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This episode is brought to you by \"I have to make my life worth saving, and each day you spend as if it would be your last\" - Dame Stephanie Shirley in 2010 from an oral history at the British Library Computers had their start as a way...\n
This episode is brought to you by \"I have to make my life worth saving, and each day you spend as if it would be your last\" - Dame Stephanie Shirley in 2010 from an oral history at the British Library Computers had their start as a way to turn over the tedium of complicated, repetitive, mathematical calculations to someone else. Sort of the, um, ‘women’s work’ of mathematics and in fact women were often the ones doing the grunt work in the days developing the first computers and the code-writing that would become computer software. They just didn’t tend to get the credit. As a young woman in 1950’s Britain with a talent for math, Stephanie Shirley, found herself in an ever-evolving field of information technology - building computers and writing code, working in places where the world's first programmable electronic computer was invented, exciting stuff. But at work, she found she was often the only woman in the room. \"When I first walked in there, about 200, you know, handsome, intelligent men turned round and looked at this new female that had sort of turned up. [laughs] So, and that, you know, took, it was, it was quite, you know, you were... It was almost scary to go into a big place like that, 100, not quite 100 per cent but ninety-nine per cent men.\" - Shirley said. And this had its limitations. So she decided to strike out on her own and by doing so she came up with a whole new way to work in the computing industry - a way that allowed women to thrive. As part of our special series, The Experimenters -- uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation -- we found this interview with British IT pioneer and businesswoman Stephanie Shirley in the British Library’s collection of Oral Histories. She explains how from the start, her home-based computer software company was uniquely women-friendly: Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation See more from The Experimenters: Temple Grandin on Her Search Engine Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance Sally Ride on Dumb Questions Jane Goodall on Instinct Subscribe for new episodes of Blank on Blank every other Tuesday... it's free PBS Digital Studios is interested in learning more about what you like to watch and do online. They've got a short survey and they're going to randomly select 25 participant to receive a cool shirt. Check it out Executive Producer David Gerlach Animator Godfrey Hibbert Series Producer Amy Drozdowska Assistant Producer Jessie Wright-Mendoza More Blank on Blank Episodes Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys Nina Simone on Shock Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious Patty Hearst on Reasonable Doubt Tom Waits on Everything and Nothing Hunter S. Thompson on Outlaws BB King on The Blues Elliott Smith on Freaks Robin Williams on Masks Wayne Coyne on Living with Death Maya Angelou on Con Men Bette Davis on The Sexes Michael Jackson on Godliness Jimi Hendrix on The Experience Meryl Streep on Beauty Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness David Bowie on Stardust Gene Wilder on The Truth John Lennon on Love Johnny Cash on The Gospel Heath Ledger on Role Playing Tupac on Life and Death Kurt Cobain on Identity Janis Joplin on Rejection Help us caption & translate this video!\n
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