes £50 1 year
Isaac Roberts(2) £50 Not less
than 1 yr.
#Post-Graduate.#
Osborne Morgan £40 Not more Open to past and present
than 3 years students
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE
(CARDIFF).
Cost of Tuition in Arts: £10 to £12 per annum.
Cost of Tuition in Science: £10 to £16 per annum.
Cost of Residence in Aberdare Hall (optional): £34 to £43, 10s. per annum.
Scholarships, Bursaries, and Prizes.
Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.
#Entrance and Under-graduate.#
Drapers' Company £35 1 year Science
(renewable)
Sir Alfred Thomas £20 3 years
_Caroline Williams_ £25 3 years
College £25 3 years
Craddock Wells(5) £20 and 1 year Open to candidates under
fees 19 years of age
Studentships Fees and Open only to natives of
maintenance Glamorgan and Monmouth,
grant 3 years the City of Cardiff and
the County Borough of
Newport
#Post-Graduate.#
Catherine Buckton £40 1 year
TABLE II.
In addition to the University Post-Graduate Studentships mentioned
in the above table, the following Research Scholarships in Arts and
Science, not restricted to graduates of any one University, are open
to women:--
TABLE II.
In addition to the University Post-Graduate Studentships mentioned
in the above table, the following Research Scholarships in Arts and
Science, not restricted to graduates of any one University, are open
to women:--
Subject. Title. By whom awarded. Restrictions (if any). Annual Value and
Duration
Subject not fixed. A.K. Travelling A Board of Trustees who receive nominations British Subjects who are £600 and £60 for
Fellowship from Vice-Chancellors of Universities in the University graduates books; 2 awarded
United Kingdom, the President of the Royal annually for 1 year
Society, and the President of the British
Academy
Physical Science McKinnon Research Royal Society -- £150 for 2 years
Fellowship
Biological Science McKinnon Research Royal Society -- £150 for 2 years
Fellowship
Bio-Chemistry -- Lister Institute of Preventive Medecine -- £150 for 1 year, renewable
for a 2nd year.
Bacteriology -- Lister Institute of Preventive Medecine -- £150 for 1 year, renewable
for a 2nd year.
Physiology George Henry Lewes Special Trustees; application to Professor Investigator must be in need £200 for 3 years (renewable)
Scholarship Langley, Cambridge of pecuniary help to prosecute
research
Philosophy George Henry Lewes University of Toronto Graduates who have specialised £50 for 1 year
Scholarship in Philosophy
Subject not fixed. _Price Fellowship_ Federation of University Women Women graduates who have £120 for 1 year
already published the results
of independent research
Natural Science Research Studentship Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Science graduates who are £150 for 3 years, part
prepared to research in of which must be spent
subjects under the purview abroad, and all 3 at
of the Board, and afterwards approved institutions
to adopt a career in
agricultural science
Economics _Shaw Research_ London School of Economics -- £105 for 2 years
Economics Hutchinson Research London School of Economics -- £105 for 1 year
Natural Sciences _The Ellen Richards_ American Association for Advancement of Thesis 1,000 dollars
_Research Prize_ Research Work by Women. Hon. Sec., (£204, 10s.)
Mrs A.D. Mead, 283 Wayland Avenue,
Providence, R.I.
SECTION II
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION INCLUDING DENTISTRY
I
MEDICINE AND SURGERY
It may be safely claimed that, although there is still much to be
done, in medicine women have gained as good a position as in any other
branch of labour.
One of the most important considerations in discussing any branch of
women's work is what sort of women are suited for it. The following
are the chief requisites for the medical profession:--
(1) The first and most important qualification is enthusiasm. It is
impossible to follow this profession with success, unless it is
work for which one has not only aptitude but also natural taste. It
necessitates a very strenuous life, and many unpleasant details of
work, which are unimportant to a person to whom the occupation
is acceptable as a whole, but which would be quite insuperably
disagreeable to any one to whom the total idea of life embodied in it
was unattractive.
(2) Another very important qualification is a knowledge of men and
things. A doctor must never forget that she is dealing primarily with
human nature; certainly human nature which may be for a time
unhinged, or the mechanism of which may not be working smoothly, but
nevertheless with the human individual as a whole.
The so-called "bedside" manner which is the butt for so much ridicule
is not so purely ridiculous as one might be tempted to think. Its
basis is to be found in this very knowledge of human nature which is
so essential, although the superstructure is often nothing more than
vapid futility. In addition to this the ideal doctor should possess a
trained scientific mind, and, of the two, the former is infinitely
the more important, although the latter is very valuable, not only for
itself, but for the training which it gives in "tidy" thinking.
(3) Good health. A sick doctor is an anomaly and many people prefer
to be indifferently treated by some one who is cheerful and healthy,
rather than have the most expert advice from a woeful person.
(4) A good general education is essential. This should include a
certain amount of Latin, which is needed throughout medical work.
The student must also possess the necessary capacity for acquiring
knowledge. It is very usual to find among the general public--women in
particular--an idea that a tremendous amount of a vague quality which
they describe as "cleverness" is necessary in order to follow one of
the learned professions. Certainly this is not so in medicine. It is,
however, necessary to be possessed of average intelligence and a
good memory, and it is difficult for people to pass the qualifying
examinations if they have for many years given up "school
work"--_i.e._, the habit of learning large numbers of new facts.
(5) Money. For three reasons: (i.) The training is expensive, (ii.)
It is also strenuous, making a certain amount of margin for suitable
recreation very desirable, (iii.) Earning capacity, although
ultimately high, so far as women are concerned, is much delayed, and
the work itself is one of considerable nerve-strain. It is, therefore,
very important that economic worry should, if possible, be avoided.
Medicine is one of the few professions in which women receive as high
remuneration as men. A very strenuous battle was fought between the
public authorities and medical women on the subject of equal pay for
equal work. All sorts of dodges have been used to get cheap woman
labour, but, so far, the victory has been almost completely on the
side of medical women. By the word "almost" is meant the fact, that
if two or three posts of varying grades and remunerations are created
under a health authority the woman nearly always gets the lowest,
whatever her qualifications and experience. With this exception the
victory has been complete, and this has been entirely due to two
things:--
(1) The very able support given by the British Medical Association,
which practically served as a Trade Union for doctors, stated the
lowest rate of remuneration to be accepted, and kept a black list
of posts which were advertised at salaries below this rate. The
Association has throughout supported with absolute consistency, the
principle of equal pay for equal work for the two sexes, and has
helped us as medical women to fight many battles.
(2) The other factor has been the public spirit of the medical women
concerned, without which nothing could have been done. One of the
forms of public service most essential at the present day and for
which the individual gets neither honour nor even thanks, is that of
refusing "black leg" labour. It is generally admitted by those who
have to deal with the question of salaries and conditions of work
under public authorities, that medical women, as a whole, have shown
at least as great public spirit as men in refusing unsatisfactory
terms. To lose a post which would give one enough for one's own
needs and which would mean so much more in the way of experience and
adequate scope for one's energies, and to refuse it simply because
it would lower the market rate of pay, is a very fine thing to do.
Unless, however, this high tone is maintained the position of medical
women will become as bad as that of some other working women. If, on
the other hand, it can be maintained, the position already gained may
be used as a very powerful lever in raising the rate of pay in other
departments of women's work. There is sufficient support for
us amongst medical men. Everything, therefore, depends upon the
_personnel_ of the women doctors, and, as things become easier for
the students, it becomes more and more difficult to convince the new
recruits of the strenuousness of the fight in earlier years and of the
need for constant vigilance and self-sacrifice at the present time.
Those who fought so nobly in the past have earned the lasting respect
and gratitude of those who come after them. An account of their
labours has been written by Mrs Isabel Thorne, and is called a "Sketch
of the Foundation and Development of the London School of Medicine
for Women."[1] It reads like a romance and shows the absolute
determination and pluck which were needed by the women in order to
gain their point. As one learns of the rebuffs and indignities which
they endured, it reminds one of the struggle which is at the present
time going on for the parliamentary vote. There is one thing which
makes one inclined to "back the women every time," and that is their
stupendous patience. A very short _résumé_ of the facts may not be out
of place here. Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, English by birth but resident
in America, succeeded in 1858 after much difficulty in obtaining the
degree of M.D. of the University of Geneva, United States of America.
She then applied to have her name placed upon the register of duly
qualified medical practitioners of the General Medical Council of
Great Britain and Ireland, and it was discovered to the dismay of the
authorities that she could not be refused. The next step was taken by
Miss Garrett, now Dr Garrett Anderson. She decided to qualify herself
for the medical examinations of the Society of Apothecaries, London,
who also, owing to the wording of their charter, were unable to refuse
her, and in 1865 she successfully passed the required tests. In order,
however, to prevent a recurrence of such "regrettable incidents," the
society made a rule that in future no candidates should be admitted to
their examinations unless they came from a recognised medical school,
and, as no such school would admit women, this closed their doors.
In the meantime Miss Jex-Blake had applied to Edinburgh University
for medical education, but had been refused on the score that it was
impossible to make such alterations "in the interests of one lady."
Mrs Thorne, Miss Chaplin, Miss Pechey, and Mrs de Lacy Evans then
decided to join Miss Jex-Blake, thus making five instead of one. They
were allowed to matriculate, but forced to form separate classes
and to guarantee 100 guineas for each class. They were not, however,
allowed to receive scholarships, to which their work would have
entitled them, on the score that they were women. Mrs Thorne states
that their "success in the examination lists was their undoing," as,
owing to this, and to the fact that they were unjustly debarred from
receiving the distinctions that they had gained, a great deal of bad
feeling was aroused.
As the agitation increased, the efforts of these pioneers to obtain
a qualifying course for women in Edinburgh, were supported by a
committee of sympathisers, which speedily rose to five hundred
members, and, after a severe struggle, the question of clinical
teaching in the Infirmary was settled partially in the women's
favour in 1872. Later, the question of the validity of the original
resolutions admitting women to the University was raised and decided
against them. They had, therefore, been four years at the University
and were finally excluded. This, however, proved to be only temporary
as, in later years, the University reopened its medical degrees to
women; but not in time to allow of the return of these courageous
pioneers.
In the meantime Dr Garrett Anderson, having taken her degree in
Paris, had been steadily working in London, forming the nucleus of the
present New Hospital for Women, and the pioneers from Edinburgh came
to London and helped her to start a school of medicine for women.
This was successfully accomplished owing to the kind help of many
people, both within and without the profession, but no clinical
teaching could be obtained, as all the big London hospitals were
closed to women students. Finally, however, arrangements were made
with the Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Road. It had no men's
medical school attached to it, and the admission of women to
the hospital was due to the kind intervention of the Rt. Hon. J.
Stansfeld, M.P., who met the Chairman of the hospital, Mr James
Hopgood, while away on a holiday, and induced him to persuade the
hospital authorities to give the dangerous experiment a trial. So
seriously was it regarded, that the women students had to guarantee an
indemnity to the hospital of 300 guineas annually in addition to their
fees, as it was felt that the general support might decrease by,
at least, this amount when the public became aware that there were
medical women studying at the hospital! This was soon found not to
be the case, and the yearly indemnity was generously remitted by the
hospital authorities, the students simply paying the usual fees for
instruction. In connection with this subject, it may be of interest
to note that to-day the presence of medical women at the hospital is
evidently found by the authorities to be an important means of
gaining the sympathy of the general public, for appeals for funds may
frequently be seen in London omnibuses stating, as the ground for
an appeal, the fact that this is the only general hospital in London
where women medical students are trained.
The medical school which began in a small Georgian house has now a
fine block of buildings with all modern appliances, and the hospital
is, at the time that this book goes to press, undergoing extensive
alterations and additions, including enlargement of the students'
quarters.
The success of this pioneer work has been sufficiently amazing, but
it is most important that every one should realise that the fight is
still going on. Not a day passes but somebody tries to get medical
women to work either for less pay or under less honourable conditions
than those required by their medical brethren, and one of the most
trying parts of work in this profession at the present time is the
constant alertness required both for detecting and defeating these
attempts. That they should be made is not surprising, when we remember
the lower market value attached to women's work in almost every other
occupation. Practical examples of the sort of attempts made, may be of
service.
_Example 1._--A medical woman went as _locum tenens_ for a
practitioner in a country town during the South African War. The
practitioner himself was at the time absolutely incapacitated by a
severe form of influenza, complicated by ocular neuralgia which made
work absolutely impossible. Owing to the War, he was quite unable to
get a man to act as _locum tenens_. A woman consented to help him in
his extremity, at considerable inconvenience both to herself and to
the people with whom she was working at the time. She carried on the
practice during the depth of the winter, having on some occasions to
go out in the snow-sleigh and frequently to drive in an open trap
at night in the deadly cold. She carried on the work with such
conspicuous success that her "chief" asked her to stay on as his
assistant when he was convalescent. For this he offered her £85 a
year, living in, saying, without any shame, that he knew that this was
not the price that any man would command, but that it was plenty for a
woman. He was bound to admit that he had lost no patient through her,
that he charged no lower fees when she went to a case than when he
did, that she did half the work while acting as his assistant, and
that she had kept his practice together for him while he was ill.
Fortunately, owing to the fact that she had behind her means
of subsistence without her salary, she was able to refuse his
unsatisfactory offer, although at considerable violence to her
feelings, for she had made many friends in the neighbourhood.
_Example 2_.--A husband and wife, both medical, went to settle in a
town in the north of England. They both practised, the qualifications
of both were excellent, but the woman was the more brilliant of the
two, having better degrees and more distinctions. Both applied to
be admitted to the local medical society. The man was, of course,
accepted, the woman refused on the score of her sex, this meaning that
she would be cut off from all opportunity of hearing medical papers
and discussing medical subjects with her colleagues. During the next
few months a local friendly society was anxious to obtain a medical
officer and was offering terms regarded as insufficient by the local
doctors. Among others approached by this society was the medical woman
in question. Directly the officials of the medical society, which had
banned her when her own benefit was concerned, heard that she had been
approached by the friendly society, they elected her without asking
her consent to the very society from which they had previously
excluded her, in order that she might be unable to take the post in
question, whereby they might have financially suffered.
_Example 3_.--The exclusion from medical societies referred to under
Example 2, like many similar actions in life, tends to recoil on its
instigators. For instance, a medical woman in another northern town
applied for and accepted a post which the local men had decided was
unsatisfactory in some particulars, and for which therefore none of
them had applied. They were loud in their denunciations of the woman
in question, but owing to the fact that her men colleagues had not
recognised her professionally in other ways, she was quite unaware of
her offence for several months after undertaking her new duties.
_Example 4_.--Men and women are sometimes appointed on apparently
equal terms and conditions to posts which are not, however, really
equal, in that there is a chance of promotion for the men but none for
the women.
_Example 5_.--In another town in the north of England men and women
appointed to do the work of school medical inspection on equal terms
recently considered that they were not sufficiently remunerated. They
met and decided that they would together apply for better terms. A
rumour was then set abroad that the authority under whom they worked
would certainly not consider such an increase in expenditure. In this
crisis the men on the staff, although they had so far joined with
their women colleagues in sending up their petition, sent up another
of their own, without informing or consulting the women at all, in
which they said that they considered it was time that this equality of
remuneration for both sexes should cease. They begged the authority
to neglect their public appeal, but to grant instead increased
remuneration to the men, and the men only. One of the reasons given
for this suggestion on the part of the men was that their liabilities
were greater. The result of enquiry, however, proved that of the three
men, one only was engaged to be married, the other two had no one
dependent upon them; whereas of the three women, two were supporting
other people--one being a married woman separated from her husband and
with two children to support and educate.
_Example 6_.--The following is an instance of the way in which the
Government is sometimes responsible for encouraging women's "black
leg" labour. Dr Leslie Mackenzie in his evidence given recently before
the Civil Service Commission said that the Treasury refused to allow
the Scottish Local Government Board to have a woman medical inspector
at a medical inspector's salary, but permitted them to engage a woman
with medical qualifications at a woman inspector's salary, which was,
of course, much less. Sad to relate a woman was found to accept this
post.
These examples have been given because it is necessary that a woman
intending to adopt the profession of medicine should know the sort
of work, quite apart from the treatment of her cases, which a medical
woman, worth her salt, has to do. It may be asked how it is, if these
difficulties are still constantly arising, that our pioneers were so
successful? For several reasons: first, because they were in the best
sense women of the world: they understood when to be firm and when
to give way. They understood mankind. Secondly, they had an assured
position. This is probably the most essential condition of all for
success. Before decent terms and conditions of work can be demanded,
the worker must be in such a position financially that she can, if
necessary, refuse the work in question, and if possible the employer
must be aware of this fact. So often women enter the labour market
only when driven by stark necessity, that it is unfortunately the
easiest thing in the world to exploit them. People of either sex faced
by starvation for themselves or those dependent on them must take the
first thing that offers if the conditions be in any way bearable. In
my opinion, next to the parliamentary vote, the most powerful lever
in raising the condition of women will be the entrance into the labour
market of a considerable number of women so trained in Economics that
they will always "play the game," and at the same time sufficiently
remote from want to be able to resist the sweating employer.
Some people discourage women of independent means from entering the
labour market through the mistaken idea that if such women work they
are taking away the chance of some other women who are in need. In
case any reader may be in doubt on this question, I should like
to point out that it is the groups of workers among whom no such
economically independent individuals are to be found, that are always
exploited by the unscrupulous employer; they are such easy prey.
What really makes women workers afraid of their independent sisters is
that extremely pernicious system of payment euphemistically known as
"pocket-money." This should be swept off the face of the earth. Even
the richer woman has some rights, notably the right to work, and
I would suggest that she has this particular, and certainly not
unimportant function of raising the rate of remuneration. From my
knowledge of her, I consider that she is most anxious to do nothing
but good to her fellows. The only thing she needs in order to become
a help instead of a menace to her poorer sisters is knowledge of the
rules that govern the economic labour market.
Owing to the necessary expense and prolonged training for the medical
profession it has probably attracted a larger proportion of working
women who were not subject to immediate economic stress than most
other branches of work, and it is, in my opinion, due to the
presence of such women, that the conditions in it as a whole are so
satisfactory.
Having discussed the sort of woman suitable for the medical
profession, I now pass on to a consideration of the course of training
which must be taken in order to fit her for the work.
Before beginning her training, the student has to decide what medical
qualification she will take. Her choice lies between
(1) A degree of one of the universities, and
(2) A diploma.
It is essential to go to some University or Examining Board which
admits women and not to one, such as Oxford or Cambridge, where women
are denied the degree to which their work entitles them. As a matter
of fact, women medical students are not accepted at Oxford and
Cambridge. It is not possible to practise medicine, in a satisfactory
way unless one is actually in possession of the qualification. Any
one who does so, however well trained, ranks as a quack, and is not
legally entitled to sign death certificates nor to recover fees.
The degrees open to women in medicine, as in other branches of
learning, are those of London, Glasgow, Trinity College, Dublin, and,
in fact, of all the Universities of the United Kingdom except the two
just mentioned.
Qualifying diplomas other than degrees are those granted by:--
(1) The Conjoint Examining Board of the
Royal Colleges of Physicians and
Surgeons of England.
(2) The Royal Colleges of Scotland.
(3) The Royal Colleges of Ireland.
(4) The Society of Apothecaries of London.
The authorities at the Women's Medical School strongly advise students
to take a degree, and that the best open to them, namely, in Great
Britain, that of London for the south, or one of the good Scottish
Universities for the north. Their reason for this advice is that they
feel that it is extremely important that medical women should rank as
high as possible in their profession.
At London University there are no sex restrictions. A woman is
eligible not only to take the examinations on equal terms with a man,
but all the rights and honours (except, of course, the Parliamentary
vote) are also open to her. Women may vote for and sit upon the
Senate, become members of Convocation and take any of the exhibitions,
medals, or scholarships which are offered to candidates at
examinations. For this reason women feel attached and like to belong
to the London University, and to do it honour.
Having decided which qualification she wishes to take, the candidate
applies to be entered as a medical student at a definite school. If
she elects to work in _London_ she must follow the course of study
at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women at 8 Hunter
Street, Brunswick Square.
At _Glasgow_ the students are all entered at the Women's College
(Queen Margaret's). The medical course is taken in conjunction with
men students. At the Royal Infirmary some wards are open to women for
clinical instruction.
At _Dublin_ the students are admitted to the degrees and diplomas
in medicine, surgery, and midwifery on the same conditions as men.
A special anatomical department with dissecting room, etc., has been
erected by the Board of Trinity College for them.
At _Edinburgh_ the arrangements for women students are largely
separate from those for the men. The degrees are open to them.
At _Durham_ the degrees are open to women, and most of their work is
done with the men.
The same applies to _Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham,_ and
_Sheffield_.
The course takes from five to six years, but it is wise to allow the
longer time. The preliminary examination in general subjects is taken
before admission to the medical school. After this, the first year
at the medical school is spent in scientific study, such as Biology,
Inorganic Chemistry, etc. Having passed her first scientific
examination, the student proceeds to the study of the human
individual, and deals for the next two years with Anatomy, which
includes dissection, Physiology, the study of drugs in Materia Medica
and Pharmacology, and Organic Chemistry. When the examination in these
subjects has been satisfactorily negotiated, she passes on to medical
work proper, the study of disease and the result of accident in the
living person--in other words, she walks the wards of the hospital and
undertakes duties as clerk to physicians and dresser to surgeons, from
whom she receives instruction in medicine, surgery, and pathology.
Special branches are also studied, such as midwifery, women's
diseases, and affections of the throat, ear, eye, and skin. The
treatment of minor accidents also receives special attention. During
the whole of this time the student also attends regular courses of
lectures on these subjects, and she then takes her final examination.
If this be a degree examination, she becomes, on passing it, Bachelor
of Medicine, or M.B., and Bachelor of Surgery, Ch.B. or B.S. Having
obtained a diploma, she is generally entitled to style herself a
Member or Licentiate of the college of which she has passed the
qualifying examination, for example, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. or L.S.A.
On application, she is then placed upon the Medical Register, and is
known as a registered medical practitioner.
The cost of the training is approximately as follows :--
_For a London Degree._
Fee at the Medical School for Women, if paid as a composition fee in
five yearly instalments of £28, £51, £45, £40, and £15; Total:--£179,
or, if the whole sum is paid on entrance to the school, £160. In
addition there is a fee of three guineas for the special study of
fevers. These fees include everything in the way of material, except
books and instruments for which it is wise to allow another £30. The
examination fees of the university are £25. These amounts make no
allowance for any failures, and consequent revision of work, and
re-entry for examination. In reckoning the expense, the necessary cost
of living for the six years must also be included. For those students
whose homes are not in London there are flats and boarding-houses
where it is possible to live very reasonably. Suitable board and
residence can be obtained from about 25s. a week.
_For the Diploma of the Conjoint Board._
The school fees are the same; the examination fees are, however,
higher, namely £42.
For other qualifications, the school fees are £20 less for the course.
Certain scholarships are available for students, of which all
particulars can be obtained from the secretary of each school.
When a woman becomes a registered medical practitioner, she is for
the first time legally entitled to treat patients herself, and is
entrusted with responsibility. As in most other branches of knowledge
in the world, while she has simply been learning and carrying out her
duties under authority, she has had no opportunity of really testing
her own knowledge. It is, therefore, very generally felt amongst newly
qualified medical practitioners that they need more experience before
undertaking quite independent medical work. This experience is
best gained by taking hospital posts. By this is meant positions of
moderate responsibility, such as that of resident house physician or
resident house surgeon in a hospital, where the newly qualified doctor
is under the authority of an experienced visiting "chief," but is
expected to deal with ordinary incidents as they may arise, to realise
the relative importance of different symptoms, and report those that
matter to the visiting physician or surgeon.
It is at this stage that the doctor must decide whether she wishes to
become
(a) a "specialist" in some particular branch
of medicine or surgery,
(b) a general practitioner, or
(c) whether she wishes to work in the public
service.
(a) If she wishes to be a specialist she must so arrange her future
work as to gain experience in the branch which she selects. For
this purpose it is necessary to take posts at special hospitals, and
ultimately to become a member of the staff of some hospital in the
department chosen. Here women find that they are heavily handicapped.
The only hospital of any size in London of which the members of staff
are all women is the New Hospital, Euston Road, and this admits only
of a small staff, giving opportunities to comparatively few women for
special experience.
The Royal Free Hospital, where women take their training as students,
has now two women on its staff in the department for gynaecology. It
has also a woman anaesthetist, and some of the minor posts, such as
clinical assistant to the outpatients, pathologist, etc., are open to
them. All the physicians, the surgeons, and the assistant physicians
and surgeons are, however, men.
Of the hospitals for special ailments in London, none so far admits
women to the staff, and it has only recently become possible for
them even to form part of the medical audience at the outpatients'
department at some of these special hospitals.
No London Hospital for Diseases of Women
and Midwifery (except that of Dr M'Call),
or for Diseases of Children (except one recently
started by women),
or for Diseases of the Eye,
or for Diseases of the Ear, Nose and Throat,
or for Diseases of the Nervous System,
admits women to its staff, although several of them allow women to
take appointments as clinical assistants, pathologists, anaesthetists,
and other minor posts. Their admission to the full staff is, perhaps,
merely a question of time, and of the naturally slow movement of the
British mind towards admitting women to positions of responsibility.
