Making the path to engineering leadership more equitable: illuminating the (gendered) supports to leadership

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is an assumption of meritocracy in engineering that belies the interpersonal and institutional supports that contribute to professional outcomes. In a qualitative study involving career history interviews and using social support theories as a framing device, we explored the supports that contributed to the development and practice of engineering leadership for 29 Canadian engineering leaders working across different industry sectors. Our findings suggest that leaders were consistently supported through sponsorship, constructive appraisal, a learning workplace culture, and the care work of family, peers, and others. Consistent with the literature on professional development, we found a disparity between genders in the way engineering leaders were supported, from the level of sponsorship to experiences of negative organisational culture and the way gendered family norms affected leadership advancement opportunities. Drawing from our findings, we present lessons for engineering leadership educators, including the need to centre equity in leadership education. We do this in part to prepare students for the challenges and inequities within current workplace realities, but also to equip them with the knowledge and skills to contribute to more equitable practices and channels towards engineering leadership.