Women Workers in Seven Professions

A Survey of their Economic Conditions and Prospects

Edith J. Morley

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138241909
• eBook ISBN: 9781351996617
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This book, first published in 1914, examines the economic position of women at the turn of the twentieth century. Women's economic position had been undermined by the helpless dependence engendered, among the better-off, by nineteenth century luxury, and among manual workers by the loss of their hold upon land and by the decline of home industries. The essays collected here examine the changing state of affairs, with a new force at work: the revolt of the modern woman against economic dependence in all forms.

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 sensihle. 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 ele...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Prefatory Note.
• Table of Contents
• Forewords. On Behalf of the Studies Committee of the Fabian Women’s Group
• I. The Teaching Profession
• II. The Medical Profession including Dentistry.
• III. The Nursing Profession Together With Midwifery and Massage.
• IV. Women As Sanitary Inspectors and Health Visitors.
• V. Women in the Civil Service
• VI. Women Clerks and Secretaries.
• VII. Acting As a Profession for Women.
• 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