Female Engineers - Their Own Perspective

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1 Female Engineers - Their Own Perspective Kerry Jaine Baker Adam Crawford Engineering Teaching and Learning Support Centre, Loughborough University Lesley Davis Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University Abstract: "As a trainee engineer I found I was treated in one of two ways. Some supervisors would insist that I left the factory floor ten minutes early so as not to get caught in the stampede of men leaving work and others would purposefully make my work almost impossible to get done. One such supervisor intentionally made me work on drills that were too high and gave me blunt drill bits to use." This is an example of one female engineer's experience in her first few weeks working in an engineering company. This paper will discuss engineering from a woman's perspective using two real life examples to highlight the attitudes still seen in industry today. Included in the paper will be the results of a survey of engineering students, which seeks to establish whether there is a common pattern of influences that impact on students degree choice. Using the case study material gathered from interviewing practising engineers and the results of the survey of current engineering students, this paper will present initial findings of the factors that influence women to take up careers in engineering. For example around 92% of the female engineering students, who participated in the pilot survey conducted at Loughborough University, indicated that they have a parent working in engineering, attended a fee-paying school or took part in an engineering taster course 1 INTRODUCTION The topic of female engineers is a much discussed area, the origins of which go back to the beginning of the 20 th Century with the initiation of the Women's Engineering Society. For almost 100 years organisations and societies have been in operation to support women in the engineering profession and encourage girls to go into the profession. Yet there are still a low proportion of women studying engineering in Higher Education Institutes (HEI) and an even lower proportion in the Engineering Industry itself. This paper has two aims. Firstly to discuss briefly the outcomes of a small study at Loughborough University that has looked into the reasons female undergraduates have chosen to study engineering and secondly to provide some feedback from interviews conducted with female engineers about what it is really like to work in industry.

2 2 Setting the Scene Figure 1 is taken from the statistical information supplied by UCAS about the gender split in engineering courses in all HEI across the United Kingdom. This graph shows that overall the numbers of students on engineering courses are dropping and that women are remaining at a level of approximately 12% on these courses Female Male All Figure 1: Engineering students in the UK (1) What needs to be looked at then is why, after so many years of initiatives and campaigns, are there still so few women on engineering courses and within the profession? 3 WHY WOMEN DON'T GO INTO ENGINEERING There are numerous theories from men and women about why women do not go into engineering. Figure 2 shows some of the possible reasons for the lack of women in engineering that have been discussed in papers, at conferences and online (2,3).

3 What is clear though is that a key reason for the lack of women in engineering studies and industry is the strong stereotypes that are associated with engineers in general as well as stereotypes of female engineers (4). Isolation Stereotypes School Teachers Poor careers advice Reasons Against Engineering Mathematics 'Anoraks' Social Pressures Bad Press Poor Pay Figure 2: Some of the reasons women do not go into engineering In books and on television the engineer (or scientist) is often defined as a boffin in a white coat with greasy lank hair and glasses - even the women scientists are portrayed in the same way (5). Just think of the female scientist in Batman and Robin played by Uma Thurman and the line of dialogue used by Geoff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park, 'Oh God, we're in the hands of the engineers'. What must be examined now is the following - if the engineering industry is such a bad place for women to work why do some women still choose to go into it? What experiences have they had which have given them the confidence and desire to go into what has been deemed an unpleasant workplace for a woman? 4 WHAT INFLUENCES A GIRL TO CHOOSE ENGINEERING As part of a part time PhD study a pilot study was carried out on female undergraduate engineering students at Loughborough University. The study was achieved using a simple questionnaire made up of ten questions requiring yes or no answers only. Questions were in the style of 'Did you attend a single sex school?' 'Did you attend a fee paying school?' and 'Did you attend an engineering taster course (or similar) at a HEI?' Although there are no exceptional factors both the parent factor (one or both parents in an engineering or technological career), whether they are the eldest child and attended a fee paying school are the most common factors.

