I just graduated from The Ohio State University; in my year-long Capstone Project, only one member of the team of six was female.
Every week we worked on our Proposal Design Phase, and later Final Design Phase, all six of us agreed to specific responsibilities; for example, I fleshed out the auxiliary items regarding our plans of building a multimodal transportation hub on campus, and documented our work. We all met to work together twice a week; the "only", being a mother as well, often had to be the first to leave our virtual meetings.
The group was pretty understanding and flexible with how each of us worked, so long as we completed our responsibilities on time. Her work, which included consulting with professionals about our design, and making illustrations at the internal and external levels, was how she continued working outside the meetings. In turn, I could leave after her since I could document all our work throughout the meetings, and prepare the group for reports before the meetings.
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Alexander Granato A.M.ASCE
Student
Bexley OH
granato.3@...------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 10-24-2018 12:36 PM
From: Stephanie Slocum
Subject: Women in Engineering: Advice for Supporting the "Only's"
Yesterday, LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company released Women in the Workplace 2018, the fourth annual study of women in corporate America. (Read the full report at womenintheworkplace.com.) The general findings were that - for the 4th year in a row - we have made no substantial progress in diversity representation in Corporate America. For the purposes of this study, having "representation" appears to mean that you would expect managers to be representative of the general worker population. For example, if you have 20% female workers, you'd expect 20% female managers at all levels. Same goes for racial makeups.
One interesting finding is that the report notes that 40% of women in senior and technical roles are "only's," defined as women who are often the only one on their team or in the room. According to the survey, the "only's" are both more ambitious and face more challenges than other women. It's even worse for women of color, all of which contributes to the overall attrition rate in engineering. (For a quick explanation about "only's" that doesn't require you to read the full report, see also: Female workplace representation stalls | LinkedIn.)
We've all worked on teams with an "only", or you yourself may be one. Please share examples of things you have done (or could do) to support an "only." If you are an "only", please share a time when someone else supported you, or alternatively what we as engineering community can do better to support you.
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Stephanie Slocum P.E., M.ASCE
Founder
Engineers Rising LLC
www.engineersrising.com
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