or decrease in the number of enrollments of women majors in these fields during the war. In the related applied field of hygiene and public health, the number of women expecting to receive undergraduate degrees had been steadily increasing and approached 500 a year (31). In some schools a major in physiology and hygiene combined was offered. Except for those who went on to graduate work or to study medicine or nursing, most of those who had majored in physiology. and hygiene entered teaching or medical laboratory work. Half of the 10 graduates with a major in physiology and hygiene of the 1945 and 1946 classes in one eastern school, for example, became medical laboratory technicians. Two became teachers, and one entered graduate school. Another took a department store advertising job, and another married and was not seeking outside work. Of 45 girls graduated with the same major from another eastern women's college during 1939–43, 37 engaged in work definitely related to their major following graduation. Of these, 13 became associated with the Johns Hopkins University, either in the Hospital, the Medical School, or the School of Hygiene and Public Health. Two studied for the doctorate and one for the M. D. degree. Very few women physiologists are employed under that designation in government or industry. During the war, the Army Air Forces commissioned approximately 200 physiologists and general biologists with the Ph. D. who were used in training, research, and testing programs in aviation physiology (6). But none of them were women. In 1947, however, 2 women were employed as physiologists by the Quartermaster Corps, which had employed 3 during the war. Two women physiologists were also employed in the Washington, D. C., metropolitan area by the United States Department of Agriculture. The demand is not great however. Only 4 men and no women were appointed to probational or permanent positions in physiology by the United States Civil Service Commission in the year ended June 30, 1940 (23). In industry, physiologists, although found more often than general zoologists, were likewise scarce. Only one woman with a bachelor's degree in physiology was found in 78 firms having industrial research laboratories visited in 1945-46. She was working in the bacteriology department of a dairy products laboratory. A woman with a Ph. D. in physiology was employed in an industrial research laboratory in a chemical company, where there was also an opening for a girl with a bachelor's degree in physiology and biochemistry. Animal and human nutrition research in universities, health departments, and food manufacturing companies also absorbed some physiologists. In 1945-46, four women were working as research assistants or technicians in animal nutrition in State experiment stations, in addition to one woman who held the rank of associate professor of poultry physiology. Teaching will probably continue to offer the greatest opportunity for the employment of women physiologists. In 1946, 45 women were listed as members of physiology faculties in a study which covered 330 catalogues of institutions of higher learning included in an enrollment sample selected by the United States Office of Education. An additional 29 women taught physiology in combination with other subjects, and 25 taught hygiene, almost invariably in combination with another subject. If these institutions are representative of the 1,749 institutions of higher learning in the United States, there were, in 1946, 286 women college teachers of physiology, of whom 156 taught that subject exclusively. An additional 100 women were instructing in hygiene. High school teachers of physiology almost invariably teach other sciences as well, and, in many schools, instruction in hygiene is given by physical education teachers rather than by the science faculty. It is possible for this reason that some young women who major in physiology take further training in physical education rather than in science. For young women who are interested in college teaching, research, or laboratory work, however, study in other sciences such as chemistry and physics or in medical subjects is desirable. Women in pathology are fewer than those in physiology, and there is less information about them. In 1946, 63 women were registered in pathology with the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel, 10 percent of the 651 registrants in that field (30). Unlike the women in physiology, only 14 percent of the women in pathology had the doctor's degree. Most pathologists are employed in medical schools or laboratories. In 1946, 15 women were listed on college faculties as teaching or assisting in pathology alone or in combination with another subject, in the 330 institutions included in a United States Office of Education enrollment sample. None had reached a rank above that of assistant professor. If these institutions are typical of all such institutions in the United States, there were, in 1946, 47 women employed on pathology faculties in colleges and universities in the United States. Some of them were undoubtedly engaged in research as well as in instruction. In 1945-46, three women were on State experiment station staffs, engaged in work in animal pathology, and two additional women were instructing in animal diseases as well as serving on station staffs. The few remaining women in this field in 1947 were divided among industry, government, and research institutions not