The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
/3 3: 23S-S
STATE COLLEGE LIBRARY
iftki iw
a ■? 81 a
MMhm
THE OUTLOOK
FOB WOMEN
A/n/
SOCIAL WORK
GENERAL SUMMARY
Social Work Series
Bulletin No. 235-8
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Maurice J. Tobin, Secretary
WOMEN’S BUREAU
Frieda S. MiUer, Director
^4-
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
MAURICE J. TOBIN, SECRETARY
WOMEN’S BUREAU
FRIEDA S. MILLER, DIRECTOR
The Outlook for Women
in
Social Work
General Summary
Bulletin of the Women s Bureau No. 235-8
Social Work Series
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1952
Bor sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government
Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 30 cents
i
This bulletin is No. 235-8 in the
SOCIAL WORK SERIES
No. 235-1
No. 235-2
No. 235-3
No. 2 35-4
No. 235-5
No. 235-6
No. 235-7
No. 235-8
'
The Outlook for Women in Social Case Work in a Medical
Setting.
The Outlook for Women in Social Case Work in a Psychiatric
Setting.
The Outlook for Women in Social Case Work with Children.
The Outlook for Women in Social Case Work with Families.
The Outlook for Women in Community Organization in Social
Work.
The Outlook for Women in Social Work Administration,
Teaching, and Research.
The Outlook for Women in Social Group Work.
The Outlook for Women in Social Work—General Summary.
II
<
4
*
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,
Washington, November 21, 1951.
I have the honor of transmitting this report on the outlook
for women in social work. It is the eighth and final bulletin in a series
on the need for women in the social services. It completes the third
series resulting from our employment opportunities studies planned
and directed by Marguerite W. Zapoleon.
Agnes W. Mitchell and Grace E. Ostrander assisted throughout
the study and also wrote large sections of this report. Grateful
acknowledgment is made to the many individuals and agencies who
cooperated so generously in supplying information and helpful
criticism for this report.
Respectfully submitted.
Frieda S. Mieeer, Director.
Hon. Maurice J. Tobin,
Secretary of Labor.
Sir:
in
FOREWORD
The social well-being of our people, like their health, has received
growing attention over the years. Of the increasing numbers in our
economy engaged in rendering professional social service, two-thirds
or more are women. The story of their progress and the current and
future needs for their services have been the subject of a Women’s
Bureau study which has been reported in a series of bulletins, of which
this is the eighth and final one.
The others describe the employment outlook for women in an area
of specialization within the field of social work. This final bulletin
describes the outlook for women in the entire field of social work,
comparing the specializations within the field, and in specific instances
showing the relation of social work to other professions of women.
Unlike the usual monograph which describes an occupation in detail
at a particular point in time, this study, like the earlier Women’s
Bureau series on occupations in the medical and health services and
the sciences, is concerned primarily with changes and trends.
Although more than 2,400 books, articles, or pamphlets have been
culled for information, the principal information for this series has
been obtained from professional organizations, public and voluntary
social agencies, schools of social work, and individual social workers.
The following sources have contributed to the study:
Fifty-six national professional organizations, among which the
American Association of Social Workers, the American Asso
ciation of Schools of Social Work, and the National Council
on Social Work Education have contributed heavily to this
study.
Sixty-nine schools of social work and other colleges and univer
sities. One hundred and forty agencies employing social work
ers, including thirty-one community chests and councils of
social agencies and the American National Red Cross.
Sixty Government agencies concerned with social service pro
grams or employment in this field, including international,
State, and local agencies, and such Federal agencies as the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and the United States Employment
Service in the Department of Labor; the United States Civil
Service Commission; the United States Veterans’ Administra
tion ; the Bureau of Public Assistance, the Office of Education,
VI
FOREWORD
the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Public Health
Service in the Federal Security Agency. Special acknowledg
ment is due the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Office of
Education for making available unpublished data for this
report.
To these contributors the Bureau is indebted for the raw material
which made this report possible.
The Bureau is also grateful to the following for the illustrations
used in the bulletin:
American National Red Cross (cover picture, figs. 13,14,19).
Child Guidance Home of Cincinnati, Ohio (fig. 8).
Children’s Bureau, Federal Security Agency (fig. 12).
Cincinnati Enquirer (fig. 15).
Department of Public Welfare, Montgomery, Ala. (figs. 17, 22).
Girl Scouts of the U. S. A. (fig. 20).
Harvard University School of Public Health (figs. 9,10).
Howard University School of Social Work (fig. 7).
National Board of the YWCA (fig. 21).
National Travelers Aid Association (fig. 11).
Neighborhood Settlement Association, Cleveland, Ohio (fig. 3).
St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D. C. (fig. 5).
University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work (fig. 1).
Veterans’ Administration (figs. 2, 4).
YWCA of Cleveland, Ohio (figs. 6,16, IS).
CONTENTS
Page
Letter of transmittal____________________________________________
Foreword______________________________________________________
___
Employment in social work .
__
The work environment__
______________________ _______ ________
Types of positions__________________________________________________
Types of employing agencies_________________________________
The supply of social workers
__________ ____ __________. _
Training and supply_____ ____ _______
_...........
Increasing the supply through scholarships and other student aid
programs________________________________________________
Earnings and supply_____________________________________
Organizations ____________________________________________________ _____
Of social workers _ ________________________________________
Of social work agencies. __ _ __________________________ _________
For social work education.
__ ___
__________ . _____ ___
For defense mobilization...... ..................................................
The demand for social workers
__________________ _ _
_
Work with the aged ___________________________ ______ _ _
_
In international work. __
___
................
In national defense work and military service. _
_
The outlook for women in the principal specializations in social work____
In social case work
_ __________________ ____ ___
I n social group work _ _
_____
In community organization... _
..._____
In social work administration ____
__
_________________
In social work teaching____ ______
_______ _ ________
_
In social work research___________________________ ______
_
Variations in the outlook for women in social work.
_____ ...
__
Geographic variations in the outlook.
....
Variations for women with special employment problems .
Older women_________________________ _
Married women__ „ _____
_______________ _
Negro women
_
_ .
Women with physical handicaps___________________
._
Suggestions to girls and women interested in social work.. _
______
Exploration and choice__
... _ ________ ___ ___
Preparation____________________
Obtaining employment
____
...
Satisfaction and success___________ _
.
Appendix:
Minimum education and experience requirements for positions in
social work in the Federal Government
_______
Minimum requirements for membership in the principal social work
organizations ______________________________
__ __ _______ _
VII
m
v
1
5
7
10
15
15
19
22
26
26
30
31
34
36
37
41
45
45
48
49
49
50
50
51
52
54
54
57
59
61
63
63
66
67
69
72
78
VIII
CONTENTS
Appendix—Continued
Some position titles of social workers from list compiled by the advisory
committee to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 1950
study of social work ___________________________________________
Schools of social work in the continental United States accredited by
the American Association of Schools of Social Work__________ ____
Member schools of the National Association of Schools of Social
Administration_________________
Sources to which reference is made in the text______________________
Tables:
1. Women social workers compared with all social workers, by
specialization, United States, 1949
2. Men and women social workers, by type of position, United States,
1950
3. Women social workers compared with all social workers, by type of
program in which employed, United States, 1950_______________
4. Social workers employed in public and voluntary agencies, by type
of program, United States, 1950___________
5. Average annual salaries of social workers, by type of social work
program, United States, 1950__________________________________
6. Average annual salaries of social workers, by position and sex,
United States, 1950_________
7. Average annual salaries of social workers and number of social
workers per 100,000 population, by region, United States, 1950__
8. Geographic distribution of social workers compared with that of
general population and of full-time students of social work in
accredited graduate schools of social work, by region, United
States, 1950 _ _ .
_
Page
83
85
88
90
5
9
11
13
22
23
24
52
i
f.
f
Figure 1.—Social workers attend meetings and conferences like this institute on
social work practice in a community organization setting conducted by a grad
uate school of social work. Those shown above are: Teachers of social work;
executives of community chests or community welfare councils; a program di
rector of a local association; associate, Health and Welfare Planning Department
of Community Chests and Councils of America; director and assistant director of
a school of social work; a field secretary of a bureau of community councils;
training and community adviser, Girl Scouts of America; executives or assistant
executives in local Urban Leagues; program coordinator in a local YWCA; com
munity welfare council staff members; health educators; social worker in a
neighborhood house; social worker from Greece in the United States by arrange
ment of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
THE OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN
SOCIAL WORK
EMPLOYMENT IN SOCIAL WORK
The term social welfare is as broad as the horizons of a people, in
cluding such areas as health, education, economic well-being, and
cultural advancement. But, the term social work has come to mean a
profession with a special body of knowledge and skill. In it about
75,000 persons are employed in the United States, three-fourths of
them women, according to the estimates made by the Women’s Bureau
from various sources. As an employer, according to the 1940 Census,
social work ranked tenth among the professions for men and women
combined and fourth for women alone. Only teaching, nursing, and
music employed more professional women.
The practice of social work is needed, as Kenneth L. M. Pray said,
“when familiar, satisfying social relationships are threatened, weak
ened, or broken, and when new ones fail to materialize or are shrouded
in uncertainty or involved in conflict . . . when people indivi
dually or collectively seek help in clarifying their responsibilities
and opportunities within their own circle of relationships, in finding
new and more meaningful relations for the fulfullment of their own
wants or needs, or in renewing or replenishing their strength for
meeting the hazards and difficulties and realizing the potentialities of
their social situations”
Dr. Pray pointed out that many other
professions, notably medicine, psychology, and education, are con
cerned with individuals. But social work is uniquely concerned with
the individual in relation to outer social realities in which he is in
volved and the satisfactions he gets from them.
Faced with the problem of defining a social worker for purposes
of proposed licensing legislation, the American Association of Social
Workers developed in 1950 the following definition of a social
worker:
A social worker is a person who, through professional education, has
acquired (1) special knowledge of the dynamics of the development of in
dividuals, groups, and of society; and (2) skills in the method of social
work practice, which qualify him to assist individuals, families, groups,
and/or communities to achieve and maintain satisfying social relation
1
2
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
ships, as well as to attain acceptable standards of health, welfare and
security. The social worker Is a person who studies and analyzes social
conditions, develops resources and mobilizes forces necessary to carry out
the aforementioned functions. The social workers may be social group
workers, community organization workers, social case workers, probation
or parole officers, public welfare social workers, medical social workers,
psychiatric social workers, family welfare social workers, child welfare
social workers, school social workers, research social workers, and teachers
of social work in approved schools of social work (3).
In California, the first State in which legislation provides for vol
untary registration of social workers, those who wish to register
must have 1 year of full-time graduate study in an approved school
of social work in order to take the written examination given by
the Boai'd of Social Work Examiners. Illinois and Indiana now
have registration programs under voluntary auspices, somewhat sim
ilar to the one in California prior to the passage of the law in 1945.
A social worker, then, is not only engaged in the process of assist
ing individuals, groups, and communities toward better social ad
justment, but has acquired through training and experience a body
of techniques distinct from those of the psychologist, the clergyman,
the teacher, the personnel worker, and others concerned with the
welfare of individuals. These techniques and skills include: The
study of an individual and the social conditions that surround him;
the analysis of the facts resulting from that study; the use of all
available resources to enable him to obtain what he needs in such
areas as employment, education, recreation, and medical care; and
assistance to the individual which will enable him to utilize his
own abilities to better advantage (80).
The social worker whose major function is rendering this pro
fessional service directly to the individual is called a social case
worker. The one who gives such service through work with groups
is called a social group worker. The social worker who concentrates
on improving the services of the community in meeting the individ
ual’s needs is called a community organization worker. These three
major methods account for the principal so-called specializations
among social workers.
Sometimes considered as separate groups, though usually coming
from the ranks of the three major method specializations, are those
engaged in administration, teaching, and research in social work.
Social workers have a first-hand knowledge of the issues and results
of social maladjustment. For this reason, active promotion of meas
ures directed toward social betterment is closely related to social
work and is considered by some authorities to be a specialized branch
of social work in community organization (13,15,89).
EMPLOYMENT
3
There is an increasing tendency to avoid emphasis on specializa
tions and to stress the “generic social worker,” since all social workers
are trained to use whichever of the three basic methods is appropriate
in their work in any given situation (-55, 55). For example, a com
prehensive public welfare agency has an integrated approach to in
dividual and family needs. But currently reference to principal
specialization in method is a common practice both in employment
and training.
Most social workers are engaged in case work, in case work supervi
sion, or in the administration of an agency engaged in case work.
The Women’s Bureau estimates that 85 percent of all social workers,
and 88 percent of all women social workers, were in this type of work
in 1949. (See table 1.) By far the largest group of women social
workers (58 percent) worked with families. Most of these were em
ployed in public assistance, but a considerable number worked with
voluntary family agencies or were engaged in case work service to
travelers, or refugees, or prisoners, or the aged, or to others with special
problems, nonmedical in nature. These social case workers with
families are discussed more fully in Bulletin 235-4 in this series. The
next largest group of women case workers, more than one-fifth of all
women social workers, worked primarily with children. Here the
largest number were employed in private children’s agencies, and less
than half their number were in public welfare agencies. A relatively
small group, amounting to less than 2 percent of all women social
workers, were employed by schools or school systems to render case
work service to pupils; and less than 3 percent of all women social
workers were doing case work in correctional agencies, such as juvenile
courts. Case work with children is discussed more fully in Bulletin
235-3 in this series.
The smallest specializations among case workers were represented
by those who work in hospitals and clinics. The women concerned
with case work in hospitals, clinics, and other medical settings formed
about 6 percent of all women social workers, and the women specializ
ing in case work with patients in psychiatric hospitals or clinics and
in other mental health settings formed 3 percent. Case workers in
medical and psychiatric settings are described more fully in Bulletins
235-1 and 235-2 in this series. Although the number of women social
workers engaged in probation and parole and other correctional work
with adults is increasing, there were found to be too few to warrant
special treatment in this series.
The traditional predominance of case work in social work has re
sulted in the rather general public identification of social wTork with
case work. But the other two principal methods, group work and com-
4
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Figure 2.—A case worker in a hospital talks with a patient about his illness.
munity organization (discussed in Bulls. 235-7 and 235-5 in this
series), have been growing in prominence as well as in numbers. Ten
percent of all women social workers were engaged in social group work
in 1949, either as group workers, supervisors, administrators, or con
sultants ; and 1 percent were in community organization work. Social
work administrators and social workers giving full time to teaching or
research are described separately in Bulletin 235-6 in this series, but
numerically they have been included under the various social work
method specializations. Those engaged in general social work admin-
5
EMPLOYMENT
istration or research have been included under community
organization.
Table 1.—Women Social Workers Compared With All Social Workers, by
Specialization, United States, 1949
Women
Total
Specialization according to principal method
used 1
Estimated
number
Percent
Estimated
number
Percent
Women
as per
cent of
total
75
75,300
100.0
56,850
100.0
64, 000
85.0
50, 200
88.3
78
------- --------
41,500
55.1
33, 200
58.4
80
Public assistance.------------------------------Voluntary agencies 2... ------------------- --
31,500
10, 000
41.8
13.3
25. 200
8, 000
44.3
14.1
80
80
With children------------------ . ------------------
17, 000
22.6
12,150
21.4
71
Public child welfare .. ------- -------------Private children’s agencies..---------------Schools--------------------------------------Correctional agencies
4. 000
9, 000
1,000
3,000
5.3
12. 0
1.3
4.0
3, 000
6, 750
900
1,500
5.3
11.9
1.6
. 2.6
75
75
90
50
In a medical setting----------------------------------
3, 500
4.6
3,150
5.5
90
In a psychiatric setting-----------------------------
2,000
2. 7
1, 700
3.0
85
Group work------------------ -------------------------------
8,800
11.7
5,900
10.4
67
Community organization--------------------------------
2, 500
3.3
750
1.3
30
Total____________________________ _____
Case work
With families_
_
---------
i Included under the principal method specializations in the table arc an estimated 12,500 social workers,
about 20 percent of them women, in administrative positions; an estimated 450, over half of them women, in
social work research; and another 450, over two-thirds of them women, in the teaching of social work.
i Includes case work not only in family agencies but in travelers’ aid, Red Cross home service, prisons,
nstitutions, etc. Family is interpreted as one or more individuals operating as a household unit.
Source- Women’s Bureau estimates based on a variety of sources, mostly secondary. For detail see earlier
bulletins iti this series. The total arrived at agrees closely with the 1950 estimated total now available from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics Nation-wide questionnaire study, except that the percentage of w omen
is higher than the BLS estimate. See table 2 for these more comprehensive estimates.
Women appeared to be in a minority position among social workers
engaged in community organization, where they formed less than onethird, according to estimates obtained for 1949 in the Women’s Bureau
study. (See table 1.) In correctional work with children they held
half the positions. In medical social case work and in school social
work they held 90 percent of the jobs; and in psychiatric case work,
85 percent. In all other specializations they held from two-thirds
to four-fifths of the jobs; in all specializations, 75 percent. These
1949 estimates of the proportion women form of the total and
of the various social work specializations are based in large part on
secondary sources. On the basis of a Nation-wide sample question
naire study the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated
that 69 percent of all social workers in 1950 were women. (See
table 3.)
The Work Environment
The work environment of the case worker, the group worker, and
the community organization worker are similar. Each has as his
6
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
base a desk. It may be located in a private office or in one which is
shared with one or more other social workers either at the same time
or alternately. This office is used for planning; for writing or dictat
ing the correspondence, records, and reports connected with the work;
and for interviewing, telephoning, and small conferences. Usually
it is located in a building in an area where social needs are greatest.
Because budget for headquarters in a nonprofit agency is usually re
stricted in favor of financing more help to those served by the agency,
the offices are likely to be extremely simple and modest in size and
equipment. However, the social work training and experience of ad
ministrators in social work makes them exceptionally conscious of
the effect of environment on the worker, and working conditions gen
erally are likely to reflect consideration for the worker and his work.
Although social workers are in and out of the office independently as
they carry on their work, they have frequent staff meetings to discuss
mutual problems and methods. Perhaps in no other profession out
side medicine and nursing are beginning workers so closely supervised
and given so much in-service training to help them grow and
develop.
The extent of staff training and conferring, of course, depends in
part on the size of the agency in which the social worker is employed.
In both voluntary and public social work there are one-worker agen
cies in which one social worker serves both as director and case worker
and there are large agencies employing more than 100 social workers.
Most social workers, however, probably work in an agency employing
from 10 to 15 social workers. In Los Angeles in 1948, for instance,
most social workers were in agencies employing 10 or more social
workers (4%). In Atlanta in 1945, and in Cleveland in 1946, social
agencies averaged 13 and 14 full-time professional workers respec
tively (22, 63).
A 1948 study of 13 case work agencies in Boston showed that case
workers spent from 4 to 16 percent of their working time in meetings
and that their supervisors were in meetings from 14 to 39 percent of
their time. The case workers generally devoted from two-fifths to
over one-half of their time to interviews (62). Recording these inter
views and reviewing records for purposes of planning took from about
one-fifth to one-third of their time. In children’s agencies, from onefifth to one-fourth of working time was spent in travel necessary to
visit homes and other locations, but in most agencies travel consumed
less than 6 percent of the hours worked. In rural areas, more exten
sive travel is usually necessary than in urban communities.
The group worker spends most of her time with groups, either those
served by the agency or the leaders of such groups, meeting them at
their regular meeting place, such as a room in a settlement house, a
7
EMPLOYMENT
library, a church, a school, or a YW or YM building. Visits to homes
and conferences with others to help individuals in the group or to
further the group’s interests may be involved, but these are incidental
to the main work with the group as a whole. The community organi
zation worker spends relatively more time in planning and reporting,
and the largest amount of time either in participation in or prepara
tion for conferences, meetings, and interviews with representatives of
a wide variety of community agencies.
'
: Y.V **
Figure 3----A social group worker using art skills in work with children in a
neighborhood settlement house.
Social workers, like educators, are frequently called upon for
speeches and consultation on community problems. Their work hori
zons are likely to extend far beyond the walls of their offices into the
community which they serve.
Types of Positions
The variety of positions in social work offers a wide array of possi
bilities to a young woman interested in finding a suitable opportunity
to use her abilities in social service. A list of 144 social work position
titles classified under different types of social work programs was
worked out by an advisory committee to the United States Bureau of
977354—52-------2
8
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Labor Statistics for use as a guide in its 1950 study of salaries and
working conditions in social work. The committee pointed out the
impossibility of listing every position title in current use in social
work. Even when duplicate titles found under two or more programs
of social work were eliminated from the original list of 144 titles, 94
remain. These arc listed in the appendix.
There are many related occupations in social agencies and outside
that are sometimes confused with social work. This confusion is
due in part to the fact that positions of this sort are sometimes filled
by individuals trained in social work, although they are as likely
to be filled by persons trained in another profession. Examples in
personnel work are employee counseling positions in industrial estab
lishments and unspecialized counseling positions in school systems.
In work with groups, physical education and recreation are typical.