There has, however, been of late years a tendency on the part of
medical women themselves to take this matter into their own hands, and
new women's hospitals are being started about London where the staff
is exclusively composed of women.
(b) If, on the other hand, the newly qualified doctor decides to
become a general practitioner, her course is much simpler. She takes
such posts as are available, which she thinks will aid her general
knowledge of medicine. Then she selects a neighbourhood, puts up a
plate, and waits.
This course also involves delayed earning capacity, as she must be
prepared to face outlay for several years without much return. During
this time she generally augments the income which she gets from her
private practice by other part-time paid work, notably by giving
lectures in first aid, etc., by school inspection, where part-time
officers are appointed, and other such work. She also generally does
a certain amount of voluntary work on that most pernicious system
of giving her services in order to get known. It is in this way that
doctors are everywhere so terribly exploited. When they are _all_ so
busy doing work which they think will bring them into the public view,
this becomes of no particular use to any of them, and the only people
who benefit, and at the same time scoff, are the members of the
general public, who become so used to getting the doctor to work for
nothing or next to nothing, that it comes as a shock when they have
to pay. It is a healthy sign that the long-suffering doctor is at last
beginning to show symptoms of fight, and in the future it may be
hoped that doctors, like lawyers, will not be required to give their
services free to the community. It may be true that if a man will not
work neither shall he eat, but the converse should also be true, that
if a man works he should eat, and at present it is not by any means
always true of the doctor.
(c) Should she decide to enter the public service, she will still
require to take a certain number of posts, especially those dealing
with eyes, ears, and skin, and must also obtain the Diploma of Public
Health. To gain this diploma she will need to devote several months
to post-graduate study in that subject before taking the necessary
examination.
The chief posts at present open in the public service to a woman
are:--
(1) School medical officer, or assistant medical
officer of health.
(2) Assistant medical officer in some asylums
and poor law infirmaries.
There is one woman inspector of prisons who is a medical woman, but
she is not a medical inspector and was not appointed in that capacity.
It is much to be hoped that women prison medical officers will
speedily be appointed on equal terms with their medical colleagues.
The conditions for women prisoners from the standpoint of health are,
at the present time, extremely unsatisfactory.
The tendency is to employ more and more women in the public service,
and therefore the opportunities are likely rapidly to become more
numerous.
The Act, under which medical school inspection was made obligatory,
particularly mentioned the suitability of women for much of this work.
It is therefore becoming usual all over the country to have at least
one woman school doctor, and in some districts there are several on
the staff. This work is not extremely arduous, is free from the heavy
strain of private practice, and, if the school medical officer is
allowed reasonable freedom in her work, may be made of much interest.
It is, however, somewhat monotonous, and has the great disadvantage
that at present the stimulus of promotion is largely absent, as the
higher administrative posts are almost universally in the hands of
men. This is a disadvantage which will also be gradually, perhaps
rapidly removed as the prejudice against women in authority dies down.
After having practised medicine for some years, further degrees
indicating experience are open to the medical practitioner; thus, if
she has taken the Bachelorship of Medicine she may, after the lapse of
three or four years, enter for her Doctorate. This is gained either
by a further examination or by writing a thesis on some subject of
original research. If she has taken the Diploma of the Royal Colleges,
it is open to her to sit for the Fellowship in Surgery or Membership
in Medicine. She is also open to election to the Fellowship in
Medicine.
It is extremely difficult to give anything like an adequate idea
of the remuneration to be obtained in medicine, as it varies
tremendously.
The first posts, which are taken soon after qualification, if really
first-rate in the experience which they give, seldom include any
salary at all, though board and lodging are provided. Posts which rank
as slightly inferior to these, but still give a considerable amount of
experience, are often associated with honoraria varying from about £50
to £150 a year, including board and lodging.
(a) If we turn again to our three sub-divisions we find that a
specialist or consultant cannot expect to earn her working expenses
for a good many years. She must have one room at least in a certain
specialist quarter of the town, known as the consultants' area, and
there the rents are usually high, in London about £150 a year, in the
provinces slightly less.
We have already stated that she requires some hospital post; for this
she will receive no remuneration, but if the hospital where she works
has a medical school attached to it, she may expect to get a certain
number of patients through the recommendation of students whom she
teaches at the hospital. There is generally also some teaching at
the hospitals, for which the students pay definite fees. She may also
augment her income by lectures and work of that description. She will
probably find it necessary to write papers on her special branch of
work and on the cases which come under her observation, but for this
she will very seldom be paid. It is, therefore only possible for a
girl with some monetary resources independent of her work, to take up
successfully a special branch of medicine.
If she elect to become a surgeon, a hospital post is an absolute
necessity, and her income will, as in the case of the medical
specialist, be delayed. Eventually, however, if she is successful, it
is greater than that to be obtained on the medical side. The fees are
high, and therefore money can be made more speedily in this branch of
the work. People, however, hesitate as a rule to trust a very young
surgeon, so she will at first get her work chiefly as assistant to
her seniors and must be content to wait some years for the much bigger
fees which she will get as principal. Ultimately she should make
£1,000 to £2,000 a year.
(b) If she elect to become a general practitioner, her outlay at first
is probably as great as that of the specialist, if not greater, but
the return is quicker, and a great deal depends upon the choice of a
neighbourhood. If she chooses an upper middle class district she
also, like the specialist, must be content to wait, and in fact she is
ill-advised to choose such a neighbourhood unless she can rely on some
good social introductions.
If she choose a district partly middle and partly lower middle class
her return will be infinitely quicker. She may expect to cover her
expenses in the course of two or three years. The work is, however,
incessant and rather harassing. If she select a working-class
neighbourhood and have a dispensary, her return will be still quicker,
such places frequently paying their expenses in the first or second
year. The people are nice to deal with, and the work is interesting,
but it is apt to be very distressing for two reasons--(1) that owing
to the poverty of the patients they can so seldom be attended under
conditions in which they have a fair chance of recovery, and (2) there
is apt to be an appreciable amount of dirt.
The most varying reports are given as to the incomes to be made in
private practice and it is almost impossible to get at the truth,
because it is obviously to everybody's interest to make them appear
as high as possible. A woman's practice also is admittedly rather a
specialist one. She does not get the general local practice of the
ordinary practitioner, but instead certain selected women who want to
consult a member of their own sex. These often live at considerable
distances, thus making the work more difficult to arrange and the
travelling more expensive than in the case of the ordinary medical
man. It is rare for a woman to be able to buy a practice. She must
generally build it up for herself, as it is of little or no use for
her to buy a man's practice, and there are only very few women's
available.
Generally, it may be stated that a woman covers her expenses by about
the third or fourth year after starting, and she may ultimately make,
according to the district and her success, anything between £400 and
£1,500 a year. Frequently two medical women settle together, which
seems to be a very good arrangement.
(c) If she elect to enter the public service her outlay is very small.
Beyond equipping herself for this work in certain special branches
already described, all that is necessary is that she should be able to
keep herself until she obtains a suitable post. The salary given for
whole time work in the public service should not be less than £250 a
year rising to £400 or £500 a year. In most cases the school doctor
gets the school holidays, including the whole of every Saturday.
English women who go to India, do so generally in connection with
either
(1) a missionary society, or
(2) a hospital under the Dufferin Fund.
(1) Many missionary societies engage medical women to treat the native
women. Salaries, of course, differ, but are, on the whole, low, as the
aim of a missionary is not supposed, primarily, to be financial gain.
Generally somewhere about £110 in English money is given, with
an allowance for carriage and house including the chief items of
furniture. Leave is also granted with second class return fare every
five years--in some missions every three years. The medical experience
is excellent, the opportunities of doing good professional work are
practically unlimited, and the professional position of the doctor
quite untrammelled. She is assisted, usually, by good nurses, under a
proper scheme, these being Indian girls superintended by fully trained
English sisters.
(2) Under the Dufferin Fund[2] things are very different. It is
somewhat difficult to speak of this branch of the work, as it is, at
the present time, the subject of enquiry, and it may be legitimately
expected that it will, before long, be put on a more satisfactory
basis. The fund was originally started by Lady Dufferin as the direct
result of a command by the late Queen Victoria, and it was intended
to provide the services of medical women for the Purdah women of India
who, owing to the strictness of their rules, were not infrequently
debarred from the full benefit of medical treatment by men.
Unfortunately, however, the doctor in charge of most of the Dufferin
Hospitals is under the local senior civil surgeon, who is a man. As
he has the right, if he wishes to exercise it, of seeing any of
the patients, and doing any of the operations or other treatment
necessary, it is obvious that the hospitals are of little or no use to
Purdah women, as they have no guarantee against treatment by a man.
There is also no security of tenure for the doctor who is not allowed
to be present at the meetings of the governing body, and may find
herself dismissed or transferred from a good post to a bad one at
short notice.
The remuneration varies roughly between £250 and £500 a year, with
house but no carriage allowance. The doctor is entitled to add to her
salary by private practice. In some towns this is a considerable
item, whereas in others it is quite negligible. There is no definite
furlough allowance, and the doctor may be removed from her post and
required to keep herself on very little for a considerable period of
time before being appointed to another hospital. All this causes a
severe drain on the resources of doctors without private means. The
staff is also frequently inefficient, and the nursing is sometimes
very indifferent, being undertaken by Eurasian girls under partly
trained women who have never been "home."
In the practice of medicine as in all other branches of women's
labour, the question of the effect of marriage upon work is a very
important and difficult one. In its general aspect it lies at the very
heart of the whole question of the working woman. Its effect on the
medical woman varies according to the branch of her profession which
she selects. If she wishes to become _(a)_ a specialist or _(b)_ a
general practitioner, she has perfect freedom of choice as to what she
will do in the event of marriage; and some women retire while others
continue their work. The latter is a much more desirable course from
the point of view of medical women as a whole. The medical woman who
is married can, better than any one else, render to society certain
services in her profession, and it is desirable that these should not
be lost. In any event no woman need retire from her work on marriage,
though it is, of course, most important that the married medical woman
should not deny to herself and to her husband the normal healthy joy
of having children. To continue in practice, however, while bearing a
child requires a certain amount of expenditure, as such a doctor
will need to retire from practice for at least two or three months,
probably longer, and is therefore put to the expense of engaging a
_locum tenens._ This ought, however, to be possible when both husband
and wife are earning incomes.
From the point of view of society as a whole, it is waste that any one
who has had such a long and arduous training as that required for
the medical profession should not use it in service to the community.
There is a form of selfishness not sufficiently recognised, which
consists not in acquiring goods but in acquiring knowledge without
rendering it again in service to one's fellow men and women.
Should the doctor decide _(c)_ to enter the public service, the
question will probably not be in her own control as there is an
ever-increasing tendency on the part of public authorities to insist
on single women or widows only among the medical women whom they
employ. There is a big fight to be waged here--one of the many that
our pioneers have left for us and our successors. The lack of social
instinct which lies behind this edict is amazing. What can be more
anti-social than that a young, healthy, and highly-trained woman
should have to decide between marriage and executing that public work
for which she has with great labour fitted herself? In at least some
cases of which the writer is aware, the demand that a doctor shall
retire on marriage, has led to a decision against matrimony, and this
is not surprising, although very serious as a general problem. The
great need of society at the present day is that the most healthy and
well-trained young men and women should be induced to found families,
and public authorities by this bar put on the trained woman, are doing
their best to hinder marriage.
Medical women have, for their protection, societies of registered
medical women in London and in the north of England and also in
Scotland, these working more or less in touch with one another. In
common with other medical societies they have meetings at which the
advances in medical science are discussed, and they also act in a
modified way as Trade Unions, Members of these societies can always
gain information from them as to the recognised rate of pay in any
particular branch of the work which they may wish to undertake.
Reference has already been made to the excellent work which has been
done by the British Medical Association in uniting the men and women
of the profession and helping both to keep up the salary rate. Without
this aid the women's associations would have been comparatively
helpless, as they would have erred in ignorance, though certainly
not by intention. The gratitude of medical women to this association
cannot therefore be overstated, and I think I am justified in saying
that the same is true with regard to medical men. If their chief
"Union" had not admitted women we might unwittingly have become a
danger to our medical colleagues as black-leg labour. This has been
almost universally the case in other work which women have taken up,
and one cannot help wishing that men in other branches of labour might
speedily realise the fact that women cannot be stopped from working,
and that the only wise thing, from the men's point of view as well as
from the women's, is to admit all to their unions that they may fight
shoulder to shoulder for better labour conditions, and not against
each other. An example of a case where this was realised has already
been quoted under Example 2, page 144.
With regard to the opportunities for post-graduate study:--At first
all the men's medical societies were closed to women, the provincial
societies being among the first to recognise their women medical
colleagues. London, being in this as in all things conservative, took
many years to move, and did so very grudgingly; but now nearly all
the important medical societies admit women, in this falling into line
with the learned professions generally. The Royal Medical Society,
London, at first admitted women to its separate sections only,
while denying them the Fellowship, with which would have gone that
mysterious power which men so deeply resent our possessing--the power
to vote on matters of its internal economy. The authorities of this
society have, however, recently admitted medical women on perfectly
equal terms with men to their Fellowship--a privilege for which we are
deeply grateful, as post-graduate knowledge of recent investigations
is absolutely essential to good work.
In conclusion, the general position of medical women at present may be
shortly summarised as follows:--
Their legal status is _absolutely identical_ with that of men in
every respect, by which is meant that by being placed upon the Medical
Register they have every privilege, duty, and responsibility which
they would have if they were men. In obtaining this and allowing many
other things to be settled by their successors our pioneers showed
their tremendous wisdom.
We have in the medical profession, what women are now claiming in the
State, the abolition of legal sex disqualification. With this firm
platform upon which to stand, it entirely depends upon medical women
themselves what position they will gain in their profession. All other
disabilities and disqualifications are minor and remediable.
This absolute equality of medical men and women before the law
includes the rights to
(1) Practise in any department of medicine in
which their services may be demanded.
(2) Recover fees if necessary.
(3) Sign death certificates.
(4) Sign any certificates for which a medical
signature is essential.
Under this latter heading a curious anomaly arises. If a man is signed
up as a lunatic, he is, for so long as he remains a lunatic, debarred
from using his Parliamentary vote, and, as may be seen from the above,
a medical woman's signature is as valid as that of a man for this
disfranchising certificate of lunacy. The State, therefore, at the
present time allows that a medical woman may be sufficiently learned
and reliable to disfranchise a man, though she be not sufficiently
learned and reliable to vote herself.
The Insurance Act concerned medical women only in the same way that
it affected their men colleagues. The sole reason, therefore, for
mentioning it in this paper is that it affords an indication of two
things:--
(1)that the Government therein makes no sex distinction in the
profession;
(2)that the bogey of sex cleavage, so often mentioned by the timorous
in the political world, is here, as always where it is put to the
test, proved to be without foundation.
Unfortunately, the Insurance Act divided the medical profession into
two parties; women, no more than men, were unanimous on the subject
and some were to be found on either side.
Women are still debarred from the full use of their medical powers in
the following ways:--
(1) The demand for their services from the general public is at
present not so great nor so universal as that for men. This is not
surprising when it is realised for how short a time there have been
medical women; however, the demand on the part of the public is very
rapidly increasing, naturally, of course, amongst their own sex.
(2) As in other work the tendency is to restrict women to the
lower branches of public work, or to the so-called "blind alley"
occupations. This can only be cured by public demand, and some
improvement is to be noted in this respect. There is, however, no
doubt that general practice affords at present the most unrestricted
field for a medical woman's activity, because there she suffers from
no limitations except those of her own personality in relation to
society. Any patients who are inclined to trust her are absolutely
free to do so, and it is open to her to demand what fees her services
are found to be worth.
If, on the other hand, she enters the public service she may
admittedly qualify herself in every way by attainments and experience
in the lower ranks for one of the higher administrative posts and be
barred simply by sex disqualification. This also will no doubt in time
improve, and the pioneer work that it implies may attract many, but
the progress is necessarily slower.
(3) She is still debarred from full opportunity for specialist work.
(See efforts being made by women themselves to obviate this by the
starting of women's hospitals, p. 149.)
Finally, then, the medical profession should attract women of good
average capacity and general education, good health and certain, even
if moderate, means. Above all do they need public spirit, which will
make them anxious to maintain and improve the excellent position
medical women have so far obtained. It is a very widely interesting
life, bringing those who adopt it out of the study into direct touch
with human affairs.
[Footnote 1: Publisher, G. Sharrow, 28A Devonshire Street, Portland
Place, W.]
[Footnote 2: Quite recently the outline of a new scheme was put
before a meeting at the Women's Medical School in London by the
Director-General of the Indian Medical Service. Under this scheme the
Women's Medical Service in India would not be upon the same footing
as the Indian Medical Service (I.M.S.) for men, but would remain as
at present, a Dufferin Association. It would, however, receive a
Government grant of £10,000 yearly, and proper arrangements would be
made for pay, furlough, promotion, and security of tenure. The scheme
is open to criticism on some points, but, as a whole, it marks a
considerable advance on the previous conditions of service in this
department of women's work, and may be welcomed as a genuine if
somewhat belated attempt on the part of the Government to deal fairly
with an urgent question.]
II
DENTAL SURGERY
It is not sufficiently well-known that dental surgery as a profession,
opens up a practically unexplored and lucrative work for women.
The training in the British Isles can be carried out in London,
Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin, each of these cities granting their
Licentiate of Dental Surgery. In London, the National Dental Hospital,
and the London School of Medicine for Women (Royal Free Hospital) have
special facilities for women students, including special bursaries
and scholarships, while dental and medical studies can be carried
on concurrently. The course of study includes the passing of a
Professional Preliminary Examination or Matriculation, followed by two
years' mechanical work, and two years' hospital practice. The student
can be articled to a qualified dental practitioner for mechanics, or
can obtain tuition at the Dental Hospital. This branch includes the
preparation of models, vulcanite and metal dentures, crowns, and
bridges, etc.
The Dental Hospital course for two years includes lectures on Physics
and Chemistry, Dental Anatomy and Surgery, Metallurgy and Materia
Medica. At the same time practical work is done--extractions,
fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures, and the regulation of children's
teeth. At the medical school and hospital, lectures on Anatomy,
Physiology, Surgery, and Medicine must be attended, and dissections on
the human body, and clinics in the ward must be completed. At the end
of each year examinations in the subjects are taken, the whole course
covering a minimum time of four years. The qualification of the
Licentiate of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of
England is now open to women. The composite fee for training extending
over four years, is about £200, but an additional sum of at least £100
is required for incidental expenses. Should the woman student desire
to confine herself to dental mechanics this would materially lessen
the expense. The average wage for a good male mechanic is £120 per
annum. Hospitals can be joined at the age of nineteen, and it is
advisable to begin study soon after leaving school or college.
If it is possible, a woman should obtain a medical qualification as
well as the L.D.S. Much of the work can be taken at the same time as
the dental course. A medical degree enlarges a dentist's sphere of
usefulness and interest and adds to her _locus standi_: on the other
hand, it necessitates two or three years' extra study, and the fees
are increased by several hundred pounds.
The woman dentist will probably find it necessary to start practice on
her own account as soon as she is qualified, as it is not likely she
will be able to obtain an assistantship with men practitioners, but
there are an increasing number of posts open to women, such as dental
surgeon to school clinics or to factories. These posts offer the same
salaries to men and women. Smaller part-time appointments, with an
honorarium attached, can be obtained, and are especially useful to the
newly qualified practitioner who is building up a practice.
It is essential for the woman who intends to succeed in this
profession to have excellent physical and mental health, though
great muscular strength is not necessary. During student life and in
practice, every care should be taken of the general health--exercise
in the open air being especially necessary, though this should not be
too energetic in character. It is a well-known fact that male dentists
doing careful and conscientious work, cannot, as a rule, stand the
strain for many hours daily after they have reached middle age, and
the intending student should consider this point.
The prolonged hours of standing in a cramped position, the confined
space, the exactitude required for minute and painful operations, are
some of the causes of this overstrain. Great self-control and will
power must be exercised as the patients, especially children, are
frequently nervous, and confidence must be imparted to them if the
work is to be well done.
The British Dental Association and the Odontological Society are both
open to women, and male practitioners have always displayed the utmost
courtesy though some prejudice must be expected. The general public
apparently welcome the advent of women dentists as the few qualified
women in London and the Provinces have excellent practices. It is
curious, however, to note that few Englishwomen have taken up the
profession, there being about twelve practising in the United Kingdom,
though in Germany, Russia, and the United States there are great
numbers of women practitioners.
With regard to restrictions from which women at present suffer, one
dental hospital only is open to women in London, and, until recently,
no posts could be obtained. But as more women qualify, these
disadvantages will probably be removed. It is also extremely difficult
to obtain mechanical work in private work-rooms. Women should bear in
mind that they require exactly the same facilities for study as men,
and try to get admittance to all hospitals and posts on an equal
basis--_i.e._, the salary should be equal for equal work, and a
smaller fee should not be accepted.
In deciding whether a practice should be started in London or a
provincial town, the question of capital must be carefully considered,
as it is improbable that the expenses will be met during the first
year of practice. The upkeep necessarily varies with the locality
chosen, and a minimum capital of £150 is desirable.
Pioneer women must be prepared to do their work conscientiously, and
to the utmost of their ability, and they must always remember that
their work will be very severely criticised.
This necessitates frequent inspection of both the clothing and persons
of the children. Certain cases which are found to need attention are
also visited in their homes. The school nurse is so much alone in
her work that she requires to be very experienced and her powers of
observation to be highly trained in order to enable her to detect
signs of ill-health in its early stages. Firmness and kindness
are constantly required in dealing with parents, and tact and
consideration in her dealings with all with whom her work brings her
in contact.
In the London area the salary begins at £80 rising by £2, 10s.
yearly to £85, and then by £5 yearly to £105. Uniform and travelling
expenses, within the county, are provided. The nurse is required to
contribute to the superannuation fund from which she can ultimately
draw a pension if she remains all her working life in the service of
the Council.
The hours of work are from 9 A.M. to 4.30 P.M. five days weekly, and
from 9 to 12.30 on Saturdays. Clerical work must be done out of school
hours. Holidays are arranged during the school holidays.
There are 128 nurses working under one Superintendent,
two Assistant-Superintendents, and four Divisional
Assistant-Superintendents.
_B_. There are 42 nurses attached to schools for the physically
defective whose special duties are concerned with the care of the
crippled and delicate children who attend these schools. Certain
special precautions against injury and strain are necessary for these
children, and the nurse receives instructions concerning these from
the visiting doctor. The salary is the same as that mentioned above,
and the nurses get the school holidays. At open-air schools the
nurse's work is somewhat similar to that in the schools for the
physically defective.
_C_. There are 8 nurses now working under the Infant Life Protection
Act.
All women who undertake the care of an infant for payment have to be
registered. Of such children, a large proportion is illegitimate. It
is the duty of the nurses to visit every such case. Each nurse has
an area allotted to her; the work is arduous and responsible as the
visitor has full powers under an Act of Parliament summarily to remove
the child if the conditions required by the Act are not complied
with. The nurse who undertakes this work should have been trained
in maternity work (and if possible have been examined by the Central
Midwives' Board). She should also have her certificate from the
Sanitary Institute as she is expected to report on the sanitation
of the premises as well as on the condition of the child. There is a
considerable amount of clerical work in connection with these posts.
The salary of these nurses is good, compared with the usual salaries
for nurses--£120 to £150, with a further rise to £200 after ten years
of service.
The superannuation fund, which is compulsory for all permanent
officers, yields a provision of not less than one-third of the average
rate of pay in a case of complete breakdown in health after ten or
more years in the service of the council. The retiring age, apart from
breakdown, is sixty-five years.
The conditions of work in the Provinces are much the same in general
outline as those described above, which prevail in London, except that
in the country the nurse often undertakes in addition the work done in
London by Care Committees and Attendance Officers. This, although it
increases her work also increases its variety.
VIII
NURSING IN HOSPITALS FOR THE INSANE
Mental nursing as a profession for educated women has much to
recommend it. It is of absorbing interest to those of a sympathetic
nature and of a scientific turn of mind, and it develops all the finer
qualities, self-control, patience, tact, and common-sense. It gives
scope for originality and accomplishments of every kind. The work
itself is difficult, and is the one of all the many branches of
nursing which demands the closest personal devotion and service, great
as is the necessity for these in all forms of a nurse's work.
Mental nurses are employed in (1) county asylums, (2) mental
hospitals, (3) private work.
(1) _County Asylums_--These may take from 1,000 to 2,000 patients
each. They are usually situated in the country with healthy
surroundings and large grounds, and they are generally placed within
reasonable access to some town.
Probationer nurses are received for training from twenty-one years
of age. They must be of good health and physique. A nurse who is
successful in this branch of work should be able to obtain her
certificate from the Medico Psychological Board at the end of three
years' training. The salary is £19 the first year, with an annual
increase of £1 up to £35. Free board, lodging, washing, medical
attendance, are also supplied and uniform after three months' trial.
The hours on duty are from 6 A.M. to 8 P.M., with two hours off for
meals. Nurses get leave from 8 P.M. to 10 P.M. daily and one day
weekly; they also have fourteen days' holiday after the first twelve
months, increasing subsequently to three weeks a year.
