The controversy stirred by the remarks made last month by Lawrence Summers, Harvard University president, brings home two important lessons for those working on the advancement of women in science, engineering, trades and technology (SETT).
The first, and most obvious, is there still remains considerable work to address entrenched beliefs about women’s abilities and women’s place in the SETT sectors. Summers, as has been widely reported, told an audience at an economic conference last month that “innate” differences between men and women may account for why women are so under-represented in science and math.
Coming from a senior academic administrator, those comments reveal that people in leadership positions still hold unsubstantiated views about science and gender. (He has since apologized for the remarks.) Small wonder that, at all stages of their careers, women in SETT occupations still encounter prejudices and outdated assumptions about what they can and can’t do.
But an equally important lesson in this story has to do with the widespread criticism of Summers’ remarks. Progress has been made in countering discriminatory attitudes about women. It has taken decades; it may yet take a few decades more.
Progress still slow
Given the current and imminent shortfall of workers in these sectors, however, the extent to which women are full contributors will make a difference in Canada’s competitiveness in the 21st-century economy.
Women make up almost half of the paid workforce in Canada, yet they still remain under-represented in SETT occupations. Despite various initiatives to increase women’s participation in such occupations, progress has been stalling or even reversing in some sectors.
For example, women comprise only nine per cent of professional engineers in Canada, and the enrolment of female undergraduates in engineering has levelled off at just more than 20 per cent over the last five years, even decreasing in some universities. The percentage of women undergraduates in computer science has plummeted from more than 30 per cent in the 1990s to about 15 per cent in the last few years.
The trades sectors, in particular, continue to see significantly low numbers of women participate. At the same time, the construction sector predicts a shortage of one million skilled workers over the next two decades. There is thus a critical opportunity to strengthen and mobilize a significant resource to strengthen Canada’s economy.
Fostering diversity at work
As a coalition of 24 groups working towards the full participation of women in SETT occupations, the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Technology and Trades (CCWESTT) has undertaken an initiative to identify the issues facing women in SETT occupations and to promote effective practices developed and modelled by organizations that “walk the walk.”
Through national and regional consultations with representatives of businesses, government, labour and non-governmental organizations, one theme that emerged was the essential role of recruitment, retention and promotion practices for women in the workplace.
What are some of the effective practices that strengthen the recruitment, retention and promotion of women? The following are key components of the more comprehensive diversity plans, which create a workplace culture that supports the full contributions of all employees, including women:
Family-friendly work policies: Modern careers, especially in science and technology fields, place high demands on employees’ time. And it is not news that women still hold the primary responsibility for many aspects of home life, especially related to children.
Family-related policies are critical to promoting a healthy work-life balance, and should be available to and taken up by men as well. In a supportive workplace culture, policies are not barriers to career continuity and advancement. Among the components of family-friendly initiatives are parental leave, child- and elder-care provisions, personal leave, recruitment policies that consider working partners of candidates, and workplace wellness.
Flex/alternative work arrangements: Such options can address issues related to caregiving or can provide time for professional or personal development. Alternative work arrangements are working well in large organizations, though there may be challenges among public-service providers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Adjustable work hours, telecommuting, part-time work and job-sharing are among the array of options.
Fair evaluation and equal opportunity for advancement: Progressive organizations ensure that criteria for promotion are clearly communicated to all employees and that evaluation procedures are free from systemic bias and are transparent. Professional development initiatives, identification of women with managerial/leadership potential, and provision of lateral work experience are other ways to advance career success for women.
Visibility of women in the organization: The visible leadership of women is key for both younger women and for men. Support for women in highly visible projects and recognition of the full range of women’s contributions to the organization are important.
Mentorship: Mentorship can significantly advance both women and men’s career success but attention needs to be given to effective implementation. Mentoring between longer serving and newer employees is also an effective way to deal with the loss of the knowledge of retiring employees. Networking opportunities can provide informal support and reduce isolation, particularly in settings where women are very much in the minority.
In addition to these initiatives, the advancement of women in SETT workplaces depends on leadership, commitment and accountability. Leadership is critical to effecting change to develop respectful workplaces and bring the values of diversity for everyone in the organization. Clear guidelines, transparency, public statements of commitment and support from the top, and accountability are essential. Other positive actions are increased communication between employees and management and provision of education for managers on inclusive workplace environments.
Carolyn Emerson, Hiromi Matsui and Lorraine Michael are principal contributors to The Report of Phase I of the Women in SETT Initiative, available at www.ccwestt.org. They may be contacted at [email protected].
The first, and most obvious, is there still remains considerable work to address entrenched beliefs about women’s abilities and women’s place in the SETT sectors. Summers, as has been widely reported, told an audience at an economic conference last month that “innate” differences between men and women may account for why women are so under-represented in science and math.
Coming from a senior academic administrator, those comments reveal that people in leadership positions still hold unsubstantiated views about science and gender. (He has since apologized for the remarks.) Small wonder that, at all stages of their careers, women in SETT occupations still encounter prejudices and outdated assumptions about what they can and can’t do.
But an equally important lesson in this story has to do with the widespread criticism of Summers’ remarks. Progress has been made in countering discriminatory attitudes about women. It has taken decades; it may yet take a few decades more.
Progress still slow
Given the current and imminent shortfall of workers in these sectors, however, the extent to which women are full contributors will make a difference in Canada’s competitiveness in the 21st-century economy.
