205
Occupations and Earnings
W omen in Che-mis-try
With Special Reference: to Academic Degrees HELENL. WIKOFF,Ohio S t a t e university, ColuznLus, Ohio twenty-five of whom stated that they had obtained tlreir last compiled extensive data on “Women in Chemistry” whicll degree prior to 1922, are collaborators in the present report. was published as No. 4 in the series of “Studies in Occu- Moreover, salaries paid to women chemists have likewise inpations.” Assistance in carrying out this project was given creased since 1022. Only five women chemists reported by a committee of women chemists appointed by the American salarics ovcr $3000 and hut seven had salaries ranging between Association of Uriiversity Women. Members of this com- $2501 and $3000 a t that time. One huiidred and two in a mittee were representatives of the teaching profession, medi- group of 352 reporting here have salaries of 83000 or more. The student of today is anxious to learn what types of ca.1 research, and industry. Information was obtained from 2% women chemists through interviews, questionnaires, chemical work are open to women chemists, what training is and letters. Facts about 368 idditional women chemists necessary to qualify, what chances there a.re for advancement, were supplied by university departments, scientific journals, v h a t types of work pay best, a.nd what the salary range is scientific societies, and fellow chemists. Employers in fields apt to be. Students and graduates aiike are often interested in tho economic ~ a l u of e a graduate degree. An ever perplexm i i n t : women chemists were employed were rtlso consulted. Much of the information compiled about women chemists ing problem is the advisability of obtaiiiing experience before in 1922 applied to war and immediate post-war conditions. completing work for graduate degrees. In this report an attempt will be made to answer as ncDuring this period, positinns i l m c often filled by women who had “had courses in chemistry” rather than by those es- curately as possible at least a part of these questions. Inpecially trained in chemist,ry. With the return of the de- formation was obtained through unsigned questionnaires, and, mobilized chemist, many of these untrained workers with- because of the limited facilities available for carrying out the survey, these were r e s t r i c t e d drew from the field of chenristo the women members of the try; others r e t u r n e d to uniThis surcey is basrd on iiifnrinulion obtained CHEMICAL SOCIETY versities to p u r s u e work for from questionmir*.s returned by 3.53 wo~nen AMERICAN and of the Society of I3iological higher degrees. chemists. This group included 205 leachers, Chemists. These g r o u p s were ‘riley o u n g w o m a n of today 41 goaernmenl enlployees, 36 chcniists in medical selected as being most repreu,lio wishes to make clreniistry or related fields, 52 women in industriul or comsentative of the trained woman her lifework finds that comiitioris chemist a n d i n c l u d e d ti84 linve changed radically in the merciul coneerns, IO librurialu, and 9 members persons. R e t u r n s were made last decade. Specialized trainof ediloriul sta&s. Two persons wilh no degree, by 421 or 01.S per cent of the iug in chemistry and, in many KO with bachdor’s, 121 with master’s, f46 wilh total number. cases, graduate degreesare necesPh.D., one with M.D., two with LL.B., and one From a study of the directosary quslificatio~isfor positions with Chem.E. were included. An ulkrnpl is CHEMICAL ries of the AMEI~ICAN to which she may aspire. This SOCIETYand of the Society of may be readily illustrated by the made lo analyze the work done by each group and Biological Chemists, it became fact that onfy t h i r t y women to deterniine Ihe value of acudemic degrees in a p p a r e n t t h a t t h e women chemists were mentioned as haveach case. A study of the salaries earnid is members mere employed in one ing Ph.D. degrees in the report made in order lo learn what amounts women of the following c a p a c i t i e s : of 1922. One liundredandfortychemists receive and which lypes of work pay best. teacher, research chemist, six doctors of philosophy, only ,V It)L’;! the Buresm of Vocational Inforination of New York
1
457
468
I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I Pi E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
routine commercial chemist, hospital chemist, librarian, member of editorial staff,or executive. Twenty-three per cent of the total number listed comprised members of an unclassified group who had failed to mention their occupations or who were students a t the time of the publication of the directory. The occupations of the ninety-five additional women members in the period between the publiwho had joined the SOCIETY cation of the directory and April, 1932, were not available, but returns from questionnaires showed that in many cases they were students. Eight different forms of questionnaires were used in order to obtain the maximum of information for each type of position. Table I represents a summary of the eight forms. TABLE I. SUMMARY OF QUESTIONNAIRES 1. College degrees held and dates when obtained.. .................... 2. Official t i t l e . . .................................................. 3. Are you in charge of the laboratory (or chairman of the department)? 4. 5. 0.
