In 1995, Graduating Engineer ran an article in its Women’s Issue entitled “Will You Be an Engineer Five Years From Now?” Citing research that showed the discouraging statistics on retention of women in the engineering profession, the author interviewed three female engineering professionals about their experiences, their outlook on being women in a male-dominated field and their hopes for success.
Recently, Graduating Engineer & Computer Careers caught up with one of those women and found that, indeed, she is still an engineer. Lisa Cabe has had her ups and downs in the last five years and even encountered a moment when she considered leaving the profession. With the support of a good mentor and a firm belief in herself, however, Cabe is now thriving in an industry that has welcomed few women.
A Rocky Road
When Cabe (then Lisa Green) was interviewed five years ago, she was working as a project engineer at chemical company Hoechst Celenese, in Bishop, Texas. She left that job in the wake of changes to her personal life and what ensued was a roller coaster ride through the chemicals and manufacturing industries. She encountered challenges to her status as a woman and to her ethics, but persevered to finally achieve career satisfaction.
After leaving Hoechst, Cabe went to the films division of a major chemical company, itself a branch of a multinational petroleum corporation. Her disillusion with this employer was strong from the beginning. The company flouted established scientific methods, she says, and personnel policies were abrasive to women. “I was hired as one of five engineers and three left within the first year and a half,” she recalls.
She changed jobs and went to work for another manufacturing company, but met with equally daunting conditions, even being asked to compromise research findings at one point. “I was asked to eliminate data that indicated we would have had major downtime in the event of a probable mechanical failure,” she remembers.
After six months, the company entered a period of downsizing and Cabe was let go. Given the environment she was working in, however, she says the fear of losing her job was tempered with a sense of release when the ax fell. “I let out a big sigh of relief,” she admits.
In hindsight, she notes that there were other indications that that company wasn’t the right place for her. “I was the only woman in mid- to upper-level management and there was harassment going on with female machine operators,” she says. “I was told that if they came to me I was not to assist or counsel them, but to send them to Human Resources for a formal investigation. That was very intimidating, because most women simply wanted to know how to quietly handle those types of situations and not compromise their employment status.”
Fortunately, at the time of the layoff, Cabe had been interviewing for other positions, her current one included. Now she is confident that she has found a position that suits her both professionally and personally, doing both teaching and consulting in a process engineering capacity.
Small company life agrees with Cabe, whose previous jobs were all with large employers. She says that larger companies that hire numerous engineers may be forced to lock each of their technical employees into a specific area of expertise. “In this job, I am one of only three engineers at this location, and the only process engineer, so I have to develop an understanding of a broad range of engineering principles. It’s very stimulating and it keeps me young and active!”
It’s a good thing for the engineering world that Cabe found this job when she did. She says: “If this position or one like it hadn’t opened up, I probably would have left the engineering field.”
Live and Learn
From her experiences, Cabe learned several valuable lessons that all female engineers (in fact, engineers of either sex) can take to heart. For instance, when interviewing, “look closely at the ratio of men to women and what their positions are,” she advises. “Look at their medical plan and see how they accommodate women and preventative care, and look at the number of minorities in the company.”
At her previous job, Cabe saw no minority engineers and few other women. “That should have been an indication to me that something was wrong,” she says. She cautions others not to accept excuses that some companies may proffer, such as attributing a lack of diversity to surrounding geographic conditions.
She also recommends asking how the company uses safety information. Employers should use data related to on-the-job injuries as a way to eliminate unsafe practices, but many will use it to single out employees. “Ask how they report incidents and injuries,” she says. “That’s a clear indication of whether they use intimidation, because it can be humiliating when they name the person [who was injured.] How they approach their problems will give you an idea of their management style.”
She also concludes that regardless of the time and effort put into selecting an employer, an engineer may still find herself in a company that doesn’t fit her personality. Some firms, for instance, believe that a competitive spirit among technical staff generates higher productivity. “Since there are [likely] few technical women present, this type of thinking can promote isolation and be devastating,” Cabe concludes.
A Helping Hand
In industrial settings such as those where Cabe has worked, women are especially underrepresented. Enrollment figures from the Engineering Workforce Commission for 1997 show that women represented about 17% of the declared manufacturing engineering majors, and about one-third of the industrial engineering students.
Given the low numbers, many women find a mentor to be an invaluable aid in avoiding the landmines that can dot the career field, and Cabe is no exception. She attributes much of her early career success to the mentor she had while at Hoechst. “She provided so much balance in my career. She assisted me in knowing when to be passive and let things slide, and to better understand the political climate of the organization. She helped me to not make personality mistakes.”
Cabe encourages women just entering the technical field to network with other women, saying that these relationships can help alleviate feelings of isolation. “We nurture each other in a way that only women can,” she asserts. “If you’re in an environment where there is bias leaning toward men, you can become polarized around that negative behavior. Other women can help you balance and maintain integrity and credibility.”
Cabe says it’s sometimes difficult to find a good female mentor, but there are organizations that can help. She specifically cites the American Association for the Advancement of Science as a source. “AAAS is a strong supporter of women in science, especially engineering, and I would encourage every woman to understand the resources they can provide.” (Check the organization’s Web site at http://ehrweb.aaas.org/ehr/ for resources related to education and careers, including the “AAAS Resource Directory of Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities,” which lists more than 600 scientists, mathematicians and engineers who can serve as role models. Listings include phone, fax, TDD and e-mail numbers.)
Cabe says that when a woman chooses a mentor from her own employer, it may be best to approach someone who is not in her department. “You want someone who is never going to be threatened by your actions or presence,” she says. “You want someone objective and that’s sometimes hard to do when you’re in the day to day operations with someone.”
She is definitely an advocate for women being mentored by other women, however. “It depends on the female, but women supporting other women tend to make a stronger force,” she notes. “There are issues that only apply to women, like gender harassment and sexual harassment. Many are subtle and you want someone who won’t minimize or maximize the situation. You want it kept in perspective and I think women are better at that.”
On The Job Experience
Cabe has relied on mentors to help her adjust to a working environment that is different from the one she had anticipated while attending college. “I discounted incidents with other students in college but looking back, that should have been an indicator of what the work force was going to be like,” she explains. “I went to a wonderful college where the faculty supported women and minorities, and I never, ever thought harassment was an issue and I was totally unprepared for what the manufacturing environment was like.”
She adds that some of the resistance she has encountered relates to her disability (an accident resulted in an above-the-knee amputation for Cabe). “I most definitely don’t think manufacturing is ready to hire people in wheelchairs or with mobility issues,” she affirms.
Cabe says her experiences have taught her to be sensitive to the needs of colleagues, particularly those who may not have the technical training she does. “Never assume someone doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” she warns. “Operators on the floor may not be able to express themselves in engineering terms, but they certainly know what they’re talking about. Appreciate the experience that they have.”
She also cites the importance of responding professionally to all situations—no matter how disappointing they may be. Consider how you might feel if you spent weeks toiling to provide technical recommendations for your boss—only to have management decide not to implement your suggestions. “Don’t personalize those decisions because that can be devastating,” she counsels. “Your time has not been wasted.”
She urges women not be discouraged when unfair situations arise: “Continue to know your heart and do your best. Don’t become embittered. Try to create a healing environment where other women can follow.”
Her final piece of advice for female engineering undergraduates: “Truly consider a higher level degree. We need women with graduate degrees to insure that women have the credentials to be promoted to high level management positions, and therefore to pioneer the way for other women.”