The establishment of Labour Exchanges under the Board of Trade some years ago gave occasion for the appointment of a considerable number of women to responsible posts. On the organising staff at the Central Office there is a Principal Woman Officer at £400-15-£450, who is responsible for the organisation of the women's work in all the Labour Exchanges. She has an Assistant at £150-£7, 10s.—£200. A woman also acts as Secretary to the large London Juvenile Advisory Committee. She has the acting rank of an Assistant Divisional Officer, although her salary (£300-15-£400) is less than that received by men Assistant Divisional Officers.
There are nine Senior Organising Officers with salaries of £250-10-£350, six of whom are women. The three men holding these appointments deal with Juvenile work only, whereas some of the women are in charge of both Women's and Juvenile work. Of the five Junior Organising Officers at £200—£7, 10s.—£250, three are women. The nine Assistant Organising Officers at £150—£7, 10s.—£200 are all women. All these officers are engaged in organising the work of the Juvenile and Women's Departments all over the country, and inspecting local offices. There are also twenty secretaries to Juvenile Advisory Committees, who may be either men or women. The salary for these posts is £150-5—£200.
In the Divisional Offices there are some staff posts open to women at a salary of £200 to £300. Their work is purely clerical, and is concerned with Unemployment Insurance.
The original appointments in this branch of the Board of Trade were made by a Selection Committee on which the Civil Service Commissioners were represented. Applications were invited by advertisement, and a large number of candidates was interviewed. The more recent appointments have been filled by candidates who have first appeared before a Board, and have then passed a qualifying examination, conducted by the Civil Service Commission.
Board of Education
The Board of Education (or the Education Department, as it was then called) was established in consequence of the passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1870. Its jurisdiction was and still is limited to England and Wales.
Notwithstanding that it was responsible to Parliament for regulating the conduct of public elementary education all over the country, and that in those schools there were hundreds of women teachers and thousands of little girl pupils, it seems not to have occurred to the Department to call in the aid of women either as inspectors or administrators until the appointment in 1884 of a Directress of Needlework. A Directress of Cookery was added in 1891, and laundry work was brought under her supervision in 1893. It was only when the passing of the Education Act of 1893 had brought other forms of education—secondary, technical, and scientific—more completely under the supervision of the Department that the need for Women Inspectors began to be felt. In justice to the Department it must be said that having once realised the need, they did not meet it grudgingly. The first Women Inspectors were appointed in 1904, and by the spring of 1905 there were no less than twelve, one of whom was appointed as Chief. Since then the number has been steadily increasing, and there are now 45—a much more satisfactory rate of progress than that of the Women Factory Inspectors.
Educational Inspectors.—There are now 1 Chief Woman Inspector, at a salary of £650; 45 Inspectors, 8 at £400-10-£500, and 35 at £200-15-£400.
The method of appointment of Women Inspectors' is similar to that of men—i.e., by nomination of the President of the Board of Education. The Chief Woman Inspector first interviews candidates, weighs their qualifications, and reports upon them to the Secretary. There is no examination on appointment. Besides academic qualifications, which are the same as those of men, many of the Inspectors have special qualifications, as well as having had practical experience in teaching.
A special class of work is allotted to each Inspector: about 17 of
them are occupied in inspecting Girls' and Infants' Public Elementary
Schools: 15 are responsible for Domestic Subject Centres in Elementary
Schools: 4 for Girls' and Mixed Secondary Schools: 3 for Training
Colleges (women's and mixed): and 3 again for Domestic and Trade
Courses and Girls' Clubs.