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Date or referenceDate or reference
Women in North West Engineering Conference (WEWIN)
Manchester Museum of Science and Industry
Tuesday 5th Dec 2006
Date or reference
Women in North West Engineering
www.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin
Project Manager: Dr. Haifa Takruri-RizkResearch Fellow: Dr. Lisa Worrall
Research Assistant: Natalie SappletonResearch Assistant: Sunrita Dhar-Bhattacharjee Project Administration Co-ordinator: Rae Bezer
Project Funding: ESF 42.54%UoS 57.46%
3
Background
Methodology
Entry
Retention
Progression
Positive Action
Recommendations
Outline
4
WEWIN is a follow-up to the ‘Developing Female Engineers’ (DFE) project
Organisational cultures present a real barrier to female participation in
the industry
Inflexible work practices, lack of access to informal networks and the
long hours culture causes for women early exit
WEWIN aim and objectives
Examine, analyse and evaluate work-place practices and
organisational cultures in engineering industries in the North West
Make recommendations to enhance the participation of women in the
industry
Background
5
North West Region
http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/north-west-map.html
Background
6
North West Region
£98 billion economy 6.8 million people 230,000 firms
The region is growing faster than the England average: 18% GVA (Grosse value added) growth compared to England average of
16% 5% growth in no.of firms compared to the England average of 3% 5% growth in no.of employees compared to the England average of 2% 3% growth in employment rate compared to the England average of 0%
Engineering and other manufacturing industries: Employ more than half a million people in the region Contribute over 25% of the region’s GDP (gross domestic product)
North West Regional Economic Strategy 2006 Report
Background
7
ESF Priorities for the North West Region – Objective 3
1. Active labour market policies
2. Equal opportunities for all and promoting social inclusion
3. Lifelong learning
4. Adaptability and entrepreneurship
5. Improving the participation of women in the labour
market
Background
ESF NW Regional Development Plan
8
Literature Review
Mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection
Online and paper questionnaires
Semi-structured Interviews
Focus groups
Data analysis
Methodology
9
Literature Review
Barriers to women’s participation in the engineering
industry are categorised into:
Specific discriminatory practices
Discrete cultural barriers = 'gender subtext of
organisations’
Methodology
Acker, 1990; 1992; Tienari et al, 2002)
10
Gender subtext of organisations
Benschop and Doorewaard categorised gender subtexts into:
Structural - composition of work, the allocation of tasks and
the division of labour
Cultural - implicit rules and regulations and underlying
customs and conventions of the organisation
Interactional - expressed in the sex division of labour in the
organisation
Identity - personal gender and professional identities (Benschop and Doorewaard, 1998)
Methodology
11
Questionnaires
Employees Employee details and nature of work Equal opportunities and diversity perception Perception of the company and own priorities Image of engineering and gender segregation issues
Managers/Directors Equal opportunities, diversity policies and practices Work practices addressing flexible working, retention and return rates
of employees and health and safety issues Image of engineering and gender segregation
Methodology
12
Respondents
Analysis based on the following:
166 valid Employee questionnaires (78 female, 88
male)
22 valid Managerial questionnaires (9 female,13 male)
6 Focus Groups (19 Male & 13 Female)
13 Employee Interviews (12 Female, 1 male)
13 Managerial Interviews (8 Female, 5 male)
Methodology
13
Female
Employees
40 (51.28%), 31-45 yrs
20 (25.64%), 26-30 yrs
13 (16.67%), 18-25 yrs
5 (6.41%), +45 yrs
Managers
7 (77.78%), 31-45 yrs
2 (22.22%), 18-25 yrs
Male
Employees
50 (56.82%), 31-45 yrs
22 (25%), +45 yrs
9 (10.23%), 25-28 yrs
7 (7.95%), 26-30 yrs
Managers
6 (46.15%), 31-45 yrs
6 (46.15%), +45 yrs
1 (7.70%), 26-30 yrs
Questionnaires Respondents – Age Profile
Methodology
14
0
5
10
15
20
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 6 3 3 5 10 3
Male 11 2 5 2 18 7
Family Friends/PeersCareers Adviser
Teachers advice
No One Other
Who influenced your career choice?
