At age 16, Raphael began attending Bedford College, University of London, initially studying social work.
The first of her diplomas from Bedford enabled her to become a qualified Sanitary Inspector in the London County Council.
When the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (NIIP) was formed, Burt was promoted to Head of the Vocational Section.
Her work at the NIIP was mainly aimed at industrial settings, examining such issues as management practices and what was needed for good staff morale.
This work was conducted between the Industrial Fatigue Research Board and the NIIP, which was reported on by Frances Gaw (1925, 1926).
It was this interest in vocational psychology that enabled her to get involved in a project examining why 28% of the girls who left elementary schools in the London area became dressmakers’ apprentices.
[1] Her first task was to devise and implement tests for the dressmakers’ apprentices to complete, which were carried out at the Debenhams department store in London.
During this time, Winifred started to introduce rest pauses and other improvements for staff including enhanced lighting for tapestry tracers and better methods of crewel-work stitching and needle threading.
Having studied physiology, she became very sensitive to the standards of lighting, heating, humidity and air movement within workplaces and advocated the importance of reduction of glare, the spacing and posture of operators, and the layout of equipment for better working conditions.
[2] She was involved in the installation of the NIIP engineering apprentice selection battery; again, the emphasis was placed on developing standardised tests within the industrial setting, including a paper-folding test which proved useful for the selection of sewing machinists in a corset-making factory.
During this time she wrote a series of surveys on how patients view life in hospital and it was this work that brought her to the attention of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Research Discussion Group in 1963.
Her contribution to nursing research was described in the first Winifred Raphael Memorial Lecture by Hilda Marjorie Simpson (1981), “a lifetime of non-judgemental exploration of people’s hopes and interests, seen always within a social framework and closely related to practical outcomes.” [4] In 1981, the Royal College of Nursing began an annual research lecture in her name supported by a memorial fund set up by her family.
The event takes place each year in October and brings together an audience made up of nurses, healthcare workers and since 2010, the general public.
Human Factor, 11, 91-96 Raphael, W., Heamshaw, L.S., Mead, R.T. & Fraser, J.H.M (1938) Labour turnover in the London district.