Horrocks S M
Department of Economic and Social History, University of Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
Br J Hist Sci. 2000 Sep;33(118 Pt 3):351-67. doi: 10.1017/s0007087499004057.
During the inter-war years women found employment for the first time in some of Britain's industrial laboratories, most of them concentrated in the food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles and photographic industries. Drawing on a range of sources, including company archives and the technical press, this paper examines the emergence of these new positions for women and considers their workplace experiences, looking both at women with higher-level qualifications and at those who worked as laboratory assistants. It argues that although the entry of women into industrial chemistry represented an extension of their opportunities for scientific work, they tended to be employed as 'women chemists' to undertake routine tasks seen as especially suited to feminine skills and expertise and to have few opportunities for promotion. Their presence also appears to have changed the nature of men's work, helping to ensure that men could continue to be offered more challenging work and positions which retained the possibility of career advancement.
在两次世界大战之间的那些年里，女性首次在英国的一些工业实验室中找到工作，她们大多集中在食品、制药、化妆品、纺织和摄影行业。本文利用包括公司档案和技术新闻在内的一系列资料来源，研究了这些女性新职位的出现，并考察了她们的工作场所经历，既关注具有较高学历的女性，也关注担任实验室助理的女性。文章认为，尽管女性进入工业化学领域代表了她们从事科学工作机会的扩展，但她们往往被雇为“女化学家”，从事那些被视为特别适合女性技能和专业知识的日常任务，晋升机会很少。她们的存在似乎也改变了男性工作的性质，有助于确保男性能够继续获得更具挑战性的工作和有职业晋升可能性的职位。
