Index

• Abbate, Janet, 6, 245n4, 246nn8,14, 250nn4,6,7, 252n37, 253n49, 255nn86,92, 267n14, 271n67, 272n80, 286n76, 291n13, 292n21

• Advertising, 14, 23–24, 66, 84, 101, 106–107, 111–127, 132–135, 140–142, 147, 154, 163, 202, 270n47
  • for computer jobs, 132–135, 163, 272n85
• Aeronautical Research Council, 95
• Africa, 53, 65, 117, 120–121
• Agar, Jon, 186, 227, 248n26, 266n139, 267n10, 281n138, 291n9
• Ageism, 132–133, 145
• Air Ministry, 107–108, 145, 172, 268n17, 269n29
• Aldermaston, 169
• ALGOL, 168
• Allende, 11, 249n33, 292n27
• Aptitude tests, 68, 154, 156–157, 163, 173
• Asia, 117, 121, 194, 238
• Asquith, Cyril, 87
• Assembly, 168
• Atlas, 180, 183
• Atomic Energy Authority (AEA), 167–170
• Attlee, Clement, 59, 92
• Austerity, 59, 63, 75, 82, 91, 190, 200, 258n9
• Australia, 53, 231
• Automatic Computing Engine (Pilot ACE), 55, 96, 185, 242
• Automatic Data Processing (ADP), 155, 162, 172–175, 184–185, 187, 189, 191, 200, 203, 206–209, 228, 230, 273n104, 273n1
• Automatic Data Processing (ADP) grade, 172, 174–175, 189, 228
• Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), 29

• Bank of England, 53, 59
• Bartik, Jean Jennings, 6
• Bell Labs, 136
• Benn, Anthony, 100–101, 135, 179, 181–183, 267n7
• Berg, Maxine, 6
• Berners-Lee, Mary Lee, 131, 272n80
• Berners-Lee, Tim, 131
• Beveridge Report, 87–88, 107, 248n31
• Binary, 39, 135, 272n82
  • programming in, 135, 272n82
• Black box, 84–85, 221
• Bletchley Park, 13, 19, 25–26, 28–31, 35–44, 46, 56, 242–244, 252n31, 252n42, 253nn53,54
  • erasure of women’s contributions, 43–44, 254nn64,66,67
  • secrecy, 28, 37, 40–42
  • training agendas, 27, 38–39, 41, 45
• Bombes, 28, 30–31, 34, 38, 41, 231, 241, 250n2, 252nn27,40
• Booker, Elsie, 36
• Boots Ltd. (Pharmacy), 53, 104–105, 268n20
• British Nautical Almanac Office, 21
• British Tabulating Machines (BTM), 2, 30, 85, 112, 180, 231–232, 268n18
• Bullen, Margaret, 37
• Business Mechanisation Ltd., 123–125
• Butler, Judith, 234

• Callaghan, James, 216
• Cambridge, 96, 103, 242
• Campbell-Kelly, Martin, x, 217, 245n6, 249n35, 280n112, 281n127
• Canada, 53
• Canning, Kathleen, 247n19
• Capenhurst, 169
• Careers, backwater, 170, 187
• Cartoons, 2–3, 32, 54, 85, 87
• Castle, Barbara, 199, 212
• Caughey, Catherine, 40
• Central Computer Agency (CCA), 165, 175, 193, 195–201, 203, 205, 207, 209–210, 221. See also Central Computer Bureau; Combined Tabulating Installation
• Central Computer Bureau (CCB), 108–109, 154, 157, 160, 163–169. See also Central Computer Agency; Combined Tabulating Installation
• Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), 136, 138–140
• Centralization, 15–16, 118, 179–186, 188, 191–192, 194–199, 217–219, 222, 227, 236
• Chancellor of the Exchequer, 91
• Chief Machine Operator (CMO), 162
• Chile, 11, 234
• China, 194, 238
• Chorley, Joanna, 37
• Churchill, Winston, 38, 41, 75, 92, 242
• Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA), 175, 204–205, 261n50. See also Civil Service Clerical Association
• Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal, 61–62
• Civil Service Clerical Association (CSCA), 61, 73–74, 79–83, 91, 150, 160–163, 175, 261n50
• Civil Service Department (CSD), 151, 166–167, 173–177, 179–180, 184–185, 188–189, 196–198, 203, 206, 208, 217–218, 222
• Clark, Anna, 246n15
• Clarke, Joan, 37, 241
• Class system, 2, 9, 12–13, 61, 70, 99, 100, 131, 137, 156, 161, 167, 188, 198, 205, 222, 229, 238
• Clean Air Act (1956), 63
• Clerical assistants, 68, 71, 88
• Clerical grades, 68, 70, 71, 81, 88, 145–146, 150, 163, 212
• Clerical work, 8–9, 23, 46, 69, 73, 84, 155, 162–163, 174, 210–211, 219
• Clerical workforce, growth of, 8–9, 22, 211–212, 230
• COBOL, 164
• Codebreaking, 4, 13, 19–20, 25, 28–32, 34–43, 46, 56, 231
• Cold War, 13, 179, 181, 194
• Colonialism, 4, 59, 65, 99, 203, 116, 118–121, 147, 149. See also Postcolonial era
• Colossus computers, 19, 25, 30, 32, 34–42, 44, 46–48, 67, 103, 135, 179, 194, 241–243
  • critical role in D-Day success, 25, 30, 35
• Colossus I, 34–36, 241
• Colossus II, 30, 35, 242, 244
• Combined Tabulating Installation (CTI), 109, 157–160, 170. See also Central Computer Agency; Central Computer Bureau
• Commonwealth countries, 4, 53, 103, 116, 119, 121, 147, 149, 191, 217. See also Australia, Canada, South Africa
• Computer bureaus, 108–109, 117, 122, 129–130, 135, 138, 154, 157, 165
• Computer demonstration, 39, 112, 119–120, 125–127, 130, 231–232. See also Demonstration teams
• Computer installations, growth of, 86. See also Statistics on computer use
• Computer mergers, 4, 15, 101, 114, 152, 180–182, 184–186, 188–192, 194, 221, 227
• Computer purchasing, 22, 101, 108, 111, 112, 149, 164, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181, 184, 185, 191–193, 197
• Computer revolution, 98, 151, 174, 222. See also Technological revolution
• Computers, unreliability of early. See Unreliability of early computers
• Comrie, Leslie John, 21–22, 25
• Conscription of women’s labor, 13, 21, 25–26, 28, 42, 241
• Coombs, Mary, 45, 87, 104, 131
• Cost cutting by computer, fiction of, 60, 74, 97, 110, 152, 155, 192–193, 195, 226
• Cousins, Frank, 100, 267n7
• Craigie, Jill, 90
• Culham Research Station, 169
• Currie, Helen, 254n66
• Cybernetics, 11, 28, 234
• Cybersyn project, 234
• Data-driven state, 13, 28–33, 43, 48, 83, 86, 97, 200, 210, 226
  • reliance on accurate punching in, 29, 67, 68, 69, 200, 209–210
• Data input, 65,110, 120, 163, 164, 209–210, 219, 230
• Data librarians, 67

• D-Day, 4, 25, 30–31, 35, 242
• Decentralization, 11, 192, 201, 203–204, 217, 219, 225, 227
• Demonstration teams, 125–127
• Demotion, 1, 51, 71, 80, 158–159, 163, 167, 187, 228
  • fear of, 170, 187
• Denmark, 53
• Department of National Savings, 203–205
• Deskilling, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22, 23, 38, 40, 42, 44, 52, 55, 57, 68, 70, 71–72, 75–77, 79–80, 84, 90, 93, 98, 102, 122, 125, 154, 156, 163, 171–175, 209, 211, 212, 214, 224, 231, 238, 265n116
  • fiction of, 7, 8, 20, 23, 38, 40, 42, 44, 55, 68, 75–78, 98, 147, 161, 209, 235
• Desktop accounting machines, 9, 22, 65, 70, 103
• Devaluation of pound, 60, 64
• Devaluation of women’s work, 8, 46, 63, 74–75, 77, 94–95, 159, 236, 238
• Diminutives, use of to refer to women technologists. See Girls; Wrens, disrespectful implications of nickname
• Disability payments, 44, 109
• Discourse, 14, 43, 91, 96, 101–102, 106, 112, 128, 142, 233, 235
• Divorce, 10, 89, 138, 214
• Dollis Hill Post Office Research Station, 28, 253n53
• Double shift effect, 27
• Dounreay, 168
• Downs, Laura, 8, 286n67
• Drudgery, 21, 40, 52, 54–56, 62, 69, 90, 116, 146, 209
• Du Boisson, Dorothy, 32, 36, 38–39

