Vertical Segregation: Issues and Challenges of Women Engineers in Australia

Abstract

International research shows that 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations require Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) skills. However, a recent survey report said that almost a third of global women working in STEMM expect to leave the sector within the next five years. This loss is very significant and wastage of resources, talent and expertise with respect to every nation’s growth. Although number of national and international policies and programs have been implemented to promote and increase the inclusion of gender equity in the field of science and technology but there is significant gender gap about the participation of women at higher levels of science academic careers, referred to as ‘vertical segregation’. This leads to understand the interplay of inclusive policies, organizational, societal and personal factors that exclude women from pinnacle of the hierarchy in academic and research institutions. Challenges are more in hard sciences like mathematics, physics, engineering and computer science where there is no equity in numbers even at start level. This study engages with women engineers located particularly in the middle management level to record the impact of ongoing policies & programs and compare the findings to unfold some of their struggles which is linked to the leadership questions in ‘Women in Engineering’. Pay, progression and security issues are not only being barriers to women reaching the higher levels of science and technology professions but unconscious biases, stereotype, some myths, societal, cultural and institutional roots also impediments to support ‘Women in Engineering’. This indicates that no single strategy can entirely plug the leak and there is need of sharing the best practices among different nations through multi-faceted approach across all levels to break the glass ceiling.