L TRAININ

ing for wage-earning pursuits in which men predominate. The conditions which surround vocational training for girls are so fundament

proportion of women and girls at work smaller as compared with the total number of persons in gainful occupations than in Cleveland. In 1900, 20.4 per cent

and for the next 30 or 40 years devotes most of his time and energy to making a living. The typical girl leaves school about the same time, becomes a wage-earner for a few years, then marries and spends the rest of her life keeping

s found in the length of the working life. The transitory character of the wage-earning phase

N ENGAGED IN GAINFUL OCCUPATIONS DURI

riod W

o 21

o 45

d ove

of the men are at work, but the proportion of women employed in gainful occupations drops to 26 per cent, or about one in four; in the next age group-45 and over-it falls to about 12 per cent,

YED IN THE PRINCIPAL W

MEN FROM 16 TO 21 Y

and mechanic

dressmakers a

seamstresses (no

nd milliner

lled ope

fact

tobacco fa

supply fa

ing m

and pub

nd worst

ver

occupa

g machine operat

ores

porta

ne oper

ad

in st

men (st

ional s

nd teachers

rs (sc

nd persona

n and cl

operat

van

ress

l occup

cashiers, and

ept clerks

ers and ty

tions, usually begins before the age of 21. For this reason the 16 to 21 age group probably offers the best basis for determining the future occupational distribution of girls in school. If all women at work up to the age of 25 were included the figures would be more nearly exact, but unfortunately data for the period between 21 and 25 are n

ll in any single occupation to form a class of workable size. In such a school there would be about 80 girls 12 years old and over. Of the skilled occupations listed

on in the Jun

pupils, obviates this difficulty to some extent. Instead of 80 girls there are from 300 to 500

be made possible for a girl who expects to make a living with her needle to elect a thoroughly practical course in sewing in which the aim is to prepare for wage earning rather than merely to teach the girl how to make and mend her own garments. As proficiency in trade sewing requires first of all ample opportunity for practice, provision should be made for extend

he special reports on the Garment Trades and Dressmaking and Millinery. In the present chapter the consideration of thes

aining for the

is likely to enter the needle trades selects the technical high school course, not because she has any idea of finishing it, but because she believes it offers a less tiresome way of getting through her last one or two years in

anything of direct vocational value for them it will have to begin further down. Most of them leave school before the age of 17 and the year

by concentrating in large groups the girls who need such training. Little will be accomplished in training for the sewing trades without specialization, and specialization in small administrative units is impossible. The teaching and op

rating, and trade millinery. A conservative estimate of the number of girls who could be expected to enroll for courses in these subjects is 500. A trade school might be established where only this type of vocational training would be carried on

ut first-class work. The familiarity with trade standards the pupils obtain through practice on garments which must meet the exacting demands of the buying public has a distinct educational value. The Manhattan Trade School for Girls in New York City and other succ

Occu

nographers, typists, clerks, cashiers, bookkeepers, saleswomen, and so on. Their needs will be considered in Chapters XII and XIII

tting mills, and factories making electrical supplies, metal products, and so on. As a rule such work requires only a small

onditions. The woman domestic servant occupies about the same social level as the male common laborer, and a course which openly sets out to train girls to be servants is not likely to prosper. The load of social stigma such work carries is to