War’s Unintended Consequences

Abstract

During World War I, women were encouraged to participate in the work force and support the war effort. Many historians believe that the vote for women’s suffrage, which was finally ratified in 1920, was out of gratitude for women’s efforts during the war. However, in spite of that “gratitude,” most women were not allowed to keep the jobs they had filled during the war when it was over and made little headway in the 1920s and 1930s. During World War II, women were encouraged to enter the work force because the men were gone. Rosie the Riveter, the personification of women’s contributions to the war effort, put a public face on the need for women to fill positions to keep war materials rolling off the assembly lines. Women were trained as engineers, engineering aides, and engineering cadettes. After the war ended, women were displaced in institutions of higher education and were no longer welcome in engineering careers either. But after this war, women reacted differently. They established the Society of Women Engineers and began to encourage each other to pursue scientific and technical careers. Profiles are provided for scientific and engineering women from the late 1800s through the late 1900s.