1. March 2015
Executive Summary
A Quantitative Correlational Study of Leadership Development
for Women Engineers
by
Phyllis MacIntyre, Ed.D.
March 2015

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Growth in the fields of engineering leadership education, management education, and
leadership education offered sufficient evidence to pursue research that furthered the
leadership development of women engineers. Although the number of women leaders in
increased in business, in engineering the influence of women leaders remained less progressive
(Calan & Levac, 2009; Catalyst Inc., 2012; Lambert, 2008). The purpose of the quantitative
correlational study was to profile the leadership of women engineers licensed to practice in the
province of British Columbia with leadership variables represented by the five subscales of the
Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI).
The research problem was Canada’s significant need for leadership education and the
urgency for engineering leadership education with a specific focus on the leadership
development of women engineers (Calvan & Levac, 2009; Evans & Reeve, 2012; Henein &
Morissette, 2006; Reeve 2010). Canada lagged behind Australia, the United States, and Europe,
where improvements in university engineering education included academic courses and
leadership programs for students. In the US, Australia, and the UK engineering schools with
industry partners leveraged their connections to provide situated learning with students
leading cross-cultural and interdisciplinary teams (Crumpton-Young, McCauley-Bush, Rabelo,
Meza, Ferreras, Rodriguez, Milan, Miranda & Kelarestani, 2010; Khattak, Ku & Goh, 2012;
Schuhmann, 2010). Beyond the university engineering leadership programs, attention to
leadership development for professional engineers remained sparse to non-existent
(Crumpton-Young et al).
In Canada, women engineers sought support and direction for leadership development
from engineering associations and affiliated societies (Calnan & Levac, 2009). Leadership
development requires many components of formal and informal education that goes beyond
the traditions of a Canadian engineer’s university experience and the engineer-in-training
program. Leadership development requires integration of education, practice, and continued
support to fully achieve the role of woman engineer leader.

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Research Design
Theories of leadership, management, engineering leadership, and learning and
curriculum conceptualized the theoretical framework of this study. Research design considered
existing theories of adult learning, experiential learning, cognitive and social learning, and the
constructivist contributions to the literature on leadership development. The theory of
transformational leadership was foundational to this research because it acknowledges the
developmental nature of leadership and the importance of relationships between leaders and
followers (Avolio, 2005). The literature review covered the themes of leadership including
reflective practice, relationship building, moral purpose, and identity work.
The study population consisted of professional women engineers licensed in the
Canadian province of British Columbia (APEGBC 2010, 2013). The sampling criterion limited the
study participation to women engineers with five years’ experience in professional practice,
including the two years as an engineer-in-training. The intention was to select women
engineers who had experience as a leader, which might not be possible in less than five years of
practice. The engineers assessed their leadership capacity using the Leadership Practices
Inventory (LPI), a self-assessment with thirty statements of leader’s actions and behaviors,
which participants assessed on a 10-point Likert scale. This assessment tool was an important
starting point for the women engineers to describe their leadership in terms of the five leader
practices: modeling the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to
act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2002, 2011, 2013).
Correlational analysis was used to explore the associations between levels of university
education, presence of executive coaching, years of engineering practice, and the location of
practice as rural versus urban. Spearman correlation analysis predicted a measure to explain
the association between leadership and the highest level of university education. Pearson
correlation analysis predicted measures to explain the relationship between the five leadership
variables and between leadership variables and the number of years of practice. Point-biserial
correlation analysis tested the association between leadership and executive coaching.

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Implications of This Research
The descriptive statistics of LPI scores produced a profile of leadership for the
professional women engineers. In terms of the highest mean scores of the five subscales,
enable others to act (7.84) was the dominant leadership practice in this study. Enable others to
act describes the leader’s collaborative style of interaction and engagement. Specific leader
behaviors within this leadership practice included building trusting relationships with followers,
actively listening to and responding to diverse points of view, supporting decisions made by
followers, and promoting the follower’s growth as a leader (Kouzes & Posner, 2011, 2013). The
leader behaviors of enable others represent the leader’s comfort with strengthening her
followers’ capability, including the followers’ aspirations for leadership (Jandaghi, Matin &
Farjami, 2009).
Although the second highest mean score was for the subscale of modeling the way
(7.49), the lower reliability on this subscale suggested the participants did not interpret the
leader behaviors consistently; and similarly for challenge the process, with lowest Cronbach
Alpha reliabilities (0.44 and 0.63), respectively. One leader behavior under challenge the
process was to experiment and take risk (6.13). This statement is noteworthy with respect to
the perception of risk, which differs substantially between engineering and business. For the
professional engineer the highest purpose is safety and security of the technology application,
given that engineering standards and protocols minimize risk. Although anecdotal, a note from
one woman engineer reinforced this difference when she wrote that no risk was taken in
engineering while plenty of risk was common in her business.
Examination of the scores for the full thirty statements of the LPI showed the highest
mean score for follow through on the promises and commitments the leader makes (9.05) and
secondly, treat others with dignity and respect (9.03). These results indicate that the women
engineer leaders valued the importance of creating relationships across cultures, disciplines,
and the many domains that engineering touches. The leader behaviors with the least mean
scores included show others how their long term interests can be realized by enlisting in a
common vision (5.18) and describe a compelling vision of what our future could look like (5.32).
These leader behaviors are part of the subscale for inspire a shared vision, the subscale with the

