Women's vision needed for innovation

20 Jul 2011, 4:24 pm   -   Source: AAP

Women's vision and leadership in engineering is needed to foster technological innovation, says industry leader.

Women's vision and leadership in engineering is needed to foster technological innovation, says an industry leader.

Dr Maria Jesus Prieto-Laffargue, the president of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and the first woman to ever hold the post, says our globalised, multicultural society required new approaches to innovation and technology.

Speaking at a conference in Adelaide, Ms Prieto-Laffargue said tackling gender imbalances in engineering was crucial to good business.

"Gender imbalances create significant deterioration with regards to experimentation and knowledge transfer," she said.

"The joining of the mentality of women and men gives value to the innovative teams."

Ms Prieto-Laffargue said within the family women had good experience in dealing with micro issues, enabling them to perceive project details often overlooked by men.

"Women are patient teachers knowing how to rationalise time and feelings, they move easily from high complexity to managing diversity," she said.

"They are used to being multifaceted and pay attention to the little details."

Ms Prieto-Laffargue said the perception of a conflict between work and family, and women's historic exclusion had been barriers to female representation in technical fields.

"The exclusion of women from engineering, technology and industrial fields was not an accident," she said.

"Discrimination for women in technological and science fields has been big."

"Many of the inventions, the records, the patents have been registered by husbands... women did not have the right to file patents. At times women generated technology through experimentation, a practice associated with handicraft."

Federal Minister for the Status of Women Kate Ellis told the conference more recognition, and workplace equality reforms were needed to encourage women in engineering.

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