;■^;'^^^.''^^^^*•^;»^;^''^ OtIIiANGE (SfarneU HniocraUg Slibrarg Jltl)aca. New ^oxk BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 arV16480 Vocational guidance Cornell University Library ,. 3 1924 031 425 832 olin,anx B Cornell University y Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031425832 On T Wharf, Boston VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE THE TEACHER AS A COUNSELOR By J. ADAMS PUFFER Direclor of Ihc Beacon Vocation Bureau, Boston, formerly Principal of the Lyman School for Boys, Boston, Author of "The Boy and His Gang" RAND McNALLY & COMPANY Chicago New York London Copyright, IQ13 By J. Adams Puffer Edition of 19 14 ">; / 'C ^ ^^t+*r 4. o'i'l ffilre Slaniir - JHcaiaiUj 5i)rr»» Chicago THE PREFACE This book, like The Boy and His Gang, springs directly from personal experiences in the Lyman School for Boys, the Industrial School of Massachusetts for delinquent boys. Under the efficient leadership of Superintendent T. F. Chapin, this school has been made over from one of the old mihtarj^ type to a free school where boys, through learning to do by doing, are given a chance to obtain a practical common-sense education. The school is an industrial school in fact as well as in name. It could justly be called a A'ocational school, for many of the boys obtain here the guidance and training for their life work. The great majorit}' of the four hundred boys are from tweh'c to sixteen years of age, the right age for guidance. One half of their day is spent in the schoolroom and one half in manual training in the shops or in outdoor work. A short daily period and Saturday afternoon are gi\'en to play. In the free life of the school the new bo\'s soon leani by conA'crsation with their older and more experienced cottage mates, or with their masters or teachers, and iDy personal obscn'ation in the various shops, the kind of work which they would like to do. Instruction in agriculture was giA'en once a week in all the schoolrooms. A school garden plot was planted and cared for by each boy in school hours. Two cottages also had garden plots for the boys. Instruction in dairy- ing was gi\-en to about twent_\'-fiA-e boys in connection with the practical work of caring for the herd of sixty milch cows. Opportunities for driving the school teams were open to four or fi\'e Ijoys, 6 The Preface For five months all the boys were given a half day's work each day in manual training. Then forty boys showing good mechanical ability were advanced to five months' work in wood turning and in forge work. A few of these were advanced to machine work. Twenty other boys showing good mechanical skill in the sloyd classes were advanced directly into the carpenter shop to learn the trade. Fifteen boys were at work in the shoe shop, repairing and making shoes. Thirty boys mended and made the shirts, overalls, and suits worn by the pupils. Ten boys worked in the bakery and twenty in the laundry. One of the best vocational departments, the printing shop, was directly connected with the grade schools. Here fort}^ bo^'s received excellent training for one of the best of the high-skilled occupations. A school paper was published once a week, and in it were printed the best articles and essay's written by the boys in school. Superintendent Chapin had some very definite ideas on education. He allowed no fonnal grammar to be taught in the school, but debates, letter writing, reports of ser- mons and addresses, stories of excursions and all other experiences interesting to boys were made the basis of literary work. The printing department proved of in- valuable sendee in all the school work. I should not forget our band of twenty-five boys. In this band the boys received such thorough training in music that several of them went directh^ from the school to good paying positions. It is evident without discussion that such an industrial school offers an almost ideal field for vocational training and guidance, and the spirit of nearly all the masters, matrons, and teachers was to get the right kind of boy into the right place. As principal of the school, the The Preface 7 responsibility for the discipline of the boys fell upon my shoulders. In the first six months of experience I dis- covered that the easiest and best way to discipline a boy was to get him into the work he liked. I therefore made a careful study of the family history, the talents, experi- ence, and ambition of each boy, with the idea of right guidance. After three years' work in the Lyman School and three years' study in Clark UniA'ersity, I acted for three summers as a substitute probation officer of the Boston Juvenile Court. Here again was reenforced the fact that success in handling a difficult boy depends largely upon getting him into the work he likes. These experiences gave me a large and interesting acquaintance with unfortunate boys, many of whom when in trouble — and not infrequently a perplexed par- ent — came to my home in Needham, twelve miles out of Boston, to find out what to do. As the direct result of these visits the office for A'ocational guidance was opened in Boston. In the last eight years lecture work has taken me into every section of this country, and I haA^e purposely so planned my trips as to spend practicall}' one half the time in consultation with experts and in the investigation of industrial and occupational conditions in cities and in the country. This book is the outgrowth of all these experiences. I am therefore indebted to many persons in the South, East, and West for invaluable contributions. I wish to acknowledge especially my obligation to all my fellow teachers and officers in the Lyman School, particularly Mrs. Emily L. Warner, teacher of the Berlin Cottage, for her inspiration in the work for delinquent boys and for her shrewd analysis of boy character. I owe most, of course, to my own father and mother, both of whom 8 ' The Preface were teachers and good counselors. I am much indebted to Mr. E. T. Brewster for assistance and criticism, and to Mr. Park Pressey for many of the excellent photo-. graphs used in illustrating the book. T. Ada.ms Puffer. Aovember, IQ13. THE CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE The Preface 5 I. Vocational Efficiency the Basis of All Educa- tion 13 True education fits for life work. The primitive communitj' a center of education. Our forefathers learned to do by doing. Life work largely pre- dcteriTiined in early days. Products and processes closely allied. Society demands an efficient worker. Vocation and education cannot be separated. School of to-day the workshop of to-morrow. II. The Need of the Vocation.al Guide 24 Interrelation the keynote of modern industry. Indus- trial fields a maze for the uninitiated. Square pegs in round holes. Lessons from our juvenile courts. Idleness a menace to society. Modern vocational instruction. The place of the grade school in life. Child's interest in real work. Reality in the school- room. The place of strategic importance. III. The Effect of Vocation.al Control 42 A new phase of apprenticeship. Wage of the skilled and unskilled. Weakness of present school cur- riculum. Concrete, motor-minded pupils. What manual training is doing. Theory and practice. Lessons from the elective system. The "bread-and- butter" motive. True culture and social efficiency. IV. The Equipment of a Counselor 57 »\. working basis. Racial psychology. Practical psychol- ogy. Intuition. A grasp of the industrial situation needful. Local aspects of great social questions. Local problems of race. V. The Methods of a Counselor 66 The working out of two aims. Industrial knowledge and self-knowledge. Value of occupational visiting. The successful man's story. Studying types of industries. Oeeupational geography. Biography and the history of industrial progress. The tr^-mg- out process. Tests for mechanical turn. Farm life ideal test. Value of school tasks. Relation of school life and community life. Family trees, tradi- tions, and vocations. A safe working rule. VI. Further Methods of a Counselor 87 Detailed study of special eases. General and private records. Comparison with the proper standard. 10 The Contents CHAPTER rA<;E Some valuable data. Continuation records. Value of conferences. Study of vocational topics. Family resources. Arranging a workable grouping for study. The old-fashioned division. The Binet-Simon test. Other helpful classifications. VII. Men, Women, and Work 112 The present industrial situation. Home makers. Comparison of occupations. By geographical divisions. In the various states. Vocational differ- ences between men and women. Opportunities in urban and rural districts. Characteristic industries of cities. Reasons for distribution of industries. Inventions and vocations. Changes of a decade. Men, women, and work. VIII. The Differences among Occupations 128 General types and general jobs. Fitting worker and work. The blind-alley job. The thoroughfare or state-road job. "Chances" in occupations. General intelligence and natural equipment. Temperament a deciding factor. The white-collar job. The overall job. City work versus country work. IX. Home Making 145 Scope of the phrase. Home makers. Partial home makers. Assistant home makers. Paid household service. Training in home making. The spender and the industrial situation. Training for two occupations. A girl's vocational problem. Value of an avocation. Essential factors of successful home making. Cooperation of man and woman. X. Agriculture 162 Rank of agricultural vocation. Results of the present system of farming. Success on a small farm. Large- scale farming. The casual farm laborer. Study of a few great agricultural staples. Cooperation. Correlat- ing soil lore and school work. Agricultural education a lifelong process. Practical suggestions in elementary agriculture. Consolidated rural schools. Remunera- tion in agriculture. Advantages and disadvantages of such a life work. XI. The IMechanic Arts 1S7 The occupation and its members. Their economical standing. Their psychological grouping. Extent of the term manufacturing. Plans for studying mills and factories. Grouping the industries. Unskilled workers. Low-skilled workers. High-skilled workers. Reasons for ranking the different trades. How the schools may furnish an industrial setting. Vocational, social, and economical aspects of the mechanical problem. Social status of the mechanic. Foreign The Contents ii labor. Requirements of all high-skilled trades. What goes to make a really good mechanic. The apprentice system. The matter of wages. Xn. Salesmanship 215 The two sides to business. A workable classification of distributors. The wholesale store. A business of one's own. The traveling salesman. The sales- woman. The selling gift. Chanee for formal training. Practical demonstrations. Some important qualities. XIII. Office Work 231 Office work and salesmanship. Women as office workers. The sub-groups of desk work. Stenographers and private secretaries. General office work and its range. What training and ability will do. The chances for men and women in this group. XIV. FOREMANSHIP 239 The place of foremanship in the mo(iern industrial world. The ideal foreman. Opportunities in various branches of this occupation. Value of social training. Formal preparation. Working up from the bottom. Demand for suitable overseers. Outlook for the leader. XV. The Professions 248 Professional problems. Seeing actual conditions. Overcrowding the ranks. Opportunities in the professions. The truth about the matter. Ranking the old and established professions. The newer professions. The opportunities they offer. A few simple rules for the professional aspirants. XVI. The Foundations of All Success 260 Childish intuitions. Practical application and assistance. Developing the vocational motive. The foundations of all success. Preaching and practicing. Studying business virtues. Some practical examples. Demands of the business world in general. General and special requirements. Relation of habits, character, and school standing to employment. First general impressions. The four cardinal habits of the business world. XVII. The Vocational Guide as a Constructive Soci.al Force 270 The four essentials of vocational guidance. Relation between work and morals. The promotion of the fit. The elimination of the unfit. Why the school system should meet the demands of life. The economic and social effects of a genuine vocational spirit. Reestab- lishing the dignity of labor. A new type of practical ethical education. The true aim of all education. The Appendix 28 1 The Index 295 r..|.viifhl by Uii The young blacksmith VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE CHAPTER I Vocational Efficienxy the Basis of All Educatiun A LL training is originall}' A-ocational. In a priniitivo -^i- society, such as appears, for example, in Longfellow's Hiaicatlia, each community is almost completely self- supporting, and each man and ^"^"oman does very nearly the same work in it as anj' other. Whenever the family needs an outfit of new clothes the man goes out and kills a deer, his wife dresses the skin, sews it with dried sinews with a bone needle, and trims it, it may be, with a string of teeth. They two, between them, do all the work. To them alone belongs the entire product. The food of the household has fallen before the hus- band's bow or grown under the wife's tillage. Each makes his own tools and weapons: together or separateh' the}' build their dwelling, guard their propierty, burj' their dead. There is neither division of labor nor social class. "Whatever in the commtmity life \-irtually all adult men or women are not capable of doing, simplj- goes undone. Commonly, to be sure, cA'en in the sinii)lest societies, there is some ordering of duties on the basis of age. Cer- tain activities fall to young people; in later life they take on others. It is "Old men for counsel; young men for war." The chief, the medicine man, the wise woman, have their special functions. But these arc, for the most part, rather added on to the general duties than allowed to take the place of them. The special status is apt to come by mere lapse of time. 14 Vocational Guidance The only well-marked difference of occupation is on the basis of sex. From the earliest beginnings of human society, men have had certain tasks and women certain others. Rigid custom almost invariably separates the two in such wise as to assign to the one protracted tasks done at slow speed and to the other those which call for violent bursts of activity. "Man works from rise to set of sun; Woman's work is never done," reflects the earliest of all attempts to adjust the task to the worker. With this separation comes the first voca- tional control. E^'ery boy, therefore, under primitive human condi- tions, is bom to a certain inevitable course of life; every girl to a different but equally inevitable course. There is no choice of vocation, for all men do the same things, and all women. Vocational guidance there is none; for there are only two vocations, and each child is bom into one or other. Natural capacity, experience, mere length of days, may carry one indiA-idual a little farther than the rest along the same road; but the life as a whole is pre- detennined. Education, under these circumstances, consists in practicing the inevitable^duties. From before the begin- nings of history, boys have followed their fathers to fishing stream and hunting ground, and learned to do by doing and by seeing done. Girls, meanwhile, have stayed at home, watching and helping their mothers \"\'hile they prepared food, made baskets or cloth, and cared for the little brothers and sisters. Much also of a child's training was by spontaneous play. A few initiation ceremonies at puberty ha^'e comprised the entire formal schooling of the vast maioritv of mankind. Eff i c i c n c y the B a s i s of all Ed iicati o n ij The beginning of an education. Acquiring first-liand information Such an education had for its outcome muscular habits, trained senses, and first-hand information. Piimitive as it was, it was evcrj-where vivified by its contact with realit3^ What the pupil mastered meant food, shelter, comfort, safety; and so thorouglily was the lesson learned that the little girl of to-day still tends her dolls, and the little boy wants to "play Indian" in the woods. This l6 Vocational Guidance was the first pedagogical method, the method of Nature. No system of education can be sound that altogether departs from it. Nor is the case essentially different when, from a primitive Hiawatha, we pass to so highly civilized beings as our own colonial forbears, whether in the days of Priscilla and John Alden or of Washington and Betsey Ross. Progress has indeed gone far, and the structure of society has become complex. There are social classes — nobles, gentry, j-eomen, slaA-es; there are soldiers, arti- sans, merchants, scholars. Every man has his special label — hosier, spinner, draper, locksmith, armorer, printer — and every boy, at least, must decide which of a hundred different careers he is to essay. Education, nevertheless, continues to be largely voca- tional. All women do nearly the same work, so that a girl is bom to her trade almost as inevitably as in the savage state. Whatever she majr learn from books (there were learned women all through the Middle Ages) and whatever accomplishments she maj' acquire, her real training will come by way of her home duties. The little girl will work samplers, the young woman will spin the flax that is to make her tablecloths, the old wife will knit stockings in the chimncj' comer. For each girl there will be a lifelong training, whose backbone will be useful work. Nor is the situation of the boy appreciably different. He will perhaps get more schooling, and have a somewhat wider range of choice for his life work. But his real training, the drill that makes a man of him, will come by bread-and-butter occupations. A¥hatever trade he selects, it means early apprenticeship, with mastery from the bottom up. Even if he adopts one of the learned pro- fessions, his Latin and Greek are still the tools of his E ff ! c i c n c V the Basis of all Ed n c a t i o n '/ trade. E\-cn- conjugation and every rule stand related to his future success. Many persons now liA'ing can recall the last stages of an economic situation that was on the whole nearer to the primitive state than to conditions which have obtained since the so-called "industrial revolution." Men and women still "did their own work." The clothes on an}- citizen's back might ha\-e been made by his own wife, woA-en on a loom, spun on a wheel of his own construction from wool that he had himself clipped from his own sheep. Such portions of the process as did not chance to take place under his own roof were still performed in his own neighbor- hood. He himself knew CA'cry detail from his youth up. Alen and "n-omcn alike got their education by doing and by seeing done. The problem of vocational guidance still remained simple. E\-cry girl, as a matter of course, mastered the entire lore of womankind before she turned to her needle for a living, taught, or became noted for her care of the sick. Whatever peculiar gifts she might have, she prac- ticed all the general duties of a woman before she began any special YS'ork. EA'cry boy, as he grew up, had virtually the whole of the world's work under his eve. Instead of A'ast factories. Spinning was formerly a part of a ■li'oinan's educa'.ion l8 Vocational Guidance with "No Admittance" on every door, where he might not see even his own father earn his bread, each lad had free run of a score of Httle shops, where every process lay open to his curious ej^es. He knew masters and joumej'- mcn, he asked questions, and he learned. When it was time to select his own occupation he already knew a good deal about them all. If he did not come up in his father's trade, he might be apprenticed to his father's friend. At anj^ rate, his elders probably knew the whole industrial field. They knew also their boy, who in a very real sense had already "seen life" — the real working life of grown men — far more comijletely than does the most precocious of modem city youths, and had responded by some show of interest or fitness. In those simpler times, the chance was small that a square peg would try to fit a round hole. There was, moreover, vastly more education to be had from the general community life than now. There were no paid fire departments; but CAXTy good citizen, when the blaze started, first yelled "Fire!" and then joined the line to pass buckets. When a house was building, the neighbors took a hand at "raising" it. The}' husked one another's com, "sat up" with each other in sickness, did a whole town's errands on the rare occasions when the}' visited the cit}'. In a thousand different, incidental wa}'S each boy or girl had actually had a greater number of educative experiences than even the most fai'ored of modem youth. We are too apt to forget, in these daj's of fetish worship of books, how effective was this ancient bookless, A-oca- tional training. "The dail}' doing of useful things" is in itself highly educative. One cannot read, for example, the "broadsides" which our own pre-Revolutionary Whigs and Tories leveled at one another, and note the high general intelligence which they assume in the jiulilic Efficiency the Basis of all Education ig to which Ihey were addressed, without a new insight into the tntlh of Pestalozzi's words: "It has become indis- putably clear to nie how much more traly a person is moulded through that which he does than through that which he hears. ... In the education of people serious ar.d scATre training for a life work mu.st necessarily precede all word instruction." Unorganized and inci- dental as this old education was, it has been amjoljr justified b}^ its fruits. Its saA'ing grace was always, of course, its contact with practical life. The child could always feel that he was doing the same work as the grown-up people around him, and preparing himself, in due time, to take his place among them. This is the most powerful incentiA^e to diligence yet discovered, the most efficient educational motiA-e there is. More of the ancient driving force is still the pressing need of our modem educational systems. "It is high time," says President Eliot, "that our teachers and leaders of the pcoiDle understood that e\X'ry ciAilizcd human being gets the larger part of his life training in the occu- pation through which he earns his li\-elihood, and that his schooling in j'outh should in\'ariably be directed to prepare him in the best way for the best pennanent occupation for which he is capable. In other words, the motive of the lifcxarcer should be brought into play as early and fully as possible." This life-career motive now ■n'orks powerfully in all professional schools, in various training and normal institutions, throughout the ordinarjr high school or college for those who purpose to teach, and in many manual and practical courses ever}fwhere. But its operation ought to be greatly extended. The lower grades also should profit by it, so that every child, from 20 Vocational Guidance CViurU'sy of Hupcri iitendont of Schools, Boston //; many schools inslruction in cooking relates a girl's school work 'with her home life the very beginning of his school work, should always feci his other incentives reenforced by this bread-and- butter push. This, to a most encouraging degree, the American edu- cational S5-stem is already beginning to do. There was a time, not so man\' years ago, when it seemed as if modem young people were to be quite deprived of the ancient incentive to good work. The "little Latin and less Greek" which once merely rounded out an education gained by contact with men and things, came to be the synonym for education itself. The apprentice system went out. The old strenuous, educatiA'e life of home and fami yielded to the changed conditions of industr}^ The incidental district schooling, when work was slack, expanded till it absorbed the child's entire effort. The star pupil who could recite by the page the river drainage system of Cochin China knew only vaguely that S(jme- body bought his shoes at the store. Truly, the schools Efficiency the Basis of all Education 21 had traveled far from the times when arithmetic was taught oiil}- in the uni^"ersities. To-day, one need not point out, saner counsel prevails. Drawing and music came in first ; then g\-mnastics, sew- ing, cooking, shop work, typewriting, school gardens, folk dancing. The stor>' is still too recent to need retelling here. Once more the growing child sees some connection between his school \^-ork, his present happiness, and his future success. Our progress, nevertheless, gratifying as it is, still falls far short of the ideal. We have admirable trade schools and practical courses, but their nimiber is not yet the tenth part of what it should be. Actually, in certain wavs, a negro boy or girl in the South, who enters an Physical culture in the form of folk dances and gymnastics IS now being recognized as a necessary part cj a well-rounded school course 22 Vocational Guidance W' 1 1 XM^mi W^^f&3f^K^^M/ii Carpentry in the John Worthy School, Chicago, ]nakes it possible for delinquents to become useful members of the community industrial school, or a delinquent yoiith sentenced to a reform school in the North, has a better o^jportunitj' for a sound, practical education that shall help him to earn his bread and butter and to become a useful member of his eommunit}' than has the child who comes up through our public schools. The late Professor Dolbear of Tufts College thus satirized a condition of affairs which, in spite of manifest imiprovement in favored communities, is still the prevail- ing type of common-school education : "In antediluvian times, while the animal kingdom was being differentiated into swimmers, climbers, runners, and fliers, there was a sehool started for their development. Its theory was that the best animals should be able to do one thing as well as another. If an animal had short legs and good wings, attention should be devoted to running, so as to even up the qualities as far as possible. So the duck was kept waddling instead of swimming, and the pelican was Efficiency the Basis of all Education 2j kept wagging his short wings in the attempt to fly. The eagle was made to run and allowed to fly only for recreation, while maturing tadpoles were unmercifuUj- guyed for being neither one thing nor another. "The animals that would not submit to such training, but per- sisted in developing the best gifts they had, were dishonored and humiliated in many ways. They were stigmatized as being narrow- minded and specialists. Xo one was allowed to graduate from the school unless he could climb, swim, run, and fly at certain prescribed rates; so it happened that the time wasted by the duck in the attempt to run had so hindered him from swimming, that his swim- ming muscles had atrophied and he was hardly able to swim at all, and in addition, he had been scolded, punished, and ill-treated in many ways so as to make his life a burden. In fact, he left school humiliated. The eagle could make no headway in climbing to the top of a tree, and although he showed he could get there just the same, the performance was counted a demerit since it had not been done according to the prescribed course of study. "An abnormal eel with large pectoral fins proved that he could run, swim, climb trees, and fly a little. He attained an average of sixty per cent in all his studies. He was made valedictorian of the class."' With all our impi"0\'ements, we yet fail in large measure to educate with an eye to any definite useftd purpose. Not A'et Yiaxe we rettinied to the immemorial method of nature and of man — education for vocation and by it. iFrom an article in Th€ World's Work by Arthur D. Dean. CHAPTER II The Need of the Vocational Guide VOCATIONAL education alone is not enough. Though we had the most perfect system imaginable for educating youth to productive work, our problem would still be but half solved. Youth must not only^ be trained for its life work: it must also be guided in its choice. The necessity for vocational guidance comes primarily from the complexity of modem industry. Compare, for example, the simple process of making clothes of deer- skin or homespun, with the present-day operations con- nected with getting a new suit on a man's back. One tailor measures him. Another cuts the cloth. Several more haA-e a hand in sewing it. The wool itself may have come halfway across the continent, or be the mixed product of several climes. A hundred different processes went to building the freight car that carried it ; a hundred different persons had a share in the rails and the roadbed over which it ran. Still a different person designed the cloth, for a second to weave on a loom owned by a third. Somebody else invented the loom; still others improved every part. A capitalist planned the enterprise, an architect designed the mill, and his draftsmen made the working plans. Masons, carpenters, steam fitters, plumbers, painters, glaziers, laborers, built it. Miles away, somebody else dug the clay to make the bricks; a different person cut the wood to bum them. There was the machine to press the bricks into shape, the hand labor to load them on the car, and the switch tender who headed them for the 24 TJic Yccd of the Vocational Guide right city. Bankers handled the capital for these mani- fold enterprises; a vast office force kept track of the details. All these persons have to be housed and fed, cared for in sickness, amused when they are through work. The end product, the only thing that any human being really wants for his o^^•n direct use, is that one suit of clothes. Yet a thousand different persons ha\'e contributed to Tlic inaiiiial-tranil'ig class aids the hoy in finding his place in the zcorkiiig icorld make it. Out of the price the wearer pays, a thousand different persons take their pay. Fifty j-ears ago one man made a pair of shoes ; to-day it takes more than two hundred. Yet these two hundred indii-iduals themselves start with the finished leather, with nails, thread, machines, and factory ready to hand. Then, too, no account is made of directors of the work, the office force of the factory, the packing and transportation, the selling agents, the complex social arrangements which handle the money charges of the bvisiness and return profits to the owners and wages to the men at the bench. 26 Vocational Guidance Dip wherever one will into the world of mod em indus- try — into trade, manufacturing, CA'cn into agriculture — he finds everywhere a vast and complicated network of interrelations. Each worker is contributing some special detailed element to the final result. Each is commonly fitted bj' nature for his partictdar task; often he has been elaborately trained for it. To a surprisingly small extent can any one of the world's toilers change places with any other. Yet if each of this multitude had not somehow found his place in the world, the work of the world woi.dd by so much haA'e gone wrong. If each new worker, as he comes to his life task, docs not take up the particular labor for which he is best fitted by nature and for which he has been best trained, then by so much is the work of society less perfectly done and by so much is the individual himself One man duing the ivork now done by Iwo hundred The Xccd of the Vocational Guide 27 robbed of some portion of his life happiness. His efficicnc}^ and his weh'are depend on his finding himself, early in life, where he belongs. With each yearly addition to the complexity of our industrial stmcture, the chance of his doing this unguidcd becomes less. One has only, therefore, to get a sharp mental picture of the actual conditions of modem industry to be con- vinced that vocational training alone is not enough. However much we may return to the older and sounder theory of education, howcA-er much we maj^ multiplj^ motor training, practical work, the schooling of senses and judgment, we shall still fall short of our full duty if we do not in addition point the child toward his final business. Vocational training is not enough; there must be voca- tional guidance along with it. The grade teacher must herself be taught to detect the signs of budding talent, to awaken the child to self-knowledge concerning his own special powers, and to point the wa}^ toward the exercise of those powers for his future livelihood. The schools must not only train; they must also foster and direct. Thus only shall we restore to the classroom the energizing sense of contact with reality. As industry has become more complex and more specialized, intelligent guidance through its mazes has by no means kept pace. As a result, we find in country almshouse and in city park and lodging house a veritable annv of "wom-outs" and "misfits"; while even in store and shop, among people actually employed, the perfect adjustment of worker and work tends to become increas- ingly difficult. "We take up the task which offers itself, though we may ha-\-e been trained for something quite different or, more commonly, trained for nothing in particular. 28 Vocational Guidance ,>^ - • -. -"S ' ' ' -^^wB ili i^M, — - 1 ^fu f * ■ ^ 1^ S'J VpH|Mh^ , Mi' ^ mollcy croi^'d of "downs-and-oiils" is al'iCays lo be found in a basement lodging house Few persons who haA'e not spccialh' looked into the matter at all realize how numerous in the present-da\^ world are these vocational misfits. "I like farming, and here I am teaching," are the words of a professor in a normal school, who should ha^'e received by inheritance a quarter-section farm in the Middle West, "a third-rate teacher when I could have made a first-class farmer. My father was a successful fanner, and I always liked the work. But the prevailing public opinion in my home community was that success in life could onl}^ be found in the cit}', in business or a profession, and here I am. Now it is next to impossible to return, for I have a city family and my education and training have been in the wrong direction." An eminent American man of science, whose name, were it to be mentioned, would be recognized in half the labora- tories of Europe, at the height of his professional career used frankly to say that the regret of his life was that he had not kept on with his father's business. A successful man of affairs, trusted, rich, the originator of a new field of industrial enterprise, continues to look back with regret TIic Need of the Vocational Guide 2g to the day when he returned from the art schools of Paris. Few persons there are, of any station in life, who, even thotigh thej' have themselves been fortunate in the selec- tion of a life work, cannot point to at least one friend who would haA-e been happier and more useful if he had lis- tened to some other call. Who of us has not seen youths pressing into fields already OA'ercrowded, and for which they had no special gifts, while they passed by the open gates of empty tracts? Principal Jesse B. Davis of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has made an illuminating study of the conditions among his high-school students in relation to their future occu- pation. He found that of fi^'e hundred and thirt}'-one N. vspapcr Alley, Chicago. "I'ocalioital ■ntisfiU" waiting to learn of a possible job 30 Vocational Guidance Many, foUowing the paths of least resistance, drift to the city park Two hundred "misfits" on Boston Common at lo a. m. boys, t\^-o hundred and ninet5'-onc, more than half, had not decided ujDon a hfe work; and one half even of those who had decided had no practical kno\Yledge of the vocation they intended to enter. When we further discover that of two hundred and forLj' boys, seventy had decided to be engineers, the need of vocational guid- ance is still more CA'ident. At this rate, three or four fair-sized high schools would supply the whole state with more engineers than could possibly find emploA'mcnt therein. "Altogether," said Principal Davis, "the inA'cs- tigation gave much evidence of the need of better guid- ance, together with a knowledge that the pupils \^-ho have a definite aim actually do a much higher grade of work than those who are drifting along the path of least resistance." T li e Need of the Vocational Guide ji It appears, furthcmiore, from this important study, that out of two hundred and forty boys in the Grand Rapids High School, only nineteen planned to enter the same trade or profession as their fathers. Every boy, one need not say, ought to follow the particular work which is most in hannon}' with his own talents, and to be trained in accordance with his special gifts and oppor- tunities. But the presumption always is that the boy will, on the one hand, inherit his father's peculiar apti- tudes, and on the other, enjoy peculiar opportunity for an early interest and a faA'orable start in his father's trade. But when, among these especially fortunate boys, fewer than eight per cent plan to follow in their fathers' path, it means that a considerable proportion of the others chose unwisely, or else their fathers did. In either case, the need of vocational guidance is evident. Furtheniiore, even of the two hundred and forty boys, out of the five hundred and thirty in the Grand Rapids High School who had decided on a life work, no fewer than one hundred and twenty-three confessed franklv that they had no real infonnation concerning the vocation to which they looked fonvard. Only one hundred and se'venteen showed any sign of an intelligent choice; only one hundred and fifty were shaping their school work with an eye to the life work which they had selected. But if this is the situation among business and pro- fessional men, who, though they chose somewhat unwisely, are still successful; and if among so specially favored a group as are high-school pupils only about one in fi^-e is wiselj^ guided toward his life career, what must be the case with pupils who lca\-e school at the end of the gram- mar course or earlier' A single case from real life, the name only being altered, tells a story which every proba- tion officer in a juvenile court can duplicate many hundred 32 Vocational Guidance times over. Probably nine tenths of our grammar-school graduates escape a like experience rather by good fortune than by any deliberate plan. "John Panello, aged fifteen years and five months, graduated from a pubUc grammar sehool in New York. On the twentieth of February he got his working papers from the Board of Health. In school he had been fond of arithmetie, and from childhood had wanted to become a bookkeeper. But the classroom had become irksome to him, and his parents, financially comfortable, had just 'taken it for granted that he would go to work after graduation. ' He received no answer to his first application for a job — that of office boy in a place where he hoped that he might work up to a position as book- keeper. So during the first three weeks after leaving school he spent his mornings looking for work and his afternoons gathering bits of wood with another boy and selling them around the neigh- borhood for kindling. "His efforts got him a job as errand boy for a dyeing and cleaning establishment. Five dollars a week were the wages, and tips amounted to a dollar or two extra. At the end of one week, the boy who had the job before came back and John was fired. He thought that if he could have stayed there five years, he could have 'got ahead. ' "After a day's hunt he saw a sign, 'Boy Wanted,' and was taken on by a firm manufacturing ladies' hats. Here he swept the floor, ran errands, and helped to pack. At the end of two weeks, during which he had been paid S4 a week, he left 'because a feller who had been there four years was getting only $6 a week.' "Before leaving, he had been lucky enough to get a promise of a job with a millinery firm. At first the work consisted in going for stuff to the first floor, then he ran a crimping machine, and next was detailed to 'get the cord downstairs for the men who make rugs.' After a week and a half of this, during which his wage was I4.50, another fellow said, 'Come along and learn carpentry.' So John got a job at loading and unloading wagons for a firm that made wooden boxes. He was soon allowed to sandpaper the sides of boxes with a machine and then was put at cutting out sides of boxes with a circular saw. One afternoon he reversed the elevator suddenly and burned out the fuse, so he hurried home, afraid to meet the elevator man. When he learned next day that the boss was going to move to Staten Island, he decided to quit, though he T ]i c X c c d of the Vocational Guide jj was gL'tting S5 a ^\■oek. He had been with the firm two weeks. "Durir.g the next three weeks John did five different kinds of work for a manufaeturcr ol jewelry and notions. He was making S4.50, and when a man said, 'Come along, I've got an office job for 3-011,' he quit. The office job consisted in acting as shipping clerk, running errands, answering the telephone, and sweeping the floor for a manufacturer of artilieial flowers. He is still there, getting S5 a week. He doesn't think much of the work." — TJie Survey. The City Club of Chicago, tlirougli a sub-committee on the educational problem of the community, made a most thorough and reliable in^'cstigation of the relations between the local schools and the local industries, of the reasons why so lamcntabh' large a proportion of the children are leaA'ing school before comiDleting the ele- mentary course, and of the need for vocational education and A-Qcational guidance. No less than forty- three per cent of Chicago children, it transpires, neA'er reach the eighth grade ; while fort\--nine per cent, virtually one half the entire school population, A class in printing. Trade training which helps to keep bovs in school 34 Vocational Guidance Very bttsy half the lime, idle half the time, tends to moral and mental degeneration never complete it. Those pupils who leave school be- tween the ages of fourteen and sixteen, and nominally go to work, are, in the Committee's words, "idle half the time, and earn during those t\^'o j-ears not more than an aA'crage of two dollars a week. . . . Their idleness," the committee continues, "during at least half the time, their frequent passing from one job to another, their lack of any responsibility, necessarily tends to moral, mental, and frequently to physical degeneration." The Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Technical Education found the same unfortunate condi- tions. In this one state twent\'-five thousand chil- dren, between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, were not attending school; and of these a fourth had not finished the sixth grade, one half had not completed the se^-enth, and five sixths were not prepared to enter the high school. The result, in the words of the Commission, is "an unsteadiness of purpose, irresponsibility of character, and The Need of the Voeational Guide jj irrcgularit}' of habit, which is the undoing of manliood and womanhood." Both reports agree that there is little relation, or none at all, between the elementar3.'-school work and the indus- trial life of the community. Occupationsjire recruited largely by pure chance. It appears, moreover, in both reports, that the A-ast majority of the children who drop out before completing the grammar course do not do so, in any wise, from necessit}^ They haA-e simply lost interest in a school life which docs not seem to be leading them an}T\-liere. In Cliicago this was the testimonj- of more than ninety per cent; while at least three quarters affimied that they would haA'e continued in school if they had been getting some sort of trade training there. In Massachusetts seventy-sis per cent of the families inten-iewed were quite able financially to give their children further industrial training; fifty-five per cent declared that they would The home of the job-to-job man J(5 Vocational Guidance have done so if the opportunity had been given them. These are but instances, which might be multipHed many times, of the crying need all over the country for a school training that shall point each child toward his place in the world of affairs. Even apart from the ques- tion of industrial efficiency, what shall we say of the prep- aration for citizenship of a school system that allows half its personnel to fall bj' the wayside before it finishes even its elementary work! But if the child, from the beginning of his formal schooling, is in any measure to be pointed in the direction of his life task, who is there half so well fitted for this vocational direction as the grade teacher? The parents are not doing it. In most cases they can- not. Outside the somewhat narrow ranks of professional life and the more responsible business positions, a father rarely has either the knowledge of the industrial situation or the insight into character and capacity to guide his son aright. Too often he magnifies the boj^'s virtues while he overlooks his failings, while he is pretty certain either, on the one hand, to be content with the immediate wage return and think too little of the boy's ultimate good; or, on the other, to be over-ambitious for his off- spring. The fonner is perhaps the commoner error; the latter often brings the greater tragedy. Most unfortunate!