34 years ago, 14 women lost their lives because a man who had not been accepted into the École Polytechnique de Montréal was convinced that he had the right to kill women who had earned their place. This killing was an act of unprecedented violence against women and our profession.
We are two deans of engineering faculties and we each have a daughter in engineering; We pause together on December 6 to remember this tragedy, celebrate the present and reflect on the future.
In 1989, when we mothers were students, there were only 4,000 female undergraduate engineering students in the entire country, and they made up only 12% of the undergraduate student population. Today, while we girls are also in the field of engineering, there are over 22,000 female engineering students in Canada and they represent almost 25% of students.
Since 1988, the participation of women in undergraduate engineering programs has been 5.5 times higher. This is encouraging, but for real change to happen, more female graduates need to stay in the profession. As we commemorate, we must amplify the voices of our daughters and our shared dreams for the future of engineering.
The greater presence of women in our engineering programs is a good indicator of a more positive and inclusive culture. This change, moving from isolation in small numbers to a more inclusive and supportive organizational culture leading to true belonging, is the dream of all of us. However, to fully promote this cultural change, we believe it is urgent to modify our professional approach.
If we want to attract and retain women in the engineering profession, we need to focus on why we build, not just what we build. Unless we listen to people who represent the social and environmental ecosystems surrounding the things we love to build, and consider the impacts of the built environment on these living systems, our economy and the quality of our engineering work will suffer.
A team sport
It is no longer enough to focus solely on the math and physics that determine whether a bridge will stay in place. We must develop the tools and welcome colleagues who can expand our knowledge at the edges of our technical work. The location of the bridge must take into account urban planning, heritage sites and bicycle commuters, as well as cars.
Embracing a culture of co-creation centered on the inclusion of human and environmental ecosystems constitutes a profound cultural shift that a large number of companies are now adopting.
As deans, we think and talk more intentionally about the trust people have in the technology they use and the factors that lead them to trust or distrust technology. We guide students through conversations about inclusion and reconciliation. Graduate projects in which students team up with users illustrate the excitement of designing a project with the user. Our industry partners often report faster start-up times, lower costs, less rework and better products when users are part of the design team from the start of the project.
As an engineer, Rebecca recently built a hospital in a remote area of South Sudan where women can now give birth in a safe environment. Essential design work had to take into account the cultural safety of women using the latrines and the negotiation of a solution to a land claim.
Building tools for the future, Patricia will graduate with a dual degree in civil engineering and psychology in 2025. She believes it is necessary to implement a design approach that puts people first to achieve meaningful change, and to involve people in the design processes.
Relaxing the boundaries of engineering does not detract from the fundamental technical excellence of the profession any more than a patient-centered team approach to medicine detracts from medical science.
We have never needed more women in our profession.
Engineering is a team sport, and as we move toward a future infused with artificial intelligence and complicated by climate change and global instability, engineers need to adopt a team-first approach. of human-centered systems thinking to solve our biggest problems.