Recruiting Diverse Civil Engineers

Diversity candidates have many employment options in today s market because many organizations are aggressively seeking diversity employees. Licensed, experienced engineers of color or female engineers are a valuable and sought-after asset. The turnover rate in people of color is greater than white males, says Valencia Faye Tate. Because there s a war for talent, folks are extended more lucrative offers.  

As a result, to attract and retain diversity candidates, employers need to sell their organization to prospective diversity employees and present them with a convincing case as to why their organization is a good fit for the diversity candidate. 

One key, established sociological concept is that like attracts like. In social psychology, similarity refers to how closely attitudes, values, interests, and personality match between people. Research has consistently shown that similarities in opinions, interpersonal styles, level of communication skill, demographics, and values have all been shown in experiments to increase interpersonal attraction. Conversely, people tend to make negative assumptions about those who disagree with them on fundamental issues, and hence dislike them. 

At the same time, the concept of like attracts like can be used as a tool to improve or promote diversity. Females and people of color may feel more comfortable having colleagues, mentors, and leadership who look like them, rather than feeling like a token of their particular demographic or cultural group. Having relationships with similar people helps to validate the values held in common. 

To this end, the organization s diversity should be showcased as much as possible. Prospective employees need to see diversity, and firms need to show them real-life examples of diversity in the workplace. Similarly, females and minorities who are in senior management or in exciting positions should he involved in the recruiting process. 

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Recruiting Diverse Civil Engineers (Chapter 4) talks about where to find professionals from diverse backgrounds. 

One important point about promoting diversity in an internship program is to apply principles of diversity recruiting to finding diverse intern candidates. Recruiting diverse civil engineers is discussed in Chapter 4. 

It simply makes good sense to recruit from a larger pool and from a more diverse spectrum of civil engineers, and to foster a workplace that welcomes and values the contributions and perspectives of aU employees regardless of gender, ethnic, racial and rehgious background, age, sexual orientation, and disability. 

A number of civil engineering organizations interviewed as part of this effort have convened diversity committees or diversity boards. For example, in 1992, PB started a Diversity Oversight Committee sponsored by the chief operating officer. Committee chairs from the various employee network groups are members, along with senior HR staff and recruitment officers - that means all the decision-makers are in the room, says Tracey Bessellieu. The Committee considers measurements and data provided by the HR department to monitor recruitment and internship efforts, and to mentor, retain, and help further career oppormnities for women and all other protected classes. ... 

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