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lowest mean score (6,07) of the five leadership practices. These findings imply women
engineer leaders do not view their leadership beyond the future possibilities of a specific
technology. The visioning process is characteristic of a futuristic perspective and an essential
part of the identity work for women’s leadership development (Ely, Ibarra & Kolb, 2011).
For women engineer leaders to build on their leadership strengths they require a
continued education that draws upon the pathways already defined in engineering leadership
education, management education, and leadership education. Canadian engineers emphasized
the value of sustainability in education and in professional practice (Reyes & Galvez, 2011).
Sustainability is a theme that extends to all realms, including succession of women leaders in
the engineering profession. Only through leadership development that is grounded in Canadian
engineering and education values will women engineers create a legacy within the profession
(Alexandrou, Swaffield, & MacBeth, 2014).
Dinpolfo, Silva & Carter (2012) reinforced the proactive responsibilities of senior leaders
to develop future women leaders by investing time to sponsor and promote inclusive
leadership development. This study suggested that the ways of integrating engineering and
leadership are complex and learning leadership is equally complex. Like the intricacies of
management education and leadership education, leadership development requires a
combination of learning that is reflective, situated, and experiential, and includes executive
coaching. A program approach that embraces these many ways of learning will provide women
engineer leaders with continued opportunities for leadership development.
As noted by Garcia (2009), the leader’s thinking is incomplete unless it incorporates
dialogue and reflection with others. Leaders require a practice field for shared reflection,
experience, and deliberate learning. In the organizational context, Garcia’s (2009) approach
suggested a practice field in which women engineer leaders expand their critical thinking to a
wider range of issues related to the organization’s culture and its social responsibility. These
critical skills can be learned through coaching and mentoring, which generate the professional
conversations needed for leadership growth.
A secondary purpose of this research was to assess the influence of a number of
independent variables on the leadership of the women engineers; these variables represented

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different ways of learning leadership and included years in practice, highest levels of university
education, presence of executive coaching, and location of the engineering practice as to rural
or urban.
Executive coaching is a facilitated process for learning leadership; it integrates self-
understanding, experience of leader identity, and the pursuit of a higher purpose (Ely, Ibarra &
Kolb, 2011). In the organizational context, the higher purpose relates to the strategic vision for
the business, where technology change and innovation are the business drivers. For women
engineers in professional practice, clarity of her identity as a leader will help to integrate roles
as leaders, engineers, and business women. In this study, executive coaching was not
associated with the leadership of the participants.
Executive coaching is a source of education in leadership development; it provides a
practice field for the leader to learn professional conversation techniques as well as facilitated
learning of leadership skills (Cerni, Curtis & Colmar, 2010; De Hann, Bertie, Day & Sills, 2010;
Levenson, 2009). Executive coaching utilizes experiential learning, as the leader commits to
accomplishing goals and reporting on her success. It provides a way for the leader to
understand her learning preferences and adapt to a wider range of leader behaviors, including
relationship building with followers and peers (Griffiths & Campbell, 2009; Turesky & Gallagher,
2011).
The outcome research on executive coaching substantiated its value for increased
leadership effectiveness and productivity gains (Bowles, Cunningham, De La Rosa, Picano, 2007;
De Hann & Duckworth, 2013; Thach, 2002; Perkins, 2009). Other studies on outcome research
for executive coaching showed increased self-efficacy in goal-setting, more belief in self,
increased ratings on feedback from direct reports, and the ability to ask superiors for
improvements (Evers, Brouwers & Tomic, 2006; De Hann, Duckworth, Brich & Jones, 2013).
In this study, the only independent variable shown to influence the leadership variable
was years of engineering practice. Years of practice are an inadequate measure to guide current
and future leaders in the profession. In the next section, recommendations suggest a program
model to support the leadership development for women engineer leaders.

