Intrigued by the notion that many women do well in math and science in high school yet do not pursue those fields in college, Katherine Honey did some digging.

The unsettling discovery of photos only depicting career women listening and serving led Honey, 61, to do something big about changing the continued stereotypes of women in the workplace. She created the Women at Work Museum in Attleboro, Massachusetts, which honors the achievements of women and provides educational programs that promote leadership, economic independence, and careers in math, science, engineering, and technology.

“Men and women have the same stereotypical attitudes about women and their abilities, and that comes from our experiences and common culture,” says Honey, who has been president of the museum since it opened in 2003. “Part of the goal of the museum is to break down differences.” In just two years, five major exhibits and 35 events showcasing women’s accomplishments have been hosted at the museum supporting that vision.

Open on Saturdays only, more than three thousand individuals have visited the museum to date. With the launch of the museum’s website womenatworkmuseum.org, and the presentation of engaging events such as the Clara Barton Thank You Tea, the Dream it! Design it! program, and the opening of the Women in Transport exhibit, Honey anticipates that visitors will exceed five thousand this year.

“My contribution to the success of the museum is directly related to my ability to communicate, collaborate, plan, manage, market, develop educational programs, match projects with qualified volunteers, foster collaborative relationships, and to use electronic devices and systems,” says Honey, whose biggest challenge is pacing herself and the museum’s growth over the next five years. “These skills have been developed over the past forty years in my work as a classroom teacher, business owner, and community activist.”

Currently on tap is a major fundraising initiative. “The goal of the capital campaign is to raise $250,000 now, with a total of three million dollars raised by the end of 2008,” says Honey. Funds will be used to create a library, an exhibit space, an area for business meetings and educational programs, and a performance and conference center with seating for 450 people. Given the museum’s mission, the center will boast the latest technology, including video conferencing to support mentoring efforts for school-age students, communication with organizations around the world for museum partnerships, and the development of expertise in math, science, engineering, and technology for a multicultural audience of all ages.

“I am working to ensure that the museum will have a variety of revenue sources including grants, fundraising events, personal and organizational development programs, and original products with limited availability,” says Honey. The museum’s first product is a note card that incorporates an original paper illustration created for the “Women Who Fly” exhibit by Jennifer DeDonato.

“People are very excited about what we have accomplished and want to help increase the museum’s visibility and initiate fundraising efforts,” says Honey. “We are ready to move this incredible institution to a world wide arena.”

While conducting an interview, an applicant asked me how long I had been with the company. My response—13 1/2 years—actually took me by surprise. When I started in 1992 as a summer intern, I was not thinking of a long-term career. Yet at a time when most of my friends are with their third or fourth company since graduation, I still enjoy working for the same company.

Through name changes (Hughes Aircraft Company, Hughes Space and Communication, Boeing Satellite Systems, Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, L-3 Communications Electron Technologies Incorporated), different locations (El Segundo, Calif., Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Torrance, Calif.), and varied assignments (from member of the technical staff to engineering manager with many stops in between), my responsibility is to ensure that all hardware delivered is the highest quality and meets the customers’ unique specifications. These are essential for providing clear, uninterrupted modes of communication via satellite television, telephone, pagers and radio.

Early in my career, I sought guidance from multi-level employees (both technical and non-technical). I used advice from the company president (focus on the company’s goals and objectives), human resource/diversity manager (focus on the employee), engineers (focus on good design and hardware performance), and inspectors (focus on quality) to become one of the youngest managers in the company’s history. At twenty-five, I was responsible for over two million dollars a year and supervised twenty-two engineers and technicians. Several other management positions followed with more customer interface and increased financial responsibility. In my last assignment as the Deputy Director, I supported an organization of almost one hundred people with an annual budget of over $22 million dollars.

One of my most challenging positions was as an Integrated Product Team Lead in the Middle East. I spent eleven months in Dubai, United Arab Emirates working with my husband and a team of engineers to set up a ground station for a mobile telephone satellite system. I was responsible for installing and upgrading software, troubleshooting the system, validating the user manual, tracking and correcting any problems and training the customer on proper usage. Amidst a culture where women do not typically work and are not regarded as technically savvy, I was able to gain the trust and respect of the customer. The telephone terminals used by the troops in the Middle East today are a result of this successful project.