4 60 50 Percentage Parent Eldest Single Sex Fee Paying Taster Course Factors Figure 3: Factors in a female engineer's decision to take up engineering. What has also been found is that by looking at two or three factors in conjunction there is a greater significance. Table 1 shows what percentages are calculated when putting together combinations of factors (only the top combinations have been shown) Table 1: Combinations of factors Combination Percentage Parent and/or Taster Course 72 Parent and/or Fee Paying School 76 Parent and/or Eldest Child 76 Parent, Taster Course and/or Fee Paying School 92 What becomes evident from these combinations is that the parents are a key factor of influence, they appear in all the high scoring combinations. As would be anticipated no single factor is responsible on its own but that it is a group of factors that appear to have a significant effect. This research is at an early stage and development is ongoing. Details of this study will be available on the Balance website in the near future. 5 WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY - SOME FEMALE CASE STUDIES The following information has been taken from interviews conducted with women currently working or who have worked in the engineering industry, done in conjunction with the

5 Balance Project (6). These are real life profiles to ensure anonymity all names and companies have been removed from the profiles. These are condensed versions of the full documents, all of which can be found on the Balance website. 5.1 Profile A - Anna Anna is in her late thirties and has been with her current employer for over twenty years. Anna's entry into the engineering industry was not a straightforward one. She did go to University but studied Maths rather than engineering. Having attended a mixed school she was used to being one of very few girls in a classroom and so dealt with the gender ratio of 20 men to 1 woman. She attributes her confidence in maths to the support she had from her parents and an exceptional maths teacher who treated her no differently to the boys. In order to complete her University studies Anna looked for sponsorship for the duration of her undergraduate course. As she was intending to do a Maths degree only two out of eight companies showed any interest. Although studying maths was a general put off to companies some reasons for not getting through to interview included 'Well, you're a northerner, you wouldn't fit in down South'. The company Anna currently works at was the company that offered her the sponsorship she wanted. Anna completed three work placements throughout her time at University and then went to work at the company in Having previously worked in the industry she was well aware of what to expect. She was therefore not dismayed to find that one supervisor insisted she leave the shop floor early to avoid the stampede and that another purposely made her use the blunt drill bits and drills that are too high for her. Anna has also found during her time in the engineering industry that when attending meetings she is often mistaken for the secretary or office help rather than the engineer. She has also found that when working with new people Anna is forced to prove herself as a competent engineer. One thing Anna found was that while she was expected to be better than average at her job she was also expected to behave and dress in a feminine manner. Suggestions for attire included cutting her hair into a 'sleek bob' and wearing skirts rather than trousers to work. Anna was able to try out all areas of the company during her first three years on full time employment and says that certain areas are more acceptable of women whereas others have a completely different environment. For example, whereas the design section had flexible hours the manufacturing department operated on a very strict timetable. Obviously this is due to the type of work being done but it makes flexible working hours impossible which in turn has implications for childcare. Anna has seen a lot having worked her way up through this company but still loves her job and has no regrets about taking up this type of career. She believes that engineering is much more important to our lives than most people realise and much more interesting.

6 5.2 Profile B - Beth Beth is in her late twenties and has been working for the same company since she graduated from University, having worked in three different departments as well as completing the graduate-training programme that includes six months in each department. Since the age of ten Beth has wanted to be an engineer. She does not know for sure what prompted her but the decision was made before she'd left primary school. Having a good ability with maths and physics she went on to University to study engineering. Unfortunately for Beth the course was not as she'd expected and had graduated from University with no confidence in her abilities as an engineer. It was only on going to work for a large National company that she regained her confidence thanks to a supportive and encouraging supervisor. Beth's supervisor congratulated her on what she'd done well and even suggested that she go for a promotion when it came up because he thought she would be perfect for the job. Beth went for it and got is and has not looked back since! On the shop floor Beth found that things were not as she expected. There were of course the few workers that thought a woman could not do engineering but most of the lads on the shop floor treated her as an equal. One even went so far as to point out to their boss that Beth was staying late every night to get the work finished in time for a deadline and shouldn't the responsibility be everyone's not just hers. Beth has since moved departments twice and now works in the design and development office. One thing Beth is keen to pass on is that her manufacturing knowledge from working on the shop floor has helped immensely with the design side of things - she doesn't need to be told by a second person that her design cannot be made. There has been one obstacle to Beth moving from the shop floor to the design office - the communication methods. The shop floor communication is based on giving each other a hard time with heavy doses of sarcasm; the design office however is different. Moving from the shop floor to the office meant that Beth had to change the way she spoke, finding that if she used the shop floor way of talking in the office she was likely to upset someone. Beth is still working in the design and development office and is still thoroughly enjoying her work. She is however at a stage where she is thinking of where to go next and that is proving a hard decision to make. 5.3 Profile C - Cathy Cathy is in her early forties and has worked for three engineering companies across the country and is now employed in an occupation related to engineering and the industry but is not directly involved with it. Cathy attended an all girls school during her primary and secondary years which she says was highly academic and very supportive of all the girls.

