Coal Board Women: early experiences of women in OR

Date: 26th June, 3.00-6pm,

Venue: IET, 2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL

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Were there any women working in OR in its early days?

Considering the documentary evidence you’d be forgiven for thinking that there were not! Join us in London for our first physical WORAN get-together since 2019, for a cross-generational discussion with some of the women who haven’t made it to the history books.

Much has been written about the early days of OR including a book documenting the lives and achievements of a group of 51 individuals identified as the ‘Founders of OR’ with each being aligned to the development of a particular technique. One noticeable feature of this group is that the vast majority had spent part, if not all, of their working lives as practitioners. Thus through the book, the reader glimpses historical snippets of the field’s origins as a practice-led and subsequent academic development. What is particularly noticeable about this group is that they are all men – not one female was identified as a founder of OR who contributed to its development.

Over the years we have been able to read about the working lives of practitioners either through surveys or personal histories documenting experiences. All of the personal histories are written by men and in surveys the focus has been on ‘the practitioner’ as some sort of generic being and on their professional engagement with the discipline.

So where is all this building to, you might ask? A few years back, someone aware of Frances O’Brien’s interest in the Founders of OR mentioned that there had indeed been women working as practitioners in OR in many places including one of the UK’s renowned OR groups: British Coal. Frances contacted the leads they provided, and was so fascinated by the stories of this earlier generation of OR women that we have invited them to share and reflect on their experiences of working in OR through a WORAN event.

As you may be aware, since the start of the nation’s lockdown, WORAN has been running a monthly programme of events almost exclusively online. With this event, the committee felt that it was of particular significance to warrant a face to face meeting both to mark the occasion and also to facilitate networking both of an inter-gender and inter-generational nature. The event begins with refreshments prior to a panel session chaired by Frances. Our guests (expected to include Liz Anderson, Rachel Bodle, Jenny Clarke and Jo Mann) will share and reflect on their experiences of working in OR within British Coal, and invite audience discussion. After the panel session, there will be time for networking.

Please note that spaces are limited and we will need to close booking earlier than usual to meet the venue’s requirements. So please book early, and let us know if you need to cancel so that others can take your place. 

Agenda

3.00       Refreshments

3.45       Welcome 

3.55       Frances introduce the event and the panellists

4.00:     Q1 What got you into OR in the Coal Board - your background, how you found out about it, why you wanted to join.

4.10:     Q2: Early experiences

4.20:     Q3: How did your career develop; was it a good place to develop a career; were there any parenthood or other carer issues? 

4.30:     Open to audience Q&A 

4.45:     Final thoughts from panel  

4.55:     Two or three minutes from CapGemini

5.00:     Round-up from you, round-up from Katherine

5.10:     Networking, more refreshments 

5.55:     End

WORAN events are open to the whole community, regardless of gender, and all are welcome.