The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
WOMEN'S
BUREAU
Bulletin 182
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
F R A N C E S P E R K I N S , Secretary
W O M E N ' S
BUREAU
M A R Y A N D E R S O N , Director
•
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
1923 TO 1939
By
RACHEL
FESLER
N Y S W A N D E R
and
JANET
M.
HOOKS
B U L L E T I N OF THE W O M E N ' S B U R E A U , N O .
UNITED
182
STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING
OFFICE
W A S H I N G T O N : 1941
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D . Ci
Price 10 cent*
CONTENTS
Page
Letter of transmittal
Part I.—Introduction and summary
New services and increased opportunities
What this report covers
Trends in the Federal employment of women, 1923-39
Government departments in which women work
.
Occupations of women in Federal employment in 1938
Women taking entrance examinations for Federal service
Women as new appointees
Age of women in the Federal service, 1938
Women's opportunities for the better salaries
Findings in Women's Bureau studies, 1919 and 1925
Part II.—Trends in women's employment in the Government service
Nature of source material
Proportion women comprise of all Government employees, 1923 to 1939_
Numbers of women and men in the Government service, 1923 to 1939_
Opportunity for women to enter Government service
Number of women examined and passed, by kind of examination,
in 1939
1
Status of women among new appointees
Increase and decrease in number of women and men appointees
Relation of women to men as new appointees
Women's status among new appointees and among total Federal
employees
Occupations of new appointees
Entrance salaries, both sexes
^
Promotion
Distribution of women among the Government agencies
Executive departments
Independent establishments
Changes in women's employment in major Government agencies _ _
Reorganization
National defense program
Part III.—Survey of occupation, salary, and age of women Federal employees, 1938
Character of work done by women
Occupations with large numbers of women
Proportions of women in various occupations
Salaries and occupations of women Federal employees
Distribution of women's salaries in major occupational groups
Average salaries by occupation
Women in higher-paid occupations
Relation of age to occupation and salary
Age and occupation
Age and salary
Age, salary, and occupation
Part IV.-—How to qualify for a Government job
Residence requirements
Qualifications necessary
Age requirements
Education necessary
Experience required
Sex of appointees
Examinations for juniors
In-service training
Appendix A. General tables
B. Women in supervisory and administrative positions, 1925 and
1941
C. Bibliography
,
D. National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel
HI
v
1
1
2
3
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
8
8
8
9
10
11
16
16
17
17
17
20
21
22
22
24
25
26
27
29
29
29
31
33
33
34
35
36
36
38
40
42
42
42
43
44
44
44
44
45
49
53
57
59
IV
CONTENTS
TEXT TABLES
1. New entrants from examinations for the classified service, 1923 and
1929 to 1939, by sex
2. New entrants to the various occupational groups of the classified
service, and percent women were of total, 1930, 1931, and 1937 to
1939, by sex
3. Distribution of women's appointments among the various occupational
groups in the classified service, 1930, 1931, and 1937 to 1939
4. Total number of women in each of the 10 executive departments, 1923,
1929, and 1934 to 1939
5. Number of all employees in the Department of Labor, 1936 to 1939,
by bureau or service
8. Number of women in each of 10 independent establishments, proportion they comprise of total, and percent employed outside the
District of Columbia, 1939
7. Proportion of women among all employees in executive departments
and four large independent establishments, 1923, 1929, 1934, and
1939
8. Distribution of men and women in the various occupational groups,
Dec. 31, 1938
9. Annual salaries of women, Dec. 31, 1938, by occupational group
10. Age distribution of women in the various occupational groups, Deo.
31, 1938
11. Salary distribution of women in the various age groups, Dec. 31, 1938__
12. Average salaries of women in the major occupational groups, Dec. 31,
1938, by age
Page.
16
18
19
23
24
25
26
30
33
38
40
41
APPENDIX TABLES
I. Number of civil employees in the executive departments and independent establishments, 1923 to 1939, by sex
II. Total number of civil employees, number and percent distribution of
women, and percent women constitute of total, June 30, 1939, by
department or establishment
III. Total number of civil employees, number and salaries of women, and
median ages of men and women, Dec. 31, 1938, by occupational
group
49
50
51
CHARTS
I. Percentages of total employees who were women in the 10 executive
departments and in 10 major independent establishments, June 30,
1939
Frontispiece
II. Number of women in the various occupational groups in 1938
28
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF L A B O R ,
WOMEN'S
BUREAU,
Washington, June 5, 191^.1.
M A D A M : I have the honor to transmit to you a report showing the
trend over recent years in the employment of women in the Federal
service, and the varied duties women are performing for the Government, both in the District of Columbia and throughout the United
States. Data also are presented on salaries of women and their various
occupations.
Information of this type has been much in demand by those interested in women's opportunities for work and for service, but no agency
has analyzed data on the particular occupations of women in Federal
employment, or their salaries, since 1925 when the Women's Bureau
made such a report as to women at work in selected branches of the
Government in Washington.
I wish to express my great appreciation of the courtesy of the Civil
Service Commission in furnishing special tabulations on the occupation,
age, and salary of employees in the Federal service.
The research for this report was done by Rachel Fesler Nyswander
and Janet M. Hooks, research assistants, under the general direction
of Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon, chief of this Bureau's Research Division.
Respectfully submitted.
M A R Y A N D E R S O N , Director.
H o n . FRANCES
PERKINS,
Secretary oj Labor.
v
Chart
I . — P e r c e n t a g e s of T o t a l E m p l o y e e s W h o W e r e W o m e n in the Ten E x e c u t i v e
D e p a r t m e n t s a n d in Ten M a j o r I n d e p e n d e n t Establishments, June 3 0 , 1 9 3 9 .
0
Post Office
War
Agriculture
NavyTreasury
Interior
Commerce
J ustice
Labor
State
Veterans' Administration
Tennessee Valley Authority
Panama Canal
Home Owners' Loan Corporation
Social Security Board
Government Printing Office
General Accounting Office
Federal
tion
Housing
Administra-
Civil Aeronautics
Reconstruction
poration
Finance
Cor-
10
P e r c e n t
20
30
jMD
50
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 1923 TO 1939
Part I.—INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
NEW SERVICES AND INCREASED OPPORTUNITIES
In these days when openings for young people are so eagerly sought,
the public service is one of the avenues offering certain types of opportunity. In hundreds of interesting jobs, Government workers day
by day are adding important facts to the scientific and social data
already existing, or are revealing new ways to be of service to- the
people.
Women are taking their part in these activities, as this report covering years of peacetime Government employment shows. The new
defense activities developing as this report goes to press open additional Government work. Much of this is in mechanical and technical occupations requiring kinds of training usually given chiefly
to men. Some defense departments also prefer men in types of work
traditionally done by women. However, much new work also is
available for women, largely as before in the usual clerical fields.
In June 1939 almost 173,000, or practically one-fifth of all the
workers in the Federal service) were women. They were found in
every department and independent establishment in the executive
branch (except the Railroad Administration, recently abolished).
The duties women perform are an integral part of the work of these
agencies but relatively few women carry out technical or policymaking functions. Most of their work is in clerical occupations,
such as typist, stenographer, or statistical clerk, which may require
greater or lesser training; but some of their work demands specialized
knowledge or experience outside the more usual clerical fields, such
as that of nurses (both practicing and administrative), statisticians
and accountants, librarians, economists, social welfare workers,
teachers, writers or editors, research workers in many fields, scientists,
laboratory technicians—all requiring certain technical education.
Next to stenographers, nurses account for more women in the
Government service than any other occupation.
Increases in the kinds of work Government does for the people also
increase the numbers of employees necessary to perform this work.
In the very early days of the Republic one of the few services the
Government offered its citizens, aside from military protection, was
the postal delivery, under which the sending of letters was very much
more expensive than now; later, parcels as well as letters have been
delivered on a large scale. The many scientific services in the agricultural field and in public health are familiar examples of further
spheres of governmental activity.
1
2
WOMEN
IN
THE'
FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
More recently there have been developed by the Federal Government far reaching social programs—as for example, special types of
aid for the farm population, health services for children, occupational
therapy in hospitals for veterans, placing people in jobs in all parts
of the country, insurance for the aged and for the unemployed, a
minimum wage for workers in interstate commerce, and so forth.
Such work as this has opened up more Government jobs, many of them
filled by women. More women now than formerly are at work as
statisticians, accountants, social welfare workers, specialists in job
placement or in occupational classification, laboratory technicians,
research economists, legal advisers, labor-law inspectors, and so forth.
More of them than formerly, though naturally a minority of all the
women in the service, are in the higher-paid positions.
Seven in every 10 of the women in the Federal service are working
in jobs outside of the District of Columbia, as many of the foregoing
types of work are performed within the States. In addition there is
similar work to be done under State auspices, sometimes in cooperation
with Federal agencies, and this affords some of the best experience for
later Federal employment.
One very important point must be stressed for the woman desiring
to follow these opportunities. The Government's needs, like those of
other agencies, are for particular kinds of work. Thus specialized
training and proficiency are just as essential as in private employment,
whether it be for the nurse, the laboratory worker, the librarian, the
editor, or the stenographer.
WHAT THIS REPORT COVERS
The Women's Bureau has made two other surveys of women in the
Federal service, the later of these giving information for 1925.1 The
present study gives information chiefly for 1938 and 1939. It indicates the trend over the 16 years since 1923 in the employment
of women by the Government, and the agencies in which women were
at work in 1939. The status of women in examinations and as new
appointees also is considered for certain of the years within the 16-vear
period. Sources for this information are the annual reports of the
Civil Service Commission and the Commission's Semiannual Report
of Employment, issued in June and December of each year.
There has been no source of continuing information on the occupations, ages, and salaries of women in the Government. However, the
Civil Service Commission recently made an extensive tabulation of
such data as to those employed in 1938, and parts of this that were
arranged separately by sex have been made available to the Women's
Bureau.
The last section of the present report describes briefly how to qualify
for a civil service job. The appendix gives three summary tables and
a brief description of the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized
Personnel.
Should a more historical treatment of the subject be desired, or
interesting stories as to women at present holding prominent positions,
a recent publication of the Civil Service Commission is available—
1 Women's Bureau Bui. N o . 8, Women in the Government Service (1919), and N o . 53, T h e Status of
Women in the Government Service in 1925.
INTRODUCTION AND
SUMMARY
3
Women in the Federal Service, by Lucille Foster McMillin, Civil
Service Commissioner.
For sources to be consulted on steps involved in application, qualification requirements, examination, certification, and final appointment, see bibliography, p. 57.
TRENDS IN THE FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN,
1923-1939
Figures on total Government employment in the 16-year period
indicate that the proportion of women among all employees advanced
from 14.9 percent in 1923 to 18.8 percent in 1939. This increase is
due to the larger number employed outside the District of Columbia
rather than to an influx of women into jobs at headquarters, the latter
showing a slight decline in proportion. (See p. 9.)
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS IN WHICH WOMEN
WORK
In 1939 women were employed in all Government agencies with one
exception (an agency since abolished) and about 70 percent of them
worked outside of the District of Columbia. The Post Office, Treasury, and Agriculture Departments employed the largest numbers,
and taken together accounted for 44 percent of all women in the
Federal service. Within the District, almost a fourth of those employed were in the Treasury Department, and next came Agriculture,
Interior, and the Veterans' Administration, together employing
about 27 percent. In other places not far from a fourth were in the
Postal Service, and large numbers were in Agriculture, W. P. A.,
Treasury, War, Veterans' Administration, Interior Department, Home
Owners' Loan Corporation, Social Security Board, and the Navy,
chiefly in naval hospitals. (See pp. 22 to 25.)
Two of the 5 largest executive departments and 4 of the 5 smaller
departments had staffs on which 20 percent or more of the employees
were women. The 49 independent establishments, employing only
about one-third of all women, had fairly high proportions of this sex.
In 31 of these independent establishments one-third or more of the
employees were women; in 11 of them 48 percent or more were women;
and in 7 there were more women than men.
In every executive department but Commerce and Labor more than
half of the women employees were stationed outside the District of
Columbia; this situation is true also of 7 of the 10 largest independent
establishments.
Of the total increase in women's employment between 1923 and 1939,
19 percent occurred in Agriculture and 18 percent was due to the establishment of the Works Progress Administration.
OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN IN FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT
IN 1938
Women Government workers are concentrated in clerical occupations to a great extent. The Civil Service Commission tabulation of
women employed in 1938 shows that 56 percent were clerical workers;
408270°—41
2
4
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
15 percent were in the Postal Service; between 5 and 10 percent were
in each of the three groups (1) semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional occupations, (2) service occupations, and (3) trade and
manual work; and less than 5 percent each were in professional, scientific, and technical work, or in managerial and administrative occupations. (See table 8.)
In 1938, 72 percent of all women were in 17 detailed occupations
such as have been for the most part traditionally women's jobs; for
example, office work, nursing, teaching, and light manual work of a
semiskilled character. These 17 of the 67 detailed occupations are
the only ones that gave positions to as many as 1,000 women each.
Excluding the Postal Service, about two-fifths of the women were
stenographers, typists, secretaries, and graduate nurses.
Though women were 18 percent of total Federal employees, the
proportion was far higher in certain occupations usually known as the
special work of women. For example, at least 9 in every 10 home
economists, home-management advisers, and graduate nurses were
women, as were about 8 in every 10 stenographic workers and clothingmachine operators. In contrast to this, no women were employed as
professional engineers, commodity inspectors and graders, marine
officials and inspectors, or in certain semiskilled occupations. In 12
of the 67 detailed occupations half or more of the employees were
women. (See table III in the appendix.)
WOMEN TAKING ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS FOR
FEDERAL SERVICE
Women entered only one-fourth of almost 1,000 entrance examinations given in 1939. Apparently most of those offered were for jobs
for which women were not qualified, or in which they were not interested.
Somewhat more than a tenth of all persons examined in 1939 for
entrance to the Civil Service were women, but only 40 percent of them
passed the examinations, men showing only a slightly better record.
It is not surprising that the greatest casualties among both sexes were
in examinations for professional and scientific positions, since these
require longer training or experience than most other types of Government work. In the clerical examinations the proportion of those
examined who passed was higher among women than among men,
but in the three other services men were the more successful. When
appraising the total number of women applicants, it should be remembered that examinations are opened four times a year exclusively to
persons with veteran preference, the great majority of whom are men.
WOMEN AS NEW APPOINTEES
In no year have women comprised more than 20 percent of all
the persons in Government employment or of new appointees to the
classified service. The year 1938 marked the high point in women's
status compared to men's both among total employees and among
new entrants.
The number of new appointments of each sex to work in the four
main service groups of the classified service has been studied for 1930,
for 1931, and for 1937, 1938, and 1939. In the year last named, the
INTRODUCTION AND
SUMMARY
5
peak for numbers of women appointees in the classified service, 73
percent were placed in clerical positions, almost 14 percent in subprofessional jobs, 12 percent in custodial work, and 1% percent in the
professional and scientific service.
Of the women appointees in 1939 as a group, a larger proportion than
in any previous year entered custodial work, and a larger proportion
than in most years entered subprofessional jobs. On the other hand, a
smaller proportion than formerly went into clerical positions, and a
smaller proportion into professional jobs. (See table 3.)
The proportion women were of total appointees in 1939 was practically the same as in 1930 in the professional and the custodial services, but among clerical workers it was greater than in most years.
In each of the last three years (1937-1939) women were a smaller
proportion of subprofessional appointees than in 1930 or 1931.
AGE OF WOMEN IN THE FEDERAL SERVICE, 1938
Women in the Government service are an older group than those in
general employment throughout the country. While in 1930 almost
one-third of all women at work throughout the country were 18 but
under 25, only about 12 percent of women Government workers
in 1938 were so young. Highly selective entrance requirements and
examinations requiring specialized experience, and, to an even greater
extent, security of jobs under civil service, tend to make the Government group an older one.
The youngest occupational groups among women in the Government service in 1938 were the clerical, the managerial, and the semiprofessional workers. In each of these fields over 60 percent of the
women were under 40 years of age and the median age was between
34 and 36 years. In the other occupations the median ages were
over 40 years, more than half the women in each group being above 40.
Among these older women are the relatively high-paid technical
workers, and the postal clerks and carriers, as well as the relatively
low-paid postmasters and assistants, service employees, and trade
and manual workers. (See table 12.)
WOMEN'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE BETTER SALARIES
Work in the professional and scientific service naturally provides
the greatest financial returns for women, since it also requires more
training than other occupations. Just over 3 in every 4 women in
these fields in 1938 earned $2,000 or over, while iji some of the more
exacting of such occupations every woman employed earned that
much. On account of the greater numbers in clerical occupations,
the women clerical workers receiving at least $2,000 were more than
twice the number of professional, technical, and scientific workers,
but they comprised only 1 in 12 of all the women in clerical work.
Salaries of $2,000 or more were earned also by almost four-fifths of
the women postal clerks and carriers, though at the other end of the
scale, due chiefly to locality, seven-tenths of the postmasters and
assistants received less than $1,000 a year. Salaries of $1,000 but
under $2,000 were earned by more than three-fourths of the women in
each of the other occupational groups—semitechnical, clerical, service,
and trade and manual. Median salaries in these groups follow the
same pattern. Professional workers and postal clerks and carriers
6
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
had high medians ($2,299 and $2,095, respectively); postmasters and
assistants a low median ($607); for the other groups the figure varied
from $1,126 to $1,822. (See table 9.)
For women Government workers as a whole, median salaries increased with age. This was true also of all separate occupational
groups except postmasters and assistants, the trade and manual employees, and service workers, which showed no definite trend as to
salary advance with age. Variations in salaries due to age were of
smaller magnitude than differences in salaries associated with occupational field. Older workers are concentrated in the higher-paid and
in the lower-paid occupations. Hence the proportion of women in
each age group who earned under $1,000 increased, and at the same
time the proportion earning $2,000 and over increased, at the expense
of the middle-salary range. (See table 11.)
FINDINGS IN WOMEN'S BUREAU STUDIES, 1919 AND 1925
The present study is the first to include totals of all women employed
in the executive agencies of the Federal Government, both within and
outside of the District of Columbia. However, two earlier studies by
the Women's Bureau gave data in 1919 and in 1925, respectively, for
selected groups for particular purposes.2
In 1919 women were excluded from more than half of the examinations held, and there was no uniform entrance salary for a given type
of position. Ten days after receiving the Women's Bureau report on
this condition, the Civil Service Commission passed a ruling opening
all examinations to both women and men, leaving it to the discretion
of the appointing officers to specify the sex desired when requesting
certification of eligibles. By the Classification Act of 1923, a uniform
salary was established for each specified grade and class of work in
the departmental service, and this salary applied to either a man or a
woman appointed.
