Date or referenceDate or reference

Women in North West Engineering Conference (WEWIN)

Manchester Museum of Science and Industry

Tuesday 5th Dec 2006

Date or reference

Women in North West Engineering

www.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin

Project Manager: Dr. Haifa Takruri-RizkResearch Fellow: Dr. Lisa Worrall

Research Assistant: Natalie SappletonResearch Assistant: Sunrita Dhar-Bhattacharjee Project Administration Co-ordinator: Rae Bezer

Project Funding: ESF 42.54%UoS 57.46%

3

Background

Methodology

Entry

Retention

Progression

Positive Action

Recommendations

Outline

4

WEWIN is a follow-up to the ‘Developing Female Engineers’ (DFE) project

Organisational cultures present a real barrier to female participation in

the industry

Inflexible work practices, lack of access to informal networks and the

long hours culture causes for women early exit

WEWIN aim and objectives

Examine, analyse and evaluate work-place practices and

organisational cultures in engineering industries in the North West

Make recommendations to enhance the participation of women in the

industry

Background

5

North West Region

http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/north-west-map.html

Background

6

North West Region

£98 billion economy 6.8 million people 230,000 firms

The region is growing faster than the England average: 18% GVA (Grosse value added) growth compared to England average of

16% 5% growth in no.of firms compared to the England average of 3% 5% growth in no.of employees compared to the England average of 2% 3% growth in employment rate compared to the England average of 0%

Engineering and other manufacturing industries: Employ more than half a million people in the region Contribute over 25% of the region’s GDP (gross domestic product)

North West Regional Economic Strategy 2006 Report

Background

7

ESF Priorities for the North West Region – Objective 3

1. Active labour market policies

2. Equal opportunities for all and promoting social inclusion

3. Lifelong learning

4. Adaptability and entrepreneurship

5. Improving the participation of women in the labour

market

Background

ESF NW Regional Development Plan

8

Literature Review

Mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection

Online and paper questionnaires

Semi-structured Interviews

Focus groups

Data analysis

Methodology

9

Literature Review

Barriers to women’s participation in the engineering

industry are categorised into:

Specific discriminatory practices

Discrete cultural barriers = 'gender subtext of

organisations’

Methodology

Acker, 1990; 1992; Tienari et al, 2002)

10

Gender subtext of organisations

Benschop and Doorewaard categorised gender subtexts into:

Structural - composition of work, the allocation of tasks and

the division of labour

Cultural - implicit rules and regulations and underlying

customs and conventions of the organisation

Interactional - expressed in the sex division of labour in the

organisation

Identity - personal gender and professional identities (Benschop and Doorewaard, 1998)

Methodology

11

Questionnaires

Employees Employee details and nature of work Equal opportunities and diversity perception Perception of the company and own priorities Image of engineering and gender segregation issues

Managers/Directors Equal opportunities, diversity policies and practices Work practices addressing flexible working, retention and return rates

of employees and health and safety issues Image of engineering and gender segregation

Methodology

12

Respondents

Analysis based on the following:

166 valid Employee questionnaires (78 female, 88

male)

22 valid Managerial questionnaires (9 female,13 male)

6 Focus Groups (19 Male & 13 Female)

13 Employee Interviews (12 Female, 1 male)

13 Managerial Interviews (8 Female, 5 male)

Methodology

13

Female

Employees

40 (51.28%), 31-45 yrs

20 (25.64%), 26-30 yrs

13 (16.67%), 18-25 yrs

5 (6.41%), +45 yrs

Managers

7 (77.78%), 31-45 yrs

2 (22.22%), 18-25 yrs

Male

Employees

50 (56.82%), 31-45 yrs

22 (25%), +45 yrs

9 (10.23%), 25-28 yrs

7 (7.95%), 26-30 yrs

Managers

6 (46.15%), 31-45 yrs

6 (46.15%), +45 yrs

1 (7.70%), 26-30 yrs

Questionnaires Respondents – Age Profile

Methodology

14

0

5

10

15

20

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 6 3 3 5 10 3

Male 11 2 5 2 18 7

Family Friends/PeersCareers Adviser

Teachers advice

No One Other

Who influenced your career choice?