}', also, there is a distinct tendency for fathers to influence their sons to enter almost any other calling than their own. The reason is as simple as it is ill-founded. All work has its disagreeable side. Cattle eat the cloA-er and leave the briers in the crib, but too often man chews over only the innutritions portions of his labor. The boy sees and hears the "outs" of his father's trade and the "ins" of his distant neighbor's work — and chooses the one of which he knows the least. T Ii e Need of the Voeatioiial Guide ?ow' "off-llii -shi't'l ' clubs Iielpjill ill idle lime There are lands where too many sons follow their fathers' footsteps; but our free Ameriea is not one of them. Moreover, to place any boy or girl in the world of affairs with any reasonable accurac}^ demands on the part of the counselor something more than a general insight into human nature and an acquaintance with the field of industry. One must have, in addition, some intimacy with formal ps\-chology, and must follow the methods of science rather than mere rule of thumb. Of this essential knowledge, the teaching profession, among all the larger social groups, has a virtual monopoly. In certain waj's, to be sure, the professional vocational guide has an advantage even over the teacher. He is supposed to have the better technical equipment, and he devotes himself more or less exclusively to this single jS Vocational Guidance field. But such vocational counselors are, unfortunately, few; and not one parent in a thousand ever thinks of seeking their advice. Moreover, they commonly see their clients too late, after they have finished their school- ing and have lost opportunities that would have been to their advantage, or have acquired habits that tend to their detriment. Even with all the elaborate and accurate modem technique for diagnosing a youth's equipment, the professional counselor is always a partial stranger, who deals with his subject under somewhat artificial conditions. But the teacher has the child under daily observation. She sees him off his guard, at play, under varying con- ditions of fatigue or of health; and if herself an expert in child nature she comes to understand him more profoundly than any other human being can. She takes the pupil young, in time to correct the evil tendencies and foster the good. She is, of all persons, most likely to have the full confidence of both the child and his parents. The vocational impulse no longer comes of itself, as once it did. Neither the home nor the church is so likely as the school to develop it. Hardly less than the child, will the school itself profit by this vocational lever. Children are keenly interested in every sort of grown-up labor. They will stop their play to watch a blacksmith shoeing a horse, a house in process of construction, a safe being hoisted into a window, a gang of laborers digging a ditch, or a solitary workman mixing mortar with a hoe. To make them feel that their daily school task is related to their future participation in some fascinating occupation of their elders is to enlist some of their most vivid experiences on the teacher's side. She who can answer the immemorial, "What is the use?" — if not always, at least often enough to make her pupil T Ii e Need of the Vocational Guide JQ Boys li'iw have left their youthful pursuits to %eatch the eonstruetion of a biii'diiig trust where he cannot know — has made herself not only an educational but a social force, and has taken no short step toward her professional success. The object of this book is, therefore, first of all to show the teacher, especially the teacher in the grammar grades, how she may utilize one of the great driA'ing forces of the world in the actual daily work of her own classroom. Increased professional efficiency is one of its aims. But the teacher can hardlj' infuse this dri^'ing sense of 40 Vocational Guidance realitj' into her schoolroom unless she herself is in touch with reality. She must herself know the industrial processes and needs of her community in order wisely to guide her pupil both as to his immediate interests and the choice of a life work. Not a little will be said, therefore, concerning the world of industry and the various ways by which the teacher may grow to understand it. She cannot, however, hope to move her pupils to un- common endeavor by any general sense of the relation of school work to future, abstract success. The child must see, in some measure, his own particular work. He must reflect on the precise use to which his growing knowledge is to be put. He may alter his destination many times; but some definite goal he must have if the thought of it is to spur him on the way. For this reason, of all these closely related matters, the problem of vocational guidance presses most strongly upon the ambitious teacher. A system such as we are here advocating should begin early, as early as the earliest period when the child first shows the individual differences which distinguish him from his fellows and point out, however uncertainly, the direction of his future labors. It should continue through- out school life, becoming more and more precise as each child exhibits more and more his special capacities. Rarely should the process end before the age of twenty; for many of the higher callings it will need to be prolonged five, it may be even ten, years longer. The critical period, howei'er, will be between ten years of age and fifteen. This is the time of life when native qualities rcA'cal themselves with peculiar distinctness and when most life-interests are bom. The upper grammar grades, therefore, from the fifth to the eighth, form the place of strategic importance. It is here that we must fix our special attention. The Need of the Vocational Guide 41 "3iIoreover," as Arthur Davis Dean expresses it, "the school will furnish to the boy reliable information and competent advice as to the various occupations open to him, the conditions prcA-ailing in each, and what the rewards of success may be. . . . It ^^•ill pro^'ide for everv vocation for which there is a reasonable demand. 1 ^ III j"*![[j^ laF ilHpvflljj S&B 1 .: 1 "mmt,' .III 1 HHIIHHB l-*f! ■Ml ■■■■■! J>*^ A '*cr .4 class in shoemaking. The school of the future will provide for every vocation for which there is a reasonable demand and in the school the boy must remain until there is ground for believing that he has found a calling for which nature and his own effort have prepared him." The whole matter is well summed up in the words of a report of a committee of the National Education Association : "It is to be hoped that the constructive work and the study of industry in the elementary school will ultimately be of such a character that when the pupil reaches the age at which the activities of adult life make their appeal he will be able to make a wise choice in reference to them and be already advanccil in an appreciable measure toward the goal of his special vocation." CHAPTER III The Effect of Vocational Control THE most obvious results of this vocational control will naturally be industrial. The apprentice system is virtually dead. Out of four hundred establishments in Ohio, only sixty attempted to train beginners; while even of these, only three turned out really first-class mechanics. When the schools bridge over the gap which the apprentice system once filled, it will no longer be true that only one quarter of the boys who leave school before the end of the grammar course find steady and improving occupation. No longer will the other three The semi-idlencss and non-educative li'ork of the bootblack offer much leisure for the alluring vice oj street gambling 42 The Effect of Vocational Control 4j quarters be turned out to be ruined by semi-idleness or non-educative work at precisely that time of life when they are most open to life-career incentives, and most certain, in their absence, to become delinquent and degenerate. Nor will the gain, we must believe, be on the whole greater for boys than for girls. How great the increase of industrial efficiency might become is shown most strikingly in a study, published in St. Nicholas, by James M. Dodge, president of the Amer- ican Society of Mechanical Engineers. It appears from this that the average unskilled laborer, who has simply drifted through the lower school grades, with no particular object in view, and has gone to work at the first job which offered itself, is at twenty-two years of age earning on an average ten dollars a week; and that for the remainder of his life he does not advance beyond that wage. Suppose, howe^^er, the youth drifts through school, goes to work in a shop at sixteen; and then, finding him- self actually doing something worth while, wakes up to his opportunities. He begins at three dollars a week. At twenty years of age he has been advanced to nine. At twenty- two he is, on the aA'erage, getting $13.22. Beyond $15.80 the typical shop-trained workman does not go. A half more of weekly wage, with the probability of decidedly more regular emploj-ment, marks the dif- ference between the youth who finds himself after he leaves school and the one who never finds himself. But a bo}' who fixes his eye on the same shop while still at school, shapes his education accordingl)-, enters a trade school, and remains there until he is nineteen, beginning his shop work at twelve dollars a week. At twenty-one he is paid sixteen dollars. He will, on the average, reach twenty-fiA'e dollars a week before his improvement stops. As compared with the first boy, the 44 Vocational Guidance vocational motive has been worth two and one-half times the weekly income for the remainder of his life. With technological training, continued to twenty-two, a youth should begin about where the untrained man leaves off, and advance to, say, forty or forty-five dollars a week, with the virtual certainty of continuous employ- ment prolonged to a time of life considerably beyond the time when the other is worn out and retired. If in addition to his training he has the special talent to become a successful engineer, forty dollars is more likely to be his daily than his weekly wage. The Massachusetts Industrial Committee reports virtu- ally the same conditions. The imtrained, unguided boy begins at four dollars, and goes to twelve. Four years of training, for most mechanical vocations, more than doubles the earnings during the early j^ears. Hope of * pp -■- OR __ . -s _. -- ■ ^ ::::::::::::;: i^ IoqX - M€—- .... %^^ -X T 5*^ : \-^€'^< S J , V>k' ^ v'tm.'-'' 5 m^' '"^-^^ „ > ^^isft S, / /■ ^ ' rtm ,i- ,^$£ s^° .'____:::"^'Sf : > y ,1^1. < ,^ 2R--- ■liuhistiial li,1,„-atioii" Comparison of wages of mechanics having only shop training ■willi those having trade-school training The Effect of Voeatioual Control 45 Boys of the Mechanic A lis School, Bosfoii, iiislalliiii; iiicichiiicry Here all repairs and conslruclioii work about llieir sliop is done by the boys advancement after twenty-five lies open to the trained man alone. Or, to quote the opinion of a particular shop: "In one of our plants we have made it a practice for man)' years to secure a few of the graduates of the Williamson Training School each year. These boys are started at S12 a week, which is con- siderably more than they are worth, to begin with, but the)' demon- strate very quickly the value of their preparation, and furnish us material not only for the higher classes of machine and pattern work but also for sub-foremen and foremen." In a sense, to be sure, these figures will haA'e to be some- what discounted because of the fact that the boys abler by nattu^e are the more likely also to obtain the better training. Part of their higher pay is for the better brain structure which no school system can alter or improve. But even so, there must be, one cannot doubt, much good 46 Vocational Guidance mechanical ability going to waste in our bookish schools for sheer lack of direction to its proper field. Half the pupils who did drop out of the Massachusetts schools, it must not be forgotten, would have continued their TrfidcSfhool. Bostun Designing and maldng garmcnls. Here motor-minded children have an opportunity to learn what they want to be training a year or two longer if they could have seen an}- practical use in it. One need not dwell on the advantage to the community of an improA'cd industrial adjustment. Not only is there "plenty of room at the top"; the higher grades of labor are precisely those on which society makes its profit. With all that is being said to-day about the need of a more equal division of the good things of life, we must not forget that ci\-ilization is dependent ultimately on there Ijcing something to divide. The goods that we en- joy are all products of trained skill. There can be more and more of them for us all only as citizens as a whole are The Effect of '[Vocational Control 47 educated for efficiency and adjusted to their proper work. Our chief concern with vocational guidance must, howe^-cr, be from the point of view of the schools them- selves. As things are now, our educational system is too exclusively adapted to the "brighter," more book- minded pupils, who are preparing for office work or the professions. It is the concrete-minded, motor-minded pupils who are dropping out before the end of the eighth grade because they find themselves led nowhere that they want to go, and are being prepared for ei-erything in general, but for nothing in particular. Listen to the testimony of pupils who haA'e left school to go to work in Minneapolis: (a) "When I was in grade school I enjoyed it and I worked hard there; but when I got to high school there was nothing to hold me: I was not working to a purpose." (h) "I did not think I could go through the University, and I do not think a fellow can get much out of high school unless he can go on. The courses are all planned for the fellows who can go on in school. I was planning to go into some sort of business; and if I had thought any of the work would help me in business, I would have stayed all right." (c) "All of us can't be professional men, and we can't afford to be going to school just to be cultured. There is nothing practical in the high-school course, especialh' in the last two years. You can get all that will help you at all in business in the first two years." (d) John said: "Mother, I want to be doing something that counts. That school work doesn't half satisfy me." (e) Rebecca says: "The school should prepare you to enter a world of commercialism. You are measured in this world by what money you can earn, and you can't tell me that you are not. Now, no one cares how much Latin and Greek and history and all that stuff you know. They want to know if you can take care of the goods in their department or office. Now, the school has a lot of faults beside this one. Even if you know what you want, they will not let you take it and then graduate. Why, the principal had a hard- and-fast rule when I was there, and there wasn't much choice as to 48 Vocational Guidance what you could take. How did they know what you wanted to be? Heaven and earth could n't have made them change their minds; and what's more, they knew a lot of boys and girls were leaving school because they couldn't adjust themselves. You would think if they ever found any youngster who knew what he wanted to be, they would let him do it, and help him to it." — Vocational Survey of Minneapolis. Professor John Dewey has a story about a swimming pool in a certain city where youths are taught to swim by repetitious aerial drill in swimming movements, but without ever going into the water. When one boy, thus instructed, was asked what he did when at length he found himself actually immersed, he replied laconically, "Sunk." The story, which happens to be true, illustrates but too truly the experience of natural-bom ar- tisans or mechanics confronted with a school training based on words alone. The schools try to help them, but in the wrong way. What wonder that they far too frequently sink below their proper level among their associates in school and of their possible efficiency in the world? Society has already shown its vital interest in voca- tional education by establishing normal schools to train Copyriglited l.y Undirvvn-.il uV Uiid.|- A natural-born artisan The E f f ect of Vocational Control 49 A class in manual Iraiiiing. Pupils al the age of Ihirleen and fourteen being taught to think in terms of practical life teachers, agricultural schools to train fanners, and by its liberal support of various other sorts of institution for the special training of candidates for highly skilled occupa- tions. Already the world is coming to see the greater importance of right preparation for the ninety-and-five manual workers in society than for the fiA-e professional men alone. The moA'cment will not stop until there is equal opportunity for all the children of all the people, until every youth is giA'en the best equipment for the highest ser\ace. However expensive this may pro^'e to be, it will still be the best investment the state can make. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, youths are keenly interested in the industrial world which they must soon enter. They are beginning to think in terms of practi- cal life and of the occupations of men and women in 50 V oc ational G tii dance the community. Boys at this period not only take the greatest interest in watching men engaged in building and mechanical trades but they also, if permitted, will spend hours at a time helping them with their work. It is the universal testimony that wherever the teacher at this time is a shrewd vocational counselor, or where efficient industrial and practical work has been introduced into the schools, the school work can be increased to more hours a day and for more weeks in the year without injury to either pupil or teacher, that fewer pupils are tardy or absent, and that the interest in book work is markedly increased by the wise correlation between theory and practice. The pupils become more alert and ambitious as the definite life-interest takes shape in their minds and they begin to look forward toward congenial and efficient labor. The life-career motive makes school work vital. The natural result of such vocational control is to lead a youth to an earlier decision concerning his future occupation but a later entrance upon it. On this latter point the evidence is already conclusive. The Com- mercial High School for boys in Boston, and the Manual Arts School for girls, to select but two instances, have more applicants than they can possibly receive, the great majority of whom, but for these or similar institu- tions, would already be at work. By means of the new trade schools which Commissioner Snedden is developing in Massachusetts, already above five per cent of the boys between fourteen and seventeen years of age, who had dropped out of school, have been brought back again. The advantage of this result is two-sided. Immature and untrained boys and girls are of little use in the indus- trial world. Their competition lowers still further the wages of unskilled men and women, whose ranks are The Effect of Vocational Control 51 ' '^^ "^"^ 'X'^^^HI "•i%|j| » ^^^ . ..^ 1. ii ■-il- ^^ . M^M ^ f#l l-V*.^. A Kfl r, l>* ' : Bl ■f«. ~ « »- ^ & i i>^f I«i ^■X ^ it , ; i 1 ift, t i^ \ 111 .y^;iy> ^ ■ :.lM'^ H 1 .;,*,...., J 1^ ii^ Scene ill llie Boston High Scliool oj Commerce. Tlie upraised hands tell which boys are doing practical work in the business world under the direction of the school already too completehr filled; and they are besides, as has lately been proved, a prohfic source of industrial accidents. On the other hand, the prolonged period of tutelage keeps them under control at precisely that stage of development when they are most susceptible to the best social and industrial training. Their absence fxcm the one sphere is hardl}^ less desirable than their presence in the other. To this general scheme of A'-ocational control there are, nevertheless, one or two objections which are sometimes urged not altogether without reason. It is said, to begin with, that children in the elementary schools are much too young to be choosing a life work, that they ha^'e had no experience, either of themselves or of the world, that the most valuable talents- may not appear until late in life, so that an early decision, if followed by early 52 Vocational Guidance Manual training in the Francis Parker School, Chicago, where individual guidance helps the child to choose and prepare for a life career specialization, might in the end result in snutting off some boys and girls from their highest suceess. Preciseh' the same argument, one need not point out, was advanced against the introduction of the elective system into American colleges. The boy of twenty, it was said, is too young — and the rest! It is indeed too soon, in a grammar grade, to make an irre\'ocable decision concerning one's exact place in the industrial world. But the choice never is final. Good mental and manual training under the inspiration of a life-career motive, directed toward almost any trade, is better preparation for any other than is an aimless and uninterested dabbling in a general course that points nowhere. In the mobile social and industrial life of America, even an unwise early selection is not a very serious matter, and the early-choice The Effect of Vocational Control 53 mistakes of the few will work less damage in the long run than the postponed-choice mistakes of the Inan3^ Moreover, most boj^s and girls do exhibit the general bent of their minds earl}-. Of the thousands of boys who have entered the trade schools of Massachusetts, only two per cent ha^-e altered their first detenmnation, though the privilege of changing is open to them at any time. We all know that many boys and girls actually do decide early what to do in life. It should be our place to aid more of them in deciding aright. As for the boy whose ambitions pass through a kalei- doscopic change — who wants, in turn, to become loco- moti\-e engineer, clerk in a candy store, manufacturer of automobiles, college president, and who finally goes to work at the nearest job — he is precisely the person for whom a wise vocational guide might do most. To fix his purpose on any one ambition, and to lead him by means of it to the largest aspiration he is likelj' to realize, is to put vigor and motive into his entire school life and sa^■e him, it may be, from the accidental occupation at the end. In addition to this first objection to general A'ocational control by the schools there is a widespread prejudice all over the country against using the "bread-and-butter motii-e" in education. And yet any adult who will stop for a moment to use a little deliberate self-analysis will ccrtainl}' find that this same despised "bread-and-butter motive" is almost the strongest force in his own life. Men do, on occasion, act on the impulse of ideals. But the force which pushes most of us through our day's work is the will to earn an honest liA'ing, to secure com- fort and well-being for our families, and the decent self- respect that urges us to stand on our own feet, — not to sponge on society, but to gi^-e back more than we take. 54 Vocational Guidance Testing oil in a high-school laboratory. Experimental work under careful guidance tends to put vigor and motive into school life Any motive is worthy which actually does put a deeper interest into life. The case for the "bread-and-butter" motive has prob- ably never been better stated than by President Charles William Eliot before the National Education Association: "All of us adults do our best work in the world under the impul- sion of a life-career motive. Indeed, the hope and purpose of improv- ing quality, or quantity, or both in our daily work, with the incidental improvement of the livelihood, form the strongest inducements we adults have for steady, productive labor, and the results of labor so motived are not necessarily mercenary, or in any way unworthy of an intelligent or humane person. There is nothing low or mean about these motives, and they lead on the people who are swayed by them to greater serviceableness and greater happiness. . . . We also need to discard forever the notion that there is something vulgar about the useful and the serviceable. After all is said to discredit the "bread-and-butter" motives, it is no moral or philo- sophical objection to a discovery or a field of knowledge that it The Effect of Vocational Control 55 has usfful applications. E\-en in the realms of the beautiful, fitness for some humane use enhances or contributes to beauty or is an important element in it. A ripening field of grass or of grain blow- ing in the summer wind is not less beautiful because it promises welcome food for man or beast. . . . Again, there is nothing inherently selfish or low minded about hanl mental work done in order to improve one's chances of earning a good livelihood, whether in overalls, or apron, or in street clothes." Nor need there, to consider a final objection, be any fear that the A'ocational motive in the common schools will ever lessen genuine culture in the communit}', either esthetic or moral. True culture in^^oh-es, on the one hand, reverence, honesty, sj-mpath}-, industry, and on the other, in Arnold's celebrated phrase, "an acquaintance with the best that has been thought arid done in the world." But "the disinterested pursuit of perfection" comes by seeing and handling and doing perfect things, not by A sewing class, Hull House, Chicago. Industrial education that looks toward the actual ivorJ: of life 5(5 V c a t i 11 a I G ^t i d a n c e mere reading about them, while no small part of the world's "best" has been for practical utility. Industrial and vocational education, looking toward the actual work of life, may well prove to furnish, in and of itself, the most essential elements of true culture. CHAPTER IV The Equipjient of a Counselor THE vocational counselor has a large work to do : she should be prepared to do it in a large wa}'. The world needs all sorts of work done ; and it provides, luck- ily, all sorts of workers. But there is alwaj'S the danger that the counselor or guide, in ad\'ising others, will assign too much weight to her own personal likings. Let her then, first of all, beware of pettiness, remembering always that amid the vastly complicated adjustments of modern industrial life the particular occupation which seems least attractive to her may be precisely the one in which her pupil will be most useful to the world and most happy. Especialh', moreover, should she be on her guard against despising lowly occupations. It is well for ambitious youth to aim high, to hitch his wagon to a star. But it is also better to be first in a village than second in Rome. The man who is thoroughly prepared for a task confomi- able to his powers, who carries his load with ease and pleasure, rises to the top of his group, is looked up to by his fellows, and is the nian who has a margin of profit to his life. The powers of men are strictly limited. Worry, overwork, failure, the loss of mental poise and often of moral health, are the too frequent penalties of attempting a higher grade of ^A-ork than one's natural ability warrants. The business of the counselor is to guide youth in exercising its powers, not in pressing bej'ond them. A little practical insight into racial psychology' is often a defense against some of the commoner errors. The 57 58 Vocational Guidance Young bookbinders. Industrial work that gives cliildren a fine opportunity to exercise their powers abler races of the world, such as the Scots and north- country English, the "first families" of the South, the old New England stock and its derivatives in the West, are likely to come to maturity slowly. Their children are less precocious than those of other peoples, slower in finding themselves, often less ready of wit, and sometimes less docile. They are as likely therefore to exceed their early promise as children of the less evolved races are to fall short of theirs. On the other hand, in a community containing a mixture The Equip in cut of a Counselor 59 of rtoent immigrants, the children of an oppressed people are often of a higher natural quality than the social position of their parents would lead one to suspect. In the land from which they came, mere accident of religion or of race may ha\'e kept down high natii'e abilit}', which in a free country would have risen into another social group. Then, of course, there are all sorts of racial peculiarities — the remarkable gift of many Russians for language, or of the French for the nicer handicrafts. E\'er>' one recog- nizes that a negro will commonly have A'astly greater muscular strength than a Jew, but that the Jew will be many times more resistant to disease. It is said that at EUis Island a south Italian who answers his questions in a sober, straightforward fashion is likely to be held back by the inspector for further inquiry into his sanity; while the same fate OA'ertakes a Russian who shows an}' vivacity. All such little matters the teacher will do well to keep at the back of her mind as a check on her first impressions. Naturally, the more general psychology the counselor knows, the better. Evidently a strongly "eye-minded" boy or girl might do uncommonly well as a proofreader, and yet fail utterly in "taking" rapid telegraphy bj^ ear. For the auditory type of intellect the situation would be exactly reversed. Then there is always with us the wordless, motor-minded boy or girl who cannot recite lessons but who, once settled in machine shop or dress- making establishment, blossoms out most surprisingly. I well recall a case of my o^vn, a boy ^a-1io simply could not pass any sort of school test; yet he became, and that self-taught, a competent steamboat engineer. This is one of the fields \^-here common sense needs to be helped out with science. Most counselors also, especially in small communities where it is possible to know a great deal about a pupil's 6o Vocational Guidance family, will be much assisted by a general aequaintance with the new science of human heredity. Most of the qualities in which we are interested are strong!) inherit- able; especiall}^ is this true of high talents and peculiar gifts. A turn for music, or machiner}', or teaching, a skill in the handicrafts, a fitness for a foremanship or for some one of the professions, running strongly in a family, is pretty certain to show, undiluted, in at least one child of each generation. To spot that particular child is often to soh'e that vocational problem offhand. If the tree is known by its fruit, so also is the fruit known, in part, by its tree. But the great essential will always be a sympathetic insight into the individual. Most teachers think they know a great deal more about child nature than they really do. Let any beginner sit down and write out, in a hundred words, a critical analysis of a number of boys 1 *•• •«:■ .— -^ 1 ■ ^^y3 Si ^#J^ til ^^...% W^ .." i / . ^* di«'''' ^ m^ ^.r^'-^f^^^^- Courtesy of Kate R- Lugat Testing corn. This special school at Marcus. Iowa, for three months in winter trains thirteen boys in accurate observation The Equipment of a Counselor 6i Ability to carry rcsfyoiisil^itity shows curly and is easily recog- nized l}y ttie vocalionat guide and girls, and she will be surprised to discover of how lit- tle she is really sure. Let her, in addition, compare her descriptions with those of an associate, or with the actual performance of the pupils a year or two later, and she will probably be horrified at her mistakes. The exercise teaches caution, and it also trains one's powers of analysis and one's appreciation of human nature. Probably also the experience will inspire an ambitious teacher to more extended study and more accurate observ^ation. Always, as we have said, the thing that counts most is the teacher's understanding of human nature and her common-sense insight into the child's mind and character. This is especially true of what is really the most significant of qualities for the A'ocational guide — I mean the ability to carry responsibility. There is no scientific or educational 62 Vocational Guidance test for this. If a child has it, it shows in ah sorts of httle ways, and the shrewd guide recognizes it at sight. But the entire world of industry divides itself into men and women who take responsibility for their acts, and those for whom other people are responsible. As society is now constituted, the rewards of life belong to persons of the former class. To spot this group is almost the first business of the vocational guide. All this, while essential to the successful vocational counselor, is also the equipment of the successful teacher. Each, so far as she masters it, aids not only her pupils' future welfare but her own present efficiency. There remains, however, another portion of the counselor's equipment which, outside the classroom, should make her a better citizen and lead her into a larger life. She must know the child in the school and also in the world without. Eighty per cent of her pupils will get their li^dng inside the limits of the state in which the}^ were bom and in which she herself is at the moment teaching them. She must, then, to advise wisely, know the industrial situation in her own community. This matter, however, we shall take up in a later chapter. The question, therefore, is not simply, What will this boy or girl like best to do a nd accomplish most successfulh' ? There is also the question. How far from home must he go to get his training, where will he get his living afterwards, and how far is he the sort of person whom life among strangers will make unhappy ? In all this it is most important that the attitude of the counselor should be one of plain business sense. What we are after is to help young people to find their right place in the world and to fill it with zeal and satisfaction; and in this commonplace task there is small room for any "hifalutin" ideas. The Equipment of a Counselor 63 fZ ^ g i i^^^^^Vr ^Hfe^.' ^^4fe^ ,-^ ^^^^^S^flSB^^^H ^E uHlHil- ^^^^H 9 j^ ^^^Ppp % ^at^^^ijj yl teacher's class in manual Iraiiiing, inline louiistlors ham how to help young people find their light plaie in the world Nothing helps one to get this common-sense point of view Hke actually doing, for short periods, two or three different kinds of work, such as the vast majority of man- kind have to do all their lives. For most women, more or less incidental sewing, dressmaking, mending, milliner}^, housework, and cooking will probably give sufficient insight into the handicrafts. After a forenoon at the ironing table, one can imagine what it is like to stand all day at a lathe. Farm sense and a fellow feeling for the farmer may come by way of a small garden which one plants, hoes, and tends for one's self, and in which things actually grow. This takes care of two of the three great types of useful toil. The other is trade. For this, one majr well put in a month selling goods over the counter of a depart- ment store. The personal experience, the chance to 64 Vocational Guidance look behind the scenes, is better than the reading of many books. Deeper still than industrial questions lie great social problems, and these also take on differing local aspects. Unions may be strong or weak. Women employed in housework may be looked down upon as an inferior class and virtually cut off from marrying well, or they may be, " T ""^fBf 'liZ -^■:'|LV?S ^fi-ip!i«''^ti ^ '" III lull ^JBHMii 't:.<^'"»«^ t*^ ' u,c \ 1 U ill] ini I-ili-iK't. Sons Cu , Bubtnii Personal experience in selling ilwes aids the counselor to advise wisely regarding a sales position as ever}^vhcre two generations ago, treated with especial consideration and made members of the family. There may be protection from occupational diseases, insurance against accident, limitation of hours for women and children, a minimum wage; or all these may be still to come. The same industry may be overcrowded and underpaid in one locality, and decently attractive in another. There are also curious local problems of race. One would hardly advise an Irishman to take up truck farming where all his competitors arc Italians, nor an Italian to The Equipment of a Cotinselor 6} enter the fire department of a city where all the firemen are Irish. Greeks handle more than their share of fruit on one side of the continent, and the Japanese on the other. All such matters have to be taken into con- sideration. Manj^ unfortunately, will alter from year to year. Does it seem a vast undertaking, this general acquaint- ance with the industrial geography of the entire country, and this expert knowledge of a special field? At first blush, certainly. Bvtt it does not haA'e to be learned all at once — nor, for the most part, out of books. One picks it up here and there, a little at a time, as one goes about in the world with his eyes open. One gets it from people — all sorts of humble and otherwise quite uninteresting persons with whom one is thrown. Mean- while one educates oneself, gets a larger interest in the world, adds a new zest to life. Many a conscientious teacher would do better, both as an instructor and as a human being, if sometimes she "cut" the educational convention and went about instead studying the great industries and talking to other women as a business man talks to other men. CHAPTER V The Methods of a Counselor TWO problems confront the vocational guide. The one is to give the youth, or to obtain for him, sound advice concerning the great decision which he is soon to make. The other is to lead the youth to such self- discovery as shall make his own judgment of value in the matter. When all is said, the youth must, in the end, decide for himself. Parents and teachers may guide and counsel and warn and instruct; they cannot rightly compel. The life of each of us is his own, to be lived well or ill on his own responsibility. To aid him to a clear under- standing of himself, therefore — of his aptitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources, limitations — on the part of each young person should be the primary object of every counselor. Fortunatel}', however, the two problems are solved at the same_ time and largely by the same methods. What- ever helps the teacher to understand the pupil can with a little added effort be made to help the pupil to under- stand himself. Still more, as the boy or girl gains insight into his own nature he can make clear to his elders his uncertainties. The two aspects go hand in hand. A little shrewdness makes ' 'one hand wash the other. ' ' Self-knowledge comes easier to children than we some- times think. A child is more frank than an adult, and often more honest with himself. Moreo^rer, as each boy or girl approaches the age at which conversion or con- firmation normally occur, his mind turns with a peculiar 66 The Methods of a Counselor 6y ^- 1 lIKi^ : ^ - ■'<■■■■■» A^^HH^ i:l ^^^^^^^^B»n ^ visit to a furniture factory. Seeing work actually under zvay helps children to discover their own aptitudes and instinctive interest to an examination of itself. The childish unconsciousness departs, and the youth becomes keenly interested in his relations to the world. Here, then, is the natural time for self-anah'sis, for the disco\'ery of talents, for the correction of faults that will interfere with new-bom ambitions, for the planning of a career, and for the deA'elopment of character. The epoch is one of earnest purpose and high moral serious- ness. Nature has marked it out as the special period for the work of the vocational guide. For the multiple purpose of aiding the child to discover his own aptitudes, the teacher to understand the child, and both to realize conditions in the industrial world, few methods are more efficient than taking groups of children to see various sorts of work actually under way. This is the method which Benjamin Franklin's 68 Vocational Guidance father, with conspicuous success, used with him. "My father, therefore," says Franklin in one of the best auto- biographies ever penned, "sometimes took me to walk with him, to see joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, etc., at their work, that thus he might observe my inclination and endeavor to fix it on some trade or other." This was, in fact, as we have already seen, the unconscious and inevitable method of all parents before the rise of the factory system and the railwaj^s. Business men will usualh' welcome the visits of inter- ested boys and girls, especially the proprietors of small establishments or those devoted to some distinctive or uncommon product. The publishers of the Youth's Companion, for example, extend a standing invitation to the public of all ages to visit and inspect their entire plant. They pro\'ide a competent guide, who expounds the entire process of illustrating, printing, folding, and mailing the periodical, together with the organization of the editorial, accounting, and general office work. The manufacturers of Shredded Wheat Biscuit at Niagara Falls do the same with their factory, and in addition provide a delicious little lunch of their products. Many cities are making use of excursions to industrial plants. In St. Louis the Superintendent of Schools reports : "These contacts and experiences that come to the children by the simplicity of social relations in the country must be brought about in the city by some organizea plan of parents and teachers to take children into many places where men are engaged in their daily work, that the children may know how each contributes to his fellow's welfare, and that they may have some widened experience to serve them when they come to choose what they intend to do as men. Excursions of classes for this purpose are welcomed whenever they ask for admission, and there is no surer way of putting a child in sympathy with the life about him or of fitting him for inteUigent participation in that life. A number of our schools have realized The Methods of a Counselor 69 during this year the opportunity given by these visits to the in- dustries of the city for arousing the genuine interest of the pupils and of broadening their experience." In Fairfield, Nebraska, in the midst of a prosperous farming community, the schools have developed a regular svstem of occupational visiting. The pupils haA'e first a textbook lesson on some phase of agriculture, — dair}'- ing, stock raising, or the like. Then they visit some farm where that particular thing is being well done. The fanner takes them about, in company with the teacher, and talks to them of his own problems and methods. The arrangement is good for the pupils, and for the teacher, and for the farmer also. Especiallv A'aluable is a system which is now being developed in several states, but most succcssfttlly in Iowa and Illinois. The students in the public schools are taken to visit the agricultural departments of the state univer- sities, and under expert guidance are made acquainted jf".^™— Mi^ f*- 1 oBaaBSmiJ. f Lniuti^y nf Amherst CM.iss. I Agiiodtuial lulk, Under expert guidance, public-scliool boys learn much from a visit to llie agricultural college yo Vocational Guidance with the problems of the chief local industr}^ University officers haA'e pro\'ed to be most alert to cooperate with such movements, and to render all possible ser\ace. The idea is one that admits of indefinite extension in practice. It should be possible, in addition, to plan cooperatively for an exchange of visits between schools in different localities where the types of industry are different, or where there are features of special interest. Such excur- sions will often be somewhat costly, so that they had better be resen.'cd for those pupils who have shown decided interest in some particular field of work, or who deser\^e special encouragement. Always it is advisable to have expert guides. But even without these the pupil will learn much. Children are keen obsen^ers and stimu- lating questioners, so that often the most unpromising of conductors becomes interesting in their company. Nor need the teacher hesitate, especially when away from home, to make man}' vocational visits imaccompa- nied by her class. At conventions, for example, groups of teachers may well spend half their time in studying the industries of the region and the social problems connected with them. The widened practical experience, and the atmosphere of reality which such acquaintance will give to their teaching, will be worth quite as much to their pupils and to themselves as any piece of educa- tional theory. More than all else, just now, our common schools need to be made alive. Closely related to visits to factory and farm are talks to the pupils in the schoolroom by successful men. A/[en who do this well are somewhat uncommon, so that it is worth ten failures to find the right man once. One Massachusetts high school has been able to arrange such an address regularly, each week, as part of the school program. Moreover, large numbers of business men ^2 Vocational Guidance who lack the time or the talent to deliver such addresses are glad to confer privately with boys or girls who need their advice. After all, there are few adults who, if approached with tact, will not put themselves out a good deal to be of ser\dce to the young. For both general addresses and priA-ate conferences there is a veritable mine of unworked material in the traA'eling salesmen who constantly visit every town, and often, because of poor railway connections, have time on their hands. These men are often the cream of the business world; they know thoroughly their own work, and they pick up much information concerning that of other men. Besides this, they bring the special fascina- tion which all travelers have for the inexperienced in the ways of the world. Much also can be done by the teacher herself without going outside the schoolroom. It is hardly necessary to point out how easily many of the interests of the school- room may, with a little ingenuity, be given a vocational turn and utilized to create a vocational atmosphere. In language work, for example, there may be letters applying for positions of all sorts, or asking for information about goods, while the entire industrial world is filled with prom- ising subjects for compositions. In arithmetic, besides the usual cost and interest problems, there may be com- putations and comparisons of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly wages, of expenses and savings, and of famUy and business costs of various sorts that shall bring home to the pupil how wide is the range of earning power, and how enormous is the return on capital in\'ested in educa- tion. In fact, there is hardly a school subject that is not capable of a vocational twist. Occupational geography, always an ilkiminating sub- ject, is often most useful as a vocational gtiide. All The Methods of a Counselor III the study oj anhitntun , dia.