Let's fix Ringing's 'leaky pipeline'

This month, show host, Cathy Booth meets with three frank and formidable female ringers to understand the reasons why, although women make up about half of all ringers, they are greatly underrepresented in positions of responsibility and peal ringing, and conducting.

Elva Ainsworth, Julia Cater and Tessa Simpson - who have all participated in ‘groundbreaking, record breaking and point breaking’ ringing - talk freely about their own experiences and the self-fulfilling prophecy where lack of opportunity leads to a lack of confidence.

Yes, women can ring heavier bells. Yes, women can conduct (and may choose to do this from either the back or the front). And yes, some small girls are just itching to have a go on the tenor, but the boys always seem to get first dibs.

Rather than focusing on the negatives, though, this inspiring podcast offers some thoughtful suggestions about how to encourage greater equality of opportunity and how all bands can flourish with the greater participation of their women ringers.


Top 5 takeaways

• Find out more about the working group for gender balance in ringing at https://www.womeninringing.info
• If you’re a tower captain, don’t assume what the women in your tower want to do – be proactive, ask for feedback, and set-reflect. Could you do things differently to bring on your female talent?
• Watch Julia Cater’s master class on ringing big bells https://stmartinsguild.org/teaching/training-and-resources/how-to-ring-big-bells/
• If you are a woman ringer, ask yourself what skills you have that you could bring to your tower, or to your district association
• Catch up the Ringing World’s special issue on women in ringing from November 2020 –  you can buy and download a PDF copy https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/issues/5716

Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART).  To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org

Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth

Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).

For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org