Sylvia Ann Hewlett on the way forward

A new study – sponsored by Alcoa, Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Pfizer, to be published in June as an article and report in the Harvard Business Review – is the first to map the career trajectories of American women with science, engineering and technology (SET) credentials working in the private sector. It reports responses from 2,493 US women and men, aged 25-60, with degrees in science, engineering or technology, who have held a position in a SET company at some point in their career.

Much like the heralded Athena Project in the UK – which focuses on women in academia – this research allows us to measure the huge potential of the female talent pool in SET. It creates a road-map for companies – showcasing a number of new initiatives that realign corporate cultures and redesign career paths so as to better fit the needs of SET women. As the Guardian pointed out in a recent article, it’s high time we tried to ‘fix’ business, rather than continuing to attempt to ‘fix’ women.(1)

Valuable women

In the private sector globally, the female talent pipeline in SET is surprisingly deep and rich. New data sets show that 41 per cent of highly qualified scientists, engineers and technologists on the lower rungs of corporate career ladders are female. Despite the challenges girls face at school and in our culture, a significant number conjure up the commitment to begin careers in science. Their dedication is impressive. Fully 80 per cent choose these fields to improve the lot of humankind.

These women are newly important to employers. Labour shortages in SET fields are worsening. Not so long ago, employers could turn to foreignborn engineers and scientists to fill their talent needs. This is no longer possible. Post-9/11 security concerns have reduced the number of visas which allow highly skilled aliens to work in the US for a period of time. In addition, rapid growth in Asia has created a reverse brain drain of highly qualified Indians and Chinese returning home.

To fill the skills gap, companies need to turn to the female talent in their own backyard. But there are some serious challenges. The female drop-out rate is huge. Fully 52 per cent of highly qualified females working for SET companies quit their jobs, driven out by macho work cultures and extreme job pressures.

Barriers

Macho, geek or hardhat workplace cultures, often exclusionary and predatory, marginalise women in SET companies. As many as 63 per cent of the sample experience sexual harassment. Isolation is another problem. A woman in SET can be the lone woman on a team or at a site. This makes it difficult to find support or sponsorship (45 per cent lack mentors, 83 per cent lack sponsors).

As a result of macho cultures and isolation, women in SET companies find it hard to gain an understanding of the way forward. 40 per cent feel stalled or stuck in their careers. Moreover, the culture of SET companies disadvantages women who tend to be risk averse (35 per cent have difficulty with risk). Without buddies to support them they feel they can go from ‘hero to zero’ in a heartbeat.

Finally, SET jobs are unusually time intensive and, because of their global scope, often involve working in multiple time zones (54 per cent work across time zones). This means that employees are subjected to extreme work pressures.

Crunch moment

This research allows companies to gauge when to intervene. The data show that among SET women, attrition rates spike ten years into a career. At age 35, they hit serious career hurdles and family pressures ratchet up at one and the same time. Stepping in with targeted support before this crunch moment has the potential of lowering the female attrition rate significantly.

What companies can do

This study features 10 new company initiatives – some still in an experimental stage. They range from Cisco’s Executive Talent Insertion Program (ETIP) which breaks down female isolation, to Johnson & Johnson’s Emerging Leaders Program which creates hands-on sponsors for high-potential women. These initiatives are likely to be ‘game changers’, allowing many more women to stay on track in SET careers.

Reducing the female attrition rate by one quarter would add 220,000 qualified people to the highly qualified SET labour pool (far more than would be gained through a more generous visa allocation). Given tight labour market in SET fields, this is good news indeed.

References

(1) Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland (2008). ‘Why women in business became the solution, not the problem’, Guardian, 5 February

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is the President of the Center for Work-Life Policy, a New York-based non-profit think tank, and Director of the Gender and Policy Program at the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.