7. 8.
9.
10.
11.
12. 13. 14.
15. 16.
17.
18.
............................................................
If not, is the director (chairman) a woman?. ........................
If you are employed in a hospital, must the director of your laboratory ................................ have a n M.D.degree? Type of laboratory: che . . . . . . . , non-chemical . . . . . . . . . . . . . If you are employed as in a laboratory other than chemical indicate the type of work done by the laborator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indicate whether the laboratory is one endoweB for pure research a commercial laboratory, a hospital laboratory, a government laboral tory, or some other type.. ..................................... What is the nature of the work which you do personally?. . . . . . . . . . . . If you are a teacher ((I) . , Check tvoe: school. . . . . . . . . . . ...high-school I women's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . collegk-f coeducational. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( b ) Indicate other~high-sch-oolsubjects if taught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( c ) Indicate students taught and nature of courses.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( d ) 0 portunities for research.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do you gave administrative duties? If so, what?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If a librarian, did you have library training?. ...................... If in editorial work, t o what extent do you owe your position t o a knowledge of chemistry7 Would a further training in chemistry be a p t t o bring about a promotion?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Number of years of service in present position. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Initial salary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Present salary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Probable maximum salary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect of the current economic depression on salary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
NATUREOF DUTIESOF WOMENCHEMISTS REPORTING Questionnaires were returned by sixty-eight women not now profitably employed in chemistry; two hundred and five teachers; forty-one federal, state, and municipal employees; thirty-six chemists employed in medical or related field; fifty-two women in industrial or commercial concerns; ten librarians; and nine members of editorial staffs. The first group consisted of fourteen students, eighteen unemployed chemists, eleven women who had retired, fifteen scientists in related fields who had never been employed in chemistry, and ten persons whose replies were so vague as to render them worthless. These sixty-eight persons will not be considered in this report. The teaching group of 205 was composed of forty-two highschool teachers and 163 persons associated with colleges and universities, Twenty-two high-school teachers or 52 per cent of those reporting were required to teach other subjects in addition to chemistry. These included general science, biology, physiology, physiography, physics, domestic science, nutrition, commercial arithmetic, algebra, geometry, English, and Latin. Twenty-three of the high-school teachers reported that they were chairmen of the science or chemistry departments, or the only person in the department. Nineteen had administrative duties which included general supervision of all science teachers in the school, committee work in the selection of new teachers, curriculum and schedule making, transferring students from other cities, supervision of grade science and intelligence and achievement tests, interviewing problem students, acting as advisor for groups of students and science clubs, taking charge of a study hall or a library, and performing the duties of assistant principal. These a ministrative duties were additional to routine departmental administration, consisting of the organization of
Vol. 25, No. 4
the department, preparation of a budget, and ordering of supplies. Needless to say, only two high-school teachers had any opportunity for research and this was restricted to methods of teaching. Seventy-seven women were employed as teachers in colleges for women; eighty-six were associated with coeducational institutions. Thirty-seven were chairmen of departments in colleges for women (chemistry, thirty-three; general science, one; home economics, three), and one, no longer active in chemistry, had become president of a college for women. Opportunities for research in women's colleges were reported as good by twenty, or 26 per cent, and slight by eleven. Fourteen were prevented from doing research by heavy teaching schedulks, five had poor facilities, and twenty-tw; were located in institutions not favorable toward research Arts, home economics, premedical, and, in some cases, graduate students were taught by these seventy-seven women. Eight women chemists held appointments as research professors in coeducational institutions (other than in experiment stations), and seventy-eight were engaged in active teaching of home economics, arts, pharmacy, engineering. premedical, predental, nursing, medical, or graduate students. Only eighteen of this group were chairmen of departments, five in chemistry, eight in home economics or related branches, three in general science, one in physiology and nutrition, and one in biology. Opportunities for research were reported as good or satisfactory by forty-seven or 62 per cent of those reporting, six had limited time for research, six were able to do a slight amount, and eighteen had no opportunities for