1984 edition of BBC youth topical forum program “Speak out” discussing the lack of uptake in computer sciences amongst women (NI participants in the excerpt below)
10.02.2025
Recently uploaded to the BBC Archive YouTube channel.
Surprisingly spot on with the predictions / concerns.
they missed the corporate greed angle where the men AND women now have to wfh to finance a family.
Or that senior mgmt would force you into an office anyways for reasons they won’t state out loud.
Well most people didn’t have computers or know enough about them at home IE pupils , school leavers in 1984. there is something very odd about John Craven
In school in the 90s we’d one computer that you got a turn on and noone really knew how to work so it’s a bit mad to me that there were conversations like this a decade earlier and it must of kinda stagnated?
We were very advanced at our school we had a Dot matrix printer so we did.
By the time I started my first job, the design office had just switched from drawing boards to design software, so it was a very computer-oriented environment. We couldn’t work from home unless it was an exceptional case. I wouldn’t have wanted to work from home anyway because I wasn’t happy there, so why bring that stress into my living area?
My second job, I loved the work and spent many hours outside office hours, working from home on a laptop. Internet speeds had jumped a lot by now, so remote working was much easier. Albeit, the open office environment was very unconducive to focus.
I suppose it’s about how much you love the job. PCs can be a boon for that, but a burden if otherwise.
*Programme
Crazy how this convo started decades ago, and we’re still working on it today
So many smart, prescient points about life 40 years ahead of them.
I don’t know how many people could discuss life 40 years from now with such accuracy 😂😂😂
8 comments
Surprisingly spot on with the predictions / concerns.
they missed the corporate greed angle where the men AND women now have to wfh to finance a family.
Or that senior mgmt would force you into an office anyways for reasons they won’t state out loud.
Well most people didn’t have computers or know enough about them at home IE pupils , school leavers in 1984. there is something very odd about John Craven
In school in the 90s we’d one computer that you got a turn on and noone really knew how to work so it’s a bit mad to me that there were conversations like this a decade earlier and it must of kinda stagnated?
We were very advanced at our school we had a Dot matrix printer so we did.
By the time I started my first job, the design office had just switched from drawing boards to design software, so it was a very computer-oriented environment. We couldn’t work from home unless it was an exceptional case. I wouldn’t have wanted to work from home anyway because I wasn’t happy there, so why bring that stress into my living area?
My second job, I loved the work and spent many hours outside office hours, working from home on a laptop. Internet speeds had jumped a lot by now, so remote working was much easier. Albeit, the open office environment was very unconducive to focus.
I suppose it’s about how much you love the job. PCs can be a boon for that, but a burden if otherwise.
*Programme
Crazy how this convo started decades ago, and we’re still working on it today
So many smart, prescient points about life 40 years ahead of them.
I don’t know how many people could discuss life 40 years from now with such accuracy 😂😂😂
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