Dame Stephanie Shirley (en)
This is a blog post by Mark Lee, for International Women’s Day 2022. You can find the Welsh version here.
Dyma blog gan Mark Lee, ar gyfer Diwrnod Rhyngwladol Y Menywod 2022. Cewch ffindio’r fersiwn Cymraeg yma.
Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley CH, DBE, FREng, FBCS,
Stephanie Shirley is well known for establishing the first all-female software house in 1962. For the following thirty years she pioneered several software and business ideas that became important influences in the emerging software engineering industry.
Stephanie’s independent, innovative, and strong character was apparent from the start. She found a love for mathematics when she attended Oswestry Girls’ High School. Unfortunately, mathematics was not taught at the school, but she was allowed to take lessons at the local boys’ school. As a teenager she did not apply for university but worked at the all-male Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill, where she discovered a greater love – computers and programming. While working she took evening classes for six years and completed a London University honours degree in mathematics. These were all unusual and exceptional achievements at the time.
Stephanie met her husband at the Post Office Research Station, who continued to work there as a physicist. She moved to Computer Developments Limited in 1959, and in 1962 she founded her company, Freelance Programmers, which became F International in 1974. The aim of the company was to provide home-based employment for young mothers with software skills, or “jobs for women with children”. In 1996 there were 75 women, and this soon grew to 300 employees of which only 3 were men. Ironically, in 1975 the Sex Discrimination Act forced a change of mission statement to “people with dependents unable to work in a conventional environment”.
The company developed project management processes with remote staff at a time when there were no electronic communications. Several other software engineering methods were pioneered including agile ideas similar to those used today. This ability and professionalism no doubt built the company’s reputation of delivering on time and within budget.
Other innovative and pioneering work includes, Continuing Professional Development (still not used in some organisations), flexible working hours (which produced higher productivity), and co-ownership of the company (which eventually made millionaires of over 70 of the staff).
In 1987 ‘Steve’ Shirley, as she signed herself in order to counter misogyny, stepped down from CEO. The company’s name was changed to Xansa in 2001 and it was purchased in 2007 by the French IT services company, Groupe Steria SCA.
Even in retirement Dame Shirley was exceptional and inspirational. She decided to give away her fortune of almost £70 million to good causes, as described in her book “Let IT Go”.
There were two main beneficiaries: autism research charities, and the Oxford Internet Institute which investigates the social, economic, and ethical aspects of the Internet.
She was President of the British Computer Society from 1989 to 1990 and received many honours and awards including Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
I have not met her but I was so impressed with her talks that I was inspired to follow her career – often through frequent reports in the pages of the IT magazine Computer Weekly.