• Economic decline, 149–150, 181, 215, 239, 280n120
• Edgerton, David, 4, 280n120
• EDSAC, 96, 103–104, 242, 267n12
• Electromechanical systems, 2, 9, 13, 21, 25, 28–31, 34, 47–48, 56, 61, 65–67, 83, 97, 100, 102, 104, 109, 112, 153, 226, 241
• Electronic brains, 102, 128
• Elliott Automation, 180, 193, 257n134
• Emidec, 105, 109–110, 268n17
• EMI Electronics, 107, 180
• Empire, contraction of, 11, 17, 59, 99, 122, 226–227
• Employee Protection Act, 1975, 202
• English Electric, 96, 99, 107, 114, 168, 180–181, 192–193, 242–243
• English Electric Leo Marconi (EELM), 180, 192–193
• English Electric–LEO, 114, 180
• ENIAC, 4, 6, 19, 25, 34, 232, 253n50, 267n12
• ENIAC women, 6, 67, 232
• Enigma machine, 28, 30–31, 252–253n40
• Ensmenger, Nathan, 6
• Equal opportunity, 42, 73, 81, 86, 90, 190, 213, 215–216, 236, 249n32
• Equal pay, 8–10, 13, 15, 44–45, 49–50, 52–55, 59–60, 64–65, 70–71, 73–74, 79, 81, 86–98, 112–113, 146, 161, 175, 190–191, 211–216, 231, 242–243
• as requirement for EEC membership, 190–191
• Equal pay act, government workers, 64–65, 73, 91–94
• Equal Pay Act, National (1970), 212–213, 243
• Equal Pay Commission, 87, 89
• Equal pay legislation, shortcomings, 213–215
• Equal Pay Report of 1946, 50
• European Economic Community (EEC or Common Market), 190–191, 211–212, 215, 223, 243
• Exam-based meritocracy, 45–46, 70, 156, 166
• Excluded grades, 93–95, 145
• Experts, cultural construction of, 5, 9, 22, 43, 97, 103, 125, 147, 151–152, 155–157, 167, 170, 172, 174, 180, 183–186, 225–226, 230–233, 245n4

• Factory Acts, 7, 106
• Feminization, 1–3, 5–7, 10, 13, 14–15, 20–22, 25, 40, 42–43, 45–46, 55–57, 59, 61, 63, 70–71, 75–77, 82–83, 85, 89–91, 93–98, 102, 112, 122, 132, 147, 150, 153, 160, 163, 167, 171–172, 204–205, 210–211, 213–215, 220, 223, 228–229, 236–238
• Ferranti, 96, 131, 180, 193, 242, 270n47
• Finland, 53
• Flowers, Tommy, 28, 31, 34–35, 40–41, 135, 241, 253nn52,53
• Ford UK, equal pay strike. See Strikes, Ford UK
• FORTRAN, 168
• Fujitsu, 182, 217, 219, 227, 243–244, 290n8
• Fulton Report, 150, 172–173, 184, 274nn4,11

• Gender in administrative versus scientific computing, 168
• Gendered brain drain, 159
• GEC, 180
• Gill, Stanley, 185, 188
• Gillespie, Cathy, 132–142, 145, 147, 153, 208
• Girl hours, manufacturing, 21, 248n27
• Girls, as disrespectful way of referring to women, 7–8, 21–23, 25, 40, 42–43, 46–47, 50, 66, 68–69, 85–86, 95, 103, 111–113, 122–124, 126, 138, 154, 159–160, 164–166. See also Wrens, disrespectful implications of nickname
• Godwin, Anne, 74, 98
• Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), 41, 46–47, 242
• Government machine, concept of, 44, 97, 129, 132, 227, 248n26, 266n139, 267n10
• Gowers Report, 106
• Grammar schools, 29, 68, 133

• H1B visa workers, 238
• Heath, Edward, 191, 194, 196–197, 199, 211, 214, 243
• Heath Robinson machines, 31–32, 34–35, 241, 253n46
• Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), 69, 151–152, 154–155, 157, 160–161, 163–166, 176–177, 189, 197–198, 218, 222
• Heterogeneous engineering, 97, 117, 182, 246n9
• Heteronormativity, 5, 10, 22, 26, 45, 50, 78, 86–90, 125, 131, 138, 143, 167, 200, 206, 234–235
• Higher Executive Officer, 187, 206, 230
• Hindmarch-Watson, Katie, 248n28
• Hiring, 1–2, 6, 8, 14–15, 22, 30, 45–47, 51–60, 65, 69–71, 80, 86–90, 111–113, 117, 128, 131–134, 138, 145, 147, 149, 153–158, 160, 165–167, 169–176, 187, 206–211, 215–216, 220–221, 226–230, 235, 237, 261n47, 270n47, 292n21
• Historiography, 3–6, 12, 14, 16–17, 19–21, 40–41, 61, 231–237, 246n8, 250nn4,6,7
• Hobson, Colin, 104–106, 128–133, 135, 138, 271n71, 271n76, 272n78
• Hollerith, 22, 25, 46–48, 108
• Home front, concept of, 26–28, 34, 44, 50, 59, 241
• Honeywell, 192–193, 217
• Hopper, Grace, 232
• Human brake, Turing’s concept of, 55–57, 97, 102, 257n133
• Human computers, 21. See also Desktop accounting machines
• Humphreys, Arthur, 225
• Hutchison, Enid, 50–51

