Because she was a girl, Thompson was prevented from taking any mathematical subjects in high school until the sixth form, when she was the top of her school's physics class. At university, she wanted to study statistics, but there was no program in that subject, so she enrolled into a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics. She worked in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in its Applied Mathematics Division. She learned statistics on the job, and used an Elliott 503, the first scientific computer in New Zealand, to perform her analyses.[2]
As president of the NZSA, she took the opportunity of the 1993 Women's Suffrage Centenary Celebration to collect and display material about women in statistics in New Zealand that was later collected into a book, Women with Maths — Making a difference.[1][2] The book tells the stories of 40 New Zealand women for whom a knowledge of statistics or mathematics had enabled a career or lifestyle.[1]
Thompson's publications with the Applied Mathematics Division concerned topics ranging from earthquakes to horticulture. The division was eliminated in the restructuring of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1992.[1] Later, she went to work for the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, where she became a co-author of several books on childhood education.[3]
Errol W. Hewett; C.Jean Thompson (March 1992), "Modification of internal carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in apple fruit by postharvest calcium application and modified atmospheres", Postharvest Biology and Technology, 1 (3): 213–219, doi:10.1016/0925-5214(92)90004-9, ISSN0925-5214, WikidataQ106630057
^ abc"Jean Thompson", 150 Women in 150 Words, Royal Society of New Zealand
^Wylie, Cathy (April 2001), "Competent Children: Findings and Issues from the first 7 years"(PDF), Paper for Ministry of Social Policy seminar, The Long Road to Knowledge: longitudinal research and social policy. See footnote 11, p. 8: "One of the great privileges for me in my involvement in the Competent Children project has been to work with an expert statistician, Jean Thompson."
