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FTTH Council President on DEI in Fibre Industry

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FTTH Council President Roshene McCool discusses Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the fibre industry

Former FTTH Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Chair and current FTTH Council President Roshene McCool shares some insights.

“Why do fewer women than men work in fibre? I think there are there are two reasons for this. The first is the pipeline. The lower number of girls coming into the industry is not specific to the fibre industry, but to STEM subjects in general. Young girls don’t tend to picture themselves in engineering environments. The second is related to retaining the talents of those already in the industry…”

Roshene

Roshene McCool

“There's a lot of work to be done in education, encouraging girls to study maths and science. I think that's slowly starting to change. I recently read an article in which the author made the point that who we become is determined at a very early age. Studies show that how we play as very small children has an impact on who we are as adults. Play is, therefore, essential. When young boys play, they're often building or fixing things, or taking stuff apart, to see what's inside. Young girls are often given dolls, doll’s houses, and teddy bears – toys which are geared towards social interaction and caring. I found the article very, very interesting. I'm an only child and my dad and I used to play with Lego, building cranes and so on. So as a child, my play was related to mechanical construction, and taking things apart. My interest in physics and mathematics, and becoming an engineer, are linked to with what I was doing at four and five years old, in my living room. So, if you’re the father of girls, or know any dads with daughters, gift them Meccano sets!

“The second element is keeping women in the industry. That means providing ample training and opportunities. We carried out a survey a few years ago, which we're hoping to refresh very soon, and found women who had long tenure in the industry were not being rewarded in the same way as men. They did not receive the same amount of training or the same opportunities that men did. Whenever I've had to negotiate a salary, I’ve always said I simply want the equivalent salary of my male colleagues. Companies need to actively track this and ensure women are paid equally for doing the same work.

 

“Women also still take on more responsibilities related to caring for children and housekeeping. Anybody who has small children will know just how stressful it is to get the kids out of the door and off to school every morning. Companies that work with strict, binding timescales and working hours put a lot of stress on staff – and that often disproportionately affects women. By the time they get to work there's they’re already stressed from getting their kids up to school and then dashing through traffic. Giving everyone a little bit of flexibility can remove a lot of that stress. Fortunately, we’re seeing improvements here. In our survey, we asked about working practices during the pandemic. I imagined the responses to working from home would be strongly gendered. That wasn’t the case: instead, age was the determining factor. Gen X-ers and millennials currently raising families really appreciated flexibility, while much older and younger employees preferred to work in the office. Very interesting!”

Many ways to be an engineer

“The industry wants a talented workforce that can apply itself fully to their work. That means they must be able to bring 100% of themselves to work, and don't have to hide who they are. We had a diversity, equity, and inclusion workshop at last year’s FTTH Conference. I was absolutely delighted because companies were talking about taking down barriers for everyone.

 

“I genuinely think that to feel included, you need to feel safe. And to feel safe, you need to know that there are other people who empathize and care about the issues that you're dealing with as a minority, whether that's gender, religion, race, sexuality, disability, or anything else… Part of the reason I wanted to become FTTH Council President was to be a visible female leader in the industry. When I first arrived at the industry, there were female leaders, but they weren’t always visible. As part of my professional practice, I've always tried to stand up and say, this is me: a female engineer working in a traditionally male dominated environment. I am demonstrating by action that women can fulfil any engineering function. There are many ways of being an engineer, that don't all have to be necessarily within a narrow, framework.

It's important that women in the industry see other women operating in a wide range of different ways, inhabiting the space that they occupy with confidence and authenticity. That's important because it says to women, you don't have to take on any specific kind of behaviour. When I started, in the industry there seemed to be very few ways of occupying the role of female engineer. The way you were expected to behave, and look were very clearly defined. Eventually, I just said: “This is exhausting and it’s just not me.” I gave myself permission to simply do my job and be myself. By being visible in the industry, I want to show all women they can inhabit that space in their own way, without imitating men that have traditionally held those roles. I think this has often been the case in in tech – those power suits definitely didn't help!”

 

Diversity matters.

“Working with teams in which people look at problems from different perspectives makes working life rich, and ensures decisions are much more sustainable and powerful. It actually works - and that's why investors are interested in companies that genuinely support diversity!”

Women in Fibre campaign

A video campaign by the FTTH Council Europe's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to promote gender equality and inspire the next generation of female professionals in the fibre industry. This campaign not only showcases the remarkable achievements, skills, and contributions of these women, but also aims to promote gender equality and inspire the next generation of female professionals in the field. 

Watch the ‘Women in Fibre’ video, which shows what a diverse and exciting place the fibre industry is to work.