SWE Conference 2007

people’s responses to a follow-up question about whether the inequities they believe occur — due to either sex-based or minoritybased factors — were a result of corporate or departmental issues, or both types of issues. This is an important distinction because it is easier for people to see “corporate” issues as outside their span of control than departmental issues. That is, departmental climate is more clearly a result of the behaviors of the respondents themselves. In the earlier survey, women were more likely than any other group in either 1993 or 2005 to chalk up inequity as a result of departmental issues alone. By 2005, though, women and men, engineers and nonengineers tended to say that problems of inequity were a result of both corporate and departmental issues. Women in 2005, however, were still more likely than their male peers to indicate that inequities were largely departmental in nature. Finally, a fourth question presented in a different section of the two surveys asked people whether they were personally aware of an instance where a woman or minority group member had been overlooked with regard to career opportunities. Back in 199293, 58.4 percent of women engineers were personally aware of an instance of gender or ethnic discrimination but a smaller percentage were so aware in 2005 — just 39.5 percent. There was generally little awareness of discrimination against minority group members in 1993 or 2005 amongst both women and men. What this means is not entirely clear. Not only were few minorities included in the survey but this low level of awareness is not surprising given the relatively small number of minorities in engineering. Many white engineers may come in contact with a minority-group member rarely, if at all. In addition, white engineers could just be unaware of discrimination due to their own “blinders.” Women were quite a bit more likely to indicate that they knew of instances of discrimination but this may be because the item combined “women and members of minority groups,” which is not precise. What do these results tell us? It is clear that there are still substantial gaps between female and male perceptions of whether engineering is a “level playing field” for women and minorities. Despite this persistent gap, all of the data shown here indicate that circumstances appear to have improved somewhat for women and minorities in engineering, based on the differences in women’s responses from 1993 versus 2005. However, the continued gap between men and women is noteworthy. Men are 4 less likely to be aware of discrimination against women or minorities and, subsequently, are more likely to believe that things are generally equitable at their workplaces. This may mean that it is harder now for women and/or minorities to discuss possible cases of discrimination with white men. The results caution us all to be more aware of how engineering can be more inclusive and welcoming of diversity. Because engineers work in teams and we know that diversity can increase creative output, it is important for there to be open lines of communication amongst engineers to keep the profession an attractive and worthwhile pursuit for everyone regardless of gender and/or ethnicity. I Funding for this survey was generously provided by SWE’s Corporate Partnership Council. Lisa M. Frehill, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Commission of Professionals in Science and Technology. Prior to joining CPST, she was an associate professor of sociology at New Mexico State University where she was the principal investigator and program director of that institution’s ADVANCE program. In a prior life, she was an industrial engineer at General Motors. 20 SWE CONFERENCE 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE Conference 2007

SWE - Annual Conference Issue - October 2007 Contents President’s Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Reader’s Forum Is the Engineering Workplace “Warming” for Women? The Music of Technology Going Green in Tennessee Program Development Grants FY08 Officers Formally Inducted Membership Information A&B FY07 Membership Meeting Minutes Engineering World Career Toolbox Point of View Book Review SWE Smiles SWE Scrapbook Corporate Partnership Council Celebrating the 2007 SWE Award Recipients Spotlight on Students Conference Sponsors and Program Overview Thursday Conference Schedule Corporate Members Heritage Club Friday Conference Schedule Saturday Conference Schedule Opportunity Index

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