In institutional work, including correctional work with adults, super
intendents, resident managers, or matrons and housemothers fall in
this category. In the administration of social security programs
especially, there are also many positions in which social work training
and background are useful and some in which they are required (27).
In a number of cities in recent years, community chests or com
munity welfare councils have made studies of social work positions
in local social agencies to arrive at suitable job classifications, usually
accompanied by recommended salary schedules. Among the cities
where recent studies of this sort are known to have been made are
the following: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus
(Ohio), Detroit, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadalpliia,
Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, Syracuse, and Wash
ington, D. C. Many State and local welfare departments also have
plans which classify their social welfare positions according to salary
level, and which specify the minimum requirements necessary to
qualify for each position at each level.
Usually such classification plans include recognition of the method
specializations in social work, and all take into account differing levels
of responsibility. There are usually junior and senior case workers,
for instance, or a numerical system may be used to differentiate the
more experienced, higher-paid workers from the beginners, for in
stance, Case Worker I, Case Worker II, Group Worker I, Group
Worker II.
More broadly than is practical in any given agency or locality, all
social work positions may be classified by level of administrative or
supervisory responsibility. This was done in the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 1950 study of salaries and working con
ditions in social work, which reports that more than two-tliirds
(67.2 percent) of the women in social work were engaged in direct
service to individuals or groups as case workers or group workers.
9
EMPLOYMENT
(See table 2.) The others were administering social work programs
as executives (16.4 percent), giving immediate supervision to these
case workers or group workers (9.0 percent), or engaged in teaching,
research, consultation or other miscellaneous positions (7.4 percent).
There was little difference between the distribution of men and women
social workers in supervisory work and in the miscellaneous positions,
but in the executive group, the disparity was striking. One-third
of the men held executive positions (33 percent) while roughly half
that proportion of the women were executives (16 percent).
Table 2.—Men and Women Social Workers, by Type of Position, United States, 1950
Total
All positions______
Men
Women
Women
as per
cent of
Estimated Percent Estimated Percent Estimated Percent total
number
number
number
Positions
____
Case or group workers. _ . ___ ..
Supervisors of case or group work,..
Executives
Other positions (teaching, research,
consultation, other supervision,
etc.).
i 73,152
100.0
22, 962
100.0
50,190
100.0
68.6
45, 381
6, 234
15,819
62.1
8.5
21.6
11,631
1,723
7, 594
50.6
7.5
33.1
33,750
4, 511
8, 225
67.2
9.0
16.4
74.4
72.4
52.0
5, 718
7.8
2, 014
8.8
3, 704
7.4
64.8
i For 107 of the estimated total of 74,240 social workers, sex was not reported, and for 981, position was not
reported.
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 study of social work (49).
Figure 4.—A social case worker in a veterans’ hospital sees a patient in her office
to discuss plans for his return home.
10
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Types of Employing Agencies
The social worker of 1951 is not limited in choice of employment
to work in “an almshouse” or in “poor relief” as a few who have not
kept abreast with the times may imagine. Those who wish to work
in an institution will find opportunities for employment in hospitals
of all types, in correctional institutions, and in homes for children, for
the aged, or for other special groups. Those who wish to work in a
public agency will find an increasing variety of choices in public
welfare agencies as well as in public institutions, hospitals, and
schools. Those who wish to work for voluntary agencies may con
sider not only family and children’s service agencies, but a host of
different agencies serving the group or individual needs of people
according to their age, religion, or nationality, or according to the
special' nature of their problems. There are “youth-serving agencies”;
Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, and other sectarian agencies; and agen
cies that serve, for example, travelers, refugees, and persons with
mental health problems.
Local agencies which have social work as a primary function usually
have affiliations with other local social agencies through a council of
social agencies and/or community chest and often with other local
groups and national agencies in their area of specialization. Because
of the close relation between health and social welfare, health groups
are often included in local councils and chests, although in this study
such groups have been excluded except as social service programs in
health agencies are involved. An increasing number of hospitals,
school systems, churches, and industrial establishments also employ
social workers, as do many other agencies which have a primary
function to which any social service function it may perform is in
cidental. In some cases, they may have a special social service depart
ment, which may be represented in local and national organizations
directly as a social service unit in itself. Some authorities feel that,
to be most effective, social service can best be rendered in relation to
other needs. The social worker does this when she meets the person
needing service where he is—in school, at church, or in his office—in
stead of waiting for the needy person to apply to another agency (47).
In 1950 the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics classified social
workers throughout the United States according to the type of social
work program in which they were engaged, rather than according
to the main business of the employing agency or the method specializa
tion of the social worker. The distribution of women social workers
by social work program as revealed by unpublished estimates made
available from this study is shown in table 3 and there compared with
the distribution of all social workers by program.
11
EMPLOYMENT
More than two-fifths (44 percent) of the women social workers
were employed in programs of public asistance. (See table 3.)
Nearly one-fiftli (18 percent) were in programs serving children.
The next largest proportion, nearly one-tenth (9 percent), were in
group work programs. Almost as many were in hospitals or clinics
if physical and mental health services are considered together.
It was in these health programs and in case work with families in
voluntary agencies and noninstitutional work with children that
women formed the highest proportion of the social workers employed.
Only school social work approached them in percentage of women
employees. Lowest in the percentages of women social workers em
ployed were programs devoted to adult offenders, where women were
only 12 percent of the social workers, and to rehabilitation of the
physically handicapped where they were less than one-third. Com
munity organization was the only other group of programs in which
women composed less than half the social work staff. In all programs
combined, as noted earlier, they formed more than two-thirds (69
percent).1
Table 3.—Women Social Workers Compared With All Social Workers, by Type
of Program in Which Employed, United States, 1950
All social workers
Type of social work program
Women social workers Women
as per
cent of
Estimated
total
Percent
number
Estimated
number
Percent
i 73,271
100.0
50,329
100.0
69
35,112
48.0
26,336
52.4
75
K 30,371
4, 741
41.5
6.5
22, 281
4,055
44.3
8.1
73
86
12,433
16.9
9, 274
18.4
75
0, 645
2, 586
1,941
1.261
9.1
3.5
2.6
1.7
5, 720
1. 537
1.000
1,017
11.4
3.0
2.0
2.0
86
59
52
81
In hospitals and clinics (except mental)
2,801
3.8
2, 639
5.2
94
In mental healtli services_____
2,253
3.1
1,846
3.7
82
1,182
1,071
1.6
1.5
957
889
1.9
1.8
81
83
4,706
6.4
1,244
2.5
26
1, 756
2, 296
654
2.4
3.1
.9
551
284
409
1. 1
.6
.8
31
12
63
Total_____________ ____ _______________
With families________
Public assistance____ ____________
Other family services_____
With children
Noninstitutional (except court)_________
Institutional___ _____ _
Court services
__
School social work__. _____ .. .................
_
__________
Hospitals_ ____
_
Clinics (including child guidance)
With other special groups
Physically handicapped
Adult offenders
Aged in institutions
Other services to individuals or families... ____
3,996
5.4
2,753
5.5
69
Group work__________________ _____
_______
8,764
12.0
4,695
9.3
54
Community organization__________ __________
Teaching social work.. _
2, 688
518
3.7
.7
1,217
325
2.4
.6
45
63
1 For 107 of the estimated 74,240 social workers in the United States there was no report on sex, and for
862 there was no indication of program.
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 study of social work (49). Unpublished data obtained
before corrections were made for errors in program reporting.
12
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
The type of program is not identical with specialization in method.
Although most group work programs tend to employ group workers
exclusively, it is not uncommon for a family, children’s, or other case
work program to employ consultants or workers from the group work,
medical, or psychiatric specializations. An increasing number of
social service departments in hospitals and clinics, both mental and
medical, are also employing group workers, although most staff
members are case workers. (See Bull. 235-7.)
Although the majority of the agencies serving special groups employ
family case workers, some have so-called multiple service programs
in which a variety of specialized services are rendered. Settlement
houses generally offer a multiple service program including case work,
group work, and community organization services. Public welfare
departments, once largely concerned with financial relief and case
work incidental to it, in some communities also offer a multitude of
services including not only institutional care and family case work
but camp and other group services, homemaking services, child 'wel
fare, licensing, services to aged, and medical and psychiatric social
service.
Figure 5.—A case worker looks on while patient in a mental hospital uses loom
for occupational therapy.
13
EMPLOYMENT
Public agencies in 1950 employed nearly two-thirds (65 percent)
of all social workers, according to the United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics. (See table 4.) The great majority (63 percent) of these
public social workers were employed in public assistance programs.
(See Bull. 235-4 in this series.) The next largest group (9 percent)
were found in public child welfare programs rendering noninstitutional social service to children and as many more in the combined
groups that work with children receiving court services (4 percent)
or with adult offenders (5 percent).
Table
4.—Social Workers Employed in Public and Voluntary Agencies, by Type of
Program, United States, 1950
Type of social work program
Total__________ ____ ________ __________
Public agency
Voluntary agency
Total
estimated
number Estimated
Estimated
number Percent number Percent
Public
workers
as per
cent of
total
i 72,942
2 47, 753
100.0
25,189
100.0
65.5
30,110
4, 742
30.110
236
63.1
.5
4, 506
17.9
100.0
5.0
6, 643
2, 597
1,942
1.210
4. 331
939
1,892
1,210
9.1
2.0
4.0
2 5
2. 312
1,658
50
9.2
6.6
.2
65.2
36. 2
97.4
In hospitals and clinics (except mental)______
2,804
1,567
3.3
1.237
4.9
55.9
In mental health services:
Hospitals____
Clinics (including child guidance) _____
1.177
1.068
1,102
719
2.3
1.5
75
349
.3
1.4
93.6
67.3
With other special groups:
Physically handicapped______ _________
Adult offenders________________
Aged in institutions_____ ____________ _
1,756
2. 298
652
1.249
2, 223
166
2.6
4.6
.3
507
75
486
2.0
.3
1.9
71.1
96.7
25.5
Other services to individuals or families
3, 994
1,366
2.9
2. 628
10.4
34.2
Group work_____________ ______________
8, 757
272
.6
8,485
33.7
3.1
Community organization_________ _______
2,674
159
.3
2,515
10.0
5.9
518
212
.4
306
1.2
40.9
With families:
Public assistance
Other family services._______ ____________
With children:
Noninstitutional (except court)
Institutional___________________
Court services__ ... .
Teaching social work.. .
______
______
1 Of the estimated total of 74,240 social workers, 1,265 could not be classified by program and an additional
33 could not be classified as to public employment.
2 All public social workers were in State or local agencies, except 1,989 Federal employees (more than
half of them in hospitals or clinics).
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 study of social work (J9).
In programs serving the physically ill in hospitals and clinics more
than half (56 percent) of all social workers were in public establish
ments, and in services to the physically handicapped nearly threefourths (71 percent) were public workers. In mental health services,
94 percent of the social workers in hospital programs were in public
work as compared with two-thircls (67 percent) of those in psychiatric
clinics. On the other hand, a negligible proportion of social workers
in group work programs (3 percent) and of those in community or
ganization programs (6 percent) were employed by public agencies.
14
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Figure 6.—The head of the teen-age department of the YWCA discusses proposed
plans while the teen-age group and board members listen.
Slightly over one-fourth of those serving the aged in institutions and
little more than one-third of those working in institutional programs
for children were in public rather than private institutions.
Opportunities for employment in voluntary social work agencies
appeared greatest in group work programs, in which more than onethird (34 percent) of all privately employed social workers were em
ployed in 1950, and in family service programs in voluntary agencies,
where nearly one-fifth (18 percent) worked. One-tenth of the private
social workers worked in other voluntary agency programs serving
individuals or families, another tenth were in community organization
programs, and almost one-tenth (9 percent) were in noninstitutional
children’s agencies. Separate statistics on women social workers in
public and private employment were not available.
THE SUPPLY OF SOCIAL WORKERS
In the older professions of medicine and nursing which may not be
practiced without a license, it is relatively easy to estimate the total
supply of workers available at a given time by totaling the State
licenses issued and eliminating duplicates between the States. In
these professions, the enrollments in accredited schools preparing stu
dents to meet the requirements for licensing indicate the maximum
oncoming supply for the number of years covered by the required
training program. In social work, however, there is no legal regula
tion of practice in the United States, although the American Asso
ciation of Social Workers has taken the stand that the practice of social
work should be restricted legally to persons who meet certain require
ments of education and experience (3). The association is working
on a long-range program of study, education, and action looking to
ward adoption of licensing legislation in each State.
In 1950, California was the only State that made legal provision
for the registration of social workers and this was on a voluntary
basis. Employing agencies often specify registration as a condition
of employment. The State Board of Social Work Examiners has the
authority to examine the qualifications of social workers and to certify
them as registered social workers (R. S. W.). Since January 1, 1947,
every social worker certified must have completed 1 year of full-time
graduate study in an approved school of social work and have passed
the Board’s written examination. The American Association of So
cial Workers also requires new members to have at least 1 year of
graduate training in social work. (See appendix, p. 78.)
Illinois had a plan for registering social workers under voluntary
auspices in 1951, and plans were underway for seeking legal provision
for registration in 1953.
Training and Supply
In 1950, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Nation-wide
study of personnel in social work, only 27 percent of the social workers
in the United States had had a year or more of education in graduate
schools of social work; an additional 13 percent had had some educa
tion in graduate schools of social work, but less than 1 year (J9). This
means that 60 percent of the social workers employed in the United
States in 1950 had not had any social work training in a graduate
15
16
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
#4* %?/<,
ktffcs-
*
1
Figure 7.—Students in a school of social work take notes on a lecture in medical
information.
school of social work. However, in particular areas, proportions
differ. In California approximately 50 percent of the registered
social workers as of July 1, 1951, had completed 1 year or more of
full-time study in an approved school of social work. A comparison
of the age and experience distribution of those with such training and
those without would undoubtedly bear out employer comments that a
higher proportion of the workers hired in recent years have had gradu
ate training than of those hired earlier. The fact remains, however,
that in possibly half of the social work positions in the United States
in 1950 graduate training was not required for employment, although
such employment might be more easily obtained with graduate
training.
It is clear, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ study, that in some
types of social work programs, graduate training is more often a
requirement than it is in others. In psychiatric clinics, for instance, 83
percent of the social workers in 1950 had had 2 years or more of educa
tion in graduate schools of social work and all but 4 percent had had
some graduate training (Jft). In psychiatric hospitals and in medical
hospitals and clinics nearly half the social workers had completed
2 or more years of graduate social work education, and only roughly
one-fourth of the psychiatric workers and one-fifth of the medical
ones had had no graduate training. In these programs, as well as in
SUPPLY
17
voluntary family services (where about one-third had no graduate
training) and in social work with children in schools or outside insti
tutions (where little more than one-tliird were without such training),
the supply would seem to be drawn more largely from graduate schools
of social work. On the other hand, public assistance programs and
institutions for the aged appear to depend on undergraduate col
leges for their major supply, since more than three-fourths of social
workers in these programs in 1950 had had no training in graduate
schools of social work. In work with the physically handicapped and
adult offenders and in group work, roughly two-thirds had had no
preparation in graduate schools of social work and workers here, too,
appear to be drawn from undergraduate colleges and universities.
The supply of social workers from graduate schools of social work
has been increasing over the years, although there was a temporary
set-back during World War II. In the 36 graduate schools of social
work accredited by the American Association of Schools of Social
Work in continental United States in 1941, 2,455 full-time students
were enrolled (2). In 1949, in the 46 accredited schools, 3,997 students
werei enrolled, an increase of 39 percent over 1941 (5); by November
1950, the increase was 45 percent. About 2,000 students are graduated
annually from the 2-year program in these accredited schools. (For
list of accredited schools, see appendix, p. 85.) Not all of these gradu
ates represent new additions to the social work profession, since many
are in school on fellowships or work-study plans awarded by or
through the social agency which has employed them in the past and
expects them to return following their graduation. But, assuming
that all are new additions, they would not be enough to fill the esti
mated annual needs in medical, psychiatric, and voluntary family
service agency social work (see Bulls. 235-1, 235-2, and 235-4 in this
series), where graduate training appears to be most extensively re
quired. As a source of supply for all social work, they fall short by
1,700 or more of the number estimated as needed annually to replace
those who die or withdraw from practice, if we assume a low annual
attrition rate of 5 percent of those employed.
Another source of supply upon which public agencies have drawn
heavily are those trained in undergraduate social work programs
offered in 1950 by 33 member schools of the National Association of
Schools of Social Administration. (See appendix, p. 88, for list of
these schools.) Total figures on graduates of these schools in 1950
are not available. But the fact that 309 undergraduate degrees and
20 master’s degrees in social work were conferred by 20 of these 33
schools in 1949 would indicate that the annual supply from this source
would be probably less than 500. Since vacancies for social workers
in State and local public assistance agencies in June 1949 totaled over
18
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
2,000, it is obvious that this second source of social work personnel is
as yet completely inadequate in meeting the demand for new workers
in public agencies alone.
A broader source, including these National Association of Schools of
Social Administration schools, is used directly to a large extent by
youth-serving agencies. They are the approximately 1,300 colleges
and universities in the United States, about 400 of which offer one or
two introductory courses in social work as part of a sociology or social
science program. This collegiate group, of course, is the reservoir
from which the accredited graduate schools of social work, like other
graduate schools, draw their students. In 1948-49, nearly 51,000
bachelor’s degrees were awarded in the social sciences and psychology
(57). It is from this reservoir, with the addition of a few from the
biological sciences, that the initial supply of social workers is chan
neled off from other groups flowing from the same source: Social
science teachers, economists, psychologists, and others.
It is this initial source that the recently completed national study
of social work education proposes to enlarge, safeguard, and
strengthen by the professional development and support of an under
graduate concentration for prospective social workers, to be directed
by a social work educator with a broad background, and to be re
garded as an organic part of professional preparation (35). This
not only would include one or more courses of a specific social work
character but would insure a broad liberal arts foundation. The
report ventures to predict that within a decade or so such a program
sponsored by the profession will be offered by 800 or more colleges,
greatly increasing, probably more than doubling, the supply of stu
dents entering graduate schools of social work. These graduate
schools, of course, would be further expanded and more of them cre
ated. Broad regional planning to utilize existing facilities to the
fullest is already under way in the South (35).
Among the recommendations of the national study of social work
education that will be discussed at the 1952 Convention of the Ameri
can Association of Schools of Social Work is a proposal that graduate
schools offer 1 year of a basic curriculum followed by an additional
year of specialized curricula based on the major functions performed.
The basic curriculum would cover four areas: Social process and
social institutions; knowledge, skill, and attitude required for direct
work with individuals and groups; history, philosophy, ethics, and
other aspects of the theory of social work; and organization, admin
istration, finance, research, public information, and community or
ganization for students looking toward a career in social welfare
administration.
At present, graduate schools of social work accredited by the Amer
ican Association of Schools of Social Work offer a “basic eight” cur
SUPPLY
19
riculum covering the following subject areas: Social welfare admin
istration, social case work, social group work, social research, medi
cal information, psychiatry, community organization, and public wel
fare. At some schools, emphasis throughout the 2-year program is
on “generic” social work. In others, specialization in the second
year is offered for medical or psychiatric social work, for social group
work or school social work, or for child welfare or family case work.
In some schools both types of programs are offered. A few schools
offer programs training for community organization and for admin
istration. A growing number are offering a third year of graduate
study, at first available most commonly in psychiatric case work but
more recently covering other method specializations as well as teach
ing, research, administration, and consultation.
Field work plays an important part in training for social work at
all levels. Under this arrangement, provision is made by all accred
ited schools of social work and departments of social work to provide
the student with appropriate work experiences in social agencies un
der skilled supervisors. As much as 40 to 50 percent of the scheduled
time spent by each social work student in the 2-year graduate course
may he in such field work. (See Bull. 235-6 in this series.) Diffi
culty in finding suitable field work placements for students has in
some cases held back the initiation or expansion of training in such
specializations as school and psychiatric social work, and in
administration.
Increasing the Supply Through Scholarships
and Other Student Aid Programs
Social work appears to lead all other professions in the extent to
which it provides financial help to potential workers in obtaining
graduate preparation. Although few funds are earmarked for stu
dent aid to undergraduates who intend to complete training for social
work, at the graduate level scholarship funds are more plentiful.
Over two-thirds of the full-time students enrolled in member schools
of the American Association of Schools of Social Work on November
1, 1949, were receiving financial aid of some type (5). Forty-one
percent of these were receiving funds from the Veterans’ Adminis
tration, 28 percent from other public funds, 21 percent from volun
tary agency funds, and 10 percent from school funds. Under the
Veterans’ Administration paid field work program, selected students
who have satisfactorily completed 1 year in a recognized school of
social work and who have had 1 year of acceptable case work experi
ence are placed by the school in Veterans’ Administration hospitals
or clinics and paid for the part-time work (24 hours or more a week)
they perform. This also satisfies the school’s requirements for field
work in medical or psychciatric social work specialization.