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Recommendations
The evidence from this research described the leadership of a sample of women
engineers. Their leadership profile shows they are collaborative, relationship oriented leaders
whose influence may be strengthened through ongoing, coordinated efforts within the
profession. The recommendation includes a program model approach, drawing upon three
components: sources of leadership education, a community of practice for women engineer
leaders, and provision of the practice fields for leadership learning, see Figure 1, Program
Components for Leadership Development. The figure represents a visual to more clearly
communicate the work and overlapping goals of the stakeholders who contribute to the
leadership development of women engineers.
The theoretical framework for this study encompassed formal education and the
literature review identified the improvements to programs for engineering leadership,
management, and leadership. In addition, advancements in the application of learning and
curriculum improvements combine to provide ways of learning leadership that accelerate
leadership development. In this component for sources of formal education, the leader needs
access to the theory and practice of leadership from existing management and leadership
programs. With guidance, the engineers will create the appropriate context for the women
engineer leaders. The missing elements of leadership education for women engineers are
access to the facilitated learning of executive coaching and the group learning that enhances
visioning and relationship building, particularly with senior engineer leaders.
New ways of learning leadership necessitates fields of practice that stimulate the
professional conversations, integrate engineering and leader identity, and encourage
relationship building. A community of engineer leaders comprises organizational leaders from
engineering firms, key employers, university engineering faculty, and the leaders of
professional engineering associations and affiliated societies. The purpose of this community is
to create a culture of leadership for articulating, sharing, and generating leadership
development for women engineers. Through a community of leaders, women engineers will
further refine the contributions for their leadership development.

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For example, one context for a women engineer leader is leading a diverse group of
stakeholders around technology with public policy implications. When engineers lead public
policy discussion the stakeholders confront them for explanations of the technical standards.
Leading requires the engineer to tactfully translate the technology into language that is
relevant to the stakeholders lived experience. Here the leadership development requires focus
on leader identity and the ability to articulate a vision of the technology’s role in society
(Bonasso, 2001, 2002; Reeves, 2010). A program approach would combine group learning and
formal education that strengthens the engineers’ ability to take the lead to communicate and
teach stakeholders about the technology in question. Innovation in pedagogy for leadership
education suggested new possibilities like relational and interdisciplinary leadership, and
beneficial to women engineer leaders (Cunliffe, 2009; Eriksen & Cunliffe, 2010).
Suggestions for Further Research
This study could be expanded to a larger sample of women engineers practicing in
Canada. The limitations of the small sample size made testing the associations between
variables less certain. With a larger sample size, the interpretation of the results of the
correlation analysis may prove that stronger associations exist than evidenced in this study.
Given the top leadership practices of women engineer leaders are enable others to act, it is
important to clarify the sources of leadership development for women and male engineers. The
infrastructure for leadership development of women engineers is lacking in Canada. This study
described the leadership strengths of women engineers and the requirements for learning
leadership that will foster development of women engineer leaders. A coordinated effort
involving professional engineering associations and affiliated societies together with
engineering firms and university engineering faculty offers the way forward for a community of
leaders for current and future women engineers. This is a feasible educational endeavor that
will enhance leadership in the engineering profession.
The results of this doctoral research were inconclusive with respect to testing the
hypothesis of the independent variables. The reliability of the Leadership Practices Inventory

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was questionable in contrast to earlier research. In the literature review, executive coaching
emerged as a learning process for leadership development in business, government, and
health. Although new as evidence-based disciplines, women’s leadership development,
engineering leadership education, and executive coaching are growing fields of academic
research. Engineering firms, corporations, and government organizations that employee
engineers will benefit from further research and a programmed approach to leadership
development for women engineers.
Notes on the Researcher: The author started her career as a professional engineer and retained
the engineering license as she moved through strategic planning and human resource management to
educational leadership. The connecting theme in her career was the generative power of an engineering
education to provide the foundation for learning in a wide range of domains. In her post-doctoral
research, expansion of the sample size is the immediate concern in late 2014, in order to capture more of
the target population of professional women engineers in British Columbia. Her enduring belief in the
capabilities of women engineers to lead in the profession continues as the theme in her academic
research, writing, and teaching.

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2503
Figure 1 Program Components for Leadership Development
Build
Community
Provide
Practice
Faciliate &
Support
Education
Build
Capacity
Women Engineers Resources
APEGBC
Engineering
Societies
Inter
Disciplinary
Relevant
Organizational
Leaders
Engineering Deans and Faculty
Advance
Women
Engineer
Leaders

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