NB: Response of Likert category (1= Lowest importance – 5= Highest importance , 6- Other)The graph shows only responses to category 5
Entry
15
Family (Positive) / Career Advisor (Negative)
“I’ve just always tinkered. I was one of those girls who was always in the garage with my Dad messing rather than in the kitchen with my Mum cooking and I just naturally was better at my Sciences and my Maths than I was at my English. My Dad is an Engineer so I’d got some idea of what it entailed but when I came to actually talk to my Careers Advisor he actually put me off. He actually said, ‘What on earth do you want to go and do Engineering for?’”
(Female Focus Group member, 26-30yrs )
Entry
16
Career Teacher (Negative)
“…I went to see the careers teacher and she said, ‘Don’t you know what you want to do?’ and at the time I was…and she said, ‘Well have you considered being a nursery nurse?’ and I thought ‘Right’…”.
(Female, 26-30yrs)
Entry
17NB: Respondents could choose more than one option to describe their company
Employee Company Category
0
10
20
30
40
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 38 32 19 15 15 13 10 8 5
Male 18 19 24 10 14 11 10 8 5
CivilConsultan
Manufactu
OtherStructural
Environme
Chemical
Electronics
Mechanica
Entry
18
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 4 17 19 37 18
Male 5 9 19 26 36
1 2 3 4 5
NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree )
My company operates transparency in job recruitment processes
Entry
19
Gender Discrimination
“They did actually say outright ‘you… sort of… child-bearing age. Are we going to train you up to find out that you’re just going to have a baby on us and not come back?’. I was mortified; I couldn’t believe they would actually ask me…
I lied …I just told them what they wanted to hear to get a place, and then thought, ‘I’ll sort out my personal life once I’ve got my career sorted’.”
(Female, 31-45 yrs)
Entry
20
Key Findings Many respondents stated ‘no one’ influenced their career
choice
Family members raise aspirations
Careers Teachers ignorance of engineering careers
Biased training and entry facilitation for males in the
industry
Little evidence of gender discrimination in recruitment at
organisational level
Entry
21
More Findings
Lack of ‘real world’ content in engineering studies
Many women entered the industry via a non-traditional route
More women engineers have a masters degree than men
More women than men agreed that engineering is old
fashioned
Entry
22
0
20
40
60
80
100
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 77 10 4 29 4 4
Male 88 0 9 11 2 3
Full Part Consul Perma Fixed- Self
Work Arrangements
Retention
23
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 2 3 4 5 6
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
NB: Response of Likert category (1=Strongly disagree, 5= Strongly agree, 6-N/A)
My colleagues and managers value part-time positions as highly as full-time positions
Retention
24
Flexible Working
“I work flexible hours….pretty much you can work the hours you want, so long as they are not ridiculous. Lots of people come in at seven and leave at three or four, things like that”.
(Male engineer, 26-30 yrs)
“…It depends on who your boss is as to how well you can fit your family life in…”
(Female engineer, +45 yrs)
Retention
25
Age Group: 1=18-25 yrs, 2=26-30 yrs, 3=31-45 yrs 4=+45 yrs
Salary Scale: 1=Up to £20K, 2=£20-29K, 3=£30-39K, 4=£40-49K, 5=£50-59K, 6=£60K and over
Age, Gender and Salary
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
18-25 yrs (F)
18-25 yrs (M)
26-30 yrs (F)
26-30 yrs (M)
31-45 yrs (F)
31-45yrs (M)
45 yrs and over (F)
45 yrs and over (M)
Salary Range
1
2
3
4
5
6
Retention
26
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
% o
f R
es
po
nd
en
ts b
y G
en
de
r
Female
Male
Female 56 11 0 22 11
Male 46 0 38 0 8
In the industry Your Company Neither Both Other
Is there a Gender Pay Gap? – Managers View
NB: Respondents could choose more than one answer
Retention
27
Gender Pay Gap“You get your pay review every…it’s supposed to be every
winter but they’ve already decided how much you’re getting
before you have your review so there’s not much point …but
I know when I was a contractor before, I got paid about £3
an hour less than the men…doing exactly the same
thing…the same agency as everybody else”.