• IBM (International Business Machines), 21, 100, 108, 116, 120, 125–126, 138–140, 164, 168, 178–179, 181–183, 188–189, 191–197, 201–203, 217, 220, 225–227, 243, 246n9, 248nn27,29, 259n24, 263n90, 268n18, 271n71, 285n56
  • union busting, 202–203, 285n56
• IBM UK, 21, 183, 189, 192–195, 201–203, 248n27
• ICL (International Computers Ltd.), 121–127, 130, 144, 152, 181–197, 201–203, 208, 216–222, 225–227, 243–244, 245n6, 282n5. See also ICT
  • end of, 191–192, 194, 196, 226–227
  • preferential treatment, 183, 195, 218
• ICL 1900 series, 182–183, 192–193, 217–218, 282n5. See also ICT 1900 series
  • emulation, 217
• ICL 2900 Series, 182, 192, 195, 216–219, 225
  • delays, 216–219
• ICT (International Computers and Tabulators), 100, 104, 107–108, 112, 114–119, 125–126, 128, 142–143, 150, 153–154, 164, 168, 180–181, 183, 192–193, 242–243, 268n18, 271n71, 282n5. See also ICL
• ICT 1201, 104, 108, 268n18
• ICT 1202, 108
• ICT 1301, 107
• ICT 1900 series, 100, 164, 192–193. See also NICOL
• Immorality, policing of, 60, 136–137, 248n28
• Imperial decline, 11, 59, 99, 121, 181. See also Empire, contraction of
• Imperialism, 11, 59, 61, 64–65, 99, 101, 116–122, 147, 227, 270n60, 280n120
  • cultural, 11, 117, 122, 226–227
• Incomes policy, 10, 45, 54–55, 59, 81, 90–95, 149, 171, 200, 212, 214. See also Equal pay; Excluded grades; Pay freezes; Welfare state
• India and Indian immigrants, 59, 117–121, 238, 270nn52,53,58, 274n5
• Industrialization, 6–7, 9, 117–118, 234, 292n22
• Inflation, 63, 150, 190, 205, 213–214
• Information economy, 4–5, 7, 46, 57
• Infrastructure, 42, 44, 48, 105–106, 135, 150, 152, 190, 196, 248n28
• Institute of Manpower reports, 229–230, 292n21
• Intercode, 129, 271n73
• International Federation of Business and Professional Women, 83
• Inventory, by computer, 103–105
• Ireland, Eleanor, 28, 30, 33, 40–41, 218, 252n37

• Job advertisements, 132–135, 282n145

• Knockholt intercept station, 29

• Labor markets, 1, 5, 8–10, 12, 15, 45, 48–50, 57, 88, 132, 155, 165, 190, 210–212, 215, 223–224, 237
• Labor shortages, 14–15, 46, 51, 57, 75, 93, 97–99, 101–102, 131–132, 135, 138, 145, 147–149, 152–154, 192, 167, 170–172, 174–176, 179–180, 185–186, 188, 190, 207–208, 221, 223, 226–230, 278n79
• Labor statistics, 8, 22–23, 27–28, 69, 74, 77, 88, 106, 111–112, 164–166, 168–170, 173, 186, 206–207, 210–212, 215, 220, 230, 235, 269n42, 273n104, 277n53
• Labor unions, 7, 16, 45, 50, 53, 54, 73, 74, 79, 85, 90, 91, 98, 146, 150, 151, 167, 168, 181, 190, 199, 208, 212, 216, 219, 243. See also Civil Service Clerical Association; IBM, union busting; Labor unrest; National Association of Women Civil Servants; National Trades Union Congress for Women Workers; National Whitley Council; Trades Union Congress
• Labor unrest, 16, 22, 52, 64, 74, 94, 131, 146, 150, 196, 200–201, 203–206, 210, 212, 243, 247n24, 274nn3,5, 285n44, 286n67
• Lancaster, Doris, 209, 286n78
• Layoffs, 218, 227
• Leaky pipeline in STEM, 235, 238
• LEO Computers, 96, 103–205, 108–110, 114, 128–133, 135–136, 138, 161, 180, 182, 193, 242–243, 263n90, 266n135, 267nn11,12,13, 268n18, 271n76, 272n78
• LEO I, 96, 103–104, 128, 242
• LEO II, 109–110
• LEO III, 133, 135, 271n72
• Light, Jennifer, 6
• Line printers, 67, 164, 271n71
• Lloyds Bank, 108
• Logistics, 103
• London fog (smog of 1952), 63. See also Nutty slack
• London Science Museum, 43, 255n97
• Lorenz machine, 31–32, 35, 241, 253n43
• Lyons Teashops (J. Lyons & Co.), 96, 103–105, 128, 131, 266n134, 267n12, 272n78. See also Coombs, Mary; Gillespie, Cathy; Hobson, Colin; Sayce, Ann

