Also, women scientists and engineers in industry are both more likely to leave technical occupations and more likely to leave the labor force altogether than women employed in other sectors. Sometimes, there exists an elitist corporate culture which excludes women's views and causes them to be uncomfortable. In industry it is difficult to disprove the pipeline theory because a typical career path from entry to senior executive may take 20 years, and there have not yet been sufficient numbers of women at the various levels to test the model. Some incentives to ensure the professional progress of women scientists and engineers in industry include establishing fellowship programs at colleges, clarifying the criteria to be met by a person seeking a promotion, and creating women's committees or networks in addition to mentoring. These networks are useful for women to learn from each other, and do not have to exclude male members.
Structured family leave programs are useful for retaining both men and women who desire families.
A strong technical or scientific background and thorough hands-on experience early in one's career are equally important for women and men in advancing their industrial careers. Lateral moves are important because they challenge employees to take risks by moving into new areas of the business and learning new skills. More needs to be done to make lateral development assignments available to women at all stages of their careers and to communicate to women the importance of accepting these sometimes risky assignments. Technical competence is also the foundation for good management, and it includes not only a woman's own technical competence but also being respectful of the competence of others. A women in a technical field needs to continue learning all her life, both how to excel in her specialty and how to be a manager if she goes into management.