Today, I have the pleasure of working with many young male and female engineers. Our company’s program for training young engineers in the particular’s of our business affords me an opportunity to meet all of our new engineers. Yes, there is still a higher ratio of males to females being hired. I suspect that is because there are still more males graduating with engineering degrees than females. However, I get the feeling that these females are the best engineers we have. I truly believe that our company, and my fellow employees treat all employees, male and female, with equality, and understands the synergies developed by the diversity in the workforce.

My observations after 43 years of working as an engineer –

There will always be differences in the needs of females vs. males. That is something that seems to me to be a given. Once this is recognized by management and co-workers, most issues are easily resolved.

There are also differences in the ways females and males approach problem solving. These differences can lead to a positive solution, especially when they are teamed together and considered in open conversation.

People of integrity, regardless of whether they are male of female, build companies of integrity. The petty conversations from people who lack integrity will disappear.

The fact is, sexism (defined as differential access to rights, advantages, and responsibilities based on being classified as male or female) is still prevalent in society, institutions, and people. Sexism can be intentional or unintentional. It can be overt or subtle. Society’s sexism hurts men as well as women since they are expected to learn some different things and discouraged from learning others. For example, men are expected to learn not to cry and are not expected to learn to identify subtle emotions. This restricts their abilities to deal with life and to be compassionate leaders. Women are expected to learn to read and respond to people’s emotions and are not encouraged to pursue technical careers. Since these differentials exist in wider society, it is no surprise that they exist in “engineering.”

Research on the experiences of engineering students and professionals shows that microaggressions and microinequalities continue to exist. If you don’t believe they do, please read the research and start with a valid critique of these studies. Let’s use our logical thinking as well as our feelings in engaging this issue.

I don’t believe that one can avoid being sexist in our current society without constant self-examination. A brief review of TV ads and billboards reveals the constant sexism used in marketing for example. The question is not “am I sexist or not?” but ” Where am I blind to my sexism and what can I do to be anti-sexist?” This actually applies to any dimension of discrimination, e.g. race, class, sexual orientation, religion, etc.

The easy work is done, the subtle but harder work yet remains.