07 Osh HOME ECONOMICS POSITIONS IN MINNEAPOLIS STUDY PR EPAR ED BY BARBARA\WRIGHT REVISED BY MILDRED WEIGHLEY ce UNIVER aisha aE THE FNIVEASIT?: Fe ILLINOIS PUBLISHED BY WOMAN'S OCCUPATIONAL BUREAU 216 MEYERS ARCADE MINNEAPOLIS MARGARET A. SMITH, MANAGER AUGUST 1922 HOME ECONOMICS POSITIONS IN MINNEAPOLIS A. PURPOSE OF STUDY. This study is an attempt to indicate the types of positions in Minneapolis held by women trained in home economics, the educational and personal qualifications necessary; the range of salaries and the openings that are likely to de- velop. B, SCOPE. The managers or owners of sixty-one organiza- tions were interviewed. These included social agencies, hospitals, cafeterias, tea rooms, clubs, hotels and restaurants. Information was also obtained from The Restaurant and Hotel Keep- ers Association and from the Division of Home Economics, University of Minnesota. C. JOB AND SALARY ANALYSIS. I. DIETETICS, 1. Hospital Dietitians. Each Minneapolis hospital employs one dieti- tian. In some hospitals the work of the dietitian is chiefly of the managerial type while in others she works more particularly with the physician in planning the food for patients requiring special dietetic care. On the whole her duties lie in one or all of the following fields. A. House Management. This involves _pur- chasing supplies, managing dining room and kitchen for nurses, internes and employees in- cluding the planning of menus. B. Instruction. Most dietitians teach dietetics to the pupil nurse. In some cases they also teach physiology and chemistry. C. Diets of Patient. The dietitian usually carries responsibility for planning and_ super- vision of the general diets for the patients, and, ” consultation with the physician, the special iets. 2 In many hospitals, particularly in certain sec- tions of the country, the dietitian is being re- lieved of house management and allowed to de- vote her whole attention to the problems of diets for patients. Such a plan necessitates the em- ployment of two women where only one is now employed in most hospitals. A dietitian should be a graduate of a recog- nized course in home economics in which she should have had her major work in nutrition and dietetics with sciences such as chemistry, physi- ology, bacteriology and others as a background. Since her duties are likely to include those of house director it will be of great advantage to her to do some work in institution management. Most hospitals also require from three to four months’ residence in a hospital as a_ student dietitian after the college course. As the dietitian is becoming better trained her work is becoming more specialized. With the specialization has come increase in salaries. In Minneapolis dietitians receive from $80.00 to $125.00 a month and maintenance, making a sal- ary equivalent to $1,460 to $2,000.00 a year. 2. Private Dietitians. One of the fields more recently opened up to the young woman who is well trained in dietetics is that of private dietitian. She is either employed by the physician to assist in the care of a num- ber of cases where the problem of diet must be carefully watched and supervised as, for ex- ample, in diabetes, or she may be employed by an individual family at the request of the physi- cian. In these cases the salary varies consid- erably but averages from $120.00 to $160.00 a month and maintenance. 3 ft II, INSTITUTION MANAGEMENT. Institution management is offering increasing opportunities, although many positions in this field are held by women without home economics training. Employers, however, prefer the home economics trained woman. Positions in institu- tion management usually require mature women or those possessing sufficient poise and good judgment to be able to handle fully the help employed. The personality factor is extremely important in this group. There are several kinds of workers in insti- tuiion management. 1. House directors or matrons of orphans’ homes, private schools, colleges cooperative homes and dormitories, boarding homes and state institutions. In these positions it is usual for the house di- rectors or matrons to purchase the food or other supplies, manage the kitchen and dining room and in most cases have general oversight of those housed in the institution. Salaries for such positions range from $40.00 to $125.00 per month and maintenance. 2. Tea Room and Lunch Room Managers. Tea rooms and lunch rooms vary in size from the large dining rooms in department stores to the confectionery stores, where light luncheons are served. More women holding executive posi- tons are found in this field than in hotels and restaurants. So far few of the women in this business have been trained in schools of home economics. The manager of one large tea room began as a waitress. Another is a college woman with graduate work in home economics. The general opinion is that if the college girl is will- ing to go in and learn the business, her chance for success is good, but she cannot expect to start as a manager. The necessary personal qualifications are en- ergy, a shrewd business sense, and ability to 4 manage help. All emphasize the latter as very important. The hours vary from six to eleven a day, the work is hard, and the manager must be ready in an emergency to take the place of the dishwasher, the cook or the pantry girl. What she can make in a tea room of her own is prob- lematical, but managers on salaries receive from $1,500.00 to $5,000.00 a year. Assistants in tea rooms receive from $60.00 to $100.00 per month and partial maintenance. 