SUMMARY OF REPORT ON BOYS AND GIRLS IN COMMERCIAL WORK
Particular attention is given throughout this report to the
differences which exist between boys and girls in commercial
employment with respect to the conditions which govern success and
advancement. The majority of boys begin as messengers or office boys
and subsequently become clerks or do bookkeeping work. As men they
remain in these latter positions or, in at least an equal number of
cases, pass on into the productive or administrative end of business.
The majority of girls are stenographers, or to a less extent,
assistants in bookkeeping or clerical work. Boys' work may be expected
to take on the characteristics of the business that employs them;
girls' work remains in essentials unchanged even in totally changed
surroundings. Boys' work within limits is progressive; girls' work in
its general type--with individual exceptions--is static. Boys as a
rule cannot stay at the same kind of work and advance; girls as a rule
stay at the same kind of work whether or not they advance. Boys in any
position are expected to be qualifying themselves for "the job ahead,"
but for girls that is not the case. Boys may expect to make a
readjustment with every step in advancement. Each new position brings
them to a new situation and into a new relation to the business. Girls
receive salary advancement for increasingly responsible work, but any
change in work is likely to be so gradual as to be almost
imperceptible if they remain in the same place of employment. If they
change to another place, those who are stenographers have a slight
readjustment to make in getting accustomed to new terms and to the
peculiarities of the new persons who dictate to them. Bookkeeping
assistants may encounter different systems, but their part of the work
will be so directed and planned that it cannot be said to necessitate
difficult adaptation on their part. The work of clerical assistants is
so simple and so nearly mechanical that the question of adjustment
does not enter. These girl workers do not find that the change of
position or firm brings them necessarily into a new relation to the
business.
Even moderate success is denied to a boy if he has not adaptability
and the capacity to grasp business ideas and methods; but a
comparatively high degree of success could be attained by a girl who
possessed neither of these qualifications. A boy, however, who has no
specific training which he can apply directly and definitely at work
would be far more likely to obtain a good opening and promotion than a
girl without it would be.
The range of a boy's possible future occupations is as wide as the
field of business. He cannot at first be trained specifically as a
girl can be because he does not know what business will do with him
or what he wants to do with business. The girl's choice is limited by
custom. She can prepare herself definitely for stenography,
bookkeeping, and machine operating and be sure that she is preparing
for just the opportunity--and the whole opportunity--that business
offers to her. Her very limitation of opportunity makes preliminary
choice and training a definitely possible thing.
[Illustration: Diagram 1.--Boys and girls under 18 years of age in
office work in Cleveland. Data from report of Ohio Industrial
Commission, 1915]
The difference between boys and girls begins at the beginning. Boys
are given a larger share of the positions which the youngest worker
can fill. Diagram 1 illustrates this and the figures of the United
States Census for 1910 clearly corroborate it. Boys are taken for such
work and taken younger than girls, not merely because the law permits
them to go to work at an earlier age, but also because business
itself intends to round their training. Girls, on the contrary, are
expected to enter completely trained for definite positions. This fact
alone would in most cases compel them to be older. Furthermore,
because boys in first positions are looked upon as potential clerks,
miscellaneous jobs about the office have for them a two-fold value.
They give the employer a chance to weed out unpromising material; and
they give boys an opportunity to find themselves and to gather ideas
about the business and methods which they may be able to make use of
in later adjustments.
[Illustration: Diagram 2.--Men and women 18 years of age and over in
clerical and administrative work in offices in Cleveland. U.S. Census,
1910]
Diagram 2 shows that girls' training, if it is to meet the present
situation, must prepare for a future in specialized clerical work;
boys' future must apparently be thought of as in mostly the clerical
and administrative fields. The term "clerical" as here used, covers
bookkeepers, cashiers and accountants, stenographers and typists,
clerks and a miscellaneous group of younger workers such as
messengers, office boys, etc. "Administrative" covers proprietors,
officials, managers, supervisors, and agents, but it does not include
salespeople.
The usual commercial course gives impartially to boys and girls two
traditional "subjects" which they are to apply in wage earning
whatever part of the wage earning field they may enter. These are
stenography and bookkeeping. The evidence collected during the survey
shows that these are rarely found in combination except in small
offices. Of the men employed who are stenographers, the majority are
of two kinds: (1) those who use stenography incidentally with their
other and more important work as clerks, and (2) those for whom
stenography is but a stepping-stone to another kind of position. The
only firms which make a practice of offering ordinary stenographic
positions for boys are those which restrict themselves to male
employees for every kind of work.