^niig n given a vocational twist nomial children want to know "why," and respond at once to such suggestions as will be found in connection with the account of the geography of industr}-. HigMy dramatic are the biographies of successful men, — Franklin's incomparable story, Parton's Captains of Industry. One need not go on with the list; if there is a local hero, so much the more inspiring is the tale. Then there is the history of industrial progress and of scientific invention, from Whitney's cotton gin and RlcCor- mick's har\-ester to Edison and the Wrights. All these, the things the boy or girl likes to see, the things he likes to read about, the persons who arouse his emulation, are signs of the kind of person he is. They re\'eal to the shrewd counselor, and through her to the boys and girls themseh^es, where their future calling is to lie. Especially rcA-elant for self-discovery is the tr^-ing-out process which accompanies every sort of practical work, together with certain types of play, either in or out of 74 Vocational Guidance school. There is a grammar of industrial processes through which every child ought to be put, in part at home and in part under formal instruction. He should have a chance to try his hand at drawing and painting, at wood, at metal, at clay, at caring for plants and ani- mals, and, in the case of the girl, at sewing, cooking, and housework also. School gardens have proved not only interesting and instructive but diagnostic of the child's capacities. The ball field may suggest self-reUance or capacity for leadership which would otherwise be unsus- pected. The wider and more varied the test, the better for all concerned. All such, together with the tasks every child should perform at home and such work outside as he may occa- sionally do for pay, give to both youth and counselor a chance to see how tastes and qualities behave in actual use. Shingling a roof. Ordinary practical work which is accom- panied by a valuable trying-out process The Methods of a Counselor 75 The interesting and instructive laork in scliool ^ diagnostic of a child's capacities ns is often Actualjj.se is always the test. I had an idea, when I was a boy in college, that it would be an easy and attrac- tive job to stand behind a counter and sell goods. So I tried it, Christmas vacations, in a book shop; Saturday evenings in a clothing store ; one whole summer in a mar- ket. I soon found out that retail selling is not nearly so easy as it looks, and that m^' own vocation was toward another field. Aleanwhile one of my mates, working be- side me in the same stores, found the work precisely to his mind, and he is now a highly successful business man. Some persons have recommended selling on the street or from door to door as an especially valuable method of trying out a boy's instinct for salesmanship. The advice is not sound. Good business houses do not put boys on the road. Such work is too severe for a youth. The test for mechanical ability maj^ be more difficult to make, for the kinds are manj^ and the demands varied. Wiring a house for electricity, for example, is a very 76 Vocational Guidance different matter from managing a power lathe. Every boy ought, however, to do some carpentry — to make, let us say, a chest, a table, or a desk. He ought also to do some machine and forge work in iron, since in my expe- rience it requires a distinctly different sort of boy to make good in iron than in wood. This much practical experience 1^ Wm — i^ V ' Fg ■HP 1 ill ■ ^■'^wi ^ . ^B ^^^jSm^^^QRI^S ^ hoy's particular aptitude for one of the varied mechanical occupations may be discovered in wiring a house for electricity will at least separate boys with little or no mechanical ability from those who will never be happy without tools in their hands. It would be an ideal arrangement if every youth could have a year on a farm. Farm life is so varied, so rich in all-round experiences, that nothing else can approach it either as training or as test. By the time a boy has gone the round of the seasons once, has cared for hens and horses and cows, has harnessed a tall and ugly steed, has driven a team, has plowed, harrowed, sown seed, and harvested The Methods of a Counselor 77 the crop, has put the farm machinery in order for the next year, and has finished oft' by chopijing wood in the winter, he should certainly be in a position to know whether he is tlie one boy in every three in the United States who is des- tined to get a liv- ing out of the soil. Besides this, he will have learned more about him- self, his gumption, his judgment, his perse^ferance, his common sense, his physical stamina, than anything else can teach him. He will also have shown his elders, and most explic- itl}', what manner of boy he is. These three tests, then, ser\'e to distinguish, with virtual certainty, the three main types of bread-winner, — the artisan, the trader, and the farmer. Seven tenths of all boys will be one or other of these. Nor must we forget that the school course is itself a valuable trying-out process. Music, drawing, essay writing, color work and modeling, reading aloud, gym- nastics, organized and educational games, though designed The Methods of a Counselor "jg for training are also tests. So too are the by-products of school life, — the athletic teams, the social organizations, the fairs and plays and excursions, and the rest. Any of these may reveal some special gift that points to a life work. Moreover, we must not forget that our traditional school course — antiquated, impractical, one-sided, ab- stract, as we justly accuse it of being — does test to the full certain valuable types of mind. The ability to han- dle words, to learn from books, to work over ideas, to carr}' masses of fact, all these are essential to the successful office worker and professional man. Whoso cannot pass his school work with some distinction cannot hope to enter any one of several high callings. If all these various tests, taken together, reveal no talent and no vocation, either to the youth himself or to his adA'isers, it becomes most probable that we have to do with an individual who, by nature, belongs to the class of unskilled laborers. There must always be a certain proportion of these in the world; but it is the business of the vocational guide to see that the group is recruited only from those who cannot do any better work. For efficient vocational guidance the school must be closely articulated with the community life, its occupa- tions, its resources, its traditions, and most especially with its homes. High, therefore, among the counselor's prac- tical devices should be placed conferences with parents and the cooperation of school and household. Parents themselves are not alwaj^s good vocational guides. They are too near the child, and they are either unduly se\'ere with his minor failings or, more commonly, they overestimate his virtues. Moreover, "like parent like child." The parent may be blind to his offspring's special quality because he is himself that special sort of person. 8o Vocational Guidance But the observing eounselor may learn much from the child's home. It is from the parents, and especiaUy from the mother, that she will inquire concerning matters of general health or special weakness. It will not do to let a boy whose lungs have been unsound take up granite cutting in New England or lead and zinc mining in Missouri c\'en if careful oversight has suppressed all outward sign of defect. The trouble is still there, and will come out under stress. On the other hand, a child, apparenth- frail, may have been conspicuously free from serious illness and be capable of high efficiency under favorable conditions. Various temperamental matters — ner\-ousness or its absence, general hopefulness of dis- position, a number of moral qualities, even the family Training in tin: liouseltold arls is an iinporlanl agent in coup-erat-ing the sclwol witli the home T Ji e Methods of a Counselor 8i 1^0 /i m^^ iB'^^'^i^'"'^ %*'^''^ ^m , "V?"*' , J- -T ■■■,>. 'r: ' \ *■■■■ Learning to do things on the farm develops a habit of steady work and a love for it, and helps a boy to choose a life career "expectation of life" — may influence the wise choice of a career. For all these, one must in large measure look to the home for information. On the parents, also, one must often depend for medical or other expert opinion on the child's equipment, and for the correction of defects of body, of mind, and of character. For many reasons the cooperation of school and home is essential to a thoroughly efficient vocational control. We must not forget, moreover, that one of the most valuable elements of future success, the habit of steady work and a love for it, is often more the product of home than of school training. In seA^eral dift'erent places now the schools are giving credit for domestic, mechanical, and farm work done at home. All adjustments of this 82 Vocational Guidance Children from good homes find in their play sound training for mind and will sort presuppose the closest cooperation of home and school, together with frequent visits of the teacher to the domicile. The initiative for all this will, in general, have to come from the teacher. Yet it is all part of the interaction of school and home which we need, for many reasons, to foster. Surely a consultation concerning the future career of a favorite child is a vastly better opening for friendly relations than is a case of discipline ! In seeking to establish such a relation, however, let the teacher beware especially of a too professional atti- tude. After all, there are more of the essentials of true culture, there is more sound training of mind and will, in the work, the play, and the general atmosphere of a good private home than in any public institution. School work The Method s of a Counselor 8j ought not, always, to come first. If the house-mother is taken ill and needs a helper, it is criminal for school officers to insist that a son or daughter shall not incur absence. At such a time the duty of any child, large enough to help, is at home. When, in anj' societJ^ a girl becomes so busy with school work and music that she has no time to perform a reasonable share of necessary home labor, some- body is blind to the real aim of education. Character, devotion^family loyalty, are better preparation for life than an acquaintance with the properties of isoperimetrical polygons and the exports of Timbuktu. A recognition of these facts will go far to smooth the way of the vocational guide in dealing with the home. Most important of all, however, in this relation of school and home, is the opportunity it gives the teacher to study the youth in his parents. Present-day scientific opinion is that virtually all the native qualities of the young are but recombinations of identical elements in the parents. The stream, proverbially, does not rise higher than its source. Neither does it commonh^ fail to attain its level. The actual performance of the father, of the two grand- fathers, and of the uncles on both sides fixes pretty accurately the range within which the boy himself will operate. We must not forget that, in spite of an occasional striking exception, men and women nearly always select their wives and husbands from about their own mental and moral grade. Husband and wife may be of very different type — one reserved, the other vivacious; one with an evenly rounded equipment, the other with some special gift — but taking one thing with another, most persons marry on their own level. In other words, each man is a fair match for his wife's brothers ; each woman the equal of her husband's sisters. 84 Vocational Guidance The result is that the children, inheriting from two similar parents, arc also of their sort; and the family holds its level pretty steadily for many generations. In short, the shrewd student of mankind, knowing the child's home surroundings and parentage, can prophesy with a good deal of accuracy the kind of person he or she will marry, the kind of home that will result, and the general economic and social status of the family. On the other hand, there is always the exception that tries the rule, the occa- sional fortunate in- dividual who chances to get, all at once, all the good qualities of all his ancestors; and the luckless wight who draws all the blanks. One must keep in mind Coal pickers. The grade of their voca- tion is largely predetermined the black sheep which may turn up in any flock, and, on the other hand, the single boy or girl who stands apart from and above the family group. The discovery and encouragement of individuals of this latter class is one of the keenest satisfactions of the vocational guide. A reasonably safe working rule is this. If the parents are thoroughly commonplace, mediocre persons, repeating accurately the qualities of their social type, then usually all the children will be like unto them. The grade of their vocation is predetermined. But if either parent shows T h c M cthod s of a Counselor Sy Basket weaving in the school often brings out in the child an inherited talent for mechanics or an eye for color any unusual quality, no matter what, then watch for the exceptional child. I dwell upon this point for the reason, among others, that it has recently been shown that a talent for mechanics is strongly hereditary, is in fact a special gift, like a sing- ing voice or an eye for color. Now it happens, as we shall later see more fully, that mechanical abilit}- is precisely the qualit}' which just at the present time is commanding its own price in the business world. If, then, the father tinkers with tools during his spare mo- ments, or the mother embroiders with special skill, this fact may be the key to the child's vocation. In general, however, an}- such special talent will appear in full force, or even enhanced, in one or two of the children, and be nearlv or quite wanting in the rest. Unlike general mental quality, which tends to hold steadily- throughout 86 Vocational Guidance the family, the special gift tends, if we may so express it, to condense in single individuals, as the moisture of an entire room becomes the frost on a single cold window pane. It is highly important, also, for the children themselves to become interested in their own families. This they I D-rO Teacher 30 yrs. II n Teacher 10 yrs. -o Teacher 3 yrs. Died at Foreman Teacher 10 yrs. 12 yrs. HI, 6 6 6 6 Teacher Stenographer Teacher Teacher 10 yrs, 7 yrs. 12 yrs. D' [J Boy to be studied In mapping his family tree, a child will often find the incentive for a successful life work do naturally to a considerable degree, and a little encour- agement will set them to looking up their relatives and mapping their family trees. We think, in this country, far too little of our families, their origin, their histories, of our own duties to them, and of the chance of bettering their status by wise alliances. At the least, the discovery of a family vocation or of a successful relative will prove not only an incentive to the child but a check on the unfortunate American tendency to break away from family traditions. This is also one of the channels through which the child may be led unconsciously to serious thinking about life. CHAPTER VI Further Methods of a Counselor ALL this that has been said is, however, more or less general. Bej-ond it must come the detailed, accurate diagnosis of each special case. For this the first essential is some adequate system of records. Ideally, this should be rather a school than an individual affair, and should include not only the school standing but everything that any teacher has noted. In any case, whether the record is general or private, it should include home conditions and family traits, power of attention, promptness, accuracy, cheerfulness, readiness to take suggestion and obey orders, capacity for self- direction, self-reliance, resourcefulness, and capacity for leadership, all of which are at least as important for future livelihood as the class grades and the number of times tardy of the traditional school record. The final method and form of such a register has still to be worked out. I may therefore be permitted to give, for what it may be worth, my own experience in an industrial school in which the conventional studies of grammar grades were combined with practical shop and farm work. The system is based on the record plans which follow : Name Age Gr.\de Physical Life. 1. Height: Normal height for age. 2. Weight; Normal weight for height. 3. Lung capacity; Normal lung capacity for age. 4. Body; Height sitting; girth of chest; peculiarities. 5. Head: Circumference; distance ear to ear; genera! shape. 87 88 Vocational Guidance 6. Face: Forehead, height; ehin, full or receding. 7. Eyes: Sight; expression. 8. Ears: Hearing; abnormalities. 9. Nose: Breathing. ID. Mouth: Shape; teeth; lips; palate. 11. Hands: Strong; nervous; feeble. 12. Strength of back; of legs; of shoulders. 13. Peculiarities. It is to be noted in this schedule that the first three items give at a glance the youth's relation to the average; while, together with the fourth item, they show his "vital capacity." The ear-to-ear distance, taken over the top of the head, with the head circumference and general shape, are a convenient measure of the size of the brain. The other items explain themselves, except the eleventh. Practically, it turns out that when a boy or girl is directed to hold out the hand horizontally, palm down, a normal individual, called "strong" in the schedule, extends the fingers close together and in line with hand and wrist; a nen'ous individual curls the fingers irregu- larly and seldom twice alike; while one of inferior intel- ligence drops the entire member flabbily. The reason for these differences is not entirely clear, but the test is most workable. The average heights in inches of children from six to seventeen years of age are shown in the following table. 1 AvER.^GE Heights of Boys and Girls Year. Boys 44.loj46.2l|48.i6 SO.09 52.21 54-01 55-78 58.17 61.08 62.96 65.58166.29 Girls 43.66]4S.94l48-07)49.6l|Sl.78 S3-79|57.l6|S8.7S 60.32 61.39 61.72J61.99 1 These measurements were taken without shoes. As only American children are included in them, the measures are slifjhtly larger than the average. The American-born child is slight'y taller than the English, Irish, German, or Scandi- navian child. No comparative measurements exist for other nationalities. We should also note here that the periods of most rapid increase, both in height and in weight, are put from one to two years earlier by some writers. Doubtless food, nationality, and climate influence this. This table is taken from Bowditch. Further Methods of a Counselor 89 Burr's Table Showing Average Weight of 68,000 American Children in Boston, St. Louis, and Milwaukee OlRLS Age 61; 9'2 I0'2 II>2 I2?< I 3 '4 15J2 16;.^ Average Annual Per cent of Average Annual Per ce of nt in lbs in lbs. increase increase 43-^ 43-4 49-5 4-3 9-3 47-7 4-3 9 9 54-5 5 10. 1 3:^-3 4.8 10 39-6 3 I 9-3 37-4 4-9 9 3 65-4 3 8 9-7 62.9 3-3 9 6 70.7 3 ^ 8.1 69.5 6.6 10 5 76.9 6 2 ■^•7 7«-7 9.2 13 2 84.S / 9 10.3 88.7 10. 12 / 95-^ 10 4 12.3 98.3 9.6 II 9 107.4 12 2 12.8 106.7 8.4 8 3 121. 13 6 12.7 112.3 5-6 3 2 Social Life. Home; Owned; rented; health eonditions; sleeping. Father; Age; nationality; work; interests; habits. Mother; Age; nationality; work; interests; habits. Brothers: Characteristics; work. Sisters; Characteristics; work. Church; Pastor; church attendance. Companions; Sociability. Remarks. I. 2. 3- 4- 3- 6, personal Record. 1. School; Mental ability ; effort; initiative; special interests. 2. Work; At home; attitude toward work. 3. Play; At home; at school; special interest shown; leadership ability. Mechanical ability; Drawing. Trading ability; Habits of saving and spending. Musical ability. Literary abilit)'. Conversational ability. Habits. 10. Special ability. 11. Sense of responsibility. 12. Ambition. 13. Remarks. go Vocational Guidance Character Study. Underscore qualities possessed. Bracket [ ] those lacking. Several words are used with nearly the same meaning, for sometimes the teacher will catch a certain phase of boy life with one word and fail with the other. 1. Bright; memory; attention; reason. 2. Honest; truthful; frank; sincere; trustworthy; faithful; obedient. 3. Shrewd; long-headed; prudent; provident; saving. 4. Obstinate; stubborn; pugnacious; persistent. 5. Good-natured; social; pleasant; kind-hearted; affectionate. 6. Brave; braggart; bashful; modest. 7. Acquisitive; constructive; emulative; imaginative; imitative; dramatic. 8. Active; buoyant; hopeful; confident; ready; enthusiastic. 9. Prompt; intense; responsive; hasty; irritable; fiery; nervous. 10. Emotional; sensitive; secretive; conceited. 11. Sluggish; indifferent; stupid; depressed. 12. Ambitious; generous. 13. Independent; leader; easily led. 14. Remarks. These items are stated in the positive form, for the reason that it is easier for many persons to detect the unfavorable points than the good. There is no Ust of questions which will satisfy a good student of human nature. When all possible questions are asked, the most important analj^sis will be found under "Remarks." The data for these schedules were contributed by the various teachers who had the boys in charge, by the gym- nasium instructors, playground directors, matrons, and the like. In addition, there were frequent conferences among all these persons, the results of which were also filed away as part of the pupil's record. With these, in addition to every sort of measurable quality and bit of personal history, went a brief and pointed character sketch, repeated from time to time and by different persons. Not least important was the record from time to time of the boy's vocational ambition. Further RIctliods of a Counselor gi A few extracts from these records will illustrate their general scope ; A. B. Father: Coal teamster; steady worker. School: Poor in mathematies; good reader; poor letter writer. Bright; good attention; good judgment ; nervous; persevering. Steady; cheerful and melancholic; has different moods; good worker. Not strong muscular life; weak in legs. Some handicaps; needs outdoor life; proved good in handling teams. Worth noting here is the father's occupation, the boy's success with horses, his general mental tA'pe, and his weak legs. The parental A-ocation is at least strongly indicated. C. D. Age, fourteen; English. Second grade in public schools; cannot add or multiply; very poor reader; cannot write a letter. Dull; poor attention, reason, interest, and memory. Shrewd; good judgment outside of schotil. Active; lacks perseverance; unstable; brave; pleasant; cheerful; quick tempered. Ambitious; leader among boys smaller than himself; very handy at work. Hard of hearing; breathes through mouth. Flat footed; very much undersized; weak muscles; good lungs; small head. At eighteen in shoe shop. Doing well. This boy seen in school would be judged nearly feeble minded. Seen among his pla>-mates, he shows promising traits, which assure fair success in a low-skilled occupa- tion. He has, as a matter of fact, made a decent hving. E. F. Father: French; a carpenter. Mother: French. Four brothers; one sister. Fair tenement ; rent $14. g2 V ocatio 11 al Guidance Catholic church; regular attendant. Fifth grade in public schools. Good in mathematics, especially fractions and percentage; good reader; writes a good letter. I Bright; imaginative; good interest; good powers of attention; good observation, memory, reason, and judgment. Strong-willed; steady; persevering; shrewd; saving; careful of money, but generous; very independent. Good looking; popular with boys; brave; modest; peaceful; ambitious. Frank; truthful; well-balanced. Pleasant; kind-hearted; cheerful; active; full of life. Needs no discipline but kindness. Good worker; very handy with tools. Excellent records in manual training, sloyd, wood turning, and iron work at forge. Ambition: To be machinist. Made good progress in all his school work. Physical measurements: Palate normal; teeth good; eyesight good; hearing good; small of his age; prominent gap in helix of right ear; ulceration of septum in nostril; good lung capacity; good muscular tests. When a boy tests as high as E. F., the certainty of fair success in life is well assured. The records were tnade when he was fourfeeffTand at twenty-one he was a good machinist, earning four dollars a day. With ten years more of experience I expect him to become an efficient foreman. The combination of popularity, shrewdness, generosity, strong will, and independence warrant this expectation. G. H. Father: Leather currier. Honest, faithful, trustworthy boy; persevering. At fourteen in sixth grade; fair in school work; good in manual training. Health sound; great muscular strength, especially in hands. When he came to school he wanted to be a typewriter. After experience in manual training and forge work, wanted to tjc a blacksmith. Further M ethod s of a Counselor gj Clearh', in this case, the change of ambition was a wise one. It hardly needs to be pointed out that records such as these should be continued after the pupil leaves school as a check on the teacher's prognosis. With the best of skill and care there will alwaj's be some records like the following : I.J. An American boy. Left grade five at twelve years old; is pullcr-off in glass factory- Teacher's estimate: Dull; below average in scholarship and deportment ; incapable of acquiring high skill. Emploj'er's estimate: Bright; capable of acquiring high skill; good character; "elegant boy." Initial wage, S3. 60; jiresent wage, S6. Highest position will probably be glass blower, in six years, at S30 a week. The details of such a scheme of records will ha^'e to be arranged b^' each school for itself. The general idea alone is emphasized here. Frequent conferences between experts, complete record of facts, and pithy character sketch are the essential elements. The latter especially, done once or twice a term, is an unsurpassed device for educating oneself in the exploration of child nature; no formal schedule of qualities is adequate without it. Besides conferences among teachers and parents, there should be conferences with the pupils themselves. These should be as informal as possible — at least the)' should seem so to the child; the teacher may prepare for them as carefully as she likes. Perhaps the boy remains after school to make up lost work or to receive siDCcial help. The teacher says casually, "AVhat arc you going to do when you grow up?" If this elicits a definite repl}^ the natural question is, "Why did you think of that'" and the tactful adult is on the way to the lad's full confidence. 94 Vocational Guidance If he has no definite idea, the teacher suggests, "What do you think of carpentering, or storekeeping?" selecting the work of his father, or anything that seems fitting for his case. It is surprising, oftentimes, how intimate is the resulting self -revelation. Most adolescents, though they say little, ponder deeply on their life work. Caring for aiiiniah is a good test of a boy's aptitude for agriculture A device often employed with success is the use of vocational topics as subjects for regular school essays. Such themes tend both to develop a serious attitude toward the question of a career and to show which pupils are already thinking seriously about their future. Not seldom, also, in the course of such writing, is the veil lifted from some secret aml^ition, or the clew given to suc- cess with some shy girl or boy. Subjects like the following will be found workable. These will in turn suggest others, but one must have a sense of the fitness of things, and not, as I have known one teacher do, assign as an essay topic in a rural com- munity, "Why I am Planning to Leave the Farm"! Further Methods of a Counselor 95 1. Suppose there are in }-our town five successful men. One is a farmer; another is a builder either of houses or of engines or of ships ; a third is an engineer in charge of a mine, a machine shop, an electric power station, or the construction of a raih^'ay; the fourth is a business man conducting a store; while the last is a professional man, — lawyer, doctor, clergyman, teacher, or editor. Suppose, now, that one of these men would take you about with him during his day's work, show you CA'crything he is doing, and answer all your questions about it, which of the five had j-ou rather it would be ' Gi^•e three ques- tions you would like to ask him. 2. If you were to visit a great International Exhibition, where you could see among other things, splendid grounds and buildings; beautiful fountains and electric lighting effects; great collections of manufactured goods: cotton, woolen, silk, leather, iron, steel, and the different processes of manufacture; varied agricultural exhibits: horses, cat- tle, fruits, grain, vegetables, lumber; machines of all kinds: engines, plows, har^-esters, reapers; exhibits of art: paint- ing and sculpture; educational and go^•emmental exhibits; men, women, and children of all nationalities; military and naval displays; what exhibits would interest A'Ou most? 3 . What kind of books do you like to read ? What are the characters in these books that you remember and most admire' What persons of your acquaintance do you admire, and what are the reasons why you like them? 4. What experience have 3'ou had in the following kinds of work or play: Agriculture. Have you ever tried caring for animals, planting, culti^'ating and har^'esting crops, fniit growing, dairying ? How did you succeed ? Mechanical Work. Do you like to draw' What kind of work have you done in wood or iron? Describe any g6 Vocational Guidance kind of mechanical work you haA^e done, and give reasons for your likes or dislikes of mechanical work. Trade. Do )'ou like to barter with other boys ? What have you bought or sold, and with what success.' Games. What games do you like best, indoor or outdoor? Do you ever direct or start the games? Have j'ou ever led in games or sport of any kind? Write your experiences. Four high schools in New York City, developing this general scheme, now require the pupils to prepare regular plans for their future careers, including a study of their own capacities. The following are suggestions along this line: Let the student select an occupation, find an acquaintance in that work, secure an interview, and write out the results of the interview for a newspaper; select an occupation and plan for himself a life-career; write a review of a book dealing with his particular occupation; write an answer to a newspaper advertise- ment for help in his line of work. Subjects for debates; Discuss opportunities in one line of work, against those in another; requirements for suc- cess; profession against a trade. The following plan for 3 life career was used in the high schools of Brooklyn : I. (a) Preferences. (b) The expressed wishes of his parents and friends in re- gard to his future. II. (a) His own reasons for his choice. (6) Reasons in favor of or against his choice gleaned from books or magazine articles. ic) Arguments in favor of or against liis choice whicli were advanced by parents and friends who were consulted. III. His personal characteristics, by the aid of which he hopes to win success in his chosen vocation. IV. The requirements for admission to his chosen trade or profession. Further Methods of a Counselor q'J V. The schools to be attended to meet these requirements and the estimated time and expense involved in ('repara- tion. VI. The possible rewards, as stated in the authorities whieh were consulted. With pupils thirteen or fourteen years of age or older, the teacher should be able to conduct a written exami- nation with some success. Professor Parsons used this method before he held a personal conference with a boy or girl ; and e^'en now we can get soine of our best suggestions from this pioneer counselor. To be sure, the persons with whom the professor worked were as a rtile mitcli older than pupils in the elementary school, but many of his questions will be found practical. He was accustomed to hold personal conferences with each applicant before and after the written examination. And before he handed the applicant the long list of questions for him to answer in writing, he talked to him as follows: "Some of these questions can be answered very definitely. In respect to others, the character questions for example, you can only make estimates more or less imperfect and subject to revision. Some questions you may not be able to answer at all without assist- ance and careful testing, but do the best j'ou can. Consider e^'cry question carefully, try to form a good judgment on it, and state the test or evidence you rely on in making your judgment. A thorough study of yourself is the foundation of a true plan of life. Deal with the matter as though correct conclusions would mean ten thousand dollars to you; a true judgment of yourself may mean more than that. Stand off and look at yourself as though you were another individual. Look yourself in the eye. Compare j'oursclf with others. See if you can remember as much as the best of your com- panions about a lecture or a play j-ou have heard together, or a passage of a book you have both read. "Watch the people you admire. Note their conduct, conversation, and appearance, and how they differ from people you do not admire. Then see wdiich you resemble most. See if you are as careful, thorough, prompt, reliable, persistent, good natured, and sympathetic as the best gS VocationalGuidance people you know. Get your friends to help you form true judgments about yourself; and, above all things, be on your guard against self-conceit and flattery. Test every element of your character, knowledge, mental power, appearance, and manners as well as you can. And then bring the subject to the counselor." No one can read these words of Professor Parsons without feeling the fine seriousness with whieh the first systematic vocational guide gave himself to his mission. The following are samples of the kind of questions which a counselor can give for the pupil to write out alone at home, with his parents, or in school: I. Physical Characteristics. 1. Age. 2. Height. 3. Weight. 4. How tall should a boy (or girl) be, and how much should he weigh at your age? 5. Lung capacity. 6. How many times have you been sick? 7. How many days of school have you lost because of sickness? 8. How far have you ever walked? 9. In what time can you walk a mile? 10. What diseases have you had? 1 1. What is the health and general physical condition of father, mother, brothers, and sisters? These questions of health and strength are very impor- tant and should always be taken into consideration in the choice of a life work. n. A Group of Questions about the Family. 1. What are the vocations of older brothers or sisters? 2. Why did they select these vocations? 3. What is your father's vocation? 4. What prominent ability has he shown in his occupation or outside of it? If the father is a farmer, but very much interested in horses, this particular interest or any other should be recorded. If the father liked to trade horses, or repair machines, these special interests or abilities should be carefully noted. Further Methods of a Counselor gg 5. What is the occupation of your mother? 6. What are her deepest interests in hfe — music, art, nursing, and the Hke? 7. What are the occupations and marked talents of uncles and aunts on both sides of the house? 8. What were the occupations of grandparents and granduncles? Sometimes the ability of a famUy is so marked on both sides that it gives at once the clew to the direction in which the youth's best abilities must surely lie. III. A Group of Questions about Family Resources. 1. How long do you intend to go to school? 2. How far will your parents help you in your education? 3. Do you like your father's occupation? 4. What initial advantages will you have if you enter your father's occupation? 5. Can your father or mother help you to make a success in this line of work? 6. How far has your training fitted you for this line of work? The question of resources should be very carefully considered by every youth. Professor Parsons used to tell his boys: "If the father or uncle or any relative has a good business into which the boy can grow, with the prospect of adaptation and efficiency, the burden of proof is on the proposition that this foundation should be abandoned and another building started on a new site." IV. A Group of Questions in Regard to Scliool. 1. Do you like to study? 2. What studies do you like best? 3. In what studies do you make the best, and in what the poorest, records? 4. How do you spend your leisure time in school? y . A Group of Questions in Regard to Play. 1. What games do you like to play? 2. Do you ever start the games? 3. W^ho are your playmates? 4. Do you like to fish, to hunt? 5. Do you go swimming? How often? 8 TOO Vocational Guidance 6. What do you do in your free time at home? 7. How do you spend your evenings at home? a. Do your parents ever play with you? VI. A Group of Questions in Regard to Mechanical Ability. Do you Hkc to draw? Are you skillful in manual work? What tools have you used? 6. What have you ever made? 7. Do you like to work on machines? VII. A Group of Questions in Regard to Trading Ability. 1. How have you earned any money? 2. How do you spend it? 3. How much have you saved? 4. Do you like to buj' and sell? 5. What have you bought or sold? 6. Describe one of your shrewdest bargains, and tell how you made it. By way of illustrating the way in which these methods work out in practice, I cite a couple of cases of my own. One pupil, from his first entrance, insisted that the one thing he wanted to do was to drive horses. I paid little attention to the statement, thinking it merely one of the youthful "fire-engine ambitions." Later on, when the essays came in on ' ' What I am going to do for a life work," this boy still remained fixed in his desire to drive horses. His teacher, therefore, called my attention to the case, and I talked once more with the boy. I listened to his reasons, studied his record, and decided that he was right. I therefore found a place for him to try his hand on one of the school teams. This he han- dled, happily and with success, so long as he remained in school. Another lad, a little red-headed Scot, said in one of his essays that he wanted to be a printer and go to work in the school printing shop. His instructors reported that he had uncommon mastery of English for his age, while Further Methods of a Counselor loi his general record opposed no obstacle. He worked well at his new trade. In six months he was assistant editor of the school paper. On lea^'ing school he entered a printing office, and has been doing well ever since. All this is, howe^-er, but general suggestion as to methods which haA'e been found to work. The last idea that any reader should get is that any of them can be Cinirtosyiif Supori nU^ndeat of Sl'IiO'Is, Boston The boy in whom there is the making of a printer often finds his life wort: in ttie school printing stiop carried out in an)' mechanical or ^^diolesale fashion. Always must the individual teacher deal with the indi- vidual pupil, and tnrst, by some means, to be aljle to help and guide some puzzled young soul. Not a little of the foregoing, it is hardly necessary to point out, will also have to be adapted to various ages and conditions. Taken "for substance of doctrine," the final result of all these several dcA'ices will be to assign each Ijoy or girl, in the teacher's mind or on her fonnal records, to a definite place in some scheme of classification. The selection of a workable grouping is essential for an}' sort of clear thinking on these imi^ortant problems. 