#ILookLikeAnEngineer Helps to Combat Stereotypes in Hi-Tech

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#ILookLikeAnEngineer Helps To Combat
Lillian Gregory
CEO and Founder, The Institute for Human and Leadership Excellence | Author
"Twenty-One: 21st Century Leadership Models"
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#ILookLikeAnEngineer Helps To
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Stereotypes in High Tech
Aug 7, 2015 103 views 9 Likes 2 Comments
#ILookLikeAnEngineer was started this
week by Isis Wegner, a self-taught Enterprise
Software Engineer with OneLogin.
In just a few days her hashtag has taken on a life
of its own with over 1.2 million hits on Google
and over 50,000 retweets and pictures on
Twitter. I'm fully on-board with this viral
campaign to combat stereotypes in High Tech
and I've added the hashtag to my profile pictures
on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ - and I'm posting it wherever I can.
--------------------------------------------------
The point is clear - don't judge a woman in Hi-Tech (or anywhere else!)
through an outdated lens!
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Here's my story of how #ILookLikeAnEngineer

Millennial Workers
Don Tapscott

I decided to become an Electrical Engineer in my teens at a time when nothing
seemed hard and everything seemed possible. I was right - it wasn't hard and
everything is possible - so I did as I had planned.
Back then we didn't have STEM terminology and I knew nothing about the vast
array of challenges that I would face in the world and in the workplace. All I knew
was that I wanted to be an Electrical Engineer and I was singularly focused on
achieving that goal. Solving difficult intellectual and practical problems made my
soul happy (still does).
After graduating from High School, I got an earnest introduction to my first
career love when I joined the U.S. Air Force in the Delayed Enlistment Program. I
signed up for a role as an Electrician Specialist, departed for boot camp 6 months
later, and never looked back. The path that I had chosen was the right one and I
thrived on it.
I served our country with a young patriot's heart, eager to do my best as a soldier
as my first priority while taking classes in the evenings as my second priority. I
was a disciplined soldier and I still live by the same values:
"Integrity First, Service before Self, Excellence in All We Do"

I completed my tour after the Gulf War began and then stepped onto the world
stage ready to take my place - somewhere.
After completing my Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from
the University of Florida at Gainesville, I joined Corporate America where I began
to see how segmented the world really was. While in the military or in school I
didn't pay too much attention to the pockets of people that would form in lunch
rooms, in break rooms, in meeting rooms, at house parties, or at restaurants. I
noticed, but I didn't dwell on it.
--------------------------------------------------
Isis Wegner SelfTaught Enterprise Software Engineer @ OneLogin

--------------------------------------------------
I knew that I was unique. I also knew that I had the mental chops to hang with the
smartest of the smart - and that made me proud instead of apprehensive. My
friends were as diverse as they came in those days - Black, White, Asian, Indian,
Hispanic, Caribbean, Haitian, Canadian, German, Polish, English - tall, short,
medium, strange, genius, weird - almost all males. I had a great time with these
amazing individuals and I enjoy seeing their updates from time to time on
Facebook or on LinkedIn.
Who says men and women can't just be friends?
Never mind the comments of Nobel Laureate Tim Hunt. We were friends - the
cool kind - and we cared for and supported each other through tough classes,
through life transitions, and beyond into our early careers. Life has taken over
and many of us have lost touch, but I have no doubt that we will pick up in
familiar territory when we meet again.
We were cool, proud geeks - Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Mechanical
Engineers, Computer Scientists, Semiconductor Engineers, and a Bio-
Medical Engineer - just one in our group. We expected that we would have great
technology careers and we were right.

Wait for it...
After spending a couple of decades in the corporate world, I'm still in love with
my start as an Electrical Engineer. I've held roles as a Semiconductor Device
Engineer, Wireless Data Test Engineer, Wireless Data Network Engineer,
Telecom Technical Advisor, and Senior Technical Consultant - all during the first
stage of my career. I was ambitious and hard working to say the least.
Over the years my career options expanded with advanced degrees, professional
development programs, personal growth engagements, leadership stretch
assignments, mentorships, and sponsorships. Each of the opportunities gave me
tremendous experience and insight into the inner workings of the C-Suite and
Corporate Functions.
I was often the "only one" selected for various types of leadership programs
because as the saying goes "there simply wasn't anyone else available." The
landscape in Hi-Tech must continue to change in more ways than gender. I have a
daughter who will be in the middle of the fray in a decade or so and I refuse to
watch it go down for her the way it's gone for so many others.
I don't want her to face the surprised look on her colleagues' faces when she
enters a room simply because of her gender or color. I don't want her to be given
a double-take as if she's lost when entering decision-makers' meetings (unless

she's actually lost!). I don't want her to experience disrespectful cat calls and
other types of "harmless humor" from the males around her.
While these things don't happen all the time, they happen way too much for way
too many women - so given the opportunity to change minds about women in Hi-
Tech in a collaborative global chorus with something as simple as an impactful
hashtag, I'm all in. There's much other work to be done and I'm in there as well.
To professional women in Hi-Tech who are just beginning your careers or who
are in mid stride or to those of you who still hold wide-eyed amazement at what's
possible in Hi-Tech careers, hang on to your vision! Change is here.
If the original path that you laid out doesn't pan out as you thought it would, then
find new ways to do what you're passionate about. Hi-Tech needs you so don't
give up on it. Electrical Engineering is part of my career DNA and I'm proud to
support #ILookLikeAnEngineer.

