Women were not entirely excluded from the podium in earlier times, although the way forward was not easy. A google search suggests that the BPO was conducted by Mary Wurm in 1887, by Ethel Smyth in 1928 (when she shared the podium with Bruno Walter) and by Antonia Brico who, in 1930, was the first woman to conduct a full-length programme with the orchestra.

Conductors who were persons of colour had no easy ride in days gone by. While Dean Dixon, an African American conductor, first conducted the NYPSO in 1941, he was told that if he wanted a permanent appointment he should form an orchestra of African American musicians. He was better treated elsewhere in the world, where he served as chief conductor for several orchestras including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (1964-67) after the country's leading music critic had described him as one of the greatest conductors active at the time.