20
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Federal agencies that administer funds under the Social Security
Act authorized for use in increasing the supply of trained personnel
in social work are the Public Health Service, the Bureau of Public
Assistance, the Children’s Bureau, and the Office of Vocational Re
habilitation in the Federal Security Agency.
The Public Health Service also makes available, under the National
Mental Health Act, student stipends at selected schools of social work
for the training of psychiatric social workers. These are of two
types: Those available to graduate students specializing in psychiatric
social work for the second year of their graduate training; and those
for selected individuals with the master’s degree in social work and
experience in progressively responsible social work positions who de
sire and are qualified for advanced training for supervisory, teaching,
research, or administrative careers in the mental health field. Funcls
allotted to State mental health authorities under the National Mental
Health Act may be used for the training of mental health personnel,
including psychiatric social workers. Such stipends usually entail a
job commitment to work in the State mental health program.
The United States Children’s Bureau approves the use of Federal
funds granted to States for the development of staff in programs of
rnmmm
Figure 8.—A case worker in a child guidance home discusses with a parent a child’s
emotional disturbance.
SUPPLY
21
child welfare services and for medical social work in the crippled
children’s and maternal and child health services. Practically all the
States make use of Federal child welfare services funds for educational
leave grants to employees for social work education. A few States
have developed work-study plans for this purpose. The amount of
the grant varies with the States and the length of the educational leave
is almost universally an academic year. The Division of Health Serv
ices of the Children’s Bureau operates under a joint educational policy
with the United States Public Health Service. Under this policy the
Division encourages the use of funds granted to the States for maternal
and child health and for crippled children’s programs, for educational
purposes. These funds may he used for training of all health per
sonnel, including the medical social workers in the program. Educa
tional leave is available to persons at their regular salaries for post
graduate professional training in schools of social work. This leave is
granted generally for the completion of the medical social specializa
tion and may be extended beyond the usual 12 months.
The Bureau of Public Assistance also participates with the States in
expenditures for educational leave programs for granting selected
staff members in public assistance agencies the opportunity for special
ized or technical study in accredited educational institutions. Federal
funds are likewise available to State vocational rehabilitation agencies
through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to pay salary and neces
sary travel expenses of selected employees during educational leave
spent at educational institutions or as interns in public and voluntary
rehabilitation agencies, crippled children’s services, psychological and
guidance services, and other similar programs.
A variety of scholarships and work-study arrangements are also
provided by member agencies of the Family Service Association of
America, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Urban
League, and the National Travelers Aid Association. The National
Board of the YWCA and the Girl Scouts of America are among the
other social agencies offering scholarships for training at schools of
social work. Among voluntary agencies serving individuals with
physical handicaps which offer scholarships for training in case work
in such programs are the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
and the National Tuberculosis Association. Scholarships are also
available through religious organizations and fraternal and women’s
organizations. Information on scholarships and other student aid
available at member schools of the American Association of Schools of
Social Work is published annually in October by the American Asso
ciation of Social Workers (4). A variety of full and partial fellow
ships as well as assistantships, educational leave, work-study plans,
and loan funds, are offered. However, since candidates for aid exceed
22
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
the aid available, it is important for applicants to be well qualified and
to apply early, usually 6 months to a year before they plan to use the
aid, if granted.
Earnings and Supply
The short supply of social workers appears to be related at least
in part to low salaries in the profession, as compared to other lines
of work requiring less training. In 1950, the average earnings for
social workers, two-thirds of whom were college graduates and about
half of whom had taken graduate work in addition, were $2,960 a year
or $56.92 a week; for women, the average was $2,800 {49). The average
worker in manufacturing in July 1950 had gross weekly earnings of
$59.21 (23). This rate for 52 weeks would amount to annual earnings
of $3,079. Salaries of social workers were similar to those of some
other professions employing large numbers of women on which 1949
or 1950 data were available. For instance, teachers and other in
structional personnel in public schools (including supervisors and
principals) averaged $2,980 in 1949-50 according to an estimate of
the National Education Association. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
found that hospital dietitians had an average (median) annual salary
of $2,970 in 1949 and professional librarians, $3,050 (!25) {24).
I he variations in salary of all social workers by type of program
are shown in table 5.
Table 5.—Average Annual Salaries of Social Workers, by Type of Social Work
Program, United States, 1950
Type of social work program
All workers_____
_
$2, 960
With families:
Public assistance______ _____________ ___ _______
Other family services_________
~ ~
With children:
Noninstitutional (except court)______.
Institutional_______________
______
Court services__________
School social work,._ _________________
____
_____
In mental health services:
Hospitals__________________
_______
Clinics (including child guidance)
. ' .
With other special groups:
Physically handicapped ________________
Adult offenders__________________ ___ _____
Aged in institutions______ ___ _ ________ _ _'"
2,710
3,170
3,030
3,030
3,120
3,730
‘
In hospitals and clinics (except mental)_____ ___
3,370
3,350
3, 920
’
Other services to individuals or families..___ ____________
Group work_______________ _____ ____________
Community organization ____________
Median
annual salary
__________
Peaching social work______
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 study of social work (49).
3, 870
3, 730
2,490
3,060
3, 210
4,360
4,710
23
SUPPLY
Teachers of social work with an average (median) salary of $4,710
and community organization workers with $4,360 received the highest
salaries, whereas social workers with the aged in institutions received
the lowest average (median) salary, $2,490.
Average salaries of social workers in agencies engaged in case work
with families or children ranged from $2,710 in public assistance to
$3,730 in school social work. Social workers in psychiatric clinics
averaged $3,920, in psychiatric hospitals, $3,350; medical social work
ers averaged $3,370; and social group workers averaged $3,210.
Executives and supervisors received higher average salaries, $3,700
and $3,610, than case or group workers providing direct service to in
dividuals or groups, who averaged $2,730. (See table 6.) At all
levels, except in the miscellaneous group (including teaching, re
search, and consultation), men’s salaries averaged more than those
of women.
In commenting on salary differences between men and women grad
uates of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Adminis
tration as revealed in a follow-up study in 1946 of those graduated
from 1932 to 1942, the dean of the school wrote:
Differences should be of concern to all who believe that promotion should
be based on ability alone, for there is not the slightest evidence that the
men graduates . . . were a more able group than the women graduates.
Table 6.—Average Annual Salaries of Social Workers, by Position and Sex,
United States, 1950
Median annual salary
Position
Total
Women
Men
_____
$2, 960
$2,800
$3,430
Executives _________________ ____________ _____ __________
Supervisors of case or group workers ______________________
Case or group workers ____________
_____
All other, including teaching, research, consultation, other
supervision, etc__ _
_________
__ ... ____
3, 700
3, 610
2,730
3,180
3, 550
2, 660
4, 430
3, 790
2,860
3, 710
3, 710
3,700
All positions___________________________ __ -
Source: IT. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 19,150 study of social work U9).
Average annual salaries in 1950 were generally higher in regions
which had the greater supply of social workers in proportion to popu
lation according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. (See table
7.) Social workers in the Pacific States and the Middle Atlantic
States averaged the highest annual salaries, and these States had the
greatest number of social workers per 100,000 population. The low
est average annual salary was reported for social workers in the
Southeastern States, which had the lowest number of social workers
per 100,000 population in 1950. California salary information ob
tained in 1950 by the California Board of Social Work Examiners
977354—52------- 3
24
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
substantiates the leadership of the Pacific area in salaries in this
field. The median salary of more than 2,100 social workers registered
by the Board in all types of programs was $3,073 annually (77).
The median was $3,413 for family service and public assistance work
ers, $4,374 for community organization workers. The 25 teachers of
social work included were receiving relatively high salaries; more
than half of them had salaries above $4,800.
Table 7.—Average Annual Salaries of Social Workers and Number of Social
Workers per 100,000 Population, by Region, United States, 1950
Median
annual
salary
Region 1
United States. ___ _
Number of
social workers
per 100,000
population
$2, 960
49
3, 040
3, 050
54
67
3.010
2, 690
51
44
2, 860
2, 490
2, 770
40
34
36
2, 850
3, 320
42
57
Northeastern States:
Middle Atlantic
North Central States:
Great Lakes
Middle West ______________________________________ _____
South:
Border States
Southeast ________________________ _ ____
Southwest___ _____
-
________
West:
Mountain____________________________________ ____ ___________
Pacific....................................................... ............... .............. - _ - -- . --
1 The regions in this table include:
New England—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont;
Middle Atlantic—New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania;
Great Lakes—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin;
Middle West—Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota;
Border States—Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia;
Southeast—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee;
Southwest—Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas;
Mountain—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming;
Pacific—California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 study of social work (J5).
The salary scale for most social work positions in the Federal
Civil Service in 1950 ranged from $3,825 for beginning social worker
positions to $8,600 for top positions as public, welfare adviser or
public welfare research analyst; in November 1951, the salary scale
ranged from $4,205 to $9,360. (See appendix for education and
experience requirements for beginning positions.) In March 1951
the Army announced beginning salaries (including allowances) for
most'social work officers of $3,789 to $5,166 without dependents and
of $3,969 to $5,346 with dependents. The Air Force employs psy
chiatric social workers as commissioned officers with the same pay
scale as the Army. In the Federal service average annual salaries
for all social work positions as reported in the Bureau of Labor
Statistics’ 1950 study ranged from a median of $4,000 for the case or
SUPPLY
25
Figure 9-—Social workers in a medical center confer about a chart for a research
.
project on the growth and development of children.
group workers to one of $5,880 for social workers engaged in teaching,
research, and consultation.
In private agencies, salaries in 1950 were on the average about
$1,000 less than in the Federal Government. Lowest salaries were
found in State and local government agencies, where case or group
workers averaged $2,690 and consultants and research workers re
ceived the highest average of $3,690.
ORGANIZATIONS
Of Social Workers
The American Association of Social Workers is the largest pro
fessional organization of social workers in the United States. It
was formed in 1921, as an outgrowth of the National Social Workers
Exchange, which in turn in 1917 had separated from the Intercol
legiate Bureau of Occupations. The latter was originally established
in New York as a vocational guidance and placement organization
to assist college alumnae seeking employment opportunities in that
area {14). As early as 1922, local chapters of the American Asso
ciation of Social Workers were formed in Boston and New Bedford
in Massachusetts, in Seat tie- Tacoma in Washington, and in Cleve
land, Ohio. In 1950, its State and local chapters had a membership
of more than 12,000. At least five women have served as president
of the Association {46) and many others have held other offices in
the Association and have served on its board of directors.
The latest comprehensive study of the membership of the Associa
tion made in 1945 covered 6,844 or 60 percent of the total membership.
At that time, more than half (55 percent) of the 6,199 members
for whom type of work was reported were case workers and more
than one-fourth (28 percent) were administrators {46). The mem
bership requirements in recent years have emphasized graduation
from an accredited graduate school of social work (see appendix for
membership requirements). The curricula in these schools in the
past have placed the major emphasis on social case work, and this
may account in part for the predominance of case workers in the
AASW membership. Nearly 40 percent of the members in 1945
were employed in public agencies (46).
The organization holds an annual conference and publishes a
quarterly, The Social Work Journal. It promotes high personnel
standards in the field of social work, gives professional status to
its members, and disseminates information on the profession. Its
standing committees are concerned with: Membership, personnel
standards and practices, registration and licensing, civil rights in
social work, education for social work, public social policies, inter
national cooperation for social welfare, and research. In the head
quarters office, an executive secretary and an assistant executive secre
tary in charge of research (both men) head a staff of 11.
26
ORGANIZATIONS
27
Specialized membership organizations, such as those for social
workers in medical, psychiatric, school, and church settings, and for
those engaged in group work, community organization, research, and
public welfare, are described in more detail in the other bulletins in
this series. Minimum requirements for membership in the principal
organizations are given in the appendix. In 1950, discussion was
taking place among members of the various associations at both the
local and national level concerning the desirability of consolidating
some of these separate groups into a single membership organization.
The Committee on Inter-Association Structure, organized in 1946
under the sponsorship of the AASW and the American Association
of Schools of Social Work, had this problem as one of its major
concerns. In June 1950, this committee was dissolved, and the tem
porary Inter-Association Council of Social Work Membership Or
ganizations was established. The council was approved by the
constituent organizations (American Association of Group Workers,
American Association of Medical Social Workers, American Associa
tion of Psychiatric Social Workers, American Association of Social
Workers, and National Association of Schools of Social Work) in
February 1951 (51). Suggestions had also been made looking toward
the provision of some type of professional membership for the thou-
Figure 10.—Medical social worker (at center) confers about a research project with
a pediatrician, a nutritionist, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a somatotypist, and
a dentist.
28
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
sands of social workers ineligible for the AASW and the other groups
which emphasized graduate training in their requirements (65).
The extent to which graduates of accredited schools of social work
participate in professional membership organizations is indicated
by several follow-up studies. More than half (54 percent) of the
550 Smith College School for Social Work alumnae replying to a
1941 questionnaire reported that they were or had been at one time
members of the American Association of Social Workers. More than
one-fourth (28 percent) belonged or had belonged to the American
Association of Psychiatric Social Workers. Nearly two-thirds (62
percent) of those who received master’s degrees from Simmons Col
lege School of Social Work during the period from 1936 through 1945
and who replied to a 1947 questionnaire stated that they were at
that time members of one or more professional social work organiza
tions, including the American Association of Social Workers, the
American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers, the American
Association of Medical Social Workers, and of State Conferences of
Social Work (11). The percentages were similar for graduates work
ing full time, whether married or single. Ninety percent of the
graduates who were single in 1947 belonged to at least one association
and 57 percent belonged to two or more. A majority of the married
graduates were not working and membership was lower among the
nonworking group; only 42 percent of the married graduates belonged
to at least one association and only 14 percent belonged to two or more.
During the depression of the 1930’s when many new social workers
who were unable to meet membership requirements in national organi
zations were hired by public relief agencies to meet emergency needs,
a number of local clubs of social workers sprang up again (32), as
they had 20 years earlier in the larger cities before national organiza
tions were formed (15). In 1940, there were at least 46 local clubs,
18 of which were organized between 1930 and 1940, and 1 which dated
back to 1905 (32).
In 1942 the National Federation of Social Workers was formed to
promote such clubs and to study membership (28). This organiza
tion did not survive, but in 1944 there were seven State-wide associa
tions of local clubs.
In the same year, 21,500 persons employed in public and private
welfare agencies belonged to unions (6'). How many of these were
social workers is unknown, since clerical and maintenance as well as
professional workers in social agencies were eligible for membership.
At present there are a number of unions open to social workers, includ
ing affiliates of the American Federation of Labor such as the Ameri
can Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, for which
persons employed in local or State government agencies are eligible,
ORGANIZATIONS
29
and the American Federation of Government Employees, open to
employees of the Federal Government; affiliates of the CIO such as
the new Government and Civic Employees Organizing Committee
formed in 1950; and independents, notably the National Federation
of Federal Employees, a long established union of Federal workers.
Another type of organization to which social workers belong brings
together both professional and lay persons interested in social welfare,
primarily for the purpose of discussion. The National Conference of
Social Work, which in 1951 had a membership of 4,500 individuals
and 1,200 organizations (31), is the oldest organization of this sort
(33). It met for the first time in 1874 as the Conference of Boards of
Public Charities, which in turn grew out of an informal meeting of
some representatives of State boards of charities attended in 1871 by
79 people, including 1 woman (44)- In 1950, over 6,000 persons
attended its annual meetings. Nearly three-fourths of those in attend
ance at these meetings were women. In 1951, the conference adopted
a new type of subject organization under three functional sections and
six service committees as follows: Functional sections—(1) Services
to individuals and families, (2) Services to groups and individuals
in groups, and (3) Services to agencies and communities. Common
service committees—(1) Social research and social studies, (2) Per
sonnel (paid and volunteer—recruitment, in-service education, per
sonnel practices, etc.)( (3) Public relations, (4) Method of social
action, (5) Professional education for social welfare, and (6) Financ
ing of social welfare services. Sixty-nine women and 61 men were
members of the 12 section committees of the conference as they existed
in 1950. In the period from 1947 to 1950, 23 women and 25 men were
section chairmen and 2 women and 4 men served as chairmen of special
committees. Women served as chairmen of committees as early as
1886, and held 41 percent of the chairmanships from 1924 to 1946 (15).
Jane Addams in 1910 was the first woman elected to the presidency
of the conference, and 12 other women have served as presidents
since (18).
Similar conferences were formed in some States before the beginning
of the twentieth century, and in 1950 all States except New Mexico
had such a conference. Many of them, in addition to an annual con
ference, have continuing programs of social action throughout the
year. For example, the Illinois Welfare Association, in addition to
its annual State-wide meeting, holds year-round meetings in the dis
tricts. The Association of State Conference Secretaries, organized
in 1924, facilitates the exchange of ideas between the conferences (18).
The first International Conference of Social Work met in 1928, and
four subsequent conferences have been held in 1932, 1936, 1948, and
1950. The 1950 meeting in Paris was attended by 1,800 social workers
30
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
from 47 countries. The United States Committee of the conference is
concerned with raising funds and helping with programs for the
conference; promoting meetings in the United States on international
social welfare subjects; cooperating through the conference with the
United Nations in the formulation of statements on technical problems
and the selection of technicians for United Nations assignments in
social welfare.
The International Federation of Social Workers is the organization
of professional social work associations in the various countries de
signed to promote improved standards of countries, the exchange of
information, and the development of status and recognition of the
social work profession. The International Association of Schools of
Social Work is the organization for schools of social work and has pur
poses in the educational field similar to those of the International
Federation in the general professional field.
Of Social Work Agencies
In addition to organizations of individual social workers, there
are a number of national social work organizations in which member
ship is held primarily by agencies rather than by individuals, regard
less of their agency affiliation. The principal organizations of this
type in which local agencies have joined together in a national pro-
Figure 11.—A case worker assists a stranded young traveler.
ORGANIZATIONS
31
gram have been the Community Chests and Councils of America,
the Family Service Association of America, the Child Welfare League
of America, and the National Federation of Settlements and Neighbor
hood Centers. These have been described in other bulletins in this
series dealing with the area they represent. Their requirements for
membership are outlined in the appendix of this bulletin.
The principal over-all national organization of this sort is the
National Social Welfare Assembly. Organized in 1922 as the National
Social Work Council to provide a means of consultation and con
ference on matters of social welfare, the Assembly brings together
national organizations in social work. Within the Assembly in 1951
there were five councils: Social Case Work; Education and Recrea
tion, including a Youth Division; Health; and Young Adult. There
is also a special committee on service to the Armed Forces and vet
erans (12). Some 14 governmental agencies and some 43 national
voluntary agencies are represented in the Assembly by two representa
tives each, 1 lay and 1 professional. In addition to these representa
tives, 83 individuals are members-at-large, representing local
leadership throughout the country (31). The functions of the As
sembly are to “facilitate more effective operation of organized social
welfare; study and define social welfare problems and human needs
and develop plans for remedial action; and to act in behalf of social
welfare where representation of its interests is indicated.” The staff
of the Assembly in 1950 consisted of four men and two women. The
women served as director of field service cooperation and director of
the youth division, respectively.
The Social Work Vocational Bureau was organized in 1940 to
provide a channel through which social agencies engaged in case work
seeking personnel and qualified social workers seeking positions might
communicate. Since 1948, individual membership in the Bureau has
been open to workers in all fields of social work who meet the member
ship requirements. These are: At least 1 year of professional social
work training, or membership in a professional association, or satis
factory employment in social work for 5 years of the past 7 years of
which at least 3 have been in a supervisory or executive position.
Membership is open also to students attending graduate schools of
social work. On June 30, 1951, its membership included 503 social
agencies and 2,275 individual social workers.
For Social Work Education
The American Association of Schools of Social Work, known origi
nally in 1919 as the Association of Training Schools of Professional
Social Work, in 1951 had 49 accredited member schools in the conti
nental United States, in addition to 7 in the Territories and in Canada.
32
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
The AASSW, in addition to accrediting schools, provides consultation
services to universities wishing to initiate or improve graduate pro
grams and professional social work education. The requirements
for membership are outlined and member schools listed in the
appendix.
The National Association of Schools of Social Administration was
organized during World War II to promote instruction in social work
that would enable college graduates to take jobs in agencies that did
not require completion of the 2-year graduate course for employment,
particularly to meet the need for public agency personnel. In 1951,
it had 33 member schools in the United States which offered a con
centration of social and related sciences and a 2-year sequence that
included 12 semester hours in basic social welfare courses. Require
ments for membership and a list of member schools are given in the
appendix.
In the field of social work education, a National Council on Educa
tion for Social Work was formed in 1946 to bring together organiza
tions interested in social work education and to conduct research re
lating to personnel needs and training. In addition to the National
Social Welfare Assembly and six professional membership organiza
tions, the Council included the American Association of Schools of
Social Work, the National Association of Schools of Social Ad
ministration, the Association of American Colleges, and the Associa
tion of American Universities. A comprehensive study of social work
education conducted by the Council will be published in 1951 {35).