• Machine assistant grade, 71–72, 81, 163, 168, 277n54, 277n55, 281n143
• Machine grades (machine operator class), 13, 55, 70–83, 85, 88, 93–96, 146, 150, 153–156, 159–165, 168, 172–175, 184, 187, 189, 206, 228, 232, 242, 260n43, 275n30, 281n142. See also Excluded grades; Machine operator class, salaries; Senior machine operator grade; Women’s grades
  • cost savings, 72–73
  • creation of, 70–72, 260n3
  • pay scales, 80–81, 93–95, 145, 206, 266n129
• Machine operator class, salaries, 82, 93–95, 145, 206
• Machine operators, lack of trust, influence on computer design, 180–181
• Machine rooms, 15, 35–37, 106–107, 116, 130, 139, 141, 163, 209, 254n64
  • substandard nature of, 35, 104–107
• Machine work versus clerical work, 70
• Macmillan, Harold, 120, 169
• Mainframes, 3, 5, 102, 104, 105, 107–108, 111, 122, 129, 164, 181–182, 188, 191–193, 216–219, 225, 227, 273n1. See also ATLAS; IBM; Colossus Computers; ENIAC; ICL; ICT; LEO Computers; LEO I; LEO II; LEO III; UNIVAC
• Male computer workers, lack of technical skills, 156, 158
• Male gaze, 113, 121, 125
• Management, 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 21, 37, 56, 67–68, 73–74, 77, 80, 84, 88–89, 106, 111, 127, 131, 140, 148, 150–152, 156–162, 164–167, 170, 173, 176–177, 186, 189, 197, 199–200, 202–203, 205, 207, 209–210, 215, 217, 220–221, 223, 226, 228, 233, 235, 238, 247n17, 274n9, 280n120
  • of men by women, 79–80, 83, 89, 158–159, 161–162, 166, 172 . See also Management
• Manchester Mark I (Baby), 60, 242, 271n73
• Manchester University, 60, 96, 180, 242, 271n73
• Marconi Ltd., 180, 193
• Mark sense technology, 105
• Marriage, 5, 10, 22, 26–28, 45, 49–55, 59, 62, 72, 78, 80, 87–88, 95, 134, 136–138, 142–143, 145, 156, 158, 166, 212, 214, 223, 230, 234, 242, 249n32, 256n109, 257n118, 264n104, 272n85, 290n154
• Marriage bar, 10, 45, 49–55, 59, 62, 78, 212, 242, 257n118. See also Heteronormativity
• Masculinity, construct of, 1–2, 8, 61, 130, 200, 208, 221, 230–231, 235–237, 246n8, 292n22. See also Ensmenger, Nathan; Heteronormativity
• Medina, Eden, 11, 234
• Merger, computer companies, 4, 15, 101, 114, 152, 180–182, 184–186, 188, 189–192, 194, 221, 243, 268n18, 279n108, 280nn112,114,123, 281n125, 283n14
• Meritocracy, 9, 15–16, 45–47, 49, 52, 53, 61, 63, 70–71, 89, 99–101, 130–131, 146–147, 156, 163, 235, 238
  • fiction of, 15–16, 48–49, 52, 70, 86, 89, 130, 146, 163 (see also Excluded grades; Marriage bar)
• Middle East, 117
• Minicomputer, 124, 192, 201, 225, 290n8
• Ministry of Defense, 183–184
• Ministry of Health, 193
• Ministry of Labour, 26–28, 51
• Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, 109–111, 176
• Ministry of Technology (MinTech), 100–101, 135, 152, 160, 170, 176–179, 181–182, 184–186, 194, 197, 279n108, 284n38
  • dissolution under Heath, 197
• Modernization, 4, 11–12, 15, 17, 43, 105–106, 117, 119–120, 146, 149–150, 157, 172–173, 190, 216, 222–223, 234, 236, 267n5
• Morse code, 28–29, 40–41

• Nakamura, Lisa, 292n25
• National Association of Women Civil Servants (NAWCS), 73–74, 79, 81–83, 90
• Nationality, 6, 16, 238. See also Imperialism
• Nationalized industries, 4, 13, 16, 45, 53, 54, 56–57, 59, 63, 86, 91, 101, 104, 107, 149, 153, 177, 187, 191, 200, 221, 225, 235
• National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), 177, 189, 279n108, 282n3
• National security, 28, 178–179. See also Cold War; Colossus computers; Official Secrets Act; Windscale
• National Trades Union Congress for Women Workers, 42, 45, 85, 98, 212, 256n104, 257n129, 260n39, 261n50
• National Union of Women Teachers (NUWT), 90
• National Whitley Council, 53, 61–62, 64, 74, 92
• Networked computing, 122–123, 201, 219, 227
• Newman, Max, 30–31, 34–35, 37, 40
• Newmanry, women working in, 30, 37, 39–41
• Nicholls, Joan, 29
• NICOL (Nineteen Hundred Commercial Language), 154, 164
• Nuclear family, 5, 10, 22, 88, 131, 210, 214, 248n30
• Nuclear reactors, 168–169
• Nuclear weapons, 169, 179
• Nutty slack (low-quality coal), 63, 258n9