102 Vocational Guidance Practically, one has to employ several classifications, ac- cording to the point of view of the moment. The main thing is to keep them apart in one's mind, and not, as the logicians express it, to cross-classify,- The most familiar grouping, and the most useful on the whole for general educational purposes, is the old- fashioned division into: Defectives. Those who should not be in school at all. Dullards. Those who are two or more grades behind their proper age. Mediocre Children. Those who barely reach grade, or lag less than two years behind. Bright Children. Those who are one or two grades ahead of their age. Exceptional Children. Those who are more than two grades up. Essentially the same classification, but in a more sci- entific guise, is that of the Binet-Simon or other similar "intelligence tests." Persons, whether children or adults, are graded by their "mental age"; that is, by their ability to do the kind of thinking which is characteristic of the average normal child who has lived this, that, or the other number of years, without regard to the partic- ular matters which he may or may not have been taught. Adults are: Normals. If they test thirteen years or above, a thirteen-year-old mind being quite adequate for self- support at unskilled bodily labor or for dropping a strip of paper into a ballot box. Morons. If they test below thirteen, but above eight. These also vote, and make some sort of living if minutely overseen. Otherwise, they become tramps and minor criminals. Imbeciles. If they test below eight years. Fur flier Methods of a Counselor loj Idiots. If the_y test below three years, and therefore cannot be taught language or attend to their bodity wants. The grade teacher will encounter an occasional imbecile, and a good many morons. Three per cent of the school population is a fair average for the latter. But single schools have been knowii to split even between slighth' feeble-minded and normal, while industrial and refonn schools have usually about one half their pupils classing as defectiA'e. The new classification articulates with the old through the fact that the mind of the defectiA'e may begin young to slow down its rate of growth, sometimes as young as three 5'ears. Any child, therefore, whose mental age lags one, two, three, or four years behind his bodily age, or on the other hand, runs one, two, or three years ahead, fits at once into the old-fashioned school grouping. But the merit of the Binet scale is that an expert, in a half- hour, can place a complete stranger more accurately than can the most sympathetic teacher in a whole term. Its limitation is that it tends to break down after just about the age when the aA-erage boy or girl is getting ready for the high school and is in special need of A'oca- tional assistance. In general, the best advice to give the parents of a defective is that the child shall be imniediateh" taken out of the public schools and placed in some special institu- tion fitted to his peculiar limitations. In the best modem refuges, like that, for example, at Vineland, New Jersey, the moron is far happier, safer, and more useful than he can possibly be exposed to the buffetings of the nonnal world. Once settled in such an institution, he should spend there his entire life. Dullards also are now being placed in special classes. Otherwise the}' have to remain in school, where thej' J04 Vocational G ttidanc e receive the largest share of the teacher's time and energy, and to small profit. In the end, they arc destined to become "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the better endowed. Since they must, in any case, enter the ranks of unskilled labor, there is commonly little gain in prolonging their school life after it ceases to appeal to them. Persons of mediocre ability include, naturally, the great mass of mankind. Thc}^ are fitted to enter the commercial world, to become office workers, counter salesmen, and the like, or to undertake the low-skilled mechanical occupations. Bright or exceptional children should, as a rule, look forward to the highly skilled mechanical occupations, or plan to become traveling salesmen, foremen, superin- tendents, or proprietors in the business world. From these, also, is recruited the professional class. Outdoiii ni( iipiiliinis (III iin iinpniliiiil JkiIhk hi tin iiphiiilding o] delinquent!) m Die InduUnal Home )oi Oiil;, at Geneva, Illinois Fttrthcr Methods of a Counselor lOi General cjjh'iciicy in associatinn with otlier bnys and girts is a good lest of atjilily lo a/lain liigti-grade leorl! In all this, however, the teacher must beware of basing her judgment too much on larightness or dullness in books alone. General shrewdness and efficiency on the play- ground, in the shop and laboratory, in association with other boys and girls, arc also tests of ability^ to attain to the higher grades of work in the world. Another helpful classification is on the basis of probable educational opportunity. Class I. Those who must lea^-e school at fourteen and go to work. This, in a school given over completely to book work, raa.y often be the best thing for the j'outh. Pupils who ha^-e lost interest in study and yet keep on attending school merely because it is expected of them, arc likely to acquire little except unwholesome habits. Such need the education of labor and of practical life. But the contrary' case, where the youth would profit by further training and yet cannot obtain it, is a disgrace to the community. It is also A-ery poor economy on the io8 Vocational Guidanc e part of society. In such cases the sympathetic teacher with some ingenuity may often serve the community as weU as the pupil by obtaining financial assistance from some level-headed business man, not on the basis of charity but on a sound business basis. Class II. Boys and girls who can take one or two years beyond the elenientar}^ course in industrial, normal, trade, or business school. Class III. Boys and girls who can continue their education through the high school. Class IV. Boys and girls with unlimited resources and an ambition to obtain the education which equips them for highest service. Another helpful classification is as follows: Class I. Youths who are like their parents and would therefore naturalljr follow the work of their parents, whenever these are in well-selected occupations. In these cases, parents and teachers, after consultation, should cooperate to lead the boy or girl, by reading, experience, and tactful suggestions, into the parental work. Class II. Youths who show no special tendency, but who with good training could do successful work in one of several vocations. Children without marked tenden- cies should at first be guided toward the vocation of their parents, especially where family resources will give them a favorable start. This course should be followed until a different line of work makes its own demands upon them. Class III. Youths who are very different from their parents, and have marked tendencies in other directions. Often such bo^'s and girls will already have made up their mind just what they want to do. This decision, whether the counselor himself considers it right or wrong, should Vjc very carefully respected. Further Mctliods of a Counselor log Children of tliis class 2.0 to i^ork as yoiDig as llie laii' alloz^'s Finalh', there is to be kept in mind, especially in con- sidering families, the five great non-competing social groups of the economists. Practically, even in the most democratic comitries, these groups are A'cry nearly fixed castes. Few indeed are the persons who change their station or marry outside the one in which they were bom. These are, in order: Group I. Persons whose labor is almost entirely muscular, although they need not necessarily do hcaA-y work. Children in this group go to work as }'Oung as the law allows, obtain their maximum wage as soon as thc\' are full grown, are paid by the day, marry early, and rarely save anything toward their old age. Group II. Persons who, in addition to operating their muscles, have to exercise some judgment or alertness of mind. Here belong most mill operatiA'cs, miners, and no Vocational Guidance the vast horde of factory workers who fill boxes or paste labels. Their work is utterl^^ monotonous and pay is by the week, but rarely sufficient to permit any saving. Education com- monly stops, at the very latest, with the grammar school. With both these classes the chief concern of the voca- tional guide is to get the children out of the station in life in which they are born. Group III. This is the aristocracy of the manual la- boring class. All skilled workmen belong here and cer- tain small farmers, as distinguished from, farm hands. Here, for the first time, we meet pride of occupation, the general ownership of a little property, education carried beyond the grammar school, and mar- riage postponed till there is some prospect of supporting a family. No other social group offers such varied or difficult vocational problems as this. Group IV. Thisis the so-called "middle class." Though His own efforts should carry this boy far. Eugene Dumond, Albany, Oregon, and the twelve bushels of potatoes he raised in one year from a single potato Further Methods of a Counselor iii its income is not much greater than that of the preceding, it saves more frugaUy, refrains from early marriage, and puts its children into the high school. From this group are recruited the clerical and intellectual occupations — the bookkeepers, stenographers, nurses, salesmen, traders, foremen, managers, school teachers, principals, superin- tendents, lawyers, doctors, ministers. Most farmers also, though they work with their hands, belong to this division. This is especially the group where indi\'iduals expect to rise by their own efforts, and where the A'cca- tional guide should be most keenly on the alert for unusual ability or special gifts. Group T. This includes the well-to-do, who obtain property by inheritance or reckon their incomes b}' the year. Earning power usualh' begins late and increases until well past middle life. The children ha^■e unusual educational advantages, but present a verj? difficult. prob- lem to the vocational guide. This group is also a most promising field, for here are often found rare talents which without proper and skillful vocational guidance are fre- quently headed in unsatisfactory directions. For a more extended discussion of the use of questions and examinations, and examples of the guidance of more mature students, read Choosing a Vocation, by Frank Parsons. CHAPTER VII Men, WoiiEN, and Work WE turn now, as preliminary to the general problem of vocational education, to the present industrial situation in the United States. Of every one hundred persons in this country who have to be fed, clothed, housed, and otherwise provided for by somebodj', thirty-nine are too old, too young, or too feeble to work. Of the sixty-one who are able, twenty- three are home makers, not working for direct wages. This is the largest, as well as the most important, group of useful persons in the world. Only thirty-eight in CA'cry one hundred are left for all the outside labor of the world. Some of these are on their vacations; for some it is the slack season or hard times; for others there is an inefficient social adjustment which brings about an excess of workers in one field while there is a corresponding dearth in another, or else the indiA'iduals are inefficient and so fail to fit into the indus- trial scheme. For these and other reasons only eighty per cent of the industrial workers of the world are at work at any one time. Only thirty and one half persons in each one hundred, therefore, are left to do the world's work outside of the home. Of this thirt}' and one half, eleven and one half are engaged in agriculture ; eight and one half in manufac- turing and mechanical work of all sorts; six in domestic service — hotel waiters, barbers, housemaids, cooks, laun- drymen are in this group ; five are in trade and transpor- tation; and one and one-half in the professions. Men, W »i c II , and Work II '■ In other ^^-ords, out of e^-ery one hundred persons ele\-en or tweh-e are producing the ra\\' material for "consumers' goods"; eight or nine arc elaborating it to its final fonn; five are putting it into the hands of the consumer; twenty-nine are taking care of the rest, and forty-six are not at the moment doing anything. The actual producers are only twenty in one hundred. In round numbers, therefore, there are in the United States something more than twenty-one million women \^-ho Tt^o.ooo 6,800,000 1, 7,400 000 ! 8,000 000 12,600,000 1 21,000,000 1 Professional se.rvice Trade and transportation Don-iestic and personal service Manufactures and niech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits Home makers Estimated proportion of persons engaged in oceupalions, iijio give their entire time and energy to hotisekceping and home making. There arc about tweh-e and a half millionnien ^^-ho give their entire time and energy to raising foodstuffs and raw materials of all sorts which come out of the ground. Nearly nine million, both men and women, are artisans or manufacturers; scA'cn and one-half million are engaged in personal and domestic service, and six and three-quarters million, in trade and transportation. One million and three quarters are in the professions For our present purpose, howc^-er, the distribution of industries throughout the countr}- is less significant than in one's own locality. If we divide the entire United States into five groups of states, as outlined on the map on page 114, the following diagrams will exhibit at a glance the marked differences in the vocational .problem presented in the different states. 114 Vocational Guidance I ' l_ I C E N \ T R A;-f ^: ox. < "tlii^ N The five divisions in which the states are groiiped Jor comparison of occupations Fortunatel}' for the welfare of our land, home making is a nearly constant factor everywhere in the country, except in the Western division, where the per cent drops, not because women are unwilling to be home makers but because their number is few. The highest of all occupations absorbs almost half the available labor. The professions, too, are somewhat constant in their demands, but outside these two groups the local differ- ence is considerable. We have already noted that four fifths of the children bom in anj^ state continue there for the greater portion of their lives, while no fewer than nine tenths remain in the same state group. We can, therefore, by knowing the distribution of industries in any state, prophesy pretty accurately what will become of most of the boj^s and girls in its schools. The teacher can obtain lists of the occupations and numbers of workers of her state and city (if the population is more than 25,000) Per cent Continental United States Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits North Atlantic Division Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech, pursuits Agricultural pursuits South Atlantic Division Professional service Trade and transportation Domiestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech pursuits Agricultural pursuits North Central Division Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits South Central Division Professional sendee Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech. pu. suits Agricultural pursuits Western Division Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech, pursuits Agricultural pur; iits n. ZL A proportional comparison by geographic divisions of persons engaged in each class of occupation ii6 Vocational Guidance similar to the lists for the United vStates found in the Appendix of this book. In Massachusetts, for example, forty-six out of each hundred boys will get their living in mechanical pursuits or in manufacturing, while only five will support them- selves by agriculture. In Iowa the proportions are nearly reversed; forty-seven out of each hundred will work on farms, and only sixteen enter shop or mill. In Mississippi seventy-six per cent of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture, while fifty-two per cent in little Rhode Island are occupied in manufacturing. Oddly enough, New Mexico has the largest proportion of persons who earn wages by domestic, personal, or unskilled service, and California of professional men and women. The chance that a Califoniia-born boy or girl will enter law, medicine, teaching, or the like is a half greater than for the country at large. But while the Southern States are strong in agriculture and weak in manufactures, and the North Atlantic States weak in agriculture and topheavy with manufacturing, the older North Central States, — Illinois, Ohio, In- diana, A'lichigan, and Wisconsin, — have retained their preeminence in agriculture while at the same time they have become the leading manufacturing states of the Union. With their fertile soil and rich beds of coal, oil, gas, iron, and copper, they are virtually independent of the rest of the world, except for shoes and clothing. Children, therefore, bom in this section may turn to almost any occupation with equal ease. More interesting and suggestive still does this study become if we note the vocational differences between men and women and for both country and city as seen in the accompanying diagrams. In the large cities thirty- three boys in every one hundred will enter either trade or Percent o Mississippi Oklahoma Ar!<3nsas Indian Territory South Carolina Alabama North Carolina Texas Ha/.'aii North Dakota Georgia South Dakota Tennessee Louisiana Kentucky Kansas Nebraska Iowa West Virginia Virginia Florida Idaho Missouri New Mexico Minnesota Indiana Vermont Wisconsin Utah Oregon Michigan Arizona Wyoming Nevada Maine Washington Ohio Delaware Illinois Montana California New Hampshire Maryland Colorado Pennsylvania New York Connecticut New Jersey Rhode Island Massachusetts Dist- of Columbia Alaska ^^3 Agriculture fe%^ Manufactures and mechanical pursuits ^^^Trade and transportation t^ ^^SJj Domestic and personal service I I Professional service Proportions of persons iii each class of occiipatio^is by states lit Vocational Guidance Per cent Men Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufactures and mech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits Urban 40 50 bo yo So Ss -] 1 1 Rural 70 j-o Per cent Men Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufacturing and mech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits A relative comparison of opportunities for hoys in city and country JO So S5 1 \ 1 transportation, and forty will enter the mechanical and manufacturing vocations. These two groups make a demand for seventy-three out of every one hundred city boys, and they foretell, beyond all question, where the vocational guide in the city must give her chief attention. In the cities about thirty girls out of every one hun- dred are found constantly in the three groups, trade and transportation, domestic work, and manufacturing. Reckoning for the frequent changes of those who enter and afterward drop out, somewhere about fifty girls will enter these vocations for a longer or a shorter period. The charts show at a glance that the country girl is very much handicapped in the choice of work between school and marriage. The coming of the consolidated schools, it is hoped, will help to remedy this unfavorable condition. In the strictly rural communities from seventy to Men, W omen, and W or k IIQ Urban Per cent "Women Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal sei^vice Manufactures and mech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits Home makers 60 70 So SS' \ ? Rural soss ] III Per cent Women Professional service Trade and transportation Donnestic and personal service Manufactures and mech. pursuits Agricultural pursuits Home makers A relative comparison of opporlunities for girls in city and country eighty boys who remain there do farm work, for the domestic group is largely composed of the unskilled and unclassified farm workers. Ten or tweh-e boys will do mechanical work. To be efficient as a counselor the rural teacher must focus her interest on agriculture and the farm home. Cities differ from one another even more than states. This ma}f be seen in the diagram given on page 120, which shows the distribution in three especially interest- ing cities. In general, the cities run to trade and manufactures and the country to agriculture, but the local variants are manj', and one of the first duties of the vocational guide is to look up her neighborhood in the United States census and make sure as to just what are the actual oppor- tunities which the locality oft'ers for each particular sort 120 Vocational Gtiidanc e 50 bo 7° 75 n ] 1 1 1 1 1 ^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 St. Louis Professional sorvice Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufactures and mech, pursi.iits Agricultural pursuits Fall River Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufactures and mecfi, pursuits Agricultural pursuits Kansas City Professional service Trade and transportation Domestic and personal service Manufactures and mech, pursuits Arrricultural pursuits A comparison of occupations in St. Louis, an all-round city. Fall River, which specializes in one or two products, and Kansas City, Mo., the trading point for a large area of boy and girl. Worth noting, also, is the fact that although the urban population is now increasing three times as fast as the rural, the latter is still in excess, by seven and four- tenths per cent. Among cities, too, as among states, there is the same distinction between those which, like Philadelphia and St. Louis, distribute their manufactories over almost the whole possible range, and those which, like Paterson or Fall River, specialize in one or two products, and are ooncemed with little else. Always, however, in all vocational work in the schools, the teacher must keep in mind the double aspect of the subject. She will guide the boy or girl to a wise choice of a life task and to an adequate preparation for it, but Men, Women, and Work 121 she will also use this life-task motive as a spur to the daily work of the schoolroom. The distribution of industries in the states and cities of the country, which we ha^'e alrcad}' touched upon from the side of the first of these objects, lends itself with peculiar efficiency to the second. In no way can the I'nurtcsy a^ji^|j^^M-flraX '«^c^ ■^^^^I'-.^^^lM^^^g M ^^^^^ J^l ^Q^l,^^^^ ^^^^^^1 ^K: '^ft J^^Y^ ' ^^^^ JWuj^^^l^ME * it< 'jjrt fTI ■ B^^^^L^''*'^^ '* i^^^^Bs "?,"5 ISK4aikk£li0ii 134 Vocational Guidance the hazardous occupations. He will probably be among the few who arrive. But a youth of more moderate parts will more wisely play for safety. If he is to miss the great prizes anyway, he is better off in a field where there are none. The same reasoning applies also to those occupations or localities in which conditions have been rigidly stand- ardized, as for example by a labor union, as contrasted with those in which a workman sinks or swims on his own initiative. If his natural gait, on the whole, fits the lockstep of his group, still more if he comes a little short of the standard, then his best chance is in solidarity. But the man who has it in him to travel faster or farther than his mates had better go it alone. A dray horse will not draw his load any faster in company with a racer. It only frets the racer to hold him to the dray-horse pace. As between work that requires training of a special sort, like teaching in the grades, stenography, or nursing, and one that does not, the odds are always on the fornier class. The pay may not be so high to start with, because the best prepared beginner may have to master the prac- tical side of the business before he becomes of much use, but the chance of advance is commonly greater. In any case, the necessity for definite preparation acts as a barrier to competition and tends to keep wages up. On the other hand, there are what one may call general- intelligence and natural-equipment jobs. These, though they demand no specific training, inay presuppose a some- what high quality of mind or body, or, occasionally, certain special gifts. Telephone operators are of this class; so are many retail salesmen, drivers, motomien, conductors, certain sorts of inspectors who come in con- tact with the influential portion of the public, readers and companions, social secretaries, and professional chaperons. T li c D iff e r cu c c s among c c ii p a t i o n s 735 Policemen, firemen, porters, night watchmen, and the hke must have certain rather uncommon physical or moral gifts. Eyesight is often important. EAxn the abilit}' to endure noise, dust, bad air, long hours, broken sleep, may be a vocational asset. In one way or another, a surprisingly large number of occupations are fenced off by some special nati^-e quality, and are made attrac- tive to its possessors merely because the special kind of person is rare. If, then, any boy or girl appears to ha^-e natural quality, yet is cut off by circumstances from special training, he is by no means condemned to the ranks of unskilled labor. Such cases often furnish the most interesting problems which the A'ocational guide encounters. In none, per- haps, does a "successful solution bring a greater reward. High qualities of mind and body arc essentials for tlie one ivlio aspires to a place on a life-saving crew 136 Vocational Guidance One may note parenthetically that while there are certain temperaments to which confminj^ or monotonous work is nothing short of maddening, there are other temperaments to which variety is rather distasteful than otherwise. To perfonn the same task day after day brings to some men a sense of ease and security ; they like the repetition, as some people want to spend all their vacations at the same resort. Pro- fessor Munsterburg, in studying this problem, took pains to talk with work- men who were en- gaged in what seemed to him to be the most unin- teresting and monot- onous tasks that he could discover, only to find that the workers themselves saw nothing monotonous or uninteresting in their labor. The toil that seems utterly deadening to one type of mind may not seem at all so to the other. There are able men in both groups, and incompetents. The dif- ference is entirely temperamental, but it shuts off each sort of person from any satisfaction in the work of the other. The man who likes selling on the road will hardly make good as a bookkeeper, and the presence or C.ipTrit'ht lij l'n,l.TW..r..l ii Ui]d^/. «* ^'m p i'ii «i ■ n 1 i lif^ 1 Crotifded quarters and increasing, density of popidation make the streets the children's only playground T h e D iff c r en c c s among Occupations 141 Judging cor}!. The scientific study of agriculture not only tonls 'o inipro'ce crops, iuit makes country life more and more interesting The countr}-, on the contrary, impro\'es with age. The telephone, the automobile, the better quality of farm horse, spring wagons, the daily mail, the daily news- paper, modem homes, the consolidated school, better roads, improA-cd machinery, men's and women's clubs, increased social and educational adA^antages of man^r sorts, even the moving-picture show, are all additions to country life which leave its ancient advantages unalloyed. Country life becomes more interesting exery day. "When in doubt," to adapt Hoyle's old rule, "choose the country." It is all the while improving, rapidly, while the citj-'s gain is slow. Moreover, as one gets older the particular things that the country alone can furnish become doubly attractive. They are the things that last, and give durable satisfaction throughout life. There is a great deal of nonsense talked and written, just now, about "back to the country" — much of it by persons who 142 Vocational Gtiidanc e know the country only as they see it from a car window on their way between Chicago and Pittsburgh. But when all is said, two. boys out of three, bom in the country, will do better, taking a lifetime through, to stay where they were bom. The other one of the three may be another story. Increased social and educational opporlunilies leave the ancient advantages of I lie country unalloyed This much, then, by way of general comment on the industrial situation as it relates to boys and girls who are looking forward to places in it. In addition, the voca- tional guide needs a good deal of detailed infomiation concerning the application of these general principles. A convenient method of handling the data is this. For each store, factory, mill, and the like, or for each industry which takes boys or girls, prepare an outline statement at least as full as the examples here given. These are, for convenience, for the vicinity of Boston only and for girls, and are based on a study made by the Girls' Trade Educational League. The D iff c r encc s among Occupations 14J Errand Girl. Wages: Three to five dollars; no advancement. Qualifications; Brightness; carefulness; respectability. Outlook: None. Manual skill: None. jMental development: None. Dangers: Weariness; monotony; exposure to temptations. Seasons: Spring; fall. Hours: Eight to ten a day. Clothing Industry. Four to six per cent of girls from fourteen to sixteen years of age. Work at first: Unskilled; sewing on hooks and eyes and buttons; cutting threads; pressing; folding; packing. Wages: Three to five dollars. Advancement: Machine work. Qualifications: Good eyesight; carefulness; speed; application. Ultimate wages: Hand work, six to seven dollars; machine work, seven to nine dollars; maximum, ten to eleven dollars. Manual skill: Machine work calls for intelligent control of hand and finger movement; fine, quick, and accurate. Mental development : Fair. Disadvantages: Eye strain; overspeeding; sitting; noise and jar. Season: Busy, September to December, March to June; slack, Januarj' and February-, Juty and August. Hours; From 8 A.M. to 6 p.m. Opportunities for training: Boston Trade School; Hebrew Indus- trial School. Candy Manufacture. Sixteen per cent of girls in Boston; age, fourteen to sixteen. Work: Floor girls; carrying trays; wrapping; packing. Wages: Three to four and a half dollars; average, five to six dollars; maximum, seven to eight dollars. Advancement: Floor girl to wrapping, packing, dipping. Quahfications: Cleanliness; manual dexterity. Manual skill: Most unskilled; dipping, low-grade skill. Mental development: None. Dangers: High temperature in dipping rooms; overindulgence in candy. Seasons: Busy, September to Christmas, Easter to early summer; dull, January and July. 144 Vocational Guidance Hours: Fifty-four; 7.30 or 8 a.m. to 5:30 or 6 p.m. Opportunities for training: Only factory. Millinery, Work: Sewing in linings; making frames; putting on facings. Wages: Witliout pay, then three or four dollars; maker, eight to twelve dollars; trimmer, fifteen to twenty-five dollars. Advancement: Assistant maker; maker; trimmer. Qualifications: Liking to sew; artistic sense; originality; resource- fulness; dry hands; dexterity; good eyesight; good general education. Outlook: Good for older girls. Manual skill: Good. Mental development: Good. Disadvantages: Unsteadiness of work; eye strain; sitting; hur- ried lunch. Season: Twelve to fourteen weeks in spring and fall. Hours: Long in busy season. Opportunities for training: Boston Trade School; High School of Industrial Arts. Such records, added to and corrected year after year, like the individual records already described, become more and more valuable as time goes on. Careful and trustworthy surveys of the business and industries of our states and all the larger cities will soon be made for the use of parents and teachers and youths for vocational guidance. These surveys will give ac- curate information concerning wages, hours of labor, methods of promotion, training required and given, health, and moral conditions of each occupation. But for the present each teacher must make her own local survey as accurately as possible. CHAPTER IX HoiiE Making IT is difficult to realize, in these days when so much is being said and written, by no means always wisely, about the industrial emancipation of women and the extinction of the home, that one half the women in the United States over twentA'-five years of age are already wives. Another quarter will marry during the next five years. At thirty-five onh' one sixth remain unwedded; while by middle life, from elcA'en twelfths to fifteen six- teenths of those who sun-ive are either wi\-es or widows. The percentages, taken from the Twelfth Census of the United States, follow: Ages at which Women JMarry 2 per cent, o 47 3 ' 7^ 4 ' 83 3 X8 8 ' 92 I ' 93 3 93 8 ' 1-9 of all women, marry before 20 i-^ " " -'5 3-4 " ' 30 5-6 " " 35 «-9 ' "' 45 ii-i^ " 55 14-1.^ " " 65 15-16 " " " " " 100 Moreover, of every hundred American girls between school and marriage, fifty are either assisting their mothers in their own homes, making homes for their relatives, or working for wages under some other home maker. 'Exen of the fift}' that remain, who at first glance might be counted as being outside the home, more than thirty are living under their parents' roofs or in the homes of relatives. In other words, of all American girls above school age, half have some important part in home making, while 145 146 Vocational Guidance two thirds of the remainder are Hving in homes in which they have a direct personal interest. At any one time, only an average of seven women in every one hundred over sixteen years of age are wholly clear of domestic life, while so rapid is the transfer of these to homes of their own that vir- tually one half of the women workers of the country remain under twenty -five j-ears of age. For the purposes of vocational advice it is convenient to separate the great mass of womankind which is concerned with home making into three groups. These are : i . Home makers in the stricter sense, who give all their time and energy to their special task. This group will include many paid housekeepers. 2. Partial home makers, who are heads of households but at the same time work for wages outside their homes. 3 . Assist- ant home makers, who, not the heads of households, are workers in the home either as members of the family or as hired sen.'ants. A few of this group, however, do hardly more than "live at home." Of the first class there are, generally speaking, about eighteen million in the United States, while virtually all women who live long enough sooner or later enter this A partial home maker Home I[Iakiug 14"/ group. No other occupational division, save only that of the men who take up fanning, at all approaches this in numbers. No other makes so large a contribution to civilization or is so essential to the well-being of the state. Few, on the whole, require as hard labor. Partial home makers number less than two million. The group includes a small but highly valuable body of women ^■\•ho after they have provided fully for the welfare of their homes have still time, energy, and talent left over for outside ser\'ice. The author of Uncle Tom's Cabin is the best-known example of this t\-pe. Few persons realize how many writers, artists, musicians, lecturers, and other professional women of the day are also com- petent and successful housekeepers, who take more pride and satisfaction in their households than in their public careers. It is highly desirable, on all accounts, that this class of partial home makers should be encouraged. For girls of moderate special talents and considerable general efficiency the arrangement is a peculiarly happy one. The other, and far larger, group of partial home makers is much less fortunate. This is made up of women who from necessity are doing two persons' work at once — caring for a home and proA'iding for it. Sometime in the near future, no doubt, all our states will care adequately for this class, as several already do. In the meantime, since no woman enters it of her own ^•olition, it lies beyond the concern of the vocational guide. Assistant home makers, other than sen^ants on wages, number slightly more than fi^-e million, of whom nearly one million are diA'orced women and widows. Four million are likely to be influenced by vocational advice. This brings us to one of the most trying of all social or vocational problems, the question of paid household ser^'ice. About one American famih' in twenty keeps 148 Vocational Guidance a servant; and of these, two thirds are either foreign-bom or of foreign-bom parentage, shghtly more than a fifth are negroes, and only the remaining eighth of the whole are native-bom whites. As things are now, domestie service, in most parts of the country, is not to be recommended for any self-respecting girl. The hours are long, the duties are uncertain, the entire relation, in most eases, is feudal and undemocratic. Over large portions of the country a housemaid loses caste and is virtually cut off from marrying as well as she might ha^^e done in another vocation. There are, however, marked differences in local con- ditions; while almost ever j' where, in the larger establish- ments, sen-ants are decently treated and well paid. No small portion of the snobbery and hardship which the household assistant encounters is at the hands of mistresses who are themselves lacking in brains and character. Conditions, moreover, tend to improve decidedly, while the growing practice of having housework done by persons who come in for their work and then go home, tends to assimilate household to factory standards. Meanwhile, modem house planning, together with power-driven labor-saving apparatus of all sorts, is both making house- work easier and necessitating a higher quality' of service, with correspondingly higher pay. One thing with another, it is difficult to lay down any general principles, and each special situation will have to be decided on its merit. Virtually all women, we have seen, will at some time in their lives either make homes for themselves or else take a hand with helping other women make theirs, while at least half will do both. The chance, therefore, that any individual schoolgirl will follow home making as her chief vocation in life is distinctly greater than that any schoolboy H o m e M aki n g 149 of corresponding age will follow the particular career on which he has set his mind. This is the one great central fact which confronts the ^-ocational guide who deals with girls. Nor is this great fact one that the progress of time can e^•er alter. The normal, average women, for whom A steam la mid i v Poioer-dnven labor '.a^ins. apparatus lessens the housewife's laboi domestic life seems naturally- and without argument the most interesting and the most rewarding of all ^'ocations, are the ones who marry. Theirs are the daughters who, both by inheritance and by example, follow in their mothers' way. The five per cent or less of females in each generation whose home-making instincts are imperfect, in general fail to marry or to bear children, and do not ti'ans- mit their defect to anybody We are not reckoning with another small group who fail to marry for other reasons. The great force of natural selection is, therefore, always on the side of the home-making type. MoreoA-cr, the greater the industrial freedom gi^-en to ^^-omen, the more efficiently does this selective process work. The fewer 150 Vocational G uidanc i A class in cooking in the Continuation School, Boston. The average woman finds domestic life the most interesting and the most rewarding of all vocations the women who are pushed into home making, the more "pure bred" becomes the race of those who are drawn. It is interesting to note that while various social prophets are proclaiming a state of society in which the home has disappeared, and all mankind are fed in eating houses and lodged in caravansaries, while their children are brought up by strangers and by machinery, the actual tendency of things is in precisely the opposite direction. Whatever is being lectured and written about, what is actually being built is the compact, well-planned, single- family, servantless dwelling where even the egg beater is motor driven and home making becomes a work of art. The home has, indeed been a little slow in its response to modem demands; but having once started, it comes with a rush! Home I\I ak i n ? 151 This being the situation, there is nothing to be done but to look the facts of life squarely in the face and prepare every girl for the vocation which she is almost certain to enter. E^•ery girl should know, in a practical way, how to cook and serve food, to wash and iron, to mend, to clean, to sew; she should know something of nursing and the care of children, and something of the arts that' go to create that home atmosphere which makes the home and the lodging house as wide asunder as the poles. All this, fortunately, is already being done in the best modem public schools. The course of study used in Colebrook Academy' in New Hampshire, shown on the following page, m&Y be suggestiA'C and helpful to the teacher if she has not a textbook on domestic science in her librar\-. to care for the baby I ^2 Vocational Guidance FJcmenldry Sewing.' 1. All cutting and stitching involved in sewing simple articles for dress and household, including the making of such arti- cles as jabots, sewing bags, towels, aprons, doilies, handker- chiefs, kimonos; darning, mending, etc. 2. Sewing clothing cut by competent fitter. 3. Elementary machine sewing. Dressmaking, Millinery, and Designing. 1 . Designing, cutting, and fitting of clothing. 2. Purpose and requirements of clothing; materials; selection of materials. 3. Instruction and practice in drafting, including the making of drawers, shirtwaists, skirt patterns, etc. 4. Making gingham dress from pattern. 5. Material used for hats. 6. Combination of colors and materials. 7. Relation of face to shape of hat. 8. Plates and drawings. 9. Designing of hat for pupil. 10. Selecting material and making a hat. Elementary Cooking. 1. Management of eoal, wood, and oil ranges. 2. Care of utensils, sink, and other apparatus. 3. Preparation and cooking of vegetables and cereals. 4. Use and cooking of eggs and milk. 5. Preparation of cheap cuts of meat. 6. Different methods of preparation of fish. 7. Batters and doughs, and preparation of muffins, popovers, bread, and similar articles. 8. Preparation of simple desserts, such as bread pudding, lemon jelly, tapioca cream, etc. 9. Preparation of simple menus. 10. Preparation and serving of simple dinners, including instruc- tion in table setting, serving, etc. The rural teacher in a school where nearly all her pupils bring their lunches can teach many of the essential things in this course on cooking by a shrewd use of the lunch 1 These courses of study in Colebrook Academy, New Hampshire, are taken from The Readjustment g/ a Rural Iltgli School to the Needs of a Communitv. by H. A. Brown, United States Bureau of Education. Bulletin IQ12, No. 20. Home M ak i n g ijj hour. A good warm lunch prepared by the older girls with the aid of the mothers in the community will help solve the difficulties and problems of the noon hour. It will improve the afternoon session, and both teach- er and pupils will be happier and live longer. Cooking, sewing, and good manners can be taught with less energy than is commonly used in keeping order. Household sanitation and personal hygiene are also well provided for, and something is already being done with social training. To all these, however, should be added the vocational motive. The girl, like the boy, should always understand the relation of her school task to her life work. Much more than this might well be done. "The purse strings of the American people are held by the women," and "What we buy, we make." The spender controls the industrial situation, absolutely. She deter- mines what shall be made, and under what conditions. The sweat shop exists only that prices for her may be low. The product of our industries is cheap and trash}-, or well made and beautiful, as the purchaser demands. Every girl, therefore, ought to be taught to buy wisely and to understand the far-reaching industrial and social effects of her selection. Quite as much ought every girl to be instructed concern- ing the significance of the family and its place in the state, and concerning the social customs and moral standards of the community which, in these days, are detennined largely by women. Most of all, perhaps, does the happi- ness of each woman, the character of her home, her influ- ence in the community, the ultimate \'alue of the ^\0Tk that she does in the world, depend on the sort of man she marries. It was the opinion of Darwin that the whole course of human evolution has been determined by 154 Vocational Guidance woman's choice of a mate; while many of his disciples go so far as to maintain that "conjugal selection" is the only biologic force which, at the present day, has any appreciable influence for human progress. Surely, then, a "eugenic conscience" is one of the things that every prospective home maker ought to possess. The interests of small girls naturally center about home making Does all this appear a large program' Let us then reflect that the major portion of the detailed instruction is already being given in our most progressive schools. The thing most needed now is to focus the child's interest, to make her think about home making as an immediate personal problem, so that she will keep her eyes open and notice successful and happy homes as she notices striking hats and coats. In all parts of our country there is a tendency to call attention to the unhappy homes. Divorces and family quarrels make prominent headlines for the daily papers Home Making ijj and comedy and tragedy for the moving-picture shows. So much also is being said about the white-slave traffic that some persons are inclined to think that all men are bad and few women T,'irtuous. This is directly contrary to the facts. Such persons overlook entirely the great army of daily toilers who make up the great mass of man- kind. In the ranks of honest toil, virtue is the rule and its absence the exception. It is safe to say that the great majority of men in all classes remain absolutely true and loyal to their homes. A few teachers have come from broken and unhappy homes, where their own lives have been saddened and prejudiced. Such a teacher must remember that she is dealing with children, many of whom come from good homes. She can, by a careless word or act, poison a child's thought toward home making. This is criminal. She can, by rcA-crence, increase the child's interest and respect for home making. This is the greatest sen.'ice a teacher can undertake. In spite of all the faults and limitations of parents, it is unquestionabh' true that the home is the most powerful educational institution in society. All the great fundamental virtues — reverence, honesty, sympath}', purity, and modesty — are learned at home and almost never outside of it. In the exceptional cases it will often be discovered that the beginnings of virtue were made at home, and the erring youth was brought back to a mother's or father's teaching. At least three fourths of the education of men, and a still larger part of the education of women, is received in the homes of their childhood and parenthood. The teacher is an assistant to the parent. If certain elements appear too advanced for the elementary schools, let us reflect that we are already 156 Vocational Guidance teaching, from the lowest grades up, the most difficult, obscure, complicated, and generally unexplored of all sciences, namely human physiology. Compared to in- struction in " the scientific effects of alcohol on the human system," a suggestion on the unwisdom of marry- ing a drinking man is simplicity itself. The great diffi- culty with the voca- tional guidance of girls, however, is this, that they must so often be prepared for two oc- cupations in order to be ready for one. All girls must be trained for home making, if the American home is to continue to do Its high work. At the same time, at least half of the girls will have to be trained for some- thing else. Each Nursing is a vocation which contributes directly to increase the efficiency of the home maker that is to be woman is likely to enter at least two vocations. Practically, the matter works itself out in one of two waj'S. Either the girl occupies herself between school and marriage with some vocation which requires little preliminary training before earning power begins, — and this, as we have seen, tends to become the prevailing type of the occupations reserved for women, — or else she Home Making 757 takes up some \'ocation \\'hich directly ]:>rcpares her for the home, and for which, oftentimes, her training for home making directly prepares her. How many of these latter there are one does not realize mitil he actually counts them. Women in Work Rel.\ted to the Home Number ^^ cent 1. Domestic workers closely related to home making 1,885,478 8.1 2. Agriculture. Majority are members of family or owners of farms 770,055 3 . 3 3. Workers with needle and sewing machines, about 700,000 3,1 4. Professional 430,576 1 , 9 16.3 Women in Work Unrel.^ted to the Home Number ^^ cent 5. Workers in mills and factories about 350,000 i . 5 6. Office workers about 300,000 i . 