Independent stenographic work of various kinds is of course open to
the sexes alike. In Cleveland there are a few women in court
stenography. The 10 public stenographers' offices were found upon
inquiry to include two men and 10 women. No figures regarding
convention reporters were obtainable. In the positions of the
bookkeeping group also there was some sex difference. The accountants,
bookkeepers, cashiers, pay-masters and other persons of responsibility
are, in large offices where both sexes work together, much more
likely to be men than women; the assistants who work with these may be
of either sex, but girls and women are likely to make up the greater
portion. Of the small office this is less generally true. Boys who do
machine operating are usually clerks whose machine work, as in the
case of stenography, is merely an adjunct to other work; with girls
machine operating is either the whole of the position or the most
important part of it.
The essential difference between the clerkship which boys for the most
part hold and the general clerical work which girls do is that the
boys' work is unified and is a definite, separate responsible part of
the business, usually in line for promotion to some other clerkship;
the girls' is a miscellany of more or less unrelated jobs and is not a
preparation for specific promotion.
A GENERAL VIEW OF COMMERCIAL WORK
All commercial occupations may be roughly divided into two classes:
those which have to do with administrative, merchandising, or
productive work, and those which carry on the clerical routine which
the others necessitate. The first class of occupations may be
designated by the term "administrative work" and the second by
"clerical work." A varying relation exists between the two which
depends chiefly upon the kind of business represented. In some kinds
clerical work is the stepping stone by which administrative work is
reached; in others employment in clerical work side-tracks away from
the administrative work.
There is, of course, a future of promotion within the limits of
clerical work without reference to its relation to administrative
work. The practical aspect of it is, in most kinds of business, that
the subordinate clerical positions far outnumber the chief ones.
Promotion of any sort depends largely upon individual capacity; but
this general distinction may be made between promotion in clerical
work and in administrative work; in the clerical field it tends to be
automatic but limited; in administrative work it comes more often
through a worker's initiative or individuality than through automatic
progression and it has no arbitrary limits.
Obviously one kind of person will be adapted to an administrative
career; another to a clerical one. Even a beginner in wage earning
might be able to classify himself on a basis like this; yet it is not
essential, for in many cases it is possible that his first positions
recognize this choice. He needs fundamental experience in business
methods whatever he is going to do; and for most administrative
positions he needs maturity. He can achieve both by serving an
apprenticeship in some form of clerical work. The important things for
him in the early part of his career are to understand the distinction
between the two classes of occupations; to sense the relation he holds
to the business as a whole; and to act intelligently in the matter of
making a change.
BOOKKEEPING
The bookkeeping which modern business, except in the small
establishment, demands of young workers is certainly not the journal
and ledger bookkeeping of the commercial schools. A modern office
organization may have in its bookkeeping department of 20 persons only
one "bookkeeper." This person is responsible for the system and he
supervises the keeping of records and the preparation of statements. A
minority of his assistants will need to be able to distinguish debits
from credits; the rest will be occupied in making simple entries or in
posting, in verifying and checking, or in finding totals with the aid
of machines. The bookkeeping systems employed show wide variation, not
only in different kinds of business, but in different establishments
in the same kinds of business. Many firms are using a loose-leaf
system; some use ledgers; and others have a system of record keeping
which calls for neither of these devices. Bookkeeping work, especially
in the positions held by girls, is frequently combined with
comptometer or adding machine work, with typing, billing, filing, or
statistical work; but rarely, except in the small office, are
bookkeeping and stenography--the Siamese Twins of traditional and
commercial training--found linked together.
STENOGRAPHY
Stenography is used throughout business chiefly in correspondence; to
a less extent for report and statement work, for legal work, and for
printer's copy. The stenographer in any business office, more than
other clerical workers, is supposed to look after a variety of
unorganized details including the use of office appliances, the filing
of letters, and sometimes dealing with patrons or visitors in the
absence of the employer. She is more important to the employer in his
personal business relations than any other employee, except in the
case of those few employers who have private secretaries.
CLERKS' POSITIONS
In the case of large corporations, which are by far the largest
employers of clerks, this work has been standardized to a marked
degree. The organization of the office work of the telegraph,
telephone, and express companies, the railroads, and the occasional
large wholesale company in Cleveland is a nearly exact duplication of
that of other district or division offices controlled by these
companies in other cities. The same is true of the Civil Service.
Whatever effects standardization may have upon opportunity, it
obviously makes for definiteness in regard to training requirements.
All the positions are graded on the basis of experience and
responsibility and a logical line of promotion from one to another has
been worked out.
The report contains detailed studies of different kinds of clerical
work in the offices of transportation and public utility corporations,
retail and wholesale stores, manufacturing establishments, banks, the
civil service, and small offices employing relatively few people. In
each of these such matters as character of the work, opportunities for
advancement, kind of training needed and special qualifications are
taken up.