The duties of the nurse in an asylum consist of the care of the
patients, the supervision of the cleanliness of the wards and
linen, and also of the work done by the patients in the various
departments--the needleroom, laundry, kitchen, corridors, etc. It is
obvious that in view of the number of patients, individual attention
is practically impossible. Entertainments of all kinds are provided
for the help and amusement of the patients, and nurses are expected to
assist in arranging these. Consequently any one with a gift for music,
acting, singing, or other accomplishment is an acquisition to the
staff.
(2) _Registered Mental Hospitals_.--These, owing to their different
circumstances, vary much in their conditions of service. Most of them
are training-schools and receive probationers of good education, from
twenty-two years of age, for a course of training. This consists of
lectures by the Medical Staff and Matron, the subjects receiving most
attention being Elementary Anatomy, Physiology, and Psychology; and
there is, of course, practical training in the nursing of mental
cases: in some hospitals a course of Massage and Swedish Drill are
added in the fourth year.
Salaries are on the whole lower than in the County Asylums, beginning
at anything from £15 rising to £19 in the third year with a bonus of
£3 on passing the final examination of the Medico-Psychological Board.
There must, however, be set against this lower rate of remuneration,
the fact that these mental hospitals are often situated more centrally
than the county asylums, thus making less expenditure necessary for
travelling to and from the hospital when out on leave. The usual free
board, lodging, washing, medical attendance, and uniform are also
given after three months' satisfactory service.
The hours of duty are from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M. with two hours off for
meals, etc. Leave during a month varies with the different hospitals,
but is usually two whole days, three half days, four evenings from 6
P.M. to 10 P.M., and four evenings from 8 P.M. to 10 P.M.: there is
also annual leave of fourteen days after the first twelve months,
increasing to three weeks after three years' service.
The work in a mental hospital is totally different from that in large
asylums. As there are fewer patients, individual treatment is the
rule, and the nurse gets more intimate knowledge of her patients'
condition, which she may thus do much to ameliorate. Owing to the
homelike freedom allowed, nurses need to be specially patient
and tactful. In return for this, however, by their much closer
companionship with their patients they gain the opportunity of
thoroughly knowing and therefore sympathising with and guiding them,
and on this, successful treatment largely depends. The majority of
the patients in these hospitals are suffering from acute forms of
insanity, and this adds both to the strenuousness and to the interest
of the nursing work: the fact that such patients frequently recover,
acts as a great incentive to the work.
Private asylums are on a different basis and do not as a rule offer
training.
A trained nurse may hope for promotion to posts as Sister of a ward,
Night Superintendent, Assistant Matron, or Matron. These posts demand
personal attributes in addition to good training--_e.g._, powers of
organisation and administration, a knowledge of housekeeping, laundry
work, etc. For the higher posts, training in general nursing is
essential. In all forms of mental nursing it is undoubtedly a great
advantage if the nurse has had a preliminary general training before
entering on the special branch of the work.
The conditions for private mental cases are the same as those
described under private nursing for general work (see page 184). The
fees, however, compare very favourably with those obtained for general
work, being almost universally higher. The great disadvantage is that
the hours are very long and the work necessarily exhausting.
Much has been done of recent years to improve the conditions of
service for workers in institutions, and there is still room for
amelioration. Particularly is this so with regard to the long hours
on duty and insufficient leave, due, chiefly, to shortage of staff.
Increase is also urgently needed in the salaries in every department
so that the nurses may be able to make provision for old age. When, as
now, so many of them are dependent on a pension as the only provision
for their old age, they are bound to stay at one institution for the
whole or nearly the whole of their lives--an arrangement which is not
to the benefit of either party, for "change is necessary to progress,
and the tendency is, from long years of service in one place, to
narrow and lose the adaptability of earlier years."
More arrangements are needed for the recreation of the nurses when
off duty, especially in institutions situated in the country. Swimming
baths would be a real boon; the beneficial effects of this form
of exercise upon both nerves and body being too well known to need
further comment. Its value also in promoting mutual helpfulness is
by no means negligible. Reading-rooms, apart from the general
common-room, are very valuable, as are also tennis courts where they
can be arranged. All these, of course, mean expense, but, if the
better class woman is to be attracted to the work, her interests
must be considered. Moreover, healthful recreations, apart from their
benefit to the nurse herself, must re-act favourably on the patients.
IX
NURSING IN THE COLONIES
Colonial nursing is usually undertaken by those who possess the spirit
of adventure, and do not mind the prospect of pioneering work. Love of
novelty, strong interest in fresh scenes and peoples, a desire to make
more money than can in most cases be made in England, help a nurse in
colonial work, provided that work really means her life, and she loves
it. But let it be emphatically stated that the nurses who are _not_
wanted in the colonies, in any capacity, are those who are failures
in their work in England, or who simply leave the dull work of the old
country with the object of having a good time abroad. Such women may
do immense harm in countries where it is essential to the Empire that
English people should be looked up to with respect and admiration,
and where almost the most important part of an English nurse's work
(_quite_ the most important _if_ she is working in a hospital), is to
make the native nurses, of whatever race they may happen to be, see
the dignity and possibilities of their profession, and be stirred with
the desire to become proficient themselves.
No special training is required for colonial work. A thorough
all-round training, including midwifery, a high standard of nursing
ethics, a knowledge of hospital organisation, and good business
abilities are needed. The rest is chiefly a matter of temperament
and constitution. It goes without saying that a nurse for foreign
climates, whether tropical, as in the majority of colonial posts,
or subject to extremes of heat and cold, such as in Canada, must
be physically strong; she should also be of an even temper and
philosophical disposition, easily adaptable to climate, conditions,
circumstances, and racial peculiarities.
The nature of the work will vary greatly with the locality and the
kind of post undertaken. The colonial nurse who does private work will
find patients and their needs much the same all the world over; she
must, however, be prepared for anything, and ready to make the best of
all things in emergencies.
In tropical hospitals it is altogether another matter. If the nurse
taking a Matron's post in such a hospital is the first European
to have occupied that post, she will probably have every detail to
organise and put in order, from providing dusters for use in the
wards, to arranging off-duty time for the nurses. She will mostly
likely see at once that everything wants altering, and yet she
will have to "make haste slowly," _very_ slowly, or she will have
everything in a ferment, and every one in open rebellion against her.
If she is working in the East, she will have the endless complications
of caste and race and religion to deal with, and will have for some
time, to learn vastly more than she teaches. Her success or failure
will depend very largely upon how she gets on with the medical
department--in other words, upon her own tact and common-sense, and
whether she can so approve herself to the various medical officers
that they will loyally back her up in her attempts at reform. Once
things are established in working order, it is a question of constant
supervision, day by day, for in no tropical hospital is it possible to
expect that native nurses will do their work well and conscientiously,
without the constant example and supervision of their trained Matron
and Sisters.
Colonial posts are chiefly to be obtained through the Colonial Nursing
Association, of which offices are at the Imperial Institute, South
Kensington.
Salaries vary considerably, according to climate and the nature of the
work. In very unhealthy climates, such as the west coast of Africa,
the salary is high, and the risks proportionately so.
Private nurses, and those holding subordinate posts in hospitals get
salaries varying from £60, which is the minimum, to £120 a year. An
Assistant Matron may in some few cases get a salary increasing to
£150 or £200. In a large hospital there is the ordinary chance of
promotion--a Sister may be made Assistant Matron, or an Assistant
Matron become Matron; but most colonial posts are simply for a certain
term of years, at the expiration of which the nurse seeks fresh
fields, her passage, both out and home, being paid. If, however, there
should be a desire on both sides for a renewal of the engagement, the
nurse can usually obtain an increase of salary.
A Matron's salary will vary from £100 to £250, in large Government
hospitals in the Colonies where, it must be borne in mind, leave
entails a journey to England, and a very expensive passage. In
colonial posts there is usually six weeks leave yearly (which may be
taken as three months together in the second year), but in most places
there is no bracing climate within a reasonable distance. This, of
course, does not apply to India and Ceylon, where the hills are easily
accessible.
Each Government has its own arrangements with regard to pensions; some
posts include pensions, but not all. The retiring age is usually
sixty years. There is, unfortunately, no pension obtainable from the
Colonial Nursing Association itself. This is certainly one respect
in which it would be well if an alteration could be made; it is
a question of funds and has already been brought forward for
consideration. There would be vastly more inducement for really
capable nurses, no longer very young (the age limit for joining is
thirty-five) to join the Colonial Nursing Association, and serve their
country in foreign dependencies, if they were assured of even a small
pension after ten years' hard work in trying climates.
X
NURSING IN THE ARMY AND NAVY
The training required by Army and Navy nurses is that for general
work. Additional experience according to the branch of the service
which the nurse wishes to enter is also useful. Only fully trained
nurses are appointed. Some of the tending of the sick is done by the
men themselves, under supervision.
In the _Military Service_ the salaries are as follows:
Matron-in-Chief, £305; ordinary Matron, from £75 to £150; Sister, from
£50 to £65; Staff Nurse, from £40 to £45, with allowance for board,
washing, etc., and arrangements for leave and pension after twenty
years' service.
In the _Naval Service _the arrangements are slightly different,
but the salaries work out at about the same. Foreign service is
obligatory.
There is also a small Army Nursing Reserve, but this is quite
inadequate for purposes of defence, and great efforts have recently
been made to supplement it by voluntary organisations, such as the
British Red Cross Society.
XI
PRISON NURSING
This is, at the present time, carried out by the ordinary staff of
prison warders. There are all over England not more than two or three
trained nurses among them, and it is most desirable that properly
trained women should be in charge of prison infirmary wards, just as
much as in the infirmary wards of workhouses. Prisoners are just as
likely to suffer from disease as other people, and they surely do not
forfeit all claim to expert care, simply because they have, perhaps
in a moment of weakness, yielded to temptation. To one form of illness
needing specially expert nursing, they are peculiarly liable--mental
disease. It is almost impossible to gauge the amount of good which
might be done both for the individual and for society by providing
trained nurses to attend to these unfortunate people.
XII
MIDWIFERY AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN (OTHER THAN DOCTORS)
This is not a paper to discuss the suitability of women for midwifery.
All through the ages it has been done by women, until early in the
nineteenth century in England and its colonies, it gradually became
customary for men-doctors to attend such cases; apart from this, the
work of midwifery has never been in the hands of men, except when
abnormal cases have required the assistance of a doctor with knowledge
of anatomy and skilled in instrumental delivery. Even before
the passing of the Midwives Act in 1902, statistics proved that
three-quarters of all confinements in this country were attended by
women.
Continental countries have been alive to the need for training the
women who did this work. For instance, in the great General Hospital
in Vienna with its 3,000 beds, 550 beds were kept apart for maternity
wards, and of these, 200 were reserved for the State training of
midwives--a course of _one_ year's duration being obligatory, with
_daily_ lectures on every detail in midwifery from the Professor of
Obstetrics. The present writer attended these lectures daily for six
months in 1885, and was made to feel the importance in teaching of
"hammering" at essentials and of questioning, so that the lecturer
might discover whether he were talking above the head of the least
clever of the audience.
England's population increased so steadily and rapidly during the
nineteenth century, that it seemed to trouble no one that countless
lives of mothers and babies were lost during the perils of
child-birth; it remained the only civilised country of Europe where a
woman could practise as a midwife without any training at all.
For nearly twenty years before the passing of the Midwives Act in
1902, a small band of devoted women laboured in season and out of
season urging on Parliament the need of a bill requiring a _minimum_
of three months' theoretical and practical training and an examination
before trusting a woman with the lives of mother and child.
This historical fact alone is a sufficiently cogent reason for the
now ever-increasing demand on the part of women for the parliamentary
vote.
The Central Midwives Board (C.M.B.), a body of eight members (experts
elected by various bodies, such as the Royal Colleges of Physicians
and Surgeons, the British Nurses' Association, the Midwives'
Institute, etc.), now exercises supervision over the midwives of the
whole of England and Wales, though local supervising authorities also
take cognisance of midwives' work and investigate cases of malpractice
and the like. The address of the Central Midwives' Board is Caxton
House, Westminster.
The training for the examination of the Central Midwives' Board is
based on the method pursued in medical education in English-speaking
countries, viz., there is not one uniform course, but each of the
training schools attached to hospitals follows out its own plan of
training, each hospital having been approved by the Central Midwives'
Board as giving an adequate training for its examination. There are
now seven maternity hospitals in London, where women students may
train in midwifery. Of these, only one--the Clapham Maternity Hospital
(with its training school founded by Mrs Meredith in 1885)--is, and
always has been, entirely officered by women. Here the course advised
is six months, viz., three months in the hospital (Monthly Nursing),
and three months in the hospital and district doing Midwifery proper.
During this time over 200 cases may be seen, and nearly 100 cases
attended personally. The cost of this training is £35 to £40, which
includes board and residence for twenty-six weeks. Students previously
trained elsewhere may take one months' extra training at a cost of
ten guineas. Private doctors and midwives may also take pupils if
recognised as teachers by the Board.
Midwifery training is now required not only by those who are going
to act as midwives, but also by most missionaries, all fully trained
nurses (for matrons' posts or colonial posts) and by health visitors
and inspectors before obtaining appointments.
But it should be borne in mind, especially in considering the present
condition and future prospects of Midwifery as a profession, that even
now a large though ever-decreasing proportion of registered midwives
are still ignorant women who have never passed the Central Midwives'
Board or any other examination, and have had no teaching from any
one more experienced or better informed than themselves. For when
the Midwives' Act came into force in 1903, it was necessary to move
slowly, and so a clause was inserted, permitting women who had been
in _bonâ-fide_ practice for more than one year before 1902 to continue
their work under inspection and supervision (with many attempts at
teaching them by means of simple lectures and demonstrations). This
plan, or some similar one, was necessary, not only in the interests
of the midwives themselves, a set of decent and kindly, if ignorant
women, who would have been ruined by too sudden a change, but also
because a large number of mothers in England would have been left with
no one to help them in their time of need unless they were prepared
to run the risk of breaking the law. This, until recently, respectable
English women disliked to do.
It is important to remember this fact, when considering the present
and future prospects of the midwife. The untrained woman used to
charge 5s. or 7s. 6d. for her services, and the fact that her name had
been enrolled on the Government Register, that she was subject to
the supervision of an inspector, without having spent anything on her
change of status beyond the 10s. registration fee, did not suggest the
need of any particular change in her scale of charges. Thus 7s.
6d. per case, unfortunately still remains the very common fee for
midwifery, though this now involves, under the rules of the Midwives'
Board, not only the long hours of watchful care at the birth, but ten
days of daily visits to supervise both mother and baby, with careful
records of pulse and temperature, etc., kept in a register. Naturally,
the general public who employ midwives--viz., the poorer classes--do
not differentiate between the trained certificated midwife and the
untrained _bonâ-fide_ midwife whose name is on the register, and thus
the scale of charges remains very low and the profession, as one for
educated women, is thereby greatly injured.
Granted an intelligent woman is willing to give six months' work and
study and £35 to £40 for her training, what chance has she of earning
a decent living? If she could command 15s. or 17s. 6d. per case
afterwards, she could make a decent living, given fairly hard work and
the acceptance of real responsibility. If she had 100 cases a year,
she would earn £75 at 15s. per case, and so on. This rise in the
fees payable to midwives has just been made possible by the National
Insurance Act of 1911, the framers of which appear to have recognised
the necessary result of the Midwives' Act of 1902. As the _bonâ-fide_
midwife, who has received no training, gradually dies out, it becomes
necessary to provide the means of paying trained midwives, whom the
people are obliged to employ in place of the old ones, but who would
soon be non-existent were the means of paying them not also provided
by the State.
A 30s. maternity benefit is now given for every confinement of an
insured person or the wife of an insured person. As the patient may
have free choice of doctor or midwife, it seems possible, now that it
has been established that the benefit shall go direct to the mother or
her nominee, that hereafter the greater part of it may be paid over to
the person who can supply that most necessary item of the treatment,
i.e., good and intelligent midwifery with nursing care of mother and
child. Therefore, it is the right moment for the careful, well-trained
popular midwife definitely to raise her fees to all "insured"
patients, being still willing to help the poor at a low fee as before.
It should be remembered that in about one-tenth of all her cases,
medical help will be required, but this case could probably be guarded
against by an insurance fund, if properly organised.
We frankly admit that as things now stand--apart from the possibility
of the maternity benefit being made to help her--midwifery is
financially but a poor profession. But to an enthusiastic lover of
her kind, who has other means or prospects for her future than the
proceeds of her profession, there is much that is attractive in this
most useful calling.
Now let us turn to a consideration of the poor mother. Dr Matthews
Duncan in 1870 put the puerperal mortality at 1 in 100 for in-patients
and 1 in 120 for patients in their own homes--shocking figures for
a physiological event! Miss Wilson, a member of the Central Midwives
Board, stated in 1907 that the average mortality of English women,
from puerperal fever, a preventable disease, is 47 in 10,000 or _1 in
213_, but that in three of the best lying-in hospitals this figure has
been reduced to less than _1 in 3,000_. To quote Miss Alice Gregory
in her article on this subject in _The Nineteenth Century_ for January
1908: "We feel there is something hopelessly wrong somewhere. It
becomes indeed a burning question: By what means have the Maternity
Hospitals so marvellously reduced their death rate?"
The answer is not now far to seek in the opinion of the writer,
who has worked continuously at Midwifery since 1st May 1884. It is
probably wholly contained in the three following points:--
(1) All that makes for scrupulous asepsis in
every detail for the surroundings of the
mother.
(2) The absence of "Meddlesome Midwifery."
(3) Pre-maternity treatment, a factor which
the writer considers to be of great importance,
and of which she would like
to have much more experience.
By this is meant the building up of the future mother's health by
improved hygiene and careful, wise dieting and exercising and bathing
during the last three months of pregnancy, which enables many a
stumbling-block to be removed out of the way. Hence, the utility of
pre-maternity wards wisely used. This is, one knows, a "counsel of
perfection"; but every expectant mother should and could be taught how
to treat herself wisely at this time.
These three points are all in favour of the well-trained midwife.
(1) _Scrupulous Asepsis_, if intelligently taught, can be learned in
six months' training, though one feels bound to add it requires moral
"grit" in the character to make one unswervingly faithful in observing
it. The midwife, too, should run no risk of carrying infection from
others, as a doctor might do.
(2) "Meddlesome Midwifery" is not so much a temptation for the midwife
as the doctor, though she also may want to do too much. Patience
combined with accurate knowledge when interference is urgently needed,
is part of her training.
(3) The midwife who becomes a wise friend to her patients will be just
the one to whom the mother will gladly apply early, and who will know
if it is advisable to send for skilled medical advice. Contracted
pelvis, threatened eclampsia, and antepartum haemorrhage are typical
cases, which lose half their terror if diagnosed and treated early.
If ever it is recognised that good midwifery is at the root of the
health of the nation and the new maternity benefit is made to help
in obtaining it, it will at once become worth while for educated and
intelligent women to take to the profession seriously. A practice
could then be worked by sets of two or three midwives in co-operation,
and with proper organisation as regards an insurance fund for securing
operative midwifery from medical practitioners when necessary.
There is ample room for a much larger body of trained midwives than
exists at present, if the health and welfare of the nation are to be
secured, while the women themselves could, under these conditions,
earn a sufficient livelihood.
Trained nurses also specialise in midwifery. They take the full course
of training described above, completing this by passing the Central
Midwives' Board Examination. They do not practise for themselves,
but work only under doctors, thus replacing the monthly nurse. The
improvement in health and comfort of both mother and child, when
nursed by some one thoroughly competent, is very marked.
The fees which they receive for this work are usually 12 to 14 guineas
for the month, and in some cases may rise to 18 guineas.
XIII
MASSAGE
This work demands a healthy body and cheerful mind, a love of the
work, endurance, and much tact in dealing with the nervous cases for
which this form of treatment is found to be beneficial.
It may be undertaken either
(1) As a separate profession, or
(2) As an additional qualification by trained nurses.
The training must be good and adequate to ensure any success as a
masseuse, so great care should be exercised in the choice of a
school. The many training schools advertised are of varying degrees
of efficiency, and those prepared to train in a few weeks, or by
correspondence only, are obviously unsatisfactory.
On application to the secretary of the Incorporated Society of Trained
Masseuses, information can be obtained with regard to the training
schools in London and the Provinces where a course of instruction in
massage is given, which is accepted by the society as adequate.
The society itself is an independent examining body which insists on
a satisfactory standard for massage workers. It holds two examinations
yearly and grants a certificate to successful candidates. No one may
enter for the examination unless she can show that she has received
her training at one of the schools approved by the society.
Adequate training in massage includes a course of not less than six
months in Elementary Anatomy and Physiology, the Theory and Practice
of Massage and a course of bandaging. Students usually attend the
classes from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M., lectures being given in the morning,
demonstrations and practical work on "model patients" in the afternoon
hours.
Sufficiently advanced students are allowed to attend at hospitals or
infirmaries to see--and themselves to carry out under the teacher's
supervision--the treatment ordered for the patients by the doctor. In
this way all students have opportunity during their training of seeing
and giving treatment to the various cases which they may have to deal
with as qualified masseuses when working under private doctors.
Some training schools give their own certificate after training,
and this is useful as a guarantee of the training taken. It is not,
however, such an assurance of efficiency to the medical profession or
the general public as the certificate gained after examination by an
independent examining body.
There is also a further examination held by the society once yearly
in Medical Gymnastics. The minimum time to expend on this is a further
six months after qualifying as a masseuse, so that it takes a year to
gain the double qualification.
In addition to supplying the independent examination in these
subjects, the society watches over the interests of the masseuses. All
its members are bound to observe the rules of the society. The result
of this is threefold.
(1) The doctor is assured that the masseuse
will not undertake cases on her own
diagnosis, but work only under qualified
direction.
(2) The public is assured that the masseuse
is a trustworthy woman as well as an
efficient worker.
(3) The masseuse herself is protected from
undesirable engagements. This is of
considerable importance.
The training for the examination previously
mentioned is from 10 to 15 guineas for those taking
the course. There is generally some reduction
made for nurses. The further course in Medical
Gymnastics costs from 20 guineas.
From this it will be seen that the whole training is comparatively
inexpensive; it is, however, not a profession to be entered lightly.
London is already overstocked and the better openings at the present
time are to be found in the Provinces, in Scotland and the Colonies.
It is well to start, if possible, in a town where the masseuse is
already known either to the doctors, or to some influential residents.
Much depends on the individuality of the masseuse, and one who is
prepared to give all her time to the work, taking every call that
comes, may reasonably expect to make in her first year from £50 to
£100. By the third year a steady connection should be formed, bringing
in an income of £150 to £250. This cannot, however, be expected unless
the masseuse has some introductions to start her in her work.
Fees in the country vary from 3s. 6d. to 7s. a visit, and in London
and some other places they rise to 10s. 6d. for an hour or less.
Hospital and nursing-home appointments are most useful as experience
for the masseuse in her first year; they should be tried before
she finally decides where to start work. Such appointments are
residential, and the salaries offered vary from £30 to £70 a year.
It must not be forgotten that, owing to the short and comparatively
inexpensive training, very many women take up this work,
so that the above excellent results are not realised unless the
masseuse has good introductions. The value of a thoroughly reliable
society such as that mentioned cannot be over-estimated, not only
for its certificate, but also on account of the information it can
give as to the respectability of posts advertised for masseuses.
Many of these are unfortunately merely blinds for undesirable houses.
[SUB-EDITOR.]
SECTION IV
WOMEN AS SANITARY INSPECTORS AND HEALTH VISITORS
The introduction of women into the public health service is a modern
development, although they have been engaged in it longer than is
usually known.
Women who are employed in Public Health Work hold office under Local
Sanitary Authorities, and their work must not be confused with that
of the Women Home Office Officials, who were first appointed in 1895;
these inspect factories and workshops, but their powers and duties
are of a different character. For instance, the Women Home Office
Inspectors deal, amongst other things, with the cleanliness of
factories, but not with the cleanliness of workshops, and with the
heating of workshops, while the ventilation of the same workshops is
under the control of the local sanitary officials.
Glasgow was the first county borough to utilise the services of Women
Health Officials, for in May 1870 four "Female Visitors," afterwards
known as Assistant Sanitary Inspectors, were appointed in connection
with the Public Health Department. Their duties were: "by persuasion
principally, to induce the women householders to keep the interiors
of their dwellings in a clean and sanitary condition, and to advise
generally how best this can be maintained." They possessed the same
right of entry to premises as the men inspectors, and were required
to hold the certificate of the Incorporated Sanitary Association of
Scotland. They reported certain nuisances, but themselves dealt
with others, such as "dirty homes or dirty bedding, clothing, and
furnishing."
The work of Women Health Officials in England, dates from the passing
of the Factory and Workshops Act of 1891, when certain duties with
regard to workshops, which had previously been performed by the Home
Office Inspectors, were laid upon Sanitary Authorities.
