Valued At Work: A blueprint for inclusion and retention of women in STEM

“Lauren Neal has written a must-read provocative, pragmatic, and realistic account for anyone curious about addressing biases in today’s workforce, where far too many women are still struggling to find their ‘space ”— Nadia Lalout-Landemaine, Deputy Co-chair of LEAN IN Equity & Sustainability

Programs that encourage female students to study STEM subjects and hiring initiatives that compel companies to boost their women in the workforce are all well and good, but until businesses do a better job of addressing what happens to women after they land STEM positions, nothing will really change, posits Lauren Neal, a female engineer turned project manager who has worked in the energy sector for 18 years.

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“You can have the most confident and competent women coming into these organizations, but if they are not included and they are not feeling valued, they are either going to walk right out that door, or, for whatever reason, if they need to stay, they are going to be soul-destroyed,” Neal said in a recent interview.

In her timely new book, Valued at Work: Shining a Light on Bias to Engage, Enable, and Retain Women in STEM, Neal draws from her own experiences, compelling research and numerous real-world examples to provide what she calls tried-and-tested approaches to help male-dominated organizations create and maintain more inclusive workplace cultures.

And Neal uses a unique approach to get her message across: The book is structured as a conversation between two male managers genuinely trying to improve the retention of women in their respective organizations. Readers get to be “flies on the wall” as these two men discuss the problems that women face within the patriarchal system — using concrete examples — and actively try to understand the challenges and find ways to course correct the company’s inclusion efforts.

They get it right, and they get it wrong.

“This fictional approach to a real business problem allows readers to empathize with these male organizational leaders in their own struggles, as well as with the women in theirs, with less judgement than is typical when discussing this topic,” Neal added.

Inspired by real-life stories, Valued at Work includes “top tips” for both organizations and women in STEM to equip all readers with strategies for driving real change.

About the Author

Lauren Neal is a champion of gender equity and career progression within STEM. Originally from Aberdeen, Scotland, Neal was named one of the UK’s top female computing students at age 18. She gained a master’s degree in electronic and electrical engineering, and since 2005 has worked with men and women offshore, onshore and onsite on multimillion-dollar projects across the UK, Angola, Trinidad, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. Chartered through both the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Association of Project Management (APM), she is a certified IC Agile team facilitator and coach focused on improving team dynamics for optimal project delivery.