While the Order of Engineers of Quebec (OIQ) now has 16% female engineers and candidates for the profession, compared to 4% in 1989, efforts continue to attract more women. But already, a small revolution has taken place on the ground. THE boys club is no longer what it was.
Published at 8:00 a.m.
Hélène Brisebois, structural engineer and president of SDK, knows something about this. After graduating from Polytechnique Montréal in 1987, she quickly found a job in consulting engineering at SDK, where she became a shareholder after two years.
“Meetings that started at 4 p.m. with real estate developers were common,” recalls the woman who became president in 2007. In any case, we often worked until around 8 or 9 p.m.: we had pizza brought to us. or chicken. We also went back to the office on Sunday. »
Hélène Brisebois, who worked notably on the MIL campus of the University of Montreal, had her children at the start of her career. “I had a nanny,” she explains. Fortunately, my boyfriend had a job that was easier to reconcile with the family in terms of hours. That’s how it was back then. Today, no one would accept that! The guys also leave at 4 p.m. to go to daycare. Society has evolved, in the right direction. »
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The construction of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital, a $2 billion project headed by Hélène Brisebois
At SDK, women represent about a third of the 60 employees, but about 20% of the engineers, specifies Hélène Brisebois, who now works among others on the Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital, a $2 billion project. Although there is still a way to go, she notes that the picture has changed a lot since her years at university.
We had no role models. I had never met a female engineer before entering Polytechnique.
Hélène Brisebois, president of SDK
There are now more women in engineering in leadership roles as well. Some are at the head of engineering firms. In addition, the city’s two major schools, Polytechnique Montréal and the École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS), are now headed by women, respectively Maud Cohen and Kathy Baig, two former presidents of the OIQ.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sophie Larivière-Mantha, president of the Order of Engineers of Quebec
-“Women need role models and mentors when choosing a field,” says Sophie Larivière-Mantha, president of the OIQ.
Inclusive models and practices
Providing role models to young people is one of the OIQ’s main strategies to convince more girls to choose engineering. “Our ambassadors go to see them from high school because that’s where they make the essential course choices to be able to go into engineering,” explains Sophie Larivière-Mantha.
Following a survey carried out in 2019 among women which revealed that 45% of engineers said they had already suffered discrimination in their career, the OIQ also produced guides to raise employers’ awareness of the importance of having inclusive practices.
At BBA, a consulting engineering firm with 1,500 employees in Canada which estimates that it has 20 to 23% women among its engineers and technicians, efforts have been made in this area for several years. The head of talent and sustainable development, Renée-Claude Turgeon, mentions that each employee must complete training on unconscious bias. Then, the entire talent acquisition team was trained in diversity, equity, inclusion and a committee was created on the subject.
“The goal is to be an inclusive workplace,” she explains. This means that a person can be who they are, share their ideas, feel heard and feel that even if they belong to a minority group, they have the same opportunities as others. If we have this foundation, we can work to attract more women. Otherwise, we’ll never get there. »
Among the changes made, she mentions that her talent acquisition team always ensures that its scouting efforts include women. In addition, the panel that conducts job interviews is diverse.
The candidate for the position must recognize themselves among the people doing the interview.
Renée-Claude Turgeon, Head of Talent and Sustainable Development, BBA
In recent years, efforts have also been made to have women on the board of directors (33%) and in the management team (26%). “Several women have also been promoted to associate,” says Renée-Claude Turgeon. We also have different leadership programs to help people progress and we always ensure that a good percentage of women participate. »
More diverse teams
What does the arrival of women change, concretely, in these boys clubs of yesteryear?
“In construction, there is a lot of stress, there is a lot of money at stake,” says Hélène Brisebois. Since there have been more women, the way people address others in meetings has softened. There is less trashing too. A politeness has been established. »
There is also an impact on the solutions found. “It’s proven that when there is diversity in a group, there is diversity in ideas,” indicates Renée-Claude Turgeon. In an inclusive company, teams are rich. Every project benefits from it. »
