Uncomfortable work environment drives women out of engineering jobs, study finds

New research from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee observes that women are more likely to leave engineering jobs because of an uncomfortable work climate than for family reasons. One-third of women surveyed who did not enter engineering following graduation said it was because of their perceptions of the field as being inflexible or the workplace culture as being non-supportive of women. The study found that women's decisions to stay in the field are best predicted by a combination of psychological factors and factors related to the organizational environment. Female engineers who were treated in a condescending, patronizing manner, and were belittled and undermined by their supervisors and co-workers, were most likely to want to leave their companies, according to the study. UWM News | McClatchy-Tribune Information Services | Read the study