The report of this study advocates creation of a permanent Council
on Social Work Education with subordinate commissions. It also
concludes that “a majority of the profession would, for the time being,
be satisfied with four comprehensive and stable coordinating bodies—
one similar to the National Conference of Social Work to serve as a
forum for deliberation on social welfare issues that are of national
importance, one similar to the National Social Welfare Assembly to
coordinate the activities of national agencies and groups of agencies
in the field of social work practice, one similar to the American Asso
ciation of Social Workers that would be comprehensive enough to
serve as the voice of organized practitioners, and one similar to the
National Council on Social Work Education to stimulate and coordi
nate all undertakings related to the promotion and regulation of
education” {35).
For Defense Mobilization
The National Committee on Social Work in Defense Mobilization
was established in November 1950. The associations represented on
the committee are the American Association of Social Workers, the
American Association of Group Workers, the American Association
ORGANIZATIONS
33
of Medical Social Workers, the American Association of Psychiatric
Social Workers, the National Association of School Social Workers,
and, ex officio, the American Association of Schools of Social Work
and the National Social Welfare Assembly. The broad areas of
proposed activity of the committee include study of programs of
social work services to the Armed Forces and their extension; the
establishment of additional social work classifications and the ap
pointment of social workers at high policy levels in the Armed Forces;
service as an information center with regard to social work in the
defense program; and effective utilization of social work knowledge
and skills in the selective service program and in civil defense 9).
THE DEMAND FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
If the budgeted demand for social workers kept pace with the ex
pressed need for social services, there would be positions for many
more times the 75,000 social workers estimated as employed in the
United States in 1950. Like health needs, needs for social work appear
to multiply as progress reveals unmet needs ahead. Also, as social
work develops into a mature, recognized profession, the usefulness of
its skill and knowledge become evident in related fields. This creates
an additional outlet for social workers in such related fields as em
ployee relations and social insurance, where the demand has grown
steadily in the last decade or two. It also increases the need for teach
ers of social work. But here we are concerned primarily with the
effective demand for social workers as evidenced in budgeted social
work positions. That demand has grown steadily over the years and
appears likely to continue to grow, though at a reduced rate.
mWM
Figure 12.—A child welfare worker arranges homemaking service for a father
and his seven motherless children.
34
DEMAND
35
The first separate reporting of the number of social and welfare
workers by the United States Census was made in 1930, when 31,241
were reported gainfully employed in the United States. In 1940 the
number employed was 69,677. These figures are not exactly com
parable since the 1940 Census included probation and parole workers
and certain other categories not included in 1930. But if the 1930
figure is raised to 40,000, as an authority at the Russell Sage Founda
tion suggested, the increase between 1930 and 1940 was nearly 30,000
or 75 percent (IS). Most of this increase can be explained by the
tremendous expansion in public assistance that took place during this
depression decade. That rate of expansion is not likely to be repeated,
but a slower, steady growth is predicted.
In 1948 expenditures for social work programs in 29 cities were
analyzed by the Community Chests and Councils of America. About
three-fourths were from public funds (74 percent). Of the remaining
private funds, the largest amount, 16 percent of the total, was derived
from contributions and income from investment. But 7 percent came
from persons paying for all or part of the social services they re
ceived, and 3 percent came from such miscellaneous sources as the
goods salvaged by agencies like the Goodwill Industries and the
Salvation Army {35). Little likelihood is seen for much further
increase in private contributions. In 1950 the amount raised by 759
community chests, for instance, was only 1 percent more in dollars
than the amount raised in 1949. Although fees paid by persons re
ceiving service represent a small part of the total income, under con
ditions of full employment it should continue to grow as individuals
who can pay for social services contribute their share as they do for
medical care. As more social workers become licensed, it is possible
that a larger number may go into private practice after building up
prestige with a reputable agency. Currently a negligible number of
social workers have their own practice. For individuals entering
private practice there is still the question as to how they can relate
to the social agency structure.
In attempting to answer the question of how much expenditure for
social welfare the United States can afford, one authority concludes,
after analyzing national income and public expenditures for social
welfare in the broadest sense (including health, social insurance, and
education), that “a country like ours, characterized by a rising trend
in national income can expect in the future to increase its economic
enjoyments, including social welfare” (16). The recently completed
National Study of Social Work Education comes to the same con
clusion, after an analysis of trends in the field: “A survey of the
probable developments in the social and economic life and of the state
of scientific knowledge in the United States during the next 25 years,
36
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
suggests a steadily increasing demand for the services of social
workers” (35).
The nature of this demand as it affects the outlook for social work
ers in the various method specializations has been discussed in detail
in the earlier bulletins in this series, and a brief summary of the out
look in each of these specializations is given on pages 45 to 50. Only
three of the newer developments affecting the field as a whole are
presented here. The most striking is the new demand for special
services to persons over 65 years of age.
Work With the Aged
Long-time trends show a growing number and proportion of our
population in the over-65-years-of-age group. The Bureau of the
Census estimates that by 1975 more than 17 million residents of the
United States will be over 65 as compared with 10 million in 1945 (55).
Although social insurance has reduced the amount of dependency and
hardship of older persons, it cannot solve the many nonfinancial prob
lems requiring social work skills (38). Recommendations from many
parts of the country indicate wide recognition of the needs of the
aged. Among these needs are better housing (better institutions,
specially constructed homes or apartments, boarding homes) ; better
medical care (special divisions for chronic diseases in general hos
pitals) ; better psychiatric care (provision for mentally confused
aged persons as distinct from provision for persons with other types
of mental illness) ; better recreational facilities.
Experimental projects have been developed in a number of cities
to meet the growing needs of aged persons. The Federation of
Jewish Philanthropies of New York, for instance, in 1949 planned
such special projects as a series of boarding homes, an apartment house
for older persons, housekeeping services for the aged to enable them
to live in their own quarters, home care of the chronically ill, and a
nursing home. Local welfare councils are beginning to form special
committees on the care of the aged, and in January 1950 a national
committee on the aging was established under the auspices t>f the
National Social Welfare Assembly (59). The State of Connecticut
in 1945 appointed a State Commission on the Care and Treatment of
the Chronically 111, Aged, and Infirm to meet the needs of more than
a quarter million of its residents over 60 years of age, one-fifth of
whom had incapacitating illnesses. Although the principal social
work demand in this field will be for case workers, experiments in
some communities suggest an ultimately extensive use of group work
ers in providing satisfying group activity for older persons, many
of wdiom are cut off from their original family groups.
DEMAND
37
In International Work
Another development is the steady and apparently permanent in
crease in the international demand for social workers from the United
States. A few citizens of the United States trained in social work had
been employed from time to time by church groups as part of their
foreign mission program. Others were employed on occasion by the
American Red Cross International Activities Division, by the League
of Red Cross Societies, and by various temporary relief organizations
to organize social services in the giving of aid to a foreign community
stricken by disaster. But since World War II the demand has steadily
grown and appears likely to continue. Although the total number
needed may never be large, this type of work is of special interest to
some and will undoubtedly offer increasing opportunity in the future,
almost exclusively, however, for the mature, experienced social worker
rather than for the beginner. Some of these opportunities are with
United States public or private agencies; others are with international
agencies, public and private.
The chief United States Government program employing social
workers is the Point IV technical assistance program to raise standards
of living in undeveloped countries authorized by Congress in 1950.
This program is administered by the Technical Cooperation Adminis
tration, Department of State, with the assistance of the Social Security
Administration, Federal Security Agency. Such technical assistance
has been given in the past by such agencies as the Children’s Bureau
and the Bureau of Public Assistance of the Social Security Adminis
tration under the Scientific and Cultural Exchange Program with the
Latin American Republics. Opportunities for technical assistance
have now been greatly expanded under the Point IV program. A con
siderable number of country programs in Latin America and the
Middle East now include social welfare projects, and the outlook for
utilizing additional experienced personnel is favorable. There is a
steady demand for social work experts experienced in organization
and teaching in schools of social work.
The new emphasis on balanced programs of economic and social aid
has increased the need for experts in community organization, espe
cially for self-help purposes, and social workers have been recruited to
assist in rural development programs. Another important and basic
field is development of social security measures. Four United States
consultants, recruited by the Social Security Administration in 1951,
assisted governments in implementing new social security legislation.
Voluntary agencies and national professional associations are also
participating in carrying out the program under contract with the
Department of State. For example, under the Point IV program, the
38
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Near East Foundation has expanded its village activities in Iran and
Syria, and the American Friends Service Committee is carrying on
projects in India. Also, the American Association of Schools of Social
Work sent two outstanding experts to Colombia this summer to advise
on social work education, at the request of the Colombian Government.
Social workers have also been employed by the Department of
State and the Department of the Army as advisers in regard to social
welfare in the occupied countries.
In addition to these technical-aid programs, social workers may also
go abroad to study and teach under the Fulbright program, whereby
grants are announced yearly for countries having made appropriate
arrangements with the United States.
Figure 13.—An American Red Cross worker overseas has just provided a child,
evacuated with his mother from a battle area, with clothing.
The United States Government also employs social workers in the
Foreign Service as attaches. Two social welfare attaches, one of
them a woman, were appointed in 1948 and assigned to the embassies
in New Delhi and Paris.
I he United N at ions Relief and Rehabilitation Administration,
sponsored by 52 nations including the United States, carried on relief
operations in war-torn countries from 1945 to 1947, employing some
1,400 to 1,500 professional social workers from various countries at
DEMAND
39
the peak of its program in May 1946. A number of social workers
from the United States served as UN It R A welfare officers in Italy,
Greece, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Germany (D. P. opera
tions), and Austria. Following the termination of UNRRA, after
the first overwhelming needs for immediate relief had been met, some
of its work was taken over by the International Refugee Organization
and by the United Nations Secretariat.
In the United Nations Secretariat a program of technical assistance,
informaton, and research has been developed. Social welfare experts
of many countries are employed at headquarters and in the field as
technical advisers to governments in the development of social welfare
measures. By March 1951, 28 women experts in various aspects of
social welfare, including 16 from the United States, had served in the
field as social welfare advisers to governments of member and non
member nations. The United Nations has a small permanent staff
of experts and maintains a roster of experienced social workers quali
fied for short- and long-term assignments at headquarters or abroad.
These advisory services in social welfare will be increased as part of
the United Nations expanded Program of Technical Assistance.
The International Children’s Emergency Fund, to which the United
States contributed officially under the the Foreign Assistance Act, and
to which voluntary contributions have been made by many through
the United Nations appeal for children, employs social workers as well
as medical and other experts in the administration of its program of
seeing that food and desperately needed services reach war orphans
and other needy children in countries eligible for assistance.
Following World War II, the American National Red Cross in its
Foreign Operations program employed about 175 social workers in
some 20 countries at the. peak of the need for civilian relief and had 39
social workers in the Washington headquarters office working in inter
national relief. About half of the overseas and headquarters staff were
women. The activities tapered off as Red Cross societies in the coun
tries served or other local organizations took over the function. Most
staff members were quickly absorbed in other international programs
like those under UNESCO, the World Health Organization, or the
International Refugee Organization. The Red Cross always main
tains a small international staff for consultation and cooperation with
other Red Cross societies.
Many of the 50 or more voluntary agencies providing relief and re
habilitation services overseas have on their staffs women social workers.
These agencies are registered with the Advisory Committee on Volun
tary Foreign Aid of the Department of State, and are also members
of the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service.
They are varied in their make-up; some are nonsectarian, others ethnic,
977354—52------- 4
40
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
cultural, or independent committees of sectarian agencies. The types
of programs which these voluntary agencies provide are varied and
ever changing to meet the needs of the people they serve. Their suc
cess is determined by many principles, a cardinal one of which is
that their services are supplementary to the general plans established
by governmental bodies, national and international. The effectiveness
of t hese programs depends also on agreements and understanding be
tween agencies and governmental bodies in this country, in other coun
tries, and with international organizations.
The agencies’ programs can be divided into three types: (a) Relief
services, which are short range; (&) long range rehabilitation pro
grams, which include technical assistance; (c) services to displaced
persons, refugees, and other migrants.
Voluntary agency relief programs reached their height following
World War II when they provided assistance on a popular level in the
war-torn countries. This type of program is also organized to assist
individuals and families wTho suffer from natural catastrophe, such
as famine, flood, or drought.
Important as relief services are, there has been a marked trend on
the part of voluntary agencies to capitalize the local cooperation de
veloped by such services through long range planning such as tech
nical assistance to improve the economic and social4 living conditions
of the people. Long range planning has included strengthening of
indigenous agencies and organizations through staff discussions, in
stitutes, workshops, to stimulate greater understanding of people.
This practical type of training has been carefully worked out in ad
vance, planned with the interested groups and with a follow-up.
Leadership training courses for young persons, counseling, provision
for certain types of training—vocational and agricultural, self-help
projects, youth centers and settlements, with facilities for discussion
and promotion of better understanding between people through closer
working and social relationships—all these and many more such serv
ices are included in the voluntary agency activities, as well as training
for social work (3).
Village improvement center programs have been undertaken by some
agencies with major emphasis on agriculture along with health, edu
cation, and welfare services. Community planning and services in
urban areas have also been developed.
Over the year certain voluntary agencies have provided extensive
services to persons wishing to settle in the United States permanently.
These agencies have, since the war, had staff abroad wdio have been
working with displaced persons and refugees for their movement from
one country for permanent living in another.
In international work the demand is for v'ell-equipped specialists
in public welfare, social work education and in-service training, child
41
DEMAND
care, and medical social services. Special interest is evident now in
skills in social organization for self-lielp purposes as an important
phase of aid to underdeveloped areas. All experts are required to
have special ability to assist others in initiating and establishing
needed services. Among the qualifications are long and successful
experience in American social work, ability to work with people, a
high degree of personal tolerance, understanding of cultural and so
cial patterns in the undeveloped countries, and flexibility in an alien
setting in addition to basic professional skills.
!««««•'
Figure 14.—A Home Service worker of American Red Cross gives information to
a serviceman’s wife about allotment and allowances.
In National Defense Work and Military Service
In addition to long-time trends in the demand for social workers,
the profession is affected by^ national defense efforts, the duration and
intensity of which were unpredictable in 1951. The first effect upon
social work of a sizable increase in the number of men and women in
military service is an increase in demand for social workers in mili
tary service and by the American National Red Cross for its Home
Service programs and for limited activities in the military hospitals
including the employment of a field director to look after Red Cross
personnel. In the military hospitals beginning July 1, 1951, the Red
42
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Cross medical and psychiatric social workers have been tapering off
arid civilian social workers under Civil Service and social work offi
cers are now carrying on the program.
The Army’s social work program is well established. Until re
cently it has functioned only in relation to psychiatry. Today, how
ever, the scope of the social work program is expanding. In addition
to their past functions relating to psychiatry, social work officers are
now needed to provide case work throughout the wards and clinics
of all but the smallest Army hospitals. Consequently, opportunities
for commissions in the Army Medical Service for men and women
qualified as social workers have increased. Permanent commissions
are available only to selected male Reserve officers. Civilian social
workers are also employed in local areas. In July 1951, the Army had
218 potential social work officer positions available. One hundred and
thirty of these positions had been filled by August 15, 1951; women
held 16.
The role of the social work officer has always been important, but
it assumes even greater importance today in view of the stresses aris
ing from both combat and rapid industrial expansion.
The Navy and Air Force, like the Army, are assuming responsibili
ties for social services in appropriate installations and are currently
employing social workers.
The program for hiring medical and psychiatric social workers in
the Department of the Navy was started in June or July 1950 after
notice was received that the American National Red Cross would no
longer have funds to provide such workers in the military hospitals
after July 1,1951. The Department of the Navy employs civilian per
sonnel, both men and women, as social workers in 25 naval hospitals
located in 25 cities throughout continental United States. The ma
jority of the positions have been filled by women. The Navy prefers
women for these jobs. There will be a total of 89 persons—11 psy
chiatric social workers and 48 medical social workers—when all the
positions are filled.
The Air Force has a social work program and employs about 25
psychiatric social workers. Plans are being made for medical social
service personnel which was discontinued during the summer of 1950.
The Air Force needs about 100 medical and psychiatric workers
and expects to fill about half the jobs with women. As it expands, it
would like to have one psychiatric social worker for each hospital of
over 100 beds and from two to four psychiatric social workers for each
hospital of over 1,000 beds. The number of social workers will vary
with the size of the Air Force. The social workers are commissioned
officers in the Medical Service Corps Reserve. Social workers are
also on active duty; but definite figures on the number are not
available.
DEMAND
43
Meanwhile, young male social workers of military age are drawn
off into military service where their social work training can be used
to advantage. There is also a need for social workers in some com
munities to assist local draft boards, usually on a volunteer basis.
As communities and social agencies attempt to provide suitable
recreation, religious, social, and other services to servicemen in camps,
there is an increase in the demand for group workers, the largest
being that of the USO, reactivated in 1951 for this purpose. As
housing and related social problems become acute in communities in
which there is a sudden expansion of military personnel or defense
plant workers, the need for additional case work service is felt by
most of the voluntary agencies in the community. Financial problems
are generally reduced, but this reduction is more than offset by family
and other problems arising out of separations necessitated by military
service and out of increased changes of environment and the crowded
conditions in which individual security and dignity are threatened.
In the defense mobilization prior to World War II, social work posi
tions in the Federal Government created as a result of the national
defense program dealt with the organization and development of
recreational resources in areas surrounding Army and Xavy bases;
the use of volunteers in defense programs; studies in connection with
family security and nutrition; social protection through the repres
sion of commercialized prostitution in defense areas; and study and
administration of defense health and welfare program operations to
avoid duplication and insure effectiveness (S3).
An unpredictable new demand facing defense planners in the cur
rent crisis is for social workers trained for disaster work with civilians
in case of enemy attack by bombing. In early 1951 plans for the use
of social workers had not been as well worked out as those for the use
of medical personnel. However, one of the first State civil defense
laws in the country went into effect in New York in July 1950 and
made the State Commissioner of Public Welfare a member of the ninemember Civil Defense Commission (JO). The welfare services in
civil defense in that State were outlined for preliminary planning
under six main categories: Mass feeding, mass shelter or emergency
housing, emergency clothing, registration and information, emergency
assistance, and institutional care. Every city and county in Xew York
in 1951 had an office of civil defense with a local director. A Defense
Welfare Services Division had been created in the State Department
of Social Welfare with a director to supervise six branches, in turn
headed by two members of the regular staff and four additional per
sons drafted into service from private agencies on a nonsalaried basis,
one of whom was a woman responsible for mass shelter. Most of the
civil defense staff will be volunteers supervised by trained social work
ers. They will be on their peacetime jobs while being trained in the
44
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
techniques of disaster relief, which it is to be hoped they will never he
called upon to use, but for which it is imperative that they be trained
in view of the world situation and European experience in World
W ar II. By September 1951 the great majority of civil defense agen
cies had named public welfare administrators, State and local, as
directors of civil defense emergency welfare services.
Meanwhile, the demand for social workers for regular peacetime
pursuits must be met, if the profession is to take on added responsi
bilities for volunteer social work and for training additional profes
'
sional workers and volunteers.
THE OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN THE PRINCIPAL
SPECIALIZATIONS IN SOCIAL WORK
Growth of demand in the future, as in the past, is likely to be
more rapid in some areas of social work than in others. In some,
too, the supply may increase at a more rapid rate than in others
because of special appeals for assistance or other factors. The other
bulletins in. this series discuss the relation of supply to demand in
each of the principal method specializations as well as in social
work administration, teaching, and research. Here, a brief, simpli
fied summary is given for purposes of comparison.
*
Figure 15.—Case worker in a city department of welfare visits a woman assigned
by its Homemaker Service to keep a home operating for six children while the
mother is ill.
In Social Case Work
Social case work remains and is likely to continue in our time to
remain the principal method specialization in social work. Intensive
45
46
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
work with individuals, the essence of case work, inevitably requires
more personnel than does work with groups or with agencies. As
more emphasis is placed on the rights, responsibilities, and oppor
tunities of individuals in our democracy, social services directed to
ward helping individuals to attain satisfaction therefrom for the
benefit of themselves and others become increasingly important. In
a complex society there is bound to be a continuing and growing de
mand for more case work service. In case work women on the whole
have greater opportunity for advancement to administrative posi
tions than they have in other method specializations except in agen
cies serving girls and women exclusively.
In case work with families, or individuals operating, as family
units, the demand has been and will continue to be greatest. Volun
tary agencies giving case work service will continue to meet needs
not served by public agencies, and in these voluntary agencies women
will be needed to do intensive case work and pioneering. In volun
tary family case work, too, the majority of the heads of agencies
are women. The trend toward providing case work service in set
tings where individuals needing it are located indicates more oppor
tunity to work in a small social service unit in an educational,
industrial, housing, or other organization as distinct from work in
a social agency.
By far the largest demand for case work with families will be
in (hose public agencies rendering assistance to the aged, the blind,
dependent children, (lie unemployed, and the indigent entitled by
Federal, State, or local law to public assistance. Here opportunities
and requirements vary considerably in the several States. They
range from those in one-worker units where case work and admin
istration are combined to highly specialized work in a large county
or city public welfare department rendering a multitude of welfare
services.
