752 j TRANSACTIONS Of SECTION L. 



consists in a short training conducted, as far as possible, in classes pervaded by 

 a business spirit, by persons who have been themselves in business and pro- 

 fessional life and understand its requirements, as no educationist can understand 

 them. It is a question of atmosphere, not of subjects. The better the general 

 education, the shorter can be this period of special training. But it makes the 

 pupil alert, business-like, and methodical, and is her best answer to the 

 employer, who always seeks, if he can, a girl ' with previous experience,' thus 

 placing serious difficulties in the path of the beginner. It will be very hard to 

 persuade him that a girl, merely school-trained and not specially trained, has any 

 equivalent at all to this ' previous experience.' And the more he can be per- 

 suaded to raise the standard of his requirements, the greater chance there is of 

 raising generally the level of secretarial and clerical work, until it is worthy to 

 rank as a profession, not an occupation, and of relegating to other employments 

 the mass of ill-trained clerical workers, who at present degrade this and kindred 

 branches of employment and bring down the rate of wages. 



4. Women's Education. By Miss Haldane. 



We have to face special questions raised by war conditions, and must con- 

 sider how to meet them. A new vista in employment has opened up for women. 

 Of the enormous number of new openings that have arisen, some, of course, are 

 temporary, but women will doubtless be more largely employed as earners in the 

 future; (1) because of the shortage of men, (2) because in certain directions 

 women's labour has proved as efficient as men's, and (3) because work will 

 probably be plentiful but cheap after the War, and more individuals in the 

 family will be required as wage-earners. 



What preparations are we as educationists to make for the coming changes ? 

 We must above all realise that in our secondary education we have to prepare 

 not only for the gTeat profession of teaching, but for technical work of very 

 varied sorts. We shall expect our women not only to become doctors, teachers, 

 nurses, secretaries, &c., but also farmers, market gardeners, caterers, officials in 

 factories, railways, &c., and we must see that these women do not go into their 

 new occupation without the foundation of education which is essential if a man 

 or woman is to carry on his or her work in a broad-minded way. 



The danger at present is that girls are hurried through the training con- 

 sidered requisite before they have had time to think for themselves or find them- 

 selves as individuals. The danger is difficult to meet at this moment, but we 

 must strain every nerve to prevent its becoming permanent. Whatever our 

 economic condition, we should struggle against the fatal economy of curtailing 

 the edu^aMon of the nation, anJ should lay to heart the conclusions of Mr. 

 Acland's Committee on Examinations in Secondary Schools. It would be most 

 valuable if we could have a recognised stage in education (certainly not repre- 

 f-ented by any cram examination) which should be the gateway to the university 

 on the one hand and the technical classes on the other. 



5. The Education of Girls with reference to their Future Careers. 



By Miss E. Oldham. 



The War must of necessity aggravate what is already a serious condition of 

 social life — the numerical preponderance of women over men. Another grave 

 result will be the shortage of men in many occupations. The welfare of the 

 community as a whole demands that we should in this time of social truce con- 

 sider the measures that will best serve in the process of reconstruction. It is 

 obvious that an increasing number of women must be denied the opportunities, 

 of wifehood and motherhood. How can such women best serve their purpose as 

 useful citizens ? Two reforms are vital : A free entry for women into all pro- 

 fessions and callings from which they are not physically debarred, with a free 

 way through these callings, and a raising of the status of the domestic worker 

 or homemaker. The education of a girl suffers from the narrow sphere of 

 choice that lies before her, and from the fact that, in such callings as are open 



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