SWE - Winter 2008 - (Page 25)

Which of the following reasons best describes why you are not employed in the engineering field? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 12 4 2 7 0 9 15 1 1 25 10 3 7 36 10 1 1 1 2 1 1 Other More c omf ortable w ork env ironment More f amily -f riendly w ork env ironment technical engineering work longer regardless of promoMore interes ting w ork in another f ield 27 tional opportunities. 30 18 6 10 The table on the next Better s alary in another f ield 0 1 0 page shows the relative per1 29 22 Better opportunities f or adv anc ement in 5 centage of people within 8 8 7 another f ield 5 each of the three graduation Can't f ind appropriate job 6 7 6 4 cohorts, separated by genMale Female Male Female Male Female der, who were not em(n=99) (n=58) (n=89) (n=64) (n=27) (n=24) ployed in engineering. The 1985-1992 1993-2000 2001-2005 top row shows the overall percentage who had said all three age groups reported that they were not that they were employed in a field where their working as engineers because they wanted a engineering training was helpful. Overall, more family-friendly environment, but women among the people who responded to the survey were much more likely than men to report this and were not retained in engineering, the vast issue. As shown in the aggregate in the first chart, men who had received their engineering degrees in 2000 or earlier reported that opportunities for advancement or a higher salary were available in fields outside engineering. Women were more likely than men to indicate they were not working as an engineer because of more interesting work in another field. After being asked the “fixed choice” question, above, respondents who were found to have (1) been employed at least some time as an engineer and (2) were not currently employed as an engineer were asked the open-ended question: “What caused you to leave the engineering profession? Please be as specific as possible.” We recategorized the 38 different answers provided by respondents into the following: • Interested in other career • Advancement opportunities • Other job issues (e.g., could not find suitable job, laid off, or low salary) • Bored or lack of challenge in engineering • Negative work climate issues (e.g., no team work/interaction, disliked the people around, dissatisfaction with work, other work environment mentions) • Time and family-related issues The next two charts show the proportion of each group, split according to gender and when they earned their first bachelor’s degree in engineering, who had left engineering for each of these reasons. Interestingly, among the people who left engineering, women spent more time working as engineers than men. The 107 women in this group had spent an average of 5.6 years working in engineering or a comparable field while the 150 men in this group had worked in the field for 4.4 years on average. It is possible that this difference is due to a persistent glass ceiling for women, who were majority held jobs in which they believed engifar less likely than men to indicate that they had neering training was helpful. As shown here, left engineering due to better advancement or men were a little more likely than women in salary opportunities outside the field. Or it each of the three cohort groups to indicate they could be that women may choose to remain in were in a field where engineering was helpful. 12 SWE WINTER 2008 25

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Winter 2008

SWE - Winter 2008 Heritage Club President’s Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Readers’ Forum EWeek 2008 New Faces of Engineering The Leaky Science and Engineering Pipeline Why Do Women Leave the Engineering Work Force? A Greener America = New Growth Fields for Engineers The Off-On Ramp Revolution Recognizing the Historic Contributions of African-Americans Membership Information & Calendar A&B Women in Tune with Technology: SWE 2007 Conference Overview Keynote Address Achievement Award Region, Section, and Collegiate Awards SME Bowl and SWE Anniversaries Engineering World: Point of View: Why I Blog Career Toolbox Book Review SWE Smiles Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook

SWE - Winter 2008

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