In case work with children, work with their families is obviously
involved. For this reason, both in voluntary and public agencies
there is a trend toward a child welfare unit in family service or
multiple service social agencies. For those who enjoy working with
children, there will be more opportunities in the next decade or two
than ever before. The high birth rate in recent years coupled with
the increase in broken homes inevitably means an increase in the
need for social services to children. The views of citizens in many
States and local communities on the many unmet needs of children
Avere summarized and discussed in 1950 in connection with the 1950
White House Conference on Children and youth (39). The demand,
already greater than the supply of persons trained to meet it, is
bound to groAv in all types of service to children: To children needing
OUTLOOK IN PRINCIPAL SPECIALIZATIONS
47
case work service in their own homes; to those requiring placement
in adoptive homes, boarding homes, or in institutions; to those served
in hospitals, clinics, nursery schools, day care centers; to those need
ing social services who come before the court; and to children in
schools when social case work is needed for help in adjustment. This
field offers one of the best avenues to women for advancement to
administrative or consultative work. It is in this field, too, that the
demand for help of social workers from the United States has been
greatest from other countries.
In medical settings social case workers share with physicians and
nurses the pressure of being in short supply at a time when the demand
for medical care for both civilians and servicemen is increasing. Al
though in relation to all social workers, those who work in a hospital,
clinic, health department, or other medical setting are few, they are
a steadily increasing group, and the demand for them increases with
the demand for health services. In 1951, for the first time, the United
States Army was recruiting women for Reserve commissions as medi
cal social work officers (58). The Army and Navy are employing
women for civilian positions as medical social workers and the Air
Force has plans for like positions. With the increasing emphasis on
the relation of social problems to illness, the social worker takes on
greater importance. One evidence is the relatively recent use of
medical social work service by patients and physicians who pay for
the service. Opportunities are growing, byt here complete graduate
training is especially important to insure initial employment and suc
cess in working in a team relationship with highly trained members
of other professions. There are three times as many openings for
qualified graduates as schools and employment facilities are able to
fill; 600 graduates a year could be satisfactorily placed in positions
in hospitals or public health programs.
Perhaps the most spectacular increase in demand will be for case
workers trained to work in a 'psychiatric setting. Although this group
is the smallest among case workers, needs in 1950 were estimated to be
over three times the supply. The Federal Government by special aid
through the Veterans’ Administration and the National Institute of
Mental Health was encouraging the training of additional workers to
meet the obvious shortage of case workers with training and experi
ence in serving the mentally ill and in preventing such illness through
mental health programs. The National Defense Agency, too, gave
impetus to this work in its recognition of psychiatric social wTork as
an occupational specialization to which it gave officer rank and for
which in 1951 it had issued a recruiting pamphlet for qualified men
for regular commissions as psychiatric social work officers and for
women for reserve commissions (58). The most sought-after op
48
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
portunities in this field and those with the highest requirements (al
most invariably completion of a 2-year graduate program with spe
cialization in a psychiatric setting) are in child guidance clinics.
Opportunities, however, are most numerous in mental hospitals.
In Social Group Work
Although work with groups of young people and groups in settle
ments has gone on for many years, the development of group work
as a method in social work with emphasis on the effect of the group
activity on the individual is relatively recent. Here, continued and
rapid growth is expected in the coming years. As in case work, in
creasing emphasis will be placed on work with the aged, at the same
time that work with young children, long an important phase of the
work, is also expanding. Opportunities for women will continue to
be greatest in youth-serving agencies serving girls and women. But
an increasing variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, schools,
and colleges, offers ever-widening choices to the trained person. In
this field, the college graduate without specialized training still has a
chance to get a job. But to advance she will need specialized training.
ssiSE
SSSS3SS8S
Figure 16.—Group worker (with notebook at center) meets with young adult
council of a city YWCA.
OUTLOOK IN PRINCIPAL SPECIALIZATIONS
49
In Community Organization
The method specialization with the smallest number of social work
ers in it, community organization, also offers the least opportunity
for women both as practitioners and as administrators. However,
opportunities in the field as a whole and for women, too, will grow
slowly and steadily. If the value of community organization ex
perience as background for administrative promotional work in other
professional fields is ever fully recognized, the demand could sud
denly skyrocket, especially for administrators in social insurance and
in membership organizations. Meanwhile, the need for experts in
what one writer has called “social organization” is obvious in our
increasingly complex society (36). The long-time trend toward co
operation between the increasing number of social organizations and
agencies also promises a definite demand for experts in community
organization in social work (37).
In community organization in social work opportunities for women
are highly concentrated as division heads of community chests or
welfare councils and especially as heads of social service exchanges
and volunteer bureaus, or in publicity, information, or research.
There are only rare opportunities as campaign managers or as top
executives of chests, although a few women head chests and more
head local welfare councils. As executive secretaries of State confer
ences of social work and of such organizations as the State committees
formed to follow up on suggestions made in connection with the Mid
Century White House Conference on Children and Youth (39), women
will continue to prove their worth and participate directly in pro
grams of social action. Few men, and fewer women, enter community
organization work directly upon completing their training. Empha
sis on prior administrative experience virtually rules out the begin
ning social worker except in large agencies where they can learn the
techniques as assistants in a functional division.
In Social Work Administration
There may be less and less competition from administrators chosen
from related fields, such as education and religion, as more adminis
trators trained in social work administration are produced. Women
have excellent opportunities to become heads of social agencies deal
ing primarily with children or with women and girls. On the whole,
women social workers have greater opportunity to head their agencies
than women teachers have to become principals, or women librarians
to head libraries. Their opportunity for administrative work, on
the other hand, is less than that of nurses and dietitians and other
home economists who have virtually no competition from men in their
professions.
50
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
In Social Work Teaching
In the teaching of social work, opportunities, though always small
in relation to the entire field, will expand as additional schools of
social work are set up and as enrollments grow in schools of social
work to meet the increasing demand. If the recommendations of the
National Study of Social Work Education are followed, there will be
additional need for social work educators with broad background to
head up undergraduate programs in which preparation for the pro
fession of social work would be begun (35). In these programs, how
ever, as in other undergraduate college work, it is unlikely that women
will have much opportunity to head a department. In graduate
schools of social work, however, women will probably continue to pre
dominate on the faculties; in 1949 they formed nearly three-fourths
of the total teaching staff and headed nearly one-third of the schools.
In Social Work Research
Research, like the teaching of social work, provides only a small
number of opportunities in relation to the total. But the widespread
recognition of the need for more research upon which to base social
work planning and practice and the lack of personnel trained both in
research methods and in social work indicate that opportunities for
those who are so trained will be good, especially in large cities and
in such research centers as Washington, Newr York, Chicago, and the
capitals of the more populous States. Women social workers have
virtually equal opportunity with men social workers; in this specializa
tion but must compete with sociologists, statisticians, and others
trained in related useful disciplines.
VARIATIONS IN THE OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN
SOCIAL WORK
Opportunities in social work for individual women vary not only
with differences in the women’s aptitude and training for social work
but also with their location and mobility, and with their cliaracter-
steaigli
Figure 17.—A visitor interviews a woman who has come to the local public
assistance office for financial aid.
51
52
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
istics, such as age, marital status, and race. These variations should
be considered in relating the information presented in the bulletins
in this series to the employment or training plans of an individual
woman.
Geographic Variations in the Outlook
Opportunities for employment in social work are not equally good
in all parts of the United States. Although this poses no problem to
the woman who can move to any locality where a suitable job is avail
able, it is significant for the woman who, because of home or other
responsibilities, is limited to a particular area. More than a third of
all social work positions as indicated by the estimated number of
those occupied by social workers in 1950 were in the Northeastern
States where more than one-fourth of the population resided in 1950.
(See table 8.) The South, by contrast, had almost one-third of the
population but less than one-fourth of the social workers. The dis
tribution of social workers among the regions is very similar to the
distribution of students in accredited graduate schools of social work.
A 1950 report indicated that over one-third of the social work students
in accredited graduate schools of social work in continental United
Slates were enrolled in schools in the Northeastern States and almost
one-tliird in the North Central States. But slightly over one-fifth of
the students were in schools in the South and under one-sixth were
in schools in the West (5). (See table 8.)
Table 8.—Geographic Distribution of Social Workers Compared With That of
General Population and of Pull-Time Students of Social Work in Accredited
Graduate Schools of Social Work, by Region, United States, 1950
Region1
Population
1950 2
Social workers
as estimated
1950 3
Full-time
students of
social work
in accredited
graduate
schools of
social work
Nov. 1,
1950 *
United States_________________________________
100.0
100.0
100.0
Northeastern States
North Central States
South_ _ ___________
_
West........................................................................................... .
26.2
29.5
31.3
13.0
33.9
29.4
22.7
14.0
34.2
31.1
21.2
13.5
1 See footnote, table 7.
2 U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Population of continental United States by
regions, divisions, and States, Apr. 1, 1950. Series PC-9, No. 1, Washington, D. C.
3 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 study of social work (4.9).
4 American Association of Social Workers (5).
States with predominately rural populations had a much smaller
proportion of social workers than those with large urban areas, ac
cording to the 1950 Nation-wide study of social workers by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the heavily populated Middle At-
VARIATIONS IN THE OUTLOOK
53
rantic States of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, for in
stance, there were 67 social workers per 100,000 population; but in the
rural Southeastern States, there were only 34 per 100,000 (4*9). Al
though increasing emphasis is being placed on social service to rural
areas, social worker positions are still concentrated in urban centers,
as they were in 1940. At that time, the United States Bureau of the
Census reported that 85 percent of the social welfare workers lived
in urban areas (characterized by a population of 2,500 or more)
whereas only 57 percent of the population resided in such areas (35).
There is a definite need for more rural women to prepare themselves
for social work and to return to work in rural communities.
To determine if the distribution of social workers with respect to
population differed from that of other large professions, the national
study of social work education sponsored by the National Council on
Social Work Education compared the distribution of social workers,
nurses, and teachers in the country with that of the general population
(35). It was found that nurses were similar to social workers in the
relation of their distribution to population. Teachers, however,
showed a reverse relationship, except in the sparsely settled Mountain
States. The mid-Atlantic, Pacific, and New England States had the
greatest number of social workers and nurses per 100,000 population
and the smallest number of elementary and secondary teachers. Ap-
Figure 18.—A group worker leads an adult women's craft group at a city YWCA.
54
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
parently tlie rural areas are still greatly undersupplied with nursing
and social services.
Social workers in most specializations followed the general pattern.
But those in medical and psychiatric settings and in voluntary family
agencies appeared to he concentrated much more heavily in the North
eastern States, where nearly half of them appeared to be located in
1949; the remainder of the country was undersupplied in relation
to population, especially the South. (See Bulls. 235-1, 235-2, and
235-4 in this series.)
Variations for Women With Special Employment Problems
A woman seeking employment in her chosen field of work sometimes
encounters difficulties because of her sex or her family circumstances.
In social work where women have traditionally predominated, women
have been less handicapped by their sex than in most professional
fields. However, some women may feel that they are handicapped
by age, marriage, race, or by a physical disability. The Nation-wide
shortage of social workers which has continued for some years has
reduced these difficulties, but the variations in employment oppor
tunities for women with such problems are sufficient to be called to
their attention.
Older women.—Age, on the whole, presents no special problem to
a woman well-established in the field of social work, whose work is
continuous in it. According to one authority, “The social work field
is a good one in which to grow old.” Older women tend to occupy
supervisory or administrative positions, where they do not have the
physical strain they experienced earlier as case workers or group
workers. More than one-fourth (28 percent) of the employed women
who were reported as social or welfare workers in the 1940 Census
were 45 years of age or older (56). The average (median) age was
36, as compared with a median of 33.4 for all employed women in
professional or semiprofessional work. Similar data for 1950 will
be available in the final 1950 Census reports on occupation. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 1950 study of social workers reported
an average (median) age of 41 years for all women social workers,
39 years for men. More than one-fourth of the women were 40 to 49
years of age, and one-fourth were 50 or over.
Forty-four percent of the 1,661 women social workers registered
in California who reported their age in April 1950 to the California
Board of Social Work Examiners were 45 years of age or older. The
proportion of women workers 45 years of age or older in the family
service programs was even higher: 47 percent for both public assist
ance and voluntary family agencies. The men social workers in the
State were on the whole a younger group. However, 35 percent were
45 years of age or older. In public assistance 48 percent were in this
VARIATIONS IN THE OUTLOOK
55
older age group, and in voluntary family service over 50 percent
{17). A study of approximately 400 public welfare workers in
Virginia in 1947 indicated that 36 percent were 40 to 69 years of age;
14 percent were 50 to 69 {60). In Cleveland, a study of professional
social workers employed on October 31, 1946, found 138 women over
45, 29 percent of the 472 women social workers reporting on age. Six
of these women were over 65 {63).
A nucleus of older workers contributes valuable experience to an
organization, according to some, and is believed to inculcate younger
workers with greater constancy and steadiness. On the other hand,
some administrators complain that older workers in many cases tend
to resent change, however desirable. In some agencies, an unhealthy
overstaffing of older workers resulted from excessive hiring of older
workers during World War II. For instance, in one Minnesota
county in 1949, the average age of public assistance visitors was 61
years, with an age range of 53 to 78.
In some social work positions, younger workers are preferred be
cause of the physical demands of the job. In public assistance agen
cies and child welfare work, for instance, about half of the work
is carried on in the field where the visiting entails much walking, stair
I
v .■
r>s>. *
Figure 19.—Disaster worker in the Red Cross (facing front at left) makes plans
with a woman whose home has been destroyed by a tornado to feed volunteer
workers who will help her build a shelter,
977354—52------- 5
56
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
climbing, and weather exposure, combined with a heavy pressure of
work at certain periods. The American National Red Cross Disaster
Service with its hectic pace, for example, rarely hires older workers
except for unusually qualified persons who can direct others in emer
gency tasks. Some of the regional office positions in the Veterans’
Administration which involve considerable travel over a large and
difficult territory are considered undesirable for older workers. For
group work with young people, young workers are preferred because
of the greater ease with which, as a rule, they can establish rapport
with young groups. The irregular hour schedule of most group work
positions also makes them less desirable for older persons. On the
other hand, experienced older workers are preferred for administra
tive positions in this as in other social work.
There is no evidence that being “over 40” handicaps a woman in
obtaining a position in social work, provided she is well-qualified
through training and/or experience. If she has completed training
in a graduate school of social work by the time she is 35, she should
have no difficulty in obtaining employment. However, women over
50, unless they have a recent master’s degree or have otherwise kept
up with new developments through recent study may have difficulty in
changing jobs.
Tlie California Department of Employment in 1948 reported that
older workers had a good opportunity for employment in the western
States; over half of the openings available had no age requirement
and four agencies were known to have hired women over 55 years of
age. Another instance from the Midwest: A woman over 00 years of
age was hired in 1948 to deal with the aged and chronically ill because
she was an exceptional person with long social work experience. In
the child welfare field the shortage of trained workers is so great that,
although training is required for most positions, older women without
social work degrees are hired, especially in day nursery work and in
children’s institutions.
Few women over 35, however, are admitted to schools of social work
unless they are employed in social work or have had earlier experience
in the field. Most schools of social work are not rigid in age require
ments but consider each applicant on an individual basis. They
seldom accept as a student an older woman who has made a failure in
some other field, such as teaching, and turns to the social-work field as
an escape, without a real understanding of it. However, an excep
tional woman of 40 or 50 might be accepted, if she possesses outstand
ing qualifications and strong motivation. Two older women, both the
wives of psychiatrists, were among the students in a Midwest school
visited in the course of this study, and a woman with two grown
children had just completed her training in psychiatric social work in
VARIATIONS IN THE OUTLOOK
57
another. United States Public Health Service, which recommends
to schools that its stipends be granted to persons 35 years of age or
under, may occasionally accept an older candidate. Applicants for
the Veterans’ Administration part-time paid field-work positions
must be under 35 years, although the age limit for full-time employ
ment is the same as in all Federal agencies.
Married women.—Except in institutional positions where residence
may be required and in group work positions where evening hours are
frequent, marriage appears to be more of an asset than a handicap in
obtaining full-time employment in social work. One writer notes, “In
a profession so crowded with women, it is considered good policy for
some to be married” (7). He also reports that few, if any, social
agencies automatically discharge women staff members who marry,
that a great many married women are employed in social work, and
that among them are some of outstanding professional competency.
Employers indicate, however, that women with young children and
those with many family responsibilities are not encouraged to remain
on full-time jobs, since the demands are too strenuous to combine with
a full-time homemaking job. In 1946 a study of 489 professional
women social workers formerly employed in Greater Cleveland showed
that of 427 reporting on reasons for leaving over one-fourth left their
agencies because of marriage, maternity, and increase in family re
sponsibility, or a change in the husband’s location (63). About 10
percent of those who left the area continued social work in the new
community. Social work is an especially favorable kind of work for
women in that those who leave because of family needs may find em
ployment in the field in later years when family cares are reduced
especially if they have kept up with new developments in the field.
More than one-fourth (26 percent) of the employed women social
workers in 1950 were married and an additional 31 percent were
widowed or divorced (40). In Michigan in 1948, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics found that over one-third of the women social workers were
married (26). More than two-thirds of the women listed in the
American Public Welfare Association directory for 1948 were married.
In group work, however, the percentage of married women is low.
About one-fourth (26 percent) of the 957 women members of the
American Association of Group Workers in 1950 were married.
The married woman social worker is definitely preferred in volun
tary agencies engaged in marriage counseling, and her marriage is
no handicap in other family service work. On the other hand, mar
riage may handicap a social worker in national agencies where her
lack of mobility may interfere with travel or promotion. The Red
Cross has found that married women definitely do not fit into Disaster
Service where long periods of time must be spent away from home,
58
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
and they function poorly, also, in Home Service in the smaller local
chapters where the staff must be held available for emergency calls
24 hours a day. Although residence work in a settlement is not or
dinarily suitable for married women, it is not unusual to find a married
couple employed as social workers in the same settlement. Women
whose husbands are employed in the evening may find group work
positions suitable, although generally these hours are unsuitable for
married women.
Part-time work is a possibility for some. In institutions and group
work agencies, and in teaching, research, and educational supervision,
part-time work possibilities are good. One agency, suffering from a
shortage of workers, solved its problem by instituting a special sched
ule of 30 hours a week for those who could not work full time. This
brought into the agency excellent people with valuable experience,
including retired social workers and those with lessening family re
sponsibilities.
Temporary positions in community chests and welfare councils are
sometimes available during campaign time. Administrators in public
assistance and child welfare use part-time workers in a few instances,
and the Red Cross employs a few qualified social workers part time in
Home Service in some of its larger chapters.
A study of 214 women graduated with a master’s degree by Sim
mons College School of Social Work from 1936 to 1945 indicates the
effect of marriage on the careers of social work graduates and the uses
to which married graduates put their training whether employed or
not. Sixty percent of the graduates had married by January 1948.
Of these, nearly one-fourth were working full time and nearly onetenth were working part time. Most of those who were employed had
no children. Pregnancy was the most frequent reason given by those
who discontinued working. Less than one-fourth left on account of
marriage alone. Many of those who did not continue on their jobs
nevertheless maintained an interest in the social work field after re
signing from their positions. Over one-fourth continued to belong
to professional social work associations, such as the American Asso
ciation of Social Workers and the national and State conferences of
social work. A considerable number utilized their skills by doing
volunteer work such as case work in hospitals, family agencies, and
the Red Cross; social group work; or research. One was a board
member of a social agency. Others served on social welfare, public
affairs, educational, and fund-raising committees. Some of those who
reported no particular welfare activities stated that their social work
training had helped them in their family life, in their personal de
velopment, their understanding of human behavior, and in the rearing
of their children {19).
VARIATIONS IN THE OUTLOOK
59
Negro women.—Negro women, and others in minority racial groups,
like older women and married women, have experienced less difficulty
in obtaining employment in social work than in most other profes
sional fields. Only in education and dramatic art was their propor
tion of all employed professional women workers higher in 1940 than
it was in social work where Negro women formed 3.8 percent of all
social workers and numbered 1,692 (56). Of these Negro women
social workers, 70 percent were employed in the North and 25 percent
in the South. Figures from the 1950 Census are expected to show gains
in social work as well as in other professions.
A 1940 study of men and women Negro social workers by the At
lanta University School of Social Work reported a total for the
United States of 4,290. Of these, more than 2,000 were in public
welfare work. Together with more than 400 in private family and
children’s agencies, and more than 250 in probation and parole work
plus a few in medical social work, they made up a case work group
which comprised more than two-thirds (69 percent) of the total.
Of the 4,290 reported, 21 percent were group workers, and 10 percent
were in community organization (61). A later study of jobs held by
100 Negro graduates of the Atlanta School of Social Work, 1944-46,
showed 58 in agencies serving all races and 42 in agencies serving only
Negroes (21).
Although Negro women have been trained and placed in the whole
gamut of social work agencies, opportunities for Negro workers have
been greater in the public welfare field than in voluntary agencies.
