Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-26
OPPORTUNITIES
OPEN TO WOMEN
Demand for Trained secretaris.
Is Greater Than the =
Supply-The, Pay
T.. Is Good
BY RAYMOND G. FULLER

always fond Of animals" vas
vocational choice is often ov,t.
derful as that. Nothing ia surar ar. won-
the determination is freovsn.I,, .n @ mat
Of limited training as much a. !. ua'ser
waiting opportunities. The case Of voos
uonai advancement is similar The h.s,
maid OF ambition is preparation M.
first test Of qualifications is surnn,aa s '.'
In that familiar quotation, "Wbo, -. Sp
you DOR but second is inevltah,,, -
posed on the young man or woman s,.,'
ing to make good, How far can Won rosr
The answer to this last question densrS.
In part on natural ability, but IL dsnoaSs
also on education. ps''us
A new vocation for woman h..
opened UP in secretarial work. r. :.
sure, shorthand, typewritinR ana ~
keeping are not new attractions. bu, ~
retarial work, with the responsibility ana
pay which 1t offers today, requires sors
thing more than the technical tra,n,ns :,
a'trade. This elementary training. e,r.
cially mastery OF shorthand Ia An as,.- 3.
tial part of the preparation of secretar,s.
but 1t does not represent an adsn,,a,.
preparation for the more responsible most,
tions. In many instances II NAV \.
impossible to draw line betveen ~.
stenographer and the secretary, but thar.
Is distinction. The stenographer. meraiv
as such, Is engaged in routine work. IN.
secretary has risen above the perform.
ance of mechanical tasks and is engaged
in work that calls for initiative, execptiv.
ability, outlook-and personality Thers
is also difference in salary.
Until recently the occupation of teach.
Ing was the almost unanimous-and
somewhat passive! - selection of col,ers
women Secretarial work is fast catch,
ing UP with 1t in favor, perhaps really
surprising 1t in attractiveness In ran III 3
idly increasing numbers college women
are entering business schools. Women'a
colleges are introducing into their own
curricula such subjects as office methods
commercial law, bookkeeping and ac
counting.
THAT woman is In the market place.
said Margaret Deland the other day. "will
probably beNadmitted without discussion.
That some of US don't like to see her there
does not alter the fact: she is therew
But by no means do the opportunities
market place. 1t is broad field and inti.
mately touches many occupations.
It's extent, and some of its attractive
ness on the score of congeniality, are
suggested by the report of the Intercol
legiate Bureau of Occupations in its
capacity as an employment agency; "Ths
large number os stenographic and secrs
tarial positions" says the report, ind
Gates both the insistent demand Of EN-.
ployers for intelligent and broad educa
ton in this type of work and the grow
ing recognition on the part of the college
woman that stenography is the key which
unlocks numerous doors of opportunity
in the business, professional, educational,
literary, social and scientific fields How
significant II Is that the only positions
recorded In offices of lawyers, physicians.
and engineers were for secre
tariesr'
Good Secretaries Always in Demand
But in no branch of secretarial work Is
there an oversupply Of qualified candF
dates. When we use the word "cand.
dates" we remember that in business
very large percentage of secretarial posi-
tions have been created by their In.
umbents-individuals who have had the
capacity to make themselves increasingly
valuable to their employers, Reporting
an investigation of the employment Of
the Misses Eaton and Stevens
say: There is a horde of Improperly
trained and otherwise undesirable candl
1ates who create an apparent oversuppy
but who bear no relation TO real de
nand." Certainly one of the essential
of vocational training Is to iur'
1ish not only purely technical prepara'
Ion, but TO provide also such general
lll-round education as will develop those
qualities which to employers are ths
most highly considered qualifications
Those qualities, of course, are OF measuf-
Lble value at the start. Apparently tns
ire fostered by collegiate education. ms
department. of research of the Womens
and Industrial Union, OF
boston. recently made careful survey %
in secretarial service, anu
oncludes that the college-trained woman
egins at uniformly higher salary anu
dyances more rapidly than the "oHaAA
1ithout such training"
Now all this expansion or Voeauoh4
for women in the more
and higher-paid seeretarial -
Itions has produced far'reaehins eHss's
, the educational world. II has resu'ss
OF only In changes in the courses !.
udy in the colleges for women pu' N ~
syelopment of the vocational eohsss
uch a vocational college is simmons, =
oston, and such is the new ins,l'u.pl .sn
, be opened at Troy. N. T.. this lals
trough the generous gift and the .,a vls'v"
Mrs. Russell Sage. In Fnhaae'p
,sre IL also a manifestation or the ns@
,nditions and demands in the provis'oa
, a four.year secretarial program IN =
t,on TO an existing and excellent W.
.ar program at Drexsl Instituts.
vocational Boston University win sN.
.Tt fan In its school Of eommefes
,,r.vsar secretarial course THESE sssn
"A developments are suhielent 70 shey
: = tendency in vocational choice aalohs
o,,an who seek a "higher edueauo.
= 1 .hsv are also recognition OF tne op