When the 1925 study was made, restrictions as to women applicants
and the weaker bargaining power of women eligibles as to salary rates
at appointment were no longer important factors affecting the status
of women in Government service, but rather their status depended on
"the extent to which women have availed themselves of the advantage
of equality in examinations, the chances they have had to take positions after examinations were passed, the opportunities for advancement once the positions were secured." 3
These factors still are controlling today, and it would be valuable
if a comparison between the situation in 1925 and that in 1938 could
be made.4 Further, it would appear desirable to measure to what
extent widening fields of service and increasing opportunities of
women Government employees, already apparent in 1925, have continued. Unfortunately, however, the limitation of the 1925 survey
to certain salary ranges and to certain establishments within the District of Columbia makes its totals noncomparable with those of the
present study, which shows totals in all the executive agencies for all
employees both in and outside of Washington. The 1925 study dealt
chiefly with the women who received the better salaries—$1,860 a year
* See footnote 1, p. 2.
•Women's Bureau Bui. No. 63, The Status of Women in the Government Service in 1925, p. 1.
4 However, sojpp indication of changes between 1925 and the current period is shown in appendix B.
INTRODUCTION
AND
SUMMARY
7
and more—in employment in the District of Columbia in the seven
major departments and in seven independent executive establishments. This earlier study, unlike the present one, does not show for
the various occupational groups what proportion of the employees
were women, what proportion of all the women at such work received
$1,860 or more, nor the median salaries for the occupations. The
present study includes employees at all salary levels. Moreover, the
entrance salaries for various grades of work were changed by the Welch
Act in 1928 and the Brookhart Act in 1930.5 The present study,
unlike the earlier one, gives no information as to salary according to
department or agency, though it is the most comprehensive presented
by the Women's Bureau to date.
s Public, No. 555, 70th Cong., 45 Stat. 776, approved M a y 28, 1928; and Public, No. 523, 71st Cong., 46
Stat. 1003, approved July 3, 1930.
Part IL—TRENDS IN WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN THE
GOVERNMENT SERVICE
NATURE OF SOURCE MATERIAL
A basic series of data by sex exists in semiannual statements published by the United States Civil Service Commission showing total
numbers of men and women employed in the Federal Government,
both in the District of Columbia and outside the District. These
data by sex are classified by executive department and independent
establishment. The material is not broken down by occupation, nor
according to Civil Service classification, which comprises four main
groups as follows: (1) Professional and scientific,1 (2) subprofessional
and subscientific,1 (3) clerical, administrative, and general business,
or fiscal,2 and (4) custodial, labor, and mechanical. However, the
total number of appointments by sex for these four groups is shown
in the annual reports of the Civil Service Commission for the years
1930, 1931, 1937, 1938, and 1939.
These five annual reports show also by kind of examination and by
sex the number of persons examined and the number of persons
appointed (for the latter, also preference status and entrance salary);
but these two types of information are shown separately and are not
correlated, so it cannot be determined what proportion of the women
who passed an examination were given an appointment.
The figures used in this section cover only the Executive Branch
of the Federal Government, and in most cases include employees not
under as well as those under civil service 3
PROPORTION WOMEN COMPRISE OF ALL GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, 1923 TO 1939
United States.—For the entire United States, women were 18.8 percent of total employees in 1939 as compared with 14.9 percent in 1923.
From a low proportion of 14 percent in 1929 the advance continued
steadily, except for a few slight setbacks, until reaching the highest
point in 1938. This is illustrated by the following summary:
Years ended June 30
Percent women
were of total
employees in
entire servicc
1923
14.9
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
14.0
14.6
14.8
15.1
14.4
.
.
. _
.
Years ended June 30
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
Percent women
were of total
employees in
entire service
15.4
16.8
19.3
19.0
19.5
18.8
1 See footnote 1, p. 12, for distinction between professional and scientific, and subprofessional, as given
in the Classification Act of 1923.
2 Variously termed "clerical, administrative, and fiscal" (in 1930, 1931, and 1940) and "clerical, administrative, and general business" (in 1932 to 1939) but referred to in practice as C A F , as in the earlier years
and in 1940.
3 As of June 30, 1939, 67.7 percent of all civil employees—69.7 percent of the men and 59 percent of the
women—were in positions subject to the Civil Service Act and Rules.
8
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S
9
EMPLOYMENT
District of Columbia contrasted with service outside the District.—In
the District of Columbia, women's employment in Government service
presents a different picture. Though a very much larger proportion
of the employees in the District than of those elsewhere are women,
this proportion has decreased and not increased in the period reported.
Obviously, then, the increased representation of women in the Federal
service as a whole is due to the numbers taken on in the field 4 rather
than to an influx of women into the jobs at headquarters.
In 1923, women comprised 41.4 percent of all Government employees
in Washington; in 1939 this proportion was 40 percent. This decline
in the proportion of women in the District of Columbia is very slight
and is due to increased appointments of men; however, it is in striking
contrast to the increasing proportions of women in the Government
service outside of the District, in which they constituted 11.2 percent
of the total in 1923 and 15.5 percent of that in 1939. The figures
follow.
Years ended June 30
Percent women were of
total Government employees
In District
of Columbia
1923
41.4
11.2
40.1
41.1
42.3
40.2
39.7
10.9
11.2
11.2
11.7
11.1
.
_
In District
of Columbia
Outside the
District
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
.
Years ended June 30
Percent women were of
total Government employees
1934
193 5
1936
1937
1938
1939
Outside the
District
40.1
40.2
40.1
40.1
40.5
40.0
11.6
12.9
15.8
15.6
16.2
15.5
NUMBERS OF WOMEN AND OF MEN IN THE
GOVERNMENT SERVICE, 1923 TO 1939
In June 1939 there were 172,733 women and 747,577 men in the
Government service. Employment by the Federal Government had
expanded considerably since 1923,5 at which time there were 81,521
women and 467,010 men. Though the number of men far exceeded
the number of women throughout the 16 years, women experienced a
proportionally greater expansion, the increase in employment from
1923 to 1939 being 112 percent for women and 60 percent for men.
A factor of significance in the trend in employment is the location of
the service. Outside the District of Columbia the percentage change
was much larger for women than for men; within the District the
opposite was true, the percentage increase in men's employment
exceeding that of women.
* However, most of the jobs in the field offices are in the Postal Service or in Navy Yards, arsenals,
manufacturing or construction projects, and so forth, where men customarily are employed.
6 The year 1923 has been taken as the base in subsequent discussion, since it shows the situation before
the Classification Act of 1923 became operative. This legislation defined the major occupational groups,
set up within these groups grades and classes with corresponding rates of compensation, and established
the principle of equal pay for equal work. It provided centrally operated machinery for determining the
salary scale applicable to each individual position. In 1939 the Act covered about 85,000 positions, all within
the District of Columbia. Bills to extend the Classification Act have been introduced in several sessions
of Congress.
10
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
Further information on the growth of Federal employment may be
obtained from the following table, which gives a break-down for the
three periods 1923-29, 1929-34, 1934-39.
Percentage change in the various periods
Period (years ended June 30)
In entire service
Women
Men
In District of Columbia
Women
Men
Outside the District
Women
Men
1923-39
+111.9
+60.1
+79. 5
+90.8
+128. 3
+57.3
1923-29
1929-34
1934-39
+1.2
+23.1
+70.1
+8.2
+10.8
+33.6
-6.6
+36.3
+41.1
-1.5
+36.5
+41.8
+5.2
+17.1
+85.4
+9.0
+8.7
+32.8
In the service as a whole the percentage increase both for men and
for women was relatively small in the early period (1923-29), became
larger in the middle period (19^9-34), and reached its highest figure
in the late period (1934-39). In both middle and late period the
percentage increase in employment of women was more than twice
that of men, though in actual numbers men's increases were between
2% and 3 times those of women. In the earlj period (1923-29) men's
employment rose by 8.2 percent compared to only 1.2 percent for
women; during these years employment in the District of Columbia
declined for both men and women, but such decrease was offset by
increases in the service elsewhere.
Most striking of all the changes was the 85-percent increase in the
last period in women's numbers outside the District of Columbia.
This increase was five times as great as that for women in the field
in the middle period, and it was greatly in excess of the percent
increase among men. In the middle period women's employment
increased more in the District of Columbia (36.3 percent) than elsewhere (17.1 percent) in contrast to the late period, when it increased
41.1 percent in the District and 85.4 percent elsewhere.
OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN TO ENTER GOVERNMENT
SERVICE
Have women the same chance as men to enter the Government
service? If by that is meant equal opportunity to take the examinations offered by the United States Civil Service Commission, the
answer in general is "yes." And if they receive appointments, they
enter at the same salaries as men in like positions.
However, appointments now are made under the following rule:6
"Certification shall be made without regard to sex unless sex is specified in the request;" in other words, the selecting officer of a Government agency may specify whether a man or a woman is desired for
For exclusion of women prior to 1919, see p. 6.
6 For an account of the results of previous orders on this subject, see Women in the Federal Service, U. S.
Civil Service Commission, 1941, p. 22.
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT
11
the vacancy that is to be filled. In some instances this may work
to the disadvantage of women, but in general it is preferred to the
rule that existed prior to 1934, which set up a single list for both
men and women. This earlier rule worked out so that men, owing
to veteran preference (see p. 13), dominated the ranking applicants,
and since appointees must be selected from among the three at the
top of the list, the result for women was in many cases the opposite
of what the proponents of this rule had desired.
There are some jobs that are better suited to men due to the nature
of the position itself, or where men are preferred from the viewpoint
of society in general. The physical requirements may be such as to
make a job unsuited to women; for example, laborer, railway mail
clerk. Men are preferred for the customs patrol, immigration patrol
inspector, narcotic agent, post office inspector. On the other hand,
of course, certain types of work are performed best by women.
What seemed to be a case of discrimination against women was
the stenographers' examination given to men alone in the spring of
1940, the first time this had been done in recent years. The demand
for men stenographers had exhausted the list of available male appointees,7 the explanation of such demand being that men stenographers were needed in the Navy Yards. Male stenographers also are
desired in connection with technical field surveys, for example, soil
conservation work, and they are used on night shifts in some Government agencies.
NUMBER OF WOMEN EXAMINED AND PASSED, BY KIND OF
EXAMINATION, IN 1939 8
The chief of personnel in a Government department that employs
large numbers of women scientists called attention in a recent speech
to the smallness of the number of qualified women, adding that even
when women are properly qualified they often are not interested or
not available for such positions.9
Tabulations of the numbers of persons who took examinations and
who passed, in the year ended June 30, 1939, show that during that
year 525,959 applicants were given Civil Service entrance examinations. Somewhat more than a tenth of these, 62,560, were women.
Less than half of either sex passed their examinations, though men
were slightly more successful than women; 44 percent of the men
passed compared to 40 percent (25,112) of the women.
Another point of interest here is to consider the number of entrance
examinations given during 1939. In less than a fourth of these examinations were women entered, but they entered a larger proportion
of the examinations given for professional and scientific work than of
7 "It is important to note that the demand for competent male stenographers usually far exceeds the
supply." Opportunities in Government Employment. B y L. J. O'Rourke. 1940. p. 48.
8 It should be pointed out that another fiscal year might see a very different set of examinations offered;
comparison of 1939 with 1938, 1937, 1936, and so forth, shows wide differences.
9 Institute of Women's Professional Relations.
Washington Conference on Opportunities in the Public
Service. November 1939. Address by R o y F. Hendrickson on "Agricultural Services."
408270°—41
3
12
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
those given for other types of position. The following table shows
the situation for the main categories of Government jobs:
Examinations given in 1939
Professional
and
scientific i
All
types
998
245
24.5
All examinations—Number
Examinations taken by women—Number
Percent
Subprofessional and
subscientific 2
Clerical,
administrative,
and
general
business 3
100
39
39.0
203
82
40.4
164
85
51.8
Custodial,
labor,
mechanical
531
39
7.3
1 The legal meaning of the term "profession" in the Federal service is governed by the Classification Act
of 1923. This act includes in the professional and scientific service positions the duties of which are to
perform work "which is based upon the established principles of a profession or science, and which requires
professional, scientific or technical training equivalent to that represented by graduation from a college
or university of recognized standing." The minimum entrance salary for a professional position is $2,000
a year.
2 The Classification Act of 1923 also establishes the subprofessional and subscientific service, the duties
of which are described as "subordinate or preparatory to the work required of employees holding positions
in the professional and scientific service, and which requires or involves professional, scientific, or technical
training of any degree inferior to that represented by graduation from a college or university of recognized
standing." The minimum entrance salary for a subprofessional position is $1,020.
3 See note 2 on p. 8.
A consideration of the number of women who failed to pass, according to occupational groupings of entrance examinations taken by them,
shows, as would be expected, that the failures were least for the custodial group and highest for the professional and scientific candidates.
Less than a fifth of the women taking examinations for the professional
service passed their examinations. The number of failures shows
that the Government sets high standards.10 It also may indicate
inadequate collegiate courses as well as poor scholastic standing in the
applicant's educational background. It should be mentioned here that
professional and scientific examinations are based largely on education
and experience as filed by the applicant, together with publications or
other papers indicating quality of the work done. Thus success in
such an examination may depend largely on the candidate's opportunity in the past to do such work, as well as on the judgment of those
examining the papers. In the junior grades, intelligence tests are
added.
Likewise for the men, failures were least in the custodial examinations and greatest in the professional and scientific. Men on the
whole were more successful than women in passing their examinations,
except in the clerical, administrative, general business group, where
the proportion of women who passed was the higher (42 percent as
against 36 percent).
Total
Women
Examined—Number
Passed—Number
Percent
Men
62, 560 463, 399
25,112 203,963
40.1
44.0
Professional
and scientific
Women
5,455
1,027
18.8
Men
40, 239
10,221
25.4
Subprofessional
and subscientific
Women
5, 475
2,106
38.5
Men
46, 483
20,952
45.1
Clerical, administrative,
and general
business
Women
Women
Men
18, 525 194,675
7,776 70,099
42.0
36.0
10 In many examinations the requirements stress knowledge of specific techniques.
P- 14.)
Custodial,
labor, mechanical
Men
33,105 182,002
14,203 102,691
56.4
42.9
(For example, see
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S
EMPLOYMENT
13
It is pertinent here to point out that applicants may receive veteran
preference to the extent of having their examination marks raised by
5 or 10 points (if disabled, a veteran receives the 10-point raise)
because of service in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps
during the war with Spain, the World War, or the period since the
World War. Women who are widows of veterans, or wives of disabled
veterans who themselves are not qualified but whose wives are
qualified to hold such position, receive a 10-point margin. The names
of the 10-point group are placed at the top of the register, ahead of
all others. The passing mark is 70; hence, the earned rating necessary
for a passing mark is only 60 for 10-point veterans, 65 for 5-point
veterans.
In the fiscal year 1939 there were 29,479 men and 1,370 women
successful contestants in examinations for the classified service whose
ratings were augmented by 5 or 10 points because of veteran preference;
this represents 14.5 percent of the men and 5.5 percent of the women
who passed. The largest proportion of men with veteran preference
were in the custodial, labor, and, mechanical group, where as the
highest proportion of women with veteran preference were in the
clerical, administrative, and general business group.
In three examinations where both men and women were examined—
assistant statistical clerk accounting and auditing assistant, and junior,
file clerk—everyone who passed received 10 points extra on the
examination. In 1939 these were reopened examinations, available
to veterans only; for example, in the case of file clerks no examination
had been offered to the general public since 1931, but in each succeeding
year disabled veterans have requested and been granted such a reopening quarterly. If they pass, their names are added to the open list
of available eligibles and are put at the head of the list. Certain
examinations are opened quarterly to veterans only, even though the
registers already include lists .of others who have qualified for
appointment.
The accompanying list, selected from examinations on the 1939
list in which appreciable numbers of women were candidates, or
which represented occupations of interest, illustrates that the number
of women taking certain of these examinations was quite small, and
that in some cases few of the women passed. Every one of these
applicants had fulfilled the basic requirements set in order to qualify
for the examination. The examinations attracting the largest numbers of women are grouped first, by service, as follows:
The professional and scientific examinations attracting the greatest numbers
of women were: Professional assistant, junior—examination assistant, junior;
home economist, junior; social worker (psychiatric); public assistance, consultant in—assistant; chemist, junior; home economist, assistant; public assistance,
consultant in—associate.
The subprofessional examinations taken by the largest numbers of women
were: Hospital attendant; nurse, student; librarian, hospital; nurse, graduate,
general staff duty; meteorology observer, minor.
The clerical, administrative, and general business examinations taken by the
largest numbers of women were: Typist, junior; stenographer, junior; card-punch
operator, alphabetic; typist, senior; stenographer, senior; fingerprint classifier,
student; telephone operator; personnel director, assistant.
The custodial, labor, and mechanical examinations of most interest according
to numbers of women taking them wrere: Printer, assistant; messenger, assistant;
elevator conductor; laborer, classified; shop checker.
14
Number of men and women examined and number who
1939
/ selected examinations,
Number examined
Kind of examination
Women
Men
Number who
passed
Women
Men
PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC
Agronomist, junior
Animal fiber technologist, junior
Animal nutrition, junior in
Architect, landscape:
Assistant
Associate
Junior
Artist-designer
Attorney
Senior
Bank-note designer
Biologist (junior, in aquatic and in wildlife research).
Chemist
Assistant
Associate
Junior
Principal
Senior
Education, special agent
Engineer, junior
Entomologist, junior
Home economics information, junior in
Home economist
Assistant
Associate
Junior
Industrial classification analyst.
Assistant
Associate
Senior
Medical officer
Junior (rotating interneship) - —Museum division chief
Parasitologist, assistant (nematodes)
Physicist:
Assistant
Associate
Junior.