Some attribute this to the prevalence of civil service and merit systems
of selection. Others attribute it to the relatively larger proportion of
Negro social workers employed when agencies have a heavy case load
of Negroes, as is true in certain cities. Whatever the reason, in 1948,
60 percent of the staff of Cook County, 111., public assistance agency
(which includes Chicago) were Negroes, and in a number of other
local welfare agencies elsewhere in the country the proportion of
Negro social work staff was higher than the proportion of Negroes in
the population.
In child welfare services there has been a growing demand for
Negro workers. The United States Children’s Bureau has a Negro
woman on its professional staff as consultant on social services to
children in their own homes. The Bureau urges jobs for both races at
comparable levels in the programs it administers. In 1949, at least
five Southern States had Negro child welfare workers on county staffs
and there were a few in Negro institutions. In Washington, D. C., a
Negro woman social worker was employed in the child welfare pro
gram as a supervisor. In New York and Chicago, opportunities for
trained workers are relatively good in this field.
60
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Iii medical and psychiatric settings opportunities for Negro social
workers are increasing but are few as compared with those in case
work with families and children. Some schools of social work report
greater difficulty in finding suitable field work placements for Negro
students in these fields than in family or child welfare work. Most
positions for Negroes in this type of work are reported to be in New
York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Even there, opportuni
ties for new graduates are reportedly poor because of the oversupply
of Negro graduates from schools located in these cities. However,
Negro social workers have been placed by Atlanta University in medi
cal settings in Boston; Durham, N. C.; Los Angeles; Memphis; New
Orleans; San Francisco; Tuskegee; and Washington, D. C.
More trained Negro medical and psychiatric social workers are
needed in the South in State hospitals, but development in the psy
chiatric field has been slow in the South and openings few. In addi
tion to northern hospitals and clinics in which they have worked suc
cessfully with white as well as Negro patients, Negro hospitals em
ploy them exclusively. Freedmen’s Hospital, in Washington, D. C.,
for instance, had a social service staff of trained medical social workers
consisting of one director, two case work supervisors, and seven case
workers in 1951. The Veterans’ Administration hospital at Tuske
gee, Ala., had 10 Negro social workers in 1951 and they are employed
in various Veterans’ Administration hospitals and regional offices.
In 1919, at least three Negro women had Federal consultant positions
in medical social work in cancer, tuberculosis, and public assistance
work. A few Negro women have obtained positions in psychiatric
clinics for children. One outstanding Negro woman trained in psy
chiatric social work held a number of positions in Illinois and Mil
waukee before working in New York, first with the Board of Educa
tion’s Bureau of Child Guidance, and later with a family agency doing
intensive psychiatric case work with both women and children.
In social group work, Negro women have for some years been em
ployed by such youth-serving agencies as the YWCA to work with
Negro young people. In settlements and neighborhood centers in
Negro and mixed neighborhoods they have also found employment
and some also are employed in settlements serving white communities.
Negro women have secured positions in the nonsegregated social group
work agencies as assistant directors and program directors. In the
last few years, emphasis on intergroup relations has begun to create
new opportunities for unusually well-qualified white and Negro
workers-to work with mixed groups where the emphasis is on improv
ing relationships and increasing understanding between differing
racial, religious, and cultural groups.
VARIATIONS IN THE OUTLOOK
61
In community organization, and in teaching and research, Negro
women have had some opportunity. A few are employed in commu
nity chests and councils in the North. Of the 58 local affiliates of
the National Urban League, 45 had community organization secre
taries on their staffs in 1950, and 23 of these were women. A small
number are on the social work faculties at Howard University and the
Atlanta University Schools of Social Work. Also Negro women are
on the faculties of the University of Minnesota and of the New York
School of Social Work at Columbia University.
Racial barriers to social work employment and training that still
exist are mainly due to local prejudices rather than to formal restric
tions. Almost all the accredited graduate schools of social work had
Negro students in 1950 except for a few in the South. Some southern
schools of social work had Negro women enrolled, but at least two
southern schools wanting to admit them were forbidden by State law
to do so.
A number of educators in the social work field believe that inade
quate general educational opportunity in some sections of the South
has been the greatest handicap of Negroes in gaining admission to
schools of social work. It is probably true that more southern students
than northern students apply for admission with inadequate under
graduate preparation. A problem for some who complete graduate
training is created by their tendency to remain in the city where they
obtain their training, creating an oversupply and increasing the
competition between them for the positions available.
On the whole, however, there is a need for well-trained Negro
women, especially in case work and group work, and their opportuni
ties for employment are increasing in number and broadening in
scope. Part-time work and fellowships, scholarships, and workstudy arrangements are available at schools of social work for wellqualified candidates. Howard University and Atlanta University
have some scholarships exclusively for Negroes. Also, some are avail
able through the National Urban League and some local social
agencies.
Women with physical handicaps.—As long as a social worker can
move about, she usually can perform her duties in spite of physical
handicaps. A 1951 statement of physical requirements for Federal
Civil Service positions in social work reads as follows:
Applicants must be physically able to perform efficiently the duties of
the position . . . Good distant vision in one eye and ability to read without
strain printed material the size of typewritten characters are required,
glasses permitted, for most positions. There may be a few positions in
larger regional offices where the work-load would permit the employment
of blind persons in a restricted area of activity. In such instances blind
persons will receive consideration. Ability to hear the conversational voice,
62
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
with or without a hearing aid, is required. In most instances, an amputa
tion of arm, hand, leg, or foot will not disqualify an applicant for appoint
ment, although it may be necessary that this condition be compensated by
use of satisfactory prosthesis. Applicants must possess emotional and
mental stability. Any physical condition which would cause the applicant
to be a hazard to himself or to others will disqualify him for appointment.
Some deaf women who wear hearing aids to restore nearly normal
hearing ability, some with arrested tuberculosis, a one-armed woman,
and several who use crutches because of orthopedic handicaps are
known to be working in medical social work. In some cases, a handi
cap successfully overcome is an asset in working with patients with
similar handicaps. The American Association of Workers for the
Blind, for instance, passed a resolution in 1943 that agencies for the
blind employing home teachers and case workers should first choose
them from well-trained applicants who are blind, and second, pay an
adequate salary appropriate to the duties and responsibilities involved
and at least equal to that paid sighted social workers of equivalent
training levels, and also meet the cost of necessary guide service and
traveling expenses. A social worker with only 10/200 vision em
ployed in a city hospital where she works with seeing patients indi
cates what is possible. Most of the 60 to 70 blind social workers in
the United States, more than half of whom have been graduated from
approved schools of social work, are working in rehabilitation of the
blind or other physically handicapped persons. Few of these are
especially trained in medical social work. However, in specific in
stances blind medical social workers have experienced difficulty in
obtaining employment. In public assistance work the investigations
for eligibility and the required recording and reading of records
would make it necessary to employ a helper for every blind worker,
so none are used. The need of guide service, oftentimes, and the in
ability to observe physical settings also discourage the use of blind
persons.
There are a number of persons with orthopedic handicaps in con
sulting or supervisory work. The loss of a leg or a cardiac condition
is not so handicapping ordinarily as a speech defect or facial dis
figurement. However, in all cases, the attitude of the worker toward
her handicap and her emotional maturity are more significant in her
success than the handicap itself.
SUGGESTIONS TO GIRLS AND WOMEN INTERESTED
IN SOCIAL WORK
The demand for women in all the traditional professions in which
they predominate has been so great in recent years that a young
woman may easily be confused by recruiting efforts aimed at drawing
her into teaching, nursing, library work, dietetics, as well as into
social work. In all these professions there are not enough welltrained women to meet the demand; all offer the satisfaction of giv
ing direct and needed service to fellow human beings. How then can
a college student determine with wisdom whether to train for social
work or for one of these other fields ?
Exploration and Choice
Wise occupational choices are usually preceded by exploration. A
systematic search over a period of time during which some possibili
ties are eliminated and others are established as worth further inves
tigation should lead to a wise decision. Most explorations never
cease. An occupational choice is never an end but rather the begin
ning of a journey leading to increasing usefulness and further growth
inevitably involving more decisions along the way.
In college, a student’s basic motivation for entering the social work
profession may develop after eliminating such fields as home econom
ics, nursing, and library work as unsuitable for her career. Teaching
the social sciences or becoming a social worker may remain equally
appealing and equally possible as far as aptitudes are concerned. In
that case either would probably offer success. But if in the city where
you want to work, teachers of social studies are not being hired and
social workers are, preparation for social work would appear to be the
best choice, unless the demand appears likely to change suddenly for
some special reason.
But how can you arrive at a knowledge that you are personally
suited for social work ? Some tests, like the Kuder Preference Rec
ord, have been developed which attempt to measure the extent of a
person’s interest in social service activities as compared with other
interests which are occupationally significant. A high rank on social
service interest should be a supporting factor in your choice, though
not a determining one since interests may change. Also, in a profes
sion in which interviewing is a basic technique, interviews rather than
63
64
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
paper tests are likely to be depended upon by those making selections
of students or workers.
Scientific study of the basic personal qualifications necessary for
success in social work and of methods of measuring these qualities,
especially in interviews, is under way. The New York School of
Social Work in 1947 began a pilot study to establish criteria for the
selection of students in social work (9). This study is based on
skillful interviews with candidates for admission, which attempt to
evaluate the extent to which the student possesses the special quali
ties and characteristics considered to be desirable for candidates who
are to be trained in social work. Tentatively, the study lists them as
follows: Warmth and responsiveness, sensitivity, intellectual capac
ity, maturity of thought, judgment and discrimination, objectivity,
and psychological awareness (particularly insight into self and
others). Accepted students are followed up during their field work
and later employment in order to determine the qualities and charac
teristics making up good vocational aptitude not only for social work
in general but also for special areas of interest within the field of
social work. The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social
Work is also working on an admissions plan based upon a scientific
analysis. Meanwhile, the following qualities important to successful
practice of social work have been listed in the report of the National
Study of Social Work Education as those inherent in the social work
er’s personality or developed by education and experience:
Genuine warmth, sensitivity to and liking for people, and a capacity to
identify with a variety of persons.
Emotional, mental, and physical health and stability.
A degree of maturity and self-security which enables a professional per
son to give beyond his own needs in relationship with others and to feel
comfortable with authority.
Imagination, resourcefulness, and flexibility combined with personal in
tegrity, courage, and a conviction about the value to society of the things
for which social work stands.
Capacity to think conceptually.
Open-mindedness, clarity of purpose, accuracy, and ability to share.
Courtesy in all professional relationships expressed through conversation
and written communications.
A belief in the broad base of citizen participation and a conviction about
the right of the person, group, and community to chose alternatives and to
achieve their own destiny within the framework of a stable and democratic
society (35).
Satisfying relations with the members of your own family and with
others generally is one test of some of the qualities you need. A fur
ther clue is the extent to which friends and acquaintances confide in
you and look to you for sustaining and patient help while they attempt
to work out difficult social problems. And, equally important, is the
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE INTERESTED
65
extent to which you enjoy giving such help without making your
friends dependent on you. Others have described one of the basic
aptitudes as a “flair” for understanding other people which can be
further developed through scientific training (8). On the other hand,
if you have difficulty in establishing relationships with others except
on a superficial basis, you should probably select a field where inter
personal relationships are less important than they are in social work
possibly library work or research. Preliminary results from the New
York School of Social Work’s study indicate that unsuccessful candi
dates are either deeply dependent or are managerial or controlling
persons (9).
Figure 20.—Volunteer troop leader trains a group of Girl Scouts to sing for a
special program.
Participation in school, church, and community activities aimed
at improving relationships of individuals with each other or improv
ing the community is one way of trying out your interest and capacity
for social work. Volunteer work or paid work—for instance, as an
attendant, case aide, or clerical worker in a social agency—offers op
portunities for testing a liking for a social work environment and for
learning more about what social work involves. The Cornell Social
Work Club, in a 1950 survey of opportunities for undergraduate stu
66
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
dents in social work, found that about a third of the 61 miscellaneous
social agencies which answered its questionnaire had paid summer
employment available, usually clerical, but, in some agencies, as case
aides. Case aides assist case workers by handling routine matters for
them such as taking a child to a clinic, delivering a regular allowance
to a family, and making out routine reports. Students in cities will
find many opportunities for volunteer work in social agencies and
occasional part-time paid positions, particularly if they can use a
typewriter. Group work agencies also have part-time or temporary
jobs available, especially camp counseling work in summer.
Many undergraduate colleges, about 200 of them, offer introductory
courses in social welfare which supply a knowledge of the content of
social work which should be helpful in making your decision. Some
33 undergraduate schools, members of the NASSA, most of them
State universities, offer a social work program leading to an under
graduate major. Such programs include supervised field work and
opportunity for observation of the social work process.
Preparation
Two years of preparation in an accredited graduate school of social
work is the education recognized as desirable for any position in social
work except those on an apprentice or aide level. (See Training sec
tion for elements in graduate training.) If you cannot see your way
clear to obtain either the 2 years of training or the 2 years of training
and the master’s degree immediately, a case aide or other beginning
position in a social agency is recommended, preferably in an agency
which has a scholarship or work-study plan which will enable you to
complete your graduate training. If this is impossible, other work
experience, especially in a position involving contacts with a variety
of people, can be a valuable addition to your background. Since ma
turity and broad experience are helpful in social work, a delay of a
year or two before proceeding with graduate training, particularly
for a girl who is very young upon college graduation, can be an asset
rather than a handicap. In fact, this is not unusual. More than half
the full-time students in many schools have had some work experience.
Meanwhile, undergraduate preparation should be broad in the
liberal arts with stress on the social and biological sciences. Correct
and facile use of the English language in speaking and writing and
a knowledge of statistical techniques are tools that should be acquired
and kept in practice for later use. Most graduate schools of social
work suggest the value of, and many require of entering students,
from 20 to 24 semester hours in the social or biological sciences. A
report on preprofessional education in 1945 recommended that under-
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE INTERESTED
67
Figure 21.—A class in dressmaking.
graduate work be devoted to a preprofessional curriculum for social
work including a broad liberal arts foundation including the social
sciences (economics, political science, sociology, psychology, anthro
pology, and history) and orientation courses in social work (I).
Obtaining Employment
Most schools of social work receive requests for their graduates be
yond their capacity to fill them. Some handle this work informally
through faculty members; many, like Atlanta University and Tulane,
make an organized effort to place graduates in suitable positions. For
experienced social case workers who join the Social Work Vocational
Bureau, the Bureau provides information on openings in member
agencies. (See under Organizations.) Located in New York, it
nevertheless handles requests from all over the country. The Bureau
has an average listing of 350 staff vacancies per month that have
been sent in by social work agencies. The number of vacancies is far
in excess of the number of available social workers. During the year
July 1, 1950, to June 30, 1951, agencies requested and received 3,000
professional histories.
68
OUTLOOK TOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
The United States Employment Service has encouraged its af
filiated State Employment Services to assist in social work placement.
In'1948, all State agencies were encouraged to establish the necessary
liaison and working arrangements with social work organizations to
assure adequate service to social workers. As early as 1941 the Social
Workers Placement Service, operated jointly by the United States
Employment Service and the California State Department of Employ
ment, served social workers and agencies in 11 Western States, Hawaii,
and Alaska (34). This service consisted of listing openings reported
to the placement service, together with the minimum or preferred
qualifica tions and circulating the list regularly to social workers regis
tered for jobs and other sources of candidates. Later, lists of social
work applicants registered with the service were circulated among
agencies.
In local communities information concerning agencies in the com
munity that employ social workers and often something about their re
quirements may be obtained from the local community chest or welfare
council (on voluntary agencies and sometimes on public agencies) and
from the local and State welfare department on public agencies. Pos
sessing a driver’s license and in some cases having the use of a car
may be unexpected requirements. Often a merit examination must
be passed to qualify for positions in public agencies. These examina
tions are given periodically, and it is important to keep informed as
to when they may be taken. Some public agencies have residence
requirements; others do not. This, too, it is important to know in
advance of job application to avoid delay or wasted effort.
According to the Civil Service Assembly, the most common mini
mum requirement for social work positions in State public welfare
departments is graduation from a 4-year college or its equivalent.
However, a year of full-time paid experience in social work may be
substituted for 1 year of the educational requirement up to a maximum
of 2 years. There are variations in requirements of the States, some
requiring only 2 or 3 years of college, also with the possibility of
substitutions of experience. A number of States require high-school
graduation plus 4 years of satisfactory full-time paid experience, al
lowing substitution of a year of college for a year of experience.
Civil service examinations for Federal positions are announced on
post office bulletin boards. See appendix for current and recent social
work examinations and their minimum requirements.
In California some agencies employ only social workers registered
in that State. Voluntary agencies sometimes specify membership in a
particular organization such as AASW or one of the specialized
membership organizations listed in the appendix. They rely gen
erally on interviews and references in selecting candidates for
employment.
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE INTERESTED
69
The Cornell Social Work Club in 1950 circularized agencies
scattered throughout the United States to inquire about opportunities
for jobs for college graduates without graduate training in social
work. Of 61 agencies replying, 30 employed college graduates with
out social work training, and of these only 4 offered group work op
portunity as leaders or camp counselors and only 8 offered employment
with the title of case worker or social worker. With the exception
of one local Red Cross chapter, which employed home service workers
without graduate training, agencies not requiring graduate training
for positions as case worker or social worker were all public welfare
or public health agencies. However, only the Red Cross actually had
a position of this type open. On the other hand, clerical openings
for college graduates were most often mentioned, and positions as
case aides were also frequently listed.
Figure 22.—A case worker with a public welfare department visits children who
are receiving aid in a licensed boarding foster home.
Satisfaction and Success
Because of the short supply of well-trained social workers, oppor
tunities for promotion to supervisory jobs are likely to come fairly
quickly, particularly to those who can move from place to place. A
follow-up study of graduates of the University of Pittsburgh School
of Social Work, including those being graduated up to the time of the
70
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
study in August 1946, showed that over two-fifths (44 percent) of
those reporting employment were in supervisory or administrative
work and more than one-tenth (12 percent) in teaching, research,
community organization, or field work (SO). Over two-thirds of the
graduates of the School of Social Service Administration of the
University of Chicago between 1932 and 1942 who were still working
in 1946 were in supervisory or administrative positions, and more than
one-tenth were in social work teaching or research (64). Men grad
uates were found most often in administrative positions while women
were more likely to be supervisors. The study concluded that men
started with some advantage and moved much more rapidly than did
women into better paying and more responsible positions, and that
this divergence could not be explained by differences in experience,
often the case in comparisons in other fields of work.
Nevertheless, relatively rapid advancement for women with gradu
ate training as well as men is characteristic of the social work field,
especially for those who can move to locations where the opportunities
arise. About one-third (30 percent) of the women graduated by the
New York School of Social Work between 1904 and 1944 who were
employed in July 1944 in social work were in administrative work.
An additional 4 percent were in teaching, research, or writing positions
in the social work field (4.0). Nearly one-third of the women graduated
by Bryn Mawr’s Graduate Department of Social Economy from 1915
to 1949 who reported their 1949 employment were in supervisory (13
percent) or administrative (17 percent) positions. An additional
14 percent were advisers or consultants (43),
The social worker also needs to keep in touch with new developments
in her profession. This she is helped to do not only through further
study and through institutes supplementing staff meetings in her own
agency but also by membership in social work organizations (see ap
pendix) and the reading of the many professional journals in her
field.
In public agencies promotion is often on the basis of an examina
tion ; in private agencies promotion is likely to be on a less formal basis.
Most experienced social workers counsel young women to obtain thor
ough first-hand experience in case work or group work before ac
cepting promotion to supervisory or administrative work, since a
thorough and broad experience as a practitioner is considered basic
to continuing success in supervision or administration in this field.
Increasingly important in success is team work with other social
workers and with members of other professions. The medical and
psychiatric social workers have been long accustomed to being mem
bers of a team headed by a member of another profession. But more
and more case workers, group workers, and community organization
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE INTERESTED
71
workers are cooperating with educators, medical personnel, clergy
men, lawyers, and others on projects, in neighborhood councils, in
schools, colleges, courts, and other settings. An understanding of and
respect for the ethics of these other professions is becoming more and
more necessary to the successful practice of social work.
Perhaps the most useful suggestions to young social workers are
those addressed by a pioneer leader in family case work, Mary Rich
mond, to her colleagues in 1927:
Study and develop your work at its point of intersection with the otherservices and social activities of your community. Learn to do your daily
tasks not any less thoroughly, but to do them from the basis of the whole and
with that background always in mind. After all, society is one fabric, and
when you know the resources of your community both public and private,
and the main trends of its life rather than any particular small section
of it, you are able to knit into the pattern of that fabric the threads of your
own specialty. There are eddies and flurries, not to say crazes. Disregard
them and let your minds carry through to the practical next steps by which
genuine social advance is achieved (20).
A feeling of direct participation in that “genuine social advance”
as well as the satisfaction that comes from full-time service to indi
viduals, to groups, or to your community are the satisfactions that
social work offers. A well-known social worker adds, “As a young
profession, . . . social work holds a real challenge for the person
who will undertake a part in the pioneering of it.”
