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Women in engineering national Committee

Survey of Working environment and engineering CareerS 2012Summary and key findingS

Professor Julie Mills

Engineers Australia Women in Engineering Advisory Board.Launch of the Working Environment & Engineering Careers2012 Report, 8th March 2013, International Women’s Day.

“the substantial gender imbalance in engineering results in the under utilisation of a large pool of highly skilled workers and is detrimental to australia’s economy and productivity growth.”

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Prevailing issues for further Consideration

reMuneration

Women earn less than men for both part-time & full-time employment, beyond 30 years of age and significantly less over 50 years of age.

Survey of Working environment and engineering CareerS 2012-Summary and key findingS

•Part-time employment has increased for both men & women. Women significantly more than men, 78.1% compared to 64.7%. However, engineering is well below the wider community in providing part-time employment opportunities; for managing work life balance;

•The uptake of part-time work for women increases with age for managing work life balance; and

•Where there are more flexible working arrangements being offered by organisations, there is a low uptake of these opportunities. There seems to be a fear of retribution.

disCriMination

The prevalence of sexual harassment (23.6% for women and 2.6% for men), discrimination (35.4% for women and 14.6% for men) and bullying (31% for women and 21.2% for men) was unacceptably high in the survey responses. Gender was a factor in all.

WoMen in engineering grouP resPonse

The engineering profession has made some progress over the years. More and more companies are becoming aware of the benefits of diversity and are starting to work towards addressing some of these problems. But we still have a long way to go.

The Women in Engineering group work towards addressing these issues. Our objectives are to:

•attract women to the field of engineering;•Support and retain women working within the engineering industry;

and•Celebrate the achievements of women in engineering.

Our strategic plan is developed in line with these objectives. All of our activities align with working towards these objectives. By doing this we are working to both increase the number of women studying engineering, as well as address some of the issues we have within the industry that may be contributing to women not choosing to enter the field, or leaving after they enter it.

Survey of Working environment and engineering CareerS 2012-Summary and key findingS

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Women in EngineeringIndustry Blueprint of Successful in-house Professional Women’s Programs

Engineers Australia’s Women in Engineering National and Division Committees have been approached by a number of organisations to provide advice and guidance on how to set up a successful in-house professional women’s program.

Many of our members work in organisations that have had singular success in recruiting, retaining and celebrating female engineers in their workforce.

Introduction

This paper has been developed following a round table discussion with industry partners. It looks at programs proven to encourage and retain women in the engineering profession including issues to consider, some of the key messages to achieve success and some lessons learnt.

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Better business outcomes allowing organisations to evolve and successfully compete in a changing environment, take advantage of globalisation and other business development opportunities with long term sustainability and financial reward.

Outcome indicators:• Employer of choice

• Higher retention levels

• Greater profitability due to greater resource choice

• Diverse engineering workforce demographic that reflects the community and client profiles

• Increased creativity, productivity and effectiveness

• Broader talent pool for succession planning

• Inclusive, cooperative and engaging work environment and culture

• Greater opportunities for women at all levels of the engineering organisation both technical & managerial roles

• Improved client relations

• Diversity of thought and new approaches to business.

Outcome: Equality Means Business

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Strategic Objectives

Recruit

Attract women of all ages to engineering careers.

Support and Retain

Retain women in engineering and support women throughout their engineering careers.

Celebrate

Celebrate the achievements of women in engineering.

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Key indicators of success:

• Positioned as an employer of choice for female engineers

• Having equal numbers of female and male

applicants for positions.

Key strategies include:

• At least one female candidate for all positions• Female graduate hiring aspiration of 50%• Specific female recruitment program including

social media• Gender pay equity• Senior female engineers actively involved in

recruitment incl. participation at universities, speaking at student clubs

• Vacation student program/ student cadet program• Scholarship program for female students• Support of third party attraction programs targeting

high school girls• Speaking at schools and universities• Sponsorship of University design projects.


• Achievements of women recognised, celebrated

and promoted.