In the opinion of Dr Orme Dudfield, late Medical Officer of Health
for Kensington: "It soon became apparent that, not only was systematic
inspection necessary, but also that many of the duties involved
were of so special and delicate a nature that they could not
be satisfactorily discharged by male inspectors." He therefore
recommended the appointment of two Women Inspectors of Workshops in
Kensington. In the meantime the city of Nottingham had appointed a
Woman Inspector of Workshops in May 1892, and in accordance with
Dr Dudfield's recommendation two Women Inspectors were appointed in
Kensington in 1893.
These ladies were appointed as inspectors of workshops _only_.
They did not hold Sanitary Certificates, nor had they the status of
Sanitary Inspectors. In practice, this entailed a visit by a male
inspector every time it was necessary to serve a legal notice for
the abatement of any contravention of the Factory and Workshops'
Act. Therefore, when these ladies resigned upon their appointment as
Factory Inspectors, it was decided to appoint the in-coming ladies as
Sanitary Inspectors, with power to deal with these matters themselves.
It was, however, Islington which appointed the first woman with the
legal status of Sanitary Inspector in 1895.
By 1901, eleven women had been appointed in the Metropolitan area as
Sanitary Inspectors, nearly all of them exclusively engaged in the
inspection of workshops. Since that time the number of women appointed
by Local Sanitary Authorities has increased considerably, both in
London and the Provinces. The exact number outside London is only
known approximately, as no register exists which is available to the
public. It is to be hoped that this information may be obtainable
from the last census returns. The figures with regard to London are
published annually by the London County Council, and there are now
forty-one Women Sanitary Inspectors in the Metropolitan area.
Sanitary inspectors in London, whether men or women, are required to
hold the certificate of the Sanitary Inspectors' Examination Board,
the examination for which is the same for men and women.[1] Outside
London no definite qualification is required by the Local Government
Board, but it is usual in county and municipal boroughs for a sanitary
certificate to be demanded from candidates for the position of
Inspector of Nuisances (the term used outside London for Sanitary
Officials). Men and Women Sanitary Inspectors possess equal rights of
entry to premises and equal statutory powers for enforcing compliance
with the law.
The duties of Women Sanitary Inspectors have become very varied and
numerous during the past ten years; they differ considerably according
to locality and to the opinions of the local Medical Officer of
Health. Broadly speaking, before 1905 women in London were mainly
engaged in the inspection of workshops, whereas in the Provinces (with
the exception of Nottingham, Leicester, and Manchester) they were
engaged in house-to-house visitation in the poorer parts of the towns,
with a view to the promotion of cleanliness, giving advice to mothers
concerning the feeding and care of infants and young children, and
the detection of sanitary defects. The inspection of workshops in the
Provinces was a later development.
These varied duties have called for special qualifications, and, in
addition to certificates in sanitation, Women Sanitary Inspectors
usually hold qualifications in nursing or midwifery. The general
education of the women who take up this profession is, on the whole,
superior to that of the men. Most of the women have had a high school
education, and many are University graduates, while the men, as a
rule, come from the elementary schools.
The duties of a Woman Sanitary Inspector are sufficiently varied to
avoid monotony, and may comprise any or all of the following:--
_A_. (1) The inspection of factories in order to
see that suitable and sufficient sanitary
accommodation is provided for women,
in accordance with the requirements of
the Public Health Acts.
(2) The carrying out of the provisions of
the Public Health and Factory and
Workshops Acts, with regard to the
registration and inspection of
_(a)_ laundries, workshops, and workplaces
(including kitchens of
hotels and restaurants) where
women are employed;
_(b)_ Outworkers' premises.
(3) The inspection of tenement houses and
houses let in lodgings, and the enforcement
of the bye-laws of the Sanitary
Authority affecting these.
(4) House-to-house inspection in the poorer
parts of the district.
(5) The inspection of public lavatories for
women.
(6) The carrying out of duties and inspection
concerning
(_a_) Notifiable infectious diseases,
such as scarlet fever.
(_b_) Non-notifiable infectious diseases
such as measles.
(_c_) The notification of consumption.
(7) Taking samples under the Food and
Drugs Acts. (This work is rarely
given to women.)
For many of the above duties, women are obviously better fitted than
men, but for the following most important group of duties men are
practically disqualified by reason of their sex:--
_B_. Health visiting. Work in connection with
the reduction of infantile mortality :--
(1) Notification of Births Act, 1907. Visiting
infants and giving advice to mothers
about the feeding and general management
of young children.
(2) Advising expectant mothers on the
management of their health and as
to the influence of ante-natal conditions
on their infants.
(3) Work in connection with milk depôts and
infant consultations.
(4) Promotion of general cleanliness in the
home and discovery of sanitary defects
remediable under the Public Health
Acts.
(5) Investigation of deaths of infants under one year of age.
(6) Lecturing at mothers' meetings.
(7) Organisation of voluntary Health
Workers in the district and arrangement
of their work.
_C._ The following duties may also be required
in the Provinces:--
(1) Work relating to the administration of
the Midwives' Act, 1902 (where the
County Council have delegated their
powers to the District Council).
(2) The inspection of shops under the Shop
Hours Act, 1892-94, and the Seats for
Shop-Assistants Act, 1899.
The work described under _C._ 1 and 2, is performed in London (except
in the City) by special inspectors appointed by the London County
Council, who also inspect employment agencies where sleeping
accommodation is provided and carry out certain duties under the
Children's Act.
(3) Work in connection with the medical
inspection of school children (performed
in London by the London
County Council school nurses).
The duties of Men Sanitary Inspectors are very clearly defined, and
differ considerably from those of the women. Men are mainly engaged
in the inspection and reconstruction of drains, the detection of
structural defects in the houses of the working classes, the carrying
out of bye-laws with regard to tenement houses, the investigation of
cases of notifiable infectious diseases, the inspection of workshops
and factories, the enforcement of the law with regard to the sale of
foods and drugs and the abatement of smoke nuisances.
As will be seen from the duties enumerated above, Women Inspectors, as
a general rule, are brought into very close and intimate contact with
the homes of the people, and this necessitates the exercise of much
tact and patience. The large demands thus made upon their powers of
persuasion and teaching capacity, involve a considerable strain upon
their nervous energy as well as their physical strength. The work
of the Men Inspectors, on the other hand, being of a more official
character, does not involve the same strain.
There is no uniformity of practice with regard to hours of work,
holidays, remuneration or superannuation, either within or without the
metropolitan area. Each Local Authority makes its own arrangements.
Many have no superannuation scheme and give no pensions. Men and women
working for the same Authority usually work under the same conditions
as to hours and holidays: the rate of remuneration, however, is by no
means the same. The salaries of Women Sanitary Inspectors within the
Metropolitan area range from £100 to £200 per annum, the latter figure
being reached only in two boroughs and in the City of London: whilst
the salaries of the men range from £150 to £350. The average maximum
salary of the women is £150, and the average maximum salary of the men
is £205. Outside London, the salaries of both men and women are lower,
those of the women ranging from £65 to £100, a few rising to £150.
Payments are made monthly, and a month's notice can be demanded
on leaving, though it is frequently not enforced. Another unjust
distinction frequently made between men and women is that the latter
are generally compelled to retire upon marriage, thus enforcing
celibacy on some of our most capable women.
The hours of work are usually from 9 A.M. to 5 or 6 P.M. and to 1
P.M. on Saturdays. If we consider the nature of the work, the holidays
appear most inadequate--viz.: only from two to three weeks per
annum are allowed in London, and from ten to fourteen days in many
provincial towns.
The Health Visitor, as a public official, was not known until 1899,
when several were appointed by the City Council of Birmingham. The
name "Health Visitor" was thought to be more feminine and suitable
than that of Inspector, and it was imagined that she would in
consequence be better received in the homes of the people. As a
private society in Manchester had previously engaged women of an
inferior class and education with the title of "Health Visitor," this
designation was deprecated by women already in the profession. Many
smaller provincial towns, however, followed the example of Birmingham,
and appointed Health Visitors instead of Women Sanitary Inspectors.
It was not until later that the Health Visitor was introduced into
London, and in the following way:--
In the Metropolitan area (exclusive of the City) half of the salary
of all Sanitary Inspectors is paid out of the County Rate, and their
duties are defined in Sections 107 and 108 of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891. As Medical Officers of Health and the public
generally became more and more interested in the question of infant
mortality, Women Inspectors were employed to investigate infant
deaths, to visit houses where a birth had taken place and advise
mothers on infant care, to manage milk depôts, to weigh babies, and to
assist at infant consultations, and to do a great deal of work which
hitherto had not been considered the work of a Sanitary Inspector.
There was never any question as to the value of the work done nor of
the efficiency with which it was performed, but the Local Government
Board Auditor took the view that it did not come within the scope of
the order of 1891, defining the duties of a Sanitary Inspector, and
he refused to sanction the payment out of the County Rate of half the
salary of those women who were engaged in Health Visiting work. In
March 1905, the borough of Kensington solved the difficulty for itself
by appointing a Health Visitor and paying the whole of her salary out
of the Local Rate; but less wealthy boroughs felt unable to do this.
It was work which the Sanitary Authorities wanted to undertake; it was
work which the London County Council and the Local Government Board
were desirous of seeing performed, but this technical difficulty stood
in the way. It was overcome by the inclusion in the London County
Council General Powers' Act of 1908, of Section 7, which empowered
Sanitary Authorities in the Metropolitan area to appoint Health
Visitors, and this enabled the London County Council to contribute
half their salaries out of the County Rate. As a matter of fact, at
the present time (November 1913) the whole of the salary of Health
Visitors in London is being paid out of the Local Rate, as the
Exchequer contribution account is completely depleted by the payment
of the moiety of the salary of Sanitary Inspectors.
The essential difference between a Woman Sanitary Inspector and a
Health Visitor is that the Woman Sanitary Inspector is a statutory
officer with a legal position, having definite rights of entry and
certain statutory powers for enforcing the Public Health Acts, while
a Health Visitor is a purely advisory officer, with no legal status
or right of entry or power to carry out any of the provisions of the
Public Health Acts.
In actual practice, the title of Inspector has in no way proved an
obstacle to successful health visiting, as may be demonstrated by
an enquiry into the work now being carried on by Women Sanitary
Inspectors in Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Bradford, London, and other
places. On the contrary, it has enabled officials to obtain an entry
into dirty and insanitary places and to expose cases of neglect, which
might otherwise have remained undiscovered.
The Health Visitor is usually paid a lower salary than the Woman
Sanitary Inspector; this ranges in London from £100 to £120; in the
provinces it may be as low as £65 per annum, and rarely rises above
£100. The hours of work and holidays are, as a rule, the same as for
Women Sanitary Inspectors. The difference in salary has proved a great
temptation to Local Authorities in London to appoint Health Visitors
when Women Sanitary Inspectors would have been more useful and
efficient officers. Indeed, it is to be deplored that very few members
of Local Authorities understood the advantages to be gained by the
appointment of the more highly qualified official. The immediate
effect of Section 7 was that several boroughs, having no women
officials, proceeded to appoint Health Visitors; other boroughs, which
possessed Women Sanitary Inspectors, also appointed Health Visitors.
Seven or eight boroughs re-appointed their women officials in the dual
capacity of Sanitary Inspector and Health Visitor so that the work in
those cases went on as before. An indirect effect has been the almost
complete cessation of the appointment of Women Sanitary Inspectors
and the diminution in their number in some boroughs by the lapse of
appointments on resignation or marriage. The inspection of workshops
where women are employed has, in several instances, fallen back into
the hands of Men Inspectors, whose unsuitability for this work first
called women in England into the Public Health Service.
In September 1909 the Local Government Board issued the following
order with regard to Health Visitors in London:--
"Art. 1. Qualifications. A woman shall be qualified to be appointed a
Health Visitor if she
(_a_) is a duly qualified medical practitioner ; or
(_b_) is a duly qualified nurse with three years' training in a
hospital or infirmary, being a training school for nurses and having a
resident physician or surgeon; or
(_c_) is certified under the Midwives' Act, 1902; or
(_d_) has had six months' nursing experience in a hospital receiving
children as well as adults, and holds the certificate of the Royal
Sanitary Institute for Health Visitors and School Nurses, or the
Diploma of the National Health Society; or
(_e_) has discharged duties similar to those presented in the
regulations in the services of a Sanitary Authority and produces such
evidence as suffices to prove her competency; or
(_f_) has a competent knowledge and experience of the theory and
practice of nurture, and the care and management of young children,
of attendance on women in and immediately after child-birth, and of
nursing attendance in cases of sickness or other mental or bodily
infirmity.
"Art. 2. Every appointment must be confirmed by the Board.
"Art. 6. Enables a Sanitary Authority to determine the appointment of
a Health Visitor by giving her three months' notice, and no woman may
be appointed unless she agrees to give three months' notice previous
to resigning the office or to forfeit a sum to be agreed.
"Art. 8. Outlines the duties of the Health Visitor but prohibits
her from discharging duties pertaining to the position of a Sanitary
Inspector (unless with the consent of the Board she holds the dual
appointment).
"Art. 9. The Board's approval is required to the salary to be paid
to the Health Visitor, and an allowance in respect of clothing, where
uniform or other distinctive dress is required, may be made."
The Board in their circular letter state that they consider that,
in consideration of the importance of the duties and of the salaries
often paid to Women Sanitary Inspectors in London, the salary ought
not to be less than £100 per annum.
It will be seen from the above that it is quite possible for a Health
Visitor to be appointed practically without any qualification for the
position, and with absolutely no knowledge of Public Health Law and
sanitation.
It is, therefore, apparent that there are two classes of women
officials in connection with Public Health Departments, one on the
same footing as the men, with equal powers and responsibilities, but
remunerated at a much lower rate, and another with a lower status and
a still lower rate of remuneration. The duties of the second class may
be performed equally well by the first, but the duties of the first
cannot be performed by the second. The introduction of the Health
Visitor has therefore lowered the status of the Public Health Service.
The remedy for this state of affairs is for competent woman officials
in the future to be appointed in the dual capacity of Sanitary
Inspector and Health Visitor at an adequate remuneration, and for
the order of 1891 defining the duties of a Sanitary Inspector to be
expanded to meet the developments which have been taking place in the
Public Health Acts since that date.
There are two organisations which Women Sanitary Inspectors may
join:--
(1) The Women Sanitary Inspectors' Association, which includes
as members Women Sanitary Inspectors and Health Visitors holding
recognised certificates in sanitation. (Health Visitors holding
official appointments but without these recognised certificates in
sanitation may become associates.)
(2) The Sanitary Inspectors' Association, which is composed of a large
number of Men Sanitary Inspectors and a few Women Sanitary Inspectors.
This is not open to Health Visitors.
There is no approved society for Sanitary Inspectors under the
Insurance Act. The income of the majority of Men Inspectors exempts
them from the operation of the Act, but a large number of Men and
Women Inspectors receiving less than £160 per annum, have joined
the approved society of the National Association of Local Government
Officers.
To sum up, we may say that on the whole the life of a Health Official
is a healthy and suitable one for a woman of average physique; it
demands great activity, with many hours spent out of doors, and
whoever undertakes it must be prepared for surprises and difficulties.
She may find herself in an office staffed entirely by men, with chief,
committee, and council composed entirely of men--indeed everything
looked at from the male standpoint. She either works singly or in
small groups of two or three, except in a few large towns where the
women officials may number from ten to twenty. Thus isolated and
scattered, it is extremely difficult for the Women Health Officials
to form an effective organisation. What is accomplished under one
Authority may have little or no effect upon another.
One condition which presses heavily on many women is the shortness
of the holidays. The work is always arduous, particularly in poor
districts where one is brought face to face with poverty, disease, and
suffering, and from two to three weeks is not sufficient for rest and
recuperation, particularly as the years pass on.
The creation of public opinion and the advent of a greater number of
women on Municipal Councils and Health Committees is greatly needed
to improve the conditions under which women officials work, and to
support their reasonable demands.[2]
[Footnote 1: Full particulars of this can be obtained from the
Secretary, Sanitary Inspectors' Examination Board, Adelaide Buildings,
London Bridge.]
[Footnote 2: The above article considers under the term "Health
Visitors" such women only as are serving under public Municipal
Authorities. Unfortunately, since it gives rise to confusion, the
name is also used in connection with officials privately appointed by
various charitable institutions. These have no universally recognised
standard of attainments: some of the so-called "Health Visitors" are
without any qualifications, others, _e.g._, those employed by the
Jewish Board of Guardians, are fully trained and do excellent work,
comparable with that performed by Hospital Almoners. We hope, in a
later volume of this series, to publish an article on their duties and
position.[EDITOR.]]
SECTION V
WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE
I
THE HIGHER GRADES: PRESENT POSITION AND PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE
The claim that women should be allowed to enter not only the lower but
the higher branches of the Civil Service is being freely made at the
present time. It is very generally felt that posts in which the holder
has to execute judgment and to decide on administrative matters should
be open to women as well as to men.
Many reasons are urged for admitting women more freely to a share in
the responsible work of the Service, but the true basis of their claim
lies in this--that the most successful form of government and the
happiest condition for the governed can only be attained, in the
State as in the family, when masculine and feminine influences work in
harmony.
It is not, perhaps, widely known that women have already made their
way into many branches of the Service and have done invaluable work
therein. Perhaps the strongest argument that can be urged in favour of
their admission into yet other branches of the Service will be found
in the following brief survey of the appointments held and the work
already done by them in various directions.
_The Local Government Boards_
The credit of being the first Government Department to appoint a Woman
Inspector belongs to the English Local Government Board. As far
back as 1873, yielding to the pressure of public opinion, that Board
appointed a Woman Inspector, with full powers to inspect workhouses,
and district schools. During the short period of her appointment, this
lady did excellent work, and called attention to much needed reforms
in the education of girls in Poor Law Schools. Unfortunately, owing
to a breakdown in health, she was obliged to resign her appointment in
November 1874, and the Local Government Board, either repenting of
its enlightened action, or not appreciating the aid of a woman even
in matters concerning the welfare of women and girls, refrained from
appointing a woman to succeed her. It was not until 1885 that another
Woman Inspector was appointed, and then her work was restricted to the
inspection of Poor Law Children boarded out beyond the Union to which
they belonged. In 1896, once more by reason of the pressure of public
opinion, a woman was appointed as an Assistant Inspector of Poor
Law Institutions in the Metropolis. In 1898 a second Inspector
of Boarded-out Children was appointed, and in 1903 the number of
Inspectors was increased to three, each Inspector having a district
assigned to her.
Four years ago the total number of Women Inspectors was increased to
seven, and the scope of their duties somewhat widened, as will be seen
below. There is now one Superintendent Inspector at a salary of £400
to £450, and six Inspectors at £250 to £350. Candidates for these
inspectorships must have had considerable administrative experience.
They must hold a certificate of three years' training as a Nurse, and
the Central Midwives' Board's certificate is considered desirable.
These qualifications have only been required since 1910.
The duties assigned to the Women Inspectors include (1) the inspection
of boarded-out children, both within and beyond the Poor Law Unions
to which they belong; and (2) the inspection of Poor Law
Institutions--_i.e._, infirmaries, sick wards of workhouses, maternity
wards, and workhouse nurseries: also of Certified Homes, Cottage
Homes, and Scattered Homes.
The duties of the Women Inspectors in connection with the boarding-out
of Poor Law Children include the visiting of officials of Boarding-Out
Committees, and of homes in which children are boarded out; the
Inspector visits a sufficient number of children and homes to enable
her to satisfy herself that the duties of the Boarding-Out Committee
are carried out in a satisfactory manner, and makes a report to the
Board thereon. Women Inspectors arrange their own inspections of
boarded-out children within a prescribed district.
Each of the fourteen districts into which the country is divided for
Poor Law purposes is placed under the care of a General Inspector
(male), whilst the half dozen Women Inspectors are available for
duty in these districts, but only at the invitation of the General
Inspector. If an Inspector omits to arrange for these visits it is
possible for his district to remain unvisited by a Woman Inspector for
an indefinite period. When it is remembered that there are still
194 Unions without a woman on the Board of Guardians, the present
arrangement, by which the Women Inspectors can only inspect Poor Law
Institutions on sufferance, is seen to be indefensible and the need
for reform in this direction urgent.
There is one Assistant Woman Inspector, who is a highly qualified
medical woman, in the Public Health Department of the Board. She has
been in office only a few months, but it has been remarked in more
than one quarter that the enhanced value of the recent report of
the Board's Medical Officer on Infant Mortality is due to her
co-operation.
The jurisdiction of the Local Government Board in London is confined
to England and Wales--Scotland and Ireland having their own Boards in
Edinburgh and Dublin respectively.
The Local Government Board for Scotland appointed a Woman Inspector
for the first time about three years ago, at a salary of £200 a year.
She is a fully qualified medical woman. Her duties include both Poor
Law Work (_e.g._ the inspection of children in poor-houses or boarded
out, enquiries into complaints of inadequate relief to widows) and
Public Health Work (_e.g._ enquiries into any special incidence of
disease).
The Local Government Board for Ireland employs two Women Inspectors,
one at a salary of £200-10-£300 and the other at a salary of £200, to
inspect boarded-out children.
There are no prescribed qualifications for these posts; but they
have always been, and still are, held by highly qualified
women--distinguished graduates and experienced in social work; one is
a doctor of medicine.
Sir Henry Robinson, Vice-President of the Local Government Board for
Ireland, said in his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Civil
Service that he would like to have one or two women doctors to go
round the work-houses and to visit the female wards, but the salaries
offered by the Treasury to women doctors seemed to him too low to
attract well qualified women.
_The Home Office_
It was about twenty years ago that the Home Office began to realise
that the ever-increasing number of women and girl workers in factories
and workshops made it imperative that women as well as men inspectors
should be appointed if the Factory Acts intended for the protection of
workers were to be effectually enforced. There was no doubt even from
the first about the usefulness of these Women Inspectors, but in ten
years' time the number appointed for the whole of the United Kingdom
had only increased to eight. At the beginning of the present year,
1913, they numbered eighteen, and only within the last few months has
this number been increased to twenty.
There is one Woman Inspector of Prisons at a salary of £300-15-£400.
(The lowest salary received by Men Inspectors is £600-20-£700.)
There is also one Woman Assistant Inspector of Reformatories and
Industrial Schools. Her salary is £200-10-£300, whilst that of Men
Assistant Inspectors is £250-15-£400.
Women Factory Inspectors are appointed in the same way as men. A
register of candidates is kept in the office, in which the name of
every applicant is entered. When a vacancy occurs a selection is made
from the list, and the best qualified candidates are interviewed by
a Committee of Selection, consisting of the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary, the Private Secretary, the Chief Inspector of
Factories and the Chief Woman Inspector. Generally speaking, about
one half of the candidates interviewed are selected to sit for an
examination in general subjects. At the end of two years' probation
a qualifying examination in Factory Law and Sanitary Science must be
passed.
The Principal Woman Inspector is responsible to the Chief Inspector
of Factories for the administration of the Women Inspectors' work
throughout the United Kingdom. Women Inspectors are stationed at
Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Belfast. The work of the Women
Inspectors is so organised as to be entirely separate from that of the
Men Inspectors, although they cover the same ground. The nature and
scope of the women's work is so generally known that it is perhaps
unnecessary to describe it in much detail. Investigations into cases
of accident affecting women and girl workers or into complaints as to
the conditions under which they work are promptly made by the Women
Inspectors. Women Inspectors (equally with men) have power to enter
and inspect all factory and workshop premises where women and girls
are employed. They are empowered to enforce the provisions of the
Factory and Truck Acts and to prosecute in cases of breach of the law.
They conduct their own prosecutions.
The reports of the Women Inspectors evoked much appreciative comment
during a recent debate in the House of Commons. Some interesting
remarks on their work are also to be found in the evidence given
before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service by Sir Edward Troup,
K.C.B., Permanent Under-Secretary of the Home Office.
The number of Women Inspectors at present employed is not nearly
large enough to cope with the work that needs to be done. It must
be remembered that the staff enumerated above is responsible for the
inspection of factories and workshops in Scotland and Ireland as well
as in England, and that the number of women engaged in industrial work
has increased during the last five years from about one and a half
millions to two millions. The necessity of increasing the number of
Women Inspectors has frequently been urged upon the Government in
the House of Commons and in the press, and it seems probable that the
Government must soon yield to this pressure.
The following extract from the _Women's Trade Union League Quarterly
Review_, July 1913, may be of interest in this connection:--
"That the Women Inspectors' staff in particular is far below the
numerical strength which would enable it to cope adequately--we do not
say completely--with the task presented to it, has long been patent
to every one who knows anything of the industrial world and the
part taken in it by the woman worker. But in 1912 promotions and
resignations left gaps in the already meagre ranks which for some time
were not filled even by recruits, with the result that the number
of inspections was necessarily reduced in proportion. To those who
realise, as we do, the importance of the women inspectors' visits,
both in detecting infringements of the law and in making clear its
provisions and their value to the employer and worker alike, this
decrease, even for a time, of the opportunities which Miss Anderson's
staff enjoy of exercising their beneficent and educative influence
seems altogether deplorable. The recent promise of the Home Secretary
to increase that staff by two is very welcome, but we cannot pretend
to think that such an increase will meet the need which these pages
reveal."
There is one Woman Inspector of Prisons, a qualified medical woman,
who acts also as Assistant Inspector of State and Certified Inebriate
Reformatories. Her salary is £300-15-£400, whilst the lowest salary
received by Men Inspectors is £600-20-£700.
