11–13 November 2013 Engineering Diversity within Leadership Page 1 Sponsored by Engineering...

11–13 November 2013

Engineering Diversity within Leadership

Sponsored by


Betty Shanahan, CAE, F.SWEExecutive Director & CEO

Society of Women Engineers



Sponsored by

Agenda

• Personal and SWE introduction• SWE’s business case for diversity• Cultural Competence• What does “diversity” mean: Integrating gender

and racial/cultural inclusion into all we do with awareness and assessment.

• Do you think your organization is diverse?• Your business case for diversity.• 4Δ



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Acknowledgements

• National Science Foundation• Dr. Ruta Sevo

– Bias literacy content– Detailed bibliography

• Numerous studies and researchers

• Gender-heavy focus, but concepts extend to all under-represented populations



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Personal Assessment:Evaluate your ability to

• Identify bias in the organization and practices of your society

• Create/enhance initiatives that are culturally and gender inclusive

• Find literature on proven practices• Evaluate an assessment plan for outreach

activities



Sponsored by

Personal AssessmentHow often do you:

• Review the integration of diversity into all activities of your organization

• Review websites, publications and promotional materials to make sure that the images and messages are diverse

• Seek out diverse candidates for society offices and committees and volunteer opportunities

• Correct exclusionary activities or actions when they become apparent

• Include discussions of diversity on planning and organizational initiatives and discussions



Sponsored by

The Society of Women Engineers

• Founded in 1950, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women.

• SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and receive the recognition and credit for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.



Sponsored by

SWE Business Case for Diversity

SWE’s success in advancing our mission is inextricably linked to diversity.

Fully utilizing the perspectives, talents, and participation of SWE’s diverse membership is central to successfully

serving our stakeholders(members, partners, and public)

and developing the best products(leaders, programs, conferences, publications).



Sponsored by

CULTURAL COMPETENCE



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Cultural Competence

• The word culture is used because it implies the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group.

• The word competence is used because it implies having the capacity to function effectively.

Cultural competence is a developmental process that evolves over an extended period. Both individuals and organizations are at various levels of awareness, knowledge and skills along the cultural competence continuum.



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Elements of Cultural Competence

• Five essential elements contribute to an organization’s ability to become more culturally competent which include:– Valuing diversity

– Having the capacity for cultural self-assessment

– Being conscious of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact

– Having institutionalized culture knowledge

– Having developed adaptations to service delivery reflecting an understanding of cultural diversity

• Requires that an organization– Have a defined, congruent set of values and principles and

– Demonstrate behaviors, attitudes, policies, structures and practices that enable them to work effectively cross-culturally



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WHAT DOES “DIVERSITY” MEAN?WHAT DOES “INCLUSION” MEAN?AWARENESS AND ASSESSMENT



Sponsored by

American Indian/Alaska Native W

White W

Asian/Pacific Islander W

Black W Hispanic W

Other WAmerican Indian/Alaska

Native M

Asian/Pacific Islander M

Black M

Hispanic M

Other M

Temp resident WTemp resident M

White M

2009 BS in Engineering & Technology

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. 2011. Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2011.

Special Report NSF 11-309. Arlington, VA. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/.

All are US citizens or permanent residents unless labeled “Temp resident”

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/



Sponsored by

We argue for change…

• Be fair, let everyone play• Get more people in S&E and be more competitive• Be smart and use untapped talent

• BUT many believe:– We are fair– Everybody who wants to get in, can get in– Our systems for recruitment get the best & the willing– Science and engineering are meritocracies where

individuals are judged by their work



Sponsored by

A Perfect World

We recognize differences in appearance, personal style, life experience

We respect difference in preferences that are not destructive to us and are not relevant to the job

We do not reduce an individual to his or her group

We do not project negative assumptions about the group onto the individual



Sponsored by

America's Core Values

“… all men are created equal.”

- Declaration of Independence, 1776



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Laws that elaborate:

• Equal Pay Act of 1963 – abolishes differential pay based on sex

• Civil Rights Act of 1964 – outlaws racial segregation in schools & discrimination in employment; est. EEOC

• Title IX 1972 – any educational program receiving Federal funds may not discriminate based on sex

• Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 – bars discrimination in employment based on disability

• Civil Rights Act of 1991 – strengthens 1964; Glass Ceiling Commission



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Tradition versus Illegal Bias

• Traditionally, women and people of color were excluded from higher education and jobs in the US

• LAWS were introduced as social values and practice changed (e.g., slavery, right to vote)

• Tradition is deep; laws and behavior may be inconsistent

• Illegal = pattern of exclusion adding up to measureable discrimination



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Illusion of Inclusion

• It appears that women are both better represented among engineers and more integrated into the profession of engineering than is in fact the case

• “A little visibility goes a long way.” The presence of a few women engineers is interpreted as an indicator that women are an integral part of the engineering profession.