2 7. Saleswomen and business about 250,000 i 8. Miscellaneous .6 igooCensus 4.3 Only one woman worker in five is doing something quite unrelated to the hon:e. But training in cooking, sewing, dressmaking, millinery, decorating, nursing, teach- ing, — one need not go on with the list, — all contribute directly to increase the efficiency of the home maker that is to be. Girls of the second group, who enter store, or office, or factory before they take up their final \'ocation, eonimonh' gain far more than they lose. They get standards of order and efficiency, a knowledge of the world and of the value of money, a sense of independence and of self-reliance that, in the long run, are worth a good deal more than the special technique of housekeeping which they may miss. I ^8 Vocational Guidance In some instances they get a wider choice of husbands, — a highly important matter from any point of view. The whole vocational problem, with its ideal solution as it concerns the girl who, between school and marriage, is not especially needed in her own home, is well summed up in two quotations, the first from Professor Earl Barnes: "During the period of transition from schools to their own family life, the girls might well give a half-dozen years to work in factories and stores, where the conditions should be as good and as well guarded as in our best school buildings — in factories, in a word, where the employers would be willing that their own daughters should work." The second quotation is by Mrs. Sally Joy White: "They, the women wage earners, do not take up the work with the earnestness that men do; it is more often than not a temporary makeshift, a something that must be done, — in order to be inde- pendent, — to bridge over a certain time of waiting, usually the time that lapses between school and marriage. It is not regarded as a permanent thing, and the girl very openly says that she accepts a position of the kind only until such time as the coveted position of wife is open to her. Now in one way that is all right and natural. There is no one in the list of employments, in all that comes to a woman's hand to do, so important or beautiful as that of making the home. But it must come naturally and it must not be too openly anticipated. The work meanwhile must be just as faith- fully done, as much heart and brain put into it, as if one expected to do it forever. It makes the way easier for other women who have to follow in some footpath of toil, and it adds to the self-respect of the worker as well as to her value to her employers. So while I would not have you look lightly upon the most royal gift that can come to your life, neither would I have you stand in an attitude of waiting expectantly, but go on in a dignified fashion, rounding out your life in every way, until the great glory of perfected womanhood comes into your life. Then take it, feeling that it is yours by divine right." As for the girl who becomes an assistant home maker to her mother or to some other woman before she goes to a home of her own, she commonly starts her married life Home Alaking 159 A position in the "Off the Street Club Band" will enlarge the social group and the experiences of the child with a better mastery of her trade than does the girl who first works outside. Part of the trouble with the girl who is needed in her parents' home is that she is not enough needed. Her people cannot manage without her; and yet, too com- monly, she does not haA-e enough to do or enough respon- sibility to make her work reallj^ interesting. The obvious remedies are partial work outside, study, the tr\4ng out of possible A-ocations; best of all, perhaps, definite prepa- ration and practice that look toward the home. The girl at home needs a good aA'ocation in music, art, church work, if for no other purpose than to increase her social group and social experiences. The girl with an avocation will be of more value as an assistant home maker. More- over, it would be, in many ways, an adA-antage if the i6o Vocational Guidance Home making is an art to be picked up by obsertution and learned by doing daughter at home could be paid wages hke aiiA' other worker, as later, when a wife, she should have her deter- mined and unquestioned share in the family income. After all, hoine making is a peculiar vocation. Success in it depends on character, brains, standards, experience of the world, sheer womanliness, more than on any specific piece of infonnation which one has or lacks. The home maker, unlike the toiler for wages, picks up her load graduall3^ first a husband, then one child, then another; a little house to learn in, and then a larger one. Of all occupations, home making is the most "feminine," in the sense that it is most an art to be picked up by observation and learned by doing rather than a trade that has to be mastered, once for all, in advance. Naturally, the discussion of home making has focused on the feminine side, but a good home is alwa^-s the Home Making i6i product of the s_\'mpathetic cooperation of man and woman. Men come nearest to the group of "partial home malvcrs" who by choice have two vocations. All of the arguments in regard to home planning and deco- ration, household sanitation, and the training of children apply equally well to the boy. In addition, there should be a training for a boy in the spirit of thoughtfulness and chi\-alr3' toward women which allows for no exceptions. One cannot help feeling that this whole problem of the vocational guidance of girls is at the present time very far from anything like a final solution, and that, for various reasons, no group of persons is on the whole better fitted to deal with certain aspects of the matter than are the grade teachers of the countrv. Evidently, in the end, the problem will have to be settled by woman, not by man, and in accordance with feminine, not masculine, stan.dards and ideals. Most teachers are young enough to feel the spirit of the tiines, detached enough to see the prolDlem as a whole, \\-hile at the same time, far more than any other equally large group of wage earners, they are in close association with the normal, wholesome, average community life. The social worker is too much concerned with the unsuccessful and "submerged"; the lecturer or writer too much out of contact with everyday reality. Neither so much as approaches the grade teacher in her influence over the young. ^Moreover, the teacher herself has, in general, had a nearly ideal preparation for home making — a vocation, be it obsen-ed, to which she by no means infrequently turns. In short, the girl who fits herself for teaching, keeps school, let us say, five years, and then marries, becoming herself the tj-pe of a success- ful life, treading the way that she points out. CHAPTER X Agriculture NEXT to home making, both in its importance to society and in the number of persons whose voca- tion it is, stands agriculture. Over seventy boys in one hundred in country districts take up farming, and, naturallJ^ an equal proportion of girls become farmers' wives. An appreciable number of women, also, support themselves wholly or in part by the lighter sorts of agri- cultural work, such as poultry raising, market gardening, and the growing of small fruits. Besides these, there is a vast mass of unskilled seasonal farm labor which does not count as any part of the permanent country popu- lation. In other words, there are at the present time in the United States six million, four hundred thousand resident farmers on their own or rented land. These are assisted by three million members of their families and three million transient laborers. The number of farm workers in the country increases with the growth of the general population; but the pro- portion tends distinctly to decrease. Thirty 3'ears ago, over forty-four Americans in a hundred got their living out of the soil. To-day, the number lies between thirty- four and thirty-five. At least nine boys in each hun- dred, therefore, who a generation ago would have stuck to the farm, are now leaving it for the city. Indeed, since the beginning of the present century the countrj^ population of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa has actually decreased. Three of our richest states, capable 162 Agriculture 163 of supporting thirty million people in comfort, are actually going backwards. The land is still cultivated, but in larger units and ^yith an increasing proportion of tenants, both for cash and on shares. The proportion of tenancy is, moreover, highest on the best soil. A certain amount of rentable land is, to be sure, highly desirable, since it enables ambitious young men to get their start in life; but too much of it introduces serious problems which bear directly on voca- tional guidance. Tenancy, as a rule, means robbing the soil, and therefore a decreasing return for labor. The tenant moves often, and so fails to become a citizen with local interests. Himself lacking the sense of ownership, he lacks also one of the strongest motives for training his children to respect farni work. On the other hand, the feudal landlord moves into town, fails to become a citizen in his new environment, and degenerates. Both by precept and by example, he educates his children away from the farm. The result of the present system is an attitude of mind toward agriculture that ma}' afTect unfavorably half the children of a community. Copyrighted by Undorw.x.d k Uuderwrw^d. N. Y. One of the possibte lliirty-five boys who will get a living out of the soil 164 Vocational Guidance The reason for this decrease is not far to seek. Tlie de- mand of man for food remains a nearly constant quantity. With the progress of society he tends to increase greatly the variety of his food, but not its total quantity. In fact, with increased knowledge of nutritive values and increased facilities for avoiding waste, the total quantity of food needed for a given population may actually be lessened. Meanwhile, as better methods of agriculture increase the yield per acre and new and better machinery adds to the efficiency of labor, fewer persons do the same work. Roughly speaking, the time required for handling an acre of potatoes, from plowing to harvest, has been reduced from thirty-eight hours to nine, of oats from sixty-six hours to seven, of hay from twenty-one hours to four, while the acre of wheat that once required sixty-one hours of hand labor is now cared for by machinery in three. All of these various causes, working together, tend to shift labor from agriculture to manufacturing, where, of course, the demand for more product is unlimited. Inevitably, therefore, the drift of population is from farm to city. Consequently, most of the talk which we hear nowa- days about getting back to the farni is utterly vain. It is true that we can so increase the rewards and the attrac- tiA'cness of fann life that a better quality of boys and girls will stay there. Exactly this, as a matter of fact, is now being done. But there is no possible way to move per- manently any group of workers from city to country unless their city work comes with them. To attempt this is merely to drive an equal number of country dwellers cityward. All this the vocational adviser in the country must understand and face. But there is farming and fanning! One does not farm in the abstract; he grows and markets certain definite crops. There is, then, always the local problem. All Agriculture 165 the various kinds of agriculture, moreover, constitute separate vocations in the abihties the}' require, tlie train- ing they demand, and the rewards they offer. For small farms, for example, with intensi\'C work in fruits, vegetables, poultry, or dairy products, there must be, along with other things, a kind of put- tering love for that particular thing. As one poultryman has p)ut it, " To be success- ful with hens, a person must have feathers." There is hen sense as well as horse sense, and certain individ- uals seem to have an innate understanding of particular living things. This, cer- tainly, is one of the things to be watched for in the young. On the other hand, for large-scale fann- ing there is required virtually the same business sense and managerial ability as for any other fomi of production. Sound judgment is, of course, the first prerequisite of any successful business. Besides this, the large-scale fanner must have a knowledge of men and skill in handling them. This means sympathy, tact, a sense of justice, and finnness of character, all of them qualities ^^-hich may show earh' in school life, ^r/4 '^ .< r-^,^ ^r^^ti'i — »*p Raising fruit on the small farm requires a kind of puttering love for that particular thing i66 Vocational Guidance especially on the playground. He should have a level- headed business sagacity which keeps expenses below income and therefore shows a profit; a progressiveness balanced by a conservative economy which leads him to provide fertilizers and machinery and yet leaves the ledger right side up. Nearly all farmers, also, in these days of machinerj', need to have fair mechanical ability in order to select their apparatus with discretion and care for it in use. Few, probably, do really well without uncommon powers of obscn'ation. Scholarship, moreover, counts for the modern fanner, who must read up on market con- ditions, soils, seeds, varieties of animals and plants, methods of handling animal and plant diseases, and a host of other matters of "book learning." Evidently, there are few occupations that call for a better balanced or more all-round ability. t'.iLirt.-.-y of B.M.kf-r T. U'rishi A study of the cow. Keen powers of observation are essential to all successful farming A grt culiit r e 167 f^-flt^ M i I Lured by specious advertisements, the casual jarm laborer follows the crops across the country How far removed from either of these types is the casual fann laborer ! He spends his winters in the slums of a city. In the growing season, lured by specious advertisements or by the ^'oice of spring, he follows the crops across the country, beating his way on freight trains and lodging in out-buildings and bams. Twelve thousand of his like have been stranded at one time in a single city of the Northwest, waiting for the grain harvest, a moral and social danger to the community and a degenerat- ing influence on one another. It would be far better if, as in the old days, all farm labor could be done by resident citizens, sufficiently numerous to handle the rush season, and provided with by-employments for slack times. We have already noted that the farmer, though he works long and hard with his hands, belongs in his social i68 Vocational Guidance affiliations with the business and professional castes rather than with the so-called "laboring classes." He does not, like the mechanic, learn his trade once for all and then go on repeating himself for the rest of his days. Rather is he, on the contrary, like the surgeon, explorer, engineer, surveyor, geologist, sculptor, essentially a brain worker despite strong muscles and skillful hands. From the vocational point of view it would be quite possible to treat agriculture simply as one form of business were it not for certain peculiar educational and social problems which it presents. How multifomi the problem is, socially as well as vocationally, will appear from a glance at the conditions of production of a few great agricultural staples. In the com country there is incessant labor from early spring until the plowing, planting, and cultivating are over. Then comes a rest period from "laying by" until han^est- ing in the late fall. Here comes opportunity for visiting and for the Chautauqua course. Winter also is a leisurely time; while throughout the year a moderate amount of attention to cattle, hogs, and chickens adds variety to the day's work. Farms are usually of medium size, and most of the labor is done by machiner^^ The result is a com- munity of high general intelligence and, in many sections, an interesting social life. In the small-grain region, on the other hand, while there is the same alternation of periods of leisure and of high activity, with so much high-skilled mechanical labor as to make wheat growing almost a mechanical trade, the farms are in general large. The result is that in spite of the high level of inteUigence in these communities there is limited cooperation and a notable dearth of social life, especially for the farmers' wives. A poultry farm or a market garden near one of the great Agriculture i6g cities of the Northeast presents still other contrasts. The proprietor of either may dwell amidst "commuters," and be essentially a city man. One cannot say that he has a vocation for "agriculture." He must specify what sort and where. One point, nevertheless, nearly all types of farming have in common — the alternation of seasons of light work with toil that nms to twelve and fifteen hours a day. The fitness of any youth for farm life depends in part on his ability to utilize the one and to endure the other. Alany types of agriculture, moreover, do involve a good deal of isolation and circumscription of life. Some characters mellow under this; more, probably, harden and narrow. Such purely temperamental differences, also, may need to be considered. It should not be forgotten that many of the elements which go to make fanning unattracti^'e as a ^'Ocation are largely within the control of the fanners themselves. Any one who chooses agriculture as a career can, if he will, make the life appreciably more desirable than it is. Consider, for example, the single element of cooperation. There are at the present time, in this country, a thousand cooperative selling agencies and four times as many societies that buy. There are eighteen hundred grain elevators owned in common, and twenty-four hundred cheese factories and creameries. Eight^'-fiA-e thousand agricultural cooperatiA'e societies have together no fewer than three million members. Quite aside from the economic importance of these bodies, they are powerful social agencies which develop the fanner both as a citizen and as a man. No other movement, in fact, is so much needed at the present time or gives greater promise of financial and moral returns. Denmark, at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, was ijo Vocational Guidance nearly ruined. To-day it is one of the richest countries in the world — it has been judged to be absolutely the richest in Europe in the general average prosperity of its citizens. Cooperation, more than any other one thing, has made the difference. The same cooperation in buying, and in marketing and financing crops, should work equal wonders in this countrAf. The teacher can render great service by starting and supporting various kinds of social and cooperative activ- ities. These movements must be closely tied to the economic life of the community, — better soil, better crops, and better homes. Com, cotton, potato, and fruit-growing clubs can be started for the boys; sewing and cooking clubs for the girls; Hesperia associations' for parents and teachers; permanent: institutions and granges for old and young. When a social interest is once started in a community it is sure to spread. Miss Jessie Field of Page County, Iowa, has shown the value of this kind of work in connection with her district schools. Nebraska has made it a state-wide movement of its department of edu- cation, and many of the agricultural colleges employ an expert on boys' and girls' clubs. In several states, es- pecially in the South, independent associations are doing the same kind of work. Closely related to the social activities is the play spirit. One of the greatest needs of nonnal life is more pla3^ The isolation and monotonous routine of f ann life have driven the more social youths to the cities and established in the country a deep-seated prejudice against play. In this field the teacher must often take the initiati\'e, and must work with great tact, for the school trustees and the parents may be out of sympathy with play. "It must be borne in mind," says Professor Myron T. 'A local movement in Michigan for the upbuilding of a rural community. Agriculture 171 The neighborhood playground in the city furnishes opportunities for cooperative play which the isolation of farm life has denied coiinlrv children Scuddcr, in the tenth Year Book of the National vSociet)^ for the Stuch' of Education, "that play in the country is not so much to promote health as to develop the higher social interests, to introduce another powerful centripetal factor into countrj' life which will tend to counteract the expulsive features which have been so activelj' de- populating our country districts. The country- child does not play enough. His repertoire of games is surprisingly small and inadequate. If he would play more he would love the country better, see more beauty in it, feel the isolation less." Worth noting in this relation are the recommenda- tions of the Country Life Commission. These are, in brief, the development of a cooperatiA^e spirit, especiall}' in the home; simplification, in many cases, of the diet; convenient and sanitary houses, with nmning water; more I "J 2 V oc at'i Guidance mechanical aids ; better means of communication, such as roads, telephones, and reading circles; good and con- venient gardens; better developed women's organizations. Farm life, not as it is but as it would be with these and other improvements, is the picture to be held before the country boys and girls. One singular advantage over all other vocational guides m'^^^^S A^ '^l^'^S^^^^^^B H^^^ «> -""^M^^i^mtl^tl^^^KKW' w^^^^^k y.'- ' i^^^^^^^^^dy- l^^^^l , fe'" T^^^^^^^^^^^ i^^Bii .k. -^-iP'<" ^^^^HHB! Mechanical aids make easier the work of the farmer's wife belongs to the teacher in the country school — she can make the dominant local industry an important part of her class work. Paradoxically enough, the school garden, with its early radishes and lettuce for the home table and its asters and marigolds for transplantation to the back yard, is a city idea. So, too, is the device of correlating this funda- mental interest of all children with the teaching of more bookish subjects. Unfortunately, it is only too true, as Sir Horace Plunkett has remarked, that "the education given to country children has been invented for them in the city, and it not Agrictiltiire lyj only bears no relation to the life the}^ are to lead, but actually attracts them toward a town career." Following', however, is an idea peculiarly adapted to country' use, and of immense educational value. "The cultivation of plants," says Professor Hodge in his well-known Nature Study and Life, "has indicated and developed elements of character fundamental to civilized life. Willingness to work for daily bread, intelligent provision for the future, courage to fight for home, love of country, are a few among the \'irtues attained. When we consider its universal and fundamental character, the omission of soil lore from a system of education for the young is suggestive of a lapse into barbarism." Our school systems change slowly, but it is within the power of every teacher in a country school, man or woman, to correlate agriculture and farm work with almost every school study. The nature study of the primary grades can be gi^-en a strong agricultural flavor, and used to excite a liA-ely and lifelong interest in common everyday phenomena. The rural teacher is especially fortunate in the large use she can make of outdoor work. At various seasons of the year she can plan for regular trips to study soils, seeds, pests, plants, trees, rocks, moisture, birds, making all these as definite a part of the school work as language or arithmetic. Outdoor nature is the best of all fields for training the powers of obser^'a- tion, while few are the faculties of more A'alue in the truest education. The work may be made A-ery foolish as well as very wise. At its best, it combines more helpful forces than almost any other school activity. The love of children for farming, or their antipathy toward it, is often founded long before the child is able to reason concerning his likes and dislikes. Interest in agriculture, therefore, should be awakened young, through 174 Vocational Guidance a little garden where there are quick returns, a sense of ownership, and direct relation between the soil and the child's own digestive system. Here also is another field for cooperation between school and home. Aiany farmers who have no flower or melon garden for the children, or a garden to please mother by supplying fresh vegetables for the table, expect their boys to become interested later in acres of wheat or com. Children are not interested in general farming or in general principles about farming, but can be interested in concrete work in flowers, fruits, and vegetables. The concrete, practical methods must be followed by every successful counselor. Naturally, it will commonly be quite impracticable for Nature's out-of-doors is the best of all fields for training the powers of observation A g r i c It I t II r c 1/5 MM \'^ Aa '.\ ^m mm w^*-& W/ -^ V '"■ *i ^ - 'm l^^ y-*:^ i/'^lv;--- ' ^ -'■.fciJi*' .4» interest in horticullure may be aroused by the grou:iiig of bulbs and plants in school the teacher to have summer gardens at the schoolhouse, because of the long summer vacation, but she can do some very creditable spring work from March to r\Iay in cold frames and hotbeds. By planting lettuce, radishes, asters, and tomatoes, interesting results can be obtained before the end of the spring temi. The radishes and lettuce can be carried to home tables before the first of May, and the asters and tomato plants can be used for sets in the home gardens. The interest started at school will be carried home. The teacher may find many \'aluable suggestions in the course of stud}' in elementary agriculture used in Colebrook Academy in New Hampshire. She can obtain from her own state department and agricultural college, and from the United States Department of Agriculture, bulletins which will gi\-e detailed information and very ij6 Vocational Guidance practical suggestions on every topic in this course. In nearly every farming community there are persons who have attended the agricultural college or have thoroughly educated themselves in the problems of farm life. It is wise to secure the assistance of these persons. Agronomy. 1. Elements of plant life: Study of seed, root, stem, leaf, re- produetion. 2. Soils: Origin, kinds, uses, soil, water, plant food, care and improvement. 3. Seed selection and testing: Judging, germinating, analyzing. 4. Fertilizers and manures: Composition, value, relations to soils and crops, lime. 5. Insects: Kinds, harm, benefit, life habits. 6. Farm crops: Kinds, cultivation, uses, care. 7. General handling of field crops. 8. Experimental work in greenhouses. 9. Practical work in school gardens. Horticulture. 1. Review of general principles of jilant life, soils, fertilizers, and cultivation. 2. Greenhouses, hotbeds, and cold frames; Principles, construc- tion, and use. 3. Care of plants under glass: Forcing and hardening. 4. More special study of (a) vegetable growing; ib) fruit grow- ing; (c) flower growing. Animal Husbandry and Dairying. 1. Types and kinds of farm animals: Horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry. 2. Principles and practice of breeding: Origin, improvement, care of farm animals and plants. 3. Feeds and feeding: Why, what, and how I feed. 4. Structure and function of the animal body; systems of the body and care. 5. Animal diseases, disinfection, and general sanitation; pre- vention and cure. 6. Observing and scoring herds in community. 7. Milk: Kinds, care, uses, composition. 8. The Babcock Test: Theory and practice, use. Agriculture lyj 9. Essentials in good milk production; Cleanliness, care. 10. Market milk and cream: Kinds, uses, preparation, care. 11. Butter making. Farm Carpentry. 1. Construction and proper use of carpenter tools. 2. Reading and drawing blueprints. 3. Plan for each article ]:>cfore construction is begun. 4. Study of building plans and construction, with practice in estimating and figuring the cost. 5. Mechanical drawing. 6. Construction of wooden articles needed on farm and for home and school use. 7. Repairs to school building. 8. Practical work in construction and repairing. A course in manual training will help a teacher to under- stand and rightly use tools, to make drawing plans, and to construct many articles of practical use for home and school. vSuch training will also help her to understand and appreciate the mechanical type of boy. Farm Blacksmithing. 1. Proper use and construction of blacksmith tools. 2. Mechanical drawing continued. " 3. Study of iron and steel manufacture in an elementary way. 4. Hardening and tempering. 5. Study of typical farm implements, machinery, and, so far as possible, construction and repair of same. 6. Constant practical work at the bench and forge on useful articles of iron construction. This kind of work may be quite impossible in a one-room school, but in a village the teacher might take her classes to machine and blacksmith shops and possibly get a local blacksmith to teach a small class of boys in the evenings. Forestry. 1. Study of New Hampshire forest types: Life history, associates, enemies of characteristic tree in each type. (Use name of your state.) 2. Forest seeding and planting. 3. Management of the farm forest; the wood supply. lyS Vocational Guidance 4. Management of government forests. 5. Conservative lumbering. 6. Relation to stream flow and general rural conditions. 7. Practical field observation and lectures by experienced for- esters and lumbermen. To the above I should like to add: 8. Prevention of forest fires. Road Building. 1. Essentials of a good road: Grades, solidity, water shedding characteristics. 2. Road material and principles of construction. 3. Dirt, gravel, macadam, and telford roads. 4. Bridges, grades, cuts, and fills. 5. Projecting, laying out, and figuring cost of roads in the vicinity. 6. Field work in observation of construction work in state high- ways in the vicinity. Road building is a vital economic and social problem. It is intensely interesting to boys. The teacher, after instructing her pupils on these problems, may be able to take her classes to a near-by piece of construction or get an interested farmer to take a class of boys in his auto- mobile to a more distant piece of road construction. Plan beforehand for the engineer or boss to explain the prin- ciples and processes to the class. "The country school," says Miss Carney, "should do its part in instituting a good roads sentiment among the children and people of its community." After all, agricultural education, unlike most other occupational training, must be lifelong. It begins with the child's first interest in growing things; it continues through home and school gardening and the doing of "chores." The technical training of the agricultural college leads on through the Grange, the farmer's institute, the trade paper, the reading of books. Here lies the unique opportunity of the vocational counselor who is also teacher in a country school. More than all others, i8o Vocational Guidance she takes her client young, and from the beginning is at once teacher and guide. Hardly less unique is the opportunity of the country teacher for trying out her ]jupils in other and more special ways. The city child has his school garden, and trades plants and seeds with his fellows. This should be encour- aged — and watched for signs of business capacity'. But the country boy has also, or ought to have, his colts and calves, the girl her chickens and eggs. With the friendly relation between teacher and parent, which is so much more easily established in the country than in the city, it is a simple matter to detect and encourage any special business or mechanical ability. A teacher of agriculture in a citj' school in Iowa recently said to me : " I did not know my boys until we began our garden work. Early in the summer the boys began to buy and sell their corn. I stopped it, but I soon saw my mistake, and after a certain time barter was again allowed. In the free practical work of the gardens, with their buying and selling, the boys who can do business and those who will always have to be guided reveal themselves. The business men of our city took advantage of the garden work and wanted me to let them know of the successful buyers." Closely related to the whole problem of the vocational guidance of cotmtry boys and girls is the question of con- solidated rural schools. In Wisconsin, for example, nearly eight hundred schools have only fifteen or twenty pupils each; more than five hundred have between ten and fifteen; no fewer than two hundred and seventy have an attendance below ten; six thousand consist of one department only. In Indiana a thousand schools fail to exceed fifteen boys and girls, while twice that number fall short of twenty. Illinois, at last accounts, had one thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one institutions numbering fifteen pupils or less. Agriciilittre l8i Ninety-one and a half per cent of the rural schools of North Dakota are handling no more than a score of pupils each. Half the children in the whole United States, and ninety-five per cent of those in the rural districts, are in schools of this type. On the educational disadvantages of this system, and on its social influence, we need not here dwell. From the point of A'iew of vocational education and A'ocational guidance, the e^-il results are serious. The growing child needs many playfellows of his own age. Through their aid he learns the social Anrtues and the great art of getting on with other peoj^le. More than that, he finds his social level; and if he has any capacity for leadership the give and take of school life, and especially of the group games, will develop it. Now capacity for leadership, as we have already noted and as we shall see more fully hereafter, is one of the great elements of vocational success, and one of the things for which c\-cry A'ocational guide must be continually on the watch. It shows on the playground, on the ball field, in the A'arious spontaneous groups which j'oung people form, — but it cannot show in isolation. A school that does not number near the hundred is by that very fact unable to oft'er its pupils one of the greatest of edu- cational and A-ocational opportunities. Moreover, as we ha\'e already noted, the time \\'hen the youth most easil}- learns the social Adrtucs is during the adolescent 3'cars, between fourteen and eighteen. But, unfortunately, countrv boys and girls at this period are usually out of school, and li\-ing an isolated and unsocial life on the famis. City youth, on the other hand, are at this age in school, factory, or shop, in close association with their fellows. The consolidated schools have proved beyond dispute that not only can they employ teachers, i82 Vocational Guidance both men and women, of more maturity and experience than the district schools, but they can in addition hold their pupils later, and carry them farther along in their social development. The result is precisely that social training, that education in solidarity and cooperation, which the country especially needs. The matter is well summed up by Davenport in these words : "The consolidated country school is the only plan proposed that will keep intact the country home, educate the child within the environment in which he is growing up, and make him the intel- lectual equal of his city cousin. Any plan short of this is not only unjust to the individual, but it is disastrous to country life." Consolidation is no longer a debatable question in some parts of our country. "The most rapid and remarkable progress in the history of con- solidation has occurred in the last decade in Indiana, where i,6oo small district schools have been abandoned and supplanted by about 600 consolidated schools."' In consolidation of schools, Ohio stands second with 3 50, Louisiana third with 250, Minnesota has 130, Washington 120, Virginia 100, Oklahoma 86, Kansas 75, and Idaho 20. When from these somewhat general considerations we turn to remunerations which fanning offers to those who follow it, it becomes difficult to make definite statements. Men have taken up land and paid for it out of two sea- sons' crops; and men have toiled for years and seen all their savings disappear in two summers' droughts. It is notorious that a succession of abundant harvests in America coinciding with short crops abroad has trans- ferred farmers, literally b}^ the thousand, from pentir}' to affluence. Many comfortable fortunes ha^'e been made simply by holding down land till a city picked it 'Carney's Country Life and the Country School, p. i5o. 184 Vocational G tii d anc e up. All this is the speculative side of farming. On the whole, ill this respect fanning is about on a level with other forms of business. Considered as a problem of income, returns are in gen- eral more certain in agriculture than in either trade or mechanical work. The farmer can usually put in his time remuneratively. At least he is safe from being laid off completely in bad times, or ordered out on a sympa- thetic strike. His money income is often small, but his Ability lo judge cattle is one of the many requisites oj the all-round man on the farm total returns, considered from the standpoint of surplus above expense, is probably higher than for any industrial class that uses its muscles. The members of no group with anything like the same cash income are so well able to save for a rainy day. High among the rewards of farming must be placed the possibility of possessing one's own home. The desire for ownership is deep-seated in us all; the gratification of few desires affords more lasting satisfaction. Twice as many persons own their dwellings in the country as in the city. This consideration will, perhaps, not appeal as strongly to the young as it should; but to the more experienced, few considerations have more weight. Agriculture i8j Of immaterial rewards, by no means least is the great interest and A'ariety of fann \'\'ork as compared with most other fonns of labor. In spite of immemorial humor, the inteUiLjent fanner is vastly more an all-round man than his city cousin. The variety of doins:;s is immensel}' greater in the more specialized industries; but the number of things that any one man does is immenseh' less. There are fewer kinds of fanner than of traders and mechanics: but each indiA-idual fanner is more different kinds of a man. In certain ways, too, in spite of tradition, the farmer has more social advantages than other men who work equally hard. As does no other toiler, he has his definite seasons of light work to which he can look forward with certainty, and for which he may plan. Teachers also are sure of getting awa}- in the summer for recreation or for special educational work; and for short conventions at other times; but aside from them, the Chautauqua course, the summer or winter institute, and the special short session of the agricultural college A'irtually are the monopoly of farmers and their families. One is able to get away from plow and reaper in a way that is not possible from bench or desk. Best of all, as compared with other workers, is the farmer's home life. Agriculture is not merely a vocation for the breadwinner ; it is mode of existence for the entire family. ^Mother and children are partners with the father in his \^'ork and in liis success. Family life is more unified and home means more in the country. '\Vhate^•er may be said of the fanner's money returns, only a very small number of especially successful business and professional men secure greater opportunities for happiness. For very many reasons, therefore, the vocational problem of agriculture is pcculiarh' complex. It includes i86 Vocational Guidance „ -#-''^'^ .iAj..HH SS9i , 1 <;;■- f.'*»t,.- ^\:".- -...C^ 1— Poultry raising makes mother and children partners with tlie father in his work and in his success not merely the simple occupation, but the whole matter of country living, of district education, and of rural society. No aspect of vocational guidance calls for more insight or more wisdom. The more the teacher is inter- ested in fami life, in the possibilities of moral development, in the functions of social and cooperative institutions, and the more she appreciates the great significance of agriculture in the national welfare, the better teacher and counselor she will be. CHAPTER XI The Mechanic Arts NEXT in importance to the women who make homes and the men who aid li^-ing things to grow, come those persons, both men and women, who aUer the character of materials. At one extreme are the skilled craftsmen — stair builders, cabinet makers, smiths of various sorts — whose work, at its best, shades off into the fine arts. At the other are the merely deft persons who tend looms or feed sheets of paper into a press. All have this in common, that they employ not crude strength alone, but some sleight of hand as well ; and they use a tool or machine to make some object different from what it was before they touched it. Socially, they are distributed through the first, second, and third of the fiA^e great castes into which economists are wont to divide society. Psychologically, thej' are of the group of muscle-minded folk or mixed muscle and other t3-pes. In a somewhat vague sense they arc the group which especialh' uses its hands, as the laborer uses his back or the clerk his wits. Numbers are somewhat hard to estiiTiate, for the reason that the group shades off in several directions, with no very precise limits. Nine million for the United States is practically accurate, of whom a fifth are women and four fifths men, the proportion being just about the same as for gainful occupations as a whole. Included with workers in the mechanic arts are something less than twelve hundred thousand persons, for the most part men, who arc engaged in mining. Over one third of these are 187 i88 Vocational Gtii d anc e C^'iirtrsy .,£ Siiij.Tintc-iiilrnt. nf Srh.N.ls, H.>stun Smithwg is one of Ike mechanic arts employing some sleight of hand as well as strength in Pennsylvania alone, while another third are distributed throughout the northeast Central States. To a noteworthy extent, manufacturing in its various forms is an affair of the city, as agriculture is of the coun- try. Of every hundred men workers who dwell in cities of over twenty-five thousand inhabitants, more than thirty-six follow the fomier vocation, and less than two the latter. Local variation is however very great, espe- cially in the kind of industry. Thus, for example, three in every one hundred shop workers in Boston are employed in making shoes; but in Brockton, only twenty miles away, the number jumps to eighty. In Philadelphia, in spite of the remarkable diversity of its industries, four factory hands in one hundred work on rugs. In New York City, which is highly specialized, twentj' in one hundred make garments. Even a state, though it has The Mechanic Arts i8g comparativeh^ few factories, may haxe a reniaricable number of a single sort, as witness the small shoe faetorics scattered through New Hampshire. For this reason, the thorough study of local conditions by the vocational guide is especially imperative in tliis field. The teacher can obtain this practical knowledge if she will make a careful study of the mills and factories where an\' kind of mechanical \\'ork is done. She can make a study of working conditions, as suggested at the close of Chapter VIII, or make a more detailed study of the shop or factory by the following plan, worked over into a form to meet the local conditions. Outline for Studying .\ F.vctory, Mill, (.)r Other !Mech.\xic.\l Industry I. Description. 1. Name. 2. Location. 3. Departments. II. Physical Conditions. 1. Factory plan. 2. Health conditions: Ventilation, dust, moisture, toilet rooms. 3. Dangerous kinds of work; Accidents, monotonous, nerve- racking. 4. Lunch room; Equipment, service. III. Employees. 1. Number; Maximum, minimum, average. 2. Same for men, for vomen, for boys, for girls. 3. Number on day wages, weekly wages, salary, piecework. IV. Occupations 0/ Employees. 1 . For men, for women, for boys, for girls. 2. Unskilled, low-skilled, high-skilled. 3. Office workers, foremen, officials. V. Hours of Work. 1. Daily, night work, Sunday work, holiday work. 2. Lunch periods. 3. Vacations. 4. Irregularity of employment. T^QO Vocational Guidance VI. Wages. 1. For men, women, boys, girls. 2. For apprentices and journeymen. 3. For unskilled, low-skilled, high-skilled. 4. For office workers, foremen, proprietor, officials. 5. For overtime pay, for piecework. VII. General. 1. How is help secured? 2. Training required before entrance. 3. Questions asked applicant, teacher, or former employer. 4. Training in shop and methods of promotion. 5. Spirit of workers; contentment, loyalty. 6. Attitude of officials and foremen toward men, and vice versa. 7. Nationality of employees. 8. Home and social conditions of employees. 9. The pension system, how controlled; contribution of firm and employees; accident, sick and death benefits. 10. Comments of proprietors, foremen, and laborers. 11. Future of the industry. 12. Number of similar establishments in the state and in the United States. 13. Capital invested. 14. Value of stock. 15. Value of product. 16. Wages paid. 17. Average earnings of salaried employees. 18. Average earnings of weekly employees. The answers to the last six questions can be obtained in the United States Census. If the teacher cannot obtain the local conditions b\' visiting the factories, she can instead visit the parents of her school children in their homes and ask them many of these questions. A conversation of this sort makes one of the best occasions for the teacher to become acquainted with parents. Numbers in this group tend continually to grow. People will always want larger houses, better furniture, newer clothes. Manufactured articles of all sorts, from The Mechanic Arts igi fountain pens to automobiles, are the only good things of life for which the public demand is limited only bv the general wealth. The modem man eats hardly more than the ^\ild Indian who preceded him. He ranges o\-er far less land. But think how many more things he owns! Civilization expands most conspicuously on the manufacturing side. On the other hand, the factories seem not to be absorb- ing any greater proportion of women. In fact, in the great cotton industry the ratio of women has been steadilj^ falling. The gro^"\-ing demand for female workers is, as we shall see, in another field, so that while a man looking forward to factory or other mechanical work can pretty certainly count on an increased demand for his services, a woman cannot. The group covers a wide range of industries; and these for con\-enience fall naturally into three somewhat ill- defined subdivisions according to the amount of manual skill required. At the bottom come the so-called "unskilled indus- tries," not always absolutely unskilled in the sense that a day laborer is unskilled, but rather in the sense that they presuppose only a little natural dexterity without any particular training. Here belong such occupations as mere tending machines as distinguished from running them, where, for example, the operator simply pushes paper into an envelope apparatus or tin plates into a can cutter, and ili? machine furnishes the brains. Packing candy or crackers into boxes, or dipping chocolate, is also of this sort. Such work is quite within the range of a fairly high-grade imbecile, and 3'et a surprisingh' large number of persons are not equal to it because their fingers are all thumbs. Nearly a third of the factory workers, a full third of the persons who make cotton cloth, jewelr}^ IQ2 Vocational Guidance hats, and garments for women, sixty per cent of those who work in packing houses, and ninety per cent of those who manufacture confectionery and wall paper are of this grade. 