Physiologist:
Associate
Poultry, junior
Plant pathological inspector, junior
Professional assistant, junior:
Examination assistant, junior
Geologist, junior
Public assistance, consultant in
Assistant
Associate
Senior
Research and statistical service chief
Social worker (psychiatric)
Teacher, community school
744
91
273
22
7
28
148
8
24
5
94
16
63
56
305
7
6
77
8
15
162
63
244
50
970
37
175
33
35
10
15
214
341
683
439
1, 491
84
1, 265
427
1,184
1,170
2, 947
659
183
296
11, 910
301
43
11
83
6
183
267
1, 412
273
413
389
22
78
64
316
28
26
250
141
104
33
241
50
2
279
320
369
702
833
100
127
25
2, 325
105
0
0
1
0
10
0
3
1
0
6
4
0
2
2
3
4
9
4
197
22
5
11
256
280
1, 272
6
4
7
128
179
41
124
101
1
1
0
6
19
19
6
201
351
225
210
50
403
7
1,412
128
153
439
149
194
255
181
1
59
4
73
222
178
22
0
191
2
119
90
18
221
62
6
2
35
18
5
5
5
1,492
8
36
5
943
48
23
166
2,112
3, 546
840
4,684
829
1, 315
747
3,059
1, 922
7,837
5
104
19
316
173
40
2,926
5
6
4
15
2
4
1,847
1,176
788
1, 300
169
194
102
1,313
292
3,988
0
SUBPROFESSIONAL AND SUBSCIENTIFIC
Draftsman:
Engineering
Engineering, assistant
Engineering, s e n i o r —
Engineering, junior
Topographic
Topographic, assistant
Topographic, senior
Engineering aid, civil, under
Gardener, assistant (greenhouse)
Hospital attendant
St. Elizabeths
Laboratory helper, under, bacteriology.
Bacteriology and roentgenology
Librarian, hospital
„Medical technician
General, junior
Meteorology observer, minor
Nurse:
Graduate, general staff duty
Public Health
_
Student
Nurse-technician.
--
-
-
854
115
1,423
5
3
244
0
1
5
0
910
2
22
1
369
3
13
115
262
28
273
2
0
45
9
31
11
16
2,218
6
0
TRENDS IN W O M E N ' S
15
EMPLOYMENT
Number of men and women examined and number who passed,1 selected examinations,
1939—Continued
Number examined
Kind of examination
Women
Men
Women
SUBPROFESSIONAL AND SUBSCIENTIFIC—continued
Physiotherapy aide
Scientific aid:
Graphic arts
Parasitology
Surgeon's assistant, dental
540
78
6
CLERICAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND GENERAL BUSINESS
Accounting and auditing assistant
Auditor, junior
Blueprint operator, under
Calculating-machine operator, junior
Card-punch operator, alphabetic
Clerical learner
Clothing inspector.
Customs examiner's aid
Draftsman, statistical, assistant
File clerk:
Junior
Under
Fingerprint classifier, student
Home extension agent
Junior
Multilith operator
Statistical analyst:
Mathematical
Assistant mathematical
Associate mathematical
Senior mathematical
Personnel director
Assistant
Photostat operator, under
Purchasing officer
Assistant
Junior
Regional director
Statistical clerk, assistant
Stenographer:
Junior
Senior
Telephone operator
Junior
Typist:
Junior
Senior
Unemployment insurance director
_.
45
368
41
35
2,074
54
27
251
28
115
7, 325
1,637
508
44
1,156
15,131
1,360
316
106
542
72
55
31
140
56
44, 900
19
27
765
7
56
15
5
376
445
37
28
45
144
44
81
50
164
66
46
3, 270
2,201
1,284
1.514
1,167
1,799
408
75
2,182
1,146
486
59
5, 674
2, 861
36
18
2,239
1, 269
21
10, 697
8,187
597
10
2,290
14
9
1,079
220
40
106
7,915
839
100
26, 542
136
0
CUSTODIAL, LABOR, AND MECHANICAL
Aircraft fabric worker, junior
D r y cleaner
Elevator conductor
Elevator operator
Explosive operator
Laborer, classified
Laundry helper, skilled
Messenger:
Assistant
Junior
Primer worker
Printer, assistant
Printer-proofreader
Seamstress
Laundry
Sewer
Aircraft fabrics
Sewing-machine (power) operator
Shop checker
Stewardess
Tailor
Warden, associate, junior
4, 803
153
39
23,048
123
9
8
29
8
333
804
11
12
51
32, 903
249
0
628
1,104
0
0
2
0
26
320
0
79
154
i This list was selected as follows: All professional and subprofessional examinations are shown where at
least 5 women were examined; all clerical, administrative, and general business examinations shown if at
least 20 women took them (but all postal service examinations are excluded); and all custodial examinations
shown if 7 or more women took the examination. (See p. 12 for total numbers in each occupational group.)
A complete list of all examinations offered is given in the 1939 annual report of the U. S. Civil Service
Commission, appendix table 1, from which these figures are taken.
16
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
STATUS OF WOMEN AMONG NEW APPOINTEES
Statistics on new appointments are an important part of the information necessary for discussing women's opportunities in government
service and provide one measure for evaluating this question. They
can be analyzed in two ways:
1. Increase in the number of women appointed, which indicates
an enlargement of opportunities for them in Federal employment.
2. Increase in proportions of women in the total of new appointees,
which in 1939 was marked as compared with 1923, though considerably
below the peak of 1938.
The following discussion treats, then, of the increase or decrease in
total number of women and men appointees, and, next, of the important position of women appointees in their relation to men appointees.
Increase and decrease in number of women and men appointees.
The two years 1936 and 1939 had the largest numbers of women
appointed to the classified service from examinations within the year.
With these exceptions, no year studied saw so many women appointed
as obtained jobs in 1923. The summary following shows the numbers
of new entrants into the classified service in the various years.
TABLE 1.—New entrants from examinations for the classified service, 1928 and
1929 to 1939, by sex
New entrants from examinations for the
classified service
Women
Years ended June c
Number
1923.
48,487
7,600
1929.
1930.
1931.
1932
1933.
1934.
1935.
1936.
1937.
1938.
1939.
39,586
31,300
31,049
17,813
8,713
17,026
25,871
34,220
38,123
27,237
44,016
5,231
6,981
7,412
3, 636
1,690
2,885
5,897
7,921
6, 361
6,814
8,190
1 Of the appointees in this year, 169 were to the District of Columbia Government service, but whether
men or women is not reported.
The deterrent on appointments to the Federal classified service
between July 1, 1932, and June 30, 1934, when the Economy Act was
in effect—during which time new appointments could be made only
with the written approval of the President—probably accounts for
the sharp drop during these years. Apparently the law affected
women more than men; appointments in these three years as related
to those of 1931 were as follows:
193 2
193 3
193 4
Percent of number in 1931
Men
Women
57
28
55
49
23
39
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S
17
EMPLOYMENT
Relation of women to men as new appointees.
There is no clear trend as to the proportion women comprised of
the new appointees in classified service during the years 1923 to 1939.
The fluctuations from year to year indicate the constantly changing
situation in Government needs and types of jobs to be filled.11 For
the country as a whole, women's highest percentage of appointments
(20) was reached in 1938. (See p. 16.) The greatest year-to-year
increase in proportion of women among total appointees occurred
from 1929 to 1930; the largest drop was from 1936 to 1937.
Women's status among new appointees and among total Federal
employees.
It is interesting to note whether women's ratio among new appointees follows the gradual rise in their status among total employees.
In no year have w^omen comprised more than 20 percent either
of total Government employees or of new appointees. In passing it
may be noted that in the 1930 census women comprised 22 percent of
all gainfully employed persons (26 percent if "proprietors, managers,
and officials'' are taken out). Thus, women do not hold so prominent
a place in Government service as in outside employment.
Women constituted a higher proportion of new entrants into the
classified service, just as they comprised a larger proportion of total employees, in 1939 than in 1923. Though their proportion among new
entrants varied from year to year, in the 4 years 1930 to 1933 women
were consistently a higher proportion of new appointees than of total
employees. For both ratios the peak year was 1938.
Proportion women
were of—
Years ended June 30
Total employees
New entrants
in classified
service 1
1923
14.9
13.6
1929
1930
1931 „
1932 __
1933
14.0
14.6
14.8
15.1
14.4
11.7
18.2
19.3
17.0
16.2
.
__
...
Proportion women
were of—
Years ended June 30
1934
193 5
1936
1937
1938
1939
Total em- New entrants
in classified
ployees
service 1
15.4
16.8
19.3
19.0
19.5
18.8
14.5
18.6
18.8
14.3
20.0
15.7
1 On the whole, the proportion of new entrants -in the entire service was similar to those in the classified
service.
Occupations of new appointees.
New entrants are classified both by sex and by service group only
for the years 1930, 1931, 1937, 1938, and 1939. Among these years,
1939 is the high mark in numbers of women appointed to the classified
service and will be discussed as to detailed occupations later.
11 "It is interesting to note that during the three fiscal years from 1936 through 1938, requests were received
[by the Civil Service Commission] to certify to field positions paying $2,000 or more, 28,000 employees.
In this group, 11,066 females were specifically requested, whereas males were requested for 25,080 of the
positions and no sex indicated for 1,591 * * *. As far as I am personally concerned, when I see a good
register of women I'll do my level best to reveal it to those with the responsibility of requesting certification * * V — A r t h u r S. Flemming, U. S. Civil Service Commissioner, in address before Institute of
Women's Professional Relations, pages 166-167 of proceedings. See bibliography of present report.
18
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
TABLE 2.—New entrants to the various occupational groups of the classified service,
and percent women were of total, 1930, 1931, and 1937 to 1939, by sex
Years
ended
June 30
1930
1931
1937
1938
1939
All occupations
(women's
ratio to
total)
18.2
19.3
14.3
20.0
15.7
Professional and
scientific
administraSubprofessional and Clerical,
tive, and general
subscientifie
business
Women
Men
1,455
1, 974
1,411
1, 045
2, 797
PerNum- cent
ber
of
total
64
133
110
111
120
4.2
6.3
7.2
9.6
4.1
Women
Men
PerNum- cent
ber
of
total
1,179
772
1,402 1,166
477
2,011
1,946
601
4, 408 1,113
39.6
45.4
19.2
23.6
20.2
Custodial, labor,
mechanical
Women
Men
14, 257
11, 340
23, 691
12, 217
12,865
Women
Number
Percent
of
total
Men
5, 647
5, 799
5, 389
5,494
5, 973
28.4
33.8
18.5
31.0
31.7
14,409
16, 333
11,010
12,029
23, 946
PerNum- cent
ber
of
total
498
314
385
608
984
3.3
1.9
3.4
4.8
3.9
Are opportunities expanding for women in any of the four service
groups, if 1939 is compared to 1930 and 1931? In general it may be
said that in each group more women were appointed in 1939 than in
1930, though their proportion in the total number of employees was
not so great in the later as in the earlier year, since even more men
were newly appointed. It always is true that the very great majority
of women are in the clerical rather than in other services.
In the professional and scientific group, where women appointees
might be expected to show considerable advance in recent years, their
number increased by 88 percent from 1930 to 1939. However, since
men's appointments advanced so much more, women's proportion
among total appointees in 1939 was practically the same as in 1930
and was lower than in 1931.12 The year 1938 marks the highest ratio
of women among total professional appointees, since with but a very
slight advance in women's appointments there was in that year a
decided decrease in the number of men appointed.
In the subprofessional occupations the numbers of women appointed
increased by 44 percent from 1930 to 1939. Since many additional
men also were appointed, the proportion of women in the total was
less in 1937, 1938, and 1939 than in 1930 or 1931.
In the clerical, administrative, and general business group, always
by far the major employer of women, 1939 was the peak year for
appointments of women. The proportion they comprised of all clerical appointees in 1938 and in 1939 was higher than in 1930, though
not so high as in 1931. A closer examination of the clerical figures
reveals that a drop in the male clerical staff in the field accounts for
the greater advance in women's status from 1937 to 1938; in the
District of Columbia the year 1931 marks women's highest ratio
among total clerical appointees, though following a decline there was
considerable advance again from 1938 to 1939.
In the custodial, labor, and mechanical service, women appointees
in 1939 were nearly twice those in 1930, but men also increased and
women's proportion was practically unchanged.
12 "Men dominate in the professional positions where there is still a prejudice against women * * *."—
Harry B. Mitchell, President of the U. S. Civil Service Commission, in address to conference of Institute
of Women's Professional Relations. November 1939. (For reference see Bibliography, p. 57.)
" T o be realistic * * * I must confess that most of the appointing agencies requesting certification
from that register [Junior Professional Assistant] are requesting men, which they have a right to do under
the law * * *. The women's register hasn't moved very fast."—Arthur S. Flemming, U. S. Civil
Service Commissioner, ibid. (For reference see Bibliography, p. 57.)
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S
19
EMPLOYMENT
Percentage of women appointees in clerical, administrative, and general
business
Years ended June 30
District of
Columbia
Entire
service
1930
1931
1937
193 8
193 9
68.6
75.7
57.7
57.0
69.3
28.4
33.8
18.5
31.0
31.7
_
With reference to women appointees alone, the occupational distribution over the years for which such data are obtainable shows
that in 1939 more women were appointed to the clerical and custodial
groups than in any other year, and more to the professional and subprofessional than in any year but 1931. A greater proportion of
women appointees were in custodial, labor, and mechanical work in
1939 than in previous years. The proportion of women appointed
to subprofessional work was greater in 1939 than in 1930 but not so
large as that for 1931. On the other hand, a smaller proportion of
women in 1939 were appointed to clerical jobs than in the past, and
a somewhat smaller to professional jobs than in 1931. The following
table summarizes this information:
TABLE 3.—Distribution of women's appointments among the various occupational
groups in the classified service, 1980, 1981, and 1987 to 1989
Years
ended
June 30
Total women appointed to classified service
Professional and
scientific
Subprofessional
and subscientific
Clerical, administrative, and general business
Custodial, labor,
and mechanical
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
193 0
193 1
193 7
193 8
193 9
6,981
7,412
6, 361
6,814
8,190
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
64
133
110
111
120
0.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
772
1,166
477
601
1,113
11.1
15.7
7.5
8.8
13.6
5,647
5,799
5,389
5,494
5,973
80.9
78.2
84.7
80.6
72.9.
498
314
385
608
984
7.1
4.2
6.1
8.9
12.0
The year 1939 represents the peak since 1923 in number of women
appointed to the classified service. What kind of jobs did these
women get? 13
About 73 percent of the women were appointed to clerical positions,
about 14 percent to subprofessional jobs, 12 percent to custodial,
labor, or mechanical work, and 1 % percent to professional and scientific
service. The numbers of women so appointed were as follows:
Total
Professional and scientific
Subprofessional
Clerical, administrative, and general business
Custodial, labor, and mechanical
8, 190
120
1, 113
5, 973
984
13 Besides the 8,190 new entrants to the classified service were 1,243 appointments in that service by transfer, promotion, reinstatement, or reemployment. In addition were 771 appointments in the unclassified
service, comprising 629 laborers, 45 in the District of Columbia government, and 97 others, making a total
for the year of 10,204 women given appointments. Only for the 8,190 is there an occupational break-down.
Throughout this section the title of the examination from which an individual is appointed is treated as
though identical with that of the position to which the person is appointed. This caused no serious error,
since in cases where there is no register for a specified position appointment is made only from closely related
examinations.
408270°—41
4
20
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
An examination of the actual appointments made in 1939, according to title in each of these categories as found in the annual report
of the Civil Service Commission, shows that the kinds of jobs women
appointees received were as follows:
Practically a third (39) of the 120 professional and scientific appointments given to women were in the teaching field (Spanish instructor, community-school teacher, or teacher of home economics).
Among the other appointments were jobs as social-science analyst
(28), junior librarian (8), technical analyst (5), junior chemist (5).
The majority of these jobs were in the field.
The great majority of the 1,113 subprofessional jobs to which women
were appointed were those of nurse and student nurse (912), hospital
attendant (111), medical technician (14), staff dietitian (19), psychiatric social worker (11); a few were hospital librarians (10), and dental
surgeons' assistants (8) and dental hygienists (7). All but 11 of these
appointments were for positions in the field.
Almost 2,200 of the 5,973 women appointed to clerical jobs 14 were
stenographers, and over 1,800 were typists; nearly 40 percent of the
stenographers and typists were appointed to jobs in the field. Over
1,000 women (1,130) were appointed to the postal service, most of
them fourth-class postmasters. More than 600 in the entire service
were machine operators (chiefly on card-punch and calculating machines) ; a few were telephone operators, statistical clerks, file clerks,
and junior civil service examiners.
In the custodial service, to which 984 women were appointed (more
than in any other year for which data are available), the jobs were
mainly those of laborer (cleaners in laundries, hospitals, and so forth),
sewing-machine or other machine operator, operator helper, elevator
conductor, precision optical worker's helper, and assembler (gas mask,
mechanical time fuse). Practically all these appointments were for
jobs in the field.
Entrance salaries, both sexes.
For a number of reasons, entrance salaries for new appointees in
the Government service show a rather wide range, even within occupational groups: (1) Some of the positions do not fall within the classified service, this being especially true of jobs outside the District of
Columbia; (2) in some cases where the job is within a civil service
classification, the necessary steps have not been taken by the particular Government department to bring that job up to the salary specifications; and (3) examination announcements state that persons willing to accept a salary lower than that given in the announcement will
be considered for lower-grade positions, and such persons are certified
to positions for which the register is appropriate.
Men and women enter the service at the same salary if their job
appointments are identical. The Classification Act of 1923 provides
that in determining the compensation of an employee the principle
of equal compensation for equal work irrespective of sex shall be
followed.
The entrance salary for the lowest grade in professional and scientific work in the classified service is $2,000; it is noted, however, that
in 1939 some persons who had taken teachers' examinations were
14 "For women the standard opening linto Government service] remains typing and stenography.
To
get in this way you've got to be good; the competition is terrific." Archie Robertson, The Government
At Your Service, 1939, p. 19.
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S
EMPLOYMENT
21
appointed at $1,440, and this was the entrance salary also for some
examined for "junior" and "assistant" jobs. The highest salary for
1939 appointments in this service was for principal social science
analyst, $5,700-$6,500.
The subprofessional jobs in 1939, such as technician, scientific aid,
surveyman, and junior assistant, commanded a $1,260 entrance salary;
nurses' entrance salaries ranged from $1,200 to $2,000 (except student
nurses); psychiatric and junior social workers entered at $1,620. Some
hospital attendants received $600, but this probably was in cases where
board and room were furnished. The salary quoted for minor meteorology observer was $500 to $1,200.
The highest entrance salaries offered in this group were $2,000 to
$3,200 for principal engineering draftsman and $2,600 to $3,200 for
marine surveyor.
