Innovation-Nov-Dec-2023

FEATURE

MENTORS AND ALLIES To be in places to effect change, women need opportunities and support from their male counterparts. As Mah says, it’s important to be heard and it’s important to have allies. “I was very fortunate to have male mentors, male champions who promoted me as project manager, people manager and then to executive positions. You not only need mentors and role models, you need those people who will champion you.” More organizations have taken leadership roles in improving equity, diversity, and inclusion, especially in recent years. At McElhanney Ltd., President and CEO Allan Russell, P.Eng., says his organization has taken an active role in tangible programs over

the years, including embedding the 30 by 30 goal into its corporate strategic plan. “I am a firm believer of the adage that ‘you cannot be what you cannot see,’” says Russell. “As the leader of an established consulting firm, I believe it is my responsibility, and the responsibility of our executive team, to not only advocate for but also create opportunities for women and equity-deserving groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. “In our own backyard, this looks like providing scholarship opportunities through our M-Power program to women to support women studying in these fields and sponsoring internal and external programs, like our very own Women at McElhanney and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion internal committees and industry panels on women in STEM leadership.” CHANGING CULTURE Interest in the professions is steady, but the woman-man ratio has not changed much in recent years. The women agree educating young women about the value in an engineering or geoscience career starts in elementary school, before students have formulated their career and post-secondary paths. At UBC in Vancouver, over the past five years, the number of students enrolled in the engineering undergraduate program who are women has hovered just under 30 percent (Statistics Canada). But, the numbers drop off even before women enter the professions and women have higher rates of attrition than men. Last year, according to numbers from Engineers and Geoscientists BC, 23.1 percent of new registrants identified as women. The challenge still exists. Au says, “Women are still largely under represented in our profession. The gender bias and stereotypes that this is a male profession are changing, but this cultural change takes time.”

Allan Russell, P.Eng., CEO and President, McElhanney. P hoto : C ourtesy of M c E lhanney

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

INNOVATION