research. The research professors were located in departments of medicine or departments of biological or organic chemistry. Of eighteen federal employees reporting, seventeen were located in Washington and one a t the Forest Products Laboratory a t Madison, Wis. The latter, holding an appointment ab senior microscopist, was engaged in the identification of compounds in situ in wood. One woman holding appointment as senior chemist was assistant in experiment station administration in the Department of Agriculture, another ranking as nutrition chemist had charge of research in nutrition, while a third was chief of the Division of Textiles and Clothing in the Bureau of Home Economics Four others were employed in the Bureau of Home Economics, two of whom were concerned with textiles and their properties. Synthetic and analytical work in the biochemical and chemotherapeutic division; research on the composition of petroleum; research in methods of mater analysis, and the relations of water and rocks; synthetic research in rare sugars: utilization of waste farm products; the kinetics of gas reactions; and the preparation of exhibits of chemical industries for the United States Kational Museum were the undertakings of seven others. Three more simply designated their work as analytical, one stating that she was an associate biochemist. Eleven women chemists who were located in state experiment stations conducted research in home economics, agriculture, soil, or biological chemistry. Two of this group were directors of home economics. Five other women located in state board-of-health laboratories were engaged in routine analysis of milk, water, and sewage, as well as bacteriological investigations. Two of them were listed as directors of the laboratories. Another woman tested road materials in a state highway laboratory, and still another made routine analyses in a state purchasing laboratory. Five municipal employees performed routine analyses in city health laboratories or sewage disposal plants. Of twenty-four women chemists employed in hospitals, one served as pharmacist and eight did routine work in x-ray technic, bacteriology, metabolism tests, and blood and urine analyses. Fifteen, part of whom did some routine work,
April, 1933
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
469
TABLE11. SUMMARY OF DEGREES NO REPORTINQ Teachers: High school Women’s colleges universities: Teaching Research Total Government fields: Federal Miscellaneous Expt. station Municipal Total Medical fields (noncommercial): Hospitals Research laboratory
,--
Bachelor’s
Master’s
1s
20
3
9
28
40
5
_- 8
1 ... ... ... -
.. -
... -
-
205
1
32
73
99
.*.
4
8
5
3
2 3 3
1
42
77 78
18 I
11
... ... 1
5
-
-
41
1
24 1%
... ...
I
Total Industrial fields: Endowed research Clinical and commercial testing laboratory Desk positions Commercial laboratory in large companies
36
Total Librarians Members of editorial staffs
52
Total in all positions
DEQREES Ph.D. LL.B.
Sone
7 7 12 26
.. .. 7
6
25
16 9
48 8
...
...
...
... 1
-
.... .. ...
15
1
8
1
M.D.
Chem.E.
... ...
... ...
...
...
... ...
...
...
... ...
...
1 ...
... 1
1
.. -
4 -
-8
8
... -
6
13
16
1
... ...
... ...
... ...
...
-
-
_-
22
16
13
8
1 2
1 2
1
...
...
_-
_-. . .
5 -
-
-
_-. . .
... ... -
... -
353
2
80
121
146
2
1
1
10 9
were engaged in research dealing with metabolism, blood chemistry, and adaptation of processes of biochemistry t o medicine. Three were directors of their laboratories. Six indicated that the director must have an M.D. degree, four stated that this degree was unnecessary. Research in medicine, nutrition, metabolism, culture media, and glandular preparations (especially the pituitary hormones) occupied the time of twelve women chemists employed in laboratories endowed for pure research in medicine and allied fields. The work of seven women chemists employed in laboratories endowed for research in industrial chemistry consisted largely of analyses and research involving analytical procedures. Coal and coke, metals, and rubber were among the commodities studied. I n one instance, research was carried out to show new uses and applications of certain classes of compounds; the vitamin content of foods was studied in another. Seven women were chemists in clinical or commercial testing laboratories, five being partners or owners. Eleven chemists, employed in chemical concerns or consultant’s offices, did no laboratory work. Duties of this group included stenographic and secretarial work, trade-mark and patent matters in general, library work, literature surveys, intelligence work, advertising, and translating. One woman, the vice president of a chemical corporation, served as salesman, advertising manager, and consulting chemist for the company. Another specializing in cosmetics and hair dyes did independent consultant work involving chemical advertising, publicity, and translation. Twenty-five women chemists were employed in the laboratories of large manufacturing concerns, five being chief chemists or heads of laboratories. Duties mentioned were testing of digestive ferments for manufacturing chemists; testing of new, used, and reclaimed petroleum products for an oil and petroleum company; the standardization of biologicals and development of new products for drug manufacturing concerns; vitamin tests and preparation of new products for a biological house; checking of oils, milk, butter, and shortenings in the control laboratory of a food-specialty manufacturing company; and synthetic organic work dealing with cellulose products. One chemist was employed to compile literature on lung diseases and to make microscopic studies of fibers and dust injury for a vacuum cleaner company; several were employed in testing laboratories of mail
