Women Workers in Seven Professions Part 15

Name. Value and Tenure. Remarks.

#Entrance and Under-graduate.# Drapers' Company 35 1 year Science (renewable) Sir Alfred Thomas 20 3 years _Caroline Williams_ 25 3 years College 25 3 years Craddock Wells(5) 20 and 1 year Open to candidates under fees 19 years of age Students.h.i.+ps Fees and Open only to natives of maintenance Glamorgan and Monmouth, grant 3 years the City of Cardiff and the County Borough of Newport

#Post-Graduate.# Catherine Buckton 40 1 year

TABLE II.

In addition to the University Post-Graduate Students.h.i.+ps mentioned in the above table, the following Research Scholars.h.i.+ps in Arts and Science, not restricted to graduates of any one University, are open to women:--

TABLE II.

In addition to the University Post-Graduate Students.h.i.+ps mentioned in the above table, the following Research Scholars.h.i.+ps in Arts and Science, not restricted to graduates of any one University, are open to women:--

Subject. t.i.tle. By whom awarded. Restrictions (if any). Annual Value and Duration

Subject not fixed. A.K. Travelling A Board of Trustees who receive nominations British Subjects who are 600 and 60 for Fellows.h.i.+p from Vice-Chancellors of Universities in the University graduates books; 2 awarded United Kingdom, the President of the Royal annually for 1 year Society, and the President of the British Academy

Physical Science McKinnon Research Royal Society -- 150 for 2 years Fellows.h.i.+p

Biological Science McKinnon Research Royal Society -- 150 for 2 years Fellows.h.i.+p

Bio-Chemistry -- Lister Inst.i.tute of Preventive Medecine -- 150 for 1 year, renewable for a 2nd year.

Bacteriology -- Lister Inst.i.tute of Preventive Medecine -- 150 for 1 year, renewable for a 2nd year.

Physiology George Henry Lewes Special Trustees; application to Professor Investigator must be in need 200 for 3 years (renewable) Scholars.h.i.+p Langley, Cambridge of pecuniary help to prosecute research

Philosophy George Henry Lewes University of Toronto Graduates who have specialised 50 for 1 year Scholars.h.i.+p in Philosophy

Subject not fixed. _Price Fellows.h.i.+p_ Federation of University Women Women graduates who have 120 for 1 year already published the results of independent research

Natural Science Research Students.h.i.+p Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Science graduates who are 150 for 3 years, part prepared to research in of which must be spent subjects under the purview abroad, and all 3 at of the Board, and afterwards approved inst.i.tutions to adopt a career in agricultural science

Economics _Shaw Research_ London School of Economics -- 105 for 2 years

Economics Hutchinson Research London School of Economics -- 105 for 1 year

Natural Sciences _The Ellen Richards_ American a.s.sociation for Advancement of Thesis 1,000 dollars _Research Prize_ Research Work by Women. Hon. Sec., (204, 10s.) Mrs A.D. Mead, 283 Wayland Avenue, Providence, R.I.

SECTION II

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION INCLUDING DENTISTRY

I

MEDICINE AND SURGERY

It may be safely claimed that, although there is still much to be done, in medicine women have gained as good a position as in any other branch of labour.

One of the most important considerations in discussing any branch of women's work is what sort of women are suited for it. The following are the chief requisites for the medical profession:--

(1) The first and most important qualification is enthusiasm. It is impossible to follow this profession with success, unless it is work for which one has not only apt.i.tude but also natural taste. It necessitates a very strenuous life, and many unpleasant details of work, which are unimportant to a person to whom the occupation is acceptable as a whole, but which would be quite insuperably disagreeable to any one to whom the total idea of life embodied in it was unattractive.

(2) Another very important qualification is a knowledge of men and things. A doctor must never forget that she is dealing primarily with human nature; certainly human nature which may be for a time unhinged, or the mechanism of which may not be working smoothly, but nevertheless with the human individual as a whole.

The so-called "bedside" manner which is the b.u.t.t for so much ridicule is not so purely ridiculous as one might be tempted to think. Its basis is to be found in this very knowledge of human nature which is so essential, although the superstructure is often nothing more than vapid futility. In addition to this the ideal doctor should possess a trained scientific mind, and, of the two, the former is infinitely the more important, although the latter is very valuable, not only for itself, but for the training which it gives in "tidy" thinking.

