20 September 2007

Women in engineering

By Jim Pinto

Engineering is still primarily a “Boys Club.” Only 20% of U.S. engineering degrees are earned by women; only 9% of American engineers are women.

In the U.S. and Europe, women have come a long way culturally, but most people still expect that most of the burden of housekeeping, childcare, school interface, looking after aging parents, and similar family duties fall to women.

In the industrial automation business, an engineering career frequently demands long hours and lots of travel—tough for a man, harder for a woman. It is not discrimination, but rather a systemic pressure that most people cannot do much about. It is difficult to keep the family balanced when the job requires an emergency plant visit at 2 a.m. or a month overseas on sales or service jobs.

Women engineers experience the most problems when it comes to moving up the corporate ladder. The systemic pressure, far more than any overt discrimination, adds layers to the proverbial “glass ceiling.”

Women engineers want to be:

• Treated with respect, as professionals
• Given the chance to prove themselves
• Have their thinking processes accepted
• Treated as peers and part of the team
• Mentored by experienced seniors
• Encouraged
• Not overlooked

Engineering needs more women who can bring innovative ideas to the industry, intuitive skills and balance, different ways to solve many difficult problems that really need “the female difference.” Hundreds of colleges, organizations, and businesses have created programs, workshops, and conferences to increase the number of women in engineering.

The current president-elect/secretary of ISA is a woman—Kim Miller Dunn, director Sales Development & Support at Emerson Process Management, Rosemount Analytical, Liquid Division. And there are many other women who are rising to prominence in the automation business.

If you are a woman and wish to advance in engineering, there has never been a better time.

Related links:

• What women engineers want:
  http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2007/150.html
• The future is female:
  http://jimpinto.com/enews/may9-2007.html#4
• IEEE – Women in Engineering:
  http://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/committee/women/index.html
• Society of Women Engineers:
  http://www.swe.org/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=5

Behind the byline

Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and founder of Action Instruments. You can e-mail him at jim@jimpinto.com or view his writings at www.JimPinto.com. Read the Table of Contents of his book, Pinto’s Points, at www.jimpinto.com/writings/points.html.