(Female engineer 26-30 yrs)
Retention
28
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% o
f R
es
po
nd
en
ts b
y G
en
de
r
Female
Male
Female 10 44 44
Male 10 72 15
No Yes Don't Know
My company operates Equal Pay Reviews – Employees
(NB: Equal pay for equal value work)
Retention
29
Have you heard of or used the following work-life balance policies (respondents with children)?
0
5
10
15
20
% of
Res
pond
ents
by G
ende
r
Female
Male
Female 6 4 17 0 10 8 10 3 10 12 14 0
Male 11 2 15 1 9 1 14 0 14 2 13 3
Childcare (H)
Childcare (U)
Job Share (H)
Job Share (U)
P-T (H) P=T (U)Returners
(H)Returners
(U)Maternity
(H)Maternity
(U)Paternity
(H)Paternity
(U)
Retention
30
Need for returners scheme
“What I would have liked at the time was a bit more
support…the ability to have gone back perhaps later on to
the same company…if they had offered me the chance to
have nine or twelve months off and then go back part-time I
might well have done that instead of having a career break
of 10 years where I didn’t do any engineering work…”
(Female engineer, 31-45 yrs)
Retention
31
0
20
40
60
80
% o
f Res
pond
ents
by
Gen
der
Female
Male
Female 50 44 6
Male 76 18 6
No Yes No Response
Awareness of bullying, discrimination and harassment within company - Employees
Retention
32
Sexual Harassment?
“…a friend of mine brought up a complaint against him because she was bending over and he slapped her on the arse. So she went and complained to a senior female engineer in the office, who thought it was outrageous, and went to the regional director and they discussed it. And the regional director wasn’t particularly, she felt concerned in the way that this female engineer was, but in the end… a member of staff in personnel did come down from … and interviews were given. But the case wasn’t taken any further because it would mean disciplinary action, or an investigation into him. But he was severely told off.”
(Female engineer, 26-30 yrs)
Retention
33
0
10
20
30
40
50
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 36 22 25 24 19
Male 43 25 19 19 22
Better Pay Promotion Convenient hours Flexi TimeFurther career
eng
Motivating Factors for Retention - Employees
NB: Based on Likert category 5 ‘Very important’
Retention
34
NB: There were low numbers of responses from managers/directors of category 5, therefore the top five of category 4 ‘important’ were given
Motivating Factors for Retention - Managers
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 56 56 56 44 44
Male 54 46 31 38 31
Promotion Better Pay Furth Car engFurth Car Non
EngConv Hrs
Retention
35
Key Findings
Male and female engineers agreed on better pay as the
dominant factor for retention
Managers/directors thought promotion is the dominant
factor
Gender pay gap exists
a major contributor to females early exit
Women ‘peak’ in their salary scale opportunities in the
range of 31-45yrs
Retention
36
Key Findings
Gender disagreement on the issue of gender pay gap
existence Few women are aware of equal pay reviews compared to
men
Part-time work is under-valued
Bullying, discrimination and harassment still occurs
Lack of support of returners’ schemes – link to `
Flexible working helps to retain female engineers
Retention
37
0
20
40
60
80
100
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 22 78
Male 15 85
No Yes
My company operates Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
Progression
38
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 2 3 4 5
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree, 6-N/A)
People in relatively senior positions tend to be men
Progression
39
“What I can say some of my male colleagues…just as experienced as I was were promoted months ahead of the time that I was… I don’t know whether that was down to gender or todepartmental budgets…”
(Female engineer, 31-45yrs)
Gender Discrimination?
Progression
40NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree ,6-N/A)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 2 3 4 5 6
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female Managers are as effective as male managers
Progression
41
Perception of female managers
“If you had more women in it then there’d be the chance but the problem is in order for the women to get to the top they have to behave like men to get there.
Like Margaret Thatcher … Margaret Thatcher was the worse thing for women in power because she behaved like a man.”
(Female Engineer, +45 yrs)
Progression
42
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1 2 3 4 5 6
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree ,6-N/A)
Women have to achieve more than men to receive the same degree of recognition
Progression
43
Self Promotion
“…You will need to be better than your men and you also, I think one of the pieces that I suggest should be incorporated which goes back to my assertiveness, is that women are reluctant in that environment were the fact is you will need to excel the other part of that is you need to tell people that you’re better, right?....one piece of advice is that women need to be shown that it is okay to blow your own trumpet which is what men would do”.
