Women Scientists and Engineers Employed in Industry Why So Few? (1994) / Chapter Skim
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2 Barriers for Women in Corporate Culture
2 Barriers for Women in Corporate Culture
Pages 17-50
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From page 17... ...
Conference participants identified a number of underlying causes of this apparent inhospitable climate for women. Barriers that inhibit progress for women scientists and engineers in industry were found at every stage of career development: .
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While some programs have been effective, yielding significant progress in recent years, barriers that limit access to industry jobs for women remain. The rapidly changing work environment in corporations today, coupled with internal competition for head count (i.e., full-time employees)
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9 Rosemary E Chang, member of the technical staff at Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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As they enthusiastically discuss their work, they also share with us the difficult working conditions they encounter." Among the working conditions reported by Catalyst as inhibiting female engineers' productivity and retarding the development of their full potential and supported in statements by both engineers and scientists at the CWSE-sponsored conference were paternalism, sexual harassment, and the pressures associated with peers' allegations of reverse 'I Catalyst is a nonprofit organization that works with businesses to effect change for women through research and advisory services and communication. " In this referenced study, focus groups of human resource professionals were convened to guide the lines of inquiry.
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For example, it was noted at the CWSE conference that some people still treat women geoscientists as though they, more so than male geoscientists, must be protected from the stresses and dangers associated with certain geoscience work particularly fieldwork involving mines or ocean-going vessels. Despite the fact that women are willing to take the necessary physical risks or make sacrifices to gain work experience, they are often not offered the opportunity.
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They felt unable to develop their own identities and maturity In the workplace. |3 Deborah Celentano Gerber, presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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Sexual Harassment As noted by Hughes and Sandler, women in nontraditional fields, which include engineering and most fields of science, are among the four groups of women especially vulnerable to sexual harassment "because they may be perceived as 'barging into' an area where women 'don't belong' and should not be in competition with men for jobs.~S Minonty women entering science and engineering (S&E) jobs in industry, it was also pointed out to the Committee, are frequently seen as Economic competitors, new on the scene, highly visible, but not of the 'in' grouper Because, as recently as is Jean O
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H ig Different Standards In "A Study of Occupational Departure of Employees in the Natural Sciences and Engineering, Anne Preston found only isolated instances of 1993. t6 Marion Yuen, director of advisory services at Catalyst, presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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Both men and women at the CWSE conference said that men are often quick to challenge the findings of their female colleagues; it was also pointed out that women may be more sensitive to challenges by their ~9 Anne Preston, "A Study of Occupational Departure of Employees in the Natural Sciences and Engineering," presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993. ~ Deborah Celentano Gerber was the first speaker at the CWSE conference to present this information, based on a survey she conducted with a number of women graduates of the Cornell University School of Engineering.
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A woman, by contrast, may interpret the phrase to mean the boss has no positive feelings about the issue: he is neither enthusiastic nor supportive, and therefore she should not proceed.2t 2' Rae An HaHstrom, presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993. See also, Norma Peterson, How do women manage?
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One Hispanic scientist attending the CWSE conference noted that, in her family, A woman's education was not as highly valued as a man's because men are supposed to be the breadwinners. Girls are raised with a different perspective and different role 22 Sheila Tobias, a researcher who has contrasted the educational experiences of women and men, comments during the session on women in management, CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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Moreover, women scientists and engineers in industrial jobs are both more likely to leave technical occupations and more likely to leave the labor force altogether than women employed in other sectors. In this section we review additional data on retentions for women 23 Among the studies that provided data on retention for the conference were those conducted by Anne Preston and Nancy DiTomaso.
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Farris, and Rene Cordero, Women Scientists and Engineers: Gender Differences and a Model of SelfAssessment,~ presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993)
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.......................................................... 1 i: o 6(j~,~ ~,~.~ ~ SOURCE: Anne Preston, HA Study of Occupational Departure of Employees in the Natural Sciences and Engineering, CWSE conference, Inrine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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Jackman, "A Glassbreakers' Guide to the Ceiling,. presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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27 See Lean Nathans Spiro, The angry voices at Kidder, Business Week, February 1, 1993, pp. 60~3; Ceil Moran Pillsbury, Liza Capozzoli, and Amy Ciampa, A synthesis of research studies regarding the upward mobility of women in public accounting, Accounting Horizons, March 1989, pp.
