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Towards 50/50 - Technical and engineering

womenDr Sarah Peers

Vice President of the Women’s Engineering Society

@ ADEPT Annual Conference, 24 November 2017

Women’s Engineering Society

• Started on the 23 June 1919, we are a membership organisation…

• We are a diverse group, with only two things in common…

And now.. imagine…

Why are we STILL talking about women in engineering?• Women make up

➢ 6-9% of professional engineers

➢ 13% of members of RICS

➢ 15-17% of digital tech workforce

➢ 4% engineering apprentices

➢ 1-2% construction apprentices

• Comparisons

✓ 79% of medical students, and 76% of veterinary science students

✓ 30% of engineering students in India

✓ The UK is bottom of the EU league in terms of diversity in engineering

What about women in leadership?

UK Councils • 7% of council leaders are women - a figure

that has hardly shifted for 10 years to 2017

• All six elected metro mayors are men and just 12% of combined authority representatives are women

Local Government Workforce• 78% of workforce are women yet at the top,

male Chief Executives outnumber women two to one

LEPs• Only 4 out of 38 LEPs have women as chairs

Elsewhere• Just 17% of all professors working in STEM are

women

• Women FRICS: ~3% in 2015

• Women FRAEng: 2% in 2006 and 4% in 2014

• Women on Boards: (Davies, 2010-2015)

Asking the women…

• Only 6.5% of part-time workers are “managers or senior managers”

• 74% of part-time workers are women• 70 % anxious about taking a career break

In local government

• 73% of women CEOs felt there is not sufficient gender balance at the most senior levels.

• Over 50% felt political, organizational, or professional cultures were the cause of under-representation in senior roles,

• 48% felt that caring responsibilities were a key factor.

In WES survey (2014)

• 60% reported barriers to returning to work

• 20% said employer is not supportive of working

mothers

• 18% said colleagues were not supportive

We asked PEIs what happens to their

women members….

➢57% of women give up membership

before 45 years old

cf. only 16% of men.

The STEM pipeline

SchoolCollege/

UniversityWork Leaders

But it’s changing, isn’t it?• Proportion of women in SET in the UK will NOT reach 50% in 21st century.

• One issue is unconscious bias…

• 1,000 hiring managers reviewed the same CV. In organisations > 500 staff, recruiters 62% said it was extremely probable that they would interview “Simon”, while 56% would interview “Susan”*

• “John” is considered a more competent scientist than “Jennifer” with the same CV**

• Who do we assess as potential leaders?

15.4% 12.2% 10% *Hays, Australia, 2014**Moss-Racusin, 2013

A slight bias…• Simulated effects of a

slightly biased appraisal system

• Ratio of men:womenat start (trainees) = ratioof men:women in population

• 1% bias towards men

• After 8 appraisals …

(Martell, Lane, Emery, 1996)

Diversity’s Dividend

CompaniesMcKinsey study:What is the likelihood that the top 25% for diversity will outperform financially the bottom 25%?

EnterpriseDow Jones study on gender in high tech enterprises

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+15% +35%

Gender Ethnic

$28 trillion+1 reasons for gender diversity

Globally if women were able to participate in work at the same rates as men, $28 trillion could be added to GDP

In a global survey, 85% corporate leaders agreed “A diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial to encouraging different perspectives and ideas that drive innovation”. Forbes Insights, 2011

Question:Can the UK afford not to increase diversity in leadership roles?

It is a very leaky pipeline…

• Reasons are complex and many… at all stages:

• Education, at entry and in training

• During employment

• Progression towards leadership

• Who can fix those leaks?

• Government -> laws, regulations

• NGOs -> supporting mechanisms

• Employers ->

• Intelligent policies & processes for

• Data, reporting, targets and procurement

• Education of colleagues and managers to reduce intentional and inadvertent sexism

• Engagement and recruitment, retention and progression, plus a pipeline to leadership

Women’s “choices” are rational…

Women see barriers

Perceptions…

Women make decisions

Perceptions…

Question: Are you aware of perceptions formed by barriers during progression?

Culture and communications

“We are committed to diversity”

Website and leadership

“We are looking for go-getting, people

who will give their all to the organisation”

Recruitment and HR

“Of course you can ask, but I just can’t

see how job shares can work

for this role”

Managers

Get it right…

• Look at your data, find evidence for your assumptions about barriers

• Check for (stupid) processes

• Be aware of biases (Step 1)

• Empower under-represented groups

• Include the men and embed inclusion

• Employ ‘positive actions’ to ensure your colleagues represent the communities you mean to serve

The tip of the iceberg…

• If you can’t see many of the 50% of the population‐ in your workplace,‐ in your pipeline‐ In your leadership

then who else are you missing out on?

• Women - and others -are missing out on careers in technical areas and engineering

• Women - and others -are missing out on a voice in local government

• Your organisations are missing out on “diversity’s dividend”

What is WES doing?

• Supporting women and men as allies

MentorSET and STEM Returners

• Collaborating with our partners and supporters

A centenary to remember and 100for100

• Challenging our partners, employers, industry, education to get it right

Campaigns and 30by30

3 key questions

1. Do you have data on diversity and inclusion?

2. What do you consider to be the main issues to progression?

3. How can you reduce those barriers to leadership?

• Gender, BAME, intersections, levels of seniority & pay?

• Have you asked your staff?

• What evidence do you have?

• Are the barriers societal, or organisational? Individual or collective

• What changes to process? What positive actions?

• What is your Action Plan to achieve 50/50?

Sarah Peers, comms@wes.org.uk@wescomms and @WES1919www.wes.org.uk

Join us!The Women’s Engineering Society