Cultural Research Project
Erna Hoover was a woman who helped pave the way for other women in S.T.E.M. Her greatest accomplishment was her invention of the telephone switchboard system it helped make incredible strides for businesses and telephone users. She made a great impact in technology becoming one of the first people to ever receive a software patent for their work. “Erna Hoover is recognized for being one of the first women pioneers in computer technology (Notable Women Scientists, 2009).” Despite the odds especially being a woman in her time period, Erna never gave up on her vision and her love for science. She made a difference in more people’s life than she could ever imagine and thanks to her invention still today we experience less dropped calls than we would if she had never made her discovery. Reading her story inspired me to write about her because she was a strong and intelligent woman who never let anyone tell her she ‘can’t’ even when at a time they didn’t believe in her. She showed young women of her era that you can do anything you put your mind to as long as you have the heart and dedication anything is possible.
Culture:
Erna Hoover lived in a time period where women were still not equal to men. Even though during the 1950’s women were becoming more independent in their careers they were still not looked at as equal. Women like Hoover didn’t let this defeat them they continued to progress and make break through discoveries in technology. In the 1950’s technology was advancing, but most women’s only interaction with it was utilizing the appliances for household chores. “During the 1950’s the role of women was generally considered to be that of a housemaker (Taylor,2014).” Women were encouraged from the magazines and commercials to stay at home and create a domestic environment for their family using the appliances. Women were not given a fair chance to utilize their skills in their profession a lot of time especially when it came to technical jobs. The norm was for women to be maintaining a household or if they did occupy a job being involved in secretarial work. If they were in contact with technology it was mainly for advertising the new advancements in technology. Unfortunately, women faced many obstacles in the 1950’s when it came to their relations in technology, it was not equal for women. They were forced to mold into the stereotype of a stay at home mom or wife, and were not given the fair opportunity to utilize their skills in the technology profession.
One appliance a lot of women used in that time and is still predominately used by women today is the washing machine, over the years it has become more advanced, but yet women tend to still use it more often than men. A keypunch was a popular device women used especially if they possessed a job in business data processing and it is a device still used today in the business profession, known now as a three-hole punch. The first commercial modem was introduced in the 1950’s and was used by women as a mode of communication, it was the phone of that era. At least sixty years later and technology has become so advanced that we refer to the modem as a cell phone and it is used more today as a mode of communication than ever before. With women staying at home majority of the time they usually purchased the appliances as well as utilized them in the home. Along with purchasing the appliances a lot of time women were the handy man around the house making sure everything was working and in tip top shape, because most of the time their husbands were always away at work. Although these appliances were readily available women were always limited to what they could do with the technology outside of the home.
Trends:
In the 1950’s men returned from war reclaiming their jobs back forcing women back into the households without a job. The trend that was created in the 1950’s after World War II was that women were domesticated and stayed at home and if they did go to work it wasn’t for very long before they discontinued and returned home to the family(Eisenhower). While men were seen as the bread winners their responsibility was to hold a job or career and provide for their family. Women had the disadvantage in this era a lot of times not being able to really do what they wanted in life, instead being stuck at home to do household chores, cook, and take care of their children and husband. Statistics show that in 1957 70% of working women held clerical positions, assembly lines, or service jobs, while 12% held a profession and 6% held management positions (Stoneham,2008). The little percent of women that held a profession worked as a nurse or teacher. Society believed that women’s purpose was to be housewives and their only goal in life was to please both their husband and children. This is how it was portrayed in advertisements, women doing household chores and cooking, and they were perceived as happy and content with that being their lifestyle. The number of women who entered college dropped in the 1950’s, many women dropped out of college to get married and start a family, or start in the work force. “Many women applied for jobs regardless of what society thought of them (Stoneham, 2008).” Women obtaining a job meant less time at home and this worried society. They felt like women spending less time at home they were depriving their children and neglecting their husbands. Even with the social norms of the 1950’s women still chose to go into the workforce and find their calling. “Women really progressed in the fifties with finding new job opportunities and finding their place in society(Stoneham,2005).” In the fifties women had a lot of responsibility taking care of the household, their children and their husband, with some still maintaining a job on top of that. As time progressed the women did as well, venturing out of the norms and creating new ones.
