the employment of women in chemistry was relatively small leaving a large net increase over the prewar years.

Industry

Seventy-two of the industrial establishments covered by the Women's Bureau, for example, employed college women in chemical laboratory work following the war, as compared with 83 during the war, and 42 before the war. This was about 10 percent below the war peak but a 70 percent increase over 1941. Commercial testing laboratories and aircraft plants were the two types of firms in which the decrease was most marked.

In addition to the decline in numbers represented by the 11 firms which following the war no longer employed women trained in college chemistry, almost half, 32, of the firms that continued to employ women had fewer on their pay rolls than they had had at the war peak. However, for the establishments where exact comparisons were possible, the drop from the war peak was less than 10 in all cases. On the other hand, 8 firms, most of them manufacturers of drugs or other chemicals, employed more college women trained in chemistry than they had during the war. All but 3 of the 72 firms employed more in the early postwar period than before the war. The size of the increase, like the volume of the decline from the war peak, however, could not be measured exactly since complete statistics were not available.

For 68 of the 72 industrial firms employing women with college training in chemistry following the war, detailed statistics on postwar employment were obtained (table 7). Almost 900 women were employed in chemical work in these laboratories, all but 56 of them in laboratory work. An estimated 400 to 450 additional women were employed in the 4 laboratories from which separate statistics on women chemists were not available; these included two very large employers.

Table 7. Distribution, by Type of Establishment, of Women with College Training in Chemistry Employed in 68 Industrial Establishments, 1946

Almost one-fourth of those employed had some college chemistry but lacked a degree in chemistry. Of those who had degrees, about nine-tenths had the bachelor's degree only; less than 10 percent had had enough graduate work in chemistry to qualify for a doctor's or master's degree. (See table 8.)

Table 8. Educational Level of Women With College Training in Chemistry Employed in 68 Industrial Establishments, 1946

The number of different titles by which these women were called ran well over 50, including: pig iron chemist, textile technician, vitamin assayist, spectographer, microphotographer, research engineer, and junior technologist. The most common, however, was the simple title of "chemist," sometimes qualified by a letter or number, such as "chemist, grade II," to indicate differences in experience or training and in remuneration. Almost half of the women with the bachelor's degree bore this title. The next largest groups among the bachelors were. "analysts," "junior chemists," and "technicians." A sizable number of those without a college degree in chemistry were also called technicians, although the most common title of those with only partial college training in chemistry was "laboratory assistant." This term was also applied to some with bachelor's degrees.

Of the 56 women in nonlaboratory work, half were technical librarians or assistant technical librarians. One-fourth were secretaries to technical officials or had other clerical titles. Patent or literature searching, editing, sales promotion, and purchasing were other categories included.

Federal Government

At the end of 1946, the employment of women chemists in the Federal Government, as in industry, was below the war peak but much higher than before the war. In none of the reporting agencies was the number of women chemists fewer than before the war.

More than 300 women with college training in chemistry were employed in 1946 in 12 separate departments or agencies from which detailed statistics were available. Three-fourths of them carried the professional civil-service title of chemist or metallurgist; the remain

Figure 9.-Treating cotton fabric with mildew-resistant finishes. ing number were laboratory aids or assistants. The 224 with professional titles represent the minimum number, since not all agencies were covered, and some could not supply figures on laboratories in the

The National Bureau of Standards and the Food and Drug Administration were the largest employers of women chemists; the War Department and the United States Department of Agriculture ranked next. The United States Public Health Service, the Patent Office, the Navy Department, the Geological Survey, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Bureau of Mines also employed women chemists or metallurgists, from 6 to 12 in each agency. Laboratory aids with college training in chemistry were employed in largest numbers in the War Department, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the National Bureau of Standards. Principal decreases as compared with the war peak, as might be expected, were in the Chemical Corps and Ordnance of the War Department. There was an increase, however, in the number of women chemists employed in the Food and Drug Administration because of the expansion of activities necessary to test and analyze the new antibiotic drugs such as penicillin and streptomycin.

The demand for additional chemists in the Federal service dropped off gradually following the cessation of hostilities. Examinations have been announced since the summer of 1945, but these were primarily to provide a means for those who entered Government service during the war to establish permanent civil service status. However, all the principal Government agencies employing chemists have requested the examinations, and there will undoubtedly be some appointments from the outside, probably more than during the prewar years but fewer than during the war years.

The United States Civil Service Commission early in 1947 indicated that few people besides those already employed on war service appointments were taking and passing the civil service examination. The beginning chemist or the junior professional assistant examinations are the usual channels for entering Government service as a chemist. Chemists may also possess the requirements specified in the announcements for Food and Drug Inspector and Patent Examiner. Some may also become chemists in the Government by working upward from the occupation of laboratory aid, and others may enter at higher grades.

State and Local Government

The number of women trained in college chemistry employed in local and State governments is greater than the number in the Federal service. Most of them are medical technicians in public health laboratories engaged in routine blood and other tests used in arriving at medical diagnoses, although some assist on research projects. All have at least 2 years of college, and many have a college degree in chemistry. Many have also taken special training in medical technology at a hospital school approved by the American Medical Asso

ciation. Laboratory technicians in medical laboratories of all types have been discussed in an earlier Women's Bureau bulletin. In 1942, at least 50 women who were registered medical technologists were in public health laboratories (54). In July 1945 the United States Public Health Service found a total of 585 women employed as laboratory technicians in 38 of the States and in 80 percent of the full-time local health departments. They amounted to two-thirds of all such technicians; only one-third were men. However, only 15 percent of the full chemists employed in the same laboratories were women. They numbered 30 out of a total of 200. Altogether the women trained in college chemistry in public health laboratories, if technicians are included, may be estimated at between 700 and 800. Here, too, employment is known to be greater than before the war.

Research Institutes and Projects

In addition to the women employed in medical research in public health laboratories, there are a much greater number employed at such medical research foundations as the Rockefeller Institute and on the many research projects at medical schools and hospitals. In 1946 the Rockefeller Institute, for example, employed 43 college women who had a major or minor in chemistry, including 2 with Ph. D.'s in chemistry. Those with the bachelor's degree were technicians who assisted M. D.'s and Ph. D.'s on research projects, except for 3 who formed the publications staff of the Institute.

Mellon Institute.