Research Interests

My research focuses on the culture of engineering in British Columbia and on promoting gender balance in the profession.

Engineering continues to be dominated by men of European-descent, but the face of engineering is changing as the population of Canada becomes racially diverse through immigration. While racial and cultural diversity in the workforce stimulates interesting conversations about both the workplace and the work itself, the female perspective is missing and would enhance innovation in engineering designs.

As an engineer, I have experienced workplaces with great diversity and workplaces with no diversity. The former are typically welcoming, energetic, innovative powerhouses today; the latter are inconsistent in both workplace culture and performance.

Pathways to Engineering

Although immigration of foreign trained professionals is becoming a large contributor to the population of engineers in Canada, graduates from Canadian engineering institutions comprise the greater percentage. Increasing the gender diversity of post-secondary school registrants will ultimately lead to a more diverse profession.

Planned Research

In planning my dissertation research, I realized that my goals encompass a research program that will require several years to complete. My goals focus on the transition from high school physics to engineering education:

• assessing the BC trends in participation in high school level physics classes of young men and women
• assessing the Canadian and global trends in participation in high school level physics classes of young men and women
• recording the career expectations of high school physics students
• recording experiences of women who successfully completed high school physics classes and pursued or did not pursue careers in engineering or physics
• recording oral history of women who are senior or emeritus professional engineers in BC
• assessing ethnographic and oral historical data for trends in high school physics classroom experiences and for the identification of motivators for retention on engineering pathway
• developing and verifying an implementation plan for improving retention of women at various stages on the engineering pathway

Any questions? Please email me through the contact form. Your questions and comments may form the basis of future posts, especially if you are already pursuing one of these goals. Maybe we can collaborate…

My publications are available on ResearchGate.