Engineering Difference

Abstract

The experiences of women engineers working in the BBC Television Service at Alexandra Palace, London, during the 1940s and 1950s, give insights into gender discrimination in broadcasting. These women first joined as radio engineers when the BBC was recruiting women during World War II, then transferred to television between 1946 and 1947. In interviews recorded in the 1990s, they talk about incidents of bullying and exclusion by men on crews who were hostile to women doing engineering jobs. Other memories are about being demoted from positions on camera and sound to vision mixing when the BBC Staff Association negotiated new grading for cameramen with BBC management at the expense of its female members. As the Television Service became established, women were eased out of skilled and responsible jobs when men returning from the war regained their positions in broadcast engineering.

From women operators to technical assistants: women in the BBC’s wartime engineering division

“…When television restarted in 1946, wartime women technicians became vision mixers, gramophone operators, and camera operators, and the future looked bright. 138 In 1948, the General Secretary of the Staff Association agreed in the wake of suggested staff reductions in engineering that singling women out for dismissal would be unfair. 139 Weary admissions in support of women technicians appeared in the Staff Newsletter.…”

“…These barriers included widening basic job responsibilities to include duties requiring heavy lifting considered too strenuous for women, instituting test-based promotions, and re-grading the positions. 102 While the BBC provided initial training for female staff, it was unwilling to support women seeking a fuller grounding in engineering theory. In 1942, women employed at the Droitwich transmitter requested funding to pursue further outside training, indicating some women were eager to gain more knowledge.…”