order houses. Two women were chief chemists in paper mills, and one was chief chemist in a sulfur refining company. Analytical work and physico-chemical research occupied those employed by electrical corporations. One of the ten librarians reporting had library training in addition to chemistry. Routine library duties were performed only in the case of one person employed in the chemistry department of a state university. All of the other members of this group were employed by large corporations (oil, petroleum, paper, commercial research, etc.) and furnished abstracting, translations, patent work, and information service. One woman was a patent librarian. The nine women employed in editorial work all considered chemistry essential in their work, and three subordinates believed that further chemical training might bring about a promotion. Only one woman was editor of a chemical journal; two others were, respectively, associate and assistant editors. COLLEGE DEGREESHELDBY WOMENCHEMISTS Table I1 presents a summary of the degrees held by the various groups mentioned previously. A study of this table will show that a Ph.D. degree does not necessarily offer any special advantages to teachers of high-school chemistry. However, many of the women who later obtained Ph.D. degrees had a t some time taught high-school chemistry but turned to other fields where research could be carried out after obtaining the Ph.D. degree. The tendency for high-school chemistry teachers to obtain master’s degrees is readily explained by the fact that salaries paid to teachers in many cities depend upon the number of college units completed. Competition with men forces women chemists to obtain graduate degrees in order to hold positions in universities. Likewise, the larger and better women’s colleges are raising the prerequisites for teachers, so that those persons who do not have Ph.D. degrees are completing the necessary training as rapidly as possible. With the exception of one person who was chairman of the division of natural sciences a t a low salary in a small and inferior coeducational college, and one instructor in home economics, no woman with only a bachelor’s degree reported anything but a temporary position in a university. More openings for persons with bachelor’s degrees mere reported in small colleges for women, although
I il’ D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
470
even in this instance salaries were usually low and facilities poor. Possessors of the master’s degree usually fare better in colleges for women than in universities, though a few who have seen long service or who are associated with home economics departments hold responsible positions in universities. Advanced degrees were prerequisites for all types of research listed. A few women with only bachelor’s degrees held minor positions such as aides or research assistants in government, medical, or industrial laboratories where research was being conducted. A Ph.D. degree was required of all research professors and for most chemists located in experiment stations (excepting a few home economics research workers). Applicants for civil service positions frequently substitute graduate work for experience. Hospital technicians apparently did not need graduate degrees except in laboratories where research was being done. The ability to type, write, spell, and use good English was considered more of an asset by those in the industrial group than advanced degrees (except in research work). Table I11 shows tendencies toward higher degrees for women chemists. TABLE111. DATAON PH.D. DEGREES GRANTED TO WOMEN h.D. YEAR DEQREE
1912 1913 1916 1917 1918
1QlQ
1 1 3 2 3 1
1910 t h r o u g h 1919 12. 13 at tde bkginning of War
1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
13 14 16
8
1925 through 1929, 65
14
SALARIESOF WOMENCHEMISTS HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS. The salaries reported by fortytwo high-school chemistry teachers varied from $1000 paid a beginner with a bachelor’s degree to $4500 earned by a woman who had had a master’s degree for eighteen years. A chemistry teacher in training earned $4.50 per day. Fifty per cent of the high-school teachers with only the bachelor’s degree received less than $2000 a year. Those earning more than $2000 had taught a t least nine years and the majority more than twenty years. The maximum salary paid a high-school teacher with a bachelor’s degree, $3800, was earned by an individual who had taught thirteen years; one other who had been teaching for twenty-three years earned more than $3000; another with forty years of experience had a salary of only $2700. The majority of those with the master’s degree reported salaries of over $2000, but all of these persons had taught a t least eight years. One individual with the master’s degree earned a salary of $3200 after twelve years, but twenty years was the average service of those earning $3000 or over. A teacher with twenty-four years experience earned $4000. The salaries of three women with the Ph.D. degree were all above $3000 but did not exceed those paid the more successful members of the group who had only the master’s degree. A Ph.D. degree and twenty-six years of experience commanded a salary of $4180, whereas $3800 was the income of another woman with similar training after twenty-one years. I n general, the salaries paid those with the master’s degree were from $350 to $500 more than those earned by women with only the bachelor’s degree and the same amount of teaching experience. In many cities the salaries of teachers are increased automatically according to a fixed schedule.