There is one Woman Assistant Inspector of Reformatories and Industrial
Schools in Great Britain. Her salary is £200-10-£300, whilst that of
Men Assistant Inspectors is £250-15-£400.
_The Board of Trade_
The first woman to be admitted to the higher branches of the Board
of Trade was appointed as a Labour Correspondent in 1893. In 1903 she
became the Senior Investigator for Women's Industries, the salary of
the post being fixed at £450. A Senior Investigator's Assistant was
also appointed at a salary of £120-10-£200, but the salary has now
been increased to £200-£300. These posts are open only to University
women with high honours.
The Senior Investigator, with the help of her Assistant, undertakes
special enquiries into the conditions in women's industries. Perhaps
her most important function is to originate investigations concerning
women, which will yield information likely to be useful to the
Department in the future, when some particular question comes up for
discussion or decision. For instance, when the question of bringing
laundries within the scope of the Trade Boards Act was under
discussion, the investigations previously made by the Women
Investigators into wages and conditions proved invaluable.
There are also three Women Investigators appointed in connection
with the Trade Boards. Their duty is to assist in the collection of
information relating to the scheduled trades, in all of which a large
number of women is employed. They may be called upon to help in the
preliminary work involved in setting up new Trade Boards. They explain
as far as necessary the provisions of the Act to the working women
concerned get nominations of workers to sit on those Boards and
otherwise assist the Boards in carrying out their functions. They also
conduct inspections to see that the law is carried out.
All these appointments are made by the President of the Board of Trade
on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commissioners.
_Labour Exchanges_
The establishment of Labour Exchanges under the Board of Trade some
years ago gave occasion for the appointment of a considerable number
of women to responsible posts. On the organising staff at the Central
Office there is a Principal Woman Officer at £400-15-£450, who is
responsible for the organisation of the women's work in all the Labour
Exchanges. She has an Assistant at £150-£7, 10s.--£200. A woman also
acts as Secretary to the large London Juvenile Advisory Committee. She
has the acting rank of an Assistant Divisional Officer, although her
salary (£300-15-£400) is less than that received by men Assistant
Divisional Officers.
There are nine Senior Organising Officers with salaries of
£250-10-£350, six of whom are women. The three men holding these
appointments deal with Juvenile work only, whereas some of the women
are in charge of both Women's and Juvenile work. Of the five Junior
Organising Officers at £200--£7, 10s.--£250, three are women. The nine
Assistant Organising Officers at £150--£7, 10s.--£200 are all women.
All these officers are engaged in organising the work of the Juvenile
and Women's Departments all over the country, and inspecting local
offices. There are also twenty secretaries to Juvenile Advisory
Committees, who may be either men or women. The salary for these posts
is £150-5--£200.
In the Divisional Offices there are some staff posts open to women
at a salary of £200 to £300. Their work is purely clerical, and is
concerned with Unemployment Insurance.
The original appointments in this branch of the Board of Trade were
made by a Selection Committee on which the Civil Service Commissioners
were represented. Applications were invited by advertisement, and
a large number of candidates was interviewed. The more recent
appointments have been filled by candidates who have first appeared
before a Board, and have then passed a qualifying examination,
conducted by the Civil Service Commission.
_Board of Education_
The Board of Education (or the Education Department, as it was
then called) was established in consequence of the passing of the
Elementary Education Act of 1870. Its jurisdiction was and still is
limited to England and Wales.
Notwithstanding that it was responsible to Parliament for regulating
the conduct of public elementary education all over the country,
and that in those schools there were hundreds of women teachers and
thousands of little girl pupils, it seems not to have occurred to
the Department to call in the aid of women either as inspectors
or administrators until the appointment in 1884 of a Directress of
Needlework. A Directress of Cookery was added in 1891, and laundry
work was brought under her supervision in 1893. It was only when
the passing of the Education Act of 1893 had brought other forms of
education--secondary, technical, and scientific--more completely under
the supervision of the Department that the need for Women Inspectors
began to be felt. In justice to the Department it must be said that
having once realised the need, they did not meet it grudgingly. The
first Women Inspectors were appointed in 1904, and by the spring of
1905 there were no less than twelve, one of whom was appointed as
Chief. Since then the number has been steadily increasing, and there
are now 45--a much more satisfactory rate of progress than that of the
Women Factory Inspectors.
_Educational Inspectors._--There are now 1 Chief Woman Inspector, at
a salary of £650; 45 Inspectors, 8 at £400-10-£500, and 35 at
£200-15-£400.
The method of appointment of Women Inspectors' is similar to that of
men--_i.e._, by nomination of the President of the Board of Education.
The Chief Woman Inspector first interviews candidates, weighs their
qualifications, and reports upon them to the Secretary. There is no
examination on appointment. Besides academic qualifications, which
are the same as those of men, many of the Inspectors have special
qualifications, as well as having had practical experience in
teaching.
A special class of work is allotted to each Inspector: about 17 of
them are occupied in inspecting Girls' and Infants' Public Elementary
Schools: 15 are responsible for Domestic Subject Centres in Elementary
Schools: 4 for Girls' and Mixed Secondary Schools: 3 for Training
Colleges (women's and mixed): and 3 again for Domestic and Trade
Courses and Girls' Clubs.
In the case of secondary schools, the Women Inspectors pay special
attention to women's subjects, but they also take part in full
inspections. They are not in charge of districts, and therefore do
not carry on the miscellaneous correspondence with the Local Education
Authorities which falls to the lot of a District Inspector. In
relation to domestic subjects, however, the Women Inspectors are
practically in charge of districts, and deal directly with Local
Education Authorities. They inspect the work done by girls, and
look into the organisation of the schools with regard to health,
suitability of curricula, etc.
In the case of elementary schools, the Women Inspectors are attached
to the various districts and are directed by the District Inspectors
(men) as occasion requires, to deal with infants' and mixed schools,
and to carry out routine inspections of public elementary schools.
_Medical Inspectors._--There are one Senior Medical Officer at
£600-£800; one Junior Medical Officer at £400-20-£500; and also three
Inspectors of Physical Exercises at £200-15-£400.
The Women Medical Inspectors take part in the work of the medical
branch in the same way as men; Physical Exercises come under their
jurisdiction.
The Board of Education also employs three women on the permanent staff
of the Department of Special Enquiries and Reports. The salaries are
£100-£7, 10s-£180, and the posts are pensionable. The duties consist
partly of library work and partly of giving assistance in the general
intelligence work of the office.
The Right Hon. A.H. Dyke Acland said in his evidence before the Royal
Commission on the Civil Service that he did not see why at the Board
of Education the same sort of women who become good inspectors and
headmistresses should not take part in the administrative work of the
office.
_Scotch Education Department_
The first Woman Inspector was appointed by the Scotch Education
Department in 1902, and two others were appointed in 1910. Their scale
of salary is £200-15-£400. They are strictly specialist inspectors for
domestic economy subjects, cookery, laundry, etc., for which they have
qualifications including experience in teaching and inspecting such
subjects.
Specially qualified women are occasionally employed by the Department
to inspect girls' schools, and are paid a fee according to the time
occupied.
_National Education Board, Ireland_
Two Women Inspectors are employed by the Irish National Education
Board. Their salary is £150-10-£300, the same as that of Men Junior
Inspectors; Men Senior Inspectors receive £300-20-£700.
There are two Women Organisers, whose duty it is to organise weak
schools.
There are also 14 Organisers of Domestic Economy; their work is
similar to that of Inspectors; they travel about and have authority
in the schools; they do not inspect general subjects, but confine
themselves to cookery, laundry and domestic science.
There are also six Women Organisers of Kindergarten.
_The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries._
This Department has recently employed a few women upon various kinds
of scientific work. Three women are appointed as Assistant Naturalists
in the Fishery Branch, at a salary of £150 per annum, and two as
Junior Assistant Naturalists at £2 per week. They are appointed on
the nomination of the President, without examination, but they must
possess the necessary scientific qualifications and have taken a
recognised course of study. These posts are non-pensionable. The
Fishery Branch deals with questions relating to the natural history
and diseases of fish, fish-hatcheries and laboratories, the protection
of undersized fish, the effect of methods of capture, international
investigations, and grants in aid of fishery research. The women
are engaged upon the same work as men, except that they do not write
technical reports and are not liable to be called upon for sea duty.
In the Herbarium and Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew there
are two Women Assistants at £150-10-£300 (the Men Assistants' scale is
£150-15-£300). Scientific qualifications are required for these posts,
and there is an examination by the Civil Service Commission. The
Library is maintained for official consultative work, to supply the
basis of an accurate nomenclature throughout the establishment and
as an aid to research. The Herbarium aims at representing the entire
vegetation of the earth with especial regard to that of British
possessions. A scheme for preparing a complete series of floras of
India and the Colonies was sanctioned by the Government in 1856, and
has been steadily prosecuted ever since. The principle work of the
staff is the correct identification of the specimens which reach
Kew from every part of the world, and their incorporation in the
Herbarium. It is visited for the purposes of study and research by
botanists from every country.
The scientific work in the various branches of the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries would seem to afford some scope for women of
scientific attainment. Sir T. Elliott, formerly Permanent Secretary
to the Board, in his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Civil
Service, said he considered that women could do good work in many
directions, and that their help might be especially valuable in
entomology.
_The Public Trustee's Office._
The Public Trustee's office was established in 1908, under the Act of
1906. Two Women Inspectors--or more correctly speaking, Visitors--are
now employed, one of whom receives a salary of £200 and the other
£180.
These Visitors are attached to the special Department set up to take
charge of children (1) left by will to the guardianship of the Public
Trustee, or (2) who have been awarded damages in the High Court either
for injury or for the loss of parents or guardians.
As regards the first-named, the Public Trustee has express powers
under his rules to act either as sole guardian or co-trustee. In these
cases the Women Visitors assist the Public Trustee in discharging his
trust. They visit the children, go thoroughly into the circumstances
of each case, consulting with relatives and family solicitors. Schools
are chosen, holidays arranged, careers decided upon, apprenticeship or
training provided for; medical attendance is secured and even clothing
attended to.
In all cases concerning children in which an action for damages has
been brought under the Common Law or under Lord Campbell's Act, the
money awarded as compensation is paid over to the Public Trustee,
unless the judge otherwise directs. A large part of the Women
Visitors' work consists of supervising these compensation cases. It is
important to see that the money is spent upon the children, and in
the manner most likely to promote their future welfare--_e.g._,
in providing education or special training. In the case of injured
children, proper medical attention is secured and any instruments or
artificial limbs which may be necessary.
It is becoming increasingly the practice, when funds are raised
locally to help special cases, to place the money collected in the
hands of the Public Trustee, instead of appointing local trustees.
Where the beneficiaries of such funds are women or children--very
often they are widows--it becomes the duty of the Women Visitors to
find out on the spot how the money can best be applied, and to advise
the Public Trustee accordingly.
In all cases the supervision is continued as long as it is required,
but where relatives are found to be competent and willing to take
charge of children the responsibility is left to them.
Such work, concerned as it is with the young and the helpless, seems
peculiarly suited to women. The Public Trustee in his evidence before
the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, stated that the women
already appointed had proved themselves "most efficient."
_The National Health Insurance Commissions._
The Inspectors appointed by the National Health Insurance Commissions
are so recent an institution that it is not yet possible to say
whether the work to be performed by this Department will afford scope
for the employment of a large number of educated women.
It is satisfactory to note, however, that the salaries of men and
women more nearly approximate to equality than in any previous
appointments. The salaries of the Women Commissioners in all four
countries are the same as those of the men, viz., £1,000 per annum.
The English Commission has 10, the Scotch 1, and the Irish 1 Woman
Inspector at £300-10-£400. Men Inspectors begin at the same salary but
rise to £500.
The English Commission has 25, the Welsh 3, the Scotch 5, and the
Irish 4 Assistant Women Inspectors at £100-10-£300. Men Assistant
Inspectors begin at the same salary, but after two years they rise by
£15 to £350.
The English Commission has 19, the Welsh 1, the Scotch 5, and
the Irish 5 Women Health Insurance Officers, on a scale of salary
£80-5-£110, after two years rising by £7, 10s. to £150. This scale is
precisely the same as that of Men Health Insurance Officers.
The duties of Men and Women Inspectors and Officers under the National
Health Insurance Commission are identical in character and scope.
The primary function of these officers is to impose upon the whole
adult population the new conditions created by the Act--_i.e._, they
have to ensure the proper payment of contributions in respect of all
persons liable to be insured.
Trades are assigned to Men or Women Inspectors according as a trade
employs men or women in greater numbers.
The Insurance Commissioners work through the Inspectors in all matters
that are more susceptible to local treatment than to treatment by
correspondence. The Inspectors obtain information and make local
enquiries as to the facts in cases submitted to the Commissioners for
determination under various sections of the Act.
An interesting account of the very varied duties which fall to the
lot of these Officers will be found in the first "Report on the
Administration of the National Insurance Act," Part I., which has
recently been published. The following extract from that Report will
give some idea of the work done by the Women Inspectors, and the
estimate which has been formed of it.
"Inasmuch as the Insurance Commission is the first Government
Department in which a woman staff has been appointed from the outset,
special mention may be made of one portion of the work carried out
by the women inspectors during the past year. The enquiry held in the
autumn by Mr Pope on the objections raised to the inclusion of
married women outworkers within the provisions of Part I. of the Act
necessitated much careful investigation among employers and outworkers
in a large number of trades all over the country, such as tailoring,
glove-making, lace manufacture, carding of hooks and eyes, pins and
needles, buttons and fish-hooks at Birmingham, net-making at
Bridport, chain-making at Cradley Heath, straw hat-making at Luton,
chair-making, box-making, and boot, shoe, and hosiery manufacture.
This investigation was undertaken by the women staff. The enquiry
entailed hundreds of visits, both in the poorest parts of industrial
towns and in remote country districts, and in interviews with
employers and workers great tact and patience were required. Of the
evidence given by the women inspectors, Mr Pope reports that they
'one and all gave evidence with extreme moderation, impartiality and
discretion. The conspicuous fairness and the success with which they
had collected information were frequently a matter of commendation
from employers, who informed me that the enquiry had afforded them
information about their own trades which years of work in it had not
made known to them.'"
_The General Post Office_
This paper would not be complete without some reference to the large
number--now nearly 3,000--of women clerks employed by the General Post
Office, all of whom enter the service by open competition, either
as girl clerks between sixteen and eighteen years of age or as women
clerks between eighteen and twenty. Their duties are necessarily of a
clerical nature, and in their earlier years at least they can hardly,
perhaps, be included in the "higher grades." Yet the supervisory posts
which become necessary wherever large numbers of workers are employed
call for considerable administrative ability and are proportionately
better remunerated. All women clerks are eligible for these posts, and
indeed they are never filled in any other way.
The highest post open to a woman clerk in the General Post Office is
that of Superintendent at the _Savings Bank,_ the present holder
of which is on a scale of £350-20-£600. There are 4 Deputy
Superintendents at £270-15-£330; 13 Assistant Superintendents at
£210-10-£260; and 53 Principal Clerks at £150-10-£200. The Savings
Bank has the largest group of women clerks--numbering 1,210--of any
department, and of these 150 are in the first class.
The next largest group of Women Clerks is in the _Money Order
Department;_ in this office the women outnumber the men in the
proportion of 5 to 1. They number 592, of whom 67 are in the
first class. There is one Superintendent at £350-20-£500; 1 Deputy
Superintendent at £270-15-£330; 5 Assistant Superintendents at
£210-10-£260; and 24 Principal Clerks at £150-10-£200.
The _Accountant General's Department_ has 1 Superintendent at
£280-15-£400; 3 Assistant Superintendents at £210-10-£260; and 3
Principal Clerks at £150-10-£200. The staff of clerks numbers 416, of
whom 57 are in the first class.
The _London Telephone Service_ has 1 Assistant Superintendent at
£210-10-£260 and 5 Principal Clerks at £150-10-£200, with a staff of
278 clerks, of whom 21 are in the first class.
The _Accountants Offices_ are the only ones in Edinburgh and Dublin
which employ women as Clerks. In Dublin there is 1 Superintendent at
£210-10-£250 and 2 Assistant Superintendents at £150-10-£170. Of
the staff of 61 clerks, 7 are first class. In Edinburgh there is 1
Superintendent at £200-10-£250, and 1 Assistant Superintendent at
£150-10-£190. Of the staff of 69, 8 are in the first class.
In consequence of the employment of so large a number of women, the
General Post Office found it necessary many years ago to employ a
Woman Medical Officer. The present holder of this office receives
a salary of £350-20-£500. She has the help of two Assistants, whose
salary is £180-15-£300.
A few posts which may properly be deemed "higher" are also open to
Women Counter Clerks and Telegraphists. In the London Postal District
there are 3 Supervisors at £180-10-£250, 50 Assistant Supervisors
(first class) at £140-6-£170 and 61 Assistant Supervisors (second
class) at £115-5-£130.
In the _Central Telegraph Office_ the Chief Supervisor of Women
Telegraphists receives a salary of £180-10-£300 (not a large salary
for supervising a staff numbering nearly 1,000), the 13 Supervisors
receive £180-10-£250, and the 35 Assistant Supervisors £140-6-£170.
The _Postal District and Telegraph Offices_ in Dublin and Edinburgh
have each one Woman Supervisor of Counter and Telegraph Clerks at
£140-6-£875. In Dublin there are 12 and in Edinburgh 6 Assistants at
£110-5-£135. There are also a number of Supervisors in the provinces
whose rates of pay vary from £149-6-£175 to £115-5-£135, according to
the size of the district.
The _Telephone Service_ also offers a few important posts to women.
In the London Telephone Service a Woman Superintendent is appointed
at £200-10-£300, 9 Supervisors at £159-6-£190, and 40 Assistant
Supervisors at £110-5-£145. There are about 3,600 Women Telephonists
employed within the London postal area. The salaries of Supervisors in
the provinces vary from £125-5-£150 to £105-5-£120, according to the
size of the district.
The variety of work, which is now efficiently performed by women in
the various departments above enumerated, seems to prove conclusively
that when other branches are opened to them they will be equally
successful.
In the statements recently submitted to the Royal Commission of the
Civil Service on behalf of various women's organisations, the reasons
for throwing open to women the more highly paid and responsible posts
were admirably set forth.
On behalf of the Association of Headmistresses it was stated by Miss
R. Oldham:--
"In asking that in future some of the more highly paid
and responsible posts in the Civil Service should be thrown
open to women, the Headmistresses are conscious of the
fact that modern economic conditions have evolved the
woman who must of necessity, as well as by choice,
become self-supporting. The professions of teaching,
medicine, art, and literature offer openings with adequate
remuneration for the highly educated young woman of
to-day. Those lower branches of the Civil Service which,
with a few exceptions, alone are open to women do not
supply posts of enough responsibility and administrative
power to prove attractive to able women of secondary
school and university education, many of whom, in the
opinion of the Headmistresses are fitted, both by their
education and by their natural ability, to fill positions
of equal responsibility with their brothers.
"They desire to submit the following reasons why
women should be considered eligible for positions of
administrative responsibility in the service of the
State :--
"(1) Women have shown by their success in positions
of great responsibility that they are capable of
undertaking high administrative work.
"(2) Women have special gifts for social investigation
and inquiry, and special knowledge in many
important subjects, which ought to be used
in the service of the State.
"(3) Under present conditions of women's employment
in the Service, the ablest and most
highly qualified women do not enter it.
"(4) The presence of a large number of women in
the lower branches of the Civil Service makes
it desirable that there should be women
employed in higher and more responsible
posts. This would have the effect of ensuring
good discipline and judicious promotion.
"(5) The present almost total exclusion of women
from high and responsible posts has the effect
of discrediting them as applicants for such
posts outside the Service. Private employers
when asked to give women opportunities for
rising to posts of responsibility, are able to
point to the failure of the Government to
do so."
In the statement submitted by Mrs W.L.
Courtney on behalf of the Council on Women's
Employment in the Civil Service the claim was
made:--
"That women should be eligible for first division
appointments, or equivalent appointments, in suitable
offices, such as the Education Office, the Local Government
Board, the Home Office, the Insurance Commission,
and the Board of Trade. It has already been found
necessary to appoint women to responsible posts in the
Inspectorate of each of these offices, and the same
reasons which justify those appointments point also to
the desirability of appointing women to positions in the
corresponding internal administrative service."
There is another point to be remembered in this connection; it is
important that the recommendations made by Women Inspectors should
have the chance of being considered and acted upon by women in an
administrative capacity, as well as by men. Otherwise there is danger
that the women's point of view put forward by an Inspector may be
overlooked or her recommendations brushed aside.
Miss Penrose, Principal of Somerville College, Oxford, in her
statement for the Royal Commission, said:
"In branches of the Service, such as the Home Office,
the Local Government Board, and the Board of Trade, in
which a good deal of work is done, or should be done, by
women because it is concerned with women, I think it
would be an advantage to have one or more women on
the general administrative staff, which deals with the
work of the departments as a whole.
"If a board which deals with human beings, does not
employ women except to carry out the policy of the
Board, after that policy has been initiated, shaped and
embodied in regulations, it may not infrequently be found
that regulations unsuitable in some respects to be applied
to women have been drafted, or that unnecessary differences
of treatment have been created. Just as in so far
as women look at things from a different angle it is
important that their point of view should be at the service
of a department at as early a stage as possible."
An illustration of this may be found in the draft Order for the
regulation of Poor Law Institutions which is now before the public.
This draft has been drawn up by a departmental committee of the Local
Government Board, composed entirely of men, notwithstanding that it
will regulate the administration of institutions staffed by women
and having large numbers of women and children as inmates. It is not
surprising to find that the draft Order meets with the disapproval of
many women engaged in poor law work.
The Council on Women's Employment also claimed:--
"That women should be made eligible or considered
for appointment--
"As scientific specialists, especially museum assistants
and keepers. The area of choice would thus be enlarged
in cases where there is sometimes a very small number of
suitable candidates. Women have been notably successful
in original work in various departments of botany, and
have done valuable original work in bacteriology and
archaeology. They are already employed as scientific
specialists in certain departments and in temporary work
for the British Museum, though hitherto excluded from
its permanent service.
"As librarians, keepers of records and papers, and
assistants to the holders of these offices, and to positions
requiring qualifications for statistical work and historical
knowledge, such as those in the Public Record Office.
"That appointments in suitable offices should be opened
to women between the ages of 19 and 24, who have either
passed or can pass an examination equivalent to that of
male second division clerks, or clerks of the intermediate
class, according to the practice of the department in
filling its appointments. It seems desirable that the
abilities of women who would otherwise be occupied in
business, teaching, secretarial and clerical, and other work,
much of which is closely comparable with that of second
division and intermediate clerks, should be available for
the work of the Civil Service, especially in the offices
already mentioned in connection with the first division
appointments."
These claims, pertinent as they are, and strongly as they should be
urged, need to be extended still further.
Women claim to be admitted to share in the administrative work, not
only of those departments directly concerned with women, but also
in those in which the work concerns equally men and women as
citizens--_e.g._, the Treasury, the Foreign Office, the Colonial
Office, the Inland Revenue. No one could argue that the work of these
departments is unsuitable for women, any more than is the work of the
General Post Office, in which they have so conspicuously succeeded.
Even the War Office, with the charge of so many soldiers' wives and
children living in barracks, removed from the jurisdiction of all
civic services, and the control of so large a number of Army Nurses,
needs women amongst its administrators.
The claim must also be made quite clearly, that in throwing open these
posts to women, the same method of recruiting must be employed as
for men, and the remuneration must be at the same rate. In asking for
these opportunities women are simply asking that the sex disability
which at present bars them from the majority of posts in the service,
may be removed. They do not seek admission in some special way, nor do
they wish to undercut men by accepting lower salaries. They ask that
the sex barrier may be removed in the case of both Class I. and Class
II. appointments--in other words, that these appointments may be open
to them on the same conditions as they are or may be open to men.
In the case of the majority of the appointments hitherto held by
women, some care has been taken to put them on a different footing
from those of men; in these instances it is not easy to compare the
work of women with that of men, or to urge the claim of women to
be paid at the same rate as men for work of equal value. There are,
however, some conspicuous instances--_e.g._, of the Factory Inspectors
and Inspectors of Schools--in which no such differentiation is
possible and in which the only reason for paying the women less than
the men seems to be that given by the ex-Permanent Secretary of the
Treasury in his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Civil
Service, "that women ought to be got as cheaply as possible, and that
if they can be got for less, they ought not to be paid the same as
men."
There seems some ground for believing that official opinion in
this matter is undergoing modification, since in the case of later
appointments--_e.g._, in the Labour Exchanges and in the National
Health Insurance Commission--the tendency has been to approximate the
salaries of women much more closely to those of men and even in some
instances to make them identical. It is therefore reasonable to hope
that the principle of equal pay for equal work will, before long, be
extended to appointments of longer standing, in which its application
would be no less just than in the case of new appointments.
