Sherry Hess
I recently wrote a Women in Microwaves (WIM) column for this magazine based upon my prior involvement at the Women in Engineering panel discussion held at the 2022 Design Automation Conference (DAC) last summer. That article was titled “Real Advice for Today’s Women in Engineering,” and the discussion centered around the history and experience of the panelists Geeta Pyne of Intuit, Susanna Holt of Autodesk, Radhika Shankar of Synopsys, and myself (Sherry Hess of Cadence), as women in the male-dominated world of engineering.
Moderator Ann Steffora Mutscher of Semiconductor Engineering opened with comments gleaned from two recent articles on diversity in the workplace and why it is so important. The NeuroLeadership Institute article states in “Why Diverse Teams Outperform Homogeneous Teams” [1] that studies show that diverse teams think more logically, are more creative, and are more adept at identifying errors in thinking. “We know that when the stakes are high—we’re relying on the development of an innovative product or idea, we’re grappling with uncertainty, or a crisis is bearing down—diverse teams are critical.”
The Harvard Business Review article “Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter” [2] says, “In a nutshell, enriching your employee pool with representatives of different genders, races, and nationalities is key for boosting your company’s joint intellectual potential. Creating a more diverse workplace will help to keep your team members’ biases in check and make them question their assumptions. At the same time, we need to make sure the organization has inclusive practices so that everyone feels they can be heard. All of this can make your teams smarter and, ultimately, make your organization more successful, whatever your goals.”
In light of the information in these articles, which reflects the same research I have shared in various articles and blogs over the years, it was disheartening to discover a report published last fall by McKinsey and Co. for Women in the Workplace in partnership with Lean In (https://leanin.org/) that says the needs of women in the workplace are by and large not being met, and they are leaving in unprecedented numbers, both older, experienced women in leadership roles and younger women just embarking on their careers. Because women are already significantly underrepresented in leadership roles, this “flight” only puts us further behind in efforts to provide diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. This not only is concerning for women and minorities who are looking for encouragement through mentors and examples of glass ceiling breakthroughs but also has serious implications in general for companies that need to become more diversified, rather than less, if they want to succeed.
Why, despite work over the past 10 years to promote DEI, are women stepping away from their companies instead of fighting for change? The report details that the interviewees felt they continue to face barriers that indicate it will be harder to advance than if they were male. They are more likely to experience something called “microaggressions,” such as
Panelists at the DAC event shared that they have faced many of the same issues mentioned in the McKinsey report. Radhika, group director at Synposys, has been with the company 20 years and commented that despite the belief that moving around can advance your career, what worked for her was finding a company that fit her needs, with passionate people and an open culture, and staying.
Susanna commented that when she joined a startup, all of the men had Ph.D.s, and she suffered from the typical behavior of not speaking up and never asking for anything. Most of the time, the men were not actively holding her back, but they were not supporting her either. She also believes that while the big things are important, sometimes the microaggressions are not worth making a fuss about, and it is harder to find someone to empathize.
In addition to gender barriers and perceived inability to advance as quickly as men, the report says that women are increasingly leaving their jobs as they want more flexibility, a better work/life balance, and DEI and therefore are leaving companies that do not support these ideals.
The report warns that if companies do not start taking these issues seriously, they risk losing not only the highly valuable and experienced women they already have but also the next generation of women leaders since young women entering the workforce are even more ambitious than their predecessors, while also expecting the flexibility and inclusion being demanded by their seniors. “[Young women] are watching senior women leave for better opportunities, and they’re prepared to do the same,” the report says.
The DAC panel discussed how to implement diversity. Susanna felt that quotas or a proportion of women has felt to her like to this day, people still say she only got her position because she is a woman. Radhika said women should not think it is someone else’s responsibility to fix. It is interesting that the women interviewed for the McKinsey report said they feel like they do the heavy lifting in supporting employee well-being, mentoring, and inclusion, yet this work, which takes a significant amount of time and energy, is largely unrecognized, unvalued, and unrewarded when it comes to performance reviews.
I can personally recount numerous stories among the many women I have met over the years through my WIM activities and outreach who have left to pursue other firms perceived to be more supportive. The first person’s story I will share was a higher-up manager at a major software firm who decided to resign when she found out she was pregnant rather than deal with the career reset she believed she would face if she were to return after maternity leave. The next person’s story is one of a midlevel manager at a large test and measurement firm who opted to pivot out of the industry to pursue her passion elsewhere as she found more joy in starting over fresh than in continually advocating for herself without much additional support internally for her own career trajectory. And then most recently, I had dinner with an IEEE (female) fellow, who shared with me that she is burned out fighting day in and day out for equality and career advancement at her company and would welcome the support of any and all male advocates to pull her into new work challenges and even career advancement opportunities.
Unfortunately, these are not the only stories I can share. Yet, there is a positive message to come from these in that as managers, regardless of the genders on our teams, we must act and advocate for all employees and, in particular, be mindful of the women on our staff and overcome unconscious biases in whatever form they manifest.
My call to action to the readers of this column, both men and women, is to be an advocate for the small community of WIM, be aware of unconscious biases, and to not shy away from shining a spotlight on the WIM role models we do have so that they can continue to inspire the next generation of women in tech and eventual leaders. Make it your mission today to write the names of the amazing women you know on a sheet of paper and commit to taking action to advocate for them this year and next whether for a role within the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society or your own employer (academia, industry, and/or government).
[1] D. Rock and P. Gercovitch. “Why diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams.” Neuroleadership.com. Accessed: May 24, 2023. [Online] . Available: https://tinyurl.com/jx5hwmjm
[2] D. Rock and H. Grant, “Why diverse teams are smarter,” Harvard Bus. Rev., Nov. 2016. Accessed: May 24, 2023. [Online] . Available: https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3294881