• The unwarranted assumption that academic degrees, professional certificates, and professional society membership are synonymous with inclusion.

• Women are often relegated to the “outer circle”– Number/% of positions of control of resources and make decisions

– Number /% of position of membership in honorific societies and professional prize recipients



Sponsored by

“I believe that in no case was this discrimination conscious or deliberate. Indeed, it was usually

totally unconscious and unknowing. Nevertheless, the effects were and are real.”

Dean Robert J. Birgeneau’s introductory commentsMIT Report on the Status of Women (Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, 1999)



Sponsored by

WHY???



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Gender Schema Theory

• Everyone has unconscious beliefs about girls and boys, men and women

• We over-rate men, under-rate women• Men are taller, more capable, more

independent, more rational, leaders• Women (regardless) are shorter, less capable,

followers, nurturing, expressive, caring• = “Our schema for males is a better fit for

professional success”



Sponsored by

Stereotypes Create Flawed Judgments about Men and Women Leaders

• Analysis of numerous studies show that women and men lead in similar ways; YET Catalyst finds that senior managers perceive differences in women’s and men’s leadership

• Study asked senior managers to rate women and men on ten essential leadership behaviors:– Supporting

– Rewarding

– Mentoring

– Networking

– Consulting

– Team-Building– Inspiring– Problem-Solving– Influencing Upward– Delegating



Sponsored by

Stereotyping May Make the Demands of Leadership Greater for Women than Men

• Senior managers cast women as better at stereotypically feminine “caretaking” skills such as supporting and rewarding.

• They cast men better at “taking charge” skills such as influencing and delegating.

• Male respondents estimated that 80% of men leaders were effective at problem solving, but estimated that 67% of women leaders were effective problem-solvers.

• Instead of using their time to solve problems and make decisions, women must devote energy to proving themselves against the stereotypes.



Sponsored by

Accumulated Advantage

• Small advantages or disadvantages cumulate over time and add up to larger advantage/disadvantage In a hypothetical organization of 8 levels, a 1% advantage for

men yields 65% men at top

• Small disadvantages are important– assignments, attention, encouragement, financial support, – evaluations, promotion, advancement, recognition, skills

training, – peer network, mentoring, salary, status

• “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer”



Sponsored by

Stereotype Threat

• An individual who is negatively stereotyped for an activity is likely to perform worse than they are capable, for that activity

• Examples:– Women or men and mathematics test

– African Americans and IQ test

– Elderly and memory test



Sponsored by

Reducing the Effect of Stereotype Threat

• Strong optimistic & non-judgmental relationship with teacher

• Awareness of positive (high performing) role models

• Self-affirmation and sense of adequacy• Awareness of the threat => inoculation



Sponsored by

Implicit Bias Theory

• People are unwilling to admit bias, or, it is unconscious

• An online test uncovers unconscious bias• Premise:

– Associations with “young” and “old,” or “white” and “black”, and “science” or “liberal arts” and men/women – are made faster due to unconscious thinking and preferences – they are more “automatic”

– If you measure the TIME it takes to make associations, in milliseconds, you capture implicit bias and unconscious schemas



Sponsored by

Implicit Bias Theory

Project Implicit. Harvard University (2007)

https://implicit.harvard.edu



Sponsored by

Better

Outcomes

“Progress And Innovation Depend upon Leveraging Differences”

Diverse

Perspectives

Identity,

Training,

Experiential

Diversity

Scott Page, PhD, University of Michigan



Sponsored by

Developing a Culture of Assessment

• Assessment is the foundation of effective program development and delivery, and includes– Developing objectives that are based upon

organizational missions and are based on research and best practices

– Gathering data to determine the extent to which your activity has met the goal and objectives you define

– Using the data to evaluate program effectiveness and reporting results to stakeholders



Sponsored by

Example: Common Practices in Engineering Outreach

• Society outreach staff and volunteers operate in a lean, sometimes marginalized environment– Focus necessarily on delivery of current programming

– Value of effective outreach to Societies not well-articulated

– Outreach not defined or treated as key to Society mission

– Outreach staff and volunteers are judged by quantity (number or activities or participants) of offerings rather than quality of offerings (did they achieve the goal?)