• Sponsoring conferences promoting diversity• Supporting employees to attend and participate in

conferences• Women’s network that promotes and develops

women leaders throughout the organisation• Articles in company newsletters reinforcing positive

outcomes and success stories• Specific publications• Connection with other similar networks/programs

both in Australia and internationally.


• Engaged and stable workforce• Succession planning• High return to work rate following parental leave.


• Flexible work practices including part-time, job share, compressed work week, self funded leave, leave of absence.

• Promotion of flexible work options• Mobile working (not office based)• Women’s network program incl. technical

& networking activities• Mentoring and role models• Professional development program(s) tailored for

women incl. acceleration programs • Parental leave program• Gender pay equity• One-on-one meeting with management representative

incl. career development aspect• Child care facilities• Connection and engagement throughout their career

incl. whilst on extended leave• Management training and education in diversity and

how to manage it.• Recognition and creation of development opportunities

by looking internally for existing skills that can be further developed.

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Next Steps

Industry Partners:

1. Get a pro-active team together including a senior champion who wants to make a difference

2. Work to the strengths of your team and organisation3. Connect with relevant industry associations and programs for ideas

(don’t recreate the wheel)4. Think it through for your particular organisation. Don’t just do what

other organisations do because it might not be appropriate for your circumstances.

5. Make a longer term plan (say 3 years) and set objectives and appropriate measures. For example: % of female engineers recruited, % of females in senior leadership roles, services / programs developed to support females in a sustainable career.

6. CEO announcement and senior leadership support with business plan and budget approval.


Women in Engineering Committees

The Women in Engineering National Committee (WIENC) is a group of passionate and committed volunteers from a variety of engineering disciplines, who work together to achieve the committee’s vision of an inclusive engineering profession.

The Committee consists of a representative from each WIE Division Committee as well as the WIE representative from each of the Technical College Boards.

The role of the National Committee is to:

•Develop strategic initiatives and national programs for women engineers

• Liaise with Engineers Australia on issues relating to the development of a diverse engineering profession

•Provide broad guidance and direction to Women in Engineering Division Committees

•Promote Women in Engineering and Engineers Australia

•Build relationships with other professional groups to enhance opportunities for members

•Raise awareness in the community of engineering as a career choice for women.

Each WIE Division Committee provides a local focus by offering and supporting professional and personal development events in support of our strategic vision, to members and the wider engineering community.

Our Programmes & Initiatives

Each year the WIENC develops a strategic plan of programs and initiatives that Attract, Retain, Support and Celebrate women in the engineering profession.

Who We Are

Women in Engineering (WIE) are a special interest group of Engineers Australia. We seek to increase diversity in the engineering profession by creating networks, encouraging the development of appropriate policies, programmes and initiatives, and providing resources to support women throughout their engineering careers.

Our Vision

Our vision is that engineering is an inclusive profession which values, supports and celebrates the contributions of women to the engineering team.

Our Objectives

•Attract women of all ages to study engineering•Retain women in the engineering profession•Support for women throughout their

engineering careers•Celebrate the achievements of women

in engineering.

Our strategic plan includes activities and initiatives such as conferences, blueprints, surveys and policy statements as well as projects that address specific issues faced by women in the engineering profession.

We also have a program to support eligible female members to achieve Engineers Australia membership status of Fellow and an annual scholarship program for outstanding female members.

REPRESENTATIVE INITIATIVES

Successful In-house Professional Women’s Programs

Many of our members work in organisations that have had singular success in recruiting, retaining and celebrating female engineers in their workforce.

The WIENC, working with large engineering employers, has developed a solutions based approach focused on delivering better business outcomes to enable industry to evolve and successfully compete in a changing environment.

A paper was developed following a round table discussion with industry partners. These engineering employers have programs that successfully encourage gender diversity in the organisation through initiatives that attract, retain and celebrate women in the engineering profession.

The full document is available on-line at www.engineersaustralia.org.au/women-engineering/resources-0.

Thanks to our industry partners Alcoa, Ford, IBM, NSW Transport RailCorp and Sinclair Knight Merz for their support in developing this paper.

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