• Office automation, 2, 5, 8–10, 21–25, 56, 60–61, 70–74, 79, 82–84, 86, 94–98, 100–102, 112, 146, 186, 207, 247n17
• Official Secrets Act, 13, 19, 28, 37–38, 40–42, 46–47, 56, 103, 179, 243
• Operators. See Machine grades
• Ordnance Survey, 76–79, 83
• Organized labor work slowdowns, work to rule, 204. See also Labor unrest; Trades Union Congress; National Trades Union Congress for Women Workers
• Outsourcing of government computing, 150, 203, 209, 221

• Pakistan, 118–119
• Part time work, 27, 134, 137, 153, 215–216, 229, 273n104, 287n96
• Passing, 37, 51, 208, 236
• Paternalism, 60, 130–131, 202
• Patriarchy, 10, 26, 45, 60, 210
• Pay, Civil Service internal relativities, 87, 94, 167
• Pay, increases for women, 72–74, 80, 82, 92, 165, 206. See also Equal pay; Excluded grades
• Pay, senior machine operators, 80, 154, 161, 165–166, 168, 212, 220
• PAYE system, 109, 176, 201, 209
• Pay freezes, 60, 64, 149, 171, 200
• Payroll, 43, 66–67, 71, 103–105, 108, 110, 120, 123, 128, 136, 157, 201
  • computer processing of, 104, 221
• Pedersen, Susan, 248n30, 258n1, 264n103
• Pensions, 43–44, 52, 55, 69, 73, 79, 89, 109–111, 133–134, 138, 166, 176, 201, 272n85
• Performativity, 234. See also Butler, Judith
• Peripherals, importance of, 102, 107, 164, 271n71. See also Line printers
• Pilot ACE project, 55, 96, 185, 242
• Pink collar, 7, 9, 23, 201
• PL/1, 164
• Playfair, Sir Edward, 183
• Plugboard programming, 32, 35, 46, 66–67, 259n23
• Postcolonial era, 4, 121, 147, 270n53. See also Empire, contraction of; Imperial decline
• Postindustrial, 4, 7, 12, 17, 44, 46, 55, 98, 106, 122, 234, 236
• Post office (General Post Office, London [GPO]), 8, 9, 25, 28, 34, 69–70, 73, 86, 88, 104, 129–130, 132–136, 138–139, 170–171, 183, 200, 209, 218, 241, 253n53, 263n90, 268n18, 285nn44,61. See also Dollis Hill Post Office Research Station
• Postwar job opportunities for women, 41–42, 45
• Postwar job opportunities for women in computing, 46–48
• Powers girl, 23–24, 66, 84, 112–114. See also Advertising
• Powers-Samas, 22–24, 63, 66, 84, 112–113, 116–117, 180, 242, 268n18
  • Electronic Multiplying Punch (EMP), 84
• Prestige, jobs and gender, 77, 98, 159, 163
• Price protections for British Computers, 183, 189–190, 192, 197, 243. See also Protectionism
• Privatization of government computing, 201–203, 222, 225
• Productivity, 60, 64, 74, 76, 96, 97, 104, 106, 199, 216, 228, 247n17, 258n2
• Professionalization, 16–17, 99, 128, 131–134, 144–146, 151–152, 175, 200, 220, 232, 235–237
• Programmers, 6, 17, 21, 87, 104, 109, 120, 125, 131, 145, 147, 152, 156, 159–164, 169–175, 186–187, 189, 199–200, 207, 208, 220–221, 228–229, 232–233
  • aptitude tests, 68, 154, 156–157, 163, 173
• Programming
  • at Bletchley Park by WRNS service members, 33, 35, 41
  • languages, 129, 135, 154, 164, 168, 196, 220, 271n73, 272n82 (see also ALGOL; Assembly; COBOL; FORTRAN; Intercode; NICOL; PL/1)
• Progress narratives, 4–5, 12, 14, 43, 57, 97, 99–100, 116–122, 146, 180, 223–224, 233–234, 246n10
• Promotion, 1, 22, 26, 38, 52–53, 55, 62, 65, 68, 70–72, 76, 78, 80, 89, 98, 116, 131, 139, 145, 150, 153, 158, 160–163, 165–168, 170–172, 174, 189, 200, 206–207, 210, 228, 230, 261nn46,47, 272n78
• Protectionism, 12, 153, 164, 183, 189–193, 197, 225
• Punched card systems, 9, 21–22, 25, 43, 65–67, 69, 83, 100, 105, 110, 11, 154, 156. See also Electromechanical systems
• Punchers, 21, 65, 67–69, 110, 120, 135, 137, 142, 146, 160, 163–164, 203–205, 209–210, 212, 216, 219, 273n104
  • prevention of their promotion, 68, 159–160, 209
  • working conditions for, 209–210

• Queen Elizabeth II, 122
• Queer theory, 5, 234, 253n45. See also Butler, Judith; Heteronormativity; Performativity