Vol. 23, No. 4
By this means, a teacher with no college training had reached an income of $2600 after teaching thirty-four years. TEACHERSIN COLLEGESFOR WOMEN. Salaries y i d teachers in women’s colleges ranged from $900, for an assistant who was working toward a master’s degree, to $9000, the salary of a full professor with a Ph.D. degree of many years standing. The lowest salary paid a full-time teacher w’th only a bachelor’s degree was $1600, and $3060 with maintenance the highest. This was the salary of a woman with forty-seven years of experience. Half of the group having the inaster’s degree received $2400 or more for full-time positions. The maximum figure for this group was $3500 paid a professor teaching arts and home economics students twenty-one years after receiving the B.A. and eleven years after the M.A. degree. Two doctors of philosophy (class of 1930) earned less than $2000 for teaching in women’s colleges. However, 21 or 55 per cent of those in this group received $3000 or more, which would indicate that a Ph.D. degree has an approximate value of $600 more than a master’s degree. FVOMEN CHEMIST6 EMPLOYED I N UKIVERSITIES. h’0 person with only a bachelor’s degree was paid more than $1900 for teaching in a coeducational institution. Temporary appointments a t less than $1000 per annum were held by four doing graduate work. The lowest salary paid any full-time teacher was $1440, the salary of a professor (B.S., 1927) of chemistry and chairman of the department of biology in a small coeducational school. Two doctors of philosophy whose specialty is now home economics received over $5000. The salaries of those with the master’s degree ranged from $1520 to $3600, 12 or 52 per cent earning less than $2400. The only doctor of philosophy reporting a salary of less than $1000 was holding an assistantship while seeking a permanent position. State universities, especially those in Kansas and Oklahoma, paid the lowest salaries to women with the Ph.D. degree. KOfigures less than $2000 were reported for permanent positions. Only nine, or one-sixth of those with the Ph.D. degree, earned less than $2400, and twenty-two or 41 per cent had salaries ranging from $3500 to $5200. Eighteen of the last group were teaching in departments of home economics, nutrition, or biological chemistry. Earnings of eight research professors who reported showed approximately the same range of salaries as those who were engaged in teaching. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.The relation of graduate degrees to salaries paid women chemists in federal employment may be seen in Table IV. The maximum figure reported by anyone with only the bachelor’s degree was $2100. Length of service caused the wide variation in salaries for employees with the master’s degree. The individual with the lowest salary, $1620, had been in government service one year only. The maximum, 64800, was earned after fourteen years in government service and twenty-one years of varied experience. Most of this group earned more than $2000 and less than $3000. The minimum salary paid a chemist with a Ph.D. degree was $2700. The maximum salary reported by any woman chemist in federal employment, $5200, was earned by one with an LL.B. degree who had been in government service for seven years and who had had eighteen years of varied experience. STATE EMPLOYEES. State employees received salaries ranging from $1700 for routine analyses to $4000 for research in foods a t an agricultural experiment station. Graduate degrees apparently had little if any effect on the salaries of those doing routine analyses in state laboratories, the maximum variation in all salaries being from $1700 to $2400, with the exception of the two directors who received $3000. Three women with the master’s degree earned $2500 or more in state agricultural experiment stations; salaries of doctors of philosophy averaged $300 more. The work of this group was more investigative than routine.