– Program design driven by fund raising (i.e. sponsors want types of activities not necessarily relevant to Society mission and goals

• Outreach design based on tradition, personal experience, beliefs

• Outreach seen as a leadership service to members rather than recruiting tool to bring kids into engineering



Sponsored by

Codes, Technology & Blueprint:

Define goal; Read up - Know literature, best practices

BetterModel for

Assessment

AWEonline.org Copyright 2011



Sponsored by

SWE’S APPROACH



Sponsored by

“We must become the change we wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

• Realizing an inclusive SWE that – Thrives through the talents of all people who support women in engineering– Offers the benefits of SWE to all women in engineering and technology– Reaches out to all communities to establish engineering as a desirable career aspiration for all

girls• Realizing an inclusive SWE requires

– Full commitment from everyone in formal and informal leadership, starting with the Board of Directors

– Actions to reflect the commitment throughout SWE– Awareness of opportunities for fostering inclusion and the intentional and unintentional

behaviors that are exclusionary– Honoring our legacy as a leader in diversity in the profession and the community

• SWE BOD is ultimately accountable for– Removing structural and attitudinal obstacles that deter any member or potential member from

fully valuing and ultimately increasing her participation in SWE– Identifying and nurturing all talent in SWE– Creating opportunities and communications to build awareness – Developing the framework to deliver results



Sponsored by

Approach

• Partner with champions throughout the Society: the BOD, National Committees, COR, Regions, Sections and MAL leadership

• Focus on four pillars– Communications: Deliver inclusion message throughout the

Society and the stakeholders in SWE. Owned by HQ. – Pipeline: Identify, mentor and support potential and rising

leaders in SWE. Owned by Regions.– Accountability: Set overall expectations and continually monitor

the Society’s progress. Owned by BOD.– Leadership Training: Train leadership to advance diversity and

inclusion in the Society. Owned by BOD.



Sponsored by

SWE Values

• Integrity: We aspire to the highest level of ethical behavior as evidenced by honesty and dignity in our personal and professional relationships and responsibilities.

• Inclusive Environment: We embrace diversity in its broadest interpretation and commit to creating an inclusive environment for all our members and stakeholders. We value the contributions of a diverse membership, which enables SWE to achieve its full potential.

• Mutual Support: We provide an organization that fosters mentoring, and the development of professional and personal networks.

• Professional Excellence: We conduct our activities in a professional manner, demonstrating and demanding the highest standards of business practices.

• Trust: We share a common definition of success with open, transparent access to common information, building mutual respect and confidence in the competence of those with whom we lead, serve and partner with.



Sponsored by

SWE’s Diversity PrinciplesAt SWE, we acknowledge and respect the value of a diverse community. We recognize that the scope of diversity includes race/ethnicity, family status, age, physical abilities, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and occupational focus. Our society will maintain an environment that is supportive of these elements, and we will promote inclusion within our organization and the engineering community.

We Commit to:

• Developing women in engineering across socio-economic strata and occupational focus.

• Encouraging the interest and active participation of women and girls of under-represented ethnic groups, including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans.

• Providing support to women which acknowledges and respects differences in family status, sexual orientation, age, and physical abilities.

We will ensure that all bylaws, policies and charters support SWE's commitment to diversity. We will align with and participate in those activities and organizations that encourage all dimensions of diversity.

Consideration of these and other elements of diversity will guide the statements and activities of the Society. Nothing in this statement is intended or shall be construed to unlawfully deprive any person of his or her educational and employment opportunities, compensation, and/or benefits.



Sponsored by

Diversity is Our Strength Authenticity

• Women of courage and vision founded the Society of Women Engineers.

These trailblazers nurtured an organization that empowers women engineers

to advance and succeed. Their legacy is an organization where all women in

engineering and technology bring their unique contributions and authentic

views.

Inclusion

• SWE is an inclusive organization where all members advance personally and

professionally. SWE establishes engineering as a desirable career aspiration

for all women and recognizes all women for their contributions as engineers

and leaders.

Thought Leadership

• Diverse perspectives fuel innovation and creativity. By employing our rich

diversity to drive our decision-making, SWE benefits each member and the

entire engineering profession.



Sponsored by

Society Leadership & Cultural Competence Elements

• Valuing diversity

• Having the capacity for cultural self-assessment

• Being conscious of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact

• Having institutionalized culture knowledge

• Having developed adaptations to service delivery reflecting an understanding of cultural diversity

11–13 November 2013 Engineering Diversity within Leadership Page 1 Sponsored by Engineering...

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