1 Wages arc low, while the chance of promotion is almost nothing. The concern of the vocational guide is to keep out of this group everybody who can by any possibility get into anything higher. Especially for the young should the "No Admission" on the factory door be taken literally. To the second class belong the low-skilled laborers. An experienced foreman once offered this distinction between no skill and low skill among his operatives; the former ask for "a job," the latter specify what it is they can do. The low-skilled workman does mix some brains with his work, does exercise some judgment and care, and take some responsibility. In general, work is cleaner and done under better conditions, children under sixteen are not wanted, and there is a reasonable chance of pro- motion to higher and higher work within the group. The packing houses and the manufactories of men's clothing have about a quarter of their help of this low- skilled grade. Among workmen on pianos and jewelry, in the building trades, and in the iron and steel industry, the proportion rises to about one half. Among makers of electrical and automatic machines, automobiles, farm implements, and wagons it becomes three quarters. In general, throughout the industrial world, about four per- sons in ten belong in this grade, with three in ten in each of the groups above and below. Here is, one need not sa}', entirely worthy work at fair 'As a guide to a study of industries and the social conditions of the workers in these industries, read Miss Elizabeth Bcardslcy Butler's thorough study of Pittsburgh, Women and Ike Trades, published by the Carnegie Foundation. The M cell a n i c Arts 193 Stra'd'-hat making is one of the high-skiUed industries, with high pay but short seasons pay. All youths who show a Icaniny toward mechanical vocations should be headed at least as far up in the scale as this. The lower group will be amply recraitcd from those who fail to attain the middle rank. Within the group itself, howe^'cr, and CAXii after the boy or girl is actually at «'ork in shop or factory, there is still both need and opportunity for A'ocational guidance. Curiously enough, it often transpires that an indi\-idual worker who does not succeed at all well with one machine will ne\-ertheless do good work with another, which off- hand one would say would demand exactly the same qualities. The machines liaxe each a certain character- istic rhythm, into which one worker falls naturally, while another is continualh' getting out of step. Some factories, therefore, deliberatel)^ plan to shift their workers about until each finds himself at that particular machine ig4 V o c a t i n al Guidance M 91 j^ m^_j^ 3' ^^ m mm ^|g^ mi^SH -^ ~^^pS^ i «<» "^^z'-^m^E ^^Bl^SSk ^ '^ / (..iiuti-sv "f The Christian Science Mu The foundryman belongs to the group of high-skilled mechanical workers whose pace and swing fits his own, and this point is one which should always be kept in mind. To the group of high-skilled mechanical workers belong carpenters, plumbers, blacksmiths, tailors, machinists, glass workers, printers, binders, engravers, lithographers, stonecutters, engineers, milliners, and dressmakers — in short, all the descendants of the old craftsmen and guild members of the Middle Ages, together with their modem equivalents. This group was the special sphere of the old-fashioned trades union of two generations ago, and is still the seat of most of the pemiancnt and responsible labor organizations. It is in all ways, in fact, the aristocracy of the manual laboring class. Its members are highly trained, either in trade schools or by long apprenticeship. Training, as in the professions, continues after earning begins, through a change of jobs and a shifting from one shop T li e Mechanic Arts 195 to another. Indeed, an ambitious 3'outh will not infre- quently throw up a position in whieh he is doinj,' well for the sake of a chance to learn some new or less familiar process — a state of affairs that would hardh' occur in either of the lower groups. Special sureness of eye and hand, together with much familiarity with a somewhat wide range of tools and methods, is eharaeteristic of the group. An ancient tradition places the blacksmith at the head of this diAdsion, on the ground that he, more than all other workers, makes his own tools. Ellis's study of the distribution of British genius would put the carpenters highest, on the ground that more sons of carpenters than of other mechanics ha^'e risen to eminence. Therefore, tlK> Rindge Manual Training SrliLif,!. Cambridge. iMa"^£ Sureness of eye and hand and familiarity with a wide range of tooh and methods distinguish the aristocracy of the manual laboring classes Vocational Guidance he argues after the strictly modem manner, carpenters must themselves be abler than other manual workers. Be this as it may, out of this group of high-skilled manual toilers come the great proportion of workingmen's families who conspicuously better themselves and of C.iirlcyy i.f E.i'.kir T. Wa^liijiLnnn Tinsmithing at Tuskegee. Every boy should have a trying-out course in some industrial work under a good instructor individuals who rise much above their starting points. Incomes in this class are often higher than among the lower ranks of brain workers. On both these accounts, the vocational guide will need to be especially on the alert for artisans' children of exceptional promise. The demand for qualified workers in this group is never filled. It is always the one j^artial vacuum in the industrial world, the one vocation to be chosen in case of doubt. For this reason every boy and girl should have The Mechanic Arts ig'] some adequate trying-out by a course of manual and industrial work under a good instructor. If he shows fair abihty, this should be encouraged in all wa^'s, as by addi- tional shop work and by reading and trips to see industrial processes at first hand. If the youth responds to this treatment, he has probably found his vocation. At the worst, he will only drop down to the middle class of manual workers. If, on the other hand, he cannot saw to a line or drive a nail — and some cannot, with any teaching — the fact soon transpires and the case is closed on that side. In general, the decision between mechanical and non-mechanical vocations is one that may come earh'. The present course of study in our schools, especiall}? the arithmetic, geography, historj', and literarj^ work, can be based largely upon the problems of agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing. In our cities the more of an industrial and commercial flaA^or is given to school work in the upper grammar grades, the more interesting it will be to the pupils and at the same time gi^-e general vocational information. Suggestions for gi^nng to the present school studies an industrial setting can be found in the following course of geography-history used in the Cleveland Elementary Industrial School. I. Iron and Steel Industry. The age of steel. 1. Iron ore; its value. 2. Distribution of ore in Lake Superior region. 3. Ease in mining with labor-saving devices; speed of steam shovel. 4. Transportation of ore from mines to boat; speed in loading an 8,000-ton ore boat; unloading. 5. Blast furnace. Description. Contents of furnace. 6. Connellsville coke. One hundred and forty-mile journey to Cleveland. 7. Making of pig iron. iqS Vocational Guidance 8. A'laking of wrought iron: its uses. 9. Steel: Bessemer converter. 10. Steel has revolutionized farming, war, transportation. In- fluence on railroads, bridges, buildings. 11. Location of iron and steel centers. II. Lumbering. Wood. 1. Structure: Pith; wood; bark. (a) Pith: Center, soft, valueless. {b) Wood: Sapwood, heartwood, value of each. (c) Grain: Edges of annual rings. Woods of beautiful grains — specimens. Value of grain in beauty and durability. 2. Value of forests : (a) Construction. (6) Buildings; furniture. (c) Pavements, fences, {d) Fuel; pitch; tar; turpentine, (e) Paper, hemlock bark, maple sugar, nuts, etc. 3. Lumbering: (o) The logging camp; time of going into woods; why? (b) Building of camp; life, (c) Control of streams. (d) Cutting, brushing, felling, branding, (e) Log-skid- ding; the ice road. (/) Banking ground and edge of river bank. 4. Log driving: (a) Time of year and conditions. (6) Hardship of rivermcn's lives and dangers, (c) Control of streams, dams, and log chutes, (d) A log jam and its dangers. {e) Sorting and rafting — the logs at the "boom." (/) Rafting logs to the sawmill. Manufacture. (a) Making logs into lumber. Sawmill; location and kind of power. (6) Location of boom for holding logs: Saw room and its machin- ery; saw carriage; kinds of saws — circular, band, gang; dry kiln; planing mill. (c) The sawing operation: Carrying logs into mill from boom. ■Sawyers and saw carriage which holds log and carries it against rapidly moving saw. Drying and dressing. Saw- dust and use. Piling in great stacks on docks or in yards. Location of Forest Regions. I. Pineries: (a) Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, (b) North- ern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan. T h e M e c Ji a n i c Arts igg (c) WestuiM Washington, western Oregon, western Cali- fornia (espceially redwoods); specimens. 2. Hardwoods: (a) Oliio valley; locate by states; conditions at jirescnt in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, (b) States produc- ing most of the hardwoods to-day; our outlook in this field, (f) Great value; industries dependent on it. 3. Yellow pines and cypress. (a) Yellow pines; \^alue and uses of wood. Com-mercial use of sap. Ports of export — Charleston, Savannah. (6) Cypress: Method of lumbering in swamps; value; where wood is in contact with water. States produc- ing: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Vir- ginia, North and South Carolina. Marketing of Lumber. i. Lake boats — Duluth to Cleveland; trace journey. 2. Minneapolis — in heart of region. Center of raw material. Easy, cheap transportation. Waterfalls cheap power. Distributing center. 3. Lake ports engaged in shipping lumber. IMapwork: Western ports; kinds of lumber; markets. Frjrest reserves: Conservation of forests. Object of forest reserves. Work of government. in. Agriculliire. Wheat (Correlate with breadmaking) 1. Widespread use in ancient and modern times — staff of life. 2. Varieties of wheat, and states raising it, and use: Winter wheat, spring wheat, durum. 3. Preparation of soil: Plowing — steam plow, sulky plow, gang plow; harrowing, planting — pictures of machinery. 4. Harvesting: Time and condition of grain. Old implements: Cradle, reap hook. To-day: Self-binder, steam header and thresher. 5. Threshing, Flail, modern machine. Life on farm during threshing season. 6. Marketing grain. (a) Hauling to grain elevators. {b) Grain-collecting cities of the West and immense elevators, (c) Movement of wheat by rail: Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound. 200 Vocational Guidance (d) Cities engaged in handling of wheat; Minneapolis as a center, Chicago, Milwaukee, ,St. Louis, San Fran- cisco, Seattle, Tacoma. 7. Manufacture. Flour: Old methods of grinding, present patent roller process. A great flour mill — process explained with specimens. Flour production — cities. IV. History. 1. History of Cleveland. 2. Civics — the government of Cleveland in detail. (a) Charter. {b) Council and mayor, with respective duties. (c) The departments. (1) Public service, with its subdivisions and work of each. (2) Public safety. 3. In study of industries, historical background introduced, for instance ; (a) In commerce of Great Lakes — the history of the Great Lakes, beginning with French explorations. {b) In study of railroads — the history of the Union and Cen- tral Pacific R. R., with the difficulties of the under- taking. (c) In lumbering, in the hardwood forests — Daniel Boone and the early pioneers in Ohio Valley. Next to picking the boys and girls for mechanical work, the great problem of the vocational guide is to get them in line of training for their highest efficiency. For this purpose it is most important to secure the ad^^ce of an expert who knows the mechanical industries from the in- side, or of a professional vocational counselor, who can act as a go-between among employers, teachers, parents, and young people, and adjust the boy to his job. This is already done admirably for delinquent boys. The classification of workers in Chicago according to skill may give to the teacher some surprises and practical data for guidance in industrial studies. The Mechanic Arts REPORT OF CITY CLUB OF CHICAGO Men Employees by Industries in Chicago 201 PER CENT W.\GES •si^! OCCUPATION = = i-o 1 S ^ 1 := High Low -.1? -:! Skilled Skilled ^1^ c 1 I . Tailors to the trade 97i 3 $I9.00-$23.00 $ 8.00-Sl0.O() 2. Job and newspaper printing 75;i6 9 20.00- 22.50 10.00- 15.00 3. Wholesale manufacture of men's clothing 7426 18.00- 20.00 9.00- 1 Faotorv millinerv - . 70; 822 18.00- 22.00 15.00- S. Men's neckwear, shirts, ho-l | j siery, underwear '58,11 31 ; 15.00- 18.00 S.oo- 12.00 6. Engraving, electrotyping, 1 embossing, lithographing . . 572122 20.00- 28.00 8.50- 15.00 7. Pianos and other musical instruments 53 4^ 5 18.00- 19.00 10.50- 13.00 8. General construction of buildings, electric power plants, docks =>I 4-Q 27.00- 30.00 13.00- 17.00 9. Hats, gloves, fur goods 49 4.S 6 15.00- 30.00 8.00- 12.00 10. Bridges and other steel | | | structural work 4822^0 16.20- 27.50 10.80- 11.40 II. Embroidery, children's dresses and dry goods specialties 4626 27 15.00- 18.00 8.00- 10.00 12. Excavating, wrecking, roof- ing 37 34 41 22 23.50- 12.00- 17.00 13. Cloaks, suits, waists 38 28 20.00- 26.00 10.00- 15.00 14. Machine and engine con- struction, car building. foundry steel works, orna- mental iron 33-1 46 17.00- 20.00 12.00- 18.00 15. Jewelry manufacturing 2727 46 20.00- 25.00 8.00- 10.00 16. Electrical apparatus, gas and electrical fixtures. automatic machines 25 74 I 17.00- 22.00 10.00- 13.00 17. Packing houses and allied industries 17 25 ,S8 15.00- 25.00 10.50- 12.50 18. Automobiles and accesso- ries, wagons, and farm im- plements 16178 6 16.50- 21.00 10.50- 15.00 ■.•i^jiii^— 'ii.— ' 19. Paper boxes 8135 ,57 15.00- 2I.0C 9.00- 15.00 All men studied 30I40 \jfi 15.00- 30.0c 8.00- 18.00 202 Vocational Guidance REPORT OF CITY CLUB OF CHICAGO Women Employees by Industries in Chicago OCCUPATION High Skilled Low Skilled 8. 9- 10. 13- 14. 15- Tailors to the trade Wholesale manufacturers of mens' clothing Job and newspaper printing! Men's neckwear, shirts, ho- siery and underwear Hats, gloves, fur goods Embroidery, children's dresses, dry goods spe- cialties Pianos and other musical instruments Factory millinery Cloaks, suits, waists Automobiles and accesso- ries, wagons and farm im- plements Packing houses and allied industries Electrical apparatus, gas and electric fixtures, auto- matic machines Engraving, electrotyping, embossing, lithographing. . Paper boxes Jewelry manufacturing All women studied 97: 3 ,5545 5536 o o 9 45 451 1 3 S17. 00-^19. oojS 7.00-S 9.00 15.00- 12.00- 10.50- 10.00- 18.00 18.00 14.00 12.00 3565 3164 i8i 8 14I41 1288 8.00- 12.00 10.00- 15.00- 14.00- 12138150 10,90 o 7'46'48 5179] 16 ii97| 2 1645.39 8.00- 7-50- 20.00 24.00 10.00 14.00 9.00- 11.00 9.00- 14.00 9.00- 6.00- 10.00 6.00- 8.00 5.00- 9.00 5.00- 9.00 5.50- 6.00- 15.00 10.00- 7.25- 8.50 6.50- 12.00 6.00- 9.00 6.00- 9.00 6.00- g.oo 6.00- 7.00 As things are now, much sound mechanical ability is lost to the world. In fact, it is notorious that in inany different industries it is the immigrants trained in foreign lands, where the long apprenticeship is in vogue, who fill the best positions. This certainly is one of the things they manage better abroad. One trouble with us in this cottntry is the pernicious 204 Vocational Guidance activity of some private "commercial colleges." These are accustomed to purchasing lists of names of pupils in the upper grammar grades, and then sending representatives to the parents of the children with every specious argu- ment in favor of a clerical life. Even when these schools do not make promises which, in the nature of things, they cannot by any possibility fulfill, they help to foster the prevailing wrong impression concerning the "white- collar job." In general, parental inclination is already too strong in this direction. The trade schools are either endowed or else they are public, not priA'ate, institutions, which do not bid for pupils, and only a small group of correspondence schools are on the side of the sounder advice. Here, then, is a field in which the conscientious vocational guide will need often to do battle. In this respect, the problem is, therefore, not merely vocational and social, but economic as well. Here is one of the fields 'in which the vocational guide becomes a constructive social force. A writer of a generation ago, Edward Eggleston, has put the general case as v.'ell as it is ever likely to be stated: "The trouble comes mostly from a mistaken notion of respect- ability. There is, even in our democratic country, a feeling that certain callings are in some way more respectable than others; and unmanly as this feelmg is, it misleads thousands to their ruin. In so far as it refers to the learned professions, we may rcadil}' under- stand the prejudice, as the successful pursuit of these of necessity implies the possession of both intellectual strength and culture; but prejudice does not confine itself to drawing the line between those professions which presuppose culture and those which do not. The idea seems a not uncommon one that it is in some way more respectable to sell goods over a counter than to follow a mechanical pursuit; or in general lines, that those vocations which may be followed in broadcloth arc more dignified than those which may not. There must be salesmen in dry goods stores, of course, but the demand is always greater for skilled labor, and the supply is nearly The Mechanic Arts 20 j alwaj-s in the in\XTse ratio. Tlic mechanic has a technical cnlture — a skill gained by years of i)aticnt stmly — while the other lias not; and the possession cif such a culture is a just ground f(jr honest priile, as well as a sure guaranty against ])o\'i'rty. In short, wdiile honest work is honorable and dignified, the skill of the mechanic, which is in itself culture, is a worthy subject of pride; and other things being equal, the mechanic is the superior in fact. . . . He can do a higher kind Cif work; and he is a more thoroughly edu- cated man in his fustian than is his fellow in broadcloth, who with no greater intellectual or educational endowments, lacks his tech- nical knowledge. "To a young man with capital in reserve, or with its equivalent in intluenee, or still better with extraordinary capacitj', a clerkship may offer a reasonable prospect of ultimate advancement ; but with- out one or another of these conditions, the chances are more than a thousand to one that he will never succeed in making more than a bare support for himself, while the o\XTcrowded conditions of the ranks in which he stands makes his position a precarious one always. The mechanic, on the other hand, brings a definite skill to bear on the problem of money making. Only those who are similarly skilled can compete with him for employment. His skill is a positive capital,_and his work is always productive. There are few brilliant opportunities open to him, though there are in reality quite as many as there are to the salesman or clerk; but he knows definitely how to do something that other men must have done, and which they cannot do for themselves, and if he be sober and industrious he is always sure of a support, and with a wise economy he may almost certainly accumulate a comfortable surplus in the end. "The man to whom Nature has given a genius, or even a talent, for mechanics, positively wrongs his fellow man wdien he chooses to devote himself to a business in which he is less able to excel." The reason why the group of skilled handicrafts does not command quite the social respect that it did during the Middle Ages and even in our own colonial days, is partly that the craftsman no longer controls his time and owns his instrument of production as he once did, but works for wages under a business man. Much of this current prejudice against overalls is, however, dissolving, slowly to be sure, but inevitably. 2o6 Vocational Guidance The forces which have changed the social status of the mechanic are many : the loss of ownership of tools prob- ably stands first; our white-collar system of education looms large as another factor. The importation of foreign laborers who have monopolized our factories, mills, and certain trades cannot be overlooked, but the workingmen themselves have all along been singularly blind to their opportunities. Characteristically, in proportion to their incomes they spend their wages less skillfully and get less out of life than do the clerical and professional families of the same economic status. And yet they are to-da"y about the only social group, except the very rich and the very poor, who have any leisure. The hard-pressed busi- ness or professional man works nights and Sundays as a matter of course and seldom restricts himself to the artisan's eight or nine hours. And after his work is done he must still get the bodily exercise which in the other case takes care of itself in the course of the day's work. The whole world of culture is open to the mechanic who makes good use of his peculiar leisure. When working- men exhibit more generally the brain worker's alertness, we may well expect to see, not only a greater number of Stephensons, Franklins, and Edisons emerging from their ranks; but in addition, persons of the type of Bunyan and Hugh Miller, who, while still continuing to be artisans, achieve enduring fame in other fields. At least, we shall hear no more of the social stigma which now attaches to even the highest grades of manual labor. In a very real sense then, at the present time and in this country, the whole problem of vocational guidance in the city focuses on this group of high-skilled mechani- cal workers. Our object should be, in general temis, to bring up into it from below every promising boy or girl who has a reasonable chance to "make good" in it, to swing n u o H (D n dS o o o o o o o o o o o o ^OOOOOOOOOOOO' y„0 OOOOOOOOOOO' bD > « s ^ D I .1 OS oJ :. T! o n t/j CA rt m E ^ n" b O a! 5 208 Vocational Guidance There is an almost unlimited demand for women ■ design clothes •ho can across from the clerical \-ocations on the same level all the boys and girls whose predilections are not clearly on the clerical side, and to hold back from the business and professional group such persons as seem to aspire beyond their possibilities. This is the hole in the industrial sys- tem that needs to be filled. These also are the productive workers who add especially to the world's wealth. Somewhat unfortunately, the high-skilled trades offer a distinctly' better field for men than for women. Many of them demand heavier muscular work than most women can perform, and they nearly all require the prolonged apprenticeship before earning power begins, which makes them unsuited to the sex which must master two vocations. The type of high-skilled women's trades is the ncedlc^^'ork group; and these may serve to illustrate the general principles which govern the entrance to them all. The foundations for success in dressmaking, milliner}^, The Mechanic Arts 20 g and other fomis of needlework are natural deftness of hand, good eyesight, at least a fair degree of bodily and mental quickness, a well-developed color sense, together with an uncommon amount of the peculiar knack ^\-hich for want of a better name we call a sense of style. All these, however, count for nothing unless one has the tem- peramental abilit}- to endure confinement without loss of health. All these qualities show early; the potential modiste is soon revealed by her own clothes. Beyond these elements there is an almost unlimited demand, on the one hand for persons of original imagina- tion who can design, and on the other for overseers and managers. The field, in short, offers entrance and pro- motion to a considerable range of talent. The best preparation is a regular course in a technical school, for the best dressmakers much prefer the graduates of trade schools. Not a few high schools, also, are VV''^^^ fSF^ ^ppf . rh-: ^_^. .««. '^:Ao n S^4 yMMd u^9 f imm^ --' 'iig^"'jWte j ' ,^ I^L— \ '•'■^X\'ed one of the most fascinat- ing games there is. As an aid in handling the practical local pro1;ilcm of vocational guidance for salesmanship, it will be found convenient to follow an outline similar to that alread}^ given for factories and machine shop.?. Pl-\x for Studying .\ Dep.\rtmext Skjre or Other ^Ierc.\n"tile House I. Description. 1. Names. 2. Location. 3. Number of floors. 4. Number of basements. 5. Departments for management: Purchasing, selling, adver- tising, accounting. 6. Salesrooms: Dry goods, millinery, white goods, silks, china, jewelry, stationery, hardware, shoe department, house furnishings, etc. 7. Workrooms: Milliner)^ draperies, alterations, laundry, kitchen. II. Pliysica! Conditions. 1. Counter space and scats for em-ployces. 2. Health conditions: Ventilation, dust, moisture, toilet rooms. 3. Cloak rooms: Location, care. 4. Rest rooms: Location, equipment. 5. Lunch rooms: Equipment, service. 2 JO Vocational Guidance III. Employees. 1. Number: Maximum, minimum, average. 2. Same for men, for women, for boys, for girls. IV. Occupations of Employees. 1. Men: Cash, porters, clerks, delivery, drivers, salesmen, heads of stock, floor walkers, buyers, officials. 2. Women: Cash, stock, wrapper, saleswomen, heads of stock, buyers, cashiers, milliners, alteration hands, drapery operators, kitchen and laundry workers. V. Hours of Work. 1. Daily, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, night. 2. Lunch periods. 3. Vacations. 4. Irregularity of employment. VI. Wages. Positions classified as above: Men, women. Overtime pay. 3. Commission allowed on sales. 4. Percentage allowed on purchases. 5. Fines. VII. General. 1. How is help secured? 2. Training required before entrance. 3. Methods of training and promotion in store. 4. Questions asked of applicant, teacher, or former employer. 5. Spirit of employees: Contentment, loyaltj^. 6. Nationality of employees. 7. Home and social conditions of employees: Living with family, sole breadwinner, other breadwinners in family. 8. Pension system: How controlled; contribution of firm and employees; sick and death benefits. 9. Comments of proprietor, foremen, and other emploj'ees. For a thorough study of department stores, read Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores, by EHzabeth Beardsley Butler. CHAPTER XIII Office Work SALESAIANSHIP and office work have really much less in common than appears at first sight. To be sure, workers in both fields use brain rather than hand; while both ti'pes of vocation exact a somewhat high standard of manners, bearing, speech, dress, and gen- eral culti\'ation in all who are to pass Ijcyond the very lowest rank. With this, however, the resemblance ends. The office worker need not have the all-round acquaintance with human nature and the social tact of the salesman. He adapts himself less to a varied public than to a few asso- ciates or superiors. In general, grade for grade, he has to be more methodical and accurate, but less quick-witted and adaptable. The office worker, moreover, must be a steady, concentrated worker, turning off a somewhat monotonous task without the constant stimulus of con- tact with people. Every teacher will recognize the type. It is the quiet, steady, scholarly sort of pupil, who comes out strong on examination marks and never "bluffs" a recitation, that is going to make an office worker. In fact, one may almost say that the vocation toward counter or toward desk will turn on this, that, native ability being equal, the one sort of boy or girl will shine in recitations and the other score high in examinations. In general, too, as regards native capacity, the office worker follows more closely the middle way than does the salesman. On the other hand, far more rarely than 231 232 Vocation al Guidance Where a well-known alias is compiled. The making of reference books affords excellent opportunities for workers capable of steady, concentrated effort the salesman of the highest type does the office worker graduate into an independent business position. The pen is mightier than the yardstick ; but it is not the equal of the invoice. Office workers in the United States number not far from eighteen hundred thousand, somewhat more than half as many as there are salesmen. One hundred thou- sand of these office workers are telephone and telegraph operators. More than two hundred and eighty thousand are stenographers. Over three hundred and eighty thou- sand are bookkeepers, accountants, and cashiers. Seven hundred thousand are clerks and copyists. Especially interesting is the large proportion of women Office Work 2jj workers in certain departments. Among bookkeepers and accountants there are nearly half as nian\' women as men. Among stenographers they outnumber men three to one. Of telephone switchboards they have a virtual monopoly. These, moreover, are the special fields in which the number of women is notably increasing, and from which they tend more and more to crowd out men. Much of such work is of a sort for which women are singularl}* well fitted by nature. Desk work, in the widest sense, divides itself into several rather distinct sub-groups; and of these the one most easily entered is telephoning. An intelligent girl of the same general sort who would do reasonably well behind the counter, may do slightly better in front of the switchboard. Her earnings will be about the same in either case, and her chances for pro- motion are equally slender; but the telephone operator does her work sitting down, while the condition of labor, though never better than in the best stores, is rarel}' any- thing but good. But on the other hand, there is night and vSunday work. Not all girls can learn telephoning. Great coolness under pressure is essential, and the abilit}^ to attend to sc^-eral different matters at once. To keep track of six booths, all handling out-of-town calls, to record each transaction on the printed fonn, to take pay and make change, to listen to several persons simultaneously, to keep the waiting line of hurried men in good humor, and to calm the mind of the patron who cannot get his con- nection, all at the same time, is one of the most exacting performances known to the business world. Few women and no men can do it. However, the ordinary work is much simpler; but even this, apparently, demands a 234 Vocational Guidance more or less auditory-mental type of person which is not especially common. Promotion, though unlikely, is not impossible. The beginner starts at four dollars a week while learning and advances rapidly to six, eight, or ten. Beyond this comes Telcplwunn demands uii auditoiy-mental type not especially enmnion the charge of a public pay station, the oversight of opera- tors in a large exchange, or the instruction of beginners. Wages for these kinds of work go as high as thirty dollars a week. Beyond this there is not much chance of an open- ing, since the managers and electricians hare to be men. In general, the telephone companies gi\-e preference to graduates of high schools — for the sake, apparently, of securing material of sufficient quality to warrant pro- motion to the higher levels of the calling. The stenographer-secretary group is also a woman's affair. There are a few private secretaries of business Office Work 235 men, statesmen, or diplomats who are males. Govern- ment and court stenographers, also, are commonly men. In general, howe\'er, this group of occupations is avail- able for boys only as an entrance to the business or political world. For girls, on the other hand, the outlook is most attract- ive and the range wide. At the bottom come the ill- trained and unintelligent who are something of a drug on the market, and seldom make more than ten or twelve dollars a week. Abler and better trained women become head stenog- raphers, private stenographers, or private secretaries. Such of these as can take dictation rapidly and accurately, keep track of the office routine, answer letters from mere gen- eral directions, and adjust themselves unobtrusively to the idiosyncrasies of their employers may make them- selves highl}' valuable and earn twenty-fi^'e and thirty dollars or more a week. For this grade of work a girl must have had a high- school education before her special training, haA'e much natural ability, be careful, neat, and accurate, and in all respects a thoroughly ladylike and trustworthy person. The qualifications for a good stenographer are well summed up in a bulletin of the Girls' Trade Educational League of Boston. These requirements will hold equally well for all the best office positions. "If a girl ht'pcs to succeed in stenography she must be possessed with inteUigence, good judgment and common sense. She must have good eyesight, good hearing and a good memory. She must have good perception and be able to concentrate her attention com- pletely on any matter in hand. In addition to these requirements she must be neat in executing written work and accurate to the last degree. "It is absolutely necessary that she have a good education. No one has a more practicable use for a thorough knowledge of the Office Work 23'/ elementary school subjects than a stenographer. She must be a speller and be practically familiar with the rules of good grammar and punctuation: nor is the arithmetic of little importance, for she cannot tell when she may be called upon to turn it to account in connection with her work." And in her interesting book, Woman at Work, Miss Bird says: " No education is too comprehensive to be of value here; and the girl who can be trusted to make a lucid, correctly punctuated and well expressed letter of one sketchily dictated by an employer in a hurry or scrawled by him on a scrap of paper is sure of his favor. The girl who can compose the letter for him on his spoken instruc- tions is a still rarer and greater treasure." Experience is our great teacher. Here is the testimony of a girl who has tried and knows: "I would be a much better stenographer to-day if I had more general education, and I could earn S65 a month easily. I have had one such position, but I couldn't keep it because I didn't know enough." — Vocational Survey of Minneapolis. Higher still come the specially trained private sec- retaries, for whom shorthand and the typewriter are mere incidents. These are college graduates, who handle accurately three or four languages, or else have a highly developed control over their own. They are the aristoc- racy of the group, and their salaries may be anything. Closely parallel to the stenographer-secretary series runs the group of general office workers. These at the bottom are the unskilled brain workers who copy records and file cards. Upward, they pass through all grades to the highly trained persons who organize recording systems, read proof, or catalogue books in a dozen different lan- guages. On the higher levels, these workers also are largely college graduates. This group, as a whole, is much less exclusively feminine than the other, and the outlook for a boy is good. 2j8 Vocational Guidance The special field for men in office work is, of course, bookkeeping. Expert accountants and actuaries are the aristocracy of the group. Their incomes occasionally go beyond four figures. CHAPTER XIV FOREMANSHIP THERE is one feature of the modern industrial world which commonly excites less attention than it merits, a feature, in fact, which is almost characteristic of modem industry as distinguished from old-time labor, and to which, in no small degree, the extraordinary efficiency of modem industry is due. This feature is foremanship. Few persons nowadaj's set their own tasks. Wherever we dip into the modem business world we find alwaj'S some men and women who are responsible for the work of others. They direct other people's labor, and partake, justly, in some degree of its rewards. We do not here refer to the great captains of industry, the generals and commanders of the industrial army, but to what we may call its non-commissioned officers. Here belong the shop foremen, head bookkeepers, floor walkers, charge nurses, gang bosses, — all persons, in short, who, having mastered some one occupation, do their work enough better than their fellows, and have enough power of command, to be put in charge over them. Few persons realize how numerous is this group. The great majority of farmers, for example, at least during some time of the year, supplement their own labor by hired help; some employ a hundred hands ac harvesting. Virtually all business men have their force of clerks and salesmen. Every shop is so organized that each ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred workers are under the immediate charge of some one superior. Each school has its principal. Even the clergyman has his staff of 239 240 Vocational G iiidatn Photo-engraving. The typical foreman is an experienced workman who in addition to his special skill has the gift for handling men voluntary workers, on whose efficiency the welfare of the parish in no small degree depends. Our typical foreman, then, is the experienced workman, either with hand or brain, who in addition to his special skUl has the gifts of character and personality which enable him to govern other workers. The foreman knows his trade; in addition he knows how to handle This foremanship ability appears also among persons whom we do not commonly think of as foremen. Rail- way conductors have it; so do policemen, and some janitors and gate keepers. All successful teachers must have it, else they cannot maintain discipline. From the standpoint of the vocational guide, then, foremanship ability is a peculiar talent which may be added on to any other kind of capacity. The boy or For em an ship 241 girl has a vocation for keeping books or for keeping house. Then in addition, each has, or lacks, the abilit}' to direct other people. The difference means a tenth more wages, or twice as much, for no harder work. It may mean the certainty or the impossibilitj^ of higli success. Of earmarks by which the foreman-to-be maj' be recognized early there are few. There are successful managers of the "driving boss" type — red-faced, loud- voiced, heavy-handed, profane. There are equally suc- cessful leaders of the opposite sort. Apparently, thej^ all possess strength of will, courage, self-reliance, insight into human nature, and a sense of justice; yet all these are possessed in equal measure by persons who are not leaders. Even the ability to remember faces and to call people by name, on which some persons haA-e laid much emphasis, can hardly be of much consequence for the captains of tens and twenties. The one certain element seems to be this, that the coming foreman or forewoman is from youth of inde- pendent character and not the sort of person who is easily influenced by others. The desire for leadership among one's companions, together with a resistance to being led, is the one sure foundation for foremanship. In other words, the foreman is largely made. He learns to understand people; he acquires the habit of managing them. So much of foremanship quality as is a natural gift is also a delicate plant that promptly withers in an untimely frost. The qualifications of an ideal foreman are thus defined in the Cyclopedia of Modern Shop Practice: "Toward the firm the foreman should be respectful, obedient, and energetic; toward the workman he should be fair, just, and sympathetic. Of all the qualities going to make an ideal foreman, ^42 Vocational Guidance that of tact is the most important. It means that the men will be treated as individuals, their failings noted and corrected; their ■ good points enlarged upon and due credit allowed for them. With this tact, or the faculty of governing along the lines of least resist- ance, must be employed absolute fairness. Nothing will create such an atmosphere of discontent as that the foreman has favorites. Fairness, dignity, and firmness are the qualities that can be quite closely defined; but tact and its fellow attribute, executive ability, are rather illusive of close description." Ruskin, though not a man of business, pictures the spirit of an ideal foreman in a very few words. "Suppos- ing the master of a manufactory saw it right, or were by any chance obHgcd, to place his son in the position of an ordinary workman, as he would then treat his son, he is bound always to treat every one of his men." The old saw, that vinegar never catches flies, applies to the work of a foreman. He must, of course, become an expert in the technique of his selected field. This comes only through years of training. But in all the studies of foremen in store or shop, good judgment, sympathy, and leadership are the cardinal qualities. In school days the counselor can easily detect and encourage the dis- position to take responsibility and leadership. Every youth, then, should start out with this ambition, that whatever sort of work he undertakes, or whate^'er its grade, he will come to the top of his particular little heap. Since, in the industrial world, there are, on the average, somewhat fewer than ten subordinates to each leader of the lowest grade, the ambition is by no means an unreasonable one. The habit of leadership once established, the field is wide. The opportunity for rising to leadership, however, varies greatly in different employments. In business, as we have already seen, the chance is about one in two, though in certain special lines the proportion drops to one F or em a n s h i p 243 ^^^^g ^KB3 iS^BIRi yHiSi^ iMii^Hi jMitiip^'' ^Hp^^LS^jKS|^s^^^^^30^^fl^H BIR^^^K^p ^^^ BuMJy^^-wr" ^^Hfcn^^l [JI^^^S^MmS ^gl^S^MfffW ^^^^^HB Jwpjb^ ^ y^^jjjK jiki w ^^^^HH H^^^^;'''|| v^^^^B^^r^^^^ ' iifll^^^^^^^^l ^B^^^^^ g^HH^^I ^^H^hIe Of persons employed in the manufaeture oj cotton goods but one in eighty ever rises to a foremanship in three or four. Carpenters and bakers have about one chance in five to become foremen. Printers, carriage builders, and leather workers have one in ten. But persons who are employed on ready-made clothing either for men or for women, on boots and shoes, or in meat packing, ha^-e but one chance in twentj^ or thirty to lift themselves from the ranks. In hosier\' and knit goods, in iron and steel, in paper and wood pulp, in silk, woolen, worsted, and felt, the opportunity of rising to foremanship becomes only one in forty or fifty. Last of all, only one person in eight}' who is emplo^'ed in the manufacture of cotton goods e\'er comes to the oversight of other workmen. Curiously enough, the occupations where the chances to rise are least turn out to be just those in which persons under sixteen are largely employed, so that the one 17 244 Vocational Guidance characteristic is a test of the other. This is one of the matters to be taken into consideration in advising any youth of promise. For this training in leadership we must put high the give and take of school life. It has been said that the advantage which the city man has over the country man in organization and cooperative activity of various sorts is due in large measure to the fact that the larger schools of the city give more chance for leadership to develop. Be this as it may, there is no training ground for fore- manship superior to the playground of a fair-sized and well-conducted school. The would-be foreman, then, should make it a point to get into all school games. He may not play well ; but he will play well enough to do what for him is vastly more important, namely, to organize games among boys who for the moment are out of amusement. From this beginning he will soon advance to enterprises of all sorts, — swimming or nutting expeditions, camping trips. Gradually he will acquire a quiet control over other boys, develop a sense of justice and a knowledge of human nature, and the habit of leadership. This is his starting- point. In general, foremanship and salesmanship begin at about the same place, and depend a good deal upon the same characteristics. Beyond this first step comes the general training of experience which brings self-reliance, initiative, and the habit of responsibility. All social activities contribute to this, especially contact with many different sorts of people. College life counts heavily here, and member- ship, and still more office holding, in almost any sort of club or society. The only safe rule, therefore, is to give every boy or girl all the social training possible. This is especially Foremanship 24^ important between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, when the social instincts are de\'eIoping and the permanent social habits are being formed. But for social education there must be groups and numbers. It is in this field that the county consolidated school makes perhaps its greatest contribution to the solution of the rural problem. All social and cooperative organizations demand lead- ers. "Grange influence," says Miss Mabel Carney, "has de\-eloped leadership, has sustained a high idealism of per- sonal integrity and social responsibility, and above all has fostered the spirit of cooperation through which this idealism has been worked out and made tangible for community benefit." Of formal preparation for foremanship there is little. Some shops ha^'e special courses for bo^'s who wish to be- come foremen; a few institutions which train for the technical arts have been able, without much deliberate purpose, to turn out graduates who rise to the top. The Hebrew Technical Institute for Boys in New York City, for example, has forty-two per cent of all its graduates of ten years' standing in positions of responsibility, either as foremen, superintendents, managers, or proprietors. Men who are training their own sons commonly put them in at the \'ery bottom of the business and work them up, usually without an}' special favors but with rapid promotion. Experience