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Why isn't electrical engineering more appealing to women? Because the messages they get need updating, says Dr Leah Jamieson, who is president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the John A. Edwardson dean of engineering at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN).
"Young people want a career where they can make a difference, and EE could certainly be that career," Jamieson says. "But we need to point out how EEs can be involved in meaningful areas like energy that respects the environment, safer transportation, and reading machines for the blind. Companies, universities and professional organizations need to project a positive message about the field."
On the bright side, Jamieson notes that the fastest growing part of IEEE is its affinity chapters for women students. This suggests that women EEs will soon show up in growing numbers in the workplace.
The women who do become EEs have a good record of success in their careers. Nine of them are featured in this article.
Jenny Miller: senior engineering manager at Rockwell Collins
When the new Boeing 787 plane takes off next year, EE Jenny Miller of Rockwell Collins (Cedar Rapids, IA) will be a proud woman. As a senior engineering manager in commercial systems, she's a leader on the team responsible for providing the new plane's cockpit displays.
"This is very exciting. Boeing only comes out with a new plane every ten years or so and it's great to be a part of one," Miller says.
She joined Rockwell Collins after receiving her BSEE from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) in 1996. From the start she hoped to move into systems engineering and eventually to an engineering leadership position. "I knew I didn't want to design hardware," she explains. "I really enjoy a higher level of customer interaction, and I love to understand the big picture. That's what led me to systems engineering."
She's been on a management track with Rockwell Collins, and took advantage of the dual executive degree program the company set up with the University of Iowa and Iowa State University to earn a 2002 MBA and MS in engineering systems. All the same, she hesitated when the company suggested that she spend a year in Seattle, WA working with Boeing.
"When the offer came my initial response was to say no," Miller says. "I was enjoying what I was doing. But an executive mentor came to me and said, 'I'm not pushing but I want to give you another perspective.' That discussion made me change my mind, and it was one of the best career decisions I ever made."
Now back in Cedar Rapids, Miller is returning the favor by mentoring other engineers. "It is somewhat natural in the job I have now, but I also help some people who aren't in my group. I enjoy it. I think I'm probably learning as much from them as they are from me, and it gives me a sense of excitement about my job."
Lu Yuan is a staff engineer at Qualcomm
After earning a BSEE in China in 1996, Lu Yuan came to the U.S. to finish her MSEE at New Mexico State University. At first she lived alone in a new culture while wrestling with a demanding academic program. Today Yuan is balancing her job as a staff engineer at Qualcomm (San Diego, CA) with her role as a wife and mother of a small child.
Her work is designing ASIC/FPGA chips that go into cell phones or are used in the base stations for the phones. Before that she worked on the phone side for five years. "It's a very exciting career," she says.
"The company understands that women need a good work-life balance," and helped her set up a schedule to accommodate work and home duties. But "Engineering is not always a nine-to-five routine," she notes. "You need to be prepared to do what you have to in order to meet deadlines. If you're interested in the work, you need to put in the extra time.
"Generally, society doesn't expect women to be engineers," Yuan reflects. "Sometimes people assume you aren't as smart as the guys until you prove it to them." And, although her husband is very understanding of her career, "I still tend to be the one who juggles the family issues."
Ramune Nagisetty directs strategic tech at Intel
Ramune Nagisetty joined Intel (Hillsboro, OR) in 1995, and today she's its director of strategic technology programs. "I spent ten years working in logic technology development," she says. "My most recent work was in the sixty-five nanometer node, which has now been in production for more than a year. I took the project all the way from pathfinding to manufacturing transfer, and it has turned out to be Intel's most successful technology."
When Nagisetty was a child, her mother, a physicist, went back to school for an MSEE. "My mom is Lithuanian, which was part of the USSR back then, and it wasn't unusual for women there to be in the sciences and work in industry.
"I had a chance to see what my mom did and it gave me an idea of what it meant to be an engineer. It's not an easy road and there are no shortcuts, but the job opportunities are rewarding," she says.
Nagisetty earned her 1990 BSEE at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL), and after graduation she worked at IBM for several years. But she wanted to deepen her understanding of EE and do more creative work, so she went to the University of California-Berkeley for a 1995 MSEE.
She specialized in solid-state physics. "Physics is rooted in fundamental laws that don't change over time. Engineering, the application of those fundamental laws, is changing at a rapid pace. I take the fundamentals I learned and apply them in engineering."
