In historically male dominated fields, such as consulting engineering, is enough effort being made to attract women and retain them in the industry?
Malani
Malani Padayachee, owner of the successful Malani Padayachee & Associates says that being a woman has not hampered her in her career and business endeavours. In fact, she believes in some ways it has worked to her advantage. "Often it opens doors as there is a curiosity factor. After that it is up to the individual. You have to prove to your male counterparts that you are competent and then you have to ensure that you deliver.
"Although in some ways it might still be a bit of an 'Old Boys Club', in general, I think women are treated equally. It is about how you present yourself and the knowledge you have. The industry is open to change and if more women enter, things will change." She does however believe that not enough is done to attract women to the industry and a major recruitment and publicity drive is required. "There is definitely a shortage of women in the industry. I cannot tell you how often I attend a seminar or function and I am the only woman, apart from a journalist or two, in the audience."
Althea
Althea Povey, divisional director of purification at Kwezi V3 Engineers and set to be the first woman president of the South African Association of Consulting Engineers (SAACE) in 2005 has no doubt in her mind that something has to be done to draw more women to the industry.
"The number of female engineers graduating from the universities and Technikons has increased over the years although the numbers still remain small. I have found that a large number of the women who do study engineering often do so because either their father or some other family member is or was involved in the industry. This is a phenomenon in itself, which leads to the question - what are the schools and universities doing to inform and guide the future studies of the girls? Are they still only telling the girls about the traditional female careers? Furthermore, I believe that it is also up to the consulting engineering industry to actively promote the profession.
Althea's comments are supported by data from Stats SA, which show that of civil engineering graduates at all universities in 2000, only 11% of graduating students were females of which 8% were white. But, that is not where the problem ends. Althea says that female students at universities and Technikons are experiencing greater problems obtaining bursaries and finding employment.
"Does the will exist within the industry to encourage women to enter the profession? Will BEE result in the white male face of engineering simply being replaced with black male faces?" Then there is the question of retention. Female graduates may enter the profession but the success rate in retaining them appears to be dismal.
"I have found that many of the female students at university are passionate about engineering but as soon as they take up a position within a consulting engineering company, something changes." Althea says it could be attributed to the competitive and conflicting nature of the industry that some women find disconcerting. While this is inherent in all professions, in the construction industry these characteristics dominate the working environment. "It could be that male engineers maintain and promote values, images and practices axiomatic of a male-only culture thus characterising the industry in this way."
Personal experiences
Both entered the profession by chance. Althea says she did not know anything about civil engineering until she went to university and was exposed to it through friends who were studying engineering. Althea says she had a 'rude awakening' on entering the work place, as prior to this she had never experienced discrimination.
"I came from a big family with six siblings, where we children were encouraged to speak our minds. I never experienced discrimination at school or university as all the students competed on level playing fields. What mattered was your intellectual ability."
Malani comes from a staunch Hindu environment. "I started out studying chemical engineering but switched to civil. This could have been highly problematic as it was such an unconventional career choice for a woman - and so male dominated. I never told my parents until the second semester that I had changed to something even more alien. Fortunately, they have been very supportive." From there on the road has been fairly smooth for Malani but this may have more to do with her courage, determination and talent than luck. This remarkable woman started her own business at the age of 29 whilst expecting her first child!
She concedes it was a bold move on her part but she firmly believes in the adage 'nothing ventured nothing gained'. She also believes that an earlier stint of working overseas for a year also gave her that extra bit of confidence. "It was a crazy first year and I won my first contract four months down the line. It was with Metro Gas, which was new territory to me."
Working from a home office, six months after start-up she employed her first employee and one and half years later she moved into an office block. Malani Padayachee & Associates has now grown to 13 full time employees. Malani attributes success to the strong support structure she has from her husband, Dheena, a financial advisor, who has always been there for her, in addition to her wonderfully supportive parents.
"I believe in switching off when I get home. I do not bring my work home with me. The best part of my day is getting home and seeing my children, five-year-old Kaylen and 20-month-old twins, Yaeshen and Yaerika. Apart from a good support system, I believe in routines and being organised. The old saying quality not quantity is also very true for me." Althea has also taken motherhood in her stride and hopes she has attained a balance between working woman and mother. Her two children Ryan and Tarryn are now at university and in matric respectively. "My greatest achievement is my family. I try hard to put my personal life before business and consider myself lucky to be happy at home and to love my work."
Strong views
Both Malani and Althea have strong views on the value of women in the consulting engineering industry. Says Althea: "Consulting engineering is a stimulating and fulfilling profession. The conservative image of engineers is changing. The way of doing business is also changing dramatically with engineers fulfilling many roles. They have recognised the need to be multiskilled and to be able to multitask. Furthermore, while men are often perceived to be more practical than women, these are skills not exclusive to men. More and more we see engineers involved in project and construction management, facilitating community-based projects and activities, generally engaging with all the role players in the construction industry and not in isolation anymore. This makes for a dynamic, challenging and varied career."
Malani concurs: "I do not think women realise how well suited they are to the industry, especially consulting. They incorrectly see it as wandering around in hard hats on construction sites. Women have a number of assets and natural attributes which are useful to the industry, such as multitasking. Women also tend to be a bit more perceptive and are better at lateral thinking."
She says there are huge advantages, especially if they have their own companies as they can work flexible hours and where women are especially useful is that they are better at dealing with social issues and enjoy making a real difference to people's lives. "I love handovers, especially in rural areas, of projects like water and sanitation as I realise that I have made a difference. There is plenty of job satisfaction with days filled with plenty of variety."
Malani and Althea are certainly good role models for consulting engineering. Althea is a super achiever with a string of degrees behind her name and a senior position in a top company. Malani has passed the landmark of being five years in business and has built a company which 2002 received a commendation in the Young Company Award category.
They both believe in giving back to the industry, with Althea playing an active role at SAACE. She is proud to have two women engineers working with her in Purification at Kwezi V3 and enjoys meeting with and encouraging the engineering students at the tertiary institutions in her area. Malani has a deep commitment to black empowerment and even though she finds it sad when employees leave her employ to go into their own businesses, she encourages entrepreneurship.
Concludes Malani: "I strive for perfection and hopefully I can pass this on to my employees. One of the greatest challenges facing the industry is to ensure that quality is maintained. My overriding wish for the industry is that we attract more women to what can be a very rewarding career in many respects."
For more information contact Graham Pirie, executive director, The South African Association of Consulting, 011 463 2022.
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