Monday, August 18, 2014

Leena Gade Swipes Another Victory at Le Mans


Being a part of SWE means taking pride in the success of fellow woman engineers. This month we take a look at Leena Gade. For those of you who haven't heard about Leena Gade, back in 2011 she became the first female engineer to win a race at Le Mans. Le Mans is the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing held in France. This race is considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races and teams that enter must consider many mechanical factors to ensure that their car comes out on top.
Leena Gade has had a ton of success in the past three years. She recently snagged her third consecutive win at Le Mans as a part of the Audi racing team. Despite her success Gade was told that she would never make it as an engineer. This only fueled her desires. She worked hard to get to where she is today. She is living proof that you can do anything you set your mind to.

For more on Leena Gade please take a look at the following links!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

2014 Best Companies for Multicultural Women

Part of the SWE mission is diversifying the workforce!  Recently an article was published on the 2014 Best Companies for Multicultural Women.  The Executive Summary has data on representation in the workforce, by job level, board of directors membership, promotion, hiring, support for advancement, and much more!

Check out the article here:  http://www.workingmother.com/node/152594/list
Executive Summary:  http://www.wmmsurveys.com/2014_MCW_Executive_Summary.pdf



Quoted from the Executive Summary (page 4):

Summary of 2014 Findings

  • Notably, at the 2014 Best Companies for Multicultural Women, 9% of executives who report directly to the CEO are multicultural women, up from 5% last year. 
  • Multicultural women represent 12% of the Best Companies’ top earners (defined as those among the top 20% of earners at the company); last year this number was 10%.
  • Sixty-four percent of Best Companies compensate managers on their diversity results, up from 60% last year. 
  • Representation of multicultural women at the senior manager (8%) and corporate executive (4%) positions each increased one percentage point in the past year.
  • Total representation of multicultural women at all job levels (including non-manager, manager, senior manager and corporate executive) also increased one percentage point to 20% (from 19% in 2013). 
  • Multicultural women received 13% of all promotions to manager and above at the Best Companies, down from 15% in 2013.
  • All Best Companies offer mentoring to multicultural women employees. (Shout out to RPI's Women Mentoring Program!  It is great to find mentors in all stages of your life.)
  • Ninety-two percent of Best Companies offer career counseling; 61% of female multicultural employees participate in career counseling at the Best Companies