She wants to be a role model for women in engineering, just as her mother was for her. When her mother was a student they were still using computer keypunch cards. "Women have made a lot of strides since then," Nagisetty says, "but we need to continue to foster confidence and make women and minorities feel that they belong."
At IBM, Madeline Vega is an advisory engineer
"I make sure I get the respect of the people I'm working with," Madeline Vega declares. She earned that respect by working hard, both at the University of Puerto Rico-MayagŸez, where she completed her BSEE in 2001, and now at IBM's Austin, TX facility where she's an advisory engineer in the systems and technology group. IBM has also given her the chance her to pursue an MSEE at the University of Texas at Austin.
In five years at IBM, Vega has been involved with many technological innovations. Her name is on more than twenty patent applications submitted to the U.S. Patent Office.
"My job is at a level where I'm leading groups and people come to me with questions about how the systems work," Vega explains. Her current project is with IBM's Power6 mid-range computer servers. "I work on the hardware side, bringing up and testing the next generation of servers to be used in small- to medium-sized businesses."
Volunteering and participating in activities with IBM's diversity groups have helped her create "a good network of people that I can tap into for support," she says. Vega is active in IBM's women's and Hispanic organizations. She was recently appointed co-chair of the company's Austin Women's Exchange.
Vega has a number of mentors, some women, some Hispanic. "Mentors are an essential resource for career growth," she says. "They understand things I'm going through because they've been through them too."
Vega became a mentor herself a few years ago, working with new hires. She also counsels students through an online forum. "Engineering is a hard field for both men and women," she believes. "I tell them they can survive their classes if they work hard. I let them know that there are other Hispanics and women in EE."
At Deere & Co, Anne Ryerson looks at the combine as a system
Anne Ryerson started working at Deere & Co (Moline, IL) in 2000. "I came here as an EE and I was given some of the smaller components to get me started," she says. At first she managed parts designs done by one of Deere's suppliers. Then she moved to the wiring of agricultural combines. "I'm now in more of a systems role. I look at the whole combine as a system and at how it's put together."
Ryerson began at the University of Iowa with a double major in music and engineering. "I picked engineering because people said, 'You're smart, you should be an engineer,' but I really did not know anything about it." During the first year she cut back her music major to a music minor, but she was still looking at the various engineering disciplines and wondering what would fit best with music.
"I thought EE would be best, because I could go into music production or write software for music," she explains. "As I got further into my degree I got more interested in the EE side. By the time I graduated I wanted to work for a company that manufactures big equipment. I wasn't interested in adding music to the EE anymore."
When she completed her BSEE in 2000, Ryerson got married and took a job with Caterpillar. But a few months later she moved to Deere, where she's been ever since.
Because she was working on Deere's agricultural equipment, she decided to go for an MS in agricultural engineering. "The University of Illinois had a program in equipment engineering, so it was like getting a masters in tractors and combines," Ryerson says. "I was able to tailor their program to fit my interests, taking courses that were more EE oriented." She received her MS in 2005.
Ryerson loves her work and sees definite advantages to being a female in a male-dominated field. "If you're doing well and people see that, they want to give you the opportunity to advance," she says.
Jana Vaughn is an assistant manager in quality at Toyota
A job at a glass plant led to Jana Vaughn's career at Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America (Erlanger, KY). "The company supplied glass for Toyota and other car companies," she explains. "I became familiar with all our customers, and I was impressed with how Toyota would work with you. I also had a lot of respect for Toyota vehicles, and I decided I'd like to work at Toyota. One day when I was here for a meeting I dropped my resume off, and it all happened from there."
Vaughn joined Toyota in 1999. She's now an assistant manager in the quality department, working at reducing vehicle warranty issues. Her current project is a survey to gather information about issues customers might have with their cars. "I read the surveys and take note of the main concerns. Then I work with a team made up from groups throughout Toyota to resolve the issues."
Solving the problems is a challenge, but Vaughn likes that. It's why she decided on EE in the first place. "I was good at math, and I looked for a degree where I could apply my math skills as well as be challenged." She received her BSEE from the University of Kentucky in 1990.
"When I was in manufacturing at the glass company I faced some obstacles because of my gender and my youth," she recalls. "People had worked at the plant for twenty years and here I was, this young female coming in with a fancy degree. There were people who literally didn't want to talk to me because I was young and a woman."
The interactions she's had at Toyota have been just fine. "When I joined the quality department, I really felt the management appreciated how I analyze, question and challenge things."
Vaughn never had a mentor in the workplace. Why? "I was looking for a female mentor and there weren't any," she says. She credits quality department management for helping her career grow, but she's still wishing for a woman role model in EE.
