Empowering Women Engineers from the Top Down

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Empowering Women Engineers from the Top Down
Johanna Levelt Sengers Scientist
Emeritus National Institute of Standards and
Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA NIST is
not responsible for the opinions expressed here
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OUTLINE

• The IAC report Women for Science
• A quiet revolution at the bottom
• Needed change from the top
• 4. Good management practice for an inclusive
  organization
• 5. Technological empowerment of women at
  the grass roots
• 6. Actions for engineering organizations

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What is IAC?

• InterAcademy Council
• Presidents of 15 prominent science academies
• Does studies on behalf of InterAcademy Panel
  (IAP) representing all 95 science academies in
  the world

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Previous IAC Studies

• Worldwide capacity building in ST
• - key to economic development
• Agriculture in Africa
• - 70 of farmers are women

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Women for ScienceIAC Advisory Report June 2006

• Manju Sharma, India
• Johanna Levelt Sengers, USA
• Co-Chairs
• Jan Peters, UK
• Study Director
• www.interacademycouncil.net
• - free order and download

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A century-long battle for equalityin science,
engineering, technology

• Just over a century ago, women began to be
  admitted to universities.
• The last engineering schools in the US opened to
  women only in the 1970s!
• Women faculty in SET were virtually absent before
  the 1960s. No role models.
• Womens professional organizations led
• in the hard struggle for equality.

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1. Quiet Revolution in Algeria Gains by Women
New York Times, May 26, 2007 60 of university
students are women
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Percent Women PhDs, USA
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The new Marie Curies
French HS physics olympiad winning team
Budding biotechnologists in India
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But the engineering organizations have not adapted

• Womens underrepresentation in SET
  persists fewer than 10 female professors,
  5 academy members
• Dropout in early career undervalued,
  marginalized, difficult work-family balance
• Few in leadership positions to make change
• What a waste of talent!

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It does not have to be that way! Egypt
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Diversity is good both for engineering and
business

• Women engineers bring new perspectives and
  ideals
• Women engineers bring a different life
  experience
• 50 of customers are women

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Women Engineers Design Concept CarVolvo, Sweden
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Needed a push from the top

• A push from the top of the science and
  engineering establishments
• A commitment by the science and engineering elite
  to make change

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Good Management Practice Key Tool
All members of an organization (school,
university, industry, business, government,
NGO..) perform to the maximum of their
abilities for the benefit of the organization
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Good Management Practice

• Top-level commitment to an inclusive culture
• An infrastructure for bringing about change
• at all levels - goals and benchmarks
• Reviewing all policies and procedures for gender
  impact
• Regular monitoring sex-disaggregated statistics

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Good Management Practice

• Transparency in communication, recruiting,
  hiring, promoting
• Widening the inner circle of decision- ma
  kers
• Leadership training and mentoring
• Supporting a healthy work-family balance
• Sustained effort to change institutional
  culture

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Multinationals putting in place an inclusive
culture
Globalization how to manage a diverse
workforce NGOs how to bridge different
cultures Schlumberger Goal 25 women
engineers in 15 years, - reached last year!
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Empowerment of grass-roots women

• Village women, in China, Indonesia, sub-Saharan
  Africa and India, are responsible for
• food production
• food preparation, fuel gathering
• health care
• water management
• Sustainable technological development, a
• goal of WFEO, MUST engage the women!

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A Model A two-tier structure

• Swaminathan the Evergreen Revolution
• a sustainable agricultural revolution, combined
  with a gender revolution
• (1) Regional Research Institutes educate experts
  in information, bio, water, and health
  technology.
• (2) Women experts, sent to dispersed Knowledge
  Centers, empower the village women

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A Model Knowledge Centers

• Dispersed local training centers
• access to the Internet
• agriculture
• food science
• water technology
• animal husbandry
• health sciences
• environmental sustainability
• education of girls and women

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Wangari Maathai, Biologist, Peace Nobelist
Green Belt Movement Kenya
Photo Micheline Pelletier For Encyclopedia
Brittannica
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Actions for Engineering Organizations

• Commit from the top down to inclusiveness
• Gender issues on the agenda at all levels
• Infrastructure, goals, benchmarks,
  follow-up
• Engage in dialogue with womens professional
  organizations. LISTEN
• Treat women engineers with respect, as
  equal partners in your organization

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Joint Civil Engineering ProjectUniversity of
Maryland and Samli Clinic, Thailand
Courtesy Prof. Deborah Goodings U. MD
GET GOING! THANK YOU