Engineering Needs You

This issue’s “You Asked, SWE Answered” column deals with an all-too-common occurrence for women in engineering, whether they are at the beginning of their education — as the questioner is — or at any stage in their careers. She is often the lone woman in the room and finds this so discouraging that she is considering leaving engineering altogether.

SWE editorial board member Amanda Harrison wisely counsels her to reconsider, if at all possible. “Recognizing that isolation and gender imbalance stem from a deeper systemic issue rather than personal shortcomings is the first step toward overcoming the effects,” she writes.

It is exasperating that as of April, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that just 26% of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce are women — and only 15% of engineers are women. But a feature article in this issue, “Women in STEM: Perceptions Vs. Realities,” offers clues as to why that may be. Women face bias and obstacles to success that make sticking with engineering as a profession a real challenge for many.

But it is so critical that women try to stay the course. Women can do so much to help other women succeed by countering the many biases they face. According to the sources I interviewed for the feature, those biases include but are not limited to:

• Unequal pay and unequal access to opportunities for promotion or choice assignments
• Being asked to prove and re-prove their skills and expertise
• Being talked over in meetings or having their ideas dismissed
• Being expected to be feminine, but not too feminine, and at the same time adopt masculine leadership traits — but not too masculine
• Being thought of as less committed to their careers if they have families
• Being doubly overlooked if they are also among other historically marginalized identity groups

Those women who stay in engineering and make it into leadership positions are truly amazing, and they can help other women, sources say. They can champion women and members of traditionally underrepresented groups to other engineers and leaders. They can mentor women engineers in the technical expertise they need to succeed and coach them in the team-building skills they need to become managers. And they can make sure women are taught the business skills they will need to rise to the top if that is their goal.

Susan Colantuono, an author, speaker, and educator in women’s leadership skills quoted in the article, related a glaring example of how women can make a difference. An attendee of one of her workshops told her about a woman she knew in technology who was promoted at the same time as a man. They took on parallel positions in different business units within the company. Within one year, the woman’s team was made up of equal numbers of men and women. The man’s team was 100% men. Both would say they hired the best people for the job.

Fighting the everyday battles that bias — implicit or explicit — sets in front of women engineers is not for the faint of heart. But the more that all engineers see women succeeding at all levels of engineering, the more ordinary it will seem for women to occupy those positions. And the sooner those biases will begin to dissipate.

Colantuono, who says she has been fighting this fight for dozens of years, says: “I’m betting on women.” So am I.

Reference
“Percentage of women workers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM),” U.S. Department of Labor, updated April 2024.