However, it is not enough to attract
young women into the profession, only
to have them leave at midcareer. We
must continue to examine the engineering
workplace for unconscious bias
and “microinequities” that can have
long-term impacts on women’s careers.
While blatant discrimination is for the
most part a thing of the past, “customs,
habits, and organizations of long standing,”
as Elsie Eaves put it, still inhibit
women’s progress. In 2008, ASCE
published Diversity by Design to “provide
practical, hands-on suggestions for
how to foster, improve, and maintain a
diverse and thriving workforce within
the civil engineering profession”
Hatch 2008. This slim volume provides
advice on recruiting, developing,
and retaining diverse employees
through understanding, mentoring,
and communication. As leaders in the
profession, ASCE members can continue
to welcome women into engineering
and strive to create workplaces
in which all engineers can succeed.