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The reality is that this change in the environmental health field has not come easily. A 1987 survey of a selected sample of the first women professionals revealed a number of problems and experiences that confronted them as they challenged an "all-male" tradition. From being mistaken as secretaries, having professional judgment and deci sions questioned, to having difficulty gaining entrance to private all-male clubs, the first women environmentalists faced a variety of situations, some quite humorous in retrospect. Experiences that could be considered truly unique to women entering the field are represented by the following ancedote from one professional who entered the field in 1971 and has since become a state and national leader in environmental health: ''The first time I was allowed by my department to inspect restaurants (after much complaining on my part about letting me do some 'real work.')...I was given the local skid row area. At the first restaurant, I was approached by a pimp who wanted to know what 'pretty lady' was doing (he obviously thought I was homing in on his territory!). After I told him who I was and what I was doing, and showed him, he looked at me and said, 'That's cool, pretty lady, you just go on ahead,' and all 6 1 6" of him walked off - to the complete relief of the Health Department supervisor who happened to be with me! P.S. They changed my district the next day, over my protest.'' Some of the internal adjustments that agencies had to face for the first time when women professionals joined the environmental health teams are illustrated by this account. "When I started, women did NOT wear slacks to work in any profession. Yet straddling leaching trenches during an inspection wearing a skirt could be awkward, and doing a neighborhood survey all day in the winter, a little cold. Finally, I told my supervisor I was going to start wearing slacks. What a revolutionary thing that seemed at the time! In retrospect, of course, it was only one of many small skirmishes that · have helped in women winning 'most' of the war to be accepted within the profession.'' While many women professionals may not term gaining acceptance a "war,'' they would generally agree that it has been a struggle, and one which surprisingly perhaps is still ongoing. A survey by Davis, et al. in the early seventies revealed that the greater the age of male environmentalists, ''the greater the conviction that females should not be encouraged to pursue career objectives in environmental health fields.'' Since the greater the age, the more likely the male was to be a supervisor, the significance of this attitude to women seeking employment or advancement in the seventies was self evident. (Interestingly, the 1987 survey of women professionals revealed that this "generational gap" still remains a problem in some areas.) In order to change such attitudes and provide networking opportunities for the women professionals, in 1973 NEHA established a national committee on "Women in Environmental Health Careers." At the request of the women serving on the committee, it was disbanded during the 1975 Annual Educational Conference. A survey of women environmentalists taken by Van Dusen about the same time as the Davis study, noted that regardless of the length of time in the field or the geographical location of the respondent, the majority felt that discrimination was very real for a woman entering the profession. Concerns were expressed regarding advancement limitations, hiring policies and a "proving" or "trial" period which the woman professional had to pass. The respondents to the 1987 survey were asked if they felt that the point had been reached where being male or female didn't make any difference to an environmental health professional. While most thought progress to such a point had definitely been made, only one felt that it had been reached. As another respondent observed, "It will probably take another generation to do away with all the differential treatment.'' Indeed '. ... ... ' .. \ -
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