Monica Sims OBE is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Radio producer

Radio producer

A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...

 who became Head of Children's Programmes, BBC Television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 then Controller of BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

. She has also been a Vice President of the British Board of Film Classification

British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...

, and Director of the Children's Film Foundation

Children's Film Foundation

The Children's Film Foundation was a non-profit-making organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom, typically running for about 55 minutes. It was founded in 1951. For 30 years it was subsidised by the Eady Levy - a tax on box office receipts, but this was abolished in 1985...

.

BBC career

She spent three seasons working in theatres in Windsor and Bristol before joining BBC Radio as a Talks Producer, where he rose to become Editor of Woman's Hour

Woman's Hour

Woman's Hour is a radio magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.-History:Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by Alan Ivimey the programme was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme . It was transferred to its current home in 1973...

, a position she held until 1967. She then moved to BBC Television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 as Head of Children’s Programmes from 1967 to 1978 where she "believed passionately that the child audience deserved the best possible service and she, like her predecessors fought hard to increase the range of programming and the BBC’s investment in it".

She moved back to BBC Radio to become Controller of BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 from 1978 to 1983, replacing Ian McIntyre

Ian McIntyre

Ian McIntyre is the head men's soccer coach at Syracuse University. On January 6, 2010, he was named as the 15th soccer coach in school history. He previously coached at Hartwick College from 2003 to 2009, posting four 10 win seasons. He compiled a 71-36-25 record as the head coach of the Hawks...

. Piers Plowright described her as "tactful but firm ... never a hair out of place, always elegant but with steel running through her". She described Radio 4 as providing "Surprise, through different perspectives on life through satire, poetry, storytelling, songs, argument, defining ideas, contact with opinion formers, writers, scientists, historians, philosophers and imaginative stimulus through works of art, music, drama, literature."

Later career

In 1985 Monica Sims produced a report Women in BBC Management. It revealed that the number of women in top jobs was virtually the same as it had been a decade before - 6 women compared with 159 men. The report concluded with nineteen recommendations, including the appointment of a women's employment officer; more career guidance for both women and men; an examination of the policy on Appointments Boards for senior posts; an increase in the number of women attending Management Training Courses and the introduction of women-only courses as an experiment. Part-time work, job sharing and further options for flexible working should also be encouraged.

Since leaving the BBC she has also been a Vice President of the British Board of Film Classification

British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...

 and Director of the Children's Film Foundation

Children's Film Foundation

The Children's Film Foundation was a non-profit-making organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom, typically running for about 55 minutes. It was founded in 1951. For 30 years it was subsidised by the Eady Levy - a tax on box office receipts, but this was abolished in 1985...

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