Biography:
Erna Schneider Hoover was born on June 19, 1926 to her parents in Irvington, New Jersey. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a dentist. She had a sister and a younger brother who died from Polio at the young age of five. She enjoyed swimming, canoeing, and sailing, and loved science at a young age. Erna’s love for science led her to read the biography on Marie Currie where she learned that women could succeed in a scientific field despite the gender roles at the time. Hoover went on to attend Wellesley College where she studied philosophy and history. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree and honors from Wellesley College in 1948. While in college she became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and was a Durant Scholar. Hoover went on to earn her Ph.D in philosophy and mathematics from Yale University in 1951. Hoover was a professor from 1951 to 1954 at Swarthmore College where she taught philosophy and logic. Due to her gender and Hoover was unable to obtain a permanent position at the university. In 1953 she married Charles Wilson Hoover Jr. a man who was very supportive of his wife’s career and goals. In 1954 Hoover went on to work for Bell Labs where she was a senior technical associate and was later promoted in 1956. “Hoover worked on various high-level applications such as research radar control programs of the Safeguard Anti Ballistics Missile System, which were systems to intercept incoming intercontinental ballistic warheads (Pollock, 2012).” In addition to her career at Bells Labs Hoover served on the board of higher education organizations in New Jersey. Being a member on the board of Trustees for The College of New Jersey she helped increase women faculty as well as helped to enroll the best prepared high school students graduates in the state. She also helped build the college into a respected institution of higher education she did this by working hard to produce state funding. Hoover worked at Bell labs laboratory for 32 years before she retired in 1987. Hoover not only made a difference in technology but she also made a difference in her community with helping to better young adolescent future. She was a good role model to young women who may be doubting themselves especially those that wanted to pursue a career in S.T.E.M. she proved that no matter what society thought of women in the field she didn’t let that stop her from pursing her passion for science.
Technology:
“Problems happened when a call center would be inundated with thousands of calls in a short amount of time, overwhelming the unreliable electronic relays, and causing the entire system to “freeze up(Pollock, 2012).” The existing switching systems were electronic; Hoover was assigned to the switchboard advancement after the completion of her training at Bells Lab. Hoover used her knowledge to program the control mechanisms of a call center to use data about incoming calls to impose order on the whole system. Hoovers theory used computer electronic methods to measure the frequency of incoming calls at different times. “Hoover’s switching system was the first reliable device to use computer techniques, including transistor circuits and memory-stored control programs (Notable Women Scientist, 2009).” Her system became known as telephony computer switching program it functioned to keep phones functioning under stressful workloads. The switching system used a computer to monitor incoming calls and then automatically adjusted the call’s acceptance rate. Before her invention in the fifties each time someone picked up the phone to make a personal call they would hear on the line “number please” this was asked in case the call was dropped at any time. Hoovers invention was not only a breakthrough for companies, all phone users, and technology, but she also paved the way for women in the profession of technology. She became a leading woman in the technology industry despite the gender roles at the time she exceeded the expectations for being a woman in the technology field. As a result of her invention she became the first woman supervisor of a technical department at the Bells Labs. Hoovers idea for this invention happened while she was recovering from giving birth to her second daughter. Hoovers invention was patented in 1971 and was one of the first software patents ever issued.
Electronic switchboard: Computerized switchboard:
Thanks to Hoovers discoveries in technology we have less dropped calls and busy signals today through communication this is very beneficial in the business profession. A prime example of where this can be utilized is at a call center where they receive a high volume of calls on any given day at any given time. Thanks to Hoover the call centers don’t have angry guest whose calls are lost due to the high volume of calls. Her invention worked great in the business industry when a business is receiving too many calls, to keep it operating efficiently without losing any of the calls. In 2008 Erna was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio for her work on telephony. Today Erna is 89 years old, retired, and resides in New Jersey. I loved researching on Erna Hoover because she made it clear women are just as equal to men even when she was not always recognized for her hard work based on her gender. She really made a difference not only in women’s life that wanted to pursue a profession but also women who feared the gender roles, or upcoming high school graduates providing them with the proper resources to help succeed in their next venture in life. Technology is not the field I want to study in my future, but just by reading Hoover’s story it motivates me to never give up no matter what obstacles life may throw my way. If Erna gave up at the first obstacle that was thrown her way she would have never invented switch board technology to help balance a high frequency of calls at one given time.
Bibliography:
“Erna Hoover.” Notable Women Scientists. Gales, 2009. Science in Context. Web. 12 June 2009
“Women in STEM: Erna Schneider Hoover.” Megan, Pollock. Web. 3 September 2012. http://meaganpollock.com/women-in-stem-erna-schneider-hoover/
“Women and Tech Project.” Taylor, M. Web.14 October 2014. http://womenandtechnologyproject.com
“Women’s Roles in the 1950’s.” Nina Stoneham. Web.16 July 2008. http://1950s.weebly.com/womens-roles.html
“Women in the 1950’s.” Eisenhower archieves. Web. Abilene, Kansas. https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/women_in_the_1950s.html
“Erna Schneider Hoover” Lemelson-MIT Program. Web. http://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/erna-schneider-hoover
“Mothers of Technology: 10 Women who invented and innovated in Tech.” Riberio, R. Web. 11 May 2012. http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2012/05/mothers-technology-10-women-who-invented-and-innovated-tech
