The women welders have not established their position without difficulty, faced as they were from the start with the fact that men engaged on precisely the same work, with no greater output, were yet receiving considerably higher wages. By first banding themselves together in a Trade Union, and by bringing the question up for arbitration as to whether their work was skilled or unskilled--the decision being given in their favour,--the women welders have achieved equal recognition with men, and that without having recourse to strikes and dislocation of national work in war-time. A typical worker among the learners of this new craft for women is Miss Ethel Rolfe. One of the first women to enter the school, after a short course of training she took a post in an aircraft factory, where she was the only woman welder. She worked with one man welder, and sometimes when work was slack, owing to the supply of parts being hung up, she did brazing, which she learnt from the men with whom she worked. She also did fitting, rather than stand idle; and as much overtime was being worked, she could help on all three processes when occasion required. In December, 1916, after a good deal of practical experience, Miss Rolfe accepted a post in a Government department. In this capacity she visited aeroplane works all over the country, spending from three to ten days in the shops, studying the work done by women, and that done by men which women might take over. She reported to her department on the detailed organisation of women’s work, on the methods of training, and the possibility of further dilution of men’s work in each firm by the employment of more female labour. To do this she had to inquire into technical processes, machines, and workshop arrangements. She specially urged the increased employment of women in fitting and sheet-metal work, wood-work, and welding, and in some cases on the erection of aeroplanes and the installation of the engine. After continuing this work for some months, she was promoted and transferred to the Production Department. She now inspects aeroplane firms and reports to her department with a view to an ever-increasing output, chiefly obtainable by greater efficiency in the labour of women, improved arrangements in the shops and in the methods of teaching and supervision. This unique opportunity of studying the types of machines and methods of construction, coupled with the help of resident inspecting engineers, has given her an amount of technical knowledge which, with her personal experience of factory conditions, has helped her in the work of selecting suitable operations for female labour. Before the war, Miss Rolfe had no previous mechanical or scientific training; she had always regretted the lack of opportunity which women found in the industrial world, and especially in engineering trades.