(Female engineer, +45 yrs)
Progression
44
Mentoring & support networks
0
20
40
60
80
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 14 74 12
Male 10 74 14
No Yes Don't Know
Progression
45
Benefit of Mentoring
“I had a… mentor who was quite a high level female engineer in the company who I looked up to and respected because she’d worked her way from being a chemical engineer all the way up the ranks and was in a position where I admired and I would like to get to one day in my career, …I think it’s so valuable for people to have guidance out of their line-management, somebody who is totally independent who they can go and talk to; who understands how to get the best out of people, how to question them, how to make them question decisions they’ve made personally…she helped me be able to do that; built my confidence and built my self-esteem and that I then took forward into the position that I’m in at the moment. Without that guidance, I don’t think I’d have got to the position I am today.”
(Female, Training Manager)
Progression
46
Key Findings
Little evidence of gender discrimination in the provision of
training
Vertical segregation persists in engineering industries
Stereotyped view of female engineering managers
Impact of mentoring on the development of women goes
unrecognised
Progression
47
Initiatives to counteract the effects of past discrimination
Permitted by law under sections 47 and 48 of the Sex
Discrimination Act (SDA) 1974 (amended 1986).
Positive Action vs Positive Discrimination
Positive discrimination describes discriminating in favour of a
certain group.
The SDA forbids employers to recruit or promote on the basis
of individual’s gender
Positive Action
48
Positive Action
NB: Response of Likert category (1=Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree)
The Company has actively promoted policies to facilitate women’s representation in the Company
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts b
y G
end
er
Female
Male
Female 22 28 23 9 9
Male 10 13 22 26 18
1 2 3 4 5
49
No to Positive Discrimination
“I don’t believe you should push women into engineering just because there aren’t that many women in engineering… you should just be capable of doing the job and it doesn’t matter who you are…
I certainly wouldn’t want to do a role… if I was only appointed to it because I was a woman”
(Female, 31-45 yrs)
Positive Action
50
What Can the Industry Do?
Employers
Adapt working environment and employment practices Flexible working
Well being and work-life Balance
Career development programmes and salary schemes
Employee surveys
Exit interviews
Professional bodies
Monitor activities of membership and share good practice
Employees
Know your statutory rights (http://www.direct.gov.uk)
Explore varied employment avenues
51
Disseminate WEWIN findings
Talk to employers
www.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin
Present and publish papers
Women in Audio Visual Engineering (WAVE) is
our next ESF funded project
The way forward
52
“I’m glad I did what I did. It was really worth the hard work and it makes you feel as though you’ve achieved something in your life.”
(Female, +45 yrs)
WEWIN
53
Acker, Joan (1990); “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered
Organizations”; Gender and Society, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 139-158
Acker, Joan (1992a); Gendering Organisational Theory, in Mills, A.J; and Tancred,
P (eds.), Gendering Organisational Analysis, London, Sage, pp. 248-60
Benschop, Yvonne and Doorewaard, Hans (1998); “Six of One and Half a Dozen
of the Other: The Gender Subtext of Taylorism and Team-based Work”, Gender,
Work and Organisation, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 5-18
http://www.salford.gov.uk/living/regeneration/fundingprogrammes/erdf.htm
North West Regional Economic Strategy 2006 Report - http://www.nwda.co.uk/
North West Region map, available at:
http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/north-west-map.html Tienari, Janne; Quack, Sigrid and Theobald, Hildegard (2002); “Organizational
Reforms, ‘Ideal Workers’ and Gender Orders: A Cross-Societal Comparison”;
Organization Studies; Vol. 23, No. 2; pp. 249-279
References
Date or reference
Women in North West Engineering
WEWIN Conference 5thDecember2006
Any Questions?
55
Project Manager: Dr. Haifa [email protected]
Research Fellow: Dr. Lisa [email protected]
Research Assistant: Natalie [email protected]
Research Assistant: Sunrita Dhar-Bhattacharjee [email protected]
Project Administration Co-ordinator: Rae [email protected]
www.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin
Thank You