Women make up almost half of the paid workforce in Canada, yet they still remain under-represented in SETT occupations. Despite various initiatives to increase women’s participation in such occupations, progress has been stalling or even reversing in some sectors.
For example, women comprise only nine per cent of professional engineers in Canada, and the enrolment of female undergraduates in engineering has levelled off at just more than 20 per cent over the last five years, even decreasing in some universities. The percentage of women undergraduates in computer science has plummeted from more than 30 per cent in the 1990s to about 15 per cent in the last few years.
The trades sectors, in particular, continue to see significantly low numbers of women participate. At the same time, the construction sector predicts a shortage of one million skilled workers over the next two decades. There is thus a critical opportunity to strengthen and mobilize a significant resource to strengthen Canada’s economy.
Fostering diversity at work
As a coalition of 24 groups working towards the full participation of women in SETT occupations, the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Technology and Trades (CCWESTT) has undertaken an initiative to identify the issues facing women in SETT occupations and to promote effective practices developed and modelled by organizations that “walk the walk.”
Through national and regional consultations with representatives of businesses, government, labour and non-governmental organizations, one theme that emerged was the essential role of recruitment, retention and promotion practices for women in the workplace.
What are some of the effective practices that strengthen the recruitment, retention and promotion of women? The following are key components of the more comprehensive diversity plans, which create a workplace culture that supports the full contributions of all employees, including women:
Family-friendly work policies: Modern careers, especially in science and technology fields, place high demands on employees’ time. And it is not news that women still hold the primary responsibility for many aspects of home life, especially related to children.
Family-related policies are critical to promoting a healthy work-life balance, and should be available to and taken up by men as well. In a supportive workplace culture, policies are not barriers to career continuity and advancement. Among the components of family-friendly initiatives are parental leave, child- and elder-care provisions, personal leave, recruitment policies that consider working partners of candidates, and workplace wellness.
Flex/alternative work arrangements: Such options can address issues related to caregiving or can provide time for professional or personal development. Alternative work arrangements are working well in large organizations, though there may be challenges among public-service providers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Adjustable work hours, telecommuting, part-time work and job-sharing are among the array of options.
Fair evaluation and equal opportunity for advancement: Progressive organizations ensure that criteria for promotion are clearly communicated to all employees and that evaluation procedures are free from systemic bias and are transparent. Professional development initiatives, identification of women with managerial/leadership potential, and provision of lateral work experience are other ways to advance career success for women.
Visibility of women in the organization: The visible leadership of women is key for both younger women and for men. Support for women in highly visible projects and recognition of the full range of women’s contributions to the organization are important.
Mentorship: Mentorship can significantly advance both women and men’s career success but attention needs to be given to effective implementation. Mentoring between longer serving and newer employees is also an effective way to deal with the loss of the knowledge of retiring employees. Networking opportunities can provide informal support and reduce isolation, particularly in settings where women are very much in the minority.
In addition to these initiatives, the advancement of women in SETT workplaces depends on leadership, commitment and accountability. Leadership is critical to effecting change to develop respectful workplaces and bring the values of diversity for everyone in the organization. Clear guidelines, transparency, public statements of commitment and support from the top, and accountability are essential. Other positive actions are increased communication between employees and management and provision of education for managers on inclusive workplace environments.
Carolyn Emerson, Hiromi Matsui and Lorraine Michael are principal contributors to The Report of Phase I of the Women in SETT Initiative, available at www.ccwestt.org. They may be contacted at [email protected].
| Mindset still a barrier By Uyen Vu As project director of the Hypatia Project, Nan Armour still battles the mindset, “It’s not a woman’s job.” Despite the progress women have made in the last few decades in school and at work, Armour said blinders, stereotypes and outdated assumptions continue to make it difficult for women to enter science, engineering, trades and technology (SETT). “The most persistent challenges still have to do with beliefs and attitudes about what constitutes women’s work. There’s still a belief out there that there are certain types of work that women don’t do. And some of these beliefs come from women themselves,” said Armour. Named after Hypatia of Alexandria, a female astronomer and mathematician in the 4th century B.C., the Hypatia Project is a non-profit effort to promote Nova Scotia women in science and technology. The project got its start six years ago with private-sector funding but has since secured enough public-sector funding to become a non-profit organization. “What the private sector was interested in was supporting our work with the schools,” said Armour. “They liked the idea of us working with teachers, but they were not exactly keen about us working in their own environment. And we found that the only way we could get funding to work with issues around employer culture and environment was to do it as a non-profit organization” with funding from various governmental sources. Given the tendency to pass the problem off as someone else’s — employers that finger colleges, schools that blame the lack of career potential — the Hypatia Project is a departure in that it examines barriers in four major institutions at once: the public school system, the post-secondary education system, the workplace and the community. Through focus groups and interviews, project members have identified problems and possible solutions that they’re compiling in a series of free resource books, one of which will be written for employers. One workplace that has worked with the Hypatia Project is the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, a Dartmouth, N.S.-based federal research centre employing 700 people. Sherry Niven, research manager and Hypatia Project co-ordinator for the institute, said the issue of female participation is more difficult to address in scientific work because “a lot of people say science is objective so it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman. There’s a lack of appreciation of the value of diversity.” The result is a subtle form of discrimination: an accumulation of oversights throughout a woman’s career. “You’re not invited to conferences or you don’t come to mind when organizers are putting things together. It’s a lot of subtle things.” |
