Presentation from ICWES 15 Conference - July 2011, Australia

1. Kim Ball – Griffith University,
Nathan Campus, Brisbane

2. Overview
 Background information
 Methodology
 Findings
 Conclusion
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3. Background information
 Importance of policies for balancing family and work
 Diversity management policies and practices = more
people in employment + good reputations + greater worker
performance
 Transparent and flexible policies = increased employee
commitment, motivation, productivity + lower turnover for
women
 Policies to balance work and family reduce women’s
conflict
 Balancing work and family = difficulty for women
engineers = career barrier
Source: Strachan et al. 2010; Wilkinson 2008; Strachan & French 2007; Ballout 2008; Lewis & Humbert 2010;
Ranson 2005; Teicher & Spearitt 1996 3

4. Women engineers in Australia
 Lower levels of responsibility in organisations
 Lower pay than male counterparts
 Leave the profession in 7 to 10 years
=
Critical issue for women engineers’
retention and career development
Source: Bell 2009, Mills et al. 2008, APESMA 2007;
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5. Research question
 How do engineering consultancies’ HR
policies and practices effect women
engineers’ careers?
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6. Methodology
 Qualitative study
 Critical Research Qualitative Data Analysis framework
• Collecting qualitative data
• Examining data
Insight
• Coding text noting organisational characteristics
• Categorising codes as organisational, substantive or theoretical
• Connecting data to understand text and identify textural element's relationships
Critique • Writing memos and creating displays looking at the data as a whole
• Developing critical relevant knowledge and practical understanding to enable change
Transformative • Provide new skills and new ways of operating
Redfinition
 Document analysis – websites and EOWA reports
 Semi-structured in-depth interviews: (1HR manager +
3 women engineers )× 3 engineering consultancies
Source: Alvesson & Deetz 2000, Ball 2011; Bickman & Rog 2009 Dumay & Lu 2010;
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7. Findings
 Organisations do not use websites to promote policy
 Masculinist culture alive and well!
 Policy formulated differently in each organisation
 Women engineers only know what they need to know
 Maternity leave different for each company
 Flexible work practices (used by men and women) =
 working part-time;
 flexible hours;
 work at home ;
 work remotely;
 purchase additional leave
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8. Career barriers
 Lack of childcare facilities and options
 Employment gaps = perception of low organisational
and professional commitment
 Working part-time = a juggle + difficult + needs a
position that is suitable = possibility of losing former
position
 Part-time engineering managers
 Lack of understanding – how will it work?
 Lack of supporting processes
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9. Conclusion
 Organisations need to provide childcare in some form
 More research is needed to investigate part-time
engineering managers
 Strategic organisational culture change needs to occur
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10. References
Alvesson, M, & Deetz, S 2000, Doing critical management research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers [APESMA] 2007, ‘Women in the Professions Survey Report
2007’, Melbourne: APESMA, accessed 2 April, 2009 from
<http://www.apesma.asn.ay/women/survey/women_in_the_professions_2007.pdf>.
Ballout, HI 2008, 'Work-family conflict and career success: the effects of domain-specific determinants', Journal of
Management Development, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 437-466.
Bell, S 2009, ‘Women in Science: maximising productivity, diversity and innovation’, Federation of Australian Scientific and
Technological Societies.
Bickman, L, & Rog, D.J 2009, The Sage Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods, Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Dumay, JC, & Lu, J 2010, ‘Disclosing improvements in human capital: comparing results to rhetoric’, Journal of Human
Resource Costing & Accounting, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 70-97
Lewis, S, & Humbert, AL 2010, ‘Discourse or reality? “Work-life balance”, flexible working policies and the gendered
organization’, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 239-254.
Mills, J, Mehrtens, V, Smith, E, & Adams, V 2008, ‘CREW revisited in 2007 the Year of Women in Engineering’, Engineers
Australia, viewed 1 April, 2010, <http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au>.
Ranson, G 2005, ‘No longer “One of the boys”: Negations with motherhood as prospect or reality, among women in
engineering’, The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 145-166.
Strachan, G, & French, E 2007, ‘Equal Employment Opportunity – Disentangling promise from achievement’, in Proceedings
Gender, Work and Organisation: 5th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference, pp. 1-22, Keele University
United Kingdom.
Strachan, G, French, E, & Burgess, J 2010, Managing diversity in Australia, McGraw-Hill Australia, North Ryde, pp. xv-xxi
Teicher, J, & Spearitt, K 1996, ‘From equal employment opportunity to diversity management – the Australian
experience’, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 17, no. 4/5, pp. 109-133.
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11. Questions anyone?
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