NB: Response of Likert category (1= Lowest importance – 5= Highest importance , 6- Other)The graph shows only responses to category 5

Entry

15

Family (Positive) / Career Advisor (Negative)

“I’ve just always tinkered. I was one of those girls who was always in the garage with my Dad messing rather than in the kitchen with my Mum cooking and I just naturally was better at my Sciences and my Maths than I was at my English. My Dad is an Engineer so I’d got some idea of what it entailed but when I came to actually talk to my Careers Advisor he actually put me off. He actually said, ‘What on earth do you want to go and do Engineering for?’”

(Female Focus Group member, 26-30yrs )

Entry

16

Career Teacher (Negative)

“…I went to see the careers teacher and she said, ‘Don’t you know what you want to do?’ and at the time I was…and she said, ‘Well have you considered being a nursery nurse?’ and I thought ‘Right’…”.

(Female, 26-30yrs)

Entry

17NB: Respondents could choose more than one option to describe their company

Employee Company Category

0

10

20

30

40

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 38 32 19 15 15 13 10 8 5

Male 18 19 24 10 14 11 10 8 5

CivilConsultan

Manufactu

OtherStructural

Environme

Chemical

Electronics

Mechanica

Entry

18

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 4 17 19 37 18

Male 5 9 19 26 36

1 2 3 4 5

NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree )

My company operates transparency in job recruitment processes

Entry

19

Gender Discrimination

“They did actually say outright ‘you… sort of… child-bearing age. Are we going to train you up to find out that you’re just going to have a baby on us and not come back?’. I was mortified; I couldn’t believe they would actually ask me…

I lied …I just told them what they wanted to hear to get a place, and then thought, ‘I’ll sort out my personal life once I’ve got my career sorted’.”

(Female, 31-45 yrs)

Entry

20

Key Findings Many respondents stated ‘no one’ influenced their career

choice

Family members raise aspirations

Careers Teachers ignorance of engineering careers

Biased training and entry facilitation for males in the

industry

Little evidence of gender discrimination in recruitment at

organisational level

Entry

21

More Findings

Lack of ‘real world’ content in engineering studies

Many women entered the industry via a non-traditional route

More women engineers have a masters degree than men

More women than men agreed that engineering is old

fashioned

Entry

22

0

20

40

60

80

100

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 77 10 4 29 4 4

Male 88 0 9 11 2 3

Full Part Consul Perma Fixed- Self

Work Arrangements

Retention

23

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

NB: Response of Likert category (1=Strongly disagree, 5= Strongly agree, 6-N/A)

My colleagues and managers value part-time positions as highly as full-time positions

Retention

24

Flexible Working

“I work flexible hours….pretty much you can work the hours you want, so long as they are not ridiculous. Lots of people come in at seven and leave at three or four, things like that”.

(Male engineer, 26-30 yrs)

“…It depends on who your boss is as to how well you can fit your family life in…”

(Female engineer, +45 yrs)

Retention

25

Age Group: 1=18-25 yrs, 2=26-30 yrs, 3=31-45 yrs 4=+45 yrs

Salary Scale: 1=Up to £20K, 2=£20-29K, 3=£30-39K, 4=£40-49K, 5=£50-59K, 6=£60K and over

Age, Gender and Salary

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

18-25 yrs (F)

18-25 yrs (M)

26-30 yrs (F)

26-30 yrs (M)

31-45 yrs (F)

31-45yrs (M)

45 yrs and over (F)

45 yrs and over (M)

Salary Range

1

2

3

4

5

6

Retention

26

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

% o

f R

es

po

nd

en

ts b

y G

en

de

r

Female

Male

Female 56 11 0 22 11

Male 46 0 38 0 8

In the industry Your Company Neither Both Other

Is there a Gender Pay Gap? – Managers View

NB: Respondents could choose more than one answer

Retention

27

Gender Pay Gap“You get your pay review every…it’s supposed to be every

winter but they’ve already decided how much you’re getting

before you have your review so there’s not much point …but

I know when I was a contractor before, I got paid about £3

an hour less than the men…doing exactly the same

thing…the same agency as everybody else”.

(Female engineer 26-30 yrs)

Retention

28

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% o

f R

es

po

nd

en

ts b

y G

en

de

r

Female

Male

Female 10 44 44

Male 10 72 15

No Yes Don't Know

My company operates Equal Pay Reviews – Employees

(NB: Equal pay for equal value work)

Retention

29

Have you heard of or used the following work-life balance policies (respondents with children)?