WAGES AND REGULARITY OF EMPLOYMENT
Stated briefly the conclusions of the report with respect to wages and
regularity of employment in office positions are as follows:
The wage opportunities for clerical workers, especially men, lie in
business positions outside the limits of clerical work. Men clerical
workers average about the same pay as salesmen and more pay than
industrial workers. Women clerical workers receive more than either
saleswomen or industrial workers. Employment is much more regular in
clerical work than it is in salesmanship or industrial work. For men
clerical workers the wage opportunity is better in manufacturing and
trade than in some kinds of transportation business. For women it is
better in manufacturing and transportation than it is in trade. Men's
wages tend to be higher than women's in all branches of clerical work.
Among the clerical positions, bookkeeping shows the highest wage
average for men; clerks' positions show the lowest. Stenography shows
the highest for women; machine work the lowest. Men bookkeepers show
their best wage average in the wholesale business, clerks in
transportation, and stenographers in manufacturing. The small office
gives better wage opportunity to women bookkeepers and men
stenographers; the large office favors women stenographers and men
clerks.
For boys, there is some indication that advanced education and
commercial training, in their present status, are less closely related
to high wages than are personal qualities and experience. For girls,
the combination of high school education and business training is the
best preparation for wage advancement. A general high school education
and usually, business training, are essential to the assurance of even
a living wage. Business training based upon less than high school
education is almost futile.
THE PROBLEM OF TRAINING
Six chapters of the report are devoted to a consideration of the needs
and possibilities of training. The work now being done in the public
schools of the city is discussed in detail, with suggestions for a
better adaptation of the courses of study and methods and content of
instruction to the needs of boys and girls who wish to prepare
themselves to enter clerical occupations. The observations on training
for such work may be summarized as follows:
Commercial training should be open to all students whom commercial
subjects and methods can serve best; but graduation should depend upon
a high standard of efficiency.
Statistics show that commercial training is not to be looked upon, in
a wholesale way, as a successful means of taking care of backward
academic students.
Commercial students' need for cultural and other supplementary
education may be even greater than that of academic students.
The graduation rate of commercial students in public schools has been
increased since the organization of a separate commercial high school
and the number of students entering has been decreased.
Commercial high schools receive a grade of children who are about
medium in scholarship and normal in age.
Commercial and academic high school teachers are similar in scholastic
preparation and in the salaries they are paid.
The Cleveland Normal School does not prepare definitely for the
teaching of commercial subjects. Commercial teachers are nominally
supervised by the district superintendents.
Public schools receive 29 per cent of the city's day commercial
students. The private schools receive a few more than the sum of
public, parochial, and philanthropic schools.
Public schools receive 22 per cent of the city's night commercial
students. The private schools receive more than twice as many as the
public and philanthropic schools. There are no night commercial
classes in parochial schools.
The length of the day course in most private schools is eight months
or less; in public schools it is four years.
The public school, if it believes in longer preparation for commercial
work than most private schools give, should demonstrate the reason to
parents and children.
Training for boys and girls should be different in content and in
emphasis.
The usual course of study in commercial schools is suitable for girls
and unsuitable for boys.
A girl needs, chiefly, specific training in some one line of work. She
has a choice among stenography, bookkeeping, and machine operating.
A boy needs, chiefly, general education putting emphasis on writing,
figuring, and spelling; general information; and the development of
certain qualities and standards.
For students electing to go into commercial work, general education
may be taught more effectively through the medium of commercial
subjects than through academic ones.
Boys' training looks forward to both clerical work and business
administration; but as clerical work is a preparation for business and
is likely to occupy the first few years of wage earning, training
should aim especially to meet the needs of clerical positions.
Clerical positions for boys cover a variety of work which cannot be
definitely anticipated and cannot therefore be specifically trained
for. But certain fundamental needs are common to all.
Most of the specialized training for boys should be given in night
continuation classes.
Girl stenographers need a full high school course for its educational
value and for maturity. Girls going into other clerical positions can
qualify with a year or two less of education; but immaturity in any
case puts them at a disadvantage.
Boys' training, for those who cannot remain in school, should be
compressed into fewer than four years. Immaturity in the case of boys
is not a great disadvantage.
Bookkeeping has general value in the information it gives about
business methods and for its drill in accuracy. To some extent it may
aid in the development of reasoning.
Much of the bookkeeping in actual use in business consists in making
entries of one kind only and in checking and verifying. Understanding
of debit and credit, posting, and trial balance, is the maximum
practical need of the younger workers.
Penmanship demands compactness, legibility, neatness, and ease in
writing; also, the correct writing and placing of figures.
The chief demand of business in arithmetic is for fundamental
operations--adding and multiplying--also for ability to make
calculations and to verify results mentally.
Undergraduate experience in school or business offices may be a
valuable method of acquainting students with office practice and
routine and with business organization and business standards.