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Each time that happens, the management gains added confidence in giving the next person a chance at a demanding assignment.3i The formal presentations and discussions at the CWSE conference revealed a variety of business and personal reasons for women scientists 28 Betty M Vetter, Scientific and Engineering Manpower Comments, 27~8)
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Other conference participants agreed with Cynthia Martine, a Native American engineer employed at Eastman Kodak Company: "It is to your advantage to move around [in a company] so that you can gain experience from all sides of the business." However, lateral moves may be perceived by women as risky, particularly since women's reputations are often not as portable as men's.32 According to a microbiologist attending the CWSE conference, promotion was almost always bestowed on those who had taken lateral transfers, but some women do not seem to be comfortable with that strategy.
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In general, however, the highest level that most female engineers reached was the third or the fourth level beyond entry level. Interestingly, even in companies where there were women in top management positions, some female engineers still felt they were stuck at the third or fourth level beyond entry level.34 Preliminary findings from a Families and Work Institute (F WI)
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SOURCE: Arlene Johnson, Barriers and Opportunities for Women Scientists and Engineers in the Pharmaceutical and Automotive Industries,. CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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, women in the FWI stud~with the exception of the late-career group were quite complimentary toward their companies. Of the mid-career group of women, only 20 percent thought they had equal opportunity, but 68 percent said the company was a good one for women and minorities.
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In 1990, the median annual salary for women who had received S&E bachelor's degrees in 1988 or 1989 was $21,000, about 73 percent of the $29,500 median salary of men. For recent master's S&E degree recipients in 1990 (degree granted in 1988 or 1989)
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, based on gender, continued: women holding bachelor's degrees in S&E disciplines earned salaries larger than those of their male counterparts, on average, in only chemical, mechanical, and petroleum engineering; at the master's level, the average salaries of women exceeded those of men only in the social sciences and in civil, industrial, and materials engineering [National Science Board, Science & Engineering Indicators: 1991 (NSB 91-1) , Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, Appendix Tables 3-5 and 3~.
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Comparable salaries for white women engineers and black women engineers were S34,300 and $32,900, respectively. At the doctoral level in 1989, Asian women again had the highest median salaries S45, 800 compared with $44,700 for white women, $44,400 for black women, and $43,500 for Native American women.
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As is reported in all employment sectors, conference participants cited family issues, particularly motherhood, as a major reason that in industry women are not promoted as often as men. One conference presenter defined "a mother's dilemmas: how to continue working at the exciting career she's trained for while also wanting and/or needing to spend time with her children, whether they are toddlers or teenagers, without being drop-kicked out of the race to advance and into the dead-end career zone at work.45 Other conference participants agreed that, once a woman becomes a mother, 44 Jacqueline Akinpelu, presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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You have to be careful not to advance so far, and then get knocked out of consideration because of having children. This confirms findings of a recent international study by Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn, economists at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Only the United States fails to guarantee the right to maternity leave beyond the period of actual disability.
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Under the rules, a qualifying illness is any physical or mental ailment involving an overnight hospital stay or a three-day absence from work combined with continuing treatment or supervision by a doctor or other health-care professional. Also covered is any chronic condition that requires continuing medical treatment and would incapacitate the person for more than three days if left untreated.
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Fams, and Rene Cordero, "Women Scientists and Engineers: Gender Differences and a Model of SelfAssessment,~ presentation at the CWSE conference, Irvine, CA, January 17, 1993.
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What is striking is that the men and women of the sample were at much the same stages of their careers, were almost the same age, and had similar experience levels.52 An examination of the employment status of men and women in that study reveals a big difference between how men and women deal with family issues. Fourteen percent of the women were working part-time; only 1 percent of the men were.
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In any case, Preston's research found that, when these barriers begin to influence negatively the women's lives, they often leave the labor force for a while. When they return to industrial employment, it is often difficult to return to science and engineering, which have progressed in their absence; they begin new occupations.S3 To prevent the collision of family and job commitments, women long for more flexibility.
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Moving to industry, as they perceived it coming out of graduate school, meant taking a less prestigious job.Sg Many companies take pride in employing multiple members of the same family. However, several conference participants reported that other companies still will not hire two people from the same family.
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It is potentially as stressful for men, reported a male scientist. However, one female scientist at the conference felt that, in order to balance career and family issues effectively, Women must retain responsibility for managing their own expectations and definitions of success.
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inherently valid or invalid about the way companies or businesses are organized and operate; policies take on a life of their own, and because they exist, they appear to be valid. A solution for this problem, according to Strober and Jackman, would be to provide feedback to all executives, who are often the defenders of these patterns and policies.60 They could be informed of policies that undermine the capacity of women to function and to advance in the organization and of the losses to the company of employees who have the intelligence and skills to do the job but whose efforts and career paths have been hindered.
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::: .: :: ~:~ ~ - ~ ~ ~ - ~ . ~ - ~:~:~ Sue Stuber, manager of the Large Area Silicon Array Prototyping Group at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, inspects silicon wafers for defects.
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