977354—52------- 6
APPENDIX
Minimum Education and Experience Requirements for Positions in
Social Work in the Federal Government1
I. Social Worker.
II. Social Worker in the U. S. Veterans’ Administration.
III. Public Welfare Research Analyst (Child Welfare and Public Assistance
Options).
IV. Social Worker (Public Welfare Adviser) (Child Welfare Option).
V. Social Worker (Public Welfare Adviser) (Public Assistance Option).
VI. Social Worker (Public Welfare Adviser) (Medical and Psychiatric
Options).
I. SOCIAL WORKER13
2
(As taken from the Civil Service Announcement No. 99 (Assembled)
(Code P-185-1-3), issued May 4, 1948, closed October 5, 1948)
Education and Experience:
Applicants must have one of the following or a combination of them:
A. Completion of one full year of study in an accredited school of social
work.
B. Completion of a course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree from a
college or university of recognized standing plus 1 year of experience
in social case work.
C. Five years of experience in social case work.
II. SOCIAL WORKER IN THE U. S. VETERANS' ADMINISTRATIONs
(As taken from Civil Service Announcement No. 256 (Unassembled), issued
November 8, 1950, no closing date)
Education:
Applicants must have successfully completed graduate study equivalent to
all the requirements for the master’s degree or diploma of graduation from the
second-year curriculum of a school of social work accredited by the American
Association of Schools of Social Work. This study must have included courses
in case work, and in psychiatric and medical information. The applicant must
1 Age maximum, and physical requirements are the same for all positions described.
Applicants must not have passed their sixty-second birthday, but age limits are waived
for veterans. Applicants must be physically able to perform efficiently the duties of the
positions. A physical examination Is required before appointment.
For more complete and later information, consult latest announcements of the Civil
Service Commission posted in first- and second-class post offices.
" The beginning salary in November 1951 was $3,410 per year (Grade GS-5).
For
positions at GS-7 as medical social worker, psychiatric social worker, child welfare
worker, public assistance social worker, and classification or parole worker, additional
experience and/or training are required.
(See other bulletins in this series for details.)
3 The beginning salary for those meeting these minimum qualifications in November
1951 was $4,205 per year (Grade GS-7).
72
APPENDIX
73
have completed all the supervised field work required for the second-year cur
riculum hy the school of social work which he attended. Applicants who other
wise meet the education requirements specified but have not completed the thesis
required for a master’s degree will be accepted as meeting the education require
ment, provided that such applicants present evidence from an accredited school
of social work that arrangements have been confirmed for the completion of
the thesis requirement.
Experience:
Qualifying experience must have been gained in the social work program of
a health or welfare agency or in the armed forces subsequent to completion of at
least 1 year of graduate training in an accredited school of social work.
Length of experience alone will not be considered qualifying. The applicant’s
records of training and experience must demonstrate the ability to perform the
duties of the position.
No experience is required of applicants whose training in an accredited school
of social work included three quarters or two semesters of supervised field work
in case work. However, applicants whose training did not include this amount
of case work must have had 1 year of case work experience.
Applicants must have completed training within the 10-year period immedi
ately preceding the date of application, or have had at least 1 year of case
work experience within the 10-year period.
III. PUBLIC WELFARE RESEARCH ANALYST
(Child Welfare and Public Assistance Options)4
(As taken from Civil Service Announcement No. 242 (Assembled), issued August
S, I960, closed September 19, 1950)
Education and Experience for Child Welfare Option:
Education.—All applicants must have completed 1 year of study in an ac
credited school of social work, including courses in case work and supervised
field work. This study must have included or been supplemented by nine se
mester hours in statistics or six semester hours in statistics and three semester
hours in methods of social research.
Experience.—Pour years of progressively responsible social work or social
research experience in a public or private welfare agency, research agency, or
an accredited school of social work, including 1 year of responsible participation
in research in the field of social service which was carried on in a research unit.
Substitution of Education for Experience.—Completion of one additional year
of study in an accredited school of social work or 1 year of graduate study in
the social sciences may be substituted for 1 year of experience, provided that
no substitution may be made for the required experience in research in the field
of social services.
Education and Experience for Public Assistance Option:
Experience.-—Pour years of progressively responsible social research experi
ence which has included 1 year of responsible participation in research in public
assistance, other public aid programs, or public welfare service programs. This
1 year of experience must have been gained in agencies whose primary function
is research, or in research units of other agencies or educational institutions.
Substitution of Education for Experience.—One year of graduate study in an
accredited college or university or in an accredited school of social wrork, with
4 The beginning salary for those meeting these minimum qualifications in November
1951 was $5,060 per year (Grade GS-9).
74
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
at least 12 semester hours in social work, sociology, economics, political science,
or public administration, or in any combination of these subjects, may be sub
stituted for 1 year of general social research experience. Such study, to be
substituted for experience, must have included or been supplemented by nine
semester hours in statistics or six semester hours in statistics and three semester
hours in methods of social research at the graduate or undergraduate level. No
substitution may be made for the required research experience in public assist
ance, other public aid program, or public welfare service program.
-
IV. SOCIAL WORKER (PUBLIC WELFARE ADVISER)
(Child Welfare Option)”
(As taken from Civil Service Announcement No. 242 (Assembled), issued
August 8, 1950, closed September 19, 1950)
Education:
Applicants must have completed 2 years of study in an accredited school
of social work, including courses in case work, child welfare, and supervised field work in case work for all positions in this option except that of
Legislation Specialist.
Applicants for the position of Legislation Specialist must have completed
1 year of study in an accredited school of social work, including courses in case
work, child welfare, and supervised field work in case work.
”
’
Experience for Child Welfare Adviser:
Four years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public or
private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, including 1
year in the performance of case work services to children and 1 year in an
administrative, consultative, or supervisory position in a State or other public
child welfare program.
Experience for Child Welfare Specialist:
Five years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public or
private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, including 3
years of administrative, consultative, or supervisory experience in a specialized
area of child welfare such as the following: Foster care, including foster family
care and institutional care of children; protective services; group work; juvenile
courts; training schools for delinquent children; services to children with be
havior problems; and home-maker service. This experience must fully demon
strate a high degree of competence in a specialized area of child welfare.
Experience for Legislation Specialist:
Five years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public
or private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, including
3 years of experience in the administration or supervision of case work service
with responsibility for program planning, formulation of policy, setting of standards, community contacts, and application of case work principles in the ad
ministration of laws pertaining to the protection or conservation of family life,
child care, and protection or foster placement of children. This experience must
fully demonstrate understanding of legal principles and legislative processes
and ability to prepare reports and analyze pending legislation.
“Tlle beginning salary for those meeting the minimum qualifications for child welfare
adviser in November 1951 was $5,060 per year (Grade GS-9). The beginning salary
for child welfare specialist, legislation specialist, and training specialist in November
1951 was $7,040 per year (GS-12).
s
1
APPENDIX
75
Experience for Training Specialist:
Five years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public or
private health or social welfare agency or in an accredited school of social work.
1 wo of the five years must have been in the performance of ease work services
to children. Three of the five years must have involved primary responsibility
for staff development of child welfare workers such as may have been gained in
work in an organized staff development program in a social welfare agency, in
the teaching in an accredited school of social work of courses especially related
to the problems of children, or in the supervision of students in child welfare
field work for an accredited school of social work. Two of the five years of
experience must have been gained in a public child welfare program.
V. SOCIAL WORKER (PUBLIC WELFARE ADVISER)
(Public Assistance Option)"
(As taken from Civil Service Announcement No. 242 (Assembled), issued
August 8, 1950, closed September 19, 1950)
Education:
All applicants must have completed 1 year of study in an accredited school of
social work, including courses in case work and supervised field work in case
work.
Substitution of Education for Experience for all Positions:
One additional year of study in an accredited school of social work beyond
that used to meet the minimum education requirement may be substituted for
1 year of the general social work experience required, provided that no substitu
tion may be made for administrative, consultative, supervisory or any other type
of specialized experience.
Experience for Public Assistance Adviser:
Five years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public or
private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, including 2
years of experience in an administrative, consultative, or supervisory position
in a public assistance program in a State or other large public welfare agency.
Education and Experience for Legislation Specialist:
Experience—Six years of progressively responsible social work experience in
a public or private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, includ
ing S years in a State or other large public welfare agency. Of the total ex
perience, 2 years must have been in an administrative, consultative, or supervisory
position and 1 year must have included significant responsibility for such activi
ties as advising agency executives on development of legislative programs, draft
ing legislative proposals, preparing analyses and recommendations on legislation,
or representing welfare agencies in a liaison capacity with legislative groups.
This experience must fully demonstrate an understanding of legal principles
and legislative processes.
Substitution of Education for Experience.—Completion of 1 year of study in a
recognized school of law may be substituted for 1 year of the required legislative
experience.
’ The beginning salary for those meeting the minimum qualifications for public assistance
adviser in November 1951 was $5,060 per year (Grade GS-9).
The beginning salary for those meeting the minimum qualifications for the specialist
positions in November 1951 was $5,940 per year (GS-11).
76
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Experience for Training Specialist:
Six years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public or
private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces. Applicants must
show a total of 2 years of experience either (a) in a supervisory position in a
public welfare agency and in teaching in an accredited school of social work or
supervising students in held work for an accredited school of social work, or (6)
in a supervisory position in a public welfare agency and in planning, directing,
and carrying out an organized staff development program in a public welfare
agency.
Experience for Welfare Service Specialist:
Six years of progressively responsible social work experience in a public or
private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, including 1 year
of experience as a consultant in social case work in family or child welfare and 1
year of experience in a consultative or supervisory position in a public-assistance
program. The total experience must have included the organizing and writing
of materials that interpret agency programs and policies for purposes of staff
instruction and for use by professional and other groups.
Experience and Education for Assistance Standards Specialist:
Experience.—Six years of progressively responsible social work experience in
a public or private health or social welfare agency, or in the Armed Forces, in
cluding 2 years of experience in an administrative, consultative, or supervisory
position. Of the total experience, 1 year must have been as a consultant on
standards of assistance or as a home economic consultant in a large public or
private agency administering financial assistance to needy people. This ex
perience must fully demonstrate technical knowledge and ability to act in an
advisory capacity in developing standards and policies for measuring need and
evaluating resources, which requires a knowledge of family economics, nutrition,
clothing, housing standards, collection of price data, property evaluation, etc.
Substitution of Education for Experience.—Completion of 30 semester hours of
credit in home economics in an accredited college or university may be sub
stituted for 1 year of the required experience in standards of assistance or home
economics.
The successful completion of college study in home economics in a nonaecredited institution will be accepted on the same basis as indicated immediately
above, provided that such institutions give instruction of definitely collegiate
level and that the State university of the State in which the institution is located
accepts the courses and gives advanced credit for them. (In those States where
there is no State university, the evaluation and acceptance of college credit as
made by the State Department of Education will be accepted.)
VI. SOCIAL WORKER (PUBLIC WELFARE ADVISER)
(Medical and Psychiatric Options)7
(As taken from Civil Service Announcement No. 242 (Assembled), issued
August 8, 1950, closed September 19, 1950)
Education:
All applicants must have completed 2 years of study in an accredited school of
social work, including courses in case work, psychiatric information, medical
information, and supervised field work in case work.
7 The beginning salary for those meeting the minimum qualifications for medical social
work adviser and psychiatric social work adviser in November 1951 was $5,940 per year
(Grade GS-U).
The beginning salary for those meeting the minimum qualifications for the training
specialist positions in November 1951 was $7,040 per year (GS—12).
APPENDIX
77
Experience for Medical Option:
As Medical Social Work Adviser.—Five years of progressively responsible
social work experience in a public or private health or social welfare agency
(including hospitals and clinics), or in the Armed Forces, which has included 2
years of medical social work. Of the total experience, 1 year must have been
in the performance of social case work and 2 years must have been in an
administrative, consultative, or supervisory position.
As Training Specialist.—Five years of progressively responsible social work
experience in a public or private health or social welfare agency (including hos
pitals and clinics), in the Armed Forces, or in an accredited school of social work,
which has included 3 years of medical social work. Of the total experience, 1
year must have been in the performance of medical or psychiatric social work
under social work supervision in a hospital or clinic. Also, 2 years of the re
quired experience in medical social work must have been in an administrative,
consultative, or supervisory position which included or was supplemented by 1
year of teaching or supervising students in field work in an approved curriculum
in medical social work, teaching social aspects of health and medical care to
medical students, nurses, and other professional groups, or in an organized
staff development program in a public health or welfare agency.
Experience for Psychiatric Option:
As Psychiatric Social Work Adviser.—Five years of progressively responsible
social work experience in a public or private health or social welfare agency,
or In the Armed Forces, Including 2 years in psychiatric social work. Two
years of the total experience must have been in a hospital or clinic, 1 year
must have been in the performance of social case work, and 1 year must have
been In a responsible position which involved significant administrative re
sponsibility. The experience must fully demonstrate the applicant’s ability
to direct a social case work program.
As Training Specialist. Five years of progressively responsible social work
experience in a public or private health or social welfare agency, in the Armed
Forces, or in an accredited school of social work, including 3 years of psychia
tric social work. Of the total experience, 1 year must have been In the Derformance of social case work, 2 years must have been in an administrative,
consultative, or supervisory position, and 1 year must have been in planning
or operating a social work educational or staff development program in a health
or welfare agency, or in teaching in an accredited school of social work.
Minimum Requirements for Membership in the Principal Social Work
Organizations
FOR INDIVIDUAL WORKERS
American Association of Social Workers
Active member
College graduation plus completion of a 2-year graduate course in a school
of social work accredited by American Association of Schools of Social Work; or
Two years of college plus 3 years of additional preparation in college or
an accredited school of social work (including 25 semester hours in social and
biological sciences, 24 semester hours of technical social work courses, and
300 hours of supervised field work) plus 2 years of employment in an approved
social agency.
Junior member
At least 21 years of age; college graduation plus 1 year’s work in an ac
credited graduate school of social work; current employment in an approved
social agency; intention to become regular member within 5 years or sooner
as full requirements are met.
Student member
Enrollment as a full-time student in an accredited graduate school of social
work.
Associate member
Eligibility for regular or junior membership but currently employed less than
half time or unemployed.
Emeritus member
Membership in AASW for a period of 20 years or more and retired from full
time gainful employment.
American Association of Medical Social Workers
Active member
Completion of a full graduate curriculum including an approved medical social
sequence in an accredited school of social work; or
Completion of a full graduate curriculum in a social case work sequence,
followed by 12 months of supervised experience in medical social work.
Junior member
Completion of full graduate curriculum with a sequence in social case work
in an accredited school of social work and in process of completing supervised
experience requirement to qualify for regular membership.
Student member
Enrollment as a full-time student in an accredited school of social work
offering an approved medical social sequence.
APPENDIX
79
Corporate member
Institutions, organizations, or agencies, public or private, engaged in social
work or its development in a medical case program.
Honorary member
An individual who has rendered distinguished service in medical social work,
on recommendaton of the executive committee and by unanimous vote of the
association at its annual meeting.
American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers
Active member
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, plus
1. Graduation from a school whose graduate psychiatric social work curriculum
is approved by the AAPSW and during the period of its approval; and
2. Employment, in psychiatric social work for at least one continuous year
following graduation; or
1. Graduation from a graduate social case work curriculum at a member school
of the AAPSW during the period of its membership; and
2. Employment in psychiatric social work for at least 2 years following gradua
tion, 6 months of which shall have been under supervision of a psychiatric
social worker; and at least 1 year of which shall have been continuous in
one placement.
Associate member (as of 1951)
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, plus
1. Graduation in psychiatric social work from a school whose graduate psychi
atric social work curriculum is approved by the AAPSW and during the
period of its approval; and
2. Employment in psychiatric social work for at least 6 months under the super
vision of a psychiatric social worker.
American Association of Group Workers
Active member
Completion of work in a recognized graduate school of social work with a
group work specialization; or
Completion of 2 years of professional graduate study in education or recrea
tion in an accredited college or university; or
One year of graduate study in social work, education, or recreation plus 2
years of paid experience as an education-recreation or group worker in a recog
nized agency under qualified supervision; or
Graduation from a college or university plus 3 years of paid experience as
an education-recreation or group worker in a recognized agency under
supervision.
Provisional member
One full year of graduate work in group work, education, or recreation.
Student member
Enrollment as a full-time student in a graduate school of social work, educa
tion, or recreation.
National Association of School Social Workers
Senior member
Social worker with at least 1 year of professional education in an accredited
graduate school of social work plus some experience as a teacher or as a school
social worker.
80
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Active member
Bachelor's degree or its equivalent or a standard teacher’s certificate in the
State where training was completed, or worker is employed plus 1 year of
successful experience as a teacher or school social worker.
Associate and contributing member
Interest in promoting the purposes of the Association.
Association for the Study of Community Organization
Member
Interest in promoting better understanding and in improving practice of the
process of community organization.
,
Association of Church Social Workers
Senior active member
1. Bachelor’s degree and 1 year of graduate work in social service; and
2. Training in Christian religion in either courses on the college level, or satis
factory evidence of active interest and participation in organized religion
or definite Christian work; or
3. Persons whose training, motivation and achievements especially commend
them, may be admitted without having technically met the requirements
above.
Junior active member
1. Bachelor’s degree including courses in the social sciences;
2. Same as last two items above.
Associate member
Open to professional workers in related fields, and workers in nonchurch
agencies, who meet the above qualifications, have professional status in their
own field, or an interest in the development of social tvork under church auspices.
Student member
Students in graduate schools, enrolled in courses in social work and religion,
or contemplating entering professional church social work.
Social Work Research Group
Member
Identification with social work research as evidenced by the practice, teach
ing, or administration of research in social work.
American Public Welfare Association
Active member
Employment in a public welfare program, including a public assistance pro
gram, Veterans’ Administration, and other public agencies.
Associate member
Employment in another social work field or interest in public welfare.
International, National, State, and Other Conferences of Social Work
Individual member
Interest, in social welfare in the area served by the conference.
Organization member
Interest or activity in social welfare in the area served by the conference.
APPENDIX
81
FOR AGENCIES
Community Chests and Councils of America
Agency member
Community chest or community welfare council which contributes one-third
of 1 percent of the amount raised in its annual chest campaign for service from
the national organization.
Family Service Association of America
Agency member
1. Basic activity in family case work.
2. In a voluntary agency, a responsible and active board or governing body;
in a public agency, either a board or an official or unofficial committee advisory
to the agency, or, in the absence of such a body, an advisory relationship
with some group representing the interests of citizens in the work of the
agency.
3. Joint participation between governing body, the executive, and staff.
4. A paid staff completely trained for social work.
5. In a voluntary agency, a well-defined financial policy with the major sup
port coming from private sources.
6. A lay constituency, understanding and supporting the work of the agency.
Individual member
1. Professional: Members of professional staff of a member agency.
2. Member of other social work association (AASW, Canadian Association of
Social Workers, AAPSW, and AAMSW).
3. Graduate of an accredited school of social work.
General
Any person who is or has been active in a family service agency through
service on board, committees, or as a volunteer, and other persons who demon
strate genuine interest in the growth and progress of the family service field.
Child Welfare League of America
Agency member
Governmental or voluntary agency serving in the child welfare field.
Associate service
1. Council of social agencies.
2. School of social work.
.
3. Club or committee not operating a program of child care or protection.
National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers
Agency member
1. Three continuous years of operation as a settlement or neighborhood center.
2. Approval of board of directors of work program and of education and experi
ence of staff members, and of visiting officer or member of board.
City or State Federation of Settlements member
At least four agency members in the city or State federation, half of which
are members of the National Federation and have had 3 years of existence.
Provisional member
Organization not qualified for full membership may he accepted for member
ship without vote for 3 years.
•
82
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Individual member
Interest in the purposes of the Federation.
National Social Welfare Assembly
Agency member
National voluntary or public social welfare agency or organization.
Associate group membership
An organized national group associated with social welfare.
Individual member
Nomination by a member or associate group.
Member-at-large
Election.
Social Work Vocational Bureau
Organization member
Social work agency on payment of dues at the rate of $3 per position on its
case work staff.
Individual member
Social case worker on payment of $7 dues the first year and $4 per year
thereafter.
Student member
Enrollment in a graduate school of social work and payment of $3 dues for
first year.
FOR EDUCATION
American Association of Schools of Social Work
School member
A well-integrated graduate program of classroom instruction, field work, and
research in social work culminating in a thesis or project undertaken by one
or more students. Two academic years leading toward a master’s degree in
social work are usually required, although a school may be approved for the
first-year program only.
National Association of Schools of Social Administration
School member
1. A well-defined undergraduate curriculum in one or more of the following
fields: social work, employment service, rural welfare, recreation, social
insurance, guidance, rehabilitation, and personnel work.
2. Twelve semester hours of courses in each field with an introductory content,
including appropriate field experience with a concentration in the social
sciences.
