IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2013 - 29

the obvious. For instance,
we're inclined to make generalizations about women
in leadership positions-
we tend to think of them
as hard, domineering,
and aggressive-and in a
sense, this generalization is
understandable.
Hidden Opportunities
As Swiss reminds us,
In response, women have become cre"the women who were
ative, finding their own ways of building
the first-the first board
allegiances with coworkers and tapping
member, the first in the deinto what Swiss calls the "hidden oppartment, the first head of
portunity network." For example, she
engineering-they had to,
says, "many years ago I spoke to a very
in a way, be tougher than
large company that was trying to recruit
the men just to get there.
more female engineers, and we were
They had to claw their
talking about strategies that the womway through the work enen were using, and one woman raised
vironment." But as more
her hand and said, 'I hate to say this,
women rise to positions of leadership,
but the secret is muffins.' And I asked,
we're seeing that "not all women think
'What?' She clarified her response and
alike or lead alike," she says. "We're seesaid, 'I realized that the only way to get
ing a broader range of women's leaderthese other male engineers to talk to
ship styles that we can aspire to." Swiss
me is if I brought them muffins and cofstrongly believes: "We have to be the edufee. They'd sit down and talk to me, and
cators and agents of change in showing
suddenly I'm their friend, and then they
by example that gender does not need to
forget I'm a woman. I know that's a silly
play a role in building strong teams...
thing-of course, you say, the stereotype
Celebrating and putting forward the inof women cooking-but that's somecredible strengths that women can bring
thing I enjoy'."
to the workplace is the best way to break
On the basis of her observations, Swiss
the gender barrier."
feels it might be easier for women to asIn her latest book, Swiss continues to
cend in engineering than in other maleexplore the relationship between women
dominated professions because, when it
and power, but in a somewhat differcomes to recruitment and advancement,
ent way. The Tin Ticket tells the story of
gender doesn't tend to be the prime conthe thousands of girls and women who,
sideration. "The beautiful thing about enbetween 1788 and 1868, were exiled
gineering is that there are often clear
from the British Isles and
productivity outputs," she
forced into slavery in Van
says. "When I was consultThe Tin
Diemen's Land, now
ing for software compaTicket tells the
known as Tasmania.
nies, they didn't care
The British govwhat gender anyone
story of the thousands
ernment targeted
was. ...If they're
of girls and women
women who had
a great engineer,
who were exiled
committed petty
they wanted them."
from the British
crimes and shipped
This approach to
them to this penal
hiring and promoIsles and forced
colony
of Australia
tion has a number
into slavery.
to act as "tamers and
of implications beyond
'Would you like to be on my team and try
this?' and the young guy gets a terrific
experience. Then there's a promotion requiring this kind of project experience.
He gets the job, and the woman has been
excluded." Or, put another way, she has
paid an unaccounted price.

june 2013

The Tin Ticket
is the story
of strong
women who
stepped up
to change
society's ills.

breeders" for the convict men. At the
time, "even if a poor women had a job...
she had to either be a prostitute to pay
her bills or she had to steal small items
to survive because she was paid 30-40%
of what a man was paid," Swiss says.
"So that's how the vast majority of these
girls and women were shipped-they
stole stockings, or a cloak, or a few things.
... Less than 2% were violent felons."
But there was a positive side effect. "Most of these women survived
and they went on to forge the most
progressive society for women," she
discovered. "Australia was the first
modern democracy. It was the second
place in world that women could vote
after New Zealand. It was the first place
in the world that women could own
property." Ultimately, we learn that The
Tin Ticket is the story of strong, fearless women who used friendship to pull
them through struggle and challenge,
who stepped up to change society's ills
with courage, grit, and resolve. For
the women of today, this is the history
book's real lesson.
-Heather Wax is a freelance writer
living in Brookline, Massachusetts.

IEEE womEn In EngInEErIng magazInE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2013