Friday, June 11, 2010
I came across this article today which I found gives a nice, short summary of some of the issues that women in engineering face at the work place which motivates them to leave the field all together: http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/08/science-engineering-gender-gap-forbes-woman-leadership-pay-promotion.html.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Where are the women?
Two days ago, my research adviser was asked by a senior person at the company where I work to bring him women and minorities. For what? To hire, of course. There is a dearth of women and minorities in our field. We don't have enough. A few months ago, my research adviser asked me why there are so few women applying for graduate school in engineering and computer sciences. He probably thought I had the answer because I was a woman in engineering with a PhD. I don't have an answer. Maybe this blog will uncover a number of answers.
However, I do have a question: why are these semi-famous highly educated men interested in women engineers? Are they selflessly trying to do some good by improving the ratio of women to men (also ratios of minorities to non-minorities) in engineering schools and workplaces? Or is it something else? If you do a little bit of digging and simply scratch the surface, the reasons are both selfless and selfish.
Corporations get rewarded for filling quotas for hiring women and minority engineers. There are more graduate scholarships for women and minorities than there are women and minorities that can take those scholarships. So, companies want to hire women and minorities to fill their quotas, and professors want them because they are essentially free labor. Is it that all? No.
More importantly, companies produce better products if their workforce is diverse - this has been proven by researchers. Companies can only hire a diverse workforce if universities produce diverse graduates. Universities can only produce diverse graduates if diverse students enter these fields. Maybe the professors and senior corporate leaders should be asking why women and minorities are not interested in pursuing engineering-related careers? Is there something inherent in the way we are raised that subconsciously propels us in one direction or another. These are questions that have been asked by sociologists but maybe it's time that engineers starting asking them.
Once these women and minorities enter universities, institutions, and workplaces, how do they fare? What are the issues they face? What are the road blocks they encounter when trying to get to leadership positions? How would the world function with larger number of women and minorities leading large corporations, government institutions, and research at universities? Just as a diverse workforce produces better products, maybe diverse leadership will produce a better world to live in.
However, I do have a question: why are these semi-famous highly educated men interested in women engineers? Are they selflessly trying to do some good by improving the ratio of women to men (also ratios of minorities to non-minorities) in engineering schools and workplaces? Or is it something else? If you do a little bit of digging and simply scratch the surface, the reasons are both selfless and selfish.
Corporations get rewarded for filling quotas for hiring women and minority engineers. There are more graduate scholarships for women and minorities than there are women and minorities that can take those scholarships. So, companies want to hire women and minorities to fill their quotas, and professors want them because they are essentially free labor. Is it that all? No.
More importantly, companies produce better products if their workforce is diverse - this has been proven by researchers. Companies can only hire a diverse workforce if universities produce diverse graduates. Universities can only produce diverse graduates if diverse students enter these fields. Maybe the professors and senior corporate leaders should be asking why women and minorities are not interested in pursuing engineering-related careers? Is there something inherent in the way we are raised that subconsciously propels us in one direction or another. These are questions that have been asked by sociologists but maybe it's time that engineers starting asking them.
Once these women and minorities enter universities, institutions, and workplaces, how do they fare? What are the issues they face? What are the road blocks they encounter when trying to get to leadership positions? How would the world function with larger number of women and minorities leading large corporations, government institutions, and research at universities? Just as a diverse workforce produces better products, maybe diverse leadership will produce a better world to live in.
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