3. Vocationally oriented instruction spread over a 2-year period (undergraduate,
graduate, or a combination).
4. Minimum of one professionally qualified instructor or part-time equivalent
in each field on which the application is based.
Note.—In the proposed new National Council of Social Work Education, membership
would be open to national professional social work organizations, national educational
associations in the social work field, and national social work agencies. Individuals might
join if they were members of social science faculties or lay persons well informed about
social work.
Some Position Titles of Social Workers From List Compiled by the Ad
visory Committee to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’
1950 Study of Social Work
Activities or program director, group
work or informal education services
or housing project.
Administrative analyst, welfare
agency.
Adoption worker.
Agent (executive or worker), welfare
agency.
Americanization worker or counselor.
Analyst, welfare agency.
Area or field representative, welfare
agency.
Boys' work secretary.
Branch executive, welfare agency.
Business and professional workers’
secretary.
Camp director or assistant, if full-time,
year-round position.
Campaign director and assistants, com
munity chest or other fund-raising
agency in social welfare field.
Case aide, full-time, paid.
Case consultant.
Case reviewer.
Case worker.
Case work supervisor.
Chief probation officer.
Child placement worker.
Child welfare worker, supervisor, or
consultant.
Children’s counselor, children’s agency.
Church social worker, if full-time on
social work duties.
Classification director or officer, penal
or correctional institution.
Community secretary.
Consultant, welfare agency.
Coordinator, community services, hous
ing project.
Counselor in business or industry doing
full-time social welfare work.
Cottage life or home life supervisor,
children’s institution.
Dean or director, school of social work.
Director, or executive secretary and as
sistants, welfare agency [including
day nursery, medical social service
department, division for the blind,
State planning and coordinating
agency in welfare field, State or local
youth commission, mental hygiene
clinic (if not physician or psycholo
gist), intergroup relations council or
program].
Director of field service and assistants,
welfare agency.
Director or supervisor, homemaker
service for family or children’s
agency.
Director, labor-employee participation,
community chest, full time.
Director of volunteer services and as
sistants, welfare agency.
Director, information bureau, council
of social agencies.
District manager, welfare program.
District secretary, welfare agency.
Division secretary, council of social
agencies.
Editor (and assistants) of social work
publications.
Executive and assistants, welfare
agency.
Family welfare worker.
Field or area representative, welfare
program including national youth
serving program.
Foster home finder.
Foster home Investigator or visitor.
Girls’ work secretary.
Group leader, full-time, paid.
Group therapist.
84
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Group worker.
Home service secretary, American Na
tional Red Cross.
Home visitor to the blind.
Hospital social worker.
Industrial social worker.
Industrial workers’ secretary.
Institutional social worker.
Intake worker.
Investigator, welfare agency.
Investigator, children’s or family court.
Medical social worker.
Medical social work consultant.
Medical social work supervisor.
Mental hygienist.
Neighborhood, district, or community
council director.
Neighborhood or area project director
or worker.
Parole officer or worker.
Parole worker, mental hospital.
Personnel director or assistants, wel
fare agency.
Physical or health education director
or secretary, youth-serving agency.
Probation officer.
Program aide, full-time paid.
Program director or assistants, youth
serving agency.
Psychiatric social worker.
Public relations director and assistants,
welfare agency.
Recreation director, children’s or penal
or correctional institution.
Recreational therapist.
Rehabilitation worker or supervisor.
Research analyst, welfare program.
Research director, assistants, or work
ers, welfare agency.
School social worker.
Secretary of budget committee, council
of social agencies or community
chest.
Social analyst, welfare agency.
Social service exchange director.
Social work administrator.
Social worker, juvenile aid bureau.
Social worker, juvenile correctional
institution.
Social worker with the blind.
Statistician (professional grade).
Supervisor or head matron, juvenile de
tention home.
Supervisor, welfare agency.
Superintendent, social welfare institu
tion or agency.
Teacher, graduate school of social work,
full-time.
Teacher, undergraduate social work
courses, full-time.
Technical analyst, welfare agency.
Training supervisor, or consultant, wel.fare agency.
Visiting teacher.
Schools of Social Work in the Continental United States Accredited by the
American Association of Schools of Social Work1
[July 1951]
Adelphi College,
School of Social Work,
Garden City, N. Y.
Atlanta University School of Social
Work,
247 Henry Street SW,
Atlanta, Ga.
Boston College,
School of Social Work,
126 Newbury Street,
Boston 16, Mass.
•
Louisiana State University,
School of Social AA7eifare,
Baton Rouge 3, La.
Bryn Mawr College,
Carola Woerishoffer Graduate Depart
ment of Social Economy and Social
Research,
Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Carnegie Institute of Technology,
Department of Social AVork,
Pittsburgh 13, Pa.
Social
College of William and Mary,
School of Social AVork,
Richmond Professional Institute,
901 West Franklin Street,
Richmond 20, Va.
Florida State University,
School of Social Welfare,
Tallahassee, Fla.
Howard University,
Graduate School of Social Work,
AATashington 1, D. C.
Indiana University,
Division of Social Service,
122 East Michigan Street,
Indianapolis 4, Ind.
Boston University,
School of Social Work,
264 Bay State Road,
Boston 15, Mass.
Catholic University of America,
National Catholic School of
Service,
Washington 17, D. C.
Fordham University,
School of Social Service,
134 East Thirty-ninth Street,
New York 16, N. Y.
Loyola University,
School of Social Work,
820 North Michigan Avenue,
Chicago 11, III.
New York School of Social AVork of
Columbia University,
2 East Ninety-first Street,
New York 28, N. Y.
Ohio State University,
School of Social Administration,
Graduate Program,
Columbus 10, Ohio.
Our Lady of the Lake College,
AVorden School of Social Service,
San Antonio 7, Tex.
St. Louis University,
School of Social Service,
221 North Grand Boulevard,
St. Louis 3, Mo.
1 List subject to change. For more complete and later information, write to the Amer
ican Association of Schools of Social Work, 1 Park Ave., N. Y. Catalogs are available
on request to the individual schools.
86
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
Simmous College,
School of Social Work,
51 Commonwealth Avenue,
Boston 16, Mass.
University of Michigan,
School of Social Work,
Ann Arbor, Mich.
State University of Iowa,
School of Social Work,
Iowa City, Iowa.
University of Missouri,
Department of Social Work,
Columbia, Mo.
Tulane University,
School of Social Work,
New Orleans 15, La.
University of Nebraska,
Graduate School of Social Work,
Lincoln 8, Nebr.
University of Buffalo,
School of Social Work,
25 Niagara Square,
Buffalo 2, N. Y.
University of North Carolina,
School of Social Work,
Chapel Hill, N. C.
University of Minnesota,
Smith College School for Social Work, School of Social Work,
Minneapolis 14, Minn.
Northampton, Mass.
University of California,
School of Social Welfare,
Berkeley 4, Calif.
University of Oklahoma,
School of Social Work,
Norman, Okla.
University of Pennsylvania,
University of California at Los An School of Social Work,
geles,
2410 Pine Street,
School of Social Welfare,
Philadelphia 3, Pa.
Los Angeles 24, Calif.
University of Pittsburgh,
University of Chicago,
School of Social Work,
School of Social Service Administra Pittsburgh 13, Pa.
tion,
University of South Carolina,
Chicago 37, 111.
School of Social Work,
University of Connecticut,
Columbia, S. C.
School of Social Work,
University of Southern California,
1380 Asylum Avenue,
Graduate School of Social Work,
Hartford 5, Conn.
Los Angeles 7, Calif.
University of Denver,
University of Tennessee School
School of Social Work,
Social Work,
Denver 10, Colo.
412 Twenty-first Avenue, South,
University of Illinois,
Nashville 4, Tenn.
Division of Social Welfare Adminis
University of Utah,
tration,
School of Social Work,
Urbana, 111.
Salt Lake City 1, Utah.
University of Kansas,
University of Washington,
Department of Social Work,
Graduate School of Social Work,
Lawrence, Kans.
Seattle 5, Wash.
University of Louisville,
The Raymond A. Kent School of Social University of Wisconsin,
Department of Social Work,
Work,
Madison 6, Wis.
Louisville 8, Ky.
of
APPENDIX
West Virginia University,
Washington University,
The George Warren Brown School of Department of Social Work,
Morgantown, W. Va.
Social Work,
St. Louis 5, Mo.
Western Reserve University,
School of Applied Social Sciences,
Wayne University,
Cleveland 6, Ohio.
School of Social Work,
Detroit 2, Mich.
»
R
977354—52
-7
87
Member Schools of the National Association of Schools of Social
Administration 1
[March 1951]
Alabama College,
Montevallo, Ala.
University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville, Ark.
Bradley University,
Peoria, 111.
University of Georgia,
Athens, Ga.
Carleton College,
Northfield, Minn.
University of Houston,
Houston, Tex.
Florida State University,
School of Social Welfare,
Tallahassee, Fla.
University of Idaho,
Moscow, Idaho.
George Williams College,
Chicago, 111.
Kalamazoo College,
Kalamazoo, Mich.
Loyola University,
New Orleans, La.
University of Kentucky,
Lexington, Ky.
University of Maine,
Orono, Maine.
University of New Hampshire,
Durham, N. H.
University of New Mexico,
Michigan State College of Agriculture Albuquerque, N. Mex.
and Applied Sciences,
University of North Dakota,
East Lansing, Mich.
Grand Forks, N. Dak.
Montana State University,
University of Oklahoma,
Missoula, Mont.
Norman, Okla.
Nazareth College,
University of Oregon,
Nazareth, Mich.
Eugene, Oreg.
Ohio University,
University of South Carolina,
Athens, Ohio.
Columbia, S. C.
Southwestern Louisiana Institute,
University of South Dakota,
Lafayette, La.
Vermillion, S. Dak.
Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial
University of Tennessee,
State College,
Knoxville, Tenn.
Nashville, Tenn.
University of Alabama,
University, Ala.
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, Wyo.
1 List as submitted by the Secretary of the National Association of Schools of Social
Administration is subject to change. For more complete and later information, write to
Mrs. Mattie Cal Masted, National Association of Schools of Social Administration,
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark. Catalogs are available on request to the
individual schools.
88
\
i
%
APPENDIX
89
Utah State Agricultural College,
Logan, Utah.
Western Michigan College of Education,
Kalamazoo, Mich.
Valparaiso University,
Valparaiso, Ind.
Wilberforce University,
Wilberforce, Ohio.
Sources to Which Reference Is Made in the Text
(1) American Association of Schools of Social Work.
tion for social work.
Preprofessional educa
New York, N. Y„ the Association, January 1949.
5 pp.
(2) American Association of Social Workers. Report on students in schools of
social work, November 1, 1941. Pittsburgh, Pa., the Association, Dec. 1,
1941. 15 pp.
(3) --------- Licensing of social workers. New York, N. Y., the Association,
January 1950. 3 pp. Also, International Social Welfare News Bulletin,
May 1951. 36 pp.
(4) --------- Social work fellowships and scholarships offered during the year
1950-51. New York, N. Y., the Association, October 1949. 20 pp.
(5)--------- Statistics on social work education, November 1, 1950, and academic
year 1949-50. New York, N. Y., the Association [undated]. 14 pp.
(6) Anderson, Joseph P. Social work as a profession. In Social Work Year
book 1945. New York, N. Y., Russell Sage Foundation, 1945. Pp. 445-455.
(7) Atwater, Pierce. Problems of administration in social work. Minneapolis,
Minn., University of Minnesota Press, 1940. 319 pp.
(8) Beattie, Anne and Hollis, Florence. Family case work, a good profession
to choose. New York, N. Y„ Family Welfare Association of America,
1945. 22 pp.
(9) Berengarten, Sidney. A pilot study to establish criteria for selection of
students in social work. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of
the American Association of Schools of Social Work. Boston, Mass., Jan.
29, 1949. 12 pp. Processed.
(10) Bevier, Alden E. Planning the welfare services in civil defense. Public
Welfare 8 : 222-225, December 1950.
(11) Bohr, Gwyneth Griffin. Marriage and a social work career. A study sub
mitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of
Science. Boston, Mass., Simmons College, June 1948. 76 pp. Type
written.
(12) Bondy, Robert E. National associations in social work. In Social Work
Yearbook, 1951. New York, N. Y., American Association of Social Work
ers, 1951. Pp. 336-342.
(13) Brown, Esther Lucile. Social work as a profession. New York, N. Y.,
Russell Sage Foundation, 1942. 232 pp. (4th ed.).
(14) Bruno, Frank J. The first 25 years of the A. A. S. W. Social Work Journal.
Formerly The Compass 27: 9-12, June 1946.
(15) --------- Trends in social work as reflected in Proceedings of National Con
ference of Social Work 1874-1946. New York, N. Y., Columbia University
Press, 1948. 387 pp.
(16) Burns, Eveline M. How much social welfare can America afford? Bulletin
of the New York School of Social Work 42: 3-18, July 1949.
(11) California Department of Professional and Vocational Standards, Board of
Social Work Examiners. Survey of social workers, April 1950. San
Francisco, Calif., the Board. Processed.
90
APPENDIX
91
(18) Chandler, Jane.
Conferences of social work. In Social Work Yearbook,
1949. New York, N. Y., Russell Sage Foundation, 1949. Pp. 135-142.
(19) Channing, Alice. Social work careers of graduates of Simmons College
School of Social Work. Boston, Mass., Simmons College, July 1948, 13
pp.
Typewritten.
(20) Clarke, Helen I. Principles and practices of social work. New York, N. Y.,
D. Appleton-Century Co., Inc., 1947. 450 pp.
A study of jobs held by 100 graduates of Atlanta
University School of Social Work, 1944-46. 1947. Thesis.
Community Planning Council of Metropolitan Atlanta. Atlanta Personnel
Study. Summary of the personnel study of the Atlanta Community
Fund Agencies, 1945. Atlanta, Ga„ Community Planning Council of
Metropolitan Atlanta, January 1, 1948. 70 pp.
Current labor statistics. C. Earnings and hours. Tables C-2 and C-4.
Monthly Labor Review 72: 363-364, March 1951.
David, Lily Mary. Economic status of library personnel, 1949. Chicago,
111., The American Library Association, 1950. 117 pp.
---------Salaries and working conditions of dietitians, 1949. Monthly Labor
Review 70: 149-153, February 1950.
--------- Social work salaries and working conditions in Michigan. Social
Work Journal 30: 63-66, April 1949.
de Schweinitz, Karl. People and process in social security. Washington,
D. C., American Council on Education, 1948. 165 pp.
Dunham, Arthur. Conferences of social work. In Social Work Yearbook,
1945. New York, N. Y., Russell Sage Foundation, 1945. Pp. 98-105.
Fitch, John A. Social action. In Social Work Yearbook, 1941. New York,
N. Y., Russell Sage Foundation, 1941. Pp. 506-510.
French, Lois Angelina Meredith. Psychiatric social work. New York,
N. Y., the Commonwealth Fund, 1940. 344 pp.
Hodges, Margaret B., Editor. Social Work Yearbook, 1951. Part II. Di
rectories of Agencies. New York, N. Y., American Association of Social
Workers, 1951. Pp. 551-666.
--------- Social workers’organizations. In Social Work Yearbook, 1941. New
York, N. Y., Russell Sage Foundation, 1941. Pp. 553-559.
Hoffer, Joe R. Conferences of Social Work. In Social Work Yearbook.
1951. New York, N. Y., American Association of Social Workers, 1951.
Pp. 128-136.
--------- Toward a progressive vocational service for social work. Social
Work Journal. Formerly The Compass 29: 18-23, January 1948.
Hollis, Ernest V. and Taylor, Alice L. Social work education in the United
States. New York, N. Y., Columbia University Press, 1951. 422 pp.
Howard, Donald S. New horizons for social work. Social Work Journal.
Formerly The Compass 27 : 9-13, November 1947.
Johns, Ray. The co-operative process among national social agencies.
New York, N. Y., The Association Press, 1946. 290 pp.
Lansdale, Robert T. The public welfare agency in an insurance world.
In Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work. Selected
papers 73d Annual Meeting, Buffalo, N. Y., May 19-23, 1946. New York,
N. Y., Columbia University Press, 1947. Pp. 103-109.
Midcentury White House Conference on Children and Youth. Children and
youth at the midcentury. Report on State and local action. Philadelphia,
Pa., National Publishing Co., 1950. 61 pp.
(21) Coleman, Clarence.
(22)
*
(23)
(24)
f
(25)
(26)
(27)
(28)
(29)
(30)
(31)
(32)
(33)
(3^)
(35)
f
(36)
T
(37)
(38)
(39)
92
OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN SOCIAL WORK
(1/0) New York School of Social Work. List of graduates, 1904-1944.
(41)
(42)
(43)
(44)
(45)
(46)
(47)
(48)
(49)
(50)
(51)
(52)
(53)
(54)
(55)
(56)
(57)
Bulletin
of the New York School of Social Work 37: 1-62, July 1944.
National Committee on Social Work in Defense Mobilization. Bulletin
of the Committee 1: 1, January 1951.
Ostomel, Maurice J. and Greenwood, Ernest. Educational equipment of
social workers in Los Angeles. Social Work Journal 31: 62-66, April 1950.
Peterson, Florence. Employment status of women trained for social
service at Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr, Pa., the College, 1950. 6
pp. Typewritten.
Potter, Ellen C. The year of decision for social work. In National Con
ference of Social Work Proceedings, 1945. New York, N. Y„ Columbia
University Press, 1945. Pp. 1-16.
Pray, Kenneth L. M. Social work in a revolutionary age. In Proceedings
of the National Conference of Social Work. Selected papers 73d Annual
Meeting, Buffalo, N. Y„ May 19-23, 1946. New York, N. Y„ Columbia
University Press, 1947. Pp. 3-17.
Presidents of A. A. S. W. Social Work Journal. Formerly The Compass
27: 33, June 1946.
Reynolds, Bertha Capen. Social work and social living. New York, N. Y.,
Citadel Press, 1951. 176 pp.
Schneider, David M. A. A. S. W. members as revealed by 1945 member
ship census. Social Work Journal. Formerly The Compass 27: 4-8,
June 1946.
Stewart, Maxine G. Social Workers in 1950: a report of the study made
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on salaries and working conditions
in social work. Social Work Journal 32 : 53-62, April 1951. Also, The
economic status of social workers in 1950. Monthly Labor Review 72:
391-395, April 1951.
Stinson, Malcolm B. Fields of work of Pitt graduates. The Federator
(of the Federation of Social Agencies of Pittsburgh and Allegheny
County) 21: 15-17, December 1946.
The TIAC report. Social Work Journal 32: 115-157, July 1951.
Towle, Charlotte. Education for social work; issues and problems in cur
riculum development. Social Work Journal 30 : 67-75, 102, April 1949.
U. S. Civil Service Commission. Public welfare positions in the Federal
service. Report for the Director of Defense Health and Welfare Serv
ices. By Elizabeth Cosgrove and Cecile Hillyer. Washington, D. C.,
the Commission, 1941. 9 pp. Processed.
U. S. Congress (80th). Second Session. Special Subcommittee of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs. Voluntary foreign aid. The nature and
scope of postwar private American assistance abroad, with special
reference to Europe. Washington, D. C„ U. S. Government printing
office, 1948. 91 pp.
U. S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Forecasts of the
population of the U. S., 1945 to 1975. Washington, D. C„ U. S. Govern
ment printing office, 1947. 113 pp.
U. S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 16th Census of
the United S.tates, 1940. Population. Volume III. The labor force.
Part 1. U. S. Summary. Washington, D. C., U. S. Government printing
office, 1943. 301 pp.
U. S. Federal Security Agency. Office of Education. Earned degrees con
ferred by higher educational institutions, 1948^19. By Robert C. Story.
Washington, D. C., the Agency, November 1949. 117 pp
APPENDIX
(58) U. S. National Defense Agency. U. S. Army.
(59)
(60)
(61)
(62)
(63)
(64)
(65)
93
Social work officers in the
Medical Service Corps, U. S. Army. Washington, D. C., U. S. Govern
ment printing office, March 19, 1951. 5 pp.
Wagner, Margaret W. The aged. In Social Work Yearbook, 1951. New
York, N. Y., American Association of Social Workers, 1951. Pp. 44-50.
Walling, Larraine D. State leadership in local staff development. Jour
nal of Social Casework 28 : 228-235, June 1947.
Washington, Forrester B. Negroes. In Social Work Yearbook, 1941. New
York, N. Y., Russell Sage Foundation, 1941. Pp. 370-378.
Weeks, Genevieve C. Time study of the Greater Boston community sur
vey. Social Work Journal 31: 67-73, 87, April 1950.
Welfare Federation of Cleveland. Study of turnover of professional social
work personnel in Greater Cleveland. Cleveland, Ohio, the Federation,
May 1947. 50 pp.
Wright, Helen R. Employment of graduates of the School of Social Serv
ice Administration. Social Service Review 21: 310-330, September 1947.
Youngdahl, Benjamin E. Shall we face it? Social Work Journal 29:63-69,
April 1948.
O
@FedFRASER