3. Cafeteria Managers. Managerial positions in commercial cafeterias are not very extensively held by women, but women are frequently employed to manage em- plovees’ cafeterias in factories, banks and other large institutions, in schools and colleges and in the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Managers of such cafeterias usully receive from $100.00 a month to $175.00 and their meals. Assistant managers - are frequently employed in the larger cafeterias and receive from $75.00 to $100.00 per month. 4. Hotel, Restaurant and Club Managers. Hotels and clubs employ women as_house- keepers, but not many have yet put women in charge of dining rooms. A few have, and there will be more and more openings, as more women qualify with training, maturity and _ executive ability. UI. SOCIAL WORK. There are a large number of opportunities for the home economics trained woman in the field of social work. . She should possess in addition to her home economics training, some training in social work and a social view point in order to understand the methods employed in dealing with families and individuals where social mal- adjustments exist. : 1. Settlement Houses. A few of the settlement houses are employing women trained in home economics to teach classes in millinery, sewing and cooking and to do home visiting. In one of the settlements this person also manages the dining room and kitchen for the home residents. The value of the trained woman is recognized by the directors of all the settlement houses and if funds permitted more such women would be employed. Salaries range from $80.00 to $100.00 a month and maintenance. 2. Visiting Housekeeping. There are a good many positions which can be included under this title. The person em- ployed by a social agency who plans budgets and supervises expenditures of families where assistance is being provided, and the one who goes into homes to assist in a variety of house- hold problems which may directly or indirectly be the cause of trouble may be considered in this group. For such work a woman must have an unusual amount of teaching and _ executive ability in addition to her understanding of the problem. Good preparation for this work is a coliege course in home economics combined with courses in sociology or with training in a school for social workers. The salary varies from 90.00 to $150.00 per month. 3. Nutrition. There are several types of positions open in the social field for those who have had home economics with emphasis on the nutrition work. A nutrition specialist works with the under- nourished children in school supervising their food and other habits which relate to the health of the child. Much of this work is done through the “‘Nutrition Clinics.” ' 6 = Certain organizations maintain — pre-school clinics in which a nutrition expert works with the physician to secure the right cooperation and understanding of the home to effect the de- sired results. Dispensaries employ a nutrition expert to whom cases requiring special diet help are re- ferred. IV. EXTENSION WORK. A home demonstration agent employed jointly. under the Smith-Lever bill by the United States Department of Agriculture, the county and the University, carries to the women of the county information in regard to homemaking. Clubs and societies already formed sometimes give part of their time to studies directed by the home demonstration agent, and new groups of women also are organized. Because the work is with mature and experienced women, a person enter- ing this field should have not only a technical knowledge of home economics gained through a college course, but actual experience with home life and household problems. Experience in teaching is advisable. The work requires a woman with a large amount of enthusiasm and ability to organize. A. Kinds of Workers. 1. State leaders and assistant state leaders — whose work is largely administrative in character. 2. County workers who are located in an indi- vidual county and who carry responsibility for initiating, organizing and carrying out various projects within their county. . a HANA 3. State specialists who are employed in co- operation with the counties to carry on special projects. Mose states have from two to five specialists. Minnesota for example has a special- ist in care of the following: Nutrition, Textiles ” and Clothing, Home Management and Poultry. Extension positions pay from $1,800.00 to $3,000.00 for 11 months work. D. SUMMARY. Dietetics and institution management as in tea rooms and cafeterias are becoming wider fields for women. Nutrition work with schools and social organizations, extension work in county and state, are modern developments and already well established. Business men are open-minded about the value of trained women in hotels, clubs and restaurants. The importance of home eco- nomics training as a preparation for many oc- cupations is itbafs inpRddsipety Feeoghtedd. Open- ings will continue to appear in these fields and hs ae “4 ere overt af adequately UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS