How can you become an effective mentor to a female structural engineer?

There should be no difference between men and women aspiring to excel in the field of structural engineering. It suffices to abide by the professional standards, be on top on the new developments, and think creatively. Gender does not matter, Professionalism and work ethics do. Therefore, any young professional should be encouraged to put aside any perceived or experienced gender bias and just do their job.

Why should gender of a student matter in mentoring?? The question is misleading and mischievous. The views of other contributors are quite reasonable.

Gender shouldn't be an issue regarding being an effective mentor to a female structural engineering BUT the fact is, regardless of gender, race, etc. to be a great mentor, one should have the tools to understand and be empathetic or be opened minded to learn from the mentee, some of the challenges their mentee may have in the workplace, in life, etc Some people just don't get it.

Treat her/she (LGBTQT@S+) based on output an understanding of theory and practice eagerness to learn. A good engineer is a good engineer! 3 out of my best people I mentored of the top 5 were minority women. Lets keep sex and orientation out of this discussion! If they want to learn I don't see gender nor should anyone else.

One the first hand, how does it matter if the structural engineer is a male, female or any other gender? I have mentored several male and female structural engineers. Never thought of this. The single point focus was on the quality of the work, within the due time and working as a team.

In my experience, sometimes we need to express men’s emotional and professional characteristics for her. Many people due to gender differences and public and religious restrictions are not familiar with other gender’s personalities, so we need to explain these matters to our mentee and also to those who are working with her.

Interesting question but why making a difference between genders? An engineer is an engineer and gender, color or any other aspects are not relevant.

An engineer is an engineer, not male or female Mentoring and engineer is about providing clear instruction, and feedback based on the results It requires Arity of thought and patience

As for as possible you have talk with them in open places and in public and the conversation should all be very short and be subject oriented only .if they found wanting in their duty you should not discourage them and motivate to do the work in a better way and persuade them to get greater hight

I believe that frequent feedback, in addition to frequent support and monitoring of mentees promotes the development of confidence, independence and a sense of responsibility. As it is one of the noblest areas of engineering, having patient, participatory professionals as mentors who inspire students makes the process of multiplying knowledge much easier.

Yes absolutely and why the header itself is questionable as gender makes no difference whatsoever… engineer is engineer and you need to have integrity, drive, motivations and be pretty smart… and not male or female… but just a good human being.

In any type of a situation, gender discrimination shall be avoided at the first place. As a mentor it is my duty to ensure she is in a safer environment to work in the field. At the meantime the rest of the staff shall also be trained to follow that as a policy

Promoting diversity and inclusion for a female structural engineer involves recognizing and celebrating her achievements, advocating for her recognition and advancement, and supporting her involvement in networks that empower women in engineering. Additionally, addressing stereotypes and biases, and assisting in developing coping strategies, contributes to a workplace that values and nurtures diverse talent.

Diversity and inclusion is so important. Most of the research work done proved that diversity increases creativity and innovation. Furthermore, it can be found in history how women were important and their vital role in society.

As a mentor what you need to do - Just recognise your mentee's interest or create his or her interest to create by own and nothing else what I understood so far in my life.

An engineer should not be looked at as male, or female An engineer is an engineer As the old proverb goes, a strucky is a strucky!!! While mentoring a young engineer, we need to create a conducive environment for the engineer to learn and flourish

I don’t like the word ?expectations“ … goals and targets are important but ?expectations“ sounds negative and bossy and hence not the correct DNA.

Wish I could state , statement itself is wrong, right term is structural engineer, as engineering especially is gender neutral profession. Now coming mentoring part, same as of boys, guiding, influencing verbal and non verbal communication . Respecting boundaries.

I will answer this question being a man mentoring a woman. Here are a few points to consider: 1. Mentor her the same way you would mentor a man by appreciating her level of intelligence and professionalism. 2. Remember that women could sometimes be more emotional. 3. Remember that women have their personal needs. Be mindful of that. 4. Your relationship with her is purely professional. 5. Pay her based on her work and performance regardless of her gender. 6. Respect her as a human being and build a great working relationship with her. 7. She came there to do a job and learn the maximum from you, so do your job as a mentor and teach her what you know. This is also how you will earn respect, not just from her, but from the rest of the team.

Setting clear and realistic goals and expectations is crucial for effective mentoring. Discuss and agree on the purpose, scope, and duration of the relationship, defining roles, responsibilities, and boundaries. Establish meeting frequency, mode, and agenda, along with criteria for evaluating progress. This ensures focus, motivation, and accountability for both mentor and mentee.

Get to know her career aspirations, strengths, and areas for development. Tailor your mentorship to her specific needs and objectives.

Two of the most important questions to ask regularly are: 1) what can I do for YOU that would help you 2) what can I do differently to support YOU at best

Apesar de estarmos no século 21, e acreditarmos que n?o existe diferen?a de gêneros, ainda se encontram muitas dificuldades para as mulheres que escolheram atuar no campo de constru??o na engenharia. é importante demandar respeito, respeitando os seus colaboradores, estando presente para solucionar problemas. Gosto de me aproximar pessoalmente de cada um, pois acredito que um bom ambiente de trabalho é muito motivador. Mas, apesar disso, ter pulso firme, nas diretrizes e demandas existentes. N?o se intimidar, apoiar outras mulheres em campo, tornará nossa presen?a mais comum e diminuirá as mazelas.

Periodical feedback from mentees to mentors is very important. We are humans we have some flaws and we need to recognize them to fix them. This can help us to improve and better help others. However, feedback questions should be specific and precise like: What you think if I have done it would have helped you What can I improve What you didn't like

Seeking feedback is essential for a leader to continually grow and and increase the ability of their mentorship and support of younger engineers.

Gender plays no role in structural engineering. However in terms of number, Globally the female structural engineers are significantly lesser than male. So there should not be gender partiality. Peer support is very important for Women employees in any field. Structural engineers need lots of experience because of the complexity in field. So female employees should not be ignored after their career break due to marriage or maternity. They must be given with opportunity to continue their career in structural engineering.

Industry definitely lacks female role models so it is important to tell ourselves and our mentees that just because it is not normal to see a lot of female leaders in the industry, success as women is not an alien concept. Talent needed to grow and shine is not dependent on gender. As much as we would like, we can't isolate people from society. Have constructive conversation around an equal share of work at home, normalising off loading of child care duties to support system, have talk around work life balance for men and women in teams. Seepage of the women workforce is a great challenge. A robust plan to promote women early in their career so they have the motivation to return to work after their career break can be developed.

To support our female mentees work effectively, efficiently and easily without headaches firstly we have to provide a working atmosphere where all gender respected and work equally to do so we have to integrate them to this sector as much as possible and establish a policy to protect and support them.

As a structural engineer, you should have sound knowledge about the various structural code and sound engineering practices. You should have the sound analytical skills to examine the various load factors and then suggest the structural design according to various calculations taking into consideration the various safety factors. Mentoring any structural engineer should focus on development of these key parameters . The gender factors does not matter when you are mentoring someone in engineering field as you have to completely focus on developing a person to few key parameters as per the job requirement and as long as development is meeting those parameters, your mentoring job is in right direction.

One thing I am yet to find is circles of female engineers who can mentor on engineering and motherhood/parenting. As a female engineer and as a mother, I would like to know how those before me have coped or have been able to integrate those to aspects.