INDUSTRIAL A S D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
April, 1933
471
TABLEIV. RELATION OF GRADUATE DEGREES TO SALARIES PAIDWOMENCHEMISTS ----TEA(.HERs-----
--GOVERNXENT---EYPLOYEEB
-MEDICALFIELDS
--INDUSTRIALFIELDS-
ReEn- CliniComEdIFedhlunioi- Has- search dowed cal Desk mercial LIBRA-TORIAL SALARY eral State pal pitals lab. lab. lab. work lab. RIANB STAFF TOTAL BMD BMD BMD B M D BMD BhlD B M D B M D B M D B M D B M D N B M D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . .. 6 . . 2 $ 500- 999 . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 .. iooo-ii99 1 . . 1 . . . 1 . i : : 3 . . ..lo 6 1 1°00-1499 . l . i : : 2 3 . 1 . . 1 . 1 . . 1 1 . . 2 . . 10 13 2 1500-1799 2 1 . 1 . . . . 2 2 3 : i i 2 . . . . . 1 1 . i i : 2 . . i i . . . 16 22 10 1800-2099 1 1 . 1 . 2 . . . 1 . . 1 2100-2399 . . . 1.. 22. 1.. . . . 10 12 8 . 1 . 3 . . . . 2 . i i : 2400-2699 2 1 1 . . 2 1 . 1 6 22 1s , 2 1 . 1 . 1 . . 1 .. 6 8 20 2700-2999 2 . 2 1 . i . 1 2 . 2 3 . i i . . l : : i 3 . . i i . . . . 8 19 35 3000-3499 . . 1 . . 1 . . . . . . . 1 i i . . . i . . . .. 2 5 25 3500-3999 . . 1 . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . 311 4000-4500 . . . . . . 1 4500-5000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 1 2 . . 3 . . 1 . . . . . . . 1 Over 5000 . . . . . . 2 1 . . 1 . 1 . . . 2 . . 9 7 7 71 83 19 16 4 23 14 20 Crsnd total 41 13 9 9 Ph.D. or M.D. 0 N, no degree; h l , Inaster’s degree; B, bachelor’s degree; CoeducaHigh Women’s tional schools colleges inst. NBhlDaBMD BMD . . . 1 . . 4 . 2 . . . . . . 12 1 . . .2 3 . 3 4 1 . . l . 2 1 . 1 7 1 . 2 1. 223 . 4 3 12 2 . . 7 7 . 5 4 1 5 . 2 5 3 2 . 1 5 1 1 3 1 1 , 3 14 115 12 1 . 1 5 . 4 2 1 . 1 3
i
.. . .. ..
.ii
i::
is4
..
ii
I
.
.
..4
i:
:ii . . .
:i: ...
i:: .
. .. .. . . . . . . 4 . . .. .. i .. .. .. .. .. ..
... .. .. ..
ii:
.. .
. . . ..
GRAND TOTAL 8 5 17 25 48 30 47 34 62 32 14 3 11 336
-
MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES.Salaries of municipal employees $2500, and a t the time of the present survey only two reported ranged from $1620 to $3060. As the work performed was salaries over $3000. chiefly routine, graduate degrees did not influence the wage One woman earning $3000 had no degree but had had scale. thirty years of experience and had been employed by the same CHEMISTS IN HOSPITAL LABORATORIES. Chemists with the firm for twenty-five years. Another woman with twentybachelor’s degree earned from $1200 to $2400 for performing eight years of experience and a Ph.D. degree of fifteen years’ routine duties. Those with the master’s degree earned from standing earned $6000 as chief chemist. The salary of a $1500 to $2500 for routine work, and $3000 was the maximum third with only the bachelor’s degree and twenty-nine years of salary reported for research. Those with the P h D . degree all experience was $5200 as chief of a testing laboratory. conducted research and received incomes varying from $1800 %’OMEX EhZPLOYED AS LIBRARIANS AND I N EDITORIAL to 95400, three earning salaries of $4000 or over. Each of the WORK. Librarians who did library research were better paid latter had a t least eleven years of experience. The one Ph.D. than those doing routine work, $1500 being the minimum receiving the low salary mentioned had just been appointed salary and $3240 the maximum reported. Only one librarian and was a 1932 graduate. reported a salary in excess of $3000; half of those reporting WOMENIN LABORATORIES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH.Four earned $1800 or less. Graduate degrees did not materially possessors of the master’s degree earned from $1800 to $2300 increase the salary. Editorial work likewise was not a very in medical research laboratories. Salaries of those with the lucrative profession for those reporting, as seven out of nine Ph.D. degree varied greatly; $1800 was paid a research fellow earned less than $2000. However, the two doctors of who completed her graduate work in 1931, whereas a director philosophy who were included in this group of seven were of medical research with eighteen years of varied experience only employed part time. received $5500. ~ V O U E S I N COMhlERCIIL AND CLINICAL LABORATORIES. SUMMARY Commercial or industrial work apparently offers the greatest 1. The teaching profession apparently offers more openchance for advancement without graduate study. Certain women who were capable of filling industrial positions in 1918 ings for trained women chemists than any other single field. 