0

5

10

15

20

% of

Res

pond

ents

by G

ende

r

Female

Male

Female 6 4 17 0 10 8 10 3 10 12 14 0

Male 11 2 15 1 9 1 14 0 14 2 13 3

Childcare (H)

Childcare (U)

Job Share (H)

Job Share (U)

P-T (H) P=T (U)Returners

(H)Returners

(U)Maternity

(H)Maternity

(U)Paternity

(H)Paternity

(U)

Retention

30

Need for returners scheme

“What I would have liked at the time was a bit more

support…the ability to have gone back perhaps later on to

the same company…if they had offered me the chance to

have nine or twelve months off and then go back part-time I

might well have done that instead of having a career break

of 10 years where I didn’t do any engineering work…”

(Female engineer, 31-45 yrs)

Retention

31

0

20

40

60

80

% o

f Res

pond

ents

by

Gen

der

Female

Male

Female 50 44 6

Male 76 18 6

No Yes No Response

Awareness of bullying, discrimination and harassment within company - Employees

Retention

32

Sexual Harassment?

“…a friend of mine brought up a complaint against him because she was bending over and he slapped her on the arse.  So she went and complained to a senior female engineer in the office, who thought it was outrageous, and went to the regional director and they discussed it.  And the regional director wasn’t particularly, she felt concerned in the way that this female engineer was, but in the end… a member of staff in personnel did come down from … and interviews were given.  But the case wasn’t taken any further because it would mean disciplinary action, or an investigation into him.  But he was severely told off.” 

(Female engineer, 26-30 yrs)

Retention

33

0

10

20

30

40

50

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 36 22 25 24 19

Male 43 25 19 19 22

Better Pay Promotion Convenient hours Flexi TimeFurther career

eng

Motivating Factors for Retention - Employees

NB: Based on Likert category 5 ‘Very important’

Retention

34

NB: There were low numbers of responses from managers/directors of category 5, therefore the top five of category 4 ‘important’ were given

Motivating Factors for Retention - Managers

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 56 56 56 44 44

Male 54 46 31 38 31

Promotion Better Pay Furth Car engFurth Car Non

EngConv Hrs

Retention

35

Key Findings

Male and female engineers agreed on better pay as the

dominant factor for retention

Managers/directors thought promotion is the dominant

factor

Gender pay gap exists

a major contributor to females early exit

Women ‘peak’ in their salary scale opportunities in the

range of 31-45yrs

Retention

36

Key Findings

Gender disagreement on the issue of gender pay gap

existence Few women are aware of equal pay reviews compared to

men

Part-time work is under-valued

Bullying, discrimination and harassment still occurs

Lack of support of returners’ schemes – link to `

Flexible working helps to retain female engineers

Retention

37

0

20

40

60

80

100

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 22 78

Male 15 85

No Yes

My company operates Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Progression

38

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2 3 4 5

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree, 6-N/A)

People in relatively senior positions tend to be men

Progression

39

“What I can say some of my male colleagues…just as experienced as I was were promoted months ahead of the time that I was… I don’t know whether that was down to gender or todepartmental budgets…”

(Female engineer, 31-45yrs)

Gender Discrimination?

Progression

40NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree ,6-N/A)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2 3 4 5 6

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female Managers are as effective as male managers

Progression

41

Perception of female managers

“If you had more women in it then there’d be the chance but the problem is in order for the women to get to the top they have to behave like men to get there. 

Like Margaret Thatcher … Margaret Thatcher was the worse thing for women in power because she behaved like a man.”

(Female Engineer, +45 yrs)

Progression

42

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1 2 3 4 5 6

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

NB: Response of Likert category (1= Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree ,6-N/A)

Women have to achieve more than men to receive the same degree of recognition

Progression

43

Self Promotion

“…You will need to be better than your men and you also, I think one of the pieces that I suggest should be incorporated which goes back to my assertiveness, is that women are reluctant in that environment were the fact is you will need to excel the other part of that is you need to tell people that you’re better, right?....one piece of advice is that women need to be shown that it is okay to blow your own trumpet which is what men would do”.