connected with colleges and universities. In 1 of the 78 industrial laboratories visited by a representative of the Women's Bureau in 1945 and 1946, 2 women trained in pathology were employed in the research laboratory of a chemical company. In 1947, 7 women pathologists were employed in the United States Department of Agriculture in the Washington area. Medical training appears to be even more essential for attaining rank in this field than in physiology. And women will find relatively more opportunity in the related field of bacteriology. DAIRY, POULTRY, AND OTHER ANIMAL As in other sciences, a large proportion of those trained in zoology apply their scientific knowledge to production, in this case, of animal life, including dairy cattle, fish, poultry, and bees. At least 2,400 men were engaged in such activities according to the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel in 1946. (See table 7.) Only 11 women, however, were registered in these applied sciences. Their proportion of the total was almost as low as their proportion in engineering and forestry. Only occasionally is a woman found registered in courses in animal husbandry in schools of agriculture. But the variety of work possible in this field, as described in detail by the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel, indicates many opportunities in which heavy work with large animals (considered prohibitive for most women without help) is never involved (32). A University of Wisconsin bulletin points out that, "Women always have done a good share of the work involved in producing and processing poultry products. Women are also doing very important work in operating hatcheries. This includes culling the hatchery flocks, blood testing work, and learning to sex baby chicks. In fact, as time goes on, it looks as if women will be doing all the work in many hatcheries" (46). Bee raising is another activity in which women have successfully engaged. In these applied fields, the marketing or business end must also be considered. One woman trained in poultry science, for example, has teamed up with a woman expert in business administration in the operation of a successful chicken farm. At least seven women were college teachers in poultry or animal husbandry in 1946. A few more were instructing in schools of veterinary science. On State experiment station staffs in 1945-46, there were 14 women assisting in animal husbandry, of whom 2 were in poultry and 6 in dairy specializations. In spite of the negligible number of women in these fields at present, there will always be opportunity in these animal sciences for women with scientific interest and with the initiative, confidence, and persistent effort required to leave the beaten path, THE OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN GENERAL BIOLOGY Most biological scientists are zoologists, botanists, or bacteriologists, and wherever possible the distinction between these fields has been retained. But it was obvious from a study of both the preparation and employment of biological scientists that the term biologist itself is in general use. Some colleges offer bachelor of science or arts degrees with specialization in biology or "life science" as it is sometimes called rather than in botany or zoology. The pages which follow supply information on the trends in the supply of and demand for women whose principal training or work experience is in biological science but who cannot be classified readily as zoologists or as botanists. Most of them are: outstanding scientists who have made contributions involving a high degree of specialization in more than one biological science; beginners who have taken undergraduate training in biology or in both botany and zoology without specialization. Prewar Distribution There are no comprehensive prewar statistics on general biologists, but their number is estimated at between 1,500 and 2,000, of whom about 20 percent were women. High school biology teaching was the largest single area of demand, according to a prewar study of openings for biologists, as indicated by 200 professors of biology who cooperated in a questionnaire study (18). State and Federal agencies were mentioned as other outlets. Varying opinions were given on young graduates' chances for placement, ranging from "poor" to "good." The employment reported for 47 young women graduated with bachelor's degrees during the period 1938 to 1941 with majors in biology rather than specifically in either botany or zoology indicates that the majority ultimately became medical laboratory workers or physicians or nurses, following training, of course. (See table 9.) The next largest number continued to study science in graduate schools, while some went at once into teaching, usually at the high school level. Only 3 of the 47 were employed in industry, and they were in chemical laboratory work. Of the 78 firms with industrial research laboratories visited in the course of this study, only 4 employed women biologists before the war. These 4 were all chemical manufacturing companies, 1 of which was engaged in pharmaceutical work only. Only a few women were employed by each of these companies, most of them as technicians. One was a research associate in microbiology. Two of the 18 commercial testing laboratories visited employed women biologists on biological testing. Table 9. Prewar, Wartime, and Postwar Employment of Some Women Graduated With Bachelor's Degree in Biology |