2. The salaries of women chemists teaching nutrition, command desirable salaries in these same companies today. Positions in laboratories endowed for industrial research household chemistry, or biochemistry are usually somewhat apparently pay women less than commercial laboratories. higher than those teaching other branches of chemistry. 3. The Ph.D. degree is a prerequisite for the more desirThe salary range of $1500 to $3000 was given by the former group, which included all degrees. Clinical laboratories able positions in colleges and universities but is not required in seemingly present splendid opportunities, especially to those the case of teachers of high-school chemistry. However, the who can afford to become part owners. All of the women salaries of the latter group are increased from $350 t o $500 by reporting this type of work (none of whom had the Ph.D. the additional possession of the master’s degree. 4. Graduate degrees are prerequisites for all types of degree) earned $2900 or more, and one individual with fifteen years of experience reported earnings as high as $7000 per research work. 5. The best openings for women chemists without graduannum before the depression. Salaries paid women chemists in consultant or office positions depended somewhat on the ate degrees seem to be in commercial and clinical laboratories. type of work done. One woman consultant with nineteen 6. Approximately one-third of all the women reporting years of varied experience earned from $7000 t,o $8000 per salaries earn less than 82100, one-third earn between $2100 annum although she had no graduate degree. (In the other and $2999, and the remaining third $3000 or over. 7 . Salaries of more than half (56 per cent) of those with hand, stenographic work paid another chemist, but $1350. I n general, the salaries paid those with only the bachelor’s bachelor’s degrees fall below $2100, one fourth of this group degree varied with length of service and ranged from $1768 receiving less than $1500. About one-fourth receive from to $2500. Salaries of those with the Ph.D. degree covered a $2100 t o $2999, and only 18 per cent earn $3000 or more. narrow range from $2640 to $3000 and seemed to increase very Only two earn more than $4000. little with time. 8. The sixteen individuals with the bachelor’s degree Six women receiving $3000 or more in laboratories of large earning $3000 or more all had at least nine years of experience, manufacturing concerns had only the bachelor’s degree. with the exception of one young woman employed in a However, three of them had been employed more than laboratory of a drug manufacturing house who began at a twenty-five years. Those with the master’s degree did not salary of $2750. She received an increase of $250 at the end have as much experience and earned lower salaries, $2340 be- of the first six months. Only three held teaching positions. ing the maximum salary reported (paid just before a plant 9. Of the group of women with the master’s degree, closed). Doctors of philosophy began at a salary of $2400 to approximately one-fourth (23 per cent) earn $3000 or more,
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four earning more than $4000. The salaries of almost twofifths of this group (38.8 per cent) are less than $1800, and about the same number (37.9 per cent) earn between $2100 and $2999. 10. Fifty-seven per Of thosewith the Ph*D*degree earn $3000 or more, and o d y 10 per cent earn less than $2100.
Vol. 25, No. 4
One-third of this group is included in the salary range from $2100 to $2999, and approximately two-fifths (41.9 per cent) have salaries from $3000 to $3999. RECEIVED September 23, 1932. Presented before the Diviaion of Chemical Education a t the 84th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Denver, COIO.. August 22 t o 26, 1932.
