Way to success – perspectives of women leaders in engineering

Abstract

Engineers are key personnel in the industrial sector worldwide. Engineers' contribution to economic development is remarkable in any country by performing their duties in numerous industries and businesses. Unlike other professions, engineering is dominated by male professionals worldwide. Despite the prevailing masculine culture in industries, numerous women engineers have become professionally successful leaders in the workplace. Although there are such women leaders in the Sri Lankan industrial sector, a few studies have been done to investigate their exceptional performance to enhance the knowledge base of professional success. This study aimed to determine the success techniques advocated by women engineers in Sri Lanka. Nearly 250 leading women engineers in Sri Lanka's state and private sectors were given the online qualitative survey. Forty-six replies were received and examined using content analysis with NVivo. Identified success techniques and the percentage of respondents who have mentioned those success techniques were as follows: involving in continuing professional development – 63%, developing soft skills – 57%, working hard – 37%, developing personality – 26%, and following ethics – 26%. This study's findings can be considered guidelines for young women engineering professionals in Sri Lanka to nurture their professional journey to success.