Getting more women engineers to return to the field

Prof Norlida: Study findings can be used to encourage women to stay in the field. — Pic provided

FEMALE engineers in Malaysia, this one is for you.

For the first time in its 63-year history, a woman was appointed to head the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), marking a proud moment for women engineers in the country.

As its new president, Prof Dr Norlida Buniyamin is a woman on a mission, and one of her plans is to bring back more women engineers, including mothers, into the field.

“Even though girls outnumber boys among engineering students in Malaysia, the number of women engineers decrease after graduation or after they start working.

“Based on IEM’s membership database, women engineers make up only 20%,” points out Prof Norlida, who assumed office as IEM’s 36th president on April 16.

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As such, the IEM has started a study to determine the actual percentage of women in the entire engineering workforce in Malaysia, says Prof Norlida, who is with Universiti Teknologi Mara.

“There may be a significant pool of talents, namely women who have stepped away to nurture their families.

“The aim of the study is to encourage them to get back into an engineering career.

“With the results of the study, we hope to formulate action plans to sustain and increase the number of women engineers in the industry,” says Prof Norlida.

Prof Norlida says insights from the study could be used as the basis for encouraging women engineers to stay within the field and pursue top management roles.

“IEM will be able to collate the information from the research findings and put it forward to specific ministries and agencies.

“It will gauge the participation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), address the gaps in the industry and, finally, recommend potential efforts to be taken to improve participation,” she explains.

The study will include a survey among women engineers in Malaysia to identify challenges affecting them, reasons they would leave the workforce and, among those who have left, what it would take to get them back into the field.

Prof Norlida says engineering is a very challenging field for both men and women.

“For women, it takes a lot of effort to enter what is generally deemed a male-dominated environment as we struggle to get recognised as being able to perform.

“There is also a lack of role models and mentors for women in this field.

“Coping with family life while maintaining this challenging job is also another factor discouraging women from entering this profession,” she adds.

Among the reasons she cites for women to leave the profession are family commitments, lack of flexibility in work arrangements, long working hours, and discrimination at work.

“To encourage more women to stay in their careers, employers need to have flexible working hours or allow work from home arrangements to address family and childcare concerns.

“There should also be clearer criteria and transparency in evaluation procedures for career advancements,” Prof Norlida says.

She adds that she is grateful for the chance to lead the IEM, an engineering institution that is traditionally male dominated.

The IEM was set up in 1959 to promote and advance the engineering profession in all its disciplines in Malaysia.