NOTES A N D CORRESPONDENCE Dye-an SIR: The dramatic manner in which a person poisoned by cyanide can be saved through injections of methylene blue has been explained in your recent editorial [IND.ENQ.CHEM.,25, 244 (1933)l on the theory that the administered dye, “being an oxidation-reduction indicator, is able to take up oxygen or give it off readily and thus acts in transferring oxygen to the tissues.” This statement may be easily misinterpreted. In the first place, neither the oxidant, methylene blue, nor the reductant, leucomethylene blue, contains any oxygen (8). Moreover, there is no authentic evidence, to my knowledge, that the methylene blue system can carry loosely bound oxygen. If interpreted in this sense, as it is likely to be, the above statement is erroneous. It has been known for some time that cyanide inhibits more or less completely the oxidative processes of the living cell ( 5 ) . More recently it has been demonstrated that the poison produces its characteristic effect on the cell largely by inactivating specific iron-containing respiratory catalysts (cytochrome and hemin-like compounds), the inactivation being reversible (4, 6). The chief function of this type of catalyst seems to be that of activating the molecular oxygen that diffuses in from the air or is carried toward the cell by an oxygen carrier such as oxyhemoglobin. Molecular oxygen itself seems to be too slow-acting to serve the needs of the cell. Granting that this description of the mechanism of cyanide poisoning is correct in its general aspects, treatment for the poisoning involves restoration of the active respiratory catalyst before the cell dies from “internal suffocation.” The dissociation of the catalyst-cyanide complex is too slow because the liberated cyanide must now be metabolized away by the already injured cell mechanism. Administration of fresh respiratory enzyme would be the most logical form of treatment; I do not know if this is practically feasible. Another form of treatment would be to provide the cell with a suitable temporary substitute for the paralyzed catalyst while the latter is being restored. Methylene blue and certain other easily reversible oxidation-reduction systems can be used for this purpose. The oxidants of these systems are all reducible a t the level of potential maintained by the living cell @)-that
Antidote is, they oxidize appropriate cell reductants. This oxidation seems to be performed not by the actual transfer of oxygen but by its electrochemical equivalent of taking on negative electrons or carriers of these electrons. This is, however, but one necessary requirement for the catalyst substitute. Equally important is the need for quick reoxidation of dye reductant back again to oxidant when exposed to molecular oxygen. There are a number of easily reversible oxidation-reduction systems that meet these specifications-e. g., methylene blue, toluylene blue, pyocyanin (I)-and those that are nontoxic or practically so can serve as temporary substitutes for the paralyzed respiratory enzyme. It also is apparent that this substitute must be able to reach the cell quickly and in sufficient degree to function effectively. On the basis of present knowledge, therefore, one can picture the recovery from cyanide poisoning as follows: The substitute catalyst-for example, methylene blue-mediates in the oxidations necessary for the continuance of cell life during the period in which the natural catalyst is either generated de novo or regenerated by dissociation from its cyanide complex (or both), and the liberated cyanide is metabolized away. It should be evident that the physiological antagonism between methylene blue and cyanide involves no direct interaction between these two substances. In fact it has been often demonstrated ( 5 ) that cyanide does not interfere appreciably with the oxidation-reduction activity of methylene blue as outlined above. LITERATURE CITED (1) Barron, E. S. G., and Hamburger, M., J. Bid. Chem., 96,299 (1932). (2) Claik, W. M.,Cohen, B., and Gibbs, H. D., P u b . Health Repts., 40, 1131-1201 (1925). (3) Cohen, B., Chambers, R., and Reznikoff, P., J. Gen. Physiol., 11, 585 (1528). (4) Keilin, D., Proc. Roy. Soc. (London), B98,312 (1925). (5) Thunberg, T., Skand. Arch. Physiol., 47,284 (1917). (6) Warburg, O., Saturzvissenschaften, 14, 755 (1926).
BARXETTCOHEN HOPKINS SCHOOL BALTIXORE, MD. March 17, 1933
JOHNS
OF
MEDICINE
Pharmaceutical Industry in Hungary The average annual production of the 15 Hungarian factories engaged in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and operating at 50 per cent capacity has an estimated value of about $14,000,000. The industry has faced intense competition from German manufacturers. Forty per cent of the industry’s output is in biologicals. Its serums have proved successful in the treatment of livestock diseases. About 80 per cent of the entire production is used in the domestic market, the balance finding a ready sale in the adjacent countries. Domestic consumption has increased in recent years through improved methods of vaccination and inoculation. Despite the development of the domestic production of other pharmaceutical and medicinal preparations, Hun-
gary imports more than it exports. Both imports and exports have shown an increase in the past few years, amounting to $736,000 and $572,000,respectively, in 1931. Serum and vaccine imports were $31,000, against $82,000 in exports. Fully 85 per cent of the imports of finished products come from Germany, with England, Czechoslovakia, and France supplying the remainder. Hungary exports substantial quantities of pharmaceutical products to the Balkan countries and the Near East. Figures for 1932 are not yet available, but they will naturally show a contraction since imports have been placed under a permit system and pengo in payment must be left except in rare cases in Hungary.