(Female engineer, +45 yrs)

Progression

44

Mentoring & support networks

0

20

40

60

80

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 14 74 12

Male 10 74 14

No Yes Don't Know

Progression

45

Benefit of Mentoring

“I had a… mentor who was quite a high level female engineer in the company who I looked up to and respected because she’d worked her way from being a chemical engineer all the way up the ranks and was in a position where I admired and I would like to get to one day in my career, …I think it’s so valuable for people to have guidance out of their line-management, somebody who is totally independent who they can go and talk to; who understands how to get the best out of people, how to question them, how to make them question decisions they’ve made personally…she helped me be able to do that; built my confidence and built my self-esteem and that I then took forward into the position that I’m in at the moment. Without that guidance, I don’t think I’d have got to the position I am today.”

(Female, Training Manager)

Progression

46

Key Findings

Little evidence of gender discrimination in the provision of

training

Vertical segregation persists in engineering industries

Stereotyped view of female engineering managers

Impact of mentoring on the development of women goes

unrecognised

Progression

47

Initiatives to counteract the effects of past discrimination

Permitted by law under sections 47 and 48 of the Sex

Discrimination Act (SDA) 1974 (amended 1986).

Positive Action vs Positive Discrimination

Positive discrimination describes discriminating in favour of a

certain group.

The SDA forbids employers to recruit or promote on the basis

of individual’s gender

Positive Action

48

Positive Action

NB: Response of Likert category (1=Strongly disagree – 5= Strongly agree)

The Company has actively promoted policies to facilitate women’s representation in the Company

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts b

y G

end

er

Female

Male

Female 22 28 23 9 9

Male 10 13 22 26 18

1 2 3 4 5

49

No to Positive Discrimination

“I don’t believe you should push women into engineering just because there aren’t that many women in engineering… you should just be capable of doing the job and it doesn’t matter who you are…

I certainly wouldn’t want to do a role… if I was only appointed to it because I was a woman”

(Female, 31-45 yrs)

Positive Action

50

What Can the Industry Do?

Employers

Adapt working environment and employment practices Flexible working

Well being and work-life Balance

Career development programmes and salary schemes

Employee surveys

Exit interviews

Professional bodies

Monitor activities of membership and share good practice

Employees

Know your statutory rights (http://www.direct.gov.uk)

Explore varied employment avenues

51

Disseminate WEWIN findings

Talk to employers

www.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin

Present and publish papers

Women in Audio Visual Engineering (WAVE) is

our next ESF funded project

The way forward

52

“I’m glad I did what I did. It was really worth the hard work and it makes you feel as though you’ve achieved something in your life.”

(Female, +45 yrs)

WEWIN

53

Acker, Joan (1990); “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered

Organizations”; Gender and Society, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 139-158

Acker, Joan (1992a); Gendering Organisational Theory, in Mills, A.J; and Tancred,

P (eds.), Gendering Organisational Analysis, London, Sage, pp. 248-60

Benschop, Yvonne and Doorewaard, Hans (1998); “Six of One and Half a Dozen

of the Other: The Gender Subtext of Taylorism and Team-based Work”, Gender,

Work and Organisation, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 5-18

http://www.salford.gov.uk/living/regeneration/fundingprogrammes/erdf.htm

North West Regional Economic Strategy 2006 Report - http://www.nwda.co.uk/

North West Region map, available at:

http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/north-west-map.html Tienari, Janne; Quack, Sigrid and Theobald, Hildegard (2002); “Organizational

Reforms, ‘Ideal Workers’ and Gender Orders: A Cross-Societal Comparison”;

Organization Studies; Vol. 23, No. 2; pp. 249-279

References

Date or reference

Women in North West Engineering

WEWIN Conference 5thDecember2006

Any Questions?

55

Project Manager: Dr. Haifa Takruri-RizkH.Takruri-Rizk@salford.ac.uk

Research Fellow: Dr. Lisa Worralll.j.worrall@salford.ac.uk

Research Assistant: Natalie Sappletonn.sappleton@salford.ac.uk

Research Assistant: Sunrita Dhar-Bhattacharjee s.bhattacharjee@salford.ac.uk

Project Administration Co-ordinator: Rae Bezerr.l.bezer@salford.ac.uk

www.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin

Thank You