(3) Good health. A sick doctor is an anomaly and many people prefer to be indifferently treated by some one who is cheerful and healthy, rather than have the most expert advice from a woeful person.

(4) A good general education is essential. This should include a certain amount of Latin, which is needed throughout medical work.

The student must also possess the necessary capacity for acquiring knowledge. It is very usual to find among the general public--women in particular--an idea that a tremendous amount of a vague quality which they describe as "cleverness" is necessary in order to follow one of the learned professions. Certainly this is not so in medicine. It is, however, necessary to be possessed of average intelligence and a good memory, and it is difficult for people to pa.s.s the qualifying examinations if they have for many years given up "school work"--_i.e._, the habit of learning large numbers of new facts.

(5) Money. For three reasons: (i.) The training is expensive, (ii.) It is also strenuous, making a certain amount of margin for suitable recreation very desirable, (iii.) Earning capacity, although ultimately high, so far as women are concerned, is much delayed, and the work itself is one of considerable nerve-strain. It is, therefore, very important that economic worry should, if possible, be avoided.

Medicine is one of the few professions in which women receive as high remuneration as men. A very strenuous battle was fought between the public authorities and medical women on the subject of equal pay for equal work. All sorts of dodges have been used to get cheap woman labour, but, so far, the victory has been almost completely on the side of medical women. By the word "almost" is meant the fact, that if two or three posts of varying grades and remunerations are created under a health authority the woman nearly always gets the lowest, whatever her qualifications and experience. With this exception the victory has been complete, and this has been entirely due to two things:--

(1) The very able support given by the British Medical a.s.sociation, which practically served as a Trade Union for doctors, stated the lowest rate of remuneration to be accepted, and kept a black list of posts which were advertised at salaries below this rate. The a.s.sociation has throughout supported with absolute consistency, the principle of equal pay for equal work for the two s.e.xes, and has helped us as medical women to fight many battles.

(2) The other factor has been the public spirit of the medical women concerned, without which nothing could have been done. One of the forms of public service most essential at the present day and for which the individual gets neither honour nor even thanks, is that of refusing "black leg" labour. It is generally admitted by those who have to deal with the question of salaries and conditions of work under public authorities, that medical women, as a whole, have shown at least as great public spirit as men in refusing unsatisfactory terms. To lose a post which would give one enough for one's own needs and which would mean so much more in the way of experience and adequate scope for one's energies, and to refuse it simply because it would lower the market rate of pay, is a very fine thing to do.

Unless, however, this high tone is maintained the position of medical women will become as bad as that of some other working women. If, on the other hand, it can be maintained, the position already gained may be used as a very powerful lever in raising the rate of pay in other departments of women's work. There is sufficient support for us amongst medical men. Everything, therefore, depends upon the _personnel_ of the women doctors, and, as things become easier for the students, it becomes more and more difficult to convince the new recruits of the strenuousness of the fight in earlier years and of the need for constant vigilance and self-sacrifice at the present time.

Those who fought so n.o.bly in the past have earned the lasting respect and grat.i.tude of those who come after them. An account of their labours has been written by Mrs Isabel Thorne, and is called a "Sketch of the Foundation and Development of the London School of Medicine for Women."[1] It reads like a romance and shows the absolute determination and pluck which were needed by the women in order to gain their point. As one learns of the rebuffs and indignities which they endured, it reminds one of the struggle which is at the present time going on for the parliamentary vote. There is one thing which makes one inclined to "back the women every time," and that is their stupendous patience. A very short _resume_ of the facts may not be out of place here. Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, English by birth but resident in America, succeeded in 1858 after much difficulty in obtaining the degree of M.D. of the University of Geneva, United States of America.

She then applied to have her name placed upon the register of duly qualified medical pract.i.tioners of the General Medical Council of Great Britain and Ireland, and it was discovered to the dismay of the authorities that she could not be refused. The next step was taken by Miss Garrett, now Dr Garrett Anderson. She decided to qualify herself for the medical examinations of the Society of Apothecaries, London, who also, owing to the wording of their charter, were unable to refuse her, and in 1865 she successfully pa.s.sed the required tests. In order, however, to prevent a recurrence of such "regrettable incidents," the society made a rule that in future no candidates should be admitted to their examinations unless they came from a recognised medical school, and, as no such school would admit women, this closed their doors.

In the meantime Miss Jex-Blake had applied to Edinburgh University for medical education, but had been refused on the score that it was impossible to make such alterations "in the interests of one lady."

Mrs Thorne, Miss Chaplin, Miss Pechey, and Mrs de Lacy Evans then decided to join Miss Jex-Blake, thus making five instead of one. They were allowed to matriculate, but forced to form separate cla.s.ses and to guarantee 100 guineas for each cla.s.s. They were not, however, allowed to receive scholars.h.i.+ps, to which their work would have ent.i.tled them, on the score that they were women. Mrs Thorne states that their "success in the examination lists was their undoing," as, owing to this, and to the fact that they were unjustly debarred from receiving the distinctions that they had gained, a great deal of bad feeling was aroused.

As the agitation increased, the efforts of these pioneers to obtain a qualifying course for women in Edinburgh, were supported by a committee of sympathisers, which speedily rose to five hundred members, and, after a severe struggle, the question of clinical teaching in the Infirmary was settled partially in the women's favour in 1872. Later, the question of the validity of the original resolutions admitting women to the University was raised and decided against them. They had, therefore, been four years at the University and were finally excluded. This, however, proved to be only temporary as, in later years, the University reopened its medical degrees to women; but not in time to allow of the return of these courageous pioneers.

In the meantime Dr Garrett Anderson, having taken her degree in Paris, had been steadily working in London, forming the nucleus of the present New Hospital for Women, and the pioneers from Edinburgh came to London and helped her to start a school of medicine for women.

This was successfully accomplished owing to the kind help of many people, both within and without the profession, but no clinical teaching could be obtained, as all the big London hospitals were closed to women students. Finally, however, arrangements were made with the Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Road. It had no men's medical school attached to it, and the admission of women to the hospital was due to the kind intervention of the Rt. Hon. J.

Stansfeld, M.P., who met the Chairman of the hospital, Mr James Hopgood, while away on a holiday, and induced him to persuade the hospital authorities to give the dangerous experiment a trial. So seriously was it regarded, that the women students had to guarantee an indemnity to the hospital of 300 guineas annually in addition to their fees, as it was felt that the general support might decrease by, at least, this amount when the public became aware that there were medical women studying at the hospital! This was soon found not to be the case, and the yearly indemnity was generously remitted by the hospital authorities, the students simply paying the usual fees for instruction. In connection with this subject, it may be of interest to note that to-day the presence of medical women at the hospital is evidently found by the authorities to be an important means of gaining the sympathy of the general public, for appeals for funds may frequently be seen in London omnibuses stating, as the ground for an appeal, the fact that this is the only general hospital in London where women medical students are trained.

The medical school which began in a small Georgian house has now a fine block of buildings with all modern appliances, and the hospital is, at the time that this book goes to press, undergoing extensive alterations and additions, including enlargement of the students'

quarters.

The success of this pioneer work has been sufficiently amazing, but it is most important that every one should realise that the fight is still going on. Not a day pa.s.ses but somebody tries to get medical women to work either for less pay or under less honourable conditions than those required by their medical brethren, and one of the most trying parts of work in this profession at the present time is the constant alertness required both for detecting and defeating these attempts. That they should be made is not surprising, when we remember the lower market value attached to women's work in almost every other occupation. Practical examples of the sort of attempts made, may be of service.

_Example 1._--A medical woman went as _loc.u.m tenens_ for a pract.i.tioner in a country town during the South African War. The pract.i.tioner himself was at the time absolutely incapacitated by a severe form of influenza, complicated by ocular neuralgia which made work absolutely impossible. Owing to the War, he was quite unable to get a man to act as _loc.u.m tenens_. A woman consented to help him in his extremity, at considerable inconvenience both to herself and to the people with whom she was working at the time. She carried on the practice during the depth of the winter, having on some occasions to go out in the snow-sleigh and frequently to drive in an open trap at night in the deadly cold. She carried on the work with such conspicuous success that her "chief" asked her to stay on as his a.s.sistant when he was convalescent. For this he offered her 85 a year, living in, saying, without any shame, that he knew that this was not the price that any man would command, but that it was plenty for a woman. He was bound to admit that he had lost no patient through her, that he charged no lower fees when she went to a case than when he did, that she did half the work while acting as his a.s.sistant, and that she had kept his practice together for him while he was ill.