SCWIST’s Immigrating Women In Science (IWIS) Program is hosting a special presentation on “Major Cultural Challenges Facing Female Minorities in Engineering and Sciences”
Date – November 30, 2011
Time – 5:30 – 8:00 PM
Location – 333 Terminal Ave, Vancouver, Room 614
Cost – Free
Space is limited so please register at iwisevents@gmail.com
This presentation was part of The Society of Women Engineers (http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/) 2011 Conference held in Chicago last month. The presenter is Mehrnoush (Noush) Sardashti, Account Engineer at FM Global (www.fmglobal.com).
“Women face many challenges when it comes to working in a primarily male-oriented fields of science and engineering, but the problem goes even further when these women are from other cultures. As the world is globalized further and further, having people from different cultural backgrounds with English as a second language in the work place is very common. The main concept behind this presentation is to share our own experiences in this area as well showcase some interviews with other women from the industry and then provide some take-aways for both the women that regularly deal with these challenges as well as those who work with them and would like to improve the situation. The focus of the presentation will be on the differences in communication styles when it comes to different cultures and how it affects the success of the minority female engineers. In addition, the audience will be encouraged to share their experiences and advice on what worked for them to overcome these issues.”
Noush immigrated from Iran in 1996 and in 2003 she obtained her bachelor degree from UBC in Electrical Engineering. She started her career with FM Global in 2005 as a Field Engineer and has since provided loss prevention services to variety of clients such as sawmills, MDF and plywood plants, warehouses, machine shops, high-rise buildings, hangars, shopping centers and others. In 2007 Noush accepted the Account Engineering position where she works with clients at the corporate level to achieve consistency and help prioritize Loss Prevention Programs across their facilities.