Entrance salaries of persons examined in the clerical branch ranged
from $1,200 for junior file clerk and $1,260 for tabulating-machine
operator, to $1,440 for assistant statistical clerk. Senior stenographers (120 words a minute) came in at $1,620, senior typists at $1,260;
junior stenographers (96 words a minute) and junior typists in some
cases received as little as $720 to start with, though in Washington
the usual entrance salaries are respectively $1,440 and $1,260. Telephone operators had entrance salaries beginning at $600. Higher
entrance salaries are quoted for commodity-exchange investigator,
$4,600; principal and senior marketing specialist, $4,600 to $5,600;
personnel director, $5,600-$6,500; personnel officer, $4,600; regional
director, $5,800-$6,500; and unemployment-insurance director, $10,000.
Following examination for the custodial and mechanical service,
laborers and junior messengers entered at $600 in some cases, laundry
operatives at $1,020, elevator conductors at $1,080. Machine operators on mechanical time fuses and other products commanded an
entrance salary of $1,030. Assemblers of gas masks and mechanical
time fuses entered at $960 and $1,030, respectively. Hand seamstresses were paid at piece rates. Skilled laundry helper's entrance
salary in 1939 was $376. Higher entrance salaries were given for
churn-drill operator, $2,004-$3,443; diesel-dragline operator, $1,500$3,005; drilling-rig operator, $1,800-$3,146; electrician, $l,228-$3,005;
lock and dam construction foreman, $2,504-$3,255; machinist, $1,303$3,756; painter, $l,080-$3,005; plasterer, $l,320-$3,756; plumber,
$1,320-83,130; and associate warden, $3,200-$5,500.
Promotion.
Are women given an opportunity to advance after they have succeeded in getting a Government job? In general the rate of promotion
in the Government service is slow, due to the fact that though turnover
in employment is high in the lower-paid jobs it is very low in the
upper grades.15
The advancement of women to responsible Government positions
is without doubt more prevalent today than in the past,16 due chiefly
to the availability of women with advanced educational qualifications
15 "Close observations of the Federal service indicate that the opportunities for advancement for wellequipped clerical workers are probably about the same in Government as in private business. Opportunities
in Government will improve as the principles of the merit system are more widely applied, and as spoils and
nepotism are eliminated."—O'Rourke, op. cit., p. 62.
16 "* * * Women executives and administrators were almost unknown in the Federal service before
the 1910 decade * * *. It was while the States were ratifying the nineteenth amendment that the first
appointment of a woman to a major office was made, when Mrs. [Helen Hamilton] Gardener was appointed
first woman Civil Service Commissioner in 1920."—Women in the Federal Service, op. cit., p. 36.
22
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
to fill professional and executive jobs, or with a better all-round training in general. This trend parallels the progressive status of women
in outside employment.
In theory, women in comparable work have as good chances as
men for promotion. No adequate data are obtainable, however, on
which to test the truth of this. The required individual capability,
as well as that difficult but most important factor of personal relationships (capacity to adjust to changing requirements in the job
and to work with others), is a controlling factor. Governing the whole
situation are the changing demands made on the various agencies,
often responsible for shifts in personnel needs. The other elements
of personal favoritism and traditional prejudice against women probably are no more prevalent with Government officials than with employers in the outside world. One writer who gives pointers on how
to get a Government job says "personal influence is a much smaller
factor in Government than in private business."
DISTRIBUTION OF WOMEN AMONG THE GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES
In 1939 women were employed in all executive departments and in
all independent establishments but one.17 Seventeen percent of all
women Government workers were in the Post Office Department; 10
and under 15 percent were in Agriculture and in the Treasury; 5 and
under 10 percent each worked for War, Interior, Works Progress
Administration, and the Veterans' Administration; 1 and under 5
percent worked for each of 11 other agencies; and less than 1 percent
worked for each of the remaining 40 agencies employing women.
Executive departments.
The numbers of women employed in the 10 executive departments
bear little relation to women's proportions among all employees in the
various agencies. The Post Office Department, for example, employed
more women than any other department in 1939 (29,358), but it was
the largest department, with more than three-tenths of all Government
employees, and women were only a little over 10 percent of Post Office
employees. Of the five largest executive departments (see appendix
table II), only two, Treasury and Agriculture, had staffs on which
20 percent or more of the employees were women, but this was the
case with four of the five smaller departments. For the year ending
June 30, 1939, women employees ranked as follows:
Women in entire service
Executive departments
Post Office
Treasury
Agriculture
War
Interior
Navy .
Justice
Labor
Commerce
State.
Number
.
-
-
29,358
24,661
21, 575
14,042
10,920
4,662
2,327
2,211
2,160
2,074
Percent
of total
employees
10.2
36.3
20.0
12.8
21.0
5.5
24.2
33.3
14.9
36.0
17 The Railroad Administration, established for the control of railroads in the World War and since
abolished. Necessary clerical duties are carried on by employees of the Treasury Department, the Secretary
of the Treasury being the director general.
23
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT
In all but two of the executive departments (Commerce and Labor)
more than half the women employed were outside the District of
Columbia. In those two departments the proportion outside the
District was slightly less than one-third.
Percent of women employed, outside the
Executive Departments
Post Office
Treasury
Agriculture
War
Interior.
Navy
Justice
Labor
Commerce
State
District of Columbia
96. 9
51. 9
74. 3
83.2
59. 5
66. 1
55. 2
32. 0
32. 1
77. 0
During the years 1934 to 1939 there were various increases and
decreases in the numbers of women employed. The following data
present the number of women employed in each of the 10 executive
departments in the years prior to the reorganization changes of 1939.
TABLE 4.:—Total number of women in each of the 10 executive departments, 1923,
1929, and 193J+ to 1939
Number of women employed on June 30—
Executive departments
Post Office
Treasury. _
Agriculture
War
Interior
Navy
Justice
Labor,. _
Commerce
State
__
1923
1929
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
24, 736
16, 461
4,063
5, 664
4,313
3,203
1,060
1,149
1,542
963
27,911
15,261
4,772
5, 759
3, 594
3, 544
1, 228
1,061
2, 784
1,406
23, 538
14, 549
8, 290
8,946
5, 542
3, 226
1,318
1, 266
1,985
1,497
22,960
16, 289
9, 999
15, 593
6,170
3, 637
1, 634
2, 661
3, 550
1, 589
24, 316
24, 610
10, 895
11, 519
6, 524
3,889
2,082
4,113
2, 671
1,928
25, 658
25, 729
18, 508
11, 912
7,316
4,029
2,160
5,700
2, 519
1,954
29,039
24, 847
22,974
12, 609
10,022
4, 296
2, 339
2, 643
2,479
2,004
1939
29, 358
24,661
21, 575
14,042
10.920
4,662
2,327
2,211
2,160
2,074
The greatest numerical increase in women's employment between
1934 and 1939 took place in the Department of Agriculture, followed
by Treasury, Post Office, Interior, and War. In terms of percentage
increases in women's employment between 1934 and 1939, the relative gains in Agriculture still were first, followed by Interior, Justice,
Labor, Treasury, and War, in the order named. The year 1939
marked the peak employment period for these years in four of the
executive departments. Agriculture and Justice had their maximum
numbers of women in 1938, Treasury and Labor in 1937, and War and
Commerce in 1935. The personnel in various bureaus is changing
constantly in response to the varying needs of the Government
service.
To show how the addition of new bureaus and curtailment of
others may explain numerical changes in the total personnel of a
department, employment figures for the various services under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Labor have been examined. These
data are for the fiscal years 1936 through 1939.
24
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
TABLE 5.— Number of all employees in the Department of Labor, 1936 to 1989, by
bureau or service
Bureau or service
Total employees in the Department of
Labor on June 30—
1939
Total employees in Department
Office of the Secretary
Division of Labor Standards
Division of Public Contracts
Conciliation Service
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Children's Bureau
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Women's Bureau
U. S. Housing Corporation
Wage and Hour Division
U. S. Employment Service
National Reemployment Service
Emergency employees
1
i 13, 111
i 13,814
i 176
i 210
95
i 433
i 228
i 4,012
1 57
3
77
i1 444
286
i 4,018
i 57
i 231
7,489
387
i 283
i 8,214
225
1
1
7,4
i 6,686
194
i 49
184
81
i 435
i 278
3, 756
59
135
i 84
153
83
i 563
i 345
i 3, 773
79
161
551
i 468
i 232
220
Figures omit employees at $1 per annum and those without compensation.
From 1936 through 1939, changes in the number of persons in the
National Reemployment Service accounted for most of the variation
in total employees of the department. The National Reemployment
Service was a temporary Federal agency set up in 1933 as a part of
the United States Employment Service. Its major function was to
place workers on public works and work-relief projects where no State
employment offices were in operation. Expansion of personnel continued through 1937. Subsequently, with the extension of State
employment services, functions and activities gradually were relinquished to the States. In 1939 the establishment within the fiscal
year of the Wage and Hour Division offset to a slight extent the
continued decline in National Reemployment Service personnel. Since
1939 the Employment Service has been removed to the Federal
Security Agency and Immigration and Naturalization to the Department of Justice.
Independent establishments.
In 1939 women formed a larger proportion of total employees in the
independent agencies than in the executive departments. Slightly
over one-third of all employees in independent agencies, in contrast to
only 15 percent of all employees in the executive departments, were
women. In 31 of the 49 independent agencies one-third or more of
the employees were women; in 11 of these 48 percent or more were
women; in 7 there were more women than men. It must be remembered, however, that the independent establishments taken together
account for only about a third of all women employed in the Government.
For the 10 establishments that employed 1,000 or more women in
1939, the proportions of women, and the extent to which they are
employed elsewhere than in the District of Columbia, are shown next.
It may be noted that 7 of these 10 are agencies established in recentyears, and that 5 of these employ much larger proportions of women
than any of the older agencies.
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S
25
EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 6.—Number of women in each of 10 independent establishments, proportion
they comprise of total, and percent employed outside the District of Columbia, 1939
Women employed in 1939
Independent establishments
Number
Works Progress Administration
Veterans' Administration
Home Owners' Loan Corporation
Social Security Board
Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works
General Accounting Office
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Federal Housing Administration
Farm Credit Administration
Government Printing Office
Percent
of total
16,604
12,867
5,495
4,634
2, 575
1,747
1, 718
1, 697
1, 361
1, 060
48.9
35.0
50.2
48.0
25.0
35.5
42.2
36.1
42.9
19.2
In most of these agencies a large proportion of the women worked
outside the District of Columbia. In 7 of the 10 establishments,
from 56 to 94 percent were employed outside the District; of the
remaining 3, the General Accounting Office and the Government
Printing Office have employees only in Washington.
The 10 agencies with the largest total employment had much larger
proportions of women than had the entire executive service or the
executive departments. Some of the newer agencies are concerned
with problems of social welfare, a field in which women have long
been highly qualified and where they have occupied responsible
positions; moreover the agencies are less likely, with their recent
establishment, to have traditional preferences unfavorable to the employment of women.
Percent of women among
total employees, 19S9
All executive departments and independent establishments
10 executive departments
49 independent establishments
7 newest independent establishments
18. 8
15. 2
34. 2
44. 4
Changes in women's employment in major Government agencies.
Between 1923 and 1939 there was an increase of 91,212 in the
number of women employees in the Government service. Fifty-six
percent of this increase was in the executive departments and the
remainder in the independent establishments. The growth in women's
employment was proportionally more rapid in the latter. In the
independent establishments as a group, expansion of existing agencies
and additions of new ones between 1923 and 1939 caused an increase
of 220 percent in women's employment. In the executive departments the increase amounted to about 81 percent.
Well over one-third of the number by which 1939 exceeded 1923 was
in two agencies, the Department of Agriculture and the Works Progress
Administration, the latter not in existence until 1935. Agencies each
26
WOMEN IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
of which accounted for more than 5 percent of the total increase are
as follows:
Increase between 1923
and 1939
Agency
Number
of women
Total, all agenciesAgriculture
Works Progress Administration 1
War
Treasury
Interior
Home Owners' Loan Corporation 1
Social Security Board 1
Post Office
All other agencies, some of them recent.
1
Percent of
total
91,212
100.0
17,512
16,604
8, 378
8,200
6, 607
5,495
4,634
4,622
19,160
19.2
18.2
9.2
9.0
7.2
6.0
5.1
5.1
21.0
Not in existence in 1923.
A comparison of the proportions of women employed in 1923 and
1939 in the executive departments and the four largest of the older
independent establishments shows little progress for women, except
in two departments—State, where their proportion increased in each
period shown, and especially from 1923 to 1929; and Treasury, where
special increases in women's proportions occurred from 1934 to 1939.
In the General Accounting Office and the Veterans' Administration,
the proportion of women dropped steadily and to a notable degree; in
Justice there was a marked decline up to 1934, with some increase since.
In the Interior and Labor Departments, and less notably in Agriculture, marked increases from 1934 to 1939 in the proportions of women
have offset declines in earlier periods. Table 7 shows these and further
details.
TABLE 7.—Proportion of women among all employees in executive departments
and four large independent establishments, 1928, 1929, 1934, CLnd 1989
Agency
Percent women constituted of all employees on June 30—
1923
Executive departments:
Post Office
Treasury
Agriculture
War
Interior
Navy...
Justice
Labor
Commerce
State
Older independent establishments (largest employers):
Government Printing Office
Panama Canal
General Accounting Office
Veterans' Administration
1929
1934
1939
8.7
29.7
20.1
11.1
23.3
7.5
31.6
30.9
13.4
24.0
8.9
28.7
19.9
12.2
21.7
7.0
29.3
23.3
16.6
30.5
8.9
29.2
16.1
13.7
13.9
5.6
21.5
25.8
13.4
34.3
10.2
36.3
20.0
12.8
21.0
5.5
24.2
33.3
14.9
36.0
19.8
5.5
41.5
47.1
20.9
4.8
38.7
43.2
18.9
5.2
38.0
38.2
19.2
4.4
35.5
35.0
Reorganization.
A reorganization18 of the Government agencies was undertaken in
1939 in order to reduce expenditures, increase efficiency, and consolidate
agencies doing allied types of work. The number of independent
establishments was reduced by grouping some of them into three new
administrative agencies. Certain bureaus in the executive depart18 The Reorganization Act was approved April 3, 1939.
In accordance with the Act the President recommended 5 plans to Congress. All were in operation by July 1, 1940.
TRENDS
IN
WOMEN'S
27
EMPLOYMENT
me]its were transferred to the new agencies because their functions
were similar.
Women in June 1940
Federal Security Agency 2
10, 395
American Printing House for the Blind; Civilian Conservation Corps; Columbia Institution for the Deaf; St.
Elizabeths Hospital; Food and Drug Administration;
Freedmen's Hospital; Howard University; National Youth
Administration; Office of Education (Radio Division;
United States Film Service); Public Health Service;
Social Security Board (United States Employment
Service).
Federal Works Agency 2
20, 094
Public Buildings Administration; Public Roads Administration; Public Works Administration; United States
Housing Authority; Work Projects Administration.
Federal Loan Agency 2
8, 637
Disaster Loan Corporation; Electric House and Farm
Authority; Export-Import Bank of Washington; Federal
Home Loan Bank Board (Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation; Home Owners' Loan Corporation):
Federal Housing Administration; Federal National Mortgage Association; Reconstruction Finance Corporation;
RFC Mortgage Company.
38. 4
44. 2
44. 2
1 United States Civil Service Commission Semiannual Report of Employment, June 1940. Table 3.
2 United States Government Manual. July 1940, pp. 545, 547.
The following agencies were taken into the Executive Office of the
President: Bureau of the Budget (includes the Division of Statistical
Standards), National Resources Planning Board, Office of Government
Reports.
In addition to the foregoing changes in general administration, there
were various reallocations of functions and activities among agencies,
as well as adjustments designed to improve intradepartmental organization. Most of the intradepartmental changes were intended to
remove duplication of effort. Changes among departments were
carried out along several lines. In a few agencies the work of some
bureaus had little relation to the basic functions of the agency, and
they were transferred to a more appropriate department. Certain
independent agencies with activities closely allied to the work of an
existing department were brought into that department. In some
instances the functions of a board agency were transferred to another
department or to an official, the board itself being abolished.
Such changes as this had long been planned. Difficult to execute
under any conditions, there are many cases in which the functions of
an agency may be allied to more than one category, and cases in which
the esprit de corps within an agency may be kept intact more successfully in a place where logically it does not seem to belong. Moreover,
the processes of government represent growth to meet changing conditions, and no reorganization at any given period can be considered
complete or final.
National defense program.
The work of most of the executive departments and independent
establishments is related to the National Defense Program. Further,
new organizations ar£ being created. But the present report does
not cover this new period of constantly changing organization and
employment.
408270°—41
5
Chart I I . — N u m b e r of Women in the Various Occupational Groups in 1938.
Clerical (81,130)
P o s t m a s t e r s and
assistants (15,600)
Semitechnical,
semiscientific, and
semiprofessional
(11,525)
Trade and manual
(10,435)
Service (8,925)
Postal clerks and
carriers (6.400)
Technical, scientific,
and professional
(6,165)
Managerial and administrative
(5,355)
28
Part III.—SURVEY OF OCCUPATION, SALARY, AND
AGE OF WOMEN FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, 1938
Through the courtesy of the Civil Service Commission and of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics special tabulations for 145,535 women
employees have been made available to the Women's Bureau from a
studv of occupations, salaries, and ages of 808,715 Federal employees
as of December 31, 1938.1 These tabulations, like the entire study,
are based on a 25-percent random sample of service records of employees
whether at work within the District of Columbia or outside of the
District.2 (See appendix table III.)
Since this includes both civil-service and non-civil-service employees, the occupational classification used in this part differs from
that followed in earlier sections of the present report, which is based
on the Classification Act of 1923. The variations in the occupational
groupings used here and earlier in the report may, in general, be
explained as follows:
It is important to emphasize that these occupational groupings are not identical
with the groupings for salary classification in the Classification Act of 1923, as
amended. In the Classification Act various series of positions are grouped for
pay purposes, but this act is mandatory only for civil-service employees in the
District of Columbia, and several large groups of these employees do not come
within the scope of the Classification Act. The occupational code of the United
States Employment Service has been used as the basis for the present occupational
grouping of (government positions. It will be noted that under this grouping the
technical, scientific, and professional category includes accountants, librarians,
social and welfare workers, and certain other groups, most of whom are not placed
at the professional level by the Classification Act. The subprofessional service
under the Classification Act is not synonymous with the semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional grouping as used in the occupational analysis,
although for the most part the two groups are similar; there are certain other variations between the twTo groupings. Many of the position titles reported by Government departments and agencies cannot be placed in a specific occupational
group because of the absence of sufficient information relating to the duties of the
positions. For this reason, it will be noted that there are a number of "other"
categories which consist primarily of these positions with general titles; they also
include other numerically insignificant categories of occupations. * * * 8
CHARACTER OF WORK DONE BY WOMEN
Occupations with large numbers of women.
