An Intervention
Strategy toRe-engage WomenEngineers inthe Workforce
Author: Honna Eichler George, Manager, Fund Development
Editor: Peter Finn, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Learning Officer

White Paper | April 2017

© Society of Women Engineers 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
By Karen Horting, MBA, CAE
Executive Director and CEO, Society of Women Engineers
Without intervention strategies, the current demand for technical talent combined with theprojected increase1 in the need for engineers will result in a significant shortage of skilled laborthroughout the United States engineering industry.
Increasing the persistence of women in engineering at all stages of their careers is imperative tosolving this talent shortage. As this white paper illustrates, while more women are graduating with
four-year degrees than men, they are underrepresented in the engineering industry – especiallywithin positions at the senior and executive levels. Women are also more likely than men to leave
the engineering profession (Corbett & Hill, 2015).
In envisioning an intervention strategy to re-engage female engineers who have left the workforce,
the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and iRelaunch created the STEM Re-entry Task Force (TaskForce).
Through the Task Force, engineering and technology organizations can develop cost-effective reentry programs to attract an underutilized source of talent. (Within this context, re-entry programs
are defined as formal internship programs developed by organizations to recruit individuals on acareer break of two years or more back into the workforce to fill critical talent shortages. All reentry programs are equal employment opportunities.)
Without incorporating re-entry programs as part of their overall recruitment strategies,organizations risk ignoring a valuable and largely unexplored source of talent. In addition,diversifying talent pipelines and increasing gender diversity not only addresses labor shortages,
but it also fosters innovation (Dezso & Ross, 2012) and increases competitiveness in the global
marketplace.
When the Task Force was launched in September 2015, Booz Allen Hamilton, Caterpillar, Cummins,General Motors, IBM, Intel Corporation, and Johnson Controls formally partnered with SWE andiRelaunch as Founding Members.
Through interviews with all active Founding Members of the Task Force, this white paper positions
the specific need for re-entry programs within the context of each company while demonstrating
the unique advantages received through participation in the program. These interviews also
highlight the value proposition of the Task Force, provide key indicators of organizational
readiness in starting a re-entry program, and emphasize best practices and lessons learned. The
conclusion provides specific recommendations to the engineering and technology sector.

2EXECUTIVE SUMMARYKEY OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS OF SUCCESSIn the 18 months since its official launch, the Task Force has had demonstrated success: All of the Founding Members developed re-entry programs that launched or were poisedto launch.

 All interviewed Founding Members that launched re-entry programs say involvement on theTask Force enabled effective development of their programs.

 All Founding Members interviewed for this white paper say participation in the Task Force
supported their companies’ core values and was positively viewed by external and internal
partners, stakeholders, and target audiences.

 Over 60 interns participated in Task Force pilot programs in the first year of the program (2016).
 Across all launched re-entry programs, the rate of converting re-entry interns to long-term
employees ranged between 60 percent and 100 percent (meaning some companies hired 60
percent of their interns, while other companies hired 100 percent of them).

Conversion rate of interns to employees

BETWEEN

AND

60%

INTERNS HIRED

100%

 Two companies that launched re-entry programs early in 2016 have already doubled or tripled
the number of positions they plan to recruit for in the 2017 iteration of their programs. Anothertwo companies developed re-entry programs for 2017 launch dates. One Founding Memberlaunched a six-month program in 2016 that completed in early 2017, with plans to repeat theprogram in late 2017. Another one of the Founding Members launched a re-entry program in2016 and is re-evaluating the future of the program.

 In the fall of 2016, a second cohort of the program began with the following organizations:

Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Northrop Grumman
Corporation, and Schneider Electric.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Jennifer Abman Scott, of SWE, and Carol Fishman Cohen, of iRelaunch, have co-led the executionof the Task Force since its inception. During the first year of the cohort, the Founding Membersof the Task Force met during monthly conference calls and convened during SWE’s Corporate
Partnership Council meetings. Companies also sent interns from the re-entry programs to share
their experiences at SWE’s Annual Conference, WE16, which was held October 26–28, 2016,in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was attended by over 11,700 individuals from allengineering disciplines.
This white paper was authored by Honna Eichler George, who conducted interviews and received
content from Margaret Arney, Holly Rollins, and Cheryl Wade of Booz Allen Hamilton; Stacey
M. DelVecchio of Caterpillar; Christina Baldwin and Karen M. Ramsey-Idem of Cummins; Silvia
Karlsson, Catherine Martin, Kristen Siemen, and Adela Perez Vinot of General Motors; Jennifer
P. Howland of IBM; and Catie Anderson, Cheryl Kern, and A. Denise Malloy of Johnson Controls.
Jennifer Abman Scott and Carol Fishman Cohen provided both interviews and forwards for thiswhite paper. Finally, SWE’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Learning Officer, Peter Finn,provided editorial guidance during the final stages of this project.
As Executive Director and CEO of SWE, I am pleased to highlight the visionary leadership of theFounding Members of the Task Force in designing and developing re-entry programs that haveincreased their organizations’ access to high-caliber engineering talent. I also commend Jennifer
Abman Scott and Carol Fishman Cohen in creating and directing the Task Force, which uniquelyaddresses a critical need within the engineering industry. In addition, the 2017 Cohort of the Task
Force is furthering the impact of this intervention strategy by designing a new set of re-entry
programs for their respective organizations. Finally, thank you to SWE's Corporate PartnershipCouncil, which provided seed funding to pilot the first cohort of the Task Force.

