Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.iaq.net/i/1367386
Industry Women Continued from previous page place policies/flexibility and hope this shift in mindset at- tracts more women to our company and field." "Women are used but highly overlooked as far as their skillset and knowledge. There are no women in high rank- ing positions As a whole, I am hopeful more women can make way to gain respect and take over leadership posi- tions throughout the EHS and construction worlds." How it All Started The Women's Committee was started by Mills and Ja- mieson after making a Women in the Workplace presen- tation at the 2018 EIA annual conference and exhibition. The committee is for men and women and is aligned with one of EIA's main purposes, which is to facilitate a mento- ring network for environmental health and science profes- sionals, but with a focus on diversity and inclusion issues. The committee is a work in progress, evolv- ing and growing as they welcome new members. The main goals include, but are not limited to: • Advocating for Women's Leadership. • Increasing & supporting the active partici- pation of women in EIA and the EHS industry. • Promoting women's economic and so- cial justice issues, equality and labor solidarity. • Developing and supporting men- toring within our organization. • Advocating for measurable, sustainable and pos- itive change in the status of women within EIA. • Collaborating with other EIA commit- tees to ensure that the mandate of the Women's Committee is reflected in all areas of the EIA. • Liaising with other organizations and groups to increase EIA's engagement in the broader move- ment to further the status of professional women. • Training women for leadership roles by pro- viding opportunities to gain experience. • Creating opportunities for networking & philanthropy. The 2021 EIA Women's Committee Goals are: • Develop terms of reference. • Meet during the March EIA conference to review & approve the terms of reference. • Pick up the pieces from COVID • Increase awareness and participation in the committee. • Create a Women's Commit- tee page to add on the EIA website. • Start to formalize scholarship grant You can get a copy of the full survey by emailing Kelly Rutt, at krutt@eia-usa.org or call (301) 961-4999. For female job titles in the industry, the fol- lowing was see in the survey: 39.4% mid-level manager 13.8% president/ceo/owner 13.8% senior exec level 12.3% admin/acct support 8.9% supervisor 6.9% director/board member 4.9% entry level But males in comparison, were split up as follows: 47% president/ceo/owner 33% mid-level manager 17% senior exec level 3% director/board member And for job security, 72 percent of participants felt most- ly, if not entirely secure, in their current position. This is very important considering the year was during a pandemic. Are workers in the EHS industry getting promoted in their jobs? Not very frequently. The survey also asked when was your most recent job promotion for men and women: 28.4% not applicable 19.3% past 3-5 years 14.8% past year 11.4% never 10.2% past 6-10 years 9.1% past 6 months 6.8% more than 10 years About 85 percent of the industry wasn't expect- ing a promotion at the time of the survey, while 15 percent were expecting a promotion this year. Key takeways from the survey was that there are visible differences between the genders, there are large gaps when it comes to mentorship, and it's time to come together and make some changes. These also lined up with some of the comments that people added anonymously to their survey form, including: "Human Resources focuses on women, support- ing flexible schedules and work environments." "There are very good female leaders in our organization and the industry. Most do a good job of supporting/developing other women. It still seems to be a struggle to demonstrate (in some areas), that women are promoted into roles based on them being most qualified based on capabilities, and it not be a political maneuver to show equal opportunity on paper." "Women are under-represented." "I can see the shift happening right be- fore my eyes of STEM-related companies becom- ing more inclusive, and it is a great sight." "Slowly moving in the right direction-- pandemic has helped with better acceptance of gender inclusive work- 16 | April 2021