The 145,535 women in the Federal service comprised 18 percent of
all persons so employed as of December 31, 1938. More than half
these women, 81,130 in all, were clerical workers. Most of the women
doing clerical work were stenographers, typists, and secretaries.
Others included in this group were clerks, office-appliance operators,
and communications operators.
1 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Monthly Labor Review. Vol. 52, pp. 66-85, January 1941, Occupations and Salaries in Federal Employment, by Malcolm L. Smith and Kathryn R . Wright.
2 Temporary employees and employees of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Work Projects Administration, the National Youth Administration, and a few minor agencies are excluded from the survey. Employees in the judicial branch, in the Library of Congress, and the Botanic Garden, and policemen and
firemen in the District of Columbia government are included in the survey. Ibid., p. 67 and footnote 3.
3 Ibid., p. 68, footnote 5.
29
30
WOMEN IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
The next largest group of women was that of postmasters and assistants, which together with postal clerks and carriers comprised 22,000
workers. Thus, approximately 15 percent of all women in the Federal
service were postal employees.
The semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional group and
the trade and manual group each accounted for over 10,000 women.
Semitechnical and semiprofessional jobs are those with duties incident
or preparatory to technical, scientific, and professional work. Specialized training required for semitechnical positions is less than graduation from college. The trade and manual group includes skilled
workers (too few women for distribution by occupation); semiskilled
workers, such as those in the printing and publishing occupations, in
clothing manufacture, in machine-shop occupations, laundry workers,
metal-working occupations, and operatives in munitions and other
chemical manufacturing; and unskilled laborers and operatives. Over
two-thirds of the women trade and manual workers were semiskilled.
The three smallest groups were service occupations; technical, scientific, and professional positions; and managerial and administrative
work. Each of these had between five and ten thousand women.
Most of the service workers were institutional attendants and charwomen. Technical and scientific positions are, for the most part,
those with duties based on the established principles of a profession or
science and requiring training equivalent to graduation from a college
or university. Women in this group worked in a number of physical
sciences, social sciences, and professions. The managerial and administrative positions included a cabinet officer, a number of heads and
assistant heads of bureaus where the work was predominantly administrative rather than technical, and various other positions of a supervisory or administrative nature. The distribution of men and women
in the eight occupational groups is shown in table 8.
TABLE 8.—Distribution of men and women in the various occupational groupsf
Dec. 31, 1938 1
Men
Total
Women
occupational group
All occupational groups
Technical, scientific, and professional
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional,
------Postmasters and assistants.- - Managerial and administrative
Postal clerks and carriers
Clerical
Service
Trade and manual
Skilled
Semiskilled
Unskilled- _
- __
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
808, 715
100.0
663,180
100.0
145,535
100.0
74, 705
9.2
68,540
10.3
6,165
4.2
51,990
47,000
36, 245
209, 000
148, 000
56, 720
185,055
93,150
47, 905
44,000
6.4
5.8
4.5
25.9
18.3
7.0
22.9
11.6
5.9
5.4
40,465
31,400
30, 890
202, 600
66,870
47, 795
174, 620
92,545
40, 775
41,300
6.1
4.7
4.7
30.6
10.1
7.2
26.3
14.0
6.1
6.2
11, 525
15, 600
5, 355
6,400
81,130
8, 925
10, 435
605
7,130
2,700
7.9
10.7
3.7
4.4
55.8
6.1
7.2
.4
4.9
1.9
Percent
i Figures from U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, January 1941, p. 69.
Men employed by the Federal Government were not concentrated
in a single field to anything like the same extent as women. The
two largest groups of men were postal clerks, with 31 percent, and
trade and manual workers, with 26 percent, together forming only
57 percent of all the men as compared to the 56 percent of the
OCCUPATION,
SALARY,
AND AGE, W O M E N EMPLOYEES,
193 8
31
women who were in the single field of clerical work. Ten percent
of the men, but only four percent of the women, were in the " technical"
group of occupations. Another 10 percent of the men were in clerical
work.
The criticism has frequently been made that young women deciding
on an occupation confine their choices to a relatively narrow group of
fields. If the fields employing women in the Government service are
an indication of the range of opportunity for women in an organization
having such a variety of types of work to be done as has the Federal
Government, this narrow range in choice on the part of young women
seems justified. In 1938, only 4 Government occupations had over
5,000 women each, and only 17 had over 1,000 each. These were
largely in the traditional occupations for women, such as office work,
nursing, teaching, and light manual work of a semiskilled nature.
They included 72 percent of the women in the study, though the
remaining 28 percent were in a wide variety of occupations, many of
which require considerable training and experience. The groups
reporting more than 1,000 women were as follows:
Occupation
Stenographers, typists, and secretaries
Postmasters and assistants
Postal clerks and carriers
Nurses (graduate)
Attendants, hospital and other institutions
Printing and publishing occupations, not elsewhere classified
Tax collectors and deputies
Building services (charwomen)
Office-appliance operators, not elsewhere classified
File, mail, and record clerks.
!
Agricultural extension agents 1
Clothing-machine operators
Teachers and instructors
Accounting, fiscal, and pay-roll clerks
Home-management advisers
Statistical, coding, and research clerks
Communications operators
Number of women
employed
45, 200
15, 600
6, 400
5, 650
4, 200
3, 625
3, 560
3, 200
2, 775
2, 275
2, 250
1, 975
1, 600
1, 525
1, 475
1, 400
1, 300
i Many of these are home economists.
Proportions of women in various occupations.
About 55 percent of the clerical workers in the Government were
women. Two other groups had proportions of women higher than
the 18 percent that women constituted of the whole—postmasters
and assistants, and semitechnical workers, with respectively 33 percent and 22 percent of their employees of the female sex. In the
service occupations as well as in managerial work 16 and 15 percent
of all employees were women. Among technical, scientific, and professional personnel, postal clerks, and trade and manual workers, less
than one person in ten was a woman.
Almost invariably graduate nurses, home-management advisers,
and home economists were women, and in most cases stenographic
workers and clothing-machine operators were women. Not only did
women find employment in these five fields, but except in homeeconomist work they were employed in considerable numbers. In
four other occupations the range was from about 1,500 to more than
45,000. Three others in which half or more of the workers were
women gave positions to over 1,000 women. These were communications operators (1,300), office-appliance operators (2,800), and semiskilled printing and publishing occupations (3,600).
32
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
Within each major occupational group the proportion of women
varied from one type of position to another. In 12 of the detailed
occupations half or more of the employees were women, their proportions being as follows:
Occupation
Technical, scientific, and professional:
Home economists
Librarians
Social and welfare workers
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional:
Home-management advisers
Nurses (graduate)
Therapeutic occupations
Cleiical:
Communications operators
Office-appliance operators
Stenographers, typists, and secretaries
Semiskilled:
Clothing-machine operators.
Laundry workers
Printing and publishing occupations 1
1
of women
in total
92. 6
60. 0
62. 3
96. 4
96. 6
50. 8
76. 5
50. 0
85. 0
88. 8
50. 9
70. 4
Not elsewhere classified.
In all detailed occupations other than the 12 discussed, the majority
of employees were men. In a few occupations there were no women. These included professional engineers, commodity inspectors
and graders, marine officials and inspectors, and 12 semiskilled
occupations.4
In another group of occupations women were less than 10 percent
of the total. Fourteen of these were in the technical, scientific, and
professional class. Among them were architects, attorneys and
judges, economists and social scientists, medical, dental, and veterinary scientists, and workers in various fields of the physical sciences.
In the semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional fields women
were less than 10 percent of the communications and photography
technicians, draftsmen, engineering, architectural, and physical science
workers, fact-finding and compliance investigators, legal examiners,
adjudicators, and investigators, and rural-rehabilitation supervisors.
Other groups in which less than one employee in ten was a woman
include appraisers, inspectors, messengers, kitchen workers, protective
service workers, postal clerks, workers in the skilled trades, and
unskilled laborers and operatives.
The fact that women are a high proportion of those employed in an
occupation does not necessarily indicate that the occupation offers
extensive opportunities to numbers of women. Though more than
one-half of the home economists, librarians, social and welfare wrorkers,
therapeutic workers, and laundry operatives were women, none of
these occupations employed so man}7 as 500 women. On the other
hand, though women comprised only 3 percent of all postal clerks and
carriers, there were more than 6,000 such women. The 15,600 women
postmasters and assistants were only one-third of the total employees
in those occupations.
4
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Op. cit., p. 82.
OCCUPATION,
SALARY,
AND AGE, W O M E N EMPLOYEES,
33
193 8
SALARIES AND OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES
Distribution of women's salaries in major occupational groups.
Almost three-fourths of all women classified by salary in 1938
earned $1,000 but under $2,000 a year. In this range were concentrated from 88 to 78 percent of the service, clerical, managerial and
administrative, trade and manual, and semitechnical, semiscientific,
and semiprofessional workers. It might be expected to find the
managerial and administrative group in a higher salary range, but
here the distribution is affected by the large number of women
reported as tax collectors and deputies, 80 percent of whom earned
$1,200 and under $1,500 a year.5 Beginning salaries for typists and
stenographers are $1,260, $1,440, and $1,620 a year. Further details
are shown in table 9.
TABLE 9.— Annual salaries of women,1 December 81, 1988, by occupational group
Trade and manual
Sf
Annual salary-
Number of w o m e n .
Average (median)..
Under $1,000
$1,000, under $1,200
$1,200, under $1,500
$1,500, under $1,800.
$1,800, under $2,000
$2,000, under $2,200
$2,200, under $2,600
$2,600, under $3,200
$3,200, under $3,800
$3,800, under $4,600.
$4,600, under $5,600
$5,600 and over
IS
8,925 9,505
605 6, 200 2, 700
141, 585 3, 735 11, 505 15, 600 5, 335 6,400
$1, 427 $2,095 $1, 554 $1,126 $1, 374 $1,685 $1, 543 $1,104
$1, 511 $2, 299 $1, 822
13.4
9.0
26.7
25.0
12.6
6.9
3.7
1.9
.5
.2
. 1
(2)
3.0
.8
1.3
3.6
15.4
22. 2
10.7
24.9
10.3
3.9
2.8
1. 1
Percent of women with
4. 1 71.0
0.4
1.4
2.4
1.2
1.3
8.8
7.2
14.3
5.8 62.5
25. 2
12.1
3.2
4.8
35.7
6.6
8.7
2.5
9.0
1.6 2.6 6 1 . 8
4.8
1, 17/3
4.2
. 1
2.9
7.9
.1
1.4
.7
.9
.6
.7
.3
.7
salaries as specified
5.6
18.4
10.9
4. 1 62.0 21.6
34.3 23.4
17.3
33.4
38.9
2.5
14.4
1.7
.2
4.3
. 2 .5
1.1
2.8
.7
.4
1.0
. 1
.1
. 1
(2)
(2)
(2)
11.6
9.9
17.4
18.2
14.0
6.6
14.9
6.6
16.7
10.1
15.0
56.5
1.3
.2
.2
23.7
50.4
22.8
3.1
1 Does not include women serving without compensation (largely agents and consultants), dollar-a-year
employees, or workers paid on a piece-work basis. These were distributed among the occupational groups
as follows: Technical, scientific, and professional, 2,430; semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional,
20; managerial and administrative, 20; clerical, 550; and semiskilled workers in the trade and manual
group, 930.
2 Less than 0.05~percent.
Among women postmasters and assistants almost three-fourths (71
percent) earned under $1,000 a year, and these constituted nearly
three-fifths of all the women with such low salaries. Salaries of postmasters as established by law are based on gross postal receipts for
the preceding year. Those earning under $1,100 are fourth-class
postmasters. The fact that they are permitted to operate another
business at the same time indicates that full-time activity frequently
is not required.
5
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Op. cit., p. 79, table 6, footnote 2.
34
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
Of the women serving as technical, scientific, and professional
workers, just over three-fourths (76 percent) earned $2,000 and more
a year; in this technical 6 group 22 percent of the women earned $2,000
but under $2,200, 25 percent earned $2,600 but under $3,200. Many
of the workers in these lines are in the "professional and scientific"
group in the Government classified service for which $2,000 and $2,600
are the beginning rates in the two lowest grades.
As many as 79 percent of the postal clerks and carriers earned
$2,000 and more a year. These employees begin at $1,700 and receive
an automatic increase of $100 each successive year, until in the fifth
year they are earning $2,100.7 Less than $2,000 received by only
21 percent represents the women employed for less than three years
or as substitute clerks and carriers paid on .an hourly basis. Salaries
of as much as $2,600 are very rare indeed among postal clerks and
carriers.
As salaries of women employees reached the $3,200 level and beyond, the number of women at each level (with one exception) decreased sharply, until in the $5,600-and-over class there were fewer
than 100 women. These were in four occupational groups: Technical, scientific, and professional; postmasters and assistants; managerial and administrative; and clerical. The highest salary in the
semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional group was $4,600
and under $5,600. The top class for postal clerks and carriers and for
the skilled trades, with less than a dozen women at such salaries in
the two groups combined, was $3,200 and under $3,800. No service
worker received so much as $3,200.
Average salaries by occupation.
The median salary for all women Federal employees included in the
tabulation for the year ending December 31, 1938, was $1,511. Half
the women earned more than this amount and half earned less.
Differences in the medians for the major occupational groups indicate
the extent to which salary varied with type of occupation. Median
salaries of women in the various specific occupations are shown in
appendix table III.
Median salary of
women employees
All occupational groups
Technical, scientific, and professional
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional
Postmasters and assistants
Postal clerks and carriers
Managerial and administrative
Clerical
Service
Trade and manual
Skilled
Semiskilled
Unskilled
$1, 511
2, 299
1, 822
607
2, 095
1, 427
1, 554
1, 126
1, 374
1, 685
1, 543
1, 104
As previous discussion indicates, relatively favorable salaries for
women occur in technical occupations, which ordinarily require considerable formal training, and in positions as postal clerks and carriers.
Median earnings for these two occupational groups of respectively
$2,299 and $2,095 bear this out. At the other extreme were post6 The term "technical" is frequently used here as an overall term referring to the technical, scientific, and
professional group.
7 Postal Laws and Regulations of the United States of America, 1932. Sections 452 and 907.
Government Printing Office, Washington.
OCCUPATION, SALARY, AND AGE, W O M E N EMPLOYEES,
193 8
35
masters and assistants, with average annual earnings of $607. Remaining groups had average earnings between the two extremes,
ranging from $1,104 for unskilled trade and manual occupations to
$1,822 for semitechnical work. The average for clerical work ($1,554)
was almost the same as that for all occupations.
In the more specific occupations, highest average annual earnings
were $2,780, received by attorneys and judges. Median salaries are
not presented for some of the detailed occupations, due to the small
numbers of women. The five averages given in the technical group
were all $2,000 or above. Occupations with medians under $1,000
include those of metal-working occupations, machine-shop occupations,
personal-service occupations, laundry workers, and postmasters and
assistants. Average earnings for the two major occupations for
women (exclusive of the postal service) were $1,467 for stenographers,
typists, and secretaries, and $1,876 for graduate nurses. Further
detail can be seen in appendix table III.
Women in higher-paid occupations.
Of all women employees for whom salary data were reported, 18,895
(13.3 percent) received $2,000 or more a year. In all the detailed
technical occupations, in about half those in the semitechnical occupations, and among postal clerks and carriers, larger proportions than
13 percent received $2,000 and more. In most of the clerical, service,
and trade and manual occupations smaller proportions had such
earnings. Of the women in five service occupations, five semiskilled
occupations, as unskilled laborers and operatives, as communications
and photography technicians, as messengers, and as verifying and
reviewing clerks, none received so much as $2,000. Occupations with
the largest numbers of women earning $2,000 or more a year were as
follows:
Number of women
with salaries of
$,2,000 and over
Postal clerks and carriers
Stenographers, typists, and secretaries
Postmasters and assistants
Nurses (graduate)
Accountants and auditors
5, 075
2, 075
1, 120
995
640
These five occupations, which account for more than half of all the
women earning $2,000 and over, are the only ones in which as many as
500 women received such amounts in the year. Excluding the postal
service, almost 30 percent of those receiving $2,000 and over were
stenographers, typists, and secretaries, nurses, or accountants and
auditors.
Of the women in technical, professional, and scientific positions
about three-fourths received salaries as high as $2,000. This points
to the conclusion that while the number of women in technical positions
is comparatively small, once in the field the chances that they will
receive $2,000 or more are relatively good. Opportunities here are
good except in forestry and range science work (representing very
few women), which was the only technical occupation with less than
half the women receiving $2,000 and over. The clerical group is so
large that in terms of numbers alone it had more women with salaries
of $2,000 and over than any other group. Almost three-fourths as
many stenographers, typists, and secretaries received $2,000 and over
(2,075) as in the entire technical and scientific group of occupations
36
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
(2,835). The number earning $2,000 and over in the clerical group as
a whole (6,625) was two and a third times as large as that in thg technical and scientific.
In six of the technical occupations 90 percent or more of the women
earned salaries of $2,000 and over a year, though all these are small
fields for women at present. They are as follows:
Number
of women
employed
Geologists and physical scientists, not elsewhere classified
Medical and dental scientists
Statisticians and mathematicians
Economists, business and other
Attorneys and judges
Zoologists and naturalists
Percent
earning
$2,000 and
over
25
160
85
140
275
50
100.
100.
100.
96.
94.
90.
0
0
0
4
5
0
In the semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional group?
fact-finding investigators and legal examiners were the only occupations in which over half of the women earned as much as $2,000. In
these were employed respectively 100 and 150 women, 85 and 87
percent of whom were at the $2,000 level and above.
In the managerial and administrative group the highest proportion
occurred among appraisers, but only 25 women were so employed.
In no occupation among postmasters and assistants, clerical, service,
or trade and manual workers did so many as 35 percent of the women
earn $2,000 or more. For each of these four groups as a whole the
proportion was less than 10 percent. In the trade and manual group
the proportion and the number of women earning $2,000 and over
rose with the amount of skill. In the unskilled occupations no women
were at this level; in the semiskilled group 20 women, or 0.3 percent
of all semiskilled women workers, and in the skilled group 175, or 29
percent of all skilled women workers, received as much as $2,000.
RELATION OF AGE TO OCCUPATION AND SALARY
Age and occupation.