II
THE LOWER GRADES AND THE PRESENT POSITION
So far as the position of its women workers is concerned, the State is
very far from being the model employer it sometimes professes to
be. When one considers the very wide disparity existing between the
salaries for similar work of women and of men, one realises to what
an enormous extent the Exchequer, and, consequently, the taxpayer, has
benefited by the economies practised at the expense of the women Civil
Servants ever since their introduction in the early seventies.
There is not a shadow of doubt that economy was the motive for their
employment, but even economy would not have justified the continued
increase in their numbers, had they not exhibited what has been
called by a high official, "remarkable efficiency," and also the very
desirable qualities of docility, patience, and conscientiousness.
When the Government first took over the telegraphs from the private
companies, it found women in their employ, and decided to retain them
in the service. Women Telegraphists and Counter Clerks are now a very
large body numbering in London about 2,000, and in the Provinces about
5,000,--a total of 7,000 women as compared with 16,000 men. The duties
of men and women telegraphists are more closely comparable than their
respective work in any other class in the Civil Service, practically
the only differentiation being that women are debarred from night
duty. They are also generally exempt from Sunday duty, excessive late
duty, and special duties in connection with race meetings, although
the Hobhouse Committee in 1907 recommended that women should do the
Sunday work if required. (As, however, payment for this is made at a
higher rate, there is usually no lack of volunteers.) Their scale
of salary in the Central Telegraph Office is 18s. a week at eighteen
years of age, rising to a maximum of 40s. The men's scale is 20s.
rising to 65s. When the necessary technical qualifications are
acquired, an allowance of 3s. a week carried beyond the maximum and
pensionable, is now given to both sexes alike. Formerly the technical
allowance for women was 1s. 6d. per week only, and this would appear
to account for the lower proportion of women who have qualified for
the technical increment.
There appears to be a tendency to stereotype certain kinds of work for
men only, in order to justify the differentiation in pay, but in
point of fact, most of the work now exclusively allotted to male
telegraphists was at one time done by women. The work done by men and
women Counter Clerks is identical. The women in the Telegraph Service
have no separate organisation, but combine with the men in the Postal
Telegraph Clerks' Association, which has a large number of branches,
and carries on a very active campaign for improvement in pay and
conditions of service. Equal pay for equal work is one of the planks
in its platform, and formed part of the case put forward before the
Select Committee on Post Office Servants last year.
Women Clerks are employed in the great financial Services of the
General Post Office, the Savings Bank Department, Money Order
Department (including the Postal Order Branch), Accountant-General's
Department, and the Controller's Office of the London Telephone
Service, as well as in the Accountant's Departments of the General
Post Offices in Edinburgh and Dublin. In all, they number nearly
3,000. It may, perhaps, be of interest to go into the history of this
class.
Women Clerks were first introduced into the General Post Office
in 1871 by Mr Scudamore, who considered that as women were more
"fault-finding" than men, they might well be used as "a check on the
somewhat illiterate postmasters of the United Kingdom in the
interests of a somewhat long-suffering public." Entry was at first
by nomination, but in 1881 the appointment of Women Clerks was thrown
open to the public by competitive examination by Mr Fawcett, who was
then Postmaster General. This step met with some opposition, and Queen
Victoria even caused a letter to be written to Mr Fawcett expressing
her strong disapproval of the change. The Postmaster-General, however,
carried his point, and fixed the scale of salary at £65, rising by £3
per annum to £80. When the working day was increased from six to seven
hours, the maximum was raised to £100. The revisions of the Tweedmouth
Inter-Departmental Committee came into force in 1897, involving many
concessions to the male staff, and simultaneously the minimum salary
of the Women Clerks was, without any warning, reduced for new entrants
to £55 per annum, and the increment for the first six years was
reduced to £2, 10s.
Realising the defencelessness of their position, the Women Clerks
formed an Association in 1901, and so strong was the case for
improvement which they were able to bring before the Hobhouse
Parliamentary Committee of 1906, that in spite of considerable
misrepresentation of their work in the evidence given by Heads of
Departments, they were able not only to get back the 1881 minimum of
£65, but were awarded further an increased increment of £5 throughout
the scale and a rise of £10 in the maximum. This was the position
until December 1911, when a tentative scheme was introduced in the
Money Order Department to hand over all the simpler duties to a new
class of Assistant Women Clerks with an eight-hour day and a wage
of 18s. rising to 34s. a week. The Association of Post Office Women
Clerks, the basis of which is "equal pay and opportunities for women
with men in the Civil Service," and which therefore necessarily
stands for simplification of the classes of employment, regarded
the restriction of a fresh grade of women to yet another water-tight
compartment at a low wage as in itself an evil. But apart from this,
they looked upon the scheme as a deliberate evasion of the Hobhouse
Committee's recommendations. So strong was the criticism levelled at
the new scheme, both by Members of Parliament and the Press, that the
Postmaster-General, Mr Herbert Samuel, consented to refer the
matter to the Select Committee on the Post Office (known as the Holt
Committee)[1], which was appointed in the early part of 1912, and
he gave an undertaking that no more appointments to the new grade
should be made in the Money Order Department until the Committee had
reported, The value of this concession was considerably lessened by
its limited application, and the fact that many Assistant Women Clerks
were subsequently appointed to the London Telephone Service, clearly
indicated the intention of the authorities to proceed with the
development of the scheme in a Department which provided an easier
field of operation in the shape of new work and a new staff taken over
from the National Telephone Company.
In 1897 the class of Girl Clerks was created, to undertake some of the
simpler duties in the Savings Bank Department, hitherto performed by
Women Clerks. They were subsequently introduced into the Money
Order Department and the Controller's Office of the London Telephone
Service, and there are approximately 250 now employed. They take
the same examination as Women Clerks, but at a lower age--sixteen
to eighteen--and are grouped apart for the purpose of marking. Their
hours of duty are seven daily, and their salary £42, raising by £3 per
annum, to £48. They are in reality a probationary class, and become
Women Clerks automatically after two years' service. The introduction
of this class was not considered by the Department to be an
administrative success, as the obligation to make them Women Clerks in
two years prevented their being employed in sufficiently large numbers
to effect any appreciable economy. The scheme for the introduction of
the grade of Assistant Woman Clerk involved the abolition of the Girl
Clerk.
The Women Clerks are an analogous grade to the Male Clerks of the
Second Division who are common to the whole Civil Service, and they
do practically the same class of work. The examinations for the
two classes are somewhat severe in character and are roughly
comparable.[2] There is, however, a wide disparity in the salaries
paid, as will be seen from the following comparison:--
SECOND DIVISION CLERKS.
£70 by £7, 10s. per an. to £130
thence by £10 per an. to £200
thence by £10 per an. to £300
(Efficiency Bar at £130 and
£200)
Above the salary of £300 advancement
to higher posts by promotion.
WOMEN CLERKS.
_Second Class_--
£65 by £5 per an. to £100
(No Efficiency Bar)
_First Class _(by promotion)--
£115 by £5 to £140
Above the rank of First Class
Clerk there are certain higher
posts which constitute a percentage
of 4.6 of the total
number of First and Second
Class Clerks.
The existence of this double standard of payment for the same kind
of work is not only an injustice to the women concerned, but is a
standing menace to the men, who rightly consider that the presence
of women as a blackleg class keeps down their wages and reduces their
prospect of promotion. A sense of irritation and dissatisfaction is
thus engendered between the two sexes. The maintenance of separate
staffs of similar status but with different rates of remuneration,
enables the department to play off one against the other, for the
existence of a lower paid class makes it increasingly difficult for
the Men Clerks to substantiate a claim for better pay themselves. The
standard of their work is raised by the "moving-down" or "degrading"
of duties, without any improvement in pay such as they would probably
be able to obtain if women were not involuntarily undercutting them.
Women fully sympathise with their male colleagues, whose prospects
are injured in this way, but they insist that the only solution of
the difficulty is equal treatment and fair and open competition.
The Association of Clerks of the Second Division supported the Women
Clerks' claim for equal pay for equal work in their evidence before
the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, and it is gratifying that,
in spite of the determined policy of the department to adhere as far
as possible to the absurd segregation of the sexes, the two organised
bodies of Men and Women Clerks are on excellent terms.
In 1883 the class of Women Sorters was instituted, its original scale
of pay ranging from 12s. per week, increasing by annual increments of
1s. to 20s. per week. In 1885 a first class was created with a maximum
of 30s. per week. The Tweedmouth Committee of 1897 abolished the
classification, and substituted therefor an efficiency bar at 21s.,
so that, unless incompetent, all the Women Sorters have a right to
proceed to the maximum of 30s. Since the salary was fixed at that
figure, the work of the Sorters has greatly improved in character.
Originally introduced for the purpose of sorting, arranging, and
filing the multitudinous kinds of official documents and papers,
they have by degrees taken over more and more of the simpler duties
formerly performed by the Women Clerks, until, at the present day,
it is no exaggeration to say that nearly one-half of their duties
consists of elementary clerical work. The Women Sorters are recruited
from an examination of the same standard as that hitherto applied
to Telegraphists, and the Women Sorters' Association claims that the
principle of equality between Sorters and Telegraphists, which was
recommended to the department by the Tweedmouth Committee in 1897,
should be applied to the Women Sorters. Prior to 1900, vacancies
occurring in the female staff at the Returned Letter Office were
filled by transferred Women Telegraphists, but since that date,
vacancies have been filled by successful candidates at the Women
Sorters' examinations, who are awarded the Women Telegraphists' scale
of pay. There is, therefore, the anomaly of two different scales
of pay being given to successful candidates in the Women Sorters'
examinations. The Women Sorters also claim some outlet, or prospect of
advancement, other than that provided by the "Senior Sorterships,"
of which there are a few in each department, carrying a supervising
allowance of 3s. a week; this claim has been partly met by the
apportionment of the new posts of Assistant Women Clerks previously
mentioned.
Women Telephone Operators are a large and rapidly growing class,
recruited entirely by nomination followed by a qualifying examination.
They number at the present time about 4,000, including Supervisors.
The growing use of the telephone is replacing the telegraph, and
is likely to make of this class a serious rival to the grade of
Telegraphist. In this connection, it is important to recognise that
the change is likely to entail an enormous increase in the use of
cheap labour. The maximum salary of the Telephonist in London is only
28s. per week. The work is extremely exacting and exhausting to the
nervous system, so much so, that it is an absolute necessity for the
maintenance of health that proper and adequate rest-room accommodation
should be provided, and that the operators should be equipped with
apparatus of the proper type.
The classes already mentioned have, until the present year (1913),
been recruited solely for the Post Office, but the class of Women
Typists, numbering about 600, are a Treasury Class, and are common to
the whole Civil Service, the conditions of entry varying according
to the Department. In the Post Office alone, are Typists recruited
by open competitive examination. The scale of salary is 20s. a week,
rising in three years to 26s.: they then have the option of qualifying
in shorthand, after which they can rise to 31s. per week. In the Post
Office, however, the number allowed to qualify in this way is
limited to 50 per cent. of the staff. The supervising posts are:
Superintendent, 35s. a week, and Chief Superintendent, 40s. a week.
No higher positions are open to Typists anywhere, no matter how good
their qualifications and educational equipment. The Association of
Civil Service Typists claim some avenue of promotion to clerical work
in the Departments in which they serve.
There are also about 650 women employed by the Board of Trade in the
Labour Exchange Service. With the exception of about 180, who were
transferred from the Post Office for Unemployment Insurance Work under
Part II. of the National Insurance Act, these women were admitted
by the new method of recruitment adopted by the Civil Service
Commissioner under Clause VII. of the Order in Council of January
1910. Under this system, applications are invited, and a certain
number of apparently suitable candidates are interviewed by a
committee of selection, and those chosen for appointment are
subsequently required to pass a qualifying examination. The
educational standard of this examination, for both men and women,
is so low that it appears to be designed, not for the purpose
of selecting candidates of good general education, but merely to
eliminate the illiterate.
The scale of salary for these posts is the same for women as for men,
and is as follows:--
Lower Grade £60, rising by increments of £5
per annum to £105.
Higher Grade £110, rising by increments of
£5 per annum to £150.
There are also a few higher appointments. Women are, however, under
a particular disability in that they must wait for a vacancy in the
Higher Grade before passing on beyond £105, whilst in the case of
the Men Clerks there is no such stoppage, officers being allowed to
proceed straight on, if certified efficient.
It will, no doubt, have been observed that the post of Women Clerk is
the highest in the Service open to women by competitive examination,
and with the exception of some sixteen or eighteen appointments in the
Board of Education, Women Clerks have hitherto been recruited for the
Post Office alone. They are now being recruited from this examination
for the National Health Insurance Commissions. The exclusion of Women
Clerks from the numerous State Departments such as the Home Office,
Local Government Board, Inland Revenue, etc., is mainly traditional,
as they are not excluded by the wording of the Order in Council of
10th January 1910 (paragraph 5, Part I.) which states that
"all appointments ... shall be made by means of competitive
examinations according to regulations framed, or
to be from time to time framed by the Commissioners,
and approved by the Treasury, _open to all persons_(of the
requisite age, health, character, and other qualifications
prescribed in the said regulations) who may be desirous
of attending the same...."
In this passage the word "persons" is interpreted to mean men only,
but as other professions are yielding to the pressure of modern
economic conditions and are opening their doors to women, it is
time that the State considered the advisability of profiting by the
services of women eminently fitted to perform clerical, organising,
and administrative duties, many of whom may possess the special
qualifications needed for the work in various Government Departments.
The present limitation of the employment of women, and their lack of
prospects of advancement constitutes a serious grievance. Whilst many
avenues are open to men to improve their condition in the early years
of service, if they possess the necessary ability and enterprise,
women have no such opportunities, and have practically no chance of
advancement except by way of supervision in their own grade. Moreover,
if we look at this question from the point of view of advantage to the
community, we find that the present mode of staffing the higher posts
of the service from the male sex narrows the field of selection. It is
in the interests of the public that the best type of officer should be
secured, and not merely the best male available, and the unrestricted
admission of women to the higher classes in the Civil Service, and
their payment on the same terms as men would make for the greater
efficiency of the Department, by securing the services of highly
qualified women, who at present are not attracted by the small
salaries and the meagre prospects offered. It must also be realised by
heads of families that they have a right to expect that the service of
the State--a dignified, secure, and independent profession--should be
open to their daughters as well as to their sons. Furthermore, as
the revenue, out of which the salaries of Civil Servants are paid, is
collected from women as well as from men, women should have an equal
right to earn those salaries.
Economy in working and simplification of administration would be
attained by abolishing the separate examinations, and allowing men and
women to enter for the same examinations on equal terms.
There are certain advantages attached to service under the State,
which are taken into account when salaries are fixed, but the value
of these privileges to the staff is frequently over-estimated by
the outsider. For instance, security of tenure and the prospect of
a pension at retirement, often act as a deterrent to clever and
enterprising officers who, but for the sacrifice involved, would
throw up their appointment and seek more remunerative and promising
employment outside. Again, the medical attendance provided by the
Post Office is, in the case of the women employed in the Headquarters
Departments, only available in practice when they are well enough to
attend at the office to wait on the Medical Officer there. In theory,
every employée is entitled to the services of a Medical Officer at her
own home in case of serious illness, but, in fact, the Women Medical
Officers are too few to be able to give the necessary individual
attention. As an instance of this, it may be stated that to one
Department, numbering 1,800 women, the part time of one doctor only,
is allotted.
Other advantages are a steadily progressing scale of salary,
provided that efficient service is rendered; annual leave with pay;
a reasonable working day--seven hours for the clerical force and the
typists, and eight hours for the other classes; in most Departments
payment is made for overtime; a pension on compulsory retirement after
ten years' service, except in the case of women retired on marriage,
when a gratuity is given after six years' service, amounting to
one month's salary for every year of service up to twelve years.
A compassionate allowance is also given on the same basis for both
sexes, in cases where an officer is compelled to retire through
ill-health before completing ten years' service. Sick pay is granted
up to a maximum of six months on full pay and six months on half
pay. The full period of leave is not, however, always allowed before
retirement. It is given only at the discretion of the Department,
if there is a chance of complete recovery; officers have no definite
claim to it. Although these are distinct advantages to the staff, it
must not be overlooked that it is essential for the State to offer
some inducements of this kind, in order to obtain a staff more or less
permanent who will regard their employment as a career. It is most
important for the proper conduct of a Government office that the
officials should have a lasting interest in their work, and a share in
the successful administration of the Department.
Women Civil Servants are under the Superannuation Act of 1859 as
regards their pensions, and receive an amount equal to one-sixtieth
of their annual salary at retirement, for every year of service. Under
the Courtney Scheme of 1909, the basis of calculation is one-eightieth
instead of one-sixtieth, and the reduction in the pension is
compensated by a cash payment at retirement, or, in the event of
death occurring whilst in harness, a cash payment is made to the
next-of-kin. Women secured their exclusion from the provisions of the
latter scheme at their own request, as it was felt that the larger
pension was of more value to them than the cash payment at death or
retirement; moreover their pensions were already too small to admit of
further diminution.
It is a general rule throughout the Service that a woman must retire
on marriage; as already mentioned, a compensating-bonus is granted in
respect of the loss of pension thereby sustained. A married woman has
no definite claim to return to her employment, should she again desire
to earn her own living, and only if widowed is she allowed, in certain
circumstances, to return to the Service. Should any other misfortune
overtake her, or should she for any other reason wish to become
economically independent, she is not allowed to earn her living by
means of her own profession of Civil Servant. This rule of the Service
undoubtedly acts as a deterrent to marriage for, according to the
statistics published, only about 3 per cent. of the whole female staff
annually leave to be married. It need hardly be pointed out that
in the present state of the law of the land, when no portion of a
husband's income is secured to his wife as a right, a woman will not
lightly throw up her means of livelihood with no prospect of returning
to it should she so desire, in order to take her chance of happiness
with a man whom the law permits to hold her in subjection body and
soul. There is another aspect of the question: Women Civil Servants
have to pass a strict medical examination before entering the Service;
they have to furnish satisfactory evidence of respectability, of the
health of their antecedents, and of a certain standard of education.
They are therefore what is known as "selected lives": if these women
are forced to remain celibate as a condition of their employment,
it is a distinct loss to the nation of a specially selected class
of potential mothers. In these days, when the declining birthrate is
causing some concern to our statesmen, it would surely be worth their
while to consider how far they are themselves contributing to the
condition of affairs which they deplore, by maintaining this rigid
regulation for the sake of a worn-out sentiment. The compulsory
resignation on marriage is a definite wrong both to the women
concerned and to the community at large, for women of selected health
and intellect are discouraged from marriage by this regulation.
Pending the final settlement of this question which is likely to be a
very controversial one, the difficulty might be met by a modification
of the existing rule allowing married women who have been Civil
Servants to return to their employment should they again desire to
earn their own living by means of the only profession for which they
have qualified.
Women in the Civil Service are in a peculiar position with regard
to their rights as citizens. They are handicapped by all the rules
governing the political action of men, while they are without the
means of maintaining their status as wage-earners. Although they
are prohibited by reason of their sex, from taking part in any
Parliamentary election as voters, they are nevertheless bound by the
rules of the Civil Service which were drawn up when Civil Servants
were first enfranchised. These rules state that "now officers have
been relieved of the electoral disabilities to which they were
formerly subject, they are eligible to be placed on the Parliamentary
Register and to vote at a parliamentary election. Nevertheless, it
is expected of them as Public Servants that they should maintain a
certain reserve in political matters and not put themselves forward
on one side or the other." This rule has been interpreted by the
Department to mean that no Woman Civil Servant may take an active part
in any Suffrage Society which interferes in party politics. Thus women
are forced to accept a subservient position, and are also prevented
from taking direct steps to raise their status. The principle of equal
pay for equal work, if conceded without equal opportunities, is liable
to be evaded, and must be safeguarded by statute, and there is no
guarantee that any improvement gained will be permanent until women
have political power to enforce their demands, for the masculine
point of view dominates every Government Department and colours all
administration.
Moreover, it should be borne in mind that women are handicapped by
being, to a large degree, dependent on reports of their work emanating
from male Heads of Departments who are in many cases prejudiced,
sometimes unconsciously, against their employment. Heads of
Departments do not as a rule take the same amount of personal interest
as a private employer in the women under their control, and so these
are frequently the victims of caprice. If the person in authority at
a particular office happens to object to employing women, he actually
opposes their appointment in that office, and deprives them of the
chance of displaying their ability. Whilst they have more than their
fair share of routine work, and are excluded from practically all the
higher posts, they are on that account actually accused of possessing
less initiative, less administrative ability, and less power of acting
in sudden emergencies than men. It is indeed a vicious circle. They
are prevented by their sex from acquiring these qualities in the
ordinary course of their duties and excluded from the examinations for
admission to those posts in which such qualities would be of use. It
is then seriously urged by responsible officials of the Civil Service
as an argument against their admittance to superior appointments, that
they are lacking in the necessary qualifications.
Such unreasonable and unfair criticism creates bitterness in the minds
of the women, who find themselves, in a large number of cases, saddled
with domestic responsibilities as great or greater than those of the
officials who would seek to drive them back into the home, and who
endeavour to prevent them from rising to any decent positions in their
profession. An encouraging sign, however, is the enlightened attitude
shown by some of the members of the Royal Commission on the Civil
Service; the pertinent enquiries made of the Heads of Departments
regarding the position of women tend to show that the question will,
at least, receive consideration, and that the evidence placed before
the Commission by the women's organisations will not be without its
effect on the administration of the Civil Service in the future.
The recognition by the male staff in the Civil Service of the
importance of the principle of equal pay for equal work is a sign of
advance which should be welcomed by all who have the cause of women
at heart. This increased enlightenment was evidenced at the Annual
Conference of the Civil Service Federation held at the Guildhall
on the 11th October last. Delegates were present, representing
approximately 100,000 Civil Servants, and the following resolution,
which is important enough to be quoted in full, was passed by a
majority of 31 votes to 10.
"That this Council expresses its conviction that equal
pay for equal work is the only solution of the problem
of male and female labour in the Civil Service, and
considers that the establishment of this principle is the
only alternative to the competition of cheapness which
is the result of the existing double standard of payment,
and is affecting so injuriously the conditions of service
of both men and women. It therefore pledges itself to
endeavour to obtain the abolition of the sex disability."
Women in the Service are realising more and more that their strength
lies in effective combination. A new organisation has recently sprung
into being as a result of the introduction of Women Clerks into
the Board of Trade and the National Health Insurance Service, the
Federation of Civil Service Women Clerks having been formed for
the purpose of working for the larger interests of the women in the
various clerical departments of the Civil Service. The general policy
of the Federation will be to afford a ready means of communication
between various sections of the Service for the purpose of taking
joint action when necessary in the interests of the whole body of
Women Clerks, and to enable them to concentrate more effectively on
the larger issues connected with the claim for equality of opportunity
for women with men in the Civil Service.
* * * * *
This article will not be complete without some reference to the
Report of the Holt Committee which is engaging the attention of the
Postmaster General at the present time.
When the Report was published in August last, it was generally agreed
that the women had been badly treated. The demand for equality of
remuneration with the male staff which was put forward by the Women
Telegraphists and the Women Clerks has been completely ignored. The
Women Sorters are awarded an increase of 2s. a week in the maximum
salary, and, as a set off, it is proposed that they shall undertake
a larger portion of the minor clerical duties now performed by Women
Clerks. The immediate supervision of the Women Sorters is to be met
by the establishment of the Senior Sorters (who at present receive a
supervising allowance of 3s. a week) as a regular supervising class
with a fixed scale of salary, viz., 32s. per week rising by 1s. 6d.
to 38s. The ultimate supervision remains in the hands of the Women
Clerks. The Committee recommended the abandonment of the tentative new
grade of Female Assistant Clerks on the ground that there is no need
for a class intermediate between the Women Sorters and the Girl
and Women Clerks. A further recommendation, causing widespread
dissatisfaction, is that the hours of duty shall be increased by three
and a half hours per week. The eight-hour day for manipulative
work and the seven-hour day for clerical work has hitherto been the
standard working day in the Post Office, and the suggested increase
with no compensating rise in salary apart from an immediate increment,
not to be carried above the maximum of the scale, has been rejected by
all classes with indignation.[3] The Women Telegraphists get nothing,
the Women Telephonists nothing, the Women Clerks of the First
and Second classes, £10 and £5 increase in the maximum salary
respectively. The Women Counter Clerks and Telegraphists in the
provinces get nothing, although the men of the same class get 2s. a
week increase in the maximum.
It is understood from a reliable source that the higher officials of
the Post Office admit that the women on the whole have been scurvily
treated, and it is confidently expected that the Postmaster General
will modify and improve some of the proposals when the final revision
of the Report is undertaken. Apart from the various class interests,
the only recommendation that can be regarded as in any way
satisfactory to women is the abolition of the grade of Assistant Women
Clerks as at present constituted. The only form in which the new grade
could be at all acceptable would be in substitution for the grades of
Girl Clerk and Women Sorter with a scale of salary comparable to the
Male Assistant Clerk, in accordance with the claim placed before the
Holt Commission and before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service.