"When I go on college recruiting trips, I know the young women stopping by the booth feel more comfortable relating to me as a woman," she says. "I always brag to them about what a great company this is. But I'd like to get more women in here."
Maria Parkos is a functional manager at Pitney Bowes
Maria Parkos began working at Pitney Bowes (Shelton, CT) after receiving her MS in EE and CS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1987. Her first jobs involved designing ASICs and system modeling and simulation. In 1991 she transferred to systems engineering, and three years later she was given her first project to run. "I demonstrated that I could pick up different disciplines and deliver results," she says with pride.
She spent ten years as a project manager, with projects progressively bigger and more exciting. Then she moved into functional management and is now a systems engineer functional manager.
"This is an opportunity for new skills and growth and I always enjoy that," Parkos says. "Functional management has me multitasking across ten programs. It forces me to keep in touch with the programs and at the same time think at high levels. And it gives me the best opportunity to help the people who report to me be successful as well."
Initially Parkos had planned to be a CE in her native Mexico, but, she says, she "became concerned about the physical challenges of the workplace in CE in Mexico." She transferred to MIT from a university in Mexico where she was the only woman in her classes, and she looked at other options.
EE interested her the most. "It was very analytical, brain against brain," she reflects. She was also interested in CS, so after she received her BSEE from MIT in 1985, she went on to a 1987 MS in EE and CS. In 1995 she completed an MBA in finance and marketing at the University of Connecticut.
Rather than worry about being a woman in a male-dominated field, Parkos worked on building her own credibility. "Maybe I was too serious when I was younger. I overcompensated so people would see me as a professional. But now I find I can be human and still get respect."
Ford's Lisa Shorkey is an applications supervisor
Lisa Shorkey has been at Ford Motor Co (Dearborn, MI) for the past thirteen years. Since last summer she's been a power supply car applications supervisor, responsible for delivery of alternators, starters and battery components to the various car programs. She works with the suppliers and vehicle program managers to ensure that the components are sized correctly for the designated vehicles.
Before that Shorkey was in climate control for truck applications. When she worked with trucks, she often found that there were few woman engineers in meetings, and once she had a confrontation with a male co-worker. "I handled it myself, showed him that I was capable of doing my job. In the end I got his respect and now we work well together."
Shorkey graduated from high school hoping to be a cardiologist. "Pre-med classes showed me that it was not the best career for me," she says, so she switched to engineering. "I wanted something that would challenge my weak spots in math and analysis, and a career where I could support myself."
She earned a 1990 BS in EE and CE at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI), got a job with EDS, and moved to Ford a few years later. In 2002 she completed a dual MBA/MS in IE at the University of Michigan.
There were very few women in her Wayne State program, but her fellow students were accepting. "I was in an honors society, and I formed a tight group of friends."
She has a lot of empathy for the men she works with. "So many guys are worried about what they can and can't say. My goal is to work together to get the job done."
Juana Morales is a Verizon area manager
"In addition to liking technology, I also like being the boss," declares Juana Morales. When she joined Verizon (Clearwater, FL) in 1999 it was to go into a management development program. Today she's an area manager for fiber-build construction, overseeing the transition from the old copper to a fiber network in Florida's coastal area. She also acts as a liaison between Verizon and area municipalities, to make sure the job goes smoothly.
"I didn't have the best education growing up," Morales admits. "I didn't take AP classes in my inner-city high school."
Even so, she attended summer pre-engineering programs at Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) at the suggestion of a teacher, and decided to major in EE. "The Internet was getting popular back then and technology was changing at a fast rate, so EE was the path that made the most sense to me."
Morales graduated from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) in 1999 with a BSEE. "I had a lot of determination," she says. "I was very focused in college. At the end of the day, I knew this was what I wanted. Anybody can survive engineering school if they are willing to put the work into it."
She also knew that she wasn't interested in R&D; she wanted technical management. In college she joined SHPE and became chapter president and a national student rep.
She's still active with SHPE. "It's given me a chance to develop a lot of my business management skills," she says. In fact, she gives it credit for putting her "on the MBA path." She received her MBA from the University of Tampa (Tampa, FL) in 2005.
Morales also credits her mentors and champions. "It's important to have both," she says. "The mentors are great to bounce ideas off. Champions are your advocates. They're the ones who say, 'Hey, that person is good for that role.'"
Morales helped found the Florida chapter of Verizon's Hispanic support organization, and she mentors people in the organization. She also lends a hand to recent college hires on the management-training path.
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