Women Government workers are an appreciably older group than
gainfully employed women throughout the country as a whole. Only
about 12 percent of women Government workers in 1938 were less than
25 years old, though about one-third of all gainfully employed women
over 18 years of age were under 25 at the time of the 1930 census.8
Among the reasons for this difference is the fact that requirements for
entrance into Government service operate to make the group a highly
selected one. Examinations for positions with the Government are
specific rather than general in nature; applicants must have in most
instances a definite amount and type of education and experience.
This experience, of course, must be acquired through previous employment outside the Government service. The security enjoyed by
Government workers through tenure privileges also tends to make the
group older, since it cuts down turnover of personnel. Beginning at
25 years the proportion at each age level was larger among women
Government workers than among all gainfully employed women over
18 years of age. The oldest group (60 years and over), however,
formed a slightly smaller proportion of women Government workers
8 Women under 18 years of age have been excluded from these census data, since the minimum for entrance
to Government employment, with few exceptions, is 18 years.
OCCUPATION,
SALARY,
AND AGE, W O M E N EMPLOYEES,
193 8
37
than of all gainfully employed women over 18, doubtless because of the
Government retirement system, under which few employees over 70
years old are retained.
Compared to other Government groups clerical workers were young,
with a relatively high proportion (16 percent) under 25 years, but
clerical workers among all gainfully employed women were still
younger, almost half being under 25. In the technical and semitechnical groups also, women in Government employment were older
than those in all employments combined, and many of the women
entering Government service apparently did so considerably later
than those going into all lines of employment. Not until after 30
years of age did the percentages of Government women in technical
and semitechnical work at the various age levels exceed the corresponding percentages among all women workers.
Measured by median age, women were younger than men Government workers. Median ages were 36.9 years for women, 41.5 years
for men. Six percent of the men and 12 percent of the women were
less than 25 years of age. In the older ranges, 40 years and above,
were 56 percent of the men but only 41 percent of the women.
The youngest groups of women were clerical workers and managerial
and administrative workers. Their median ages were respectively
33.7 and 34.3 years, and the proportions under 25 years were 16 and 22
percent. Postmasters were the oldest, with an average age of 45.2
years and with less than 2 percent of their number under 25. Semitechnical workers tended to be comparatively young, with a median
age of 35.9 years and 10 percent of them under 25. Other groups had
median ages of 41 to 44 years. Only 5 percent or less of the professional workers, the postal clerks and carriers, and the unskilled workers,
and 7 to 9 percent of those in the remaining groups, were under 25.
The age distribution of women in the major occupational groups is
shown in table 10. Their median ages were as follows:
All occupational groups
Technical, scientific, professional
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional
Postmasters and assistants
Managerial and administrative
Postal clerks and carriers
Clerical
Service
Trade and manual
Skilled
Semiskilled
Unskilled
Women's
median
ages
* {years)
36. 9
40. 8
35. 9
45. 2
34. 3
43. 7
33. 7
40. 9
41. 7
42.5
40. 5
43. 8
Proportions of women under 40 years of age in Government employment were highest for clerical workers, managerial workers, and the
semitechnical group. In these three, more than 60 percent of the
women were under 40, indicating that hiring is at a more youthful
age than in other Government occupations, and that there is a tendency to leave the service after a relatively short period of employment, whether because of retirement at marriage, transfer to other
types of work, or other reasons. Women in the postal service again
show up as the oldest Government groups, only about one-third of the
38
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
postmasters and assistants and of the postal clerks and carriers being
under 40. In the remaining occupational groups the proportions of
women at the higher age levels were relatively large (53 percent or
more). Among conditions responsible in the case of professional
work may be the fact that requirements in education and experience,
as well as maturity, are important considerations. On the part of
-women employees there may be less of a tendency to withdraw from
employment in professional occupations at marriage because of the
investment in training. Among trade and manual workers the situation is apparently similar in Government work to that in private employment. As previous studies have demonstrated, necessity is the
primary reason why women go into these fields, and necessity keeps
them there.
and
Unskilled
Skilled
Service
1
i Total
Clerical
Semiskilled
Trade and manual
clerks
carriers
Postal
M a n a g e r i a l and
administrative
and
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional
!
|
Postmasters
assistants
Technical, scientific,
and professional
j
Age
All groups
TABLE 10.—Age distribution of women 1 in the various occupational groups,
December 31, 1938
Number of women. 141, 585 3, 735 11, 505 15,600 5, 335 6, 400 80, 580 8,925 9,505
Average
age
36.9 40.8 35.9 45.2 34.3 43.7 33.7 40.9 41.7
(years)
42.5
40.5
43.8
Percent of women at specified agps
4.5 16.2
6.9
7.5
1.5 22.3
4.5 21.4 10.4 10.7
6.9 15.9
10.2 13.7
9.7 16.8 13.2 11.1
13.8 14.7 15.9 14.4 16.5 14.6
16.9 14.8 20.6 13.4 17.5 17.8
7.6 13.8 15.2
15.6
8.6 17.1
7.6 16.7 18.4
7.3 23.2
23.0
4.5
2.6
12.1
2.7
5.0
4.7
7.4
11.6
1.7
15.7
27.3
13.2
16.5
6.6
8.5
12.5
12.6
14.7
16.1
14.3
17.4
3.9
5.0
6.5
9.8
14.1
19.4
18.0
21.1
6.1
Under 25 years
25, under 30 years.
30, under 35 years
35, under 40 years
40, under 45 years..._ _
45, under 50 years
50, under 60 years
60 years and over
12.3
16.8
15.2
14.5
14.9
10.4
11.9
4.0
3.3
8.8
18.3
16.6
17.7
15.7
14.9
4.7
10.3
18.2
19.2
12.8
13.6
10.9
12.9
2.1
605 6,200 2,700
1 Excludes 3,950 women serving without compensation (largely agents and consultants), dollar-a-year
employees, or those paid on a piece-work basis. For occupational distribution of these women see table 9,
footnote 1.
Consideration of the individual occupations as distinct from the
major occupational groups shows that the oldest employees were
accountants and auditors, who averaged 47.4 years. The youngest
were those in "other" semitechnical occupations, averaging 23.6 years
and comprising workers in a variety of miscellaneous fields. It is
likely that experience in these jobs gives the incumbents the training
necessary for positions as fully qualified technicians, so that replacements probably are frequent. Excluding this most youthful group,
the youngest that remained were stenographers, typists, and secretaries, as well as tax collectors and deputies, both with a median age
of 30.7 years.
Age and salary.
Average salaries of women employees increased with age from
$1,341 for the group under 25 years up to $1,624 for those 45 and under
50 years. Subsequently, earnings dropped off, falling to $1,620 for
those 50 and under 60 years and $1,524 for those 60 years and older.
OCCUPATION,
SALARY,
AND AGE, W O M E N EMPLOYEES,
193 8
39
Naturally/ salary differences arising through variations in age were
nothing like so great as were salary differences among the several
occupational groups. There was a difference of only $283 between
the highest and the lowest median of the various age groups. In
contrast, the median for the best-paid occupational group was $1,692
higher than the median for the lowest-paid. The average salaries of
women in the various age groups were as follows:
Median salary
All ages
Under 25 years
25, under 30 years
30, under 35 years
35, under 40 years
40, under 45 years
45, under 50 years
50, under 60 years
60 years and over
$1, 511
1
1, 341
1, 478
1, 524
1, 566
1, 607
1, 624
1, 620
1, 524
There is indication that higher salaries go to older employees,
presumably those with greater experience. For women earning
$1,200 and under $1,500 the median age was 31.4 years, and this
median rose progressively to 49.5 years for those receiving $5,600 and
more. The average ages of women in these various salary groups
were as follows:
Median age
{years)
$1,200, under $1,500
$1,500, under $1,800
$1,800, under $2,000
$2,000, under $2,200
$2,200, under $2,600
$2,600, under $3,200
$3,200, under $3,800
$3,800, under $4,600
$4,600, under $5,600
$5,600 and over
31. 4
34. 8
39. 8
42. 7
44. 9
45. 1
45. 7
44. 5
49. 0
49. 5
At the lowest salary levels, the median age of those receiving less
than $1,200 was about 39 years, which is 4 to 8 years older than for
those who earned $1,200 and under $1,800. This can be explained by
the fact that certain relatively low-paid occupations have concentrations of older employees. It indicates the possibility of advancement
in some fields, as contrasted with consistently low salaries in others.
For example, practically three-fourths of the unskilled workers and of
the service workers received less than $1,200, yet these occupation
groups had high median ages. The lowest salary class includes 71
percent of the postmasters and assistants. The fact that this also
is quite an elderly group is strikingly illustrated by the fact that if
they were excluded the median age of those earning under $1,000
would drop from 39.5 to 28.9 years.
.Information on ages and salaries indicates that the work history of
women who enter the Federal service when fairly young may follow
either of two courses: If they enter certain types of work, relatively
low-paid, they are likely to remain there throughout their working
lives; if, on the other hand, they enter certain other occupations, they
have some possibility of advancement.
The proportion of women earning as much as $2,000 increased continuously with age up to 60 years; as much as $2,000 was earned by
only 1 percent of those under 25 years, but by 24 percent of those 50
40
WOMEN IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
and under 60 years; after 60 years, however, there was some decline
in the proportion of those receiving so much. Highest salaries of
$4,600 and over were earned by no women under 30, by about 0.2
percent of those 30 and under 40, and by less than 1 percent of those
60 and over.
At the other end of the scale, the proportions who earned under
$1,200 a year rose continuously after 25 years of age; these lower
salaries were received by only about 16 percent of those 25 and under
30, but by 37 percent of those 60 years or over. This has been explained by the greater ages of those in certain low-paid occupations.
Further details may be seen in table 11.
TABLE 11.—Salary distribution of women
Annual salary
Number of women
Under $1,000
$1,000, under $1,200
$1,200, under $1,500
$1,500, under $1,800
$1,800, under $2,000
$2,000, under $2,200
$2,200, under $2,600
$2,600, under $3,200
$3,200, under $3,800
$3,800, under $4,600
$4,600, under $5,600
$5,600 and over
1
in the various age groups, Dec. 31, 1938
All
ages
Under
25
years
25,
under
30
years
30,
under
35
years
35,
under
40
years
40,
under
45
years
45,
under
50
years
50,
under
60
years
141, 585
17,455
23, 795
21, 570
20, 505
21,020
14,645
16,880
13.4
9.0
26.7
25.0
12.6
6.9
3.7
1.9
.5
.2
2. 1
17.4
9.8
48.5
19.3
4.0
.7
.2
.1
()
Percent t
9.4
6.5
36.8
33.4
9.7
3.0
.6
.5
2 .1
()
9.6
7.3
28.8
30.7
13.7
6.5
2.0
.8
.4
.2
2
()
with salaries as specified
11.5
12.2
14.1
9.0
9.5
11.6
23.6
20.0
15.8
26.3
23.6
20.5
15.0
15.8
14.7
8.9
11.1
8.0
3.8
5.8
6.7
2.0
3.0
3.8
.4
.6
1.0
.2
.3
.4
.1
.2
.2
.1
.1
.1
60
years
and
over
5,715
17.6
10.8
14.1
18.6
14.9
11.4
7.2
3.6
.9
.4
.3
.2
1 Excludes 3,950 women serving without compensation (largely agents and consultants), dollar-a-year
employees, and workers paid on a piece-work basis.
2 Less than 0.05 percent.
Age, salary, and occupation.
Data correlating salary with occupation and age show that in all
occupations but two the lowest median salary was that of women
under 25 years and the highest was that of women 60 years and over.
The two exceptions were the postmasters and assistants and the trade
and manual workers, in which groups the women of 60 years and over
had the lowest average salaries. For other occupations the data indicate that in general greater experience (as measured by age) was
recognized by increased salaries. Details may be seen in table 12.
Higher earnings for older women appear in two large homogeneous
fields, that of stenographers, typists, and secretaries and that of graduate nurses. The group first named shows a difference in median
between the youngest and the oldest women of $373, and the second
group shows a difference of $274. For both groups advancement was
more rapid before 35 years than after, but the clerical workers continued to advance, with a total increase of $125 after 35 years, whereas
41
OCCUPATION, SALARY, AND AGE, WOMEN EMPLOYEES, 193 8
for nurses there were set-backs as well as advances and the total
increase after 35 years was only $19. The details are as follows:
Median salaries
Stenographers,
typists, and
secretaries
All ages
Graduate
nurses
$1, 467
Under 25 years
25, under 30 years
30, under 35 years
35, under 40 years
40, under 45 years
45, under 50 years
50, under 60 years
60 years and over
__
$1, 876
1, 334
1, 485
1, 557
1, 582
1, 600
1, 628
1, 650
1, 707
1, 669
1, 785
1, 890
1, 924
1, 909
1, 936
1, 944
1, 943
TABLE 12.—Average salaries of women 1 in the major occupational groups, December 81, 1938, by age
Occupational group
All groups..
-
Technical, scientific, and
professional
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional..
Postmasters and assistants..
Managerial and administrative
Postal clerks and carriers
Clerical
Service
Trade and manual
Skilled
Semiskilled.
Unskilled
All
ages
Under
25,
30,
35,
40,
45,
50,
60 years
under under under under under under
25
and
years 30 years 35 years 40 years 45 years 50 years 60 years over
$1,511
$1,341
$1,478
$1,542
$1,566
$1,607
$1,624
$1,620
$1,524*
2,299
1,960
2,073
2,077
2,194
2,649
2,790
2,772
2,905
1,822
607
1,484
566
1,658
563
1,792
627
1,861
820
1,891
667
1,931
619
1,933
607
1,976
545
1,427
2,095
1,554
1,126
1, 374
1,685
1,543
1,104
1,370
1, 586
1,342
1,069
1,335
(2)
1,488
840
1,386
1,933
1,497
1,136
1, 318
(2)
1,444
1,021
1,405
2,054
1, 570
1,132
1,282
(2)
1,480
1,083
1,483
2,100
1,617
1,120
1,398
(2)
1,548
1,110
1,586
2,104
1,657
1,138
1,473
(2)
1, 586
1,095
1,477
2,116
1,708
1,127
1,394
(2)
1,557
1,136
1,800
2,118
1,746
1,128
1,426
(2)
1, 578
1,120
2,320
2,133
1, 771
1,142
1,251
(2)
1,500
1.154
1 Excludes 3,950 women serving without compensation (largely agents and consultants), dollar-a-year
employees, and workers paid on a piece-work basis.
2 Too few for the computation of a median.
Part IV.—HOW TO QUALIFY FOR A GOVERNMENT
JOB
For more detailed information, see: Federal Employment Under the Merit System
U. S. Civil Service Commission
A simple request to the United States Civil Service Commission,
Washington, D. C., to be notified of the next examination to be given
for the particular type of position desired, starts the routine that
may result in a Government job.
When plans are completed for an examination in a specific field, the
Civil Service Commission sends an announcement and application
form to each individual who has requested notification. Persons also
may learn of current examinations from the bulletin boards in fir stand second-class post offices throughout the country, where application blanks may be obtained as well. When the application form,
properly filled out, is returned to the Commission it is studied to
determine whether the applicant has the necessary qualifications for
the job.
All applicants meeting the requirements are notified of the time and
place of examination;1 otherwise a form letter is sent, stating in what
respects qualifications do not measure up.
Those successful in passing an examination take their places on a
"register" according to the grade earned. It is this register that is
consulted by the Government agency needing that particular type of
employee; the selection must be made from the three highest ranking
names on the list. The register, "active" for one year only, may be
extended for one, two, or three years, or it may become obsolete and a
new examination be announced.
Residence requirements.
As far as jobs in Washington, D. C., are concerned, residence is a
factor as to whether permanent appointment will be secured. Each
State has been allotted a certain number of appointees to the Government service, based on population, and persons from States with
full "quotas" are passed over on the register for a persom from a
State not yet up to its quota. However, such individuals may be
given a "temporary" position provided they are in the immediate
vicinity of Washington. ' Turn-over of employment in the service
may change the ratio of appointments to State quotas overnight,
and an applicant whose examination was rated in high standing but
whose State quota was filled may rise from a low to a high place on
the register in a short time. Notices as to State quotas are issued
twice a month by the Civil Service Commission.
Qualifications necessary.
By means of the written tests in the examination one's general information, intelligence, and fitness are judged. Character also is important, and is inquired into by the Commission through a trained
i Some examinations for professional and scientific positions require only the filling out of a blank describing personal, educational, and experience qualifications, with samples of writing and research.
42
HOW
TO QUALIFY FOR A GOVERNMENT JOB
43
investigator, from former employers, or from references given by the
applicant. An applicant must be a citizen of the United States and,
except for disabled veterans and others in work where physical
ability is of little importance compared to mental qualifications, must
be in sound physical health. Before appointment a rigid physical
examination is given by a medical officer. Fingerprints are taken
also. Not more than two members of a family living under the same
roof may be appointed to Civil Service jobs. The appointee, on
being sworn in, must take an oath that he is not a member of any
political party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the
United States Government.
Age requirements.
There is no general rule affecting age requirements in Civil Service
examinations. Age limits are set by the Commission in consultation
with the department concerned at the time the examination is
prepared.
In the case of most examinations the announcements make no
statement as to minimum age, but the requirements as to education
or experience operate to set a minimum somewhat above 18 years.
During 1940, announcement of examinations for stenographer, typist,
telephone operator, student nurse, card-punch operator, and similar
positions specified a minimum of 18 years; for apprentice jobs the
minimum stated was 16 or 17 years; for certain other examinations
it ranged from 20 up to 30 years, the latter for junior graduate nurse
assigned to tuberculosis hospitals.
For most of the examinations the upper age limit is 53 years. This
allows a period of 2 years for the life of the register, so that eligibles
will be under 55 at the time of appointment and will be able to serve
15 years before retirement at 70. Many professional and scientific
positions and most clerical jobs are in this group.2 In some instances
the age limit is set at 55 rather than 53. Consideration of the retirement age likewise causes the Commission to set 48 or 50 years as the
maximum for many mechanics' and laborers' jobs (exclusive of those
in Navy Yards), since the retirement age is 65 years. Similarly, an
age limit of 45 years provides for normal operation of retirement at
62 years for laborers and mechanics in Navy Yards and for employees
in hazardous occupations.
Occasionally, however, age limits at entrance are set lower than
operation of the retirement system would necessitate. For positions
requiring exceptional physical qualifications (for example, border
patrolman) or for work performed under especially arduous conditions (as in the Panama Canal Service) 35, 40, or 45 years is the
maximum. In the effort to recruit young persons who will advance
in the service, 35 years frequently is set as the maximum for entrance
into the lowest professional grade. For the two grades next higher,
40 and 45 years respectively apply in some of the professional examinations.
On the other hand, higher age limits are set if there is a possibility
that the number of applicants will be insufficient. During 1940,
shortages in the supply of certain types of workers needed under the
Defense Program resulted in relaxing customary age limits. For
2 This high admission age is relatively new for the assistant and associate grades in the professional and
scientific service. Until within the past few years examinations ordinarily admitted no one above 40 and
45, respectively.
44
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
such professional positions as naval architect and marine engineer
the age limit was 70 years, the retirement age for the group. An
examination for toolmaker in ordnance and naval work had a 62-year
age limit, which is retirement age for that position. For another
group of positions, which included explosives engineer, mechanical
engineer, metallurgical engineer, lower grades of naval architect,
metallurgist, and marine surveyor, 60 years was set as the age limit.
Women applicants have not been affected by this policy, because few
of these positions are women's jobs, but the general policy well might
affect women if shortages occur in other jobs.
Education necessary.
For some examinations there is no specific educational requirement;
for example, examinations given for the custodial, labor, and mechanical service. Neither is education specified in the stenographic
or typist examination, though the grammar and spelling tests would
indicate more than elementary schooling.
Most examinations are held to fill vacancies in clerical and trades
positions. The Civil Service Commission reported in 1935 that "80
percent of the positions within the classified service are such as to
require no specified institutional training," but that ability and
aptitude are tested in the practical examinations given for these
positions. "The Commission endeavors not to discriminate against
the individual who for reasons beyond his control has been denied
the educational opportunities enjoyed by others."
Of 1,500 different types of positions for which examinations were
given in 1937, only 200 required college graduation. Practically all
professional and scientific positions have such a requirement, advanced
graduate work being necessary for some of the higher grades.
Experience required.
For certain types of positions experience may be substituted for
some of the education requirements, and vice versa, but for other jobs
definite requirements for both experience and higher education are
set up.
Sex of appointees.
Under the merit system women take the same examination as men
to qualify for the same position,3 and today few examinations are
limited to men.4 Such "discriminations" are always at the request
of the department asking for the examination, and they do not represent general policy established by the Civil Service Commission.
The notice of an examination may carry this statement:
The department or office requesting certification of eligibles has the legal right
to specify the sex desired.
To this is added, in some examinations, the following sentence:
For these positions the [Government agency] wishes men [women].
Examinations for juniors.
An interesting experiment was undertaken in 1934 (taking advantage of an examination announced from time to time since 1923) to
recruit nonspecialized liberal arts college graduates under 35 years of
age for the Government service, through the examination for "junior
For veteran preference in the marking of examination papers, see p. 13.
4 See pp. 10-11. For history of sex discrimination in the Federal service, see Women in the Federal
Service, U. S. Civil Service Commission, Washington, 1938, pp. 18-21.
3
HOW
TO QUALIFY FOR A GOVERNMENT JOB
45
civil service examiner." This was designed to meet the need for
employees in such fields as public welfare, social security, and economic planning, where the demand was for individuals with broad training. It tested the "mental alertness and capacity to learn different
types of work readily," and it was "not designed to select persons
with a specialty." Women fared as well as men in actual appointments from the register set up, clerical work accounting for most of
the jobs filled. This appears to be considerably less true of the subsequent more professionalized types of examinations for junior grades.
Those were most successful who had majored in English, economics,
history, mathematics, chemistry, in the order given. The examination
was repeated in 1936, with equally gratifying results; since then it
has not been given, though other types of tests have filled a similar
need—to recruit promising juniors to the service.
Chief of these, but limited to the professional and scientific service,
was the "junior professional assistant" examination 5 given in 1939,
and open to college seniors who expected to graduate shortly.6 In
1939 an applicant could choose one of 22 types of professional work in
which to be examined, the test being made up for the college-graduate
level. Twenty semester hours were required in the optional subject.
In 1940 a choice of the 28 optional subjects indicated in the list
following offered increased opportunities to the college graduate:
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Administrative Technician.
Agricultural Economist.
Agronomist.
Animal Breeder.
Archaeologist.
Archivist.
Biologist (Wildlife).
Chemist.
Engineer.
Entomologist.
Forester.
Geographer.
Information Assistant.
Legal Assistant.
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Junior
Librarian.
Metallurgist.
Meteorologist.
Olericulturist.
Plant Breeder.
Poultry Husbandman.
Public Welfare Assistant.
Range Examiner.
Rural Sociologist.
Social Anthropologist.
Soil Scientist.
Statistician.
Textile Technologist.
Veterinarian.
English is not on this list, but it was to be offered as one of the
optional subjects in 1941.
In-service training.
The National Resources Committee in 1939 made the following
statement: "The Federal Government has difficulty in securing highly
competent research workers with whom to staff its scientific agencies.
It seems quite certain, in view of the extensive development of research
activities within the Government, that attention will have to be given
to the special training of research workers, especially in the social
sciences."
For several years some of the Government departments have maintained schools, or in-service training systems,7 so that workers can
5 The examination comprised a general intelligence and information test, weighted 30, and an examination
in the professional field chosen by the applicant, weighted 70. In 1939, of 43,973 applicants, 9,400 passed
the examination.
6 Another type, to be given in 1941, is the "student aid" examination, including similar fields, open in the
early spring to third-year college students and designed to afford summer jobs.
7 See Annual Report, Civil Service Commission, 1939, pp. 45-6, for plans made by the Commission to
develop in-service training in the Government service. See also ch. 16, Training for Advancement in Public
Service, in "Opportunities in Government Employment," by L. J. O'Rourke, for discussion of in-service
training in the various Government departments (Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Justice, Labor, State,
Treasury, War and Navy, Federal Security, Federal Works, Federal Loan, and several of the independent
agencies).
46
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
acquire more training, either for cultural benefit or for direct aid in
obtaining consideration for promotion. By executive order in 1938
it is mandatory for all agencies to establish practical training of employees. Attention should be called in passing to the National Institute
of Public Affairs, not connected with any Government department,
with its unique program for providing practical training in the operations of the Federal Government for college graduates. Each year a
group of about 40 "interns" are brought to Washington to spend a
nine months' apprenticeship working without pay in the Government
departments.8
8 Selections are carefully made and every year a small percent of them are women.
Many Government
officials and personnel offices have refused to consider having women interns, substantiating the general
prejudice evidenced in the little use made of the "female" list of the Junior Professional Assistant register
compared with the "male" list.—Personnel Administration, Vol. 2, March 1940, p. 11.
APPENDIXES
A. GENERAL TABLES
B. WOMEN IN SUPERVISORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE
POSITIONS, 1925 AND 1941
C. BIBLIOGRAPHY
D. ROSTER OF SPECIALIZED PERSONNEL
47
APPENDIX A
GENERAL TABLES
TABLE I.—Number of civil employees in the executive departments and independent
establishments, 1923 to 1939, by sex
In District of Columbia
Entire service
Years ended
June 30
Women
Men
Women
Number Percent
of total
1923
467,010
505,164
1929
1930
520, 059
525, 641
1931
490, 725
1932
483. 864
1933
559, 569
1934
1935
596, 935
665, 353
1936
1937
682,164
1938
685, 749
1939
747, 577
Percent increase in numbers:
1923 to 1939
I
60.1
1934 to 1939
33.6
81, 521
82, 501
88, 856
91,196
87, 506
81, 568
101, 525
120, 777
158, 906
159, 500
166,177
172, 733
111.9 I
70.1
Outside District of Columbia
14.9
14.0
14.6
14.8
15.1
14.4
15.4
16.8
19.3
19.0
19.5
18.8
Men
38,821
38,258
40,348
41, 399
41,111
39,446
52.241
61,845
70,105
69,155
68,831
74,052
90.8 I
41.8
Women
Number Percent
of total
27,469
25, 646
28,162
30, 294
27, 682
25, 991
34, 955
41, 608
46, 998
46, 254
46, 759
49, 312
79.5 |
41.1
41.4
40.1
41.1
42.3
40.2
39.7
40.1
40.2
40.1
40.1
40.5
40.0
Men
428,189
466, 906
479, 711
484,242
449, 614
444,418
507, 328
535, 090
595, 248
613, 009
616, 918
673,525
Number
Percent
of total
54,052
56,855
60, 694
60,902
59,824
55, 577
66, 570
79,169
111, 908
113,246
119,418
123,421
11.2
10.9
11.2
11.2
11.7
11.1
11.6
12.9
15.8
15.6
16.2
15.5
128.3
85.4
49
50
W O M E N IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
TABLE II.— Total number of civil employees, number and percent distribution of
women, and percent women constitute of total, June SO, 1939, % department or
establishment
Women employees
Department or establishment
All agencies
Executive departments..
Post Office..
War
AgricultureNavy
Treasury
Interior
Commerce..
Justice
Labor
State
Independent establishments..
Alley Dwelling Authority
American Battle Monuments Commission
Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
Board of Tax Appeals
r
Central Statistical Board
Civil Aeronautics Authority
Civil Service Commission
Civilian Conservation Corps (Director's office)
Commodity Credit Corporation
Electric Home and Farm Authority
Employees' Compensation Commission
Export-Import Bank
Farm Credit Administration
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works..
Federal Home Loan Bank Board
Federal Housing Administration
Federal Power Commission
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
Federal Trade Commission
General Accounting Office
Golden Gate International Exposition Commission.
Government Printing Office
Home Owners' Loan Corporation
Interstate Commerce Commission
Maritime Commission
Maritime Labor Board
Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
National Archives
National Capital Park and Planning Commission
National Emergency Council
National Labor Relations Board
National Mediation Board
National Resources Committee
New York World's Fair Commission
Panama Canal
Railroad Administration
Railroad Retirement Board
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Rural Electrification Administration
Securities and Exchange Commission
Smithsonian Institution
Social Security Board
Tariff Commission
Tennessee Valley Authority
Veterans' Administration
Works Progress Administration
t
Office of the President..
i Less than 0.05 percent.
Total
employees
Number
Percent
distribution
920,310
172,733
100.0
748, 403
113, 990
66.0
288,979
109,886
107, 712
85,400
68,002
51,923
14,491
9,605
6,646
5, 759
29,358
14,042
21, 575
4,662
24,661
10,920
2,160
2,327
2,211
2,074
17.0
8.1
12.5
2.7
14.3
6.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.2
171, 798
58, 724
31
121
425
127
45
4,214
I,768
83
153
138
521
13
3,176
616
1,396
10,305
354
4,707
721
39
687
4,915
59
5, 534
10,950
2,621
1,471
28
81
544
351
25
362
841
72
239
72
II,604
176
71
27
440
997
39
60
51
275
6
1,361
220
497
2, 575
120
1,697
231
22
255
1,747
15
1,060
5,495
794
387
14
2
77
148
4
191
343
36
62
20
513
2,598
4,073
778
1,576
489
9,661
305
12,149
36,787
33,972
778
1,718
315
538
121
4,634
114
987
12,867
16,604
109
19
1
0
0)
0) '
0)
0)
0)
C1)
.2
0) '
.1
.3
1.5
.1
1.0
.1
0)
.1
1.0
0)
3.2
.5
.2
C1)
0)
0)
0) '
0)
0)
0)
.5
1.0
.2
.3
.1
2.7
.1
.6
7.4
9.6
0)
51
APPENDIXES
TABLE III.— Total number of civil employees, number and salaries of women, and
median ages of men and women, Dec. 81, 1988, by occupational group
Women
employees
Occupational group
All occupational groups 2
Technical, scientific, and professional2Accountants and auditors.
Agricultural extension agents 2
Agronomists, horticulturists, botanists, and bacteriologists
Architects
Attorneys and judges
Chemists and metallurgists 2
Economists, agricultural
Economists, business and o t h e r —
Editorial and informational occupations (professional)
Engineers (professional) 2
Entomologists and husbandmen-—
Forestry and range science occupations
Geologists and physical scientists,
n. e. c.2
Home economists
Librarians 2
Medical and dental scientists 2
Social and welfare workers 2
Social scientists, n. e. c.2
Statisticians and mathematicians 2_
Veterinary scientists 2
Zoologists and naturalists
Other 2 *
Semitechnical, semiscientific, and semiprofessional 2
Agricultural and biological occupations 2
Commodity inspectors and graders_
Communications and photography
technicians
Draftsmen
Engineering, architectural, and
physical science occupations
Fact-finding and compliance investigators
Home-management advisers
Legal examiners, adjudicators, and
investigators
Medical and dental technicians
Nurses (graduate)
Rural-rehabilitation supervisors - . .
Social-science occupations
Teachers and instructors 5
Therapeutic occupations
Other *
Postmasters and assistants
Postal clerks and carriers
Managerial and administrative 2
Appraisers
Inspectional occupations, n. e. c . 2 Marine officials and inspectors
Tax collectors and deputies
Other 2 i
Clerical 2
Accounting, fiscal, and pay-roll
clerks
Communications operators
Editorial, informational, and personnel clerks
File, mail, and record clerks
Messengers
Office-appliance operators, n. e. c__
Purchase and supply clerks
See footnotes at end of table.
Estimated
number
of total
employees 1
Number
Percent
of
total
employees i
18, 715 145, 535 18.0
8.3
74, 705 6,165
750 10.7
7,000
6,950 2, 250 32.4
3.8
130
3,450
1.1
25
2, 200
5.2
275
5, 300
50
1,455
3.4
90
1,950
4.6
140
3,100
4.5
11.7
4.3
600
19, 820
1,150
3,900
1,215
270
605
5, 220
755
2,025
855
2,805
650
3,430
25
250
365
160
470
200
85
10
50
22.2
15.9
.3
3.1
3.7
2.7
96.4
2.3
30.8
96.6
2.4
44.1
47.1
50.8
12.2
33.2
3.1
14.8
1.1
4.1
Median
salary
of
women
Numemployees ber
Men
40.6
43.8
(3)
34.5
40.6
38.4
41.0
41.2
41.9
40.8
47.4
40.6
41.0
39.0
33.6
38.1
(3)
37.2
47.1
39.3
41.6
38.9
44.7
36.9
42.3
37.2
34.5
43.3
35.9
34.6
33.7
43.0
(3)
(3)
42.7
40.5
(3)
(3)
(3)
35.7
(33)
(3)
()
(3)
(3)
(3)
38.8
43.7
(3)
38.1
3
()
(3)
(3)
(3)
37.0
35.9
34.4
(3)
(3)
$1,511
2, 299 2,835
2,638
640
(3)
100
20
260
40
65
135
55
(3)
30
(3)
5
(3)
25
(3)
150
2,093
295
2,363
40
(3)
320
2,000
170
(3)
75
(3)
5
(3)
45
(3)
• 360
(4)
1,822 2,100
1,190
55
(3)
(3)
2,3780
()
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
55
40
85
30
130
15
995
10
185
325
140
35
1,120
5,075
860
15
25
35.0
1,486
32.0
(3)
(3)
1,441
(33)
()
37.7
(3)
36.7
36.2
44.2
23.6
45.2
43.7
34.3
(3)
42.8
1,876
(3)
1,744
1,633
1,967
(4)
607
2,095
1,427
(3)
1, 275
30.7
36.8
33.7
110
1,417
710
(4)
1,554 6, 625
(3)
(3)
49.4
8.0
54.8
37.0
35.0
41.1
42.2
27.9
48.9
42.1
43.6
46.3
44.7
43.4
39.7
43.0
32.8
1,525 23.5
1, 300 76.5
40.7
(3)
37.9
37.0
1,640
1,366
225
37.4
29.5
25.1
29.2
40.4
36.9 1,818
35. 1 1, 393
(3)
(3)
31.6 1, 388
45.4 1,453
195
580
5, 250 2,275
200
4,900
5,550 2,775
700
3,500
2,000
.4
7.7
20.1
51,990 11, 525
3,910
620
400
5
1,900
160
5, 200
400
100
3,700
1,530 1,475
150
6,500
200
650
5,850 5, 650
100
4,100
485
1,100
3,400 1,600
305
600
275
2, 250
47,000 15, 600
209,000 6,400
36, 245 5, 355
25
2, 300
250
6,105
1,600
7, 200 3,560
19,040 1,520
148,000 81,130
6,500
1,700
2.1
92.6
60.0
3.1
62.3
Women with
salaries of
$2,000 and over
Median age 1
29.0
43.3
4.1
50.0
20.0
5
100
76.9
80.0
94.5
80.0
72.2
96.4
78.6
60.0
16.7
100.0
60.0
81.9
100.0
68.8
85.0
100.0
50.0
90.0
55.4
18.3
9.2
52
WOMEN IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
TABLE III.—Total number of civil employees, number and salaries of women, and
median ages of men and women, Dec. 31, 1938, by occupational group—Continued
Women
employees
Occupational group
Estimated
number
of total
employ-
Clerical—Continued.
Statistical, coding, and research
clerks 2
_
5,800
Stenographers, typists, and secretaries
53, 200
Verifying and reviewing clerks,
n. e. c
1, 600
Other ^
58,000
Service 2
56, 720
Attendants, hospitals and other institutions
19, 100
Building services—janitors and
charmen, and charwomen
12,100
Cooks
2, 850
2,000
Elevator operators
1, 550
Kitchen workers
Personal service occupations, n. e. c .
1, 550
Protective services 2
17, 570
Trade and m a n u a l 2
185,055
Skilled 2
93,150
Semiskilled 2
47,905
Clothing-machine operators 2 _.
2, 225
Laundry workers
550
Machine-shop occupations
3, 195
Metal-working
occupations,
n. e. c
1,560
Munitions and other chemical
750
workers
Printing and publishing occu5, 1.50
pations, n. e. c___
34, 475
Other *
Unskilled laborers and operatives.. 44,000
Number
W o m e n with
salaries of
$2,000 and over
Median age
Median
salary
of
women
WomNumemen
ber
ployees
Percent
of
total
employees
1, 400
24. 1
1, 565
50
45, 200
85.0
1, 467
2,075
175
25, 000
8, 925
10.9
43. 1
15. 7
4, 200
22.0
3, 200
450
225
125
400
325
10, 435
605
7,130
1,975
280
345
26.4
15.8
11.2
8.1
25.8
1.8
5.6
.6
14.9
88.8
50.9
10.8
210
13.5
40.7
37.8
120
16.0
35.6
(3)
(3)
3, 625
575
2, 700
70.4
1.7
34.7
(6)
41.4
41. 1
(6)
43.8
1, 634
(4)
1,104
6. 1
39. 1
34.0
41.7
(3)
40.2
40.9
(3)
1,126
40.5
37.5
1,149
43.0
42.2
41.7
30.9
35.9
42.5
42.1
42.9
40.9
44.5
39.6
41.3
45.1
46.3
36.6
(3)
37.2
46.1
41.7
42.5
40.5
37.0
36.9
45.7
1,089
1, 306
1,193
(3)
844
1, 389
1, 374
1, 685
1, 543
1, 218
771
Percent
of all
women
with
salaries
reported
3,900
85
15.6
1.0
80
195
175
20
10
26.2
10
1.7
2. 1
28.9
.3
1.0
944
N . e. c.—not elsewhere classified.