The insertion of a new water-tight compartment such as the Department
proposed, between the Women Sorters and Women Clerks would be
dangerous to the interests, and detrimental to the expansion of
both, while the present restriction of women to rank and file work
continues. It would press the Sorters still further down in the scale
by depriving them of all opportunity of succeeding to clerical work,
as the recruitment of the Assistant Clerks from their ranks would
inevitably be very small; and it would also injure the prospects
of promotion of the Women Clerks by decreasing their numbers and by
depriving them of higher posts due to growth of work and increase of
staff. This latter result was clearly foreseen by the Department when
the scheme was first promulgated. Moreover, it would be a blow to the
general status of women in the Post Office by depreciating the value
of their work and lowering the standard of their employment. It is a
matter for congratulation, therefore, that the Select Committee have
advised the abolition of the new grade, and the Postmaster General,
having agreed in the House of Commons to refer the matter to the
arbitrament of the Parliamentary Committee, can hardly repudiate their
decision.
[Footnote 1: See the end of the article for the Report of the Holt
Committee.]
[Footnote 2: The women are pressing for identical examinations.
[EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 3: The Postmaster General has recently (December 1913),
conceded the point, and has promised that there shall be no increase
in the hours of duty in the Post Office Service; concessions about pay
have been refused. [EDITOR.]]
SECTION VI
WOMEN CLERKS AND SECRETARIES
The salary of the woman secretary of the best class, whether working
privately or for a firm, seems to be £100 to £150 a year. Generally
speaking, this is exactly what it was twenty years ago. It would seem
that the highest salaries are those given by City men to confidential
clerks (sometimes relatives), who are either good accountants or good
linguists. The head of an influential typing office and registry in
London informed me that the highly paid posts of translators to City
firms are usually filled by German girls. The woman receiving £200 to
£250 is a very rare person. I know only of one who receives £5 a
week, and that is from an American firm in London. She does
private secretarial work, but has no book-keeping and no foreign
correspondence. Some years ago I knew of another woman, private
secretary to the head of a large publishing firm, who had £200 a year.
She was an efficient French correspondent, an able, all-round woman,
and had been with the firm for twenty years. There are now two clerks
in her place at much lower salaries. There seems to be a tendency to
employ two cheap clerks in place of one expensive one.
People unacquainted with the facts, seldom realise how small is the
remuneration of capable secretaries. I am acquainted with the work of
a woman who has the following qualifications: verbatim shorthand, neat
typing and sound knowledge of secretarial and business work, including
book-keeping; she is methodical and conscientious in her work, has had
some years' City Experience, three years in the shorthand and typing
offices in the Houses of Parliament and with peers and members. She is
asking 45s. a week, and would take 40s. "with prospects."
Well-paid posts seem to be exceptional. A woman with an intimate
knowledge of City conditions, who was chief accountant to an important
firm for sixteen years, informs me that £175 is the highest salary she
has ever known a woman clerk to receive. The lowest on record seems
to be 5s. a week. There is a woman running a typing office in the City
who hires out shorthand typists at this figure to business firms.
She employs a staff of from fifteen to twenty girls. Similarly, an
industrial insurance company, nine months ago, opened a new department
to deal with the work of the new Act. They engaged fifty girl clerks
at 10s. with a superintendent, also a woman, at 30s. a week.
There is sometimes difficulty in getting accurate information with
regard to payments. The heads of typing schools and colleges are apt
to give too rosy a picture, and the individual clerk has usually a
somewhat narrow experience and is inclined to be pessimistic. A man
whom I interviewed (in place of the manager, who was engaged), at
one of the biggest schools for training clerks, informed me that
everything depended on the clerk. He said the girls who were getting
10s. a week were not worth more, and that there were "many" women
clerks getting from £300 to £350. I said I was delighted to hear this
as I had had difficulty in running to earth the woman clerk with
£200, and had not before heard of the higher salaries. I took out my
notebook and begged for particulars. He then said he knew of "one" of
their diplomées working for a firm of florists, who had a salary
of £300: she was able to correspond in English, French, German, and
Spanish. I asked if he would kindly give me her name and address that
I might interview her, but he said he could not possibly do that, as
any woman clerk who allowed herself to be interviewed would be certain
to lose her post.
The manager of a business in Manchester, who employs five shorthand
typists, pays them from 15s. to 30s. He admits that it is impossible
for the girls to live on their salaries unless they are at home with
their parents, as is the case with all of them. But he says that it
is unreasonable to expect him to give more than the market rates, and
that for 30s. he gets excellent service. He suggests that the only way
to raise wages is for the clerks to organise.
The principal of a high class typing office in the City, a woman of
experience, who trains only a select number of educated girls, never
allows a pupil from her school to begin at less than 25s. a week with
a prospect of speedy increase. She pays her own translator £3, 5s.
a week, and four members of her staff are paid at the rate of £160 a
year.
Mr Elvin, Secretary of the Union of Clerks, tries to enforce a minimum
wage of 35s. a week as the beginning salary for an expert shorthand
typist, and this may be regarded as the present Trade Union rate. Mr
Elvin's difficulty is chiefly with the girls themselves. They are so
accustomed to the idea of women being paid less than men that it is
not easy to get them to insist on equal pay. In one case he was asked
to supply a woman secretary for a certain post. He agreed to find a
suitable person if the firm would guarantee a commencing salary of
35s. a week. After some demur this was conceded, and he sent to a
well-known school for three competent clerks that he might examine
them and recommend the best of the three. After the test he asked
them, in turn, what salary they expected. They were all over
twenty-one years of age and all competent. One mentioned 25s., the
second 23s., and the third £1 a week. On being asked, they said they
knew they were worth more, but they thought that, as they were women,
they would not get it.
Where there is no one to safeguard the interests of the clerk, an
employer, on the look-out for cheap labour, finds it easily enough.
The head of a big firm offered a French girl, an expert shorthand
writer in three languages, 15s. a week, with a possible rise after
three months. She finally accepted a post at 30s. a week as she could
get nothing better through registries or by advertisement.
Unless a girl has a claim on a school where she has trained, or has
influential friends, it is very difficult for her to get a post suited
to her needs in London. The whole profession seems to be in a chaotic
condition, and the chances through advertisement are haphazard and
unsatisfactory. Employment bureaux maintain that there are more good
posts than there are qualified women to fill them, but individual
secretaries are timid about giving up unsatisfactory posts as they do
not know how to get better.
Take the case of a private secretary to a Member of Parliament.
He loses his seat, retires to the country, and gives up his London
secretary. He gives her a number of introductions. These lead to
nothing, and she is forced into the competition of the City. Her
particular training is of no use in a commercial office, and her value
falls to 30s. a week.
A woman with an intimate knowledge of women clerks and secretaries
in the City for the past twenty years, says that it is difficult to
overestimate the poverty of a vast number of girls. Many of them are
the chief breadwinners of the family. She knows of half a dozen cases
of men of forty and a little older who are living on the earnings of
their daughters; there may be two girls in the family, one getting
12s. and the other 25s. a week.
The private secretary who lives in, has usually excellent food and
pleasant surroundings, but in some cases the life is a solitary
one. Unless there is a governess or other educated employeé in the
household, she has no companionship. The salary varies from £30 to
£120 and sometimes more. There is apparently no fixed rate. One lady
writes:
"For two years I lived in the house of Sir----, the most hopelessly
isolated and uninteresting existence, within the four walls of his
study. A secretary should certainly stick out for a free week-end once
a month when living in. Isolation is horribly bad for one."
The secretary living in with congenial literary or medical people,
where she is made one of the family circle, has a happier time, but
the payment is not high.
Apart from salary, the conditions in which the woman clerk works are
by no means ideal.
Twenty years ago, in a far northern city, there was a flourishing new
school where over thirty girls of from fifteen to twenty were being
taught shorthand, typewriting, book-keeping, and all that goes to the
making of a fully-equipped clerk. This school was the first experiment
of the kind in an enterprising community. As the pupils qualified,
with Pitman certificates of varying degrees of speed, at the end of
six months or longer, the way in which old-fashioned lawyers accepted
the innovation of attractive young women on their clerical staff,
seemed almost magical. Decorum relegated the young women to separate
rooms from the rest of the employeés, and the formality in the bearing
of heads of departments towards these pioneer females must have been
gratifying to Mrs Grundy. So superior to human exigencies seemed these
dignified men, that the subject of lavatory accommodation for young
women, mewed up from 9 to 1 and from 2 to 5.30, was not mentioned.
Woman's modesty, if it were to reach the high standard made for her by
man, had to come before her health or comfort. Although typists of
all grades have multiplied by thousands[1] during the past twenty
years--in London alone there are over 25,000 women clerks and
secretaries--there is still need for adequate inspection of sanitary
accommodation for women workers of this class. Apart altogether from
sanitary accommodation, common sense would seem to suggest that,
in the case of any one who has to turn out decent typing, a regular
supply of hot water is a necessity for washing hands that may have to
change a ribbon or do the many little messy jobs that typing involves.
In a lecture before the Fabian Women's Group in February 1912, Miss
Florence, of the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries, said:
"With regard to the sanitary conditions--these as a rule are bad,
especially where there is only one woman. The difficulty has been
shirked by the women themselves in a great many cases.... I do not see
how these can be altered except by improving the status and position
of women, so that they may become strong enough to say they will not
have it if it is too bad."
Who is to dictate what is "too bad"? Surely the only remedy is to
have a proper standard of decency enforced by law. Women as a rule are
fools on this subject, and will endure almost any discomfort, rather
than complain.
In giving evidence before the Royal Commission, in May last year,
concerning the conditions of employment and their effect on the
health of Civil Service female typists and shorthand writers, Miss
Charlesworth, Honorary Secretary of the Civil Service Typists'
Association, said:
"The statistics as regards sickness relating to our class are almost
too small to be of very much use.... I may say from experience that
they are greatly influenced by the conditions under which the work
is done. In my own department (Local Government Board) our average
absence from sickness in the old office, where we were much
overcrowded, varied between ten and fourteen days a year, while in
our new office the average has steadily gone down from twelve to a
fraction over six last year.... It is very striking that there has
been that reduction in the average number of days' absence per year
from sickness, from twelve to six in four years while we have been
working under better conditions ... that means a less number of typing
machines in one room, more light to work by and more air--better rooms
to work in."
This evidence is interesting, as the worst conditions that could
possibly exist in the lofty rooms of a Government office, where
everything is on a big scale and there is a certain standard of
comfort, must be superior to the majority of commercial offices,
especially in London, where space is so expensive. Think of four girls
taking shorthand notes by telephone in a room with thirty typewriting
machines working at once!
There are no figures available with regard to the health of women
clerks generally. The common ailments are neuritis, anaemia, and
nervous breakdown. Typing is also a strain on the eyesight and
hearing. Miss Charlesworth says that in her experience it is the girls
who are not suited for the work who suffer most from ill-health.
One typing office and school, of high repute for excellence of work,
had rooms so dark that electric light was always used in one or other
of them during part of the day. No sun ever entered the work-rooms.
The salaries were good, but overtime was paid at only 6d. an hour.
There was a sort of compulsion, too, to work overtime; some of the
best typists, occasionally even stayed all night during excessive
rushes of work. No holidays were paid for, and it was regarded as
disloyalty on the part of a clerk to stay away for sickness. There
was an instance of a girl being dismissed because she stayed away a
fortnight owing to influenza. This particular firm recently moved into
bigger, brighter rooms, not out of humanity to its staff, but because
the lease had run out.
Where competition is as keen as in the typing business, it is often
the case that the comfort of employeés is considered as little as is
compatible with running the place at a profit. There seems to be no
inspection, and there is no law to say how many typists may be worked
together, or what limit of noise shall be endured by them. Everything
is ruled by the individual standard of decency of the employer. Many
well-educated girls enter typing offices for the excellent practical
training to be had, and for the short time they remain they are
willing to put up with severe discipline and some personal discomfort.
There are, of course, typing offices with as high a level of comfort
and decency as the most exacting law would prescribe. Many of the
big engineering firms and City houses have most comfortable and even
luxurious quarters for their women clerks.
In old days in the above-mentioned northern school, it was possible
to get complete teaching as a clerk--excellent teaching, too--for a
guinea a term. There were some shorthand typists whose training cost
them only that initial guinea and the fees of the supplementary course
of evening classes, 5s. and 10s. according to the number of subjects.
In London at that time a year's course in the same subjects cost
as much as 60 guineas at some of the chief typing schools. The fee
nowadays, at one of the foremost London schools for a secretarial
course for six months only, is 60 guineas; a year's course is £100.[2]
This includes book-keeping and shorthand correspondence in one foreign
language, besides shorthand and typing, etc.
The best testimony shows that a year is altogether too long for
an intelligent well-educated girl of eighteen or more to spend on
technical training.[3] Mr James Oliphant, writing in _The School
World_ for July 1913 on the subject of secretarial training for girls,
says:
".... It is to be noted that the curriculum in girls' schools is of
a much more reasonable character than that which is commonly provided
for boys, and that the more completely it is fitted to supply a good
general education, the better it would be adapted to the special
needs of those who wish to become clerks or secretaries. It would
seem eminently desirable that such aspirants should continue at the
secondary school between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, being
provided with a specialised course of study ... but whenever it is
possible it would be well to insist that no subject should be included
which is not generally educative in the widest sense. The acquisition
of such mechanical arts as stenography and typewriting should be
relegated to technical colleges where, according to general testimony,
proficiency can be gained by well-educated girls in a period
varying from six to nine months. 'Commercial correspondence' is
an abomination; a sufficient knowledge of the ordinary forms
of letter-writing should be imparted in every course of English
composition ... while the special jargon of each business or office
can be readily acquired by any intelligent girl when it becomes
necessary."
There is every variety of price at the various technical training
schools all over the country, from a guinea to £100. With regard to
the training given in non-technical schools, the capable head of a
well-equipped West End typing office writes:
"It is a pity the ordinary schools are taking it up. I know of at
least one so-called secondary school which makes a speciality of
'Commercial Training.' The girls who take up the subject are quite
the wrong kind, with absolutely no real education,... and are ready
to accept anything in the way of salary. The really good schools where
the girls remain till they are 18 or 19 give a better training, of
course.... But I do not think the schools have any right to undertake
a specialised vocational training; it must lower the standard.
Every other profession has its special training after a good general
education has been acquired."
The best-known societies for protecting the interests of women clerks
and secretaries are, the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries
at 12 Buckingham Street, Strand, and the National Union of Clerks
at 186-188 Bishopsgate Street. These are the only approved societies
under the National Insurance Act.
The Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries has been in existence
for eight years, and during the last year has more than trebled its
members, the clerks' attitude towards combination having recently
changed somewhat, in London at any rate. The Association has a devoted
secretary and does excellent work. Its aims are:
(1) To raise the status of women clerks and secretaries,
and to encourage a higher standard of
practical training.
(2) To secure a just remuneration for all grades.
(3) To render legal aid and give advice to members,
and to benefit generally the clerical and secretarial
profession for women.
(4) To maintain a registry for women clerks and secretaries,
and to watch for openings for members of
the Association.
(5) To establish and maintain an Approved Society
under the National Insurance Act, 1911, for the
benefit of Women Clerks and Secretaries.
The Association is not yet, however, strong enough to form a
recognised union able to fix a minimum education qualification for
membership. An important conference was held by this Association in
May last at the University of London. Every speaker emphasised the
need for better and wider education before taking up the profession,
and there was unanimity of opinion that no girl should be allowed to
start the technical part until she was at least sixteen. A remark of
Mrs W.L. Courtney, who was one of the speakers, is well worth quoting:
"One of the cleverest women I ever knew, who was an amateur indexer,
said to me one day, 'It does not matter in doing this work about being
clever; what matters is to have lived.'" There is not much chance then
for the school-girl of sixteen.[4]
The National Union of Clerks is conducted with energy and
enlightenment. It has increased its membership by nearly 8,000 in the
last twelve months, and one of the best reasons it offers women clerks
for joining, is that it is the only National Society for Clerks that
has always accepted women as members on equal terms as men. There are
1,000 women in a membership of 10,000. Notwithstanding the hard work
these two societies are doing, there is nothing like the response
there should be from women clerks. It is only the exceptional woman
clerk who has yet developed anything like a corporate conscience. The
reason is partly that she is often an isolated being. Where there is a
large number of clerks together, as in the Civil Service, there is no
lack of the right spirit.
Here are a few of the causes of the overstocking of the clerical
market by women. Almost any one can be a clerk of a kind. The training
is cheap and easily obtainable. Many parents want their children to
bring in money early, and this seems an easy way. A large percentage
of young girls (in 1907-1909, 87 per cent.) who fail to pass Civil
Service examinations, try to become clerks. Some time ago there was
an article in a daily newspaper entitled "The Passing of the
15s.-a-week-Girl." She is with us in larger numbers than ever,
however, and she has added to her numbers a 10s.-a-week-girl and even
a cheaper girl, as we have seen. We meet her daily in Tube and 'bus,
looking remarkably attractive, in spite of foolish shoes and a bad
habit of eating four-penny lunches. The chief charge some of her
fellow clerks have against her, apart from her inferior work, is that
she only makes use of typing as a road to marriage. The other class of
offender is the daughter of well-to-do parents. Typing is regarded
as a ladylike employment, and parents, who would never expect their
daughters to be self-supporting, are glad for them to earn pocket
money or just enough for dress.
According to Mr Elvin of the National Union of Clerks, even in
prosperous times there are always 3 per cent. of unemployed clerks. In
bad times the percentage must be greater. Whether the times are good
or bad, young girls with the most elementary education are being
turned out by hundreds from typing schools.
The only remedy is that the output of clerks should be restricted; no
one should be allowed to become a clerk who has not reached a certain
standard of efficiency. The parents are the chief offenders. Many of
them do not seem to have the necessary energy or intelligence to find
out for what their daughters are best fitted. Advisory Committees are
wanted in connection with all elementary and secondary schools. Of the
girl typists and shorthand writers who resigned from the Civil Service
from 1894 to 1906 for various causes, 17 per cent. left to take up
other work. The lady superintendent in one of the Civil Service typing
rooms pointed out a girl and said: "That girl would have made an
excellent milliner or a kindergarten teacher, but she is not at all
suited for this work."
The chief grievance of the really efficient woman clerk and secretary
is that she has not enough scope. One woman writes:
"If the various firms and professions who employ girls as typists were
to give them an insight into the business, whatever it might be, it
would add enormously to the enthusiasm of the worker. In America
they do this very often. The wonderful Miss Alice Duckin, the lady
skyscraper builder, was once a typist. When she entered the firm they
allowed her full scope to develop, and she mastered the building trade
and is now the chief partner of Messrs Duckin and Lass. There is one
firm of lawyers in London who allow their typists to attend the Law
Courts, and give them work to do which is usually reserved for men.
Only under such conditions can the profession expand."
There is often a chance for a secretary in a newspaper office to
develop into a journalist. But there are instances when the private
secretary, who begins writing for the paper on which she is employed,
is told that she was engaged not as a contributor but as an efficient
secretary.
One girl who had been for ten years private secretary to a literary
man in London, horrified her relatives, and gave her employer a shock,
by suddenly throwing up her much-envied post and entering herself at
a hospital for a particularly strenuous kind of nursing. Her salary
as secretary was 35s. a week; she had a comfortable room of her own
to work in, a good annual holiday, and other blessings. Her chief said
"good morning" and "good evening" to her, but she saw no one else, and
frequently she had technical German translations in the evenings,
for which she got nothing extra. Her chief did not know German, and
thought she did the translations as easily as she wrote shorthand. Her
whole work was moderately interesting, but the dullness of her life
became insupportable. Another private secretary at the end of fifteen
years in an excellent post, opened a tea-shop.
An Edinburgh woman sends the following interesting statement:--
"Secretarial work seems to me one of the most congenial for educated
women. In Edinburgh the prospects are excellent. The headmasters and
mistresses of all the large schools, medical men, dentists, university
professors, managing editors of our great printing and publishing
houses, several of whom are editing encylopaedias, need a fair number
of women secretaries. And there is not a sufficient supply for the law
offices of which Edinburgh has such a large number.
"The conditions are in need of some kind of organised supervision,
particularly where everything depends on an individual employer. In my
first post with a medical specialist, for instance, my time was never
my own; my work began at 9 and often did not end at midnight. Sunday
work was quite common; there were no Saturday afternoons off, but I
had free hours here and there which it was impossible to utilise.
"Another post I had was ideal. I worked for two men, for one of whom I
spent the morning in a pathological laboratory. Here I did nothing
but research work and writing. In the afternoon I did general
correspondence and assistant editing of one of the medical journals. I
had free evenings and Saturday afternoons. It is an excellent plan
to work for two men, as it gives variety and may often be more
remunerative, although for myself I never had more than £100 a year.
There is lack of organisation in this profession, and posts are
difficult to get by registry or advertisement. I have never found a
Women's Employment Bureau of any use whatever. I have got everything
by personal recommendation."
A common grievance seems to be the amount of overtime imposed on many
clerks, sometimes paid for, but often obligatory whether paid for
or not. There is a naive arrangement in the Civil Service Typing
Department. It seems that the typists are allowed 9d. or 10d. an hour
for overtime up to a limit of fifteen hours a month, but any overtime
beyond that is not paid for. In the Minutes of Evidence before the
Royal Commission we read:--
"_Commissioner_. Is any other time beyond that (15 hours a month) ever
exacted?
"_Superintendent_. Yes.
"_Commissioner_. Are they ever required to work longer than that?
"_Superintendent_. Yes.
"_Commissioner_. And are they not paid for it?
"_Superintendent_. No.
"_Commissioner_. What is the reason for that?
"_Superintendent_. The Treasury laid it down in their minute.
"_Commissioner_. Have you questioned it?
"_Superintendent_. Yes, we have many times asked the Treasury to allow
the department to pay for more, but so far as I know, in no case has
it been allowed, and at this present time (May 1912), in the
London Telephone Service all shorthand-typists and typists and
superintendents are doing a great deal of overtime, but only 15 hours
in a month of 4 weeks is paid for. Superintendents are not paid at all
for overtime. The only reason, apparently, for the limitation is that
the salaries are so close that if shorthand-typists were paid for
more overtime than 15 hours they would be earning more than the
superintendents."
It seems impossible to tell as yet how the working of the National
Insurance Act will affect women clerks. The secretary of the
Information Bureau of the Woman's Institute says that, as far as she
knows, good offices continue to pay their clerks their salaries in
cases of illness, only making a deduction of the 7s. 6d. paid as
insurance money.
To sum up, there is urgent need for better organisation among clerks
and secretaries. They should be graded in some way, so that the
efficient who are out of work may easily be brought in touch with
employers. The societies reach only a small proportion of the
workers, many of whom do not even know of their existence. It must
be remembered that a difficulty in the way of men and women clerks
combining, is that women of good education, sometimes in possession of
degrees, find themselves in competition with men of an inferior social
class. A large proportion of the best secretaries are the daughters
of professional men. The average woman clerk is invariably a person of
better education and manners than the male clerk at the same salary.
In the next place, better sanitation and better working conditions
must be secured. Only last year, a firm employing hundreds of men and
a dozen women, had no separate lavatory for the women. It is to the
interest of the employer of women clerks to look after their health
and to provide rest rooms. Anti-feminists are positive as to women's
"inferior physique," but their practice as employers is too often
inconsistent with their opinions.
Most important of all, women clerks and secretaries want more scope.
After ten years of clerking and secretarying they find that they are
up against a dead wall. There is no prospect of advancement, and no
call on their initiative. In private secretarial work this is not
always the fault of the employer; it is often inherent in the nature
of the work. Unless the secretary has, say, literary or journalistic
ability and develops in that way, she is worth little more to her
chief, if he is a literary man, after fifteen years than she was at
the end of ten. There may be progress from a less desirable to a more
desirable post, but there can be no advancement in the work itself.
As a training, however, a private post is incomparable. With the woman
who works for a commercial firm, it is a different matter. Women of
the best type who do this work, have a right to complain when they are
without chance of promotion. They feel that they should be given the
same opportunity of rising in the business, whatever it may be, as is
open to any intelligent office boy. The reply of the employer is, that
while the office boy, if promoted and given increasing pay, may be
expected to stay with the firm for a lifetime, there is not the same
certainty of continuity of service from women clerks, who may at any
time leave to get married. There are cases, however, where women have
stayed on after marriage when it has been made worth their while.
One woman who entered a firm as a young girl, continued with the
firm after marriage, and is now, as a widow, working for the same
employers. There is no reason why such cases should be exceptional.
The calling, the conditions of which we have been considering, suffers
from its accessibility to the half trained and undisciplined of
various social grades. When, however, the righteous complaint of the
employer against the incompetent and scatter-brained has been heard,
the fact remains that among women clerks and secretaries there is an
exceptionally large proportion who give, for a moderate return and
limited prospects of advancement, conscientious, loyal, and skilful
service.
[Footnote 1: See Appendix II., p. 317.]
[Footnote 2: Satisfactory secretarial training may be obtained in
London from reliable teachers for a fee of 25 guineas for a year's
course. It is, however, necessary to make searching enquiries before
arranging to enter any school, as some of these neither give a sound
training, nor obtain posts for their pupils as their advertisements
promise. [EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 3: First rate secretarial preparation includes more than
merely technical instruction. It gives a sound business training as
well, and, in addition, insists on one or more foreign languages. A
girl who hopes to become something more than a shorthand-typist ought
not to scamp her professional training: this should, of course,
follow her school-course--_i.e._, not begin until she is seventeen or
eighteen. Graduates, who have specialised in foreign languages,
may also advantageously prepare for the better secretarial posts.
