what drives female attrition in stem professions?€¦ · accountability was a personal and desired...

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WHAT DRIVES FEMALE ATTRITION IN STEM PROFESSIONS?HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE: Society of Women Engineers’ National Gender Culture Study

The attrition rate for women engineers and women in all STEM professions remains high and

has resulted in a critical shortage of women in technical leadership positions. The root cause

of attrition is corporate culture, but what about the culture drives women out?

WE KNOW THAT:

Women

make up 20%of

engineering

school graduates1

12%

only

of

practicing

engineers.2BUT

THE SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS (SWE)

decided to take a close look at the culture of the

engineering workplace to find out what drives female attrition and launched the SWE National Gender Culture

Study. It’s the first national study of its kind to look at potential gender bias in engineering and to examine the

role of corporate culture in STEM’s “leaky pipeline.”

Four SWE Corporate Partnership Council (CPC) members

participated in the study: 3M, Booz Allen Hamilton,

Honeywell Aerospace, and United Technologies Corp.

FOLLOWING ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS GROUNDBREAKING STUDY.

30%of

women who have left the engineering

profession cited organizational climate

as the reason.3

ANDwe know that

“A culture study gives you a snapshot of a culture’s fitness,” said Beth Michaels, president of Primer Michaels, the consulting firm that ran the study.

“People care about culture because it’s a driver for recruitment, retention, and advancement and for developing workplaces where

people do their best work and meet company goals.”

1National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. 2015. Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2015. Special Report NSF 15-311. Arlington, VA. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/.2Corbett, C., & Hill, C. (2015). Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing. Washington, DC: American Association of University Women.3Fouad, N. A., Singh, R., Fitzpatrick, M. E., & Liu, J. P. (2012). Stemming the Tide: Why Women Leave Engineering. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

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WE ASKED MORE THAN 3,200 PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS ABOUT THEIR VALUES

49% 51%

Female attrition results in lost ROI and reputation. What can we learn about

women’s values and company culture that could improve retention?

THE PROBLEM:

THE HYPOTHESIS:

THE STUDY:

ESPOUSED

VALUES:

The short list

of beliefs and

behaviors

companies say

are imperatives.

CURRENT

CULTURE:

What values

engineers

experience day

to day

PERSONAL

VALUES:

An individual’s

conception of

the beliefs that

underpin good

personal and

professional

decision-making

DESIRED

CULTURE

VALUE:

The beliefs

and behaviors

individuals desire

from an

organization’s

culture

LIMITING

VALUES:

The beliefs and

behaviors that

detract

from a high-

performance

culture

4Hewlett, S. A., Buck Luce, C., Servon, L. J., Sherbin, L., Shiller, P., Sosnovich, E., & Sumberg, K. (2008). The Athena Factor: Reversing the brain drain in science, engineering and technology (Harvard Business Review Research Report). Boston: Harvard Business Publishing.

KEY TERMINOLOGY

When senior leaders get specific information about gender and culture, then female retention will be improved if actionable strategies are employed.

The purpose of the study was to determine to what degree men and women

experience company culture differently and to what degree they want the same company values. We asked more than 3,200 professional engineers

about their personal values, the values they experience in their current culture,

and their desired values for company culture.

Hiring managers are achieving their female recruitment goals. But 40 percent

of female engineers leave five to eight years later, particularly those in the leadership pipeline.4

THE FACT:

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Men and women report basically the

same positives and negatives in the

workplace. Even the degree of

dissatisfaction is generally the same.

MEN AND WOMEN REPORT THE SAME VALUES AND DAY-TO-DAY EXPERIENCES. THE DIFFERENCE IS HOW WOMEN RESPOND: THEY LEAVE.

1

2

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

ADAPTABILITY

BALANCE

Male and female engineers

have very similar Personal

and Desired Culture

Values. However,

female engineers highly

value Balance as both

a Personal and Desired

Culture Value

while male engineers

highly value Adaptability.

Male and female engineers report a high number of limiting

values within their Current Culture. Female Leaders ages

31-50 report the highest number of limiting values and the

largest value gap of any subgroup.