shows that there is no method to be compared with this for giving to a youth a sym- pathetic understanding of working men and women. Most foremen, however, are shop-trained. The young man learns his business, whether it be making or selling or keeping records. Then gradually his native quality or his self -education begins to count, and he comes to the front. To quote once more the excellent report of the Massachusetts sub-committee of the shoe industry • F or cm an ship 241 "If a workman in any department has an ambition to become a foreman, he should try for a position under some successful fore- man and study to learn the ways of running a room. Good foremen are alwaj's in demand, and there is hardly a day but changes arc heard of. If a young man can show a manufacturer that he is fitted for a foreman's position hy his knowledge of the different parts of the work and methods of forwarding work through the department, it will not be long before he has secured such a position." In Spite, however, of these opportunities, there is a marked dearth of competent foremen. In the Chicago investigation nearly three fourths of the employers re- ported difficult}' in finding or training suitable overseers. No less than ninety-eight per cent of the foremen in New York factories were bom and trained across the water — a fact which needs no comment. The larger factories must ha\-e at the head men who can buy raw materials, sell the finished product, handle men, and know the technique of the manufacturing proc- esses. The retail and wholesale stores must select their ofBcials from the most efficient buj-ers, managers, and salesmen. Foremanship is, therefore, one of the most direct roads to the highest official positions. CHAPTER XV The Professions TO the vocational guide the professions offer a double problem. There is, on the one side, the youth who by ability, opportunity, or family connections is distinctly called to pulpit, bar, or hospital; or who is, at the least, fairly entitled to consider the possibilit)' of a learned career. On the other hand, there is the youth, and still more often the parent, who regards a profession as a place where one "will not have to do any work." Need- less to say, the latter sort is rarely drawn from the pro- fessional classes. On both these accounts the vocational counselor ought to face squarely the actual condition in a field which it is more often wise to warn candidates to avoid than to per- suade them to enter. Truth is, the professions in America are scandalously overcrowded. In 1890 there was one lawyer to each eight hundred persons, children included; in 1900, one to each six hundred and fifty; in 19 10 the number had grown to one for each five hundred. Of doctors, there is one to every six hundred potential patients, of whom, ob- viously, even during an epidemic, only a small number are ever sick at the same time. The state of affairs in the ministry has become notorious. One clergyman to each seven hundred inhabitants, and not half of these churchgoers! All through the country are churches so ill-equipped that a half-dozen of them combined would hardly support one pastor in decent comfort. In general, the proportion of American men and women in the 248 The Professions 24Q professions is about twice as large as, for example, in Gemiany. And there is no dearth there! The conditions in medicine and law are well summed up in the recent report of the Carnegie Foundation on Medical Education. What is said there will apply equally well to the ministry' : "For twenty-five years past there has been an enormous overpro- duction of uneducated and ill-trained medical practitioners. This has been in absolute disregard of the public welfare. Taking the United States as a whole, physicians are four or five times as numer- ous in proportion to population as in older countries like Germany. . . . In a town of two thousand people one will find, in most of our states, from five to eight physicians, where two well-trained men could do the work efficiently and make a competent livelihood. When, however, six or eight ill-trained physicians undertake to get a living in a town which will support only two, the whole plane of professional conduct is lowered in the struggle which ensues, each man becomes intent on his own practice, public health and sanitation are neglected, and the ideals and standards of the pro- fession tend to demoralization. "A similar state of affairs conies from the presence of too large a number of ill-trained lawyers in a community. When six or eight men seek to gain their living from the practice of the law in which at the most two good lawyers could do all the work, the demorali- zation to society becomes acute." Needless to say, the results of this o\'ercrowding are most deplorable. The lawyer turns or is driven to politics, business, shystering; the physician picks up odd jobs, and waits; every 3'ear many clergymen, fairly star\'ed out of their sacred calling, gWe up their parishes and go into business. Thus the standards of the professions become demoralized and the whole plane of professional conduct is lowered. Quite erroneous notions are abroad concerning the size of professional incomes. Successful lawyers do gain enormous fees, but their expenses also are heavy. Famous surgeons and consultants charge high for brief ser^^ce, 2jo Vocational Guidance but not infrequently they do large amounts of equally good work for nothing. Engineer and architect live on the narrow margin between their intake and the cost of their office force. Prizes in some of the professions are indeed great — but the}' are correspondingly few. The ai'crage pro- fessional man in the United States, ten years or more after completing his fonnal education, does not make more than fifteen hundred dollars a year; and he has waited until after he is thirty to do even that. The pay of the average clergyman is still lower, — less actually than that of a good mechanic who began to earn at sixteen and was on full pay at twenty. That the less successful members of the professional classes seem to be better off than the higher levels of manual workers is due largely to their greater frugalit}', not to their greater incomes. Comparison of family budg- ets shows that in the one greatest item of family expense, namely food, the "standard of living" of professional men is notably lower than that of working men of like or even of smaller incomes. In short, a capable j'oung mechanic, if he should adopt the standards and practices of the or- dinary professional man, and marry a wife of the same tastes, training, and ability, would probably find himself at forty quite as well off in this world's goods as the people whom he now envies. The first duty of the vocational guide is to respect every boy's ambition, for it is much easier to guide than to kindle interests, but she can safely tell the plain truths and thereby frighten off all youths who aspire to profes- sional careers in order to find an easy job, and warn the remainder of the long and arduous preparation that is before them, and make sure that they are counting the full cost. T It c Professions 2ji There is, lioweA'cr, absolutely no way of telling in advance whether any boy or girl is going to be suited to any particular profession. There is not e\'en a psycho- logical type that is especially adapted to the professions in general. The most that one can sa\' is that the pro- fessions are traditionally "learned." Any sort of ability finds its place, provided onl}' that its grade is sufficiently high. But the pupil who is not bookish enough to rank well up toward the head of his class is probably not up to the professional standard. Alany writers on A'ocational matters have dwelt at length on the qualifications for various callings. Any- body can do this at an}' length, provided his psj'chologi- cal analysis is sufficiently bad and he jumbles together native aptitudes and the results of the practice of the profession itself. As a matter of fact, though many lawyers are exceptionally good speakers, many are quite dumb; the fact that a schoolbo}' shines in declamation does not raise anj' special presumption of a call to the bar. No more docs excellence in school composition indicate the budding literary man, nor a solemn "bedside manner" the coming practitioner of the healing art. A^irtually all the peculiarities which we associate with law}-er, clergj'- man, or physician are the results of his training, or the A'cars of practice in his profession. Few of them are native; none of them are discernible in boyhood. The only point on which the vocational guide can put his finger is this, that a physician, an architect, and com- monly an engineer, must ha\-e a mental imager}' of the visual type. In a A'ery real sense, moreover, lawj-er, clcrgj'man, and editor are the flowering out of the sales- man type of worker; surgeon, architect, and engineer, of the mechanic type. In the United States the three old professions are 2^2 Vocational Guidance about equally well represented, with medicine slightly in the lead — one hundred and thirty-odd thousand doctors against one hundred and ten to fifteen thousand of each of the others. Of the three, the law is the most special- ized, offers the greatest prizes, and probably slightly the largest average income. The ministry, hardly specialized at all, has the smallest average earnings, and few great prizes, if the moral side is not considered. In none of these fields is there an even chance for a woman. To be sure, there were above three thousand clergywomen in the United States in 1900, almost one thirtieth of the total number of ordained persons; but their opportunities are restricted to the less consen.fative religious bodies, and usually to churches too poor to hire a man. Even with four fifths of the church members women, a woman enters the pulpit more or less on toler- ance. But in connection with church work, positions as deaconesses, district nurses, and social workers are giving to women a constantly enlarging sphere of influence. Of lawyers, women number less than one to the hun- dred. Their chief clientage is among women, and because of social customs they are practically prevented from reaching the highest financial success. There is no good reason, however, why women should not become the best of legal advisers, particularly for women and children. As a matter of fact, they are fast entering this field through the juvenile courts, and one efficient woman probation officer is worth and is actually filling the place of many lawyers of the old school. As physicians, their chances are relatively better, about one to every seventeen men. They practice largely among other women or devote themselves to the diseases of children. In the latter field they have achie^'ed high success. The Professions 253 A familiar scene in the juvenile court. Because of their special fitii-cjs for the work, women have almost a monopoly in this court and through it are fast taking an important place in the legal field The fact is, most men prefer other men as their profes- sional advisers. Most women also prefer men. So long as things are as they are, only a very few women of the highest grade of ability can find a place. Some of this prejudice against women is the direct result of deep- seated instincts which are not quickly changed, but a large part is the result of customs which are easil)- changed. One ma}' regret the injustice of the present situation, but the vocational counselor must face the facts. It should be noted, however, that although the opportunities for women in these old professions are restricted, yet the number of women doctors nearly doubled, of women ministers trebled, and the number of women lawyers increased nearly five hundred per cent in the decade from 1S90 to 1900. 254 Vocational Guidance On the other hand, there are two professions in which women outnumber men — in teaching by three to one, and in nursing by ten to one. Now teaching is related psychologically to both law and the ministry. The kind of woman who, if she had been a man, would have suc- ceeded in pulpit or at bar, will in most cases, being a woman, do better by herself behind the preceptoress' desk. The legal type will, on the whole, incline to high- school and college work; the pastoral to the grammar grades. Besides these, there are, of course, innumerable special subjects to be taught — singing, dancing, art, music, cooking, gymnastics. Many kinds of social and philanthropic work, also, demand the same types of professional ability as the ministry and the law. This is a field where native sympathy and scientific methods combine to render high service, with correspondingl}' high rewards. The work is especially open to women of high talents and special training. For the higher vocations open to women read tcsy "i Exti-nsiuii Dcpartnicnt. Alalwma IVlytfi-liiiie Institute In rural districts a new vocation is represented by the county agent, who instructs girls in scientific methods of canning and preserving The Proje^siotis 255 The teaching of gyiiiinntlcs is a field offering ample opportunities for women Vocations for Trained Women, by the Woman's Educa- tional and Industrial Union of Boston. Fully three quarters of the professional «-omen in the United States are now teaching, and the number continues to grow — a sure sign that those already in the profession are doing well. The president of Wellesley College, of Mount Holyoke, and of Bryn j\lawr, and the Superintend- ent of Schools in Chicago, to mention only a few striking cases, are all women. Not manj- persons in any vocation surpass the ten and fifteen thousand dollars a year which fall to the head mistresses of a few ultra-fashionable girls' schools. The social rewards of the woman teacher are also high, and the work is one of the best introductions to home making of any outside calling. On all accotmts, 2^6 Vocational Guidance then, unless a girl's vocation toward one of the allied men's professions is strong and unmistakable, teaching offers her the better chance. The same course of reasoning applies to the two branches of medicine. Few women, comparatively, make good phy- sicians, and fewer, good surgeons — and when they do, the The school nurse lias an important wort: in a well-specialized medical field public in general declines to employ them. On the other hand, men seldom make good nurses. There is a call for a few men for cases requiring much lifting, for sanitarium work, and for the dangerous insane. Other than these, the profession is virtually given over to women. It used to be said that a nurse could never succeed without uncommon physical stamina and pecuhar ability to get on without sleep. This is no longer true. The profession has become thoroughly specialized, quite as The P r of c s s ion s 2^"/ much so as other medical fields, sO' that school nurse, district nurse, \-isiting nurse, and office nurse keep the same regular hours as anj' other people. The profession is exacting; but equally so arc most other fields of labor of the same grade. Teaching and nursing, it is interesting to note, are related much as are two other A-ocations especially open to women, salesmanship and office work. Teaching and selling cover the wider range from top to bottom in capac- ity, training, and rewards; and they presuppose more interest in human nature. Nursing and office work are more given over to women and are less in the public eye. Nursing, moreoAxr, like office work, offers many openings to executiA-e capacity. In the educational field the executive positions as prin- cipals and superintendents are good opportunities for men, with fair financial returns. In the newer fields of manual training, the teaching of trades and agriculture, which the A'ocational interest is widening, there is a great demand, which will continue to increase, for men teachers, and salaries are adequate. The newer professions, such as the engineering group or the various subdivisions of the writing art, though already much overcrowded, have this peculiar adA'antage over the three old professions that they are closely tied to the industrial levels next below. The briefless lawyer, the clerg}-man without a liA'ing, the physician AAdiom no patient consults, are left hanging in the air. There is nothing underneath for them to drop on. But the architect can make a living at drafting, the engineer can run levels, the editor can go out and get news. All these newer professions haA-e grown up lately out of some trade or craft or business. There is no dividing line between their dift'erent levels, and eA-ery youth, whatever 258 Vocational Guidance his ability or his training, is pretty certain to hit his plaee somewhere. For this reason, there is less risk in essaying one of the newer professions than in attempting medicine, the ministry, or the law. There is no loeing admitted to the bar, licensed to practice, or ordained to preach so that one is either completel}^ in the profession or else entirely out of it. Moreover, it is perfectly respectable, under the less seArere etiquette of these newer professions, to get a living b}^ any honest labor in the general line of one's training — a young architect may draw comics for the news- paper when a young An inlerestmgvocatwn IS open to tlie com- -^ .- o dub boy in the increasing demand clergyman may not for teachers of agriculture rccitC monologues on the stage. For this reason, the A'outh maj^ safely be encouraged to aim high in certain A'ocations when he may not in others. Some of these newer professions, as for example the engineering group, are virtually closed to women. On the other hand, all sorts of literary and artistic occupations are freely open to them on the same tenns as to men. Several of these, moreoA^er, notably writing stories and painting, may be followed along with home making and The Professions 2§p after marriage. All of them, therefore, for one reason or for both, offer especial attractions to talented girls. It is well also, in advising girls to enter the professions, to bear in mind that while men have the greater absolute number of openings, the opportunities for women are appreciably more numerous in proportion to the total number of women engaged in gainful occupations. j\Iorc- over, promotion is, as in every field, always more rapid for women than for men, for the reason that the superiors of women marry oft as well as die. The consideration has especial weight in the professions, since there the first start is peculiarly difficult. In brief, then, the problem of the A'ocational guide confronted with an aspirant for one of the professions is to be handled by a few simple rules. First, warn CAxry one against entering the professions. Second, swing as many as possible of those who persist from the older, "learned" professions to the newer, useful professions. And third, if a girl inclines to one of the masculine vocations, enlarge at length on the ad^-antages of the corresponding feminine vocation. 18 CHAPTER XVI The Foundations of All Success WHEN from the foregoing general survey of the indus- trial field the vocational counselor in the public schools turns to the practical assistance of boys and girls, she promptly discovers that she is dealing as little with any tabula rasa here as in other departments of education. Rarely during the grammar-school course can one say, either to youth or to parent: "Here are such and such qualities, which point with absolute certainty to such and such a calling. Let that, therefore, be the life work." Long before the boy or girl takes his elders into his confidence he has already made up his mind that certain occupations attract him and that certain others repel. These intuitions are often sound. Sound or not, they have to be respected. Now these childish predilections, awkward as they may be for the professional vocational counselor outside the schools, for the parent, or for the family friend, are really of very great help to the teaching guide. Her problem is a double one. Not only has she to guide the youth to a wise choice of work, but she has in addition to turn back this vocational interest and use it to dignify and to vitalize the everyday work of her classroom. The latter is by no means the less important. The precise direction of the pupil's progress in his early teens is of less moment than his motive for moving at all. The grade teacher then, who knows the vocational interests of her pupils, can say: "You wish to become a stenographer and typist. Well then, you must learn 260 The Foundations of all Success 261 to spell; and the time to begin is with to-da3''s lesson." The prospecti\"e office worker must never make mistakes. The prospecti\'e salesman may never be absent-minded or cross. The prospecti^'e teacher of gymnastics must not slouch over a book. In such ways as these, very spe- cifically, the teacher may show each boy or girl how this, that, and the other piece of school work is counting directly on his future life work; how this, that, and the other neglect is keeping him from his special goal. But the vocational interest once aroused, the vocational point of view once assumed, the teacher maj' go much farther. Infomiation of a particular sort may count toward a particular success, or it may not. Deficiency of a certain kind may handicap one worker, but not another. The ver}' insistence of the vocational moti\'e may lead the prospective mechanic to wonder why he should learn to spell; or the saleswoman, why she should bother wit"'-; her drawing. For these reasons the teacher should, from the beginning of her vocational ^^'ork, lay stress on the foundations of all success in an}' calling. Certain dements are common to all occupations; lacking them, no bo}' or girl will ever go ver\' far in any. Indeed, in the last analysis, it is just because certain items of information and certain mental and phvsical habits are essential to an}- kind of grown-up work, that all elementary schools unite in spending most of their effort on them. The list is, of course, familiar. On the one hand there are power of attention, promptness, accuracy, steadiness of temper, cheerfulness, courtesy, order and system, honesty, faithfulness, foresight, industry — all the long list of qualities which the common schools and the experience of life usually manage to inculcate. All these are, at least in part, habits. The serious-minded child can be led 262 Vocational Guidance deliberately to cultivate them by many different motives — among which, by no means weakest, is the vocational. On the other side come the traditional subjects of school instruction and the more modem disciplines that have been added to them. It is a stupid child who cannot be made to see the difference in the financial position of adults who have not mastered the three R's and of those who have. A little attention to what the well-to-do classes actually know and can do, as compared with the less fortunate, will commonly answer all "what is the use" questions. In short, the child may early be made to see the definite value both of sound habits and of general mental training. Much of this appeal, however, must be managed shrewdly. Children commonly get so much concerning the value of sound knowledge and good habits that the whole thing takes on something of the unpleasant flavor of the "drunkard stomach physiology." Church and home unite in preaching the moral and spiritual aspect. The school may well freshen this appeal by a little cold- blooded business. Let us then replace the Belgians at Waterloo, the Boy at the Dike, the Loose Nail in the Horse's Shoe, and the rest of the immemorial stock stories, by fresh anecdotes of the commercial world, taken, if possible, from the industries with which the pupil is already familiar, or, still better, from the experiences of people whom he knows. The wide-awake teacher will ha\'e no difficulty in pick- ing these up either at first hand, from biographies, or from the pages of trade periodicals. Boys, especially, are great hero worshipers. If they can see that any actual man, about whom they have heard outside school or seen with their own eyes, has turned any knowledge, habit, or custom to any practical and useful end, that point is proved. The F oiin dati n s of all Success 26 j System, for example, like other periodicals of the same class, is full of anecdotes to illustrate the business virtues. There is, among others, a capital story of a tactful salesman who pronounced the trade name of his ware indifferently, following alwaj's his customer's lead. His business was to sell goods, not to meddle with people's English. It would be hard to find a better illustration of the importance of accuracy than the following from System. Mr. John Harper, living in a little town in Wyoming, sent in an order for goods amounting in A'alue to $146.92, and accompanied it with a draft for the full amount. But the clerk who entered the order let his mind wander for an instant, and left off the initial figure one. Harper, therefore, being credited with only S46.92, got his goods shipped C. O. D. Now Harper happened to liA-e one hundred and ten miles from the railwa}^ It took him three days to dri\'e in. Naturally, thinking his goods fully paid for, he did not have Sioo in his pocket. He returned home, there- fore, empty handed, and started a long correspondence with his dealer. In the course of time, the error was run down and rectified. Harper once more spent a week on the road — and the dealer paid him damages that wiped out his profit several times over. The two seconds' inattention of the order clerk cost the amount of his wages for as manj' weeks. The advantages of such stories as these are two. For one thing, they are not meant for the edification of infants, but for the instruction of business men, who read trade journals. They have the fia^•or of the grown-up world. For another thing, they are not shopworn moral tales, but fresh "news items," the happenings of the past month, that occurred in places on the map. They are fresh and real, as too much of our teaching is not. ,c _g O z tn u I u o > E oj OJ li -M s: ^s "5 o > -^ rt •v >-. -Ci. -^ •S a w Oj OJ 0-+^ cd 03 -i-^ rt ^ o ^ il C^ •-H +-> -O t" ■ " "c-Q >, Xi •" £! G •^ 2 C g 'Til " C J3.S ^1 at g 03 'S & C I- O CO OJ ■^ ^ >-. ci ir* d s |-" a S "J J= OJ 1^ . - ^ 03 & +^ .'^ *^ > a. a .Si cfl Si's o 2 rt 0) Cow. C g cu ^'S'2 Ji Oj c d c 'gj c "a T3 o t3 w. 3 CTj o ^ >-, O , 1 T^ rt Vh "3 O o S & -d •d o o rt >*-, >1 p. fi ^ ■Cl- "a o "« a !^ 6 s^ ■^ f^ to J3 p. a '■n The Foundations of all Success 265 Stories to the class, quiet hints in private, is the working method. Teaching, be it obsen^ed, is one of the human- nature vocations where tact is presupposed. No one practical method, however, is more vivifying both to teacher and pupil than the study of the actual require- ments of actual emplo\'ers. The United States Ci\'il Service Commission, for example, issues large blank forms on which each candidate for a go^'e^lment position has to set forth his equipment in the general qualifications demanded for all. So also do the various State Commissions. Many large pri^'ate or public-ser\-ice corporations do the same — the several branches of the American Telephone Company; nearly all railways; many great packing firms; manufacturing and mercantile houses of various sorts; all emplo^Tnent agencies large or small; virtually every business, in short, which has more employees than one man can carrj- in his head. Besides these, there are the bonding and surety companies which make themselves responsible for the competence and integrity of trusted officers of all sorts, and risk ten, fifty, a hundred thousand dollars on the qualitj' of a total stranger. These last, one may be sure, do not spare inquiry. All of these, in addition to the questions addressed directly to the applicant, send also blank forms and ask for private and confidential information from pastors, teachers, friends, employers, and the like. Both kinds of document are easily obtained. If they are the inquiry sheets of some famous organization, still better of some local body, their effect on the pupil is so much the more impressiA^e. Any teacher may well spend the small effort necessary to collect a set of such documents. If she does not use them with her class, they will be useful for some bo}- or 266 Vocational Guidance girl to look over when he has no lessons to learn. A satisfactory working set will include the United States CiA'il Ser\'ice requirements for skilled mechanics and post-office employees, the state requirements for laborers and for office workers, the application blanks of an emplo3'ment agencj', a bonding company, an insurance company, a teachers' agency, a hospital training school for nurses, and a railway corporation. These will cover the general ground. Beyond them, the more, the better. It is extraordinary with what unanimity all these various sorts of business men ask the same simple questions. The manager of a great corporation expects of his office boy, though on a smaller scale, just about the same qualities that his directors expect of him. What the bonding company demands of the cashier, the cashier demands of the cash girl. Without order, promptness, and honesty, nobody gets on anywhere in the business world. It makes an interesting class exercise to run through sets of these blanks, and to see what are the general require- ments of all occupations, and which are especially empha- sized in particular fields. A synopsis of this information arranged as a wall chart is most impressive. Take by way of illustration the great bonding and surety companies. They lay special emphasis on moral habits. "Have you ever heard," says the confidential sheet of the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company, "that he [the applicant] has been suspected of; a. drunkenness, h. gambling, c. speculation, d. extrav- agance, e. dishonorable conduct, /. fraud or dishonesty ? " Note the form of the question, "Have you ever heard that he has been suspected" — there must not be so much as the breath of suspicion of the sort of act which is represented in the child's world by cop5dng school work, pitching pennies, or buying overmuch candy. Moreover, though Tltc Foundations of all Success 26y ^^Tlt^^' i^^r^^^^^SB "fW ■fi^.-"^. »»H n^ ' ft:'- . ''.j-"^^K.".« >4. m k jS •^jg^^^B 1 l^dx IBb^ t' a L:.^.; .■ %- • - V- ■= "^^^1 ^*^Ni Jl__,.--' s-1 .i- , - "■8^1 Pitching pennies is a form of gainlyling in the child's : which helps to fix moral habits •orld naturally it does not appear on the blank, the management of one company declares frankly that it will not become suret}' for a man who works in pool room, billiard room, or saloon, or who has been a drunkard within five years. The United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company of Baltimore puts honestj^ first: "Was he ever suspected of fraud or dishonesty or any dishonorable act'" Next, it places personal habits: "Is he, or has he CA'er been, ad- dicted to intemperance, gambling, immorality, or other vice ? ' ' Then follow questions concerning style of li^'ing, extravagant habits, character of friends and associates. The American Suretj^ Company wants to know whether the applicant is "sober, careful, and reliable; Ha'cs within his means; is free of even the suspicion of fraud or dis- honesty, dishonorable or improper conduct, gambling, drinking, or speculation." With one voice, these great bonding companies, first, last, and all the time, want to know about the moral habits which are formed and fixed 268 Vocational Guidance during boyhood and girihood, and in school. Under modem conditions, no person who cannot satisfy his bondsmen on these points can ever hope to rise to any position of trust. Not only, however, is the one boy in two in the busi- ness world who, as we have seen, rises to a position of responsibility, likely at any time to need the services of a bonding company, he is likely in addition to require insurance. The insurance companies also make the same careful investigation into the young man's habits. As one manager put it, "When a young fellow is just starting out, the only thing we can lay stress on is his moral record. If this is good, we take the risk." Any boy, in short, who can look ahead at all can be brought to see these things without any moralizing over them. It is enough that the teacher point out the facts. The employing companies go farther. They also ask con- cerning honesty, sobriety, industry, friends and associates, general character. Then, with singular unanimity, they all want to know what the applicant has been doing in school . The boy or girl may not"seetheuse," but next to habits and character, the business man pounces on school standing. Presumably, the business man knows his business. "Profane, vulgar, and coarse language" is one of the things that interests the United States Civil Service Com- mission. It wants also to know whether the applicant has shown inefficiency in any occupation. One large mercantile house inquires whether the applicant can "work hannoniously with others." Several firms keep out of the way of persons who use tobacco. To a remark- able extent, the demand of the business world centers on matters which are entirely within a youth's own control. After the documentary evidence comes the personal interview. All employers lay great weight on their first T ]i e Foundations of all Success 26g general impressions. In fact, the eniploj'er's own business success turns partly on his power jof sizing up other persons at first glance. Voice, manner, carriage, bearing, dress, language, all go to make up the fa^'orable or unfavorable picture in the employer's mind — and competition for the best positions is close in these days. But manners are habits, not put on for the moment, but drilled in by years of effort. E^-ery slovenl}^ vowel, every slatternly garment, may have to be paid for in hard cash. And the child can be made to see it. The four cardinal habits of the bvisiness world are attention, honesty, cheerfulness, accuracy. Every suc- cessful worker has the first two. The third is a prime requisite of all salesmen and foremen; the fourth, of all bookkeepers and clerical workers. All of them can be acquired by every pupil of fair ability during a grammar- school and high-school course. In brief, then, the business world says to the school pupil, "Know certain things, be certain things, and we pay you for the trouble." It is not the highest motive to appeal to; but it is one of the most efficient. Always, however, is the life more than the meat. We want for the child a mind and body trained to the highest efficiency, guaranteeing the possessor the best chances of power and success. To this end we use the vocational motive because, among other advantages, it enables us to apply'with especial efficiency the warning of the great- est of American psychologists : "Don't preach too much to your pupils or abound in good talk in the abstract. Lie in wait rather for the practical opportunities, be prompt to seize these as they pass and thus at one operation get your pupils both to think, to feel, and to do. The strokes of behavior are what give new set to the character, and work the good habits into its organic tissue. Preaching and talking too soon become an ineffectual bore." CHAPTER XV 11 The Vocational Guide as a Constructive Social Force ^~ ^ VOCATIONAL guidance is, then, a fourfold process. Its results are : first, the arrival of the pupil at self- knowledge; second, the development in him of those habits and elements of character which make for a success- ful life; third, the opening of his eyes to the wide field of vocational opportunity that lies before him; fourth, the presenting to him the particular means through which he will be trained for his best efficiency. These are the four essentials of vocational guidance from the point of view of the particular youths who are under our control. When, however, for the moment we turn away from the boy or girl who looks forward to becoming a worker to the work which, in our rich country, needs to be done, the problem of vocational guidance takes on certain wide social aspects. We haA-e here in the United States about one twentieth of the world's population. But we produce one quarter of the world's gold; a third or more of its silver, iron, steel, and coal; more than half its petroleum and copper; and seven tenths of its cotton. Much of this raw material we are now exporting for other countries to manufacture into finished products. But if we could educate our children to organize and man the mechanical industries which will turn these raw materials into finished products on our own soil, we should increase by just so much the total wealth of our country. If, in addition, we could secure this new wealth without at the same time increasing .4 Constructive S oc i a I F o r c c 271 correspondingly the number of persons among whom it is to be shared, the material well-being of the aA'erage citizen would, by so much, be augmerfted: Moreover, quite aside from the question of expanding industries, if those which we now haA'e can be lifted to a higher level of efficiency, so much more abundant for us all will liccome the good things of life. To both aspects of this great task of adding to our na- tional efficiency, the A'ocational guide may hope to contribute. The immediate problem is to get the workers into work that really counts for something. As things are now, the whole mass of per- sons engaged in getting things done divides itself into three groups. There are, to begin with, the construc- tive workers. In this class l3clong all who arc adding to the general welfare of the community. The man who cleans the street, or grows corn, or makes a chair, or teaches a child something that he needs to know, is CL.iir-tc^y'if Kxtonsi.,11 DL'pt., Al;iliama P..|yt^ linii InstituU The county agent n'tw interests girts m gardening and canning adds to llie general luelfare of tlie commnnily 2^2 Vocational Guidance in this constructive class. Fortunately for the com- munity, the vast majority of men and women belong in this group. There is, however, another large social group which consists of those who do no particular harm to the body politic and no particular good, and of those whose good works just about balance their evil deeds. The state is no worse off for their presence, and no better. They are like the "cow boarders," whose milk just about pays their feed bills and the wages of their care takers. They cost their owner nothing — and he has the pleasure of their society. To this group belong all sorts of well-meaning drones, all persons who are idle or nearly idle when they are able to work, all holders of ornamental offices, and all super- numerary workers who merely get in one another's way. When two grocers or two milkmen cover the same territory, the two together doing hardly more than either could do alone, only one of the two can be counted as a fully constructive worker; the other is more or less in the neutral class. When clerks in stores stand idle half the week in order that there may be enough of them to handle the rush of a single day or of particular hours, the customs of the community reduce all the excess clerks from the con- structive group to the neutral. When wheat, bought in quantity at two cents the pound, is hauled to a factor^' and made over into fancy breakfast foods, put up in attractive packages, heavily advertised, and sold for ten cents the pound, but on the whole is rather less wholesome and nutritious for the process, nearly all this added labor is neutral in its results. I happen to know a home in which there is a father who is an uncoinmonly efficient business man, a mother who is a fair home maker, and one young child. There A Constructive Social Force 2yj are also, in this household, three general servants and two laundresses, a nurse and a governess, a chef, a butler, two outside men, two stable men, and a general outside manager. The estate is about ten acres, and nothing in the way of food or clothing is produced on it. Possibly one fourth of these persons, including of course the man and his wife, are constructi^^e workers. The rest merely hop up and down in their places, taking care of one another, but adding nothing to the world's well-being. Now it is evident that the smaller the number of idlers or otherwise useless persons in an}? community, and the larger the number of constructive workers, the better it is for everybody concerned. The richer any man gets by honest methods in a productive industry, the richer does he make his neighbors; but the neutrals ha^^e to be fed by the rest; and the productive worker commonly has sufficient burden of his own to carrj^ without being compelled to tote drones. When therefore the influence of a A'ocational' guide swings anjr prospective worker from the neutral to the constructive class, the whole social group is benefited. Still more is this the case with those workers who are not merely useless but actually destructive. For example, about one fifteenth of the national income goes for liquor, five times as much as for education. But the money spent on education is returned many fold to the com- munitj^; that spent on liquor is not merely wasted; in addition it lowers by about one tenth the efficiency of those who consume it. The quarter million persons who follow the liquor business in the United States in all its ramifications are destructive workers. Each one of them swung over, even into the neutral group, would be a gain. Other destructi^'e workers are the manufacturers and 274 Vocational Guidance A destructive industry sellers of patent medicines, unwholesome foods, the manifold substanees that are used to adulterate other things, the pur\'eyors of vicious amusements, the insti- gators of industrial troubles, commercial pirates, and the authors of foolish laws. All these and their like hinder the work of the wealth-producing group, and leave society poorer than if they had never lived at all. If each teacher in the United States, each year, guided into constructive work one single boy or girl who would otherwise have followed some neutral or destructive occu- pation, that alone would probably wipe out the whole of both non-constructive groups. In addition, since this would add each year one constructive worker to the nation's ranks, who would thereupon continue to do useful work for ten, twentj^ sometimes for forty years, this effort of the teacher would repay to the state ten, twenty, sometimes even forty times the amount of her A Constructive Social Force 2/5 salar}'. If there is any constructi\'e worker on whom the community may reckon its profit by the hundred fold, that worker is the efficient and conscientious teaclier. Hardl}' less in its far-reaching effects would be the benefit to the com:nunity if each teacher in the countrj^ should each year influence one pupil to fit himself for a higher grade of work than the pupil had selected, or for a work for which his special gifts more accurately fitted him. The well-placed boy or girl, sticking steadily to a thoroughljr suitable job, may easily double the wage which he would have earned unguided. The estimate is mod- erate when we reflect that the wages of a competent engineer or manager are often a hundred times those of his least trained subordinates. Right work, moreoA'er, not onlj' increases general efficiency and wages, but develops a corresponding moral TIw Iwme. of a drinking man, slioiL-ing the ycsidls oj a destructive industry 19 2^6 Vocational Guidance life. If talents and work are in hamiony, then the whole force of the daily work is on the long arm of the lever for wholesomeness of character. Where work and talents are ill-adjusted, then the daily work acts with a corre- sponding force in the opposite direction. This factor alone is sufficient to explain the success of one man and the failure of another man equally competent. But promotion within the constructive group means a permanent elevation in the status of a family, better and longer training for the children who are to come, higher earning power for them, and more useful work done for the state, it may be for generations. Meanwhile, by so much has been relieved the congestion in the lower ranks of workers where the supply of labor is always in excess of the demand. Furthennore, the promotion of the fit must mean to some extent the elimination of the unfit. One of the most serious disturbing factors in the industrial world to- day is the filling of high and responsible positions b}? men who do not earn their promotion but come to their places by some social pull of family or wealth. As a rule these men lack the practical common sense and the genuine democratic spirit which come only through experience with all kinds of men, hard work, and promotion on merit. This untrained man is often not simply a neutral but a destructive worker in a large sphere, for he lacks both the wisdom and the power demanded by his position of great responsibilit}^. The wide difference in the esprit de corps of two large factories separated only bj' a street can often be traced to one of these untrained snobs. Many of our industrial troubles can be traced to this same source. An efficient system of vocational guidance, beginning in the grades and carried into the trade school, high school, store, and factory, will have a tendency not only to guide A Constructive Social Force 277 w ^ ^ ij P ^ J i^d^n. 3 1 1 1 g, — 5- ^ SK^i^-- -ym. i ' ^« "fc.^ - A.->.j^^ _ < J5>.