Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This project conducted interviews with 45 women about their experiences as workers in the shipbuilding and ship-repair yards of the North-East of England during the Second World War. The project explored the women’s experience of work within a very traditional male dominated occupational world. The primary aim was to secure an oral history record and to establish a resource for future researchers. In addition, the interviews contributed to contemporary historical reassessments, which aimed to accord a proper place to women’s work and roles. The data from the interviews illuminated aspects of the changing division of labour and organisation of work in shipbuilding, contributing to debates about the nature of skill and patterns of autonomy of industrial work. Although 45 interviews were conducted only 41 of these were transcribed.

Main Topics:

Employment; gender; industrial workers; labour (work); labour supply; manual workers; shipbuilding; shipbuilding industry; women's employment; working conditions; world war.

Quota sample

Face-to-face interview

Audio recording