LIMITING

VALUES:

ACCOUNTABILITY WAS A PERSONAL AND

DESIRED CULTURE VALUE

Resource Constraints/ Long Hours, Cost Reduction and Hierarchy

3

4

The Female Leaders who participated in the study express this frustration over a lack of

accountability. Accountability was their number one personal and desired cultural value,

but it is not part of the Current Culture. The message to company leaders that emerges from

this data is: “Decide what you want, mean what you say; take down the barriers, and let me do my job.” If company leaders don’t get this message, women

will continue to leave engineering.

Men and women report different value gaps between their personal values

and their companies’ values. Women,

particularly the female leaders, report an

acute gap in accountability and quality.

Women exhibit more

intolerance toward values

stretch and chronic issues.

Although women are clearly

responding differently than men, diversity and inclusion as selected

values disappeared; evidence of

Second Generation Bias plays a

pivotal role in this.

This was apparent in the Current Culture for all subgroups

except Female Leaders ages 31-50, who listed it as their

#1 Personal and Desired Culture Value.

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Both Females and Males believe that the Current Culture highly values Customer Satisfaction and Integrity.*

Male Leaders believe that Quality/Excellence is highly valued in the Current Culture, but Female Leaders and Females ages 31-50 do not.

Neither gender chose Diversity/Inclusion as a personal value, a current cultural value or a desired value.

*INTEGRITY

INCLUDES VALUES

SUCH AS

ACCOUNTABILITY,

ETHICS, HONESTY,

AND

RESPONSIBILITY

SPECIFIC FINDINGS

ESPOUSED COMPANY VALUES ARE REPORTED AS SPOTTY IN THE CURRENT CULTURE.

What companies say they value (Espoused Values) and what engineers believe their companies

value (Current Culture) are not well aligned.

1CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION

2INTEGRITY

3QUALITY/

EXCELLENCE

4DIVERSITY/

INCLUSION

FOUR ESPOUSED VALUES:

“Women are frustrated and leaving the workforce, but not for the reasons you think. The disparities from the study indicate a lack of confidence in

company direction, which is vital to employee engagement and retention. Companies are claiming some of these values to be at the core of their culture, however the

data reveals that participants, both male and female, aren’t necessarily having these experiences. Prior research5 has shown that women are not as tolerant as men of

persistent values gaps, leading to their ultimate resignation.”

Karen Horting, Executive Director and CEO of SWE

5 “Women Matter: Gender Diversity: A Corporate Performance Driver,” McKinsey, 2007

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Continuous

Learning

Positive Attitude

Efficiency

Coaching/ Mentoring

Adaptability

Performance

AccountabilityHonestyIntegrityFamily

Humor/Fun

Balance (home/work)Responsibility

SHARE SIMILAR PERSONAL VALUES

Balance (home/work)

Employee Recognition

Leadership Development

Customer

Satisfaction

Adaptability

Innovation

AccountabilityTeamwork

Quality/ExcellenceCoaching/Mentoring

Continuous Improvement

Open CommunicationInformation Sharing

… AND SIMILAR DESIRED CULTURAL VALUES

… BUT DIFFERENCES EXIST

While both Males and Females value Coaching/Mentoring as a Desired Culture Value in the

workplace, it does not appear as a Personal Value for Females as it does for Males. Alternatively,

both Males and Females value Balance (home/work) as a Personal Value, but only Females list it

as a Desired Culture Value. Males also value Adaptability and Innovation (a greater focus on risk

tolerance and empowerment) in their companies, while Females desire Employee Recognition

and Leadership Development (a more personal approach).

MALE AND FEMALE ENGINEERS SHARE SIMILAR VALUES ...

SPECIFIC FINDINGS

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S VALUES DIFFER SLIGHTLY.