^ad^«l 1 Classes in dressmaking. Vocational guidance directs lite ijidividiial and tends to place responsibilily in the hands of the competent the individual but to establish customs which promote only the capable and competent to places of responsibility. Another far-reaching result of vocational education will be a higher standard and a higher respect for our whole school system because it is suffused with a serious tone. Our secondary education, including the high schools and colleges, is now costing the taxi3a3'ers nearly twice as much as the elementary schools, which exist for all the children of all the people. For this large outlay the tax- payers have a right to demand good returns. There is no legitimate reason for spending the people's money on bo3'S and girls who simply fritter their time away and lack any real purpose in life. As already observed, the youths with a life purpose use their time well in school; the others simply drift, have a good time, but acquire habits which are an injur}- rather than a benefit to them 278 Vocational Guidance in practical life. In such cases the people's money is worse than wasted. Vocational guidance must mean a more varied and practical school system to meet the demands of real life. The present high-sehool system fails to hold more than a small per cent of the boys who enter. The school experience in indus- trial education in Massachusetts and other states proves beyond dispute that when a training is offered which prom- ises equipment for a life work, more of the really serious minded pupils are attracted and can be held until they have received the training which the school offers. The more se- vere become the con- ditions of entrance and of continuance in our secondary schools, based on Cnpyrik'tit hy Uriilrjunp.fl ,^; Uiuicr« I. N, Y. School training which promises equipment for life work means a gain for taxpayers, parents, and youths adaptation and preparation for a position, the better it will be for taxpayer, parents, and the youths. Especially wholesome will be the results on our higher institutions of learning of a genuine vocational spirit. Many of our oldest colleges and universities have become winter resorts for rich men's sons. The inevitable results are vicious and immoral products — men who expect the A Constructive Social Force 2'jg world to give them a high li\'ing without a corresponding service. An efficient system of A'ocational guidance will tend to eliminate from society the unvocational college, and raise the standard so that no idler can remain, but is returned to his fond parents for their entertainment and edification. This much then by way of suggestion concerning the economic and social effects of vocational control by the public schools. Still more important, though less obvi- ous, should be its influence on the social conscience. At the present time, in this countr)', we ha^'e de^'eloped a public opinion which worships the great consumer rather than the efficient producer. Public interest is in the people who have, rather than in those who earn. Even our education, with its stress on vague "culture," presupposes leisure more than toil. What we need is emphasis on the producer, that shall dignif}' home work, agriculture, the mechanic arts, and make CA'ery boy and girl feel how necessary and how worthy is the task to which he looks forward. The time was when the man who made a pair of shoes made them well becau.se he knew that he would meet the wearer of those shoes from fift)'-two to three hundred and sixty-five times a j-ear; and according as his work was good or bad the worker was proud or shamed. That time has gone forever, and the man who nails heels all day in a shop never knows what becomes of his product. We need, therefore, a new tj'pe of practical ethical education that shall take the place of the old neighborly incentives, and hold the worker to his best work though its product travels across the continent. "Log rolling" was once used to mean good-will and cooperation where neighbors came together to help each other. As now used, the words ha\'e a very disreputable meaning, the 28o Vocational Guidance fonncr hearty personal relations having disappeared. As Arthur Davis Dean has well said, "to teaeh a Ijoy to saw, to plan furniture, to adjust machinery, is a simple task compared with that of training in him a social con- sciousness which shall make him feel his obligation to his employer and to the public." No man can be called educated who has not a willingness and a desire, as well as the trained ability, to do his part in the world's work. This virtue should be the natural result of good voca- tional guidance and training. Yet what is there like the outlook on a special task, and preparation for it, to lead any child into the larger, social, moral \dew of his life work ! The most important part of vocational guidance is therefore its contribution to culture and character. This must forever remain the first aim of education. We are beginning to realize that, in the words of Dr. Georg Kerschensteiner, "character is not to be gained by the reading of books or the hearing of sennons, but by con- tinuous and steadily applied work. . . . We can educate no one who is not happy in his work. ... In the training which inspires love of work and results in effect- iveness of effort, precisely those civic virtues are devel- oped which must be regarded as the foundation of all higher moral training — conscientiousness, diligence, per- severance, and devotion to a strenuous life." THE APPENDIX The following table from the Twelfth Census of the United States gives the per cent which the number of males and of females in specified occupations unemployed during any portion of the census year forms of the total number of the same sex so occupied. Occupations Glassworkers Plasterers Masons (brick and stone) Teachers and professors in colleges etc Brick and tile makers, etc Fishermen and oystermen Paperhangers Laborers (not specified) Miners and quarrymcn Painters, glaziers, and varnishers . . . Carpenters and joiners Hat and cap makers Marble and stone cutters Roofers and slaters Agricultural laborers Wood choppers Saw and planing mill employees . . . . Stove, furnace, and grate makers . . Coopers Boatmen and sailors Potters Other food preparers vSeamstresses Boot and shoe makers and repairers Rubber factory operatives Lumbermen and raftsmen Silk-mill operatives Iron and steel workers Actors, professional showmen, etc... Tobacco and cigar factory opera- tives Tailors and tailoresses Turpentine farmers and laborers; other agricultural pursuits Per Cent of Males Unemployed in 1900 1S90 59 9 56 55 27 53.1 I 42.9 5 4^.9 30.8 43-6 40.4 28. O 33-4 47 9 31 -I 31 ■« 33.1 30 ■ 3 26.8 17.2 31 -3 31 -7 3" 4 26.4 28. 8 30.7 23.3 18.0 25.2 38.0 29-5 27.4 25-4 17-5 21-5 14' 5 26.4 ' 16.0 Per Cent of Females Unemployed in 1000 1890 61 .2 44 34. 44- 34- 24- 42 39 25- 39- 31- 26. ov 33 22 9 33 3 18 4 40 2 5 6 13 36 40 8 24 ■ I 20 I 4 27 16 281 282 Vocational Guidance Occupations Charcoal, coke, and lime burners. . . Tin plate and tinware makers Gold and silver workers Wireworkers Broom and brush makers Carpet factory operatives Leather curriers and tanners Other woodworkers Other metal workers Other textile workers Shirt, collar, and cuff makers Oil well and oil works employees. . . Packers and shippers Other miscellaneous industries Plumbers and gas and steam fitters Tool and cutlery makers Trunk and leather-case makers, etc. . Cabinet makers Upholsterers Dressmakers Butter and cheese makers Hosiery and knitting mill operatives Messengers and errand and office boys Brassworkers Woolen mill operatives Bleachery and dye works operatives. Draymen, hackmen, teamsters, etc.. Boxmakers (paper) Other textile mill operatives Other chemical workers Steam boiler makers Engineers and firemen (not locomo- tive) Mechanics (not otherwise specified) Wheelwrights Musicians and teachers of music . . . Glovemakers Servants and waiters Paper and pulp mill operatives Distillers and rectifiers Steam railroad employees Telegraph and telephone linemen. . . Nurses and midwives Stock raisers, herders, and drovers. . Printers, lithographers, and press- men p ■r r ent of Per Cent of Males Fema les Unemployed in Unemployed in 1900 1890 1900 1890 26.2 26.4 .... 2,S 9 14-5 2,5 3 18.7 28 8 27 4 2,S ,3 17.0 2.S I 20.7 2,S 25.6 24 4 23 9 24 8 20.3 24 6 16.9 24 .3 16.6 2.^ 8 19.6 22 I 15 2?, 7 14.6 22 I 17 8 22 8 13 2 22 .5 18.0 26 21 2 22 I 20,2 22 13 4 22 20.4 21 I 16.8 20 9 13.8 20 9 15 21 3 14 9 20 8 13 19 8 11 2 20 4 27.7 20 3 315 20 29 9 iq 7 12.2 21 13 .S 19 6 13.2 19 .S 22 .0 21 I 25 2 19 3 15 9 19 3 15 9 IS 8 149 20 4 17 I 18 7 20.7 18 6 18 7 18 ,S 19 5 18 4 16.3 17 7 14 9 17 5 14 4 17 4 12.8 17 3 HI 22 4 II 4 17 I 38.8 20 32 8 17 9.8 14 8 7 16 9 14-5 21 I 15 7 It) 4 15 3 I.S 8 13.0 I,S 8 10.5 l,S 3 II. 7 27 I 18 4 15 3 II. 6 15 9.6 16 5 11 The Appendix 283 Occupations Hostlers Bookbinders Hucksters and peddlers Housekeepers and stewards Other persons in trade and trans- portation Blacksmiths Machinists Harness and saddle makers and repairers Street railway employees Cotton mill operatives Engravers Porters and helpers (in stores, etc.) . . Bartenders Gardeners, florists, nurserymen, etc. Brewers and maltsters Bottlers and soda water makers, etc Electricians, engineers (civil, etc.), and surveyors Model and pattern makers Millers Butchers Bakers Clock and watch makers and re- pairers Confectioners Artists and teachers of art vStenographers and typewriters Janitors and sextons Photographers Telegraph and telephone operators. . Watchmen, policemen, firemen, etc.; other domestic and personal serv- ice Salesmen and saleswomen Milliners Dairymen and dairy women Launderers and laundresses Barbers and hairdressers Bookkeepers and accountants Farmers, planters, and overseers. . . . Literary and scientific persons Agents Clerks and copyists Commercial travelers Per Cent of Males Unemployed in 1900 1S90 14-7 14.6 14.6 14-5 13.9 13-7 13-4 13 3 13 3 131 13 o 12.6 12-3 12 . 1 II 9 II 3 II .2 10.7 10.4 10. 1 9-7 9.6 10.6 9 9 10.5 10.8 10.6 12. 1 10.8 10.0 9-9 132 9-7 7-4 8.9 13 3 8.6 9,0 9 9 7.6 70 6.5 7.8 7-5 6.7 6.8 5.6 6.1 6.8 5-2 5.6 50 6,6 5-4 4.8 50 5 4 Per Cent of Females Unemployed in 1900 1890 II .0 26.3 19 7 12.2 8.8 6.3 II. 6 16.9 9.6 284 Vocational Guidance Occupations Architects, designers, draftsmen, etc Manufacturers and officials, etc Other professional service Officials (government) Foremen and overseers Restaurant keepers Boarding and lodging house keepers . Journalists Clergymen Merchants and dealers (wholesale) . . Bankers and brokers Dentists Undertakers Livery stable keepers Merchants and dealers (except wholesale) Hotel keepers Lawyers Saloon keepers Soldiers, sailors, and marines (U. vS.) Officials of banks and companies . . . Physicians and surgeons Per Cent of Males Unemployed in 1900 1890 4-5 6.1 5.5 4.6 5-4 3.6 3-2 30 2. 1 3-6 1-5 2,4 2.8 2-7 2.3 2.4 1.8 2.3 2.4 3.7 1.4 Per Cent of Females Unemployed in 1900 1890 The A p pe ndi x 285 The foIlnwinK table, taken from Vul. II ot the Twelfth Census of the United States, shows the total number of persons in the Uniteel States, ten years of age and over, engaged in each specified occupa- tion. The classification is according to sex, and for the year 1900. Occupations .1// occiipalions Agricultural Pursuits Agricultural laborers Farm and plantation laborers. . Farm laborers (members of family) Garden and nursery laborers. . . Dairymen and dairywomen Farmers, planters, and overseers . . Farmers and planters Farmers (members of family) . . Farm and plantation overseers jMilk farmers Gardeners, florists, nurserymen, ct Gardeners Florists, nurserymen, and vine growers Fruit growers Lumbermen and raftsmen Stock raisers, herders, and drovers Stock raisers Stock herders and drovers .... Turpentine farmers and laborers . . Wood choppers Other agricultural pursuits Apiarists Not specified Professional Service Actors, professional showmen, etc . . Actors Professional showmen Theatrical managers, etc Architects, designers, draftsmen, etc Architects Designers, draftsmen, and in- ventors Artists and teachers of art Clergymen Dentists Electricians Both Sexes Males Females Mainland Mainland Mainland 29,074,117 23,754,205 5,319,912 10,381,765 9,404,429 977,336 4,4i".«77 3,747,663 663,209 1.999,696 1,779,648 220,048 2,366,149 1,925,094 441,055 45.03^ 42,926 2,106 io,S7,S 9,983 892 5.674,'S75 5,367,169 307,706 5.4S3,6i8 5,192,437 291,181 168,999 154,308 14,691 17,067 15,484 1,583 5,191 4,940 251 61,788 58,928 2,860 36,577 35,378 1,199 16,836 IS, 700 1,136 8,375 7,850 525 72,020 71,920 100 84,988 83,056 1,932 37,629 36,548 1, 08 1 47,359 46,508 851 24,737 24,4,56 281 36,075 35,962 113 5,530 5,287 243 1,339 2,291 48 4,911 3,996 195 1,-58,739 828,163 430,576 34,760 27,903 6,857 14,708 8,334 6,374 16,572 16,184 388 3,480 3,385 95 29,524 28,483 1,041 10,581 10,481 100 18,943 18,002 941 24,873 13,852 11,021 111,638 108,265 3,373 29,644 28,858 785 50,717 50,308 409 286 Vocational Guida-, Occupations Both Sexes Mainland Males Mainland Females Mainland Engineers (civil, etc.) and surveyors Engineers (civil) Engineers (mechanical and elec- trical) Engineers (mining) Surveyors Journalists Lawyers Literary and scientific persons .... Authors and scientists Librarians and assistants Chemists, assayers, and metal- lurgists Musicians and teachers of music . . . Officials (government) Officials (national government)' . Officials (state government) Officials (county government) . . . Officials (city or town government) Physicians and surgeons Teachers and professors in colleges, etc Teachers Professors in colleges and univer- sities Other professional service Veterinary surgeons Not specified Domestic and Personai, Service Barbers and hairdressers Bartenders Boarding and lodging-house keepers Hotel keepers Housekeepers and stewards Janitors and sextons Janitors Sextons Laborers (not specified) Elevator tenders Laborers (coal yard) Laborers (general) Longshoremen Stevedores Launderers and laundresses Laundry work (hand ) Laundry work (steam) 43,239 20,068 14,334 2,888 5,949 30,038 114,460 19,066 6,039 4,180 8,847 92,174 86,607 37,020 4,345 22,697 22,545 132,002 446,133 438,861 7,272 13,864 8,163 5,701 5,580,657 131,116 88,817 71,281 54,797 155,153 56,577 51,191 5,386 2,629,262 12,690 9,361 2,577,951 20,191 9,069 385,965 364,020 21,945 43,155 20,028 14,304 3,885 5,938 27,845 113,450 13,082 3,425 1,058 8,599 39,815 78,488 30,591 4,070 21,974 21,853 124,615 118,519 111,710 6,809 11,525 8,149 3,376 3,485,208 125,542 88,377 11,826 46,264 8,224 48,544 43,249 5,295 2,505,287 12,660 9,349 2,454,053 20,177 9,048 50,683 38,669 12,014 84 40 30 3 II 2,193 1,010 5,984 2,614 3,122 248 52,359 8,119 6,429 275 723 692 7,387 327,614 327,151 463 2,339 14 2,325 2,095,449 5,574 440 59,455 8,533 146,929 8,033 7,942 91 123,975 30 12 123,898 14 21 335,282 325,351 9,931 1 Includes officers of United States Army and Navy. The Ap p endi x 287 Occupations X urses and midwives Nurses (trained) Nurses (not specified) Midwives Restaurant keepers Saloon keepers Ser\-ants and waiters Servants Waiters Soldiers, sailors, and marines (U.S.) Soldiers (U. S.) Sailors (U. S.) Marines (U. S.) Watchmen, policemen, firemen, etc Watchmen, policemen, and de^ tectives Firemen (fire department) Other domestic and personal service Hunters, trappers, guides, and scouts Bootblacks Not specified Trade and Transportation Agents Agents (insurance and real estate) Agents (not specified) Bankers and brokers Bankers and brokers (money and stocks) Brokers (commercial) Boatmen and sailors Boatmen and canalmcn Pilots Sailors Bookkeepers and accountants Clerks and copyists Clerks and copyists Clerks (shipping) Letter and mail carriers Commercial travelers Draymen, hackmen, teamsters, etc. Draymen, teamsters, and express- men Carriage and hack drivers Foremen and overseers Foremen and overseers (livery stable) Both Se.xes Mainland 120,956 11,804 103,523 5,629 33,844 83.746 1,560,721 1,453,677 107,044 43,235 35,038 5,928 2,269 130,590 116,056 14,534 34,597 3,048 8,230 23,319 4,766,964 241,162 119,208 121,954 73,277 65,943 7,334 78,406 13,115 4,896 60,395 254,880 6'50,I27 568,181 '33,611 28,335 92,919 538,933 502,359 36,574 55,450 3,230 Males Females Mainland Mainland 12,265 758 11,507 28,999 81,660 276,958 212,727 64,231 43,235 35,038 5,928 2,269 129,711 115,177 14,534 27,633 2,999 8,145 16,489 4,263,617 230,606 117,067 113,539 72,984 65,695 7,289 78,253 13,033 4,891 60,329 180,727 544,881 483,892 32,918 28,071 91,973 538,029 501,498 36,531 54,032 3,228 288 Vocational Guidance Occupations Both Sexes Mainland Males I Females Mainland ' Mainland Foremen and overseers (steam railroad) Foremen and overseers (street railway) Foremen and overseers (not spec- ified) Hostlers Hucksters and peddlers Livery stable keepers Merchants and dealers (except wholesale) Drugs and medicines Dry goods, fancy goods, and notions Groceries Liquors and wines Boots and shoes Cigars and tobacco Clothing and men's furnishings Coal and wood General store Lumber Produce and provisions Not specified Merchants and dealers (wholesale) Messengers and errand and office boys Bundle and cash boys Messengers Office boys Officials of banks and companies Bank officials and cashiers Officials (insurance and trust companies, etc.) Officials (trade companies) Officials (transportation compa- nies) Packers and shippers Porters and helpers (in stores, etc.) Salesmen and saleswomen Steam railroad employees Engineers and firemen Baggagemen Brakemcn Conductors Laborers Station agents and employees . . . Switchmen, yardmen, and flagmen 35,196 1,023 3,5,184 1,021 16,001 I4,,599 64,929 64,850 76,649 73,7.34 33,656 33,466 790,886 756,802 57,271 56,094 45,820 41,467 156,479 146,810 13,108 12,917 15,239 14,812 15,351 14,258 18,095 17,803 20,860 20,600 33,006 32,064 16,772 16,690 34,175 33,506 364,710 349,781 42,293 42,032 71,622 64,959 10,497 6,105 44,425 43,124 16,700 15,730 74,072 72,801 14,294 14,023 5,339 5,227 20,389 19,912 34,050 33,639 59,545 .39,557 54,191 53,625 611,139 461,909 582,150 580,462 107,089 107,044 19,085 19,075 67,474 67,443 42,929 42,922 249,377 248,429 45,963 45,342 50,233 50,207 The Appendi x 289 Occupations Stenographers and typewriters.. vStenographers Typewriters Street railway employees Conductors Drivers Laborers JMotormen Station agents and employees. Telegraph and telephone linemen. Telegraph and telephone operators Telegraph operators Telephone operators Undertakers Other persons in trade and trans- portation Auctioneers Decorators, drapers, and w'indow dressers Newspaper carriers and newsboys Weighers, gangers, and measurers Not specified Manufacturing and Mechanical Pursuits Building Trades Carpenters and joiners Carpenters and joiners Ship carpenters Apprentices and helpers Masons (brick and stone) Masons Masons' laborers Apprentices and helpers Painters, glaziers, and varnishers. Painters, glaziers, and varnishers Painters (carriages and wagons) Apprentices and helpers Paper hangers Paper hangers Apprentices and helpers Plasterers Plasterers Apprentices and helpers Plumbers and gas and steam fitters Plumbers and gas and steam fitters Apprentices and helpers Both Sexes Mainland 112,364 98,743 13,621 68,919 24,037 1,352 4,644 37,434 1.452 14.757 75.015 55.857 19.158 16,189 53.434 2,808 3.052 6.893 6,666 34.015 7.085,992 600,252 584.635 12,251 3.366 160,805 149,103 9,284 2.418 277.541 258,663 17.347 1. 531 21,990 21,794 196 35,694 35,334 360 97,785 92,216 5,569 Males Females Mainland Mainland 26,246 86,118 23.498 75,245 2.748 10,873 68,873 46 24,024 13 1.352 4,632 12 37,432 2 1,433 19 14,757 52,459 22,556 48,628 7,229 3.831 15,327 15.866 323 49.734 3,700 2,805 3 2.756 296 6,824 69 6,487 179 30,862 3,153 5,722,788 1,313,204 599.707 545 584,110 525 12,245 6 3,352 14 160,638 167 148,948 155 9,274 10 2,416 2 275.782 1,759 256.950 1,713 17.313 34 1. 519 12 21,749 241 21,558 236 191 5 35,649 45 35,290 44 359 I 97,659 126 92,093 123 5,566 3 2go Vocational G uiaanc e Occupations Roofers and slaters Roofers and slaters Apprentices and helpers Mechanics (not otherwise specified) Chemicals and Allied Products Oil well and oil works employees Oil well employees Oil works employees Other chemical workers Chemical works employees .... Fertilizer makers Powder and cartridge makers . Salt works employees Starch makers Clay, Glass, and Stone Products Brick and tile makers, etc Brickmakers Tile makers Terra cotta workers Glass workers Marble and stone cutters Potters Fishing and Mining Fishermen and oystermen Miners and quarrymen Miners (coal) Miners (gold and sih-er) Miners (not otherwise specified) Quarrj'men Food and Kindred Products Bakers Butchers Butter and cheese makers Confectioners Millers Other food preparers Fish curers and packers Meat and fruit canners and pre- servers Meat packers, curers, and pick lers Sugar markets and refiners Not specified Iron and Steel and their Products Blacksmiths Both Sexes Mainland 9,067 8,931 136 9.392 24,626 18,011 6,615 14,814 6,740 1,310 4.136 1,866 762 49.933 45.594 3.017 1,322 49,998 54,460 16,140 68,177 563,866 344.289 52,024 132,969 34,584 79,188 113.956 19,241 31.194 40.548 28,782 952 9.249 13,776 2,727 2,078 226,477 Males Mainland 9.065 8,929 136 9,351 24,573 18,001 6,572 12,035 5,68 1,308 2,745 1,671 624 49.455 45.467 2,667 1,321 47,377 54,317 13,200 67.715 562,501 343.665 51.970 132,345 34,521 74,860 113.578 18,593 21,980 40,362 23.640 824 5.983 12,799 2,708 1.326 226,284 Females Mainland The Appendix 2gi OCCUPATION'S Both Sexes Mainland Males Mainland Females Mainland Blacksmiths Apprentices and helpers Iron and steel workers Iron and steel workers JNIolders Machinists Machinists Apprentices and helpers Steam boiler makers Steam boiler makers Helpers Stove, furnace, and grate makers Tool and cutlery makers Wheelwrights Wire workers Leather and its Finished Products Boot and shoe makers and repairers Boot and shoe factory operatives Shoemakers (not in shoe factory) Apprentices Harness and saddle makers and re- pairers Leather curriers and tanners Curriers Tanners Apprentices Trunk and leather-case makers, etc. Trunk makers Leather-case and pocketbook makers Liquors and Beverages Bottlers and soda water makers, etc. Bottlers Mineral and soda water makers Brewers and maltsters Distillers and rectifiers Lumber and its Retnatiufaclure Cabinet makers Coopers Saw and planing mill employees. . Saw and planing mill employees. Lumber yard employees Other woodworkers Basket makers Box makers (wood) Piano and organ makers 217.993 8,484 290,611 203,142 87,469 283,145 266,565 16,580 33,046 31,150 1,896 12,473 28,122 13,505 18,487 208,912 106,744 101,500 668 40,101 42,671 15,769 26,839 63 7,051 3,657 3,394 217,811 8,473 287,241 200,102 87,139 282,574 266,057 16,517 33,038 31,142 1,896 12,430 27,376 13,495 16,701 169,393 63,319 99,492 582 39,506 40,917 15,067 25,793 57 5,472 3,470 10,519 9,725 9,716 8,940 803 785 20,962 20,687 3,144 3,114 35,619 35,552 37,200 37,087 61,624 161,251 50,558 150,205 11,066 11,046 11,273 104,468 6,522 4,460 8,862 7,685 6,220 6,021 2g2 Vocational Guidance Occupations Both Sexes Males Females Mainland Mainland Mainland 23,074 21,838 1,236 66,595 64,464 2,131 26,760 25,870 890 20,653 19,806 847 5,990 5,947 43 117 117 19,305 24,120 4,815 3,480 2,618 862 16,070 12,163 3,907 4,570 4,524 46 26,112 19,732 6,380 9,396 8,188 1,208 16,716 11,544 5,172 70,505 68,730 1,775 7,231 6,954 277 62,093 60,606 1,487 1,181 1,170 II 56,602 54,282 2,320 8,185 8,174 11 6,387 6,146 241 7,446 7,400 46 5,334 5,237 97 3,161 2,925 236 26,089 24,400 1,689 30,278 14,646 15,632 21,098 3,796 17,302 11,151 10,698 453 36,328 26,904 9,424 155,147 139,166 15,981 103,680 97,882 5,798 7,956 7,503 453 36,838 27 222 9,616 3,172 3,145 27 3,501 3,414 87 22,278 20,493 1,785 4,385 3,739 646 17,893 16,754 1,139 19,388 10,371 9,017 Furniture manufactory employ- ees Not specified Metals and Metal Products other than Iron and Steel Brass workers Brass workers Molders Helpers Clock and watch makers and repair- ers : . . . . Clock factory operatives Watch factory operatives Clock and watch repairers Gold and silver workers Gold and silver workers Jewelry manufactory employees . Tinplate and tinware makers Tinplatc makers Tinners and tinware makers. . . . Apprentices (tinsmiths) Other metal workers Copper workers Electroplaters Gunsmiths, locksmiths, and bell hangers Lead and zinc workers Molders (metal) Not specified Paper and Printing Bookbinders ' Box makers (paper) Engravers Paper and pulp mill operatives. . . Printers, lithographers, and press- men Printers and pressmen Lithographers Compositors Electrotypers and stereotypers . . . Apprentices (printers) Textiles Bleachery and dye works operatives Bleachery operatives Dye works operatives Carpet factory operatives The Appendix 293 Occupations Cotton mill operatives Hosiery and knitting mill operatives Silk mill operatives Woolen mil! operatives Other textile mill operatives Print works operatives Rope and cordage factorj' oper- atives Hemp and jute mill operatives. . Linen mill operatives Worsted mill operatives Textiles not specified Dressmakers Dressmakers Apprentices Hat and cap makers Milliners Milliners Apprentices Seamstresses Shirt, collar and cuff makers Tailors and tailoresses Tailors and tailoresses Apprentices Other textile workers Carpet (rag) makers Lace and embroidery makers .... Sail, awning, and tent makers. . . Sewing machine operators Not specified Miscellaneous Industries Broom and brush makers Charcoal, coke, and lime burners. . Engineers and firemen (not locomo- tives) Glove makers Manufacturers and otficials, etc. . . Manufacturers and officials, etc. Builders and contractors Publishers of books, maps, and newspapers Officials of mining and quarrying companies Model and pattern makers Photographers Rubber factory operatives Tobacco and cigar factory opera- tives Both Sexes Mainland 246,004 47,120 54.460 73.196 104,619 6,056 7.591 3.519 2,100 7.041 78.312 346,884 344.627 2,257 22,733 87.859 85.851 2,008 150.942 39.432 229,649 228,081 1,568 29,967 7,616 9.275 3.577 5.772 3.727 10,220 14,448 223,495 12,271 243,082 158,001 56,769 10,957 17,355 15,073 26,941 21,866 131,452 Males Mainland 125,788 12,630 22,023 42,566 53,437 4,963 4,592 1,577 835 2,901 38,569 2,090 2,078 12 15,110 1,739 1,718 21 4,837 8,491 160,714 159,440 1,274 8,925 1,916 2,007 3,168 736 1,098 8,643 14,405 223,318 4,503 239,649 155,119 56,619 10,655 17.256 14,869 23,361 14,492 87,955 Females Mainland 120,216 34,490 32,347 30,630 51,182 1,093 2,999 1,942 1,265 4,140 39,743 344,794 342,549 2,245 7,623 86,120 84,133 1,987 146,105 30,941 68,935 68,641 294 21,042 5,700 7,268 409 5,036 2,629 1,577 43 177 7,768 3,433 2,882 150 302 99 204 3,580 7,374 43,497 294 Vocational Guidance Occupations Both Sexes Mainland Males Mainland Females Mainland Upholsterers Other miscellaneous industries Apprentices and helpers (not specified) Artificial flower makers Button makers Candle, soap, and tallow makers Corset makers Cotton ginners Electric light and power company employees Gas works employees Piano and organ tuners Straw workers Turpentine distillers Umbrella and parasol makers . . . Well borers Whitewashers Not specified 30,821 471,300 31,679 2,775 6,853 4,020 8,016 1,395 6,156 6,955 4,293 3,838 7,099 3,242 6,608 3,439 374,932 28,663 380,490 29,634 437 3,834 3,289 815 1,381 5,853 6,940 4.249 911 7,022 1,331 6,597 3,374 304,823 2,158 90,810 2,045 2,338 3,019 731 7,201 14 303 15 44 2,927 77 1,911 II 65 70,109 For similar lists for your state and city Bureau, Washington, D. C. (over 25,000). write to the Census THE INDEX Accountants, 232, 233, 238. Actuaries, 238. Agricultural colleges, 49, 175, 178, 185. Agriculture, liking for, 95; United States Department of, 175; courses outlined in, 176-178; business ability in, 165, 166, 168; detection of business ability in, 180. Agronomy, elementary course in, 176. American Surety Company, qualifications demanded by, 267. American Telephone Company, equipment for service in, 265. Animal husbandry and dairying, course in, 176. Apprentice system, 18, 213; end of, 20, 42; abroad, 202. Architect, 251, 257. Arnold, Matthew, 55. Avocations, value of, 159. Back-to-the-farm movement, 141-142; 164. Baldwin Locomotive Works, apprentice system in, 213. Barnes, Professor Earl, 158. Binet-Simon "intelligence test," 102. Bird, Miss, Woman at Work, 237. Blacksmithing, 138, 195; training in, 177. Blind-alley jobs, 128-131. Bloomfield, 131. Bonding companies, qualifications required by, 265, 266-267. Bookkeepers, in, 124, 232, 233, 238. Book learning, in early days, 18-20; a handicap, 213. Boston, Manual Arts School for girls, 50; Commercial High School for boys, 50; average weight of children in, 89; industries in, 122; candy manufacture in, 143; shoe manufacture in, 188. Brain workers, 237. Bread-and-butter motive, 20, 53-55. Bright children, 102, 104. Brockton, shoe workers in, 188, 213. Brown & Sharpe, apprentice system in, 213. Brj'n Mawr College, president of, 255. Bunyan, 206. 295 2g6 Vocational Guidance Burk's Table, 89. Butler, Elizabeth Beardley, 230. California, industries in, 116, 121. Candy manufacture, conditions in, 143. Captains of industry, 239. Captains of Industry, Parton, 73. Cardinal habits of business world, 269. Carnegie Foundation, report on Medical Education, 249. Carpentry, 76, 194-196; on farm, 177. Cashiers, 232. Census, United States, 119, 125, 128, 190; percentage of male and female unemployed, in Twelfth Census, 281-283; total number of persons engaged in specified occupations for 1900, 285-294. Character, records for study of, 90, 91 , 92, 93 ; value in home making, 160. Chautauqua courses, 168, 185. Chicago, school statistics of, 33, 35; City Club of, 33, 34, 35, 137; superintendent of schools of, 255. Choosing a Vocation, Parsons, in. Cities, characteristic industries of, 122. City Club of Chicago, committee of, 33, 34, 35, 137; reports of, 201, 202. Civil Service Commissions, qualifications demanded by, 265, 266, 268. Class, in primitive society, 13; in colonial days, 16. Clergymen, 248, 249, 250, 252. Clerks, 124, 232. Cleveland Elementary Industrial School, 197-200. Clothing, primitive methods of manufacture of, 13; in colonial times, 17; present-day methods in manufacture of, 24-25, 123. Clubs, agricultural, 170. Cohoes, knitting industries in, 122. Colebrook Academy, 151, 175. Colleges, vocational spirit in, 278-279. Colonial times, social classes in, 16; vocational education in, 16; education according to sex in, 16, 17; education derived from community life of, 18, 19; standard of intelligence of, 18-19; social standing of handicrafts in, 205. "Commercial Colleges," 204. Commercial High School, Boston, 50. The Index zgy Common school, satirized, 22-23. "Conjngal selection," 154, 158. Consolidated rural schools, 118, 141, 180-182. Constructive workers, 271-272, 273, 274, 276. Cooperation, of home and school, 79-86, 174; of man and woman, 161; in agriculture, 169-170. Cooperative activities, 170-173. Cooperative spirit, 171. Copyists, 232. Correspondence schools, 204, 213. Cotton industry, 191. Country Life Commission, recommendations of, 171-172. Craftsmen, skilled and unskilled, 187; growing demand for, 191, 194-196. Culture, elements of, 55-56; 280. Cyclopedia of Modern Shop Practice, 241. Darwin, Charles, 153-154. Davenport, words of, 182. Davis, Jesse B., 29-30. Dean, Arthur Davis, 23, 41, 280. Debates, subjects for, 96. Defectives, 102; treatment of, 103. Denmark, cooperative system in, 169-170. Department stores, study of, 228-230; salesmen in, 216; sales- women in, 218. Destructive workers, 273-275. Dewey, John, 48. Division of labor, in primitive communities, 13; in colonial society, 17; in modern industry, 24-26. Doctors, II r, 248, 249-250; women as, 252. Dodge, James M., in Si. Nicholas, 43. Dolbear, Professor, of Tufts College, 22. Domestic science, 151-153. Domestic servants, 64, 147-148. Dullards, 102, 103-104. Edison, Thomas, 73, 206. Education, primitive, 13-15; colonial, 16-20; modern, 20-23; for practical use, 46, 47; life-career motive in, 19, 50, 52, 54; in mechanic arts, 211; in office work, 235-237. Eggleston, Edward, 204. 2q8 Vocational Guidance Eliot, Charles William, 19, 54, 55. Ellis, study of the distribution of British genius, 195. Emulation, 73, 86, 262. Errand girl, outline statement for study of, 143. Essays, subjects for, 95-96. "Eugenic conscience," 154. Exceptional children, 84-85, 102, 104. Fairfield, Nebraska, school program of, 69. Fall River, 120. Farmer's institutes, 178, 185. Farming, 63; trying-out in, 76-77; number of workers engaged in, 162; transient laborers in, 162, 167; training demanded for, 165-166; social problems of, 168-169, 170, 171; remuneration in, 182-185. Farm life, 168, 185; in the corn country, 168; in the small-grain region, 168; on poultry farms or market gardens, 168-169, ^T^< 172; improvement in, 172. Farm tenant system, 163; disadvantages of, 163. First families, 58. Flexner, Miss, 130. Foremanship, 239-247; qualifications for, 240, 241, 242; peculiar talent for, 240-241 ; types of, 241 ; chances in, 242-243; prepara- tion for, 245. Forest Regions. See Lumbering. Forestry, 177-178. Forge work, 76, 138, 177. Franklin, Benjamin, 67-68, 73, 206. French, 59. Gardens, school, 74, 172, 173, 174, 175, 180. Gardner, Mass., chair making in, 122-123. General Electric, apprentice system in, 213. General-intelligence jobs, 134. Geography, 121-123. Girls, vocational training of, 156. Girl's Trade Educational League of Boston, 142. Glove making, 123. Grade teacher, as vocational guide, 27, 36, 38, 39, 40, 50, 70, 72, lOl, 120, 122, 123, 144, 152, 155, 172; as a home maker, 161. Grand Rapids, Mich., vocational conditions in, 29-31. The Index 2gg Granges, 170, 178; influence of, 245. Grouping of children, 102-103. Guild members, 194. Gymnastics, 21, 91; teacher of, 261. Handicrafts, insight into, 63 ; trying-out in, 74. Health, importance of, 80, 81. Hebrew Technical Institute, New York City, 245. Height, average, 88. Heredity, 60, 83-86. Hesperia associations, 170. Hiawatha, 13, 16. High-skilled labor, no, 104-197; leisure of, 206; advantages of, 206; wages of, 214. History, industrial course in, 200. -■ ■ ''' Hodge, Nature Study and Life, 173. Hoe & Company, apprentice system of, 213. Home, as an educational institution, 155; ownership of, 184. Home makers, 112, 113, 114, 145-161; groups of, 146-147; training for, 225. Home making, 145-161; preparation for, 151-153, 225; social prophets on, 150; as a vocation, 153; importance of, 153, 154; work related to, 157; success in, 160-161; cooperation in, 161. Horticulture, elementary course in, 176. Household sanitation, 153, 161. Hygiene, personal, 153; on the farm, 171; for saleswomen, 23. Idaho, consolidated schools in, 182. Idiots, test for, 103. Illinois, occupational visiting in, 69; distribution of occupations in, 116; school attendance in, 180. Imbeciles, test for, 102. Immigrant labor, 123, 206. Immigrants, children of, 59. Indiana, industrial situation in, 116; school attendance in, 180; consolidated schools of, 182. Industrial adjustment of schools, 46, 47. Industrial conditions, study of, 143-144, 189; outlines for, 189-190. Industrial geography, 65, 72-73, 122-124. Industrial revolution, 17, 20, 127. Industrial schools, 22. Industrial setting for school courses, 197-200. 300 Vocational Guidance Industrial situation, in the United States, 1 12-127, 270-271. Industries, distribution of , in the United States, 1 13-127; unskilled, 191. Industry, primitive, 13; colonial, 16, 17, 18; modern, 24-27; captains of, 239. Institutes, farmer's, 178, 185. Insurance, 64. Intellect, types of, 59; eye-minded, 59; auditory, 59; motor-minded, 47. 59; inferior, 88. Intelligence tests, 102-103. Iowa, occupational visiting in, 69, 70; distribution of occupations in, 116; rural-school movements in, 170. Iron and Steel Industry, school course in, 197-198. Journalists, 124. Kansas, consolidated schools in, 182. Kansas City, 122. Kerschensteiner, Dr. Georg, 280. Labor, unskilled, 43, 79, 104, 109-110, 130, 135, 191-192; wages of, 192; farm, 119, 162, 167; low-skilled, 192-194; high-skilled, 194-197, 206. Labor Unions, 64, 134. Lawyers, ill, 248, 249; women as, 124, 252-253. Leadership, capacity for, 74, 87, 90, 181 ; quaUfications for, 241, 244. Leavenworth, Kans., 122. Lectures, vocational, 70, 72. Life-career motive. See Motive. Liquor business. See Destructive occupations. Literary professions, 251, 257, 258. Louisiana, consolidation of schools in, 182. Lowly occupations, 57. Low-skilled laborers, 192-194; automobiles, wagons, farm imple- ments, 192; building trades, 192; in clothing manufactories, 192; in iron and steel industries, 192; in packing houses, 192. Lumbering, 198-199. Lynn, Mass., shoe manufactories in, 122, 213. Machinists, 211. Manual Arts School for Girls, Boston, 50. Manufactures, school course in, 198. Marrying age of women, 145. The Index joi Massachusetts, school statistics in, 34, 35, 44, 46, 278; distribution of occupations in, 116. Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company, 266. Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Technical Education, 34, 35- Massachusetts Commission on the Education of Workers, report of, on shoe industry, 213, 214, 245, 247. Massachusetts Industrial Committee, report of, 44. ^IcCormick's har\-ester, story of, 73. Mechanic, social status of, 204-206, 210; training of, 193, 197, 200, 209, 210, 212, 261; qualifications for, 210-211,213; reward of, 213-214. jMechanical ability, test for, 75-76; questions concerning, 95-96, 100; opinion concerning, 137-139; in farming, 166; grouping for, 187; application of, 193-194. Mechanic Arts, 187-214; divisions of, 191-197. Mediocre children, 84, 102, 104. Messenger boys, 130. Michigan, industrial conditions in, 116, 121; Hesperia movement of, 170. Middle Ages, guild members of, 194; skilled handicrafts in, 205. Middle class, no. Miller, Hugh, 206. MiUinery, 144. Milwaukee, Burk's Table, 89. Minimum wage, 64. ^Ministers, 248, 249, 250, 252; women in the clergy, 252, 253. jNIinneapolis, need of vocational guidance in, 47. Minnesota, consolidated schools in, 182. Misfits, 27-29. Mississippi, distribution of occupations in, 116. Modiste, 209. Monotony, 136-137. Morons, test for, 102; institution for, T03. Motive, life-career, 19, 50, 52, 54, 261; bread-and-butter, 20, 53-55; vocational, 44. Motor-minded, 47, 59. Motor training, 27. Mount Holyoke College, president of, 255. Mimsterberg, Hugo, Professor, 136. 302 Vocational Guidance National Education Association, report of, 41 ; C. W. Eliot's address before, 54. National Society for the Study of Education, Year Book of, 171. Natural-equipment jobs, 134-135. Natural fitness, 25, 41, 47, 60. Nature, pedagogy of, 16, 23. Nature Study and Life, Hodge, 173. Nebraska, social and cooperative activities in, 170. Needlework group, 208-210; dressmaking, 208; millinery, 208- 209; requirements for success in, 209; designers in, 209; over- seers and managers in, 209. New Hampshire, shoe factories in, 189. New iVlexico, industries in, 116. New York, distribution of industries, 121, 122; garment workers in, 123, 138; foremen in factories of, 247. Normals, test for, 102. Normal schools, 48. North Central States, industries in, 116; miners in, 188. North Dakota, school attendance in, 181. Nurses, iii, 124, 134, 254, 257; men as nurses, 256. Occupational diseases, 64. Occupations, comparison tests for, 115-116; types of, 128-144. Office work, 124, 231-238; desk workers in, 233-238; general workers in, 237, 257, 261. Ohio, industrial situation in, 116; farming in, 121; consolidation of schools in, 182. Oklahoma, consolidated schools in, 182. Opportunity, classification according to, 105, 108. Outdoor work, in country schools, 173; educational value of, 173. Ownership of tools, value of, 205, 206. Page, Miss Jessie Field, 170. Panama Canal, 124. Parents, role in vocational guidance of, 36, 79-80, 83. Parsons, Professor, 97-98, 99. Partial home makers, 146, 147; men as, 161. Parton, Captains of Industry, 73. Paterson, N. J., 120. Pennsylvania, 121; miners in, 188. Personal records, 89, 91, 92, 93, 99. T lie Index joj Pestalozzi, 19, Philadelphia, industries in, 120, 122; rug makers in, 188. Philanthropic work, 254; women in, 254. Physical culture, value of, 21. Physical qualities, occupations requiring, 134-135. Physical records, 87-89, 91, 92, 98. Physiology, human, 155-156. Play and plaj'grounds, value of, 74, 77, 90, 91, 96, 99-100, 105, 166, 170-171, 181, 244. Plumber, 210-211. Plunkett, Sir Horace, 172. Poor Laws, British Royal Commission on, 130. Predetermination, 14-15. Primitive society', 13-18. Prince, Mrs. Lucinda W., 223. Printing trade, loo-ioi, 243. Private secretaries, 235-237. Professional class, 36, 79, 95, 104, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 168. Professions, 248-259; overcrowding and results of, 248, 249; incomes of, 249-250; standard of living in, 250; qualifications for, 251. PsychologT.', racial, 57-59. Qualifications, required by employers, 265-269. Race problems, 64, 65. Racial psychology: Russian, 59; French, 59; Scotch, 58; New England stock, 58; "first families" of the South, 58; Italian, 59; negro, 59; Jewish, 59. Record system, 87; plans of, 87-90; scope of, 91-93; securing of data for, 93-1 11. Resources, family, 99, 108. Respectability, mistaken notion of, 204-205. Rhode Island, distribution of occupations in, 116. Road building, 178. Rural population, 162. Rural schools, consolidation of, iiS, 141, 180-182; isolation of pupils in, iSo-lSl. Ruskin, 242. Russians, 59. Sales departments, 216-217. Salesmanship, 215-230; gift of, 219-221; "personality" in, 221; 304 Vocational Guidance "picturesque" language of, 221; training for, 221-227, 261; course for women in, 223; examination papers in, 224-225; qualities needed for success in, 225-226; study of local con- ditions in, 229-230. Salesmen, 130, 215-218; social grouping of, iii; ratio of men and women as, 218. Saleswomen, 124, 130, 216, 218, 257, 261; qualifications for, 218- 219; school for training of, 223. Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores, Butler, 230. School courses, adjusting of, 50, 72-74, 120-123, i73. 197-200. Schools, need for industrial adjustment of, 46, 47, 277-278; merits of, 78-79; tendency of, 137. School studies, industrial setting provided for, 197-200. Scots, 58. Scudder, Myron T., 1 70-1 71. Self-analysis, 67. Self-knowledge, 66, 73, 74, 77, 79, 94, 260. SelUng ability, 219-221. Sex, ordering of labor according to, 14-18; influence of, in vocational control, 125-127. Snedden, Commissioner, 50. Social activities, 170-173. Social groups, 109-111, 187. Social life, 168-171, 185; records for study of, 89, 91, 92, 98, 99. Social opinion, value of, 137, 279. Social problems, 64, 271. Social status, of mechanic, 204-206; of woman artisan, 210. Social virtues, 155, 181. Soil lore, 173. Southern states, industries in, 116. Specialization, 26, 27, 51-52, 53. Stenographers, in, 124, 234-237; qualifications for, 218, 235-236; men as, 235; court and government, 235. Stephenson, 206. St. Louis, superintendent of schools, 68; average weight of children, 89; industries in, 120, 122. "vSubmerged," 161. Success, the foundation of, 260-269; qualities for, 261-262; school training in, 261-266. Survey, The, article from, 32-33. The Index jo§ Surveys of industries, 144. Sweatshops, 153. System, 263. Teaching, 254-256, 257. Technical schools, 209-210. Telegraph operators, 232. Telephone operators, 232, 233, 234. Temperament, 80, 88, 136, 169; value of, in salesmanship, 221. Textiles, examination papers for salesman of, 224. "Thoroughfare" occupations, 131-132. Tools, ownership of, 205, 206. Touch, delicacy of, 211. Trade, 63; trying-out in, 75; questions to bring out ability for, 96, 100. Trade papers, 179, 263. Trade schools, 21, 106, 107, 194, 204; development of, in Massachu- setts, 50, 53. Traveling salesman, 72, 217, 223. Tr>'ing-out methods, 74-78, 180, 219. Typists, 124. Uncle Tom's Cabin, author of, 147. Union School of Salesmanship, Boston, 223; course of study in, 223-225. United Shoe Machinery Company, 213. United States, school attendance in, 181 ; percentage of male and female unemployed, in Twelfth Census of, 281-284; number of persons over ten years of age engaged in specified occupations, in Twelfth Census of, 285-294. United States Civil Service Commission, 265. United States Fidelity and Guarantee Company of Baltimore, 267. Universities, agricultural departments of, 69, 70. Unskilled labor, 43, 79, 104, 109-110, 130, 135, 191-192; on the farm, 119, 162, 167; in industry, 191-192; wages of, 192. Vineland, X. J., institution for morons, 192. Virginia, consolidated schools in, 182. Visiting, occupational, 68-70; by teachers, 70. Vocational control, need of, 14; effect of, 42-56; objections to, 51- 56; objections answered, 52-56; influence of sex on, 125-127; influence of social opinion on, 137, 279. 3o6 Vocational Guidance Vocational counselor, equipment of, 57-65; qualities needed, 60-62; special opportunities of, 172, 1 80-1 81. Vocational education, in primitive times, 14-15; in colonial times, 16-19; life-career motive in, 19, 50, 52, 54, 261; present value of, 21 ; duration of, 40; contribution of, to culture and character, 280. Vocational guidance, need of, 24-41; grade teacher's training toward, 27; role of parents in, 36; psychological knowledge in. 37; period of critical need of, 40, 49, 50; place in the school- room, 72, 94-96; meaning of, 128; complexity of, in the country, 168, 186; four essentials of, 270. Vocational opportunities, 117-120, 125, 139-142. Vocational Survey of Minneapolis, 47, 48, 129, 132, 138, 237. Vocations for Trained Women, 255. Washington, consolidated rural schools in, 182. Wellesley College, president of, 255. Westinghouse Company, 213. White, Mrs. Sally Joy, 158. "White-collar" job, 137, 138, 204, 215. White-slave traffic, 155. Whitney, Eli, 73. Williamson Training School, 45. Wisconsin, distribution of industries in, 116; school statistics in, 180. Women, in industry, 126-127; as home makers, 145-161; in the cotton industry, 191 ; in skilled trades, 208-210; in office work, 233-237; in the professions, 252-259; in the juvenile courts, 252. Women at Work, Bird, 237. Women's Educational and Industrial Union, 223, 255. Work, habits of, 81 ; limitation of hours for women and children, 64. Workers, groups of, 271-275; constructive, 271-272; useless, 272- 273; destructive, 273-275. Working hours, for women and children, 64. Worn-outs, 27. Wrights, the, 73. Youth's Companion, 68.