1 Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, January 1941, p p . 83 to 85.
Occupations and Salaries in Federal Employment, b y Malcolm L . Smith and Kathryn R. Wright.
2 Age and salary computations are exclusive of employees for whom complete information on age and salary
was not available. Included are persons serving without compensation (largely agents and consultants),
dollar-a-year employees, and workers paid on a piece-work basis.
3 N o t computed; base too small.
* T h e " o t h e r " categories consist primarily of positions the titles of which are too general for specific classification in any of the detailed occupational groups. Included also are numerically insignificant categories
of occupations. In the "managerial and administrative" group the positions are predominantly administrative and supervisory in character without specific reference to occupational fields. N o median salary
is presented for these groups due to the heterogeneous character of the occupations included.
6 College instructors and professors are counted in the profession they teach, but instructors and teachers
in primary and secondary schools are included here.
6 Data not available.
APPENDIX B
WOMEN IN SUPERVISORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE
POSITIONS, 1925 1 AND 1941
The United States Civil Service Commission issues each year an
Official Register of the United States which contains a list of "all
persons occupying administrative and supervisory positions in the
legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Government, including the District of Columbia, in connection with which salaries
are paid from the Treasury of the United States." This register is
not the result of a survey by the Civil Service Commission, but is
compiled from information submitted by the various departments
and agencies. Some departments provide a very detailed list of administrative employees regardless of salary, others submit only the
names of those holding important positions in the higher salary
brackets.
Owing to the varied type of reporting it is probable that the group
earning less than $3,000 a year is reported in less detail in some
departments than in others. This affects the number of women listed
especially since women most are likely to hold administrative positions
concerned with the general routine of an office, for example, head of
telephone and switchboard section, typing unit, or filing section,
positions which are usually in the lower-salaried group. There is,
however, no reason to believe that this limitation seriously affects a
comparison from one year to another, since in the period to be discussed the laws consistently required "* * * a full and complete
list of all persons occupying administrative and supervisory positions * * *."
A comparison of the Official Register for 1941 with that for 1925 2
shows that women had advanced from 2.4 percent of the total for
whom salary information was stated in 1925 to 3.5 percent in 1941.
In the 16 years the number of women reported in the register had
trebled, increasing from 88 to 264, while the entire register had more
than doubled, increasing from 3,700 to almost 7,500.3
Administrative and supervisory openings for women were few compared to opportunities for women in rank and file employment.
Whereas only 3.5 percent of administrative employees in 1941 were
women, 19.6 percent of all persons in Federal employment were
women. Had women been 19.6 percent of persons in the register,
there would have been approximately 1,500 women listed.
1 1925 was selected for comparison because it was the year of a previous investigation by the Women's
Bureau of the status of women in Government service.
2 At this period the Official Register was published by the Bureau of the Census.
3 The following groups were excluded from the analysis of the Official Register presented in these pages:
Those serving without compensation; dollar-a-year employees; persons paid on a per diem or fee basis; those
whose total compensation was not ascertainable because a portion of their salary consisted of commissions,
fees, maintenance or fuel, or because they were paid partly or wholly by an agency other than the one reporting them, such amount not being known; and commissioned officers receiving Army, Navy, or Marine
Corps pay. In addition to the regular executive departments and agencies, the Government Printing
Office and the Library of Congress are included, while the Federal Reserve Board is excluded becouse
salaries were not reported in both years.
53
54
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
The number of employees in the Federal service as a whole increased
between 1925 and 1941 slightly more rapidly than the number of
supervisory personnel listed.4 Though in 1925 as many as 65 names
appeared in the register for every 10,000 persons in Federal employment,
16 years later only 55 names were listed for every 10,000 persons in
Government work. The number of women in administrative positions
as evidenced by the register was 10 per 10,000 women employed in
both years. Similar ratios for men show that the number of men in
the register for each 10,000 men in Federal employment dropped from
74 in 1925 to 66 in 1941.
Between 1925 and 1941 the number of women in the register in all
salary groups increased. An upward shifting accompanied these increases. Only 17 percent of all women listed in 1925, compared to
almost 29 percent in 1941, earned $5,000 and over, and consequently
the proportion of women earning under $3,000, or $3,000 but under
$5,000, decreased between 1925 and 1941. Part of the more favorable economic status of women in the register may be due to higher
Federal salaries generally, following various legislative changes.
The great increase in numbers and proportion of women earning
$5,000 and over was still insufficient to make much change in the proportion women constituted of this group as a whole, since the number
and proportion of men at this level also increased considerably. Of
all those with salaries of $5,000 and over, women were 1.3 percent in
1925 and 2.2 percent in 1941, a difference of nine-tenths of a point;
but their proportions increased more in the lower than in the upper
salary ranges. Further details may be seen in the table following.
Persons in the executive branch listed in the official register of the United States,
1925 and 1941 1
1925
1941
Sex and salary class
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
All salary classes.
Men
Women
3,678
3, 590
88
100.0
97.6
2.4
7, 438
7,174
264
100.0
96.5
3.5
$5,000 and over
Men
Women
1,156
1,141
15
100.0
98.7
1.3
3,505
3,429
76
100.0
97.8
2.2
$3,000, under $5,000.
Men
Women
1,801
1,756
45
100.0
97.5
2.5
3,158
3,024
129
100.0
95.9
4.1
721
693
28
100.0
96.1
3.9
780
721
59
100.0
92.4
7.6
Under $3000
Men
Women
i Excludes those serving without compensation; dollar-a-year employees; persons paid on a per diem or
fee basis; those whose total compensation was not ascertainable because a portion of their salary consisted
of commissions, fees, maintenance or fuel, or because they received payment partly or wholly from an agency
other than the one reporting them, the amount not being known; and commissioned officers receiving A r m y ,
Navy, or Marine Corps pay. In addition to the regular executive departments and agencies, the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress are included, while the Federal Reserve Board is excluded
because salaries were not reported in both years.
The most responsible position held by any woman in the register
for May 1941 was that of Secretary of Labor; five other women held
4 On June 30, 1925, there were 564,718 employees ia the Federal executive civil service, compared to
1,358,150 on June 30, 1941.
APPENDIXES
55
positions as heads of bureaus or comparable units, with salaries
ranging from $7,500 to $9,000. Because the register is likely to be
more detailed in higher salary ranges, the discussion which follows is
limited to women earning $3,000 or more. In all, 205 women listed
in the Official Register fall in this category. Their positions lay in a
variety of types of administrative and supervisory work.
Board members.
All of the eight women serving as members of boards or commissions
received $5,000 or more. Three received $10,000, three $5,000 and
under $6,000, and the other two received $7,000 but under $9,000.
Assistant head of bureau.5
Seven women were listed as assistant or associate chief, assistant
director, or assistant commissioner of a bureau or office, or a similar
unit. All earned $5,000 or more, the highest salary being $9,500 a
year.
Head of division.5
There were 34 women listed in the Official Register who held positions as chief or director of a division, service, branch, or of a comparable subordinate office within a bureau. Over half of them earned
a salary of $5,000 or more, which is in the same range as that of an
assistant head of a bureau. The highest salary earned by a division
chief was $7,000; 6 others earned $6,000 and under $7,000; and 11
earned $5,000 but under $6,000. Of those remaining, 10 earned $4,000
and under $5,000 and 6 earned $3,000 and under $4,000.
Assistant head of division.5
Seven women held positions as assistant head of a division or of a
similar subordinate office within a bureau. Salaries of three of these
ranged from $5,000 to $7,000. The other four earned $3,000 and
under $4,000.
Supervisor of field services.
Positions as superintendent, State administrator, regional director,
district commissioner, supervisor or manager, field supervisor, Washington office representative or liaison officer were filled by 23 women.
The salary distribution was as follows: three earned $7,000 and under
$8,000; 3 earned $6,000 and under $7,000; 3 earned $5,000 and under
$6,000; 11 earned $4,000 and under $5,000; and 3 earned $3,000 and
under $4,000.
Special assistant.
Fifteen women held the title of special assistant, "assistant to,"
executive assistant, or executive secretary. The highest salary earned
was $7,500. Four others earned $6,000 and under $7,000; one earned
$5,000; seven earned $4,000 and under $5,000; and two earned $3,000
and under $4,000.
Section head.5
Of the 11 women working as head of a section or other minor subdivision, 1 earned $5,200, 4 earned $4,000 and under $5,000, and 6
earned $3,000 and under $4,000.
5 Excludes women officials in library, editorial, or public information work, who are included under their
specialized occupations.
56
WOMEN
IN
THE
FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT,
1923-1939
Secretary.
Thirteen women held important positions in secretarial, stenographic, or clerical work. Three of these earned $5,000; two earned
$4,000 but under $5,000; and eight earned $3,000 and under $4,000.
Personnel officer and business manager.
There were 24 women holding positions variously termed chief clerk,
disbursing officer, personnel officer, employment officer, business manager, administrative assistant or administrative officer. Three such
officers earned $5,000 and under $6,000, three others earned $4,000 and
under $5,000, and 18 earned $3,000 and under $4,000 a year.
Budget, accounts.
Five women, all earning $3,000 and under $4,000, were engaged in
work dealing with budgets or accounts.
Technical expert.
Legal, medical, engineering, economic, and other specialists and
consultants included 10 women. The 2 with highest earnings received
$7,500 and $6,500, respectively; 4 received $5,000 and under $6,000;
3 received $4,000 and under $5,000; and 1 received $4,000.
Collectors, wardens, appraisers, examiners.
The 10 women in these fields included 4 custom collectors, 3 wardens, and 3 appraisers or examiners. One of them earned between
$6,000 and $7,000; 2 earned between $5,000 and $6,000; 5 earned
between $4,000 and $5,000; and 2 earned between $3,000 and $4,000.
Librarian.
Of 17 women earning $3,000 or more as administrative or supervisory librarians, only one was paid as much as $5,000. Six received
$4,000 and under $5,000 and 10 received $3,000 and under $4,000.
These women were employed in the Library of Congress, the Departments of State, Treasury, War, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, in the
United States Office of Education, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the United States
Tariff Commission.
Editor.
Of 6 women editors or directors of editorial divisions earning $3,000
or more, one received $5,000, three received $4,000 and under $5,000,
and the remaining two earned $3,000 and under $4,000. The Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, the Federal
Security Agency, and the United States Tariff Commission employed
women as editors.
Public information work.
Nine women were listed as working in the field of public information, including press intelligence, public relations, exhibit supervision.
One of them earned more than $7,000, six earned $4,000 and under
$5,000, and two earned $3,000 and under $4,000. Agencies in which
these women were employed were as follows: Office of Government
Reports, Department of the Interior, Department of Commerce,
Department of Labor, and the United States Civil Service Commission.
APPENDIX C
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
United States Government, Manual. Issued by Office of Government
Reports. 1938-40. Currently revised.
United States. Civil Service Commission. Annual reports for years ending
June 30, 1923 to 1940. Washington.
Civil Employment and Pay Rolls in the Executive Branch of the
United States Government. Washington. Published monthly. (Multilithed.)
Federal Employment Under the Merit System. Washington, 1940.
112 pp.
History of the Federal Civil Service, 1789 to Present. Form No.
2445. Washington, 1941. (Small pamphlet.)
How the Federal Government Selects Its Employees in the Civil
Service. Form No. 2466. Washington, 1934. (Small pamphlet.)
Women in the Federal Service. Washington, 1941. 53 pp.
Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review,
vol. 49, pp. 378-382. August 1939. Government Reorganization Act.
Ibid., vol. 52, pp. 66-85. January 1941. Occupations and
Salaries in Federal Employment, by Malcolm L. Smith and Kathryn R.
Wright.
Women's Bureau. .Women in the Government Service. By Bertha
M. Nienburg. Bull. No. 8. 1920. 37 pp.
The Status of Women in the Government Service in 1925. Bv
Bertha M. Nienburg. Bull. No. 53. 1926. 103 pp.
GENERAL PUBLICATIONS
Anderson, Mary. Women in the Government Service. In Careers for Women,
edited by Catherine Filene. Houghton Mifflin, 1934, pp. 253-257.
Better Government Personnel. Report of Commission of Inquiry on Public
Service Personnel. McGraw-Hill, 1935, 182 pp.
Improved Personnel in Government Service—January 1937 issue of Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science (Philadelphia), vol. 189,
pp. 1-54-158, 180-198: Altmeyer, A. J., The Scope of Departmental Personnel
Activities; Gellhorn, Mrs. George, From Spoils to Merit in One Generation;
Johnson, Robert L., Qualified Personnel and Why We Should Have It;
Montgomery, Jr., W. W., Problems and Progress of the Merit System;
Wingo, Otis Theodore, Interneship Training in the Public Service.
Institute of Women's Professional Relations. Opportunities in the Public Service.
Proceedings of conference held in Washington, D. C., November 1939. New
London, Conn., 1940, 290 pp.
Women's Work and Education. Published monthly. New London,
Conn. The Home Economist in the Public Service, by Helen W. At water
and Marjorie M. Heseltine, vol. 11, February 1940, pp. 1 - 6 ; Advice from a
Woman in Science, by Virginia Dean Rose, vol. 10, December 1939, pp. 1 - 4 ;
The Woman Economist in the Federal Government, also by Virginia Dean
Rose, vol. 9, April 1938, pp. 1-4.
Melton, Presley W. (Chief of Training Section, United States Department of
Agriculture). Careers in Federal Government Administration. Society
for the Advancement of Management Journal (New York City), vol. 4, pp.
49-53, March 1939.
Meriam, Lewis. Public Service and Special Training. University of Chicago
Press, 1936, 83 pp.
and Laurence F. Schmeckebier. Reorganization of the National Government. What Does It Involve? Brookings Institution (Washington), 1939,
272 pp.
57
58
WOMEN
IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
National Municipal Review. Published Monthly by National Municipal League
(Worcester, Mass.)
O'Brien, James C., and Philip P. Marenberg. Your Federal Civil Service. Funk
and Wagnalls, 1940, 501 pp.
O'Rourke, L. J. Opportunities in Government Employment. Garden City
Publishing Company, 1940, 307 pp.
Personnel Administration. Official Publication of the Society for Personnel
Administration (Washington, D. C.), vol. 2, March 1940.
Public Administration Organizations. A Directory—1941. Public Administration Clearing House (Chicago), 187 pp.
Robertson, Archie. The Government At Your Service. Houghton Mifflin,
1939, 340 pp.
State Government. Issued !monthly by Council of State Governments (Chicago—
central offices), vol. 10, October 1937. (This issue dedicated to women in
public life.)
Training for the Public Service. Public Administration Service No. 49. Edited
by Morris B. Lambie for Public Administration Clearing House (Chicago),
1935, 49 pp.
White, Leonard D. Government Career Service. In proceedings of the TwentySeventh Annual Meeting of Civil Service Assembly of the United States and
Canada (Milwaukee, Wis.), September 1935, pp. 112-118.
Government Careers for College Graduates. Pamphlet No. 8. Published
by Civil Service Assembly of the United States and Canada (Chicago),
June 1937, 21 pp.
New Opportunities for Economists and Statisticians in Federal Employment. American Economic Review (Evanston, 111.), vol. 27, pp. 210-215,
March 1937 (supplement).
Recent Trends in the Public Service of the United States. The Political
Quarterly (London), vol. 8, pp. 542-553, October-December 1937.
Winslow, Mary N. Women in Government Service. In Careers for Women,
edited by Catherine Filene. Houghton Mifflin, 1920, pp. 158-162.
APPENDIX D
NATIONAL ROSTER OF SCIENTIFIC AND SPECIALIZED
PERSONNEL
During the summer and fall of 1940 there was developed under the
joint direction of the United States Civil Service Commission and the
National Resources Planning Board a "National Roster of Scientific
and Specialized Personnel" to take care of the demands being made
by various defense agencies for highly trained individuals in specialized tasks. Recruited for the most part through the national professional, technological, and scientific societies of the country, the list
now contains about 200,000 names, representing over 50 different
scientific and specialized fields.
Further, there has been a technical break-down of these various
fields into subclassifications so as to show their various operating
functions, with the result that through the list now available competent individuals can be secured who possess definite combinations of
specialized knowledge and experience—such as a psychologist who
can speak Spanish and Portuguese, or a scientist in some given field
whose experience includes work in Libya or French Indochina.
The list of major fields of specialization is given below; further information can be secured by writing to the United States Civil Service
Commission.
LIST OF MAJOR FIELDS
Due to the various limiting factors, this list represents, for the time being, the
contemplated coverage of the roster, which, however, may be expanded.
Administration and Management:
Accounting.
Administration— Business, industrial, public.
Management engineering.
Personnel management.
Agricultural and Biological Sciences:
Animal sciences.
Botany.
Forestry and range management.
Genetics.
Plant pathology, horticulture, and agronomy.
Zoology and entomology.
Engineering and Related Fields:
Aeronautical engineering.
Architecture.
Automotive engineering.
Chemical engineering.
Civil engineering.
Electrical engineering.
Heating, ventilating, refrigerating, and air-conditioning engineering.
Landscape architecture.
Mechanical engineering.
Mining and metallurgical engineering and mineral technology.
Motion pictures— Engineering, production, direction.
59
60
WOMEN IN THE' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
Engineering, etc.—Continued.
Naval architecture and marine engineering.
Planning— Municipal and community.
Radio engineering.
Safety engineering.
Testing of materials—Engineering and technology.
Transit and traffic engineering.
Humanities:
Foreign languages.
Philosophy.
Medical Sciences and Related Fields:
Anatomy.
Bacteriology, immunology, and pathology.
Experimental biology and medicine.
Medicine (specialties).
Nutrition.
Pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
Physiology.
Tropical medicine (and parasitology).
Physical Sciences:
Actuarial science.
Chemistry.
Geology.
Geophysics.
Horology.
Mathematics.
Physics and astronomy.
Social Sciences:
Anthropology.
Economics.
Geography.
History and political science.
Psychology.
Recreation leadership.
Sociology.
Social welfare.
Speech pathology.
Statistics,
Trade and industrial education.
Other:
192 3 - 1 9 3 9
@FedFRASER