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TOP 10 VALUES FEMALE/MALE RANKINGS*

TOP 10 PERSONAL VALUES: FEMALE/MALE RANKINGS

FEMALE RANKING PERSONAL

VALUE

MALE RANKING

1 Balance 6

2 Family 4

3 Honesty 1

4 Accountability 2

5 Integrity 3

6Continuous

Learning11

7 Responsibility 8

8 Positive Attitude 15

9 Efficiency 20

10 Humor/Fun 5

TOP 10 CURRENT CULTURE VALUES: FEMALE/MALE RANKINGS

= Limiting Value

FEMALERANKING

CURRENT CULTURE

VALUE

MALE RANKING

1 Teamwork 1

2Customer

Satisfaction2

3 Goal Focus 5

4

Resource Constraints/Long

Hours 15

5 Cost Reduction 4

6 Accountability 3

7 Ethics 6

8 Productivity 11

9 Professionalism 8

10 Quality/Excellence 9

TOP 10 DESIRED CULTURE VALUES: FEMALE/MALE RANKINGS

FEMALE RANKING DESIRED CULTURE

VALUE

MALE RANKING

1 Teamwork 2

2 Accountability 1

3Coaching/ Mentoring

3

4 Balance 14

5 Info Sharing 10

6Open

Communication7

7 Quality/Excellence 6

8Continuous

Improvement4

9Employee

Recognition16

10Leadership

Development15

Males selected Coaching/Mentoring (#7), Adaptability (#9) and Performance (#10)

Males selected Competence (#7) and Performance (#10)

BALANCE & TEAMWORK

#1 VALUES FOR

HONESTY & ACCOUNTABILITY

#1 VALUES FOR

Female Leaders select Accountability as #1 in the Desired Culture. Males selected customer satisfaction (#5) and Adaptability (#8)

*Out of 20 identified values

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Limiting values are the beliefs and behaviors that detract from a high-performance culture.

The total number of limiting values chosen by survey respondents to describe the Current

Culture results in an entropy rate. Respondents across both genders had high entropy rates,

and both genders listed limiting values in the Top Ten. Females ages 31-50 showed the highest

entropy rate (24%), and Females as a whole listed two limiting values in their Top Ten.

GOAL:

The goal is to have

less than 12% of the

chosen Current Culture

Values categorized as

limiting values, with no

limiting values appearing

in the Top Ten.

GENDER ENTROPY RATE

LIMITING VALUES IN TOP TEN

Males 20% Cost Reduction

Male Leaders 21% Short-Term Focus

Females 23% Resource Constraints/ Long Hours

Cost Reduction

Female Leaders 23%

Females age 31-50 24%

ENTROPY RATES IN THE 20-29% RANGE INDICATE THE NEED FOR SYSTEM-WIDE CHANGES.

ENTROPYRATES

MALES MALELEADERS

FEMALES FEMALELEADERS

FEMALESBY AGE

GROUPS(<31, 31-50,

51+)

CHANGEREQUIREMENTS

# Respondents 1,633 324 1,565 275 443 / 740 / 325

<12% Goal

12 – 19% (Minor Issues)

Specific adjustments

20 – 29% (Significant

Issues)20% 21% 23% 23% 22% / 23% / 24%

System-wide initiatives

30 – 39% (Serious Issues)

Plus leadership coaching

40 – 49% (Critical Issues)

Plus select leader

changes

LIMITING VALUES DESCRIBED BY BOTH GENDERS REFLECT MUTUAL DISSATISFACTION WITH THE CURRENT CULTURE

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A comparison of Desired Culture Values against what Females and Males observe in the

workplace (Current Culture) identified some value alignment:

FEMALE LEADERS REPORT THE LARGEST GAP BETWEEN THEIR CURRENT CULTURE’S VALUES AND THEIR DESIRED VALUES.

31-50

31-50

31-50

31-50

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

BENCHMARK

Male Leaders

Males (excl Leaders)

Female Leaders

Females (excl Leaders)

Females <31

Females 31-50

Females 51+

Number Matches Between Current & Desired Culture

Overall, Males and Females call out Accountability as a personal value, a current culture value and a value in their desired culture.

Overall, both Females and Males observe Teamwork and Quality/Excellence in their Current Culture.

