In the Workplace

Past Development Workshops

How Much Are You Worth? Salary Negotiation Seminar

Dr. Croft was the main guest speaker at the Salary Seminar & Industry Reception, organized by APEGBC and the UBC Student Development Office. She discussed current salary trends and tips on salary negotiation for engineering and geosciences students.

Click Here to view her presentation slides

WIM Brown Bag Lunch

Dr. Croft was the key presenter at the Women in Mining’s Brown Bag Lunch event on January 12, 2012. She provided background research on women in industry in engineering and related fields and discussed the business case for increasing women’s participation in these fields.  She also shared some outcomes of activities aimed at increasing the participation and success of women pursuing these careers.

Networking Night – SFU WEG and WICS

Simon Fraser University’s Women in Engineering Group and Women in Computing Science held a collaborative networking event, The Networking Night, on Thursday, January 19, 2012. This event provided an opportunity for students to network with engineers and computing scientists to gain an understanding of what options are available.  Dr. Elizabeth Croft was a key member of their Speaker Panel for the night.

Leadership Development Workshop

“Becoming Leaders: An Introduction to Leadership Skills and Strategies for Women Engineers and Technologists”

Participants will:

• Increase awareness of factors that influence leadership success
• Gain confidence in making career and leadership development choices
• Share and acquire useful tips and strategies
• Develop a preliminary plan to advance personal leadership potential
• Network with other women with a variety of experiences

Previous  dates:
March 28, 2011, 8:00 – 4:30.  Hosted by Stantec
March 29, 2011, 8:00 – 4:30.  Hosted by Urban Systems

FAQ:

Q: Will the Leadership Development Workshops hosted in October 2011 be a continuation of the ones hosted in March of 2011, or will they have the same content?

The Leadership Development Workshops were so successful in March that we decided to reach out further into BC and give more people the opportunity to participate. The upcoming workshops in October 2011 will be the same as the workshops hosted this past March.

Industry Research

In the workplace, WWEST will address systemic HR challenges like work/life balance, glass ceiling, and retention by implementing case studies at partner workplaces. Our goal is to develop best practice recommendations by working with industry professionals and groups (e.g., APEGBC, SCWIST, DAWEG, CEBC) to steer research and disseminate outcomes.

WWEST and The University of British Columbia are conducting an exciting research project examining how conversational patterns in the workplace contribute to employee health, well-being, and career satisfaction.

Research in the social and organizational sciences reveals that our social context can have a large but often under-appreciated effect on our day-to-day experience of stress and life satisfaction. When these effects are prolonged or chronic, they can tax our cardiovascular system and take a toll on both our physical and mental health. This project will provide insight into how to promote a safe, rewarding, and productive workplace environment for employees. The findings from this study will be communicated back to companies who can then use the information to ensure that their employees remain healthy and productive.

The study will take place over the course of two work weeks. Employees will be asked to complete a series of online surveys over the course of two work weeks. A subsample of employees will be invited to take part in a health monitoring arm of the study in which they will wear an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for two days.

The study is designed to identify features of the workplace context that can influence day-to-day experiences of stress and job satisfaction. We are focused on dynamics of workplace conversations as well as broader aspects of workplace culture and their relationship with organizational commitment, organizational identification, employee self-efficacy, and employee burnout. We will examine whether these relationships differ for male and female engineering employees.  We will also identify factors that contribute and relate to cardiovascular stress in the workplace. From these data, we will isolate best practices for promoting a healthy and productive workforce at your company and in engineering more broadly.

If you have further questions about the study, please contact: Project Manager, William Hall @ wmhall@psych.ubc.ca or Principal Investigator, Toni Schmader @ tschmader@psych.ubc.ca

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