Programmed inequality: how Britain discarded women technologists and lost its edge in computing

How Britain lost its early dominance in computing by systematically discriminating against its most qualified workers: women.

In 1944, Britain led the world in electronic computing.

By 1974, the British computer industry was all but extinct.

What happened in the intervening thirty years holds lessons for all post-industrial superpowers.

As Britain struggled to use technology to retain its global power, the nation's inability to manage its technical labour force hobbled its transition into the information age.

In 'Programmed Inequality', Marie Hicks explores the story of labour feminization and gendered technocracy that undercut British efforts to computerize.