[EDITOR.]]
[Footnote 4: Apart from monetary prospects altogether, no girl should
be allowed to enter the profession until she is old enough and wise
enough to protect herself, should need arise, from the undesirable
employer, who may insult her with unwelcome attentions. The
possibility of such annoyance is an additional reason for all clerks
to join a Trade Union, which helps individuals to insist on proper
conditions of work. [EDITOR.]]
SECTION VII
ACTING AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN
I do not know that the first actress who ever faced the public told
her friends that _the_ profession was not all paint and glitter,
because being a pioneer, and so treading on the corns of custom, she
was held as an unwomanly creature, and had unpleasant things thrown at
her, as well as words. So her impressions are not recorded. But when
women had settled down into the work, and were allowed to represent
themselves in the theatre (a privilege not as yet accorded to them
elsewhere), they announced practically and forcibly that all that
glittered was not gold, and that a successful, much-loved heroine
did not invariably tread the rosy path without finding the proverbial
thorns.
The word "hardship" often repeated by successful artists, is accepted
by the public as a truism, which affects their attitude towards the
stage as a career about as much as the statement that the world is
round, when in their eyes it appears disappointingly flat. Yet the
word "hardship" has a meaning which most hurts those who have most
capacity for pain, and who are specially sensitive to humiliations,
disappointments, and discomforts--artists.
But there are compensations, urges the outsider: good pay, congenial
work, and fame. If there are hardships what a glittering prize
compensates for the suffering!
Let us at once grant the compensations which the few achieve. The few
make world-wide reputations, large salaries, and many devoted friends:
their life is full of interesting and successful work. But the average
individual is in the great majority, and the many spend all and obtain
nothing, trying to obtain a bargain which is no bargain: a bargain in
which there is something to sell and no one to buy--even our average
actress has something to sell, something worth buying--composed of
talent, ambition, long study, and application. There are, of course,
many more successful women in the theatre than there used to be, owing
to the tremendous opening up of this means of livelihood; but though
the successful are more abundant, there is, alas! no doubt a growing
number of unsuccessful workers in this very much over-crowded market.
In fact, it is becoming a profession in which it is only possible
to survive if the worker has some private means, or a supplementary
trade.
I believe that this question of a supplementary trade requires
consideration, and am, myself, at present working on the subject, in
the hope that a scheme may be evolved to ensure those willing to
work an opportunity of gaining a livelihood during the long "resting"
periods. This waiting for work is almost universally the largest part
of an actress's life; and any satisfaction in the magnitude of the
wages which may be obtained must always be balanced by the knowledge
that an enormous number of weeks must be taken into consideration,
when work is quite unattainable.
Here is one of the gravest disabilities of the profession. Only
continuous work can develop the powers of any artist, and this
is particularly true of the art of the theatre. Under the present
conditions an artist is, with an entire want of reason, raised to a
pinnacle of importance when playing a good part in a successful play;
but she may with equal suddenness be dashed into a gulf of failure and
non-productiveness, also without reason.
There have been many artists, who at the end of a brilliant run of
a successful play, to the success of which they have largely
contributed, have found themselves forgotten by the powers that be,
and have discovered with bitter disappointment that a successful run
may result in being left utterly ignored, without a single offer of
work.
The Christmas pantomime and the summer season cut down the actor's
year to forty weeks. From information which I was able to obtain from
the Actor's Association, the average yearly income of an actor is £70.
From this, £37 may be deducted for travelling and other expenses. For
though the actual railway fare is usually paid, no allowance is made
for conveyance of luggage from station to lodgings, and the constant
change of quarters naturally makes the weekly expenditure on a higher
scale. On these figures the average weekly earnings of an actor would
be 12s. 6d., or 1s. 9d. per day.
This is the average income of an actor when working, but under present
conditions, the average day for an average actress is one in which she
looks for work. So let us take the average day of the average actress,
and see how she spends it.
After leaving her tiny, grubby back room in Bloomsbury (time and fares
prohibit a bigger, better room in the suburbs), where she has cleaned
her own shoes, ironed her blouse and sewn in frilling before starting,
she walks down to an agent. The waiting-room there has a couple
of forms, which are already filled, and groups of girls have been
standing for some time. They have all had insufficient breakfasts,
badly served and ill-cooked; they all wear cheap and uncomfortable
shoes, too thin for wet pavements; they are all obliged to put on a
desperately photographic pose and expression, in case the agent's eyes
light on them. One or two, better dressed and more self-possessed,
secure interviews and pass out by another door. No information about
the part is to be procured, they are all there "on the chance." At
half past one the agent comes out for lunch, saying, as he passes
through the room, "No use waiting, ladies; no one else wanted to-day."
Our average friend has stayed for three hours, knowing no one to speak
to, and leaves no nearer her goal for her morning's congenial work.
She lunches on sandwiches and tea, re-arranges her hat and veil, and
starts out with fresh hope to use her one letter of introduction to
the manager of a West End theatre.
She hands it to a door-keeper, who may possibly be considerate, but
cannot offer her a chair. There is no waiting-room; she waits in a
draughty, tiny passage, stage hands constantly squeezing by her. There
is a rehearsal; she must wait, or come back in an hour's time. She
walks round and looks into the shops in Leicester Square, and returns
thoroughly fatigued and a little pale, at four o'clock. She is shown
into an office, and by virtue of her letter of introduction is asked
to sit down. A few questions are put to her about her past work: she
does not know what part the manager has in mind, and puts forward
inept qualifications. In two or three minutes the important man has
formed his opinion of her face, carriage, expression, and has decided
if he will remember her or not. Her name being average, the odds are
that he will not; but he murmurs, "If anything turns up, I will let
you know," and her big chance is over. There is nothing approaching an
audition, such as a singer gets. It is the only opportunity afforded
her, this poor and hopeless method of proving her capacity as an
actress. It leaves her poorer for the day's outlay in food. She walks
back to the little room, her foothold in London--the great art market.
This is a "congenial" day's work, which may be repeated for weeks,
and it occurs on an average in every three months. The adventure of it
stales very quickly.
Let there be no mistake in the mind of the reader. This is not only
the experience of a would-be actress, a well-trained, medal-laden
aspirant from one of the good dramatic schools, but is one of the
bitter and frequent experiences of the thoroughly capable, trained,
and occasionally well-salaried actress, who has failed to arrive,
during her eighteen to twenty years of experience, at the much
coveted, and supposedly safe position at the top of the theatrical
ladder.
Suppose our average actress is lucky, and her letter of introduction
gains her a small part in the London production. Into her three lines
she tries to crowd all she can of what she has learned from teachers
and experience. It is her opportunity. She has stepped forward amongst
those fortunate ones whose names are mentioned in the programme.
She starts for rehearsal happily enough from the little room in
Bloomsbury, passes the door-keeper without question, and takes up her
stand in the wings. There she stays three hours. She has companionship
in hushed whispers, and the right to exist. At two o'clock her act has
not yet been reached, and the artists are allowed to leave the theatre
for half an hour to get lunch. As she is not paid for rehearsals,
she cannot afford more than sixpence for a meal; so her repast is
necessarily a light one. At five, rehearsal is dismissed, and she
has gone through her part twice. Five minutes would cover her actual
acting for the day; and having stood about for nearly six hours she
walks back home to her room.
As the play nears production, the rehearsal hours lengthen, and the
lunch times shorten. Her own hoard of savings offer her less and less
to spend on food, and when finally the play is produced--let us face
the worst--it not infrequently occurs that the run of the piece may
end in three weeks. She has rehearsed for four weeks, has been glad
to accept £2 for her tiny part, and out of that short run, which
represents £6, she must save enough to tide her over the next few
weeks, or perhaps months, until she gets her next engagement, more
unpaid rehearsals, and perhaps another short run. There is always
wearing anxiety, and the unpleasing, thankless, humiliating searching
for work, under the most distasteful conditions possible.
There is now an effort being made by a few of the London managers to
pay a percentage on salaries for rehearsing. The movement, I think, is
partially due to the Insurance Act, which, of course, touches all
the low paid labour in the theatre. This effort, though obviously of
importance, can hardly as yet be considered as quite satisfactory. The
payments for five weeks' rehearsals are 6s. on the £1, 1s. salaries,
which include dancers, walkers-on, etc.: and 12s. 6d. a week on
salaries of £3. In each case, of course, the threepence insurance has
to be deducted, and it must be quite clear that no woman can live on
5s. 9d., much less make a good appearance, unless she has other means
of support.
She may get an engagement to tour for a limited number of weeks. If
so, she gazes in despair at her small wardrobe, trying to puzzle out
three costumes to be used in the play, for actresses going on tour
have usually to provide their own dresses.
A friend of mine played the leading part on the tour of a West
End production. She had to find all her own dresses, hats,
shoes, stockings, etc., and her salary was £3, 10s. a week. In a
"boiled-down" version she played twice nightly for £5 a week, and
found four dresses, two hats, an evening cloak, besides the shoes,
stockings, gloves, etc., incidental to a well dressed part. Another
soubrette on a salary of £2, 5s. paid her fare both on joining and
leaving the company, and was obliged to provide two dresses, one
evening dress and cloak, shoes, stockings, etc.
The average salaries in melodrama are £4 a week, out of which must
be provided many dresses. The "heavy lead" or "adventuress" type,
generally magnificently attired, gets about £3 a week. In London, of
course, in the West End productions, dresses are provided, but the
engagement is not for a definite period as it would be on a tour,
and a curious difficulty arises through this arrangement, since the
actress who has once been beautifully dressed has a natural and
very comprehensible predilection thenceforward to continue to be so
delightfully gowned. Her own opinion as to what a dress should cost
almost invariably, after a London engagement, ceases to be on a level
with what her yearly income should permit. Clothes assume a horrible
importance not known in other trades, since her appearance may mean
her livelihood as a worker; for do we not know of engagements which
have been made when the angle of a hat has exactly coincided with the
mood of the manager who is engaging his company?
So our little average actress, starting off on tour, patches and
manoeuvres to have a satisfactory appearance, and is painfully
self-conscious of deficiencies when the eyes of the manager, or the
more well-to-do sharers of the dressing-room, appear to enquire too
closely into details. One of my first successes was a triumphant one
for my sister; since an evening blouse, ingeniously concocted from a
table-centre, received some long notices in the Press.
Theatrical lodgings, when one's salary is 25s. a week, are not always
the most pleasing in the town. Rheumatic fever and other unpleasant
illnesses have been contracted from damp beds, when the landlady, in
her desire to live up to the degree of cleanliness expected of her,
returns the sheets too quickly to the so-lately vacated bed; because,
with one company leaving in the morning, and another arriving at
tea-time, there are not many hours to clean out a room, and wash and
iron the only pair.
The lodgings are usually extremely bad and dirty, and generally in the
least attractive and most unsavoury quarters of the town. The food is
generally unappetising and cooked with very little intelligence.
There have been many cases of women finding themselves in disreputable
houses; and even recommended lodgings have been found empty on
arrival, the police having raided them. I feel very strongly that the
only comfortable and dignified way to meet this difficulty is to have
a regular chain of clubs, on the principle of the Three Arts Club.
Recently, in the correspondence of a leading "Daily," I read a letter
in which a man wrote that actresses on tour were able to perfect
themselves as wives and housekeepers. This throws a curious side-light
on the ignorance of people in general with regard to the theatre.
Actresses may, and do, become admirable workers, wives, and
housekeepers; but this is rather from the hardships of their lives
than from any possibility of developing a natural aptitude for
housekeeping whilst travelling week after week from town to town,
and living in rooms where the cleaning and cooking are done by the
landlady. As all domestic work is undertaken by the people who let the
rooms, the days go slowly, and there is absolutely nothing of
interest to do. If our average actress is with a successful play, her
engagement may be a long one; and she lives through the discomforts,
buoyed up by the hope of further opportunities, and a swelling account
at the Post Office.
The happiest of all existences, for an actress, despite hard work and
much study, is in a repertory theatre. The opportunities are great;
ambition is not thwarted at every step; the day is filled with hard
study, but the nights result in greater or smaller achievement.
Everybody with whom she comes in contact is working as hard and
earnestly as she is. Life invigorating, progressive, uplifting, is
hers. To-night she is conscious she was not quite her best, but next
week, when the play is done again, she will work to make that point
real, she will laugh more naturally, cry more movingly, progress a
little further on the way to realise her dream of perfect expression,
free from worry and anxiety, free to work.
Having achieved a certain amount of experience on tour and in London,
and being more or less proficient in her profession, does not,
however, ensure an increase in the actor's value. A domestic servant
receives a character, which is, if satisfactory, a sure means of
employment; a teacher, inspector, etc., has a certificate which is a
pronouncement of efficiency; but however great the achievement of
the theatre there is no lasting sign of your work, and the want of
definite aim is mentally demoralising. I have heard men say, and I
think not unjustly, that as many of these women are practically "on
the rocks," they will do anything for money; and this brings one to
a question which looms largely when considering unskilled trades. The
unskilled, pleasure-loving, short-sighted but ambitious girl, is apt
to lose her sense of values, and to be an easy and sometimes very
willing victim. If she be attractive, the eye of a powerful person may
alight upon her, and several shades of temptations are placed before
her. Not only money, and the advantages which an outward show of
prosperity may bring with it; not only amusements and luxuries; but a
much more dangerous and difficult temptation, which is not possible
in other trades, is placed before the worker--the offer of greater
opportunities in her work, the opportunities which an "understudy" may
bring in its train; the opportunity of a small part; the gratification
of ambition. There is no more immorality than in other trades, but
there is an amount of humiliating and degrading philandering, a
mauling sensuality which is more degrading than any violent abduction.
To be immoral a certain amount of courage is required; but the curse
of modern theatrical conditions is this corrupt debauchery. Many girls
have come to me explaining their difficulties, and many in asking my
advice ended up with the persistent cry of the modern woman, "I do so
want to get on!" This is a transitional stage in the world, as well as
in the theatre. When women are more intelligent and independent, there
will not be the same amount of selling themselves for the necessities
of existence. They will be able to secure the necessities, and a large
number of the luxuries, for themselves--one of the reasons, doubtless,
why the reactionaries cry out so loudly against the woman's movement.
People love power over others; they love to control their destinies;
and there is a very large number of men who drift towards the theatre,
and like to consider the poor little butterflies as creatures of a
different species from their wives and daughters--a species provided
by a material Providence, who supplies their other appetites. The
poor little butterflies are glad, for a short time, to put up with
stupidity and egoism for the sake of a temporary relief from sordid
discomfort and gloom. Of course, I am not speaking of the women who,
without economic pressure, lead an illicit life. There are a few
of these women who are more than able to protect themselves, and
occasionally avenge their sisters.
Of course, there are also theatres which are obviously dependent
for their great success upon this "oldest profession in the world":
theatres where a fairly good salary is offered with the suggestion
that it is as well to sup at some well-known restaurant, at least
three times a week; to drive to the theatre in a motor car, and to be
dressed by one of the famous dressmakers, whose names are given with
the salary. There are theatres where an eye is kept on the number of
stalls which are filled by the employed. But on the tours of these
successes, the managers are often very strict in their regulations,
and do everything to prevent those employed from supplementing their
incomes in this manner.
There are, unfortunately, too many women who still believe in
dependence, so the supply is quite as great as the demand. To the real
artist who is deeply centred in her work, this particular evil is
of practically little importance. A great belief in her own powers
enables her to push aside opportunities which are not genuine. Men are
also human, and if met frankly and straightforwardly in work, or
for that matter, out of it, are as capable of honest, helpful good
fellowship as any woman. In fact, the work of the theatre, which
employs men and women, on more or less equal terms, is a splendid
place to find out that humanity is not limited to sexual problems, and
that the spirit of work removes these limitations, and gives place
to a healthy, invigorating atmosphere of _camaraderie_. It is quite a
false idea that a move in the wrong direction is in any way necessary
to success.
Something must be said with regard to the sanitation and ventilation
of the theatre. Though there has been latterly a great effort to
improve the dressing-rooms in the new buildings, there is still a
great deal to be remedied. Here is a description of a dressing-room
used by a young artist in a modern West End theatre.
"We were seven in a room which just held seven small toilet tables on
a shelf running round the wall, and a narrow walking space from the
door to the window in between. This dressing-room was two floors
below the level of the street, and the one window opened on a passage
covered with thick glass, so that there was no direct air channel.
Next door was a man's urinal used by about forty men--actors, stage
hands, and scene shifters. A pipe from this place came through
the dressing-room; the smell sometimes, even in the winter, was
overpowering; and we ourselves bought Sanitas and kept sprinkling it
on the floor of the room and the passage. Added to this was the fact
that the stairs from the stage led straight down facing the entrance
of this men's urinal, and not infrequently the door would be open and
shut as we came down, and it was altogether very objectionable."
The report of a young artist who toured for some time with a comedy
sketch in the music halls shows equally bad conditions. This sketch
was sent out by a first rate London management, and the halls visited
were on the first-class tours. She told me that in one of the largest
towns in England the Music Hall had only one ladies' lavatory, which
was on the stage exactly behind the back-drop. A horse was necessary
for an Indian sketch on the same bill in which the comedy sketch was
played, and the recess by the lavatory was found to be the only
safe place to stable the horse. The door of the ladies' lavatory was
therefore nailed up for the week. Should anyone wish, she could, on
explaining to the ushers in the front of the house, receive a pass
of admission to the ladies' cloakroom, but to reach the front of the
house meant a walk of four minutes round a complete block, and,
even if it had not been winter time, it is almost impossible for any
actress, when once dressed for her part, to go into the street without
attracting a great deal of notice, and also very likely entirely
spoiling her appearance, as theatrical "make-up" is only meant for the
dry atmosphere of the theatre.
On this same tour, in a famous south coast resort, this lady had to
dress in an underground dressing-room with twelve others, and the only
lavatory for women's use was opposite the stage-door box, where all
letters were called for, and the stage hands lounged about the whole
evening. In the most important town on this tour the dressing-room
in which she was directed to dress had, for its sole ventilation, the
door by which one entered, exactly facing the one general lavatory.
The aperture, high up in the wall, opened into another room where,
during this week, fifty cocks and hens, used in an animal turn, were
kept. It would be quite impossible to describe the sickening smell
which all this meant. The only thoroughly clean, sanitary hall which
she visited, was in Scotland.
In almost all the theatres, even where the conditions are considered
above criticism, the lavatories reserved for the ladies are, by a
curious arrangement, generally on the floor where most of the actors
dress. They are almost invariably difficult to use, for as the
dressing-rooms are usually allotted by men, there is little
consideration of women's comfort in this matter. It is a curious
side-light on the intelligence of men that they almost universally
seem to think that women, by a special Providence, are exempt from
these natural laws; and almost all women are still too Early Victorian
to insist upon some change. Many of the old theatres in London and the
provinces suffer from want of proper ventilation; and many of them
are appallingly, incredibly dirty. In the provinces dressing-rooms are
sometimes dripping with damp; and it is not an uncommon experience to
share the room with mice and other vermin.
It is only possible for me to touch very lightly on employment by the
cinematograph firms; but from the enquiries I have made, the usual
payment seems to be roughly from 5s. to 7s. 6d. a day, the workers
finding their own clothes: 10s. 6d. if the workers can ride and swim:
3s. a day for walking on, when light meals are provided. There is
a form of application to be filled in, which demands the following
particulars:--
Height.
Bust measurement.
Waist measurement.
Skirt length.
Age.
Line of work.
Remarks.
Ride horseback. Cycle. Swim.
The pictures take about ten days to prepare, and as a supplementary
trade, undoubtedly this work is of value to the actress.
An evil which attacks the theatre of the present day is the horrible
mantle of respectability which has settled on the profession.
Respectability in Art is a blight which undermines, and the moment
any worker or profession of workers is accepted on equal terms by
the non-workers of the community, misery invariably ensues. It is
impossible for a non-worker to comprehend the life of a worker, or
to make any margin for the work, which, if we judge by the example of
their own lives, they evidently despise. The restrictions which all
honest work brings, along with its compensations, are annoying to
ornamental parasites; and the contempt for restrictions is apt subtly
to undermine the mind of the worker.
There is no doubt that for the average actress, when such an enormous
number of people are rushing into the theatrical profession, there is
little security. The life of a successful actress is undoubtedly one
of the very best, so far, open to women. It is not a fact that the
best and greatest actresses are always the successful ones: but it is
a truth that all the successful ones have some natural qualifications
which have enabled them to gain that position.
Then what is the matter with the theatre? and why has it become such
a miserable life for the average worker? It is an unskilled trade,
and the people who have control of the trade have a contempt for the
average worker. They believe they can teach in a few weeks, what they
have not, in years, succeeded in mastering themselves. The unfortunate
worker is taught like a parrot, used for a short time, and then thrown
on the scrap-heap of the unfit for the theatre, when the theatre has
unfitted them for more honourable work.
The employer is at the present moment a man, and a man will offer a
salary of 30s. a week to a woman, because she will take 30s.: but he
will not offer that sum to an actor. There is a subtle assumption that
because women will take less, they are not entirely dependent on their
work; and a manager will sometimes offer a large salary to a woman who
drives up in a motor car, magnificently dressed, most obviously not
dependent on her earnings; whilst the accomplished actress, without
these powerful assets, and obviously dependent on her work, is paid
practically a third of that salary.
Let us sincerely hope that this transitional stage from the days when
each town had its own theatre, and engagements were always for the
season, to the waste and despair of the present conditions of the mass
of the workers in the theatre of this country, may give place to
some system which will select the fit from the unfit, and give them
a permanent engagement with a proper clause of notice on either side,
such as that to which workers in other trades are entitled. More care
in selection; more belief that an actress, if she be of any use, can
represent a diversity of types; a shutting of the doors on those who
are obviously unfitted, however cheap their labour may be, would
be salvation to the women who are trying to earn their bread in the
theatre. For it is time we ceased to grovel before this misused word
"Art," which covers the wasteful cruelty the present conditions in the
theatre permit.
APPENDIX I
SCHEME OF WORK OF THE FABIAN WOMEN'S GROUP
The Group was formed by some women members of the Fabian Society
in 1908, chiefly with the object of studying the problem of women's
economic independence in relation to socialism. The work was mapped
out on the following lines, to which the Group has adhered:--
_Part I.--Differences in Ability for Productive Work Involved in
Difference of Sex Function._
Division 1.--Natural disabilities of women when not actively engaged
in childbearing.
Division 2.--Natural disabilities of women when actively so engaged.
_Part II.--Women's Economic Independence in Relation to Social
Conditions._
Division 1.--Women as productive workers and as consumers in the past.
Division 2.--Women as productive workers and as consumers in the
present.
_Part III.--Practical Steps towards such Modification of Social
Conditions as will enable Women:_
(_a_) Freely to use and develop their physical and mental capacities
in productive work, while remaining free and fully able to exercise
their special function of childbearing.
(_b_) Each personally to receive her individual share of the social
wealth.
Two Summaries of the lectures and discussions arising out of Part I.
were issued for private circulation in 1910. Copies, 1d. each, can now
be procured through the Fabian Office, 3 Clement's Inn, W.C.
Fifteen papers of the Historical Series, Part II., Division I, have
already been given, and the subjects considered in them have nearly
covered the field of material at present available for the rough
preliminary enquiry, in which the Group has led the way. When the
series is finished, it is hoped to shape the material into essay form
for publication.
The present volume is the outcome of lectures and discussions arising
out of Part II., Division 2. It is hoped that it may prove to be
the first of a Series dealing with this part of the investigations
undertaken by the Women's Group.
APPENDIX II
LATEST CENSUS RETURNS[1] OF WOMEN WORKERS IN THE SEVEN PROFESSIONS
CONSIDERED IN THIS BOOK
Total. Unmarried. Married. Widowed.
I. Teachers 187,283 171,480 11,798 4,005
II. Physicians, Surgeons 477 382 76 19
and Registered Practitioners
III. Midwives, Sick Nurses, 83,662 55,288 11,867 16,507
Invalid Attendants
IV. Poor Law, Municipal, 19,437 14,439 2,514 2,484
Parish, etc., Officers
V. National Government 31,538 25,843 3,410 2,285
Employeés
VI. Commercial or Business 117,057 114,429 1,733 895
Clerks
VII. Actresses 9,171 5,259 3,540 372
In a volume which may be issued by the Census Office in February, some
sub-divisions of the above headings will be made. Thus (1) teachers
employed by Local Authorities will be separated from those in other
schools; (2) the number of dentists (not included above) will be
given; (3) the number of midwives will be shown separately; (4) Poor
Law will be distinguished from other Local Government Service; (5)
Post Office Servants will be distinguished from other Civil Servants;
(6) clerks will, as far as possible, be classified according to the
industry with which they are connected; (7) actresses in music-halls
will, as far as possible, be distinguished from those in theatres.
[Footnote 1: In connection with these returns of 1911, it must be
remembered that a large number of women workers resisted the census in
that year as a protest against their exclusion from citizenship.
The above figures are, therefore, though official, unavoidably an
understatement.]
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