WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

Otago Witness, Issue 3549, 28 March 1922, Page 54

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

ORGANISED WELFARE WORK. WHAT THE Y.W.C.A. IS DOING. Miss Jean Stevenson, who is at present on a fortnight’s visit to Dunedin, is a Y.W.C.A. leader who has long been well known throughout New Zealand, particularly to those interested in the welfare of girls. When she left Dunedin 11 years ago Miss Stevenson had just concluded a term of service as executive officer of the Presbyterian Young Women’s Bible Class Union. She entered the service of the Y.W.C.A., and the first three and a-half years of nor work under the association were spent m Bendigo. For the next two years she was industrial secretary for the Melbourne Y.W.C.A., and thus undertook the first piece of specialised work on a large scale in Australia for industrial girls. To-dav that is a very large piece of organised work, including about 500 girls employed in industries, who are following out a programme of education, recreation, and community service. Miss Stevenson later spent two years abroad -in different parts of America, taking a graduate course : ti Y.W.C.A. science in New York, and then doing some pioneer work under the War Work Council in organising recreation centres for women munition workers in the Pittsburg district. For the past three years Miss Stevenson has been travelling secretary for the Y.W.C.A. of Australasia, specialising in industrial work. She is concerned very largely with all forms of organised work for girls beyond adolescent age, and there is another travelling secretary working specially for adolescent girls. Mbs Stevenson is now on a tour of New Zealand, and after visiting Christchurch and Gisborne will conduct a special training course in Auckland for volunteer or staff workers. The object of this_ is to give an opportunity for special training to New Zealand workers who may not vet be ready to take the long course which is held in Sydney. The course will give special opportunity for training to outstanding workers fro at' the associations in countrv distriels where they do not have large staffs and where the work has to be carried on almost entirely by voluntary helpers. While not much welfare work has been undertaken as yet in large industrial concerns in New Zealand there are nevertheless a few outstanding examples of such work successfully organised.