Engineering empowered women: Insider tips for building an inclusive STEM workforce

Women navigating traditionally male-dominated technical sectors too frequently feel invisible, frustrated and undervalued in the workplace, says Lauren Neal, a female engineer who has worked in the energy sector for 18 years.

Drawing from her own experiences, compelling research and numerous real-world examples, she’s developed what she calls tried-and-tested approaches to help male-dominated organizations create more inclusive workplace cultures, and she shares these insights in her new book, Valued at Work: Shining a Light on Bias to Engage, Enable, and Retain Women in STEM.

“I’m really passionate about retention of women in male-dominated fields because only a truly empowered, diverse workforce can drive the best business outcomes and innovations,” Neal said.

Valued at Work is structured as a conversation between two male managers genuinely trying to improve the retention of women in their respective organizations. Readers get to be “flies on the wall” as these two men discuss the problems that women face within the patriarchal system — using concrete examples — and actively try to understand the challenges and find ways to course correct the company’s inclusion efforts.

They get it right, and they get it wrong.

“This fictional approach to a real business problem allows readers to empathize with these male organizational leaders in their own struggles, as well as with the women in theirs, with less judgement than is typical when discussing this topic,” Neal added.

Inspired by real-life stories, Valued at Work includes “top tips” for both organizations and women in STEM to equip all readers with strategies for driving real change.

About the Author

Lauren Neal is a champion of gender equity and career progression within STEM. Originally from Aberdeen, Scotland, Neal was named one of the UK’s top female computing students at age 18. She gained a master’s degree in electronic and electrical engineering, and since 2005 has worked with men and women offshore, onshore and onsite on multimillion-dollar projects across the UK, Angola, Trinidad, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.

Chartered through both the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Association of Project Management (APM), she is a certified IC Agile team facilitator and coach focused on improving team dynamics for optimal project delivery.