Women workers in seven professions; a survey of their economic condition and prospects;

Front matter

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Cornell University Library HQ 1381.M864

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 vi PREFATORY NOTE

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 191 3.

Contents

SECTION PAGE

PREFATORY NOTE. By the Editor . . . . v

FOREWORDS. On Behalf of the Studies Committee OF THE Fabian Women's Group . xi

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 scofSng 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.

INTRODUCTION 3

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 ofificial 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.^ 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

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.

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 ? "

INTRODUCTION 5

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-intraining. If it be compared with the expenses that have to be met by other students from private sources {ijide 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.

Women students in residence

Grants by Board of Education to College.

Tuition. Maintenance.

^n

£20

From ;i^i2 to ;^22 according to accommodation.

(It is to be noted that the Government maintenance grant for men students in residence is £^0, which can be made practically to cover expenses.)

Fees payable by students to College.

Tuition. Maintenance.

£12

Women students living at home .

£n

£20

(paid to student)

£11

Men students receive £1^ 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.

INTRODUCTION 7

College Fees for other than Elementary Teachers-in- Training^

Oxford and Cambridge Colleges From £<p to ;^io5 a year for a

minimum of 3 years (of 24 weeks).

Other Residential Universities

and Colleges . . . From £t^2 to ^90 or ;^iio a

year for a minimum of 3 years (of 30 to 35 weeks).

Non-residential Colleges . . From ;^2o to ^55 a year for a

minimum of 3 years. (The cost of maintenance must be reckoned at about £^0 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.

^ See table at end of section, p. 82.

Most secondary teachers, then, must incur liabiHties varying from ;^6o 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; ;^i20 to ;i^i5o 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 £go a year, including residence, which is obligatory.

Kindergarten assistant-mistresses usually obtain from £go to ;!^ioo 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 studentmistresses for Froebel examinations.

INTRODUCTION 9

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.

lo THE TEACHING PROFESSION

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

WOMEN AT THE UNIVERSITIES ii

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."

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 undergraduate. 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.^ 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

^ Her local authority may, however, have claims upon her, if she has promised to teach in an elementary school.

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.^ 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

> Trained teachers only, men and women, will be admitted to the new Register.

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^ 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

* See tables at the end of this section, pp. 82 to 136.

i6 THE TEACHING PROFESSION

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.