7 She studied maths, physics and chemistry and found that these classes were just as large as the classics and languages classes but that everyone around her either wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer. Cathy didn't want to be either of these and set about looking for an alternative career path. Cathy got a place at Oxbridge where she was able to enjoy an amazing three years as an undergraduate, even becoming president of one of the Societies that was involved in management issues, unions etc. She spent the summer between her second and third years working in North Yorkshire for a national company. Her first experience of working in industry was not quite as she had expected it. Working for the quality department Cathy had to occasionally step on to the shop floor. The situation back then though was that if a woman was to step on the shop floor the workers would walk out on strike. So it was necessary for Cathy to dress as a boy when going on to the shop floor, having to take an assistant with her in order to ask the questions she needed answers to in order to do her job. Back at University and in her final year Cathy approached a number of companies for employment after graduation. All industry based, Cathy had an idealistic notion of what it would be like to work in the engineering industry. Every first interview resulted in a second that meant Cathy had to make the decision of which company to work for. She made her decision based on the interview and went to work in the Birmingham area for a national company after graduation. Cathy's job was in an office environment working on engineering projects that had some business content. She was the fifth female engineer that they had employed so her co-workers were used to having females around and working with them - the novelty had worn off! In this company Cathy found herself working for a very supportive manager in a company with a good atmosphere and was given a number of opportunities throughout her time there. One such opportunity came in the form of a trip to East Germany (as was). Arriving with a male colleague they were met by a delegate from the German company. Two hours later Cathy found herself in a very strange bar in the middle of nowhere. It was only on the following day that she found out that the delegate's original plan had been to attend a strip club and the arrival of a female had totally messed up the plans. In the second company she worked for Cathy found the working conditions very different. The first female of any professional capacity to work for this company she found the working practices very traditional and very difficult - she was asked to attend meetings not because of her abilities but in the hope that a female presence would stop the client from swearing quite so much. Cathy now works for a national organisation working with young people and has strong links to industry. Cathy has found that her industrial knowledge and her love of business have given her the ability to do her job effectively and efficiently.

8 6 CONCLUSIONS What can clearly be seen from the information provided throughout is this paper is that poor understanding of what an engineer is and the stereotypes associated with such an occupation are the main reasons why few women (and a falling number of men) take up engineering. The brief account of the pilot study undertaken at Loughborough University is suggestive of the possibilities of strong influences in the lives of girls who do choose to take up engineering. Not necessarily that they loved playing with building blocks or cars but that they have been lucky enough to have grown up and been educated in a supportive environment. The extracts from the personal profiles have showed without a doubt that while there are some instances of discrimination most of the people and places these women have worked in have not been anywhere near as bad as most people would assume them to be. Also, that these women love their jobs and have been blessed with interesting and challenging careers. These women have been treated with discrimination or unpleasantness at some point in their careers. Yet they all believe that the problem is not the situation they are put in but the isolation they feel. No matter what career a woman goes into there will always be some kind of unpleasantness but in engineering it is the small number of women which they can bond and talk to that causes most of the problems. One thing that does show clearly from the women interviewed is that they all possess very strong characters. This does not mean that they are loud or dominating, merely that they are strong enough to know what they want and to go after it, no matter what is thrown at them in the process. What needs to be done now is to increase public awareness of what an engineer is and what an engineer does and to spotlight all the interesting aspects of an engineer's working day. Attracting more women into engineering, more people in fact, requires the stereotypes to be removed and the general public made aware of the truth behind the engineer. References 1 Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS): Kahle: Women in Science, Chapter 6, London, Falmer, Winning Women into Mathematics (WWM): Mathematical Association of America, Canadian Committee on Women in Engineering (CCWE): Warwick: An online consultation on women in science, engineering and technology, 6 Balance Project: