The Research
I really enjoyed learning about Ann-Louise’s research. It helped my engineering brain to be able to name my experiences and place them in a systemic context using a rigorous, research-based lens.”
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— Partner, P. Eng; 20 years experience
Research Summary
Dr. Howard documents her study of women engineers’ experiences of suffering in the workplace, a focus that became a window into the sometimes dangerous, covert, gendered dynamics of engineering that help maintain the status quo.
Using the participants’ own words, the research describes what is largely normalized, taken for granted, and hidden in their experience. Upon reviewing the findings against the existing research on women in engineering and on microaggressions, new, provocative insights emerged.
These insights point to hidden, gendered microaggressions that are unique to the profession. They suggest how the culture of engineering likely intensifies microaggressions and their hidden dynamics, and contributes to women’s invalidation and suffering. While many women navigate these microaggressions well, sometimes even effortlessly, they can still have a profound effect.
Our research was awarded the Concordia University Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Prize in Fine Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences, and is the basis of the services we offer for women in engineering.
In the Media
Dr. Howard’s research on the hidden, often painful experiences of women in engineering has sparked conversation across Canada. It’s helping people see what was previously unspoken — and often unseen — about its gendered workplace dynamics.
The Iron Ring Podcast
November 2023
CBC Our Montreal, March 2023
Interview begins at 12:10
Opinion: We need to talk about the emotional toll on women in engineering
The Montreal Gazette
December 9, 2023
The unseen struggles of women in engineering
The Concordian
March 14, 2023
This Concordia prof wants women in engineering to stop blaming themselves
Concordia Now
February 22, 2023
Navigating the Research
Chapter 1
Introduces the thesis and provides a summary of the existing, relevant research in support of this study.
Chapter 2
Describes the methodology that was used in the study and advocates for its use in management research.
Chapter 3
Consists of the autoethnographic study that Dr. Howard performed in support of the study. This is her very personal story of her own experience of suffering in the workplace, and serves to investigate the historical and cultural context in which her experience took place.
Chapter 4
Presents the findings of the phenomenological study of women engineers’ experience of suffering in the workplace. Pages 112 through 135 represent the heart of the thesis.
Chapter 5
Reflects on the findings and what they mean in relation to the existing research, and presents six provocative insights that challenge the engineering profession to accept the reality of its systemic oppression of women.