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Written by
Lillian Gregory
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lillian Gregory is a passionate advocate for 21st
Century Leadership with special focus on Women
in Leadership and Women in Technology by
providing research, strategies, tools, workshops,
and events to help close the gaps. Download your
FREE eBook at www.humanexcellence.org and
get ready to climb!
© 2015 All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gender Equality, Leadership, Career Development
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2 commentsLike Comment 9 likes
Lana King
Business Development Manager at Samsung
You are amazing. Thank you for the inspiration.
Like(2) Reply 2 days ago
Lillian Gregory and Mae Chapman
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If You Hear This Comment From an Interviewee,
Should You Rethink Your Drug Policy?
Aug 8, 2015 138,456 views 544 Likes 233 Comments
We’d arrived at the point in the job interview where I’d made my decision: yes.
Hire this one. Even though I didn’t say it straight out, she could tell, and we were
both smiling. The tension had left the room. Now the conversation was more
Paul Downs
Blogger at Forbes
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casual. We’d already talked about what kind of money she was looking for - I
made her say her number first, of course - and now the interview was winding
down.
“Do you have any questions about anything else?”
“Ummm. Is there a dress code? Do you do a credit check? Background check? Do
you need a drug test?”
“Dress code?” I was wearing shorts and
a t-shirt. Our office is in an old factory
building, and not the sexy dot-com
renovated kind. It has 14-foot ceilings,
and enormous windows that do a
mediocre job of keeping the weather at
bay. It’s hot in the summer and cold in
the winter.
“Well, you should dress for comfort. As long as I’m not seeing your goodies, I
don’t really care what you wear.” This is a sales and marketing job, but we do all
of our customer interactions on the phone or by email. All of the shop floor guys
dress strictly for comfort. No clients come to our office without notice, and we can
always spruce up when we know that’s happening.

“What about a credit check?”
“Well, I’ll tell you, I don’t do them. Look, you’ve just been unemployed for a
couple of months, and sometimes people have been out of work for years. It
seems very unfair to penalize you for that. But. Don’t ask me for an advance on
your first paycheck. I’ve noticed a high correlation between people who beg me
for money upon hiring and people who don’t work out. Like 100%. Whatever
you’ve been doing to get by, keep doing it until you get your paycheck.”
Her smile reclaimed a little nervousness, but she didn’t pursue the point.
“What about a background check?”
“Do you have anything you want to tell me?”
She was totally natural, casual, convincing: “No, never had any problems. Maybe
a speeding ticket or two.”
“I’ve done background checks for people who I knew were in prison and didn’t
turn up anything, so I’m not convinced that they’re effective. Your job doesn’t
involve any money handling, so let’s presume you’re good to go.” I seriously have
no reason to suspect otherwise - I had Googled the heck out of her before the

interview - and decide not to worry
about it. But I may as well be clear.
“You should know that I keep a very
close watch on every penny that goes in
and out of this business. Nobody has
ever stolen from me before, except for a
couple of guys who tried to falsify
payroll records, and they got fired
immediately.”
“OK. Drug check?”
“We don’t do them. Frankly, I don’t care
whether you smoke a joint on Saturday,
as long as you come to work ready to go
on Monday. Here’s what I want. I try to hire smart, hard working people. And
when they’re here, I want them to pay full attention to their job, and to treat each
other with respect, and to be cordial and pleasant to each other. I hope you
noticed when we walked around: nobody poking at their cellphones, nobody
gawking at Facebook. Everyone works. This company has to provide for all of us.
Everyone does their part.”

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“Okay.”
“But if you ever show up here drunk or high, I’ll fire you on the spot. If I even
suspect there’s a problem, that’s when I’ll test you.”
She thought about that for a second.
“That’s a great drug policy.”
We wrapped up the interview and she left. I don’t hire all that often - maybe once
or twice a year. And my policies have served me well for the last 29 years. Maybe
it’s just the kind of people who want to be woodworkers, maybe I’m just lucky.
But for some reason this time I’m thinking: should I be tougher? All of your small
company bosses, say 30 employees or less: would you do what I did?
Paul Downs founded Paul Downs Cabinetmakers, and has been running it since
1986. He’s also the author of Boss Life: Surviving My Own Small Business, and
formerly wrote for The New York Times.

Written by
Paul Downs
Featured In Careers: The Next Level, Entrepreneurship, Recruiting & Hiring
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