• Race, 6, 16, 117–119, 121, 146, 234, 237–238, 292n25, 293nn30,33
• Rationing, 59, 63, 65, 242, 258n9
• Registrars, key role at Bletchley Park, 37
• Representation of the People Act, 1918, 50
• Reskilling, 155, 157, 162, 174, 205, 211. See also Training
• Respectability, 8, 95, 136–137. See also Divorce
• Retention, 45–46, 145, 149, 162, 167, 174, 176, 229, 234–235. See also Turnover
• Risley, 168
• Rowbotham, Sheila, 190
• Rube Goldberg, 31. See also Heath Robinson machines

• Sainsbury’s, 104
• Salaries, 60–62, 80–82, 87–88, 91, 94, 104–105, 112, 133–134, 137, 145, 154, 165–168, 171, 206, 211–212, 220, 228, 287n96. See also Machine grades; Pay scales; Pay, senior machine operators
• Sayce, Ann, 130, 132–139, 171, 208
• Scott, Joan Wallach, 251n8, 265n116
• Seear, Beatrice Nancy, 49–50
• Select Committee on Science and Technology, 167, 174, 178, 183, 225–226
• Semiconductor, 217, 219
• Senior machine operator grade, 72, 78–81, 83, 139, 153–154, 156, 158–162, 165–168, 170, 172, 277n53. See also Machine grades; Pay, senior machine operators
• Sex appeal, 125–127
• Sex Discrimination Act (1975)
• Sex Disqualification Removal Act of 1919, 49, 265n119
• Sexual harassment, 36, 130, 134, 137, 236
• Sexuality, 5, 6, 10, 16, 17, 60, 125, 131, 137, 234–235. See also Heteronormativity; Queer theory
• Shift work, 25–27, 37, 130–131, 135–136, 138, 165, 170, 204–205, 261n56
• Shirley, Stephanie “Steve,” 89, 207–208, 229, 232, 236
• Silicon Valley, 238
• Skill shortages, 2, 15, 132, 147, 149, 153, 170, 173–174, 181, 186, 204–205, 207–209, 211, 216, 218, 220, 223–224, 236–237, 229, 231, 235, 237, 292n22
• Slater, Lucy, 104
• Smog. See London fog; Nutty slack
• Society of Civil Servants, 204, 208–209, 221
• South Africa, 53
• Spheroidal trigonometry, 76–78
• Spinsters, 87
• Staff, increases and reductions. See Layoffs; Turnover; Women, rising labor force participation
• Staffing problems. See Deskilling; Labor unrest; Skill shortages
• Statistics on computer use, 86, 96, 102, 111, 153, 178, 189–190, 193, 195, 199, 207. See also Computer installations, growth of
• STEM, 237–238
• STEM jobs, 235
• Strikes, Ford UK, 212, 214, 274n5.
• Strikes, labor, 16, 64, 146, 150, 196, 198–201, 203–205, 210, 212. See also Labor unrest
• Structural discrimination, 3, 56, 73, 208, 233, 235–236. See also Excluded grades; Machine grades; Management; Marriage bar
• Subclericals, 13, 23–24, 48, 70–71, 81, 98, 151
  • men, 89
• Suffrage, 50
• Sweden, 53
• “Swinging sixties,” 127, 137, 150
• System analysis, 72, 105, 109, 148, 164, 172, 174, 175, 183, 185, 186, 207, 209, 220