HOWEVER, UPON

ANALYSIS OF SUBGROUP VALUE COMPARISONS

BETWEEN DESIRED AND CURRENT

CULTURE, DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED AMONG FEMALES AND

MALES BETWEEN THE AGES OF 31-50.

Respondents in the 31-50 age group show much

less confidence in company direction. Female leaders 31-50 stand out in this regard, with only

one value in their desired culture present in their

current culture.

MATCHES BETWEEN CURRENT AND DESIRED CULTURE

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PERSONAL AND DESIRED CULTURE VALUES VS. CURRENT CULTURE

FEMALE ENGINEERS

Balance (home/work) is a Personal Value and a Desired Culture Value, but it is not apparent in the Current Culture. Two limiting values (in purple) were listed in the Current Culture.

PERSONAL VALUES

CURRENTCULTURE VALUES

DESIRED CULTURE VALUES

Family

Honesty

Integrity

Continuous Learning

Responsibility

Positive Attitude

EfficiencyHumor/Fun

Coaching/Mentoring

Information Sharing

Open Communication




Cost Reduction

Resource Constraints/

Long Hours

Teamwork

Quality/ Excellence

Balance (home/work)

Accountability

Customer Satisfaction

Productivity

Goal Focus

Professionalism

Ethics

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PERSONAL VALUES



Honesty

Integrity

Family

Humor/Fun

Balance (home/work)

Responsibility

Performance


Open Communication

Information Sharing

Innovation

Cost Reduction

Teamwork


Quality Excellence

Coaching/Mentoring

Adaptability

Accountability

Competence

Goal Focus

Professionalism

Ethics

Mission Focus

MALE ENGINEERS

Coaching/Mentoring and Adaptability are Personal and Desired Culture Values, but they are not apparent in the Current Culture. Males noted Customer Satisfaction as a matching value. One limiting value (in purple) was listed in the Current Culture.

PERSONAL AND DESIRED CULTURE VALUES VS. CURRENT CULTURECONTINUED

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PERSONAL VALUES



Family

Integrity

Excellence

Honesty

Positive Attitude

Responsibility

Efficiency


Quality/Excellence

Information Sharing

Open Communication

Adaptability

Cost Reduction


Long Hours

Teamwork


Balance (home/work)

Coaching/Mentoring

Accountability

Mission Focus

Goal Focus

Professionalism

Organizational Growth

Ethics

PERSONAL AND DESIRED CULTURE VALUES VS. CURRENT CULTURE

FEMALE LEADERS

Like all Females in this study, Female Leaders personally value and desire Balance (home/work), but they also personally value and desire Coaching/Mentoring – similar to the Male respondents. Unlike the Male and general Female respondents, Female Leaders do not observe Quality/ Excellence as highly valued in their Current Culture, but they do list Customer Satisfaction as a matching value – similar to Male respondents.

CONTINUED

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PERSONAL VALUES



Family

Honesty

Integrity

Positive Attitude

Continuous Learning

Responsibility

Adaptability

Helpful

Coaching/Mentoring

Quality/Excellence

Information Sharing

Open Communication




Cost Reduction


Long Hours

Teamwork


Accountability

Balance (home/ work)


Goal Focus

Ethics

Professionalism

Productivity

FEMALES AGES 31-50

Like all Females in this study, Females in this age group personally value and desire Balance (home/work), but unlike other Female respondents, this age group observes Balance in their Current Culture. Females in this age group only list Teamwork and Customer Satisfaction as a match between Current and Desired Culture – a difference from all other subgroups.

PERSONAL AND DESIRED CULTURE VALUES VS. CURRENT CULTURECONTINUED

THE GAP: Though Female Leaders in this age group listed Accountability as a Desired Culture Value, they report it as missing from their Current Culture. Instead, they listed a third limiting value, Hierarchy.SWE’s goal for this study is to equip

senior leaders with valid data that could improve female retention.

For more information about the results and actionable recommendations, visit RESEARCH.SWE.ORG.

what drives female attrition in stem professions?€¦ · accountability was a personal and desired...

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