A century of women's employment in clerical occupations: 1850-1950, with particular reference to the role of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women

摘要

The study set out to answer two main questions: (a) what was the role of the Society for Promoting theudEmployment of Women (SPEW) - an organisation founded in 1859, still in existence today, but nowudknown as the Society for Promoting the Training of Women (SPTW), in the evolution of clerical work as audsuitable occupation for women; and (b) what continuities or discontinuities with nineteenth-century officeudemployment could be identified in the experiences of women employed as clerical workers during the firstudhalf of the twentieth century?udTo answer the first question the author examined the archives of SPEW which are lodged at GirtonudCollege, Cambridge. The second question was addressed by contacting a small sample of women, theudmajority born between 1903 and 1925, who were willing to be questioned about their experiences of officeudwork during the inter-war years.udThe research used a mixture of historiographic (archival analysis) and sociological (empirical) enquiry. Itudestablished that SPEW had played a pivotal role in opening up clerical employment to women; anduddemonstrated that early twentieth-century women had not capitalised on the efforts of those first-waveudfeminists even though office work was by then a major destination for women. Informants reported unequaludpay, segregated workplaces, strictly-regulated social mores, and a patriarchal structure where women wereudconcentrated in lower-level posts. These informants were content to view marriage and motherhood as theirudmain 'career' in life.udChapters 1 and 2 describe the author's background, including how her interest in the research topicuddeveloped, the rationale for the research, and the ways in which the study was carried out. Building onudprevious research, the following two chapters establish the historical framework, the founding of SPEW, itsudmembers' links with the Langham Place circle, and the practical activities in which the Society wasudengaged. Chapter 5 describes the range of women's white-collar employment during the period underudreview. Chapter 6 presents empirical data relating to the sample of 21 twentieth-century women, and finallyudChapter 7 reflects on the ways in which the research evolved, comparing the evidence from the two eras,udand suggests further possibilities for research.