• Tanganyika groundnut scheme
• Tata Co., 120
• Taylorization, 8, 43, 76, 78, 84, 90, 97–98, 219. See also Deskilling
• Technical Support Unit (Civil Service), 170, 177, 197
• Technocracy,5, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20, 47, 61, 146–148, 149–152, 157, 159, 160, 172–173, 178, 184, 189–190, 196, 198, 199, 200, 203, 205, 219, 221–223, 236–238, 246n12
• Technocratic feminism, 290n153
• Technocratic heteronormativity, 10, 239
• Technocrats, 14–15, 116, 146–149, 155, 172, 178, 200, 203, 205–206, 216, 220, 236
• Technological determinism, drawbacks of, 17, 202, 224, 236, 239
• Technological fix, 201, 224, 239. See also Technological determinism
• Technological imperialism, 116–122, 226–227, 249n34. See also Imperialism, cultural
• Technological revolution, 12, 14, 34, 98–101, 116, 146–147, 149, 180, 190, 221, 242. See also White Heat
• Technological transfer, 116, 120, 231
• Telecommunications, 41, 70, 135–136, 198, 290n8
• Telephone, 32, 70, 98, 203, 136, 218, 290n8
• Teleprinters, 29, 37, 39, 75. See also Typists
• Temporary work, 19, 22, 24, 27, 45, 51–52, 54, 61, 69, 71, 81, 88–89, 116, 158, 227–228
• Terminals, 3, 122, 201, 219
• Testing, machines, 1, 28, 38, 44, 57, 70, 85, 102, 130, 158, 217, 242, 248n27, 253n50
• Thatcher, Margaret, 221, 225, 290n1
• Three-day week, 196
• Timesharing, 122, 129
• Trades Union Congress (TUC), 42, 45, 74, 79, 85–86, 261n50. See also National Trades Union Congress for Women Workers
• Training, 47, 61, 76, 89, 96, 110, 116, 129, 131–132, 134, 145, 164, 173–174, 214, 220, 228
  • of male replacements by women, 1, 158–159
• Treasury, 22, 55, 61–62, 64, 68, 70–72, 77–82, 87, 89, 92–98, 108, 151–152, 154–157, 160–164, 167, 170–174, 176–179, 181, 183–186, 189, 193–194, 196–200, 203, 205–206, 211, 222, 228–230
  • Organization and Methods division, 154–155, 162, 177
• Treaty of Rome, 215
• Tunny, 30–32, 35–39, 253n43
• Turing, Alan, 19, 25, 29–31, 37, 55–56, 60, 96, 242
• Turnover, 22, 52, 55, 61–62, 69, 116, 150, 151, 155, 160, 169, 173–174, 206–207, 209–210, 220, 227
• Tutte, William, 31
• Typewriters, 9, 22, 54, 65, 72, 75, 98. See also Typists; Typing; Teleprinters
• Typing, 2, 21, 61, 65, 73–75, 82, 140–141, 210. See also Teleprinters
• Typing grades, 61, 73–74, 82, 261n47
• Typists, 22, 40, 61, 73–75, 82–83, 93, 124, 125, 173, 210, 261n47
  • male, 75
  • pay, 74, 82–83, 93, 173

• U.S.-centric computing history, 19, 41. See also Historiography
• Unequal opportunity, 42, 49, 74. See also Excluded grades; Machine grades; Meritocracy, fiction of; Structural discrimination; Women’s grades
• Unequal pay, 42, 44–45, 64, 80, 161
  • justifications for, 10, 44–45, 50, 55, 60, 64, 74, 88, 91, 146, 248n30, 261n47, 264n104
• Unions, 73, 79, 202. See also Civil and Public Services Association; Civil Service Clerical Association; IBM, union busting; National Association of Women Civil Servants; National Trades Union Congress for Women Workers; National Union of Women Teachers; National Whitley Council; Trades Union Congress
  • growth in women’s participation in, 79, 81, 91, 212 (see also Civil Service Clerical Association; National Trades Union Congress for Women Workers; Trades Union Congress)
• United Nations (UN), 90, 265n117
• UNIVAC, 164
• Unreliability of early computers, 31–36, 38, 85, 101–108, 136, 139, 253n50
• USA, 3–4, 6, 12, 17, 19–20, 41, 53, 103, 125, 136, 178–179, 181, 194, 226, 235, 238
• USSR, 53, 59, 181, 194

• Vacuum tubes, 34–36, 85, 105, 128
• VAT, 201, 205
• Vickers Ltd., 23, 66

• Wages. See Salaries
• male breadwinner, 5, 10, 22, 45, 88, 214, 248n30
• Wass, Douglas, 161
• Welchman, Gordan, 30
• Welfare state, 10, 43, 59, 60, 65, 87, 109, 176, 201, 225
• Whelan, Ronald, 25, 46–47
• White collar, 9, 14, 20, 48–49, 84, 90, 95, 106, 131, 138, 151, 154, 159, 166, 175, 209–211, 230. See also Pink collar; Professionalization; Subclericals
• White Heat, 14, 99, 101, 132, 145–147, 149, 154, 156, 189, 216, 225
• Whiteness. See Imperialism; Race; Nationality
• Wilson, Harold, 12, 14, 99–100, 132, 146, 150, 154, 180, 191, 194, 197–198, 214, 216
• Windscale, 169
• Winfrith, 168
• Winner, Langdon, 234
• Womanpower Committee, 44
• Women, rising labor force participation, 8–10, 27, 45, 49–50, 69, 77–78, 91, 98, 187, 202, 210–212, 215, 230
• Women in STEM initiatives, 235, 237–238
• Women’s Auxiliary Services, 28, 41. See also Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS); Women’s Royal Naval Service
• Women’s grades, 73–74, 89, 93–95. See also Excluded grades; Machine grades; Subclericals; Typists
• Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), 25, 28–41, 44, 46, 67, 241, 242, 252nn35,39, 254nn64,66, 255n83
• Women’s suffrage. See Suffrage
• Wood, Andrina, 231–233
• Working class, 11, 48, 69, 84, 100, 137, 170, 203, 235. See also Pink collar; Subclericals
• Wrens, disrespectful implications of nickname, 29, 252n35

• Zimmeck, Meta, 8