Consider this: You are introduced to a new business associate from another country. Should you offer a firm handshake and a hearty pat on the back to welcome him? Do you smile or bow? Should the culture of his business etiquette become yours? Should yours become his?

What about this situation: If female managers are leaving your company at a higher rate than male managers, what might be the most likely cause? Do women have less opportunity for advancement? Do women make less of a career commitment? Could it be that women are not assertive enough to succeed?  Depending on who you ask, the answer could spark an interesting dialogue or an office brawl!

If “workforce diversity” conversations similar to these haven’t reached your office yet, it won’t be long! The impact of global and gender shifts in this country are changing the way we think about how business is conducted with clients from different parts of the world and even how we interact with colleagues in our own offices.

ASCE recently examined issues of workforce diversity in the recently released publication, Diversity by Design: Guide to Fostering Diversity in the U.S. Civil Engineering Workforce, a professional manual with practical, hands-on recommendations on how to foster, improve and maintain a diverse and thriving civil engineering workforce. The guide’s table of contents and executive summary can be accessed on ASCE’s Diversity Web site.

Does your Section or Branch conduct activities related to workforce diversity? Diversity is a huge global issue and promoting your local diversity activities is a great way to show what civil engineers are doing to stay on top of it. Talk with local business reporters or reporters at your local business journal and get the conversation started!

What are your ideas for addressing diversity in the engineering workforce?

Lisa Jennings
Senior Manager, Diversity and Pre-College Outreach

Would it surprise you to learn that the public is not uninformed about engineering, they’re just not interested? Don’t worry, it’s not personal. It’s simply that engineers, in general, have not portrayed the profession in terms of its life-and-death impact on the future of humanity. Anything short of that has a tough time capturing the interest of today’s information-saturated, entertainment-loving media consumers.

The amazing truth is that engineers really do deal in life-and-death, real-world challenges. They hold in their minds the ideas that will provide sustainable energy, safe and abundant drinking water and protect us from the threat of climate change. As if that weren’t enough, making those ideas a reality provides the fuel to promote our economic prosperity.

The National Academy of Engineering argues in a recently published report, Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering, that engineers must tap into the hopes and dreams of the public and recast messages to focus on the inspirational and optimistic aspects of the profession.

Civil engineers James Johnson, dean of engineering at Howard University, and Pat Natale, executive director of ASCE, served on the NAE committee that authored the report. Johnson will present the report’s key recommendations during a session at ASCE’s Annual Conference in Pittsburgh on November 8.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the report is the set of engineering messages it recommends. They were developed and tested for effectiveness with segments of the public including kids, parents and teachers. The report should be required reading for any engineer serious about public awareness. You can read it online.

Jane Lombardi
Director, Communications