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NEED STATEMENT: A TALENT-DRIVEN NEED FOR
WOMEN TO RE-ENTER THE STEM WORKFORCE

Total College Graduates
Across All Disciplines

57%

Women

Men

College Graduates Entering
the Field of Engineering

22%

Women

Men

Women Employed
as Engineers

Increasing women in all stages of the engineering profession isnecessary to address the industry’s growing labor needs. According
to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, job
growth in the engineering industry will yield over 500,000 unfilled
positions from 2014 to 2024.
Yet the current pipeline of engineering talent does not include themajority of college graduates: women represent over 57 percent ofcollege graduates but only 22 percent of the engineers entering theworkforce (Hughes, 2013). Within the workforce, only 14 percent2of engineers are women. Women also leave the engineering
profession in greater numbers than men do (Corbett & Hill, 2015).
Organizations operating globally also report a shortage ofengineering talent outside the United States, especially forpositions in management and at the executive level.
While a variety of solutions are necessary to address the growing
labor needs in the engineering industry and to attract and retain
women in the profession, one emerging intervention strategy is
the re-entry internship program model. Across all industries, reentry internship programs prioritize the inclusion of workers froma multitude of diverse backgrounds while transforming traditional
recruitment practices.
Through participating in the STEM Re-entry Task Force (TaskForce), engineering firms hoped to fill critical labor needs in theirorganizations while also countering the trend of women leaving theworkforce and never returning. As is expanded upon throughout
this needs analysis, the Task Force responds to two core needs:
1.

A significant number of experienced female engineers who
have taken career breaks are ready and willing to return tothe profession.

2.

The engineering industry needs talent for management andexecutive-level positions.

14%
THE HIDDEN TALENT POOL: WOMEN WITHTECHNICAL DEGREES ON CAREER BREAKS
A significant number of women with technical degrees who
took career breaks are able and willing to return to their past
professions.
WomenMen5

NEED STATEMENT: A TALENT-DRIVEN NEED FOR
WOMEN TO RE-ENTER THE STEM WORKFORCEWOMEN IN THE ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSION
Women with Engineering or Computer
Science Degrees (800,000)
Women who have left the profession(216,000)
Women who left the profession tocare for family (54,000)
0200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

Between 54,000 and 216,000 women with technical degrees
are on career breaks at any time.

Research shows there are about 2.5 million women in the United States with STEM degrees. Of
this number, roughly 800,000 women (32%) have engineering and computer science degrees and216,000 (27%) have left their technical fields. Approximately 54,000 (25%) of the women who left
their technical careers did so to care for their families. It is estimated that the pool of technicalwomen who are on career breaks at any given time is between 54,000 and 216,000..3Founding Members of the Task Force demonstrated a need for talent with experience and a desire
to recruit individuals with technical backgrounds who had left the workforce. As Karen M. RamseyIdem of Cummins says, “We wanted to increase our pipeline for technical talent, and we realizedthat we were leaving money on the table to not recruit these engineers. We were missing out on avaluable source of technical talent simply because there was not an on-ramp for individuals who
had left their careers.”
Cheryl Kern of Johnson Controls notes that one of their “greatest needs and gaps” is the retentionof women in technical positions. Catie Anderson, also of Johnson Controls, agrees while noting thepotential to address larger business needs: “Finding experienced talent increases our competitive
advantage and helps us solve our most challenging business problems.”

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NEED STATEMENT: A TALENT-DRIVEN NEED FOR
WOMEN TO RE-ENTER THE STEM WORKFORCETHE DEMAND FOR EXPERIENCED TECHNICAL LEADERS WITHIN THE
STEM WORKFORCE
During the interviews conducted by SWE, all Founding Members recognized they wanted
to increase the diversity of their talent pipelines for mid- and senior-level positions. Whilemost companies in the Task Force had traditionally relied on recruiting talent directly fromundergraduate and graduate programs, many noted there was a growing need for candidates
with more experience.
For example, due to closely monitoring its pipeline for future technical leadership, Stacey M.
DelVecchio at Caterpillar had known for a while that they had an issue recruiting diverse talent
with experience. “We knew we wanted to have a stronger pathway for experienced talent to cometo Caterpillar.”
At Booz Allen Hamilton, Margaret Arney says that as soon as they learned about the Task Force atan SWE CPC Meeting, the team was “very excited about it. We knew it was something we wanted
to be involved with and that it would provide a new avenue to recruit qualified, experienced
professionals.”
Recruiting and hiring technical leaders with demonstrated work experience also furthers
innovation for companies, as Catherin Martin illustrates in her assessment of the value of Take 2(the name of General Motors’ re-entry program). “Take 2 further promotes an environment that isinclusive and supportive of women in STEM roles. It helps to engage passionate and experienced
technical women in careers that need their skills and unique perspectives and experiences toboost innovation and advancement in the automotive industry.”
Through the Task Force, SWE and iRelaunch are uniquely positioned to address these core needs:

 With a history that dates to 1950 and a global membership of over 37,000 individuals from allengineering professions, SWE is the world’s largest advocate for women in engineering andtechnology. Each year, SWE hosts the world’s largest conference for women in engineering.
SWE’s mission is augmented through its collaboration with 75 high-ranking organizations in its
Corporate Partnership Council (CPC) and its brand recognition and respect in the industry.

 As the pioneering company in the career re-entry space, iRelaunch is the leader in career re-entry programming of all kinds. iRelaunch works directly with over 14 Fortune 100 companies
and over 30 Fortune 500 (or equivalent) companies, in a range of roles, to develop, pilot, source
for, present in, and publicize their re-entry internship programs or to similarly support theirefforts to hire relaunchers directly into open roles without internships.

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