Retaining Diverse Civil Engineers

It takes significant resources (time, energy, and money) to hire and train an engineer at any level in the company. With a dearth of licensed female and minority engineers, and a huge market demand, how can a company earn the loyalty of the good engineers it wishes to keep  

ASCE s Guide to Hiring and Retaining Great Civil Engineers (2003) can be purchased from www.asce.org. 

Diversity by Design Guide to Fostering Diversity in the Civil Engineering Workforce 

Employers and employees in generations past understood the concept of loyalty. In workplaces of the past, employees spent all or large portions of their careers with one or two employers. In turn, employers treated their employees so that their loyalty was well-placed and well-rewarded. 

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Retaining Diverse Civil Engineers (Chapter 3) shows how to create a workplace that is conducive to diversity. 

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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