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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