NEO he yrs fi eH PBR BZ BS 
Opening Doors of Opportunity to Women 
Ethel M. Johnson : 
A pioneer in the field of vocational guidance for wo- 
~ men, the Appointment Bureau of the Women’s 
Educational and Industrial Union of Boston was organ- 
ized January 1910 with Miss Laura Drake Gill, now of 
the Women’s College of the South, as director, and an 
advisory committee representing the principal women’s 
colleges in the East. ‘This new bureau was the successor 
of the Business Agency which was started by the union 
in 1878. Convinced of the overcrowding in the field of 
academic teaching, and of the opportunity for women 
in other lines of work, the Union decided to limit its 
activities to non-teaching occupations, including however 
specialized forms of teaching which offer good opportun- 
ities for women. In part a business agency, for placing 
trained women in positions of responsibility and leader- 
ship, it combines with this work vocational counselling 
for young women, many of them undergraduates who 
need advice about the preparation required to fit them 
for a given profession. 
During the year ending September 30, 1912, 562 wo- 
men received vocational advice, and 846 (103 college wo- 
men and 743 non-college women) were placed. Among 
the positions filled were those of matron, domestic science 
expert, social service worker, secretary and business man- 
ager. 
Applications for positions and for employees are re- 
ceived from all parts of the country although the open- 
ing of the New York, Philadelphia and Chicago bureaus 
has relieved the Boston Bureau from carrying the entire 
work in this field for the United States. During the last 
nine months letters from 218 applicants have been re- 
ceived, representing thirty-six different states ;—also 
Canada, France and Germany. Requests from employers 
have even come from so far distant a place as Honolulu. 
This is exclusive of the work in the home field of the 
bureau where, naturally, the bulk of its business is con- 
ducted. Something of the extent of the work is shown 
by the fact that nearly nine thousand people visited the 
bureau last year. 
The lines of work in which there is most demand for 
competent women are in secretarial, social service, and 
domestic science positions. The newly opening fields of 
hospital social service and civic center work is evidenced 
by the courses in medical, social service and neighborhood 
and community work recently introduced by the School 
for Social Workers. An increasing number of young 
women are becoming interested in special forms of social 
service and a considerable part ot the applications that 
come to the bureau are for positions of this sort. 
The bureau is closely affiliated with the principal wo- 
men’s colleges and co-operates with the other bureaus of 
occupations for women. Its vocational advisory com- 
mittee represents specialists in agriculture, architecture, 
hospital social service, law, library work, nursing, pub- 
lishing house work, research, settlement work and social 
service. Part of the work is done in connection with the 
committee on Economic Efficiency of College Women, 
representing the Boston branch of the Association of Col- 
legiate Alumnae and co-operating with the Women’s Edu- 
cational and Industrial Union. ) 
Twenty local branches of the Association of Colle- 
giate Alumnae in as many different localities, work with 
the bureau in an effort to extend the vocational oppor- 
tunities for women throughout the country. lowa, Ohio, 
Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, New York State, 
West Virginia, Illinois and California are among the cen- 
ters represented in this work. 
Miss Florence Jackson, the present director of the 
bureau, is a graduate of Smith College, and for a number 
of years has taught in the chemistry departments at Smith 
and Wellesley. She is keenly interested in the girl who 
is fitting herself for self-support and takes charge per- 
sonally of the vocational counselling. ‘There is no fee 
for advice and none for registration. The only charge is 
that made after a position has been secured. Then the 
applicant pays for a permanent position (six weeks or 
longer) one week’s salary, and tor a temporary position 
(less than six weeks), ten per cent of the amount re- 
ceived. 
A field secretary is employed by the bureau to con- 
sult with business men and to study the opportunities in 
new lines of work. Closely connected with this side of 
the union’s activities, is the publication of a series of 
vocational bulletins which give concise information re- 
garding various occupations tor trained women. ‘Twelve 
of these bulletins have been issued to date. Proof read- 
ing, publishing house work and medical social service 
are among the subjects included. So popular have they 
proved that some of the numbers are already out of print. 
A volume on “Vocations for the Trained Woman 
other than Teaching” was published in 1910 by the re- 
search Department of the union, which assists the Ap- 
pointment Bureau in its investigations. A second volume 
in this series, describing the opportunity for women in 
social service, secretarial work, agriculture and real es- 
tate, is now in press. Part of the investigation for this 
study was conducted by the committee on the Economic 
Efficiency of Women of the Boston branch of the Asso- 
ciation of Collegiate Alumnae. 
Although the bureau is closely connected with a 
number of educational institutions its work is by no 
means limited to the college woman. Indeed, a large 
percentage of the positions filled are for non-college wo- 
men who have business training and experience. 
A considerable part of the bureau’s activities are 
purely educational in character. Under this head comes 
the vocational counselling; so also do the conferences 
with students which the director has held at a number 
of women’s colleges, and her talks on vocations for wo- 
men’s clubs and local branches of the Association of Col- 
legiate Alumnae. To this side of the bureau’s extension 
work -belongs the series of vocational conferences con- 
ducted last year at the Union and consisting of a discus- 
sion of different occupations for women by women who 
themselves had made a success in those professions. A 
course in vocational guidance for counsellors and school 
advisors is planned for the present year. 
Charles W, Smith and family of the Magnolia colony, 
have closed thei? cottage there and have returned to their 
winter home at 5730 Greene street, Germantown, Pa. 
O38 O 
Mrs. A. C. Thornton and her dughter, Miss Mary 
Thornton, left the North Shore Monday for a round of 
visits at Pittsburg, Pa. They will return to Magnolia 
for the late autumn. = 
Ps 
The Eben Richards’ family, who have been at Pride’s 
Crossing for the late summer, have returned to their 
winter home “Rivenoaks,” Tuxedo Park, N. Y. 