Mentoring

I provide guidance to other women (and some men) trying to find ways to balance work and home life. As a mother of two children ages four and one, I know how hectic things can be when both parents work. I suggest ways for employees to approach their supervisors with modified schedules, effective ways of maximizing their time at work, and options for working some unclassified projects from home (i.e. document review, schedule updates). Although I am not a benefits administrator, I also tell them about different programs available for extended family leave, returning from maternity leave, daycare searches, and preparing for life as a new working parent. These are critical to retaining employees and minimizing daily stress.

The Company Today

L-3 ETI is a very successful small company—not an enormous, bureaucratic corporation—where everyone’s contribution is valuable and recognized. This sentiment is expressed by the company’s president, Kevin Mallon, and felt by the employees, including me, “Everyone who works here can make a difference and has an impact on our success.” Everyone is encouraged to speak up and address issues all the way up the chain of command. Not many people in the workplace have this opportunity.

L-3 ETI offers the opportunity to work on many different tasks—working with the technicians on the floor, visiting vendors/customers, performing design and analytical work, presenting technical information to customers, handling compliance issues—based on expertise and interest. The company employs talented women at every level and has a commitment to offering part-time and flexible work schedules.

Electrical engineers, mechanical engineers (designers and analysts) and program managers are highly encouraged to inquire about joining our team.

Charles is the Engineering Manager for Passive Microwave Devices at L-3 Electron Technologies.

Curious to see how the family VCR worked, eight-year-old Tyria Riley took it apart, saw what she needed to see, and adroitly reassembled its many parts. When all was said and done it worked just fine. So no one was too surprised that by junior high she was ready to make her career plans known. Riley would become an electrical engineer.

Riley grew up in Illinois, in East Saint Louis, and selected the University of Southern Illinois at Edwardsville to pursue her degree in electrical engineering. This course of study is extremely difficult, but with the help of her family, she was encouraged to push on, and graduated in 2002, looking forward to what lay ahead.

Today, she is an electrical engineer in the St. Louis facilities of the largest technology company in the world— The Boeing Company. Her primary responsibility is to design and test wiring systems that are being altered or upgraded in sophisticated FA/18 fighter aircraft. She is the only engineer within her group of information technology experts who still maintains a computer-aided electrical wiring design system. So once again, she finds herself taking things apart and putting them back together.

Boeing employs more than 153,000 people in more than sixty-seven countries, representing one of the most diverse, talented and innovative workforces anywhere. More than 83,800 of their employees hold degrees—including 28,900 advanced degrees—in virtually every business and technical field from more than 2,800 colleges and universities worldwide. Riley is thrilled to be part of this global team. “The company is huge, so there are so many opportunities,” she says. “I love the diversity, and the fact that management is so supportive of my professional development.”

Constantly eager for knowledge, Riley has taken full advantage of the Boeing Learning Together Program. It pays tuition and books for any employee’s further education in any field. By December, she’ll have a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla. Once she completes that, she plans to go for her doctorate in systems science and mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis. Riley is also active in the National Society of Black Engineers, and serves as the organization’s regional Alumni Extension chair.

Because of her amazing attitude and drive, Riley was recently promoted, and she is looking forward to all the opportunities that The Boeing Company will continue to offer her.

By Elaine Vaught

People talk about having a five-year plan and a roadmap for their careers. I never had one. I was teaching Pascal (a now-ancient computer language) for the Women in Science program at University of Texas at Arlington. Someone at Bell asked me if I was interested in a job. I couldn’t tell one helicopter from the next, but I was immediately hooked. There’s a sex appeal about anything that can fly.

Helicopters defy the natural laws of science by beating the air into submission. Technically it’s challenging. It’s executing in the art of the near-impossible. We’re responsible for the processes that design, build, and support all our aircraft and products, as well as a technology roadmap and a long-term research and development strategy. Any time we meet a commitment to a customer, that’s satisfying. When we hit a milestone or solve a huge problem—for example, no one ever flew a tiltrotor vehicle before at the speeds that we have recently done it—that’s pretty heady.

From a technical viewpoint, the most exciting experience I had was testing equipment at an Army base airport at midnight before troops flew off to the Persian Gulf. We do important work. We do things that make this world better. We saved 54,000 people after the earthquake in Pakistan. We saved countless people after Hurricane Katrina. We’re on the cusp of a huge growth opportunity for both commercial and military development. I’m excited about re-energizing and mobilizing my team toward more of a focus on innovation and solutions for products and solving some process issues. I’m absolutely pumped up for it. Our Engineering and XworX folks are naturals for the Textron Six Sigma tool set—we have a number of black belts and green belts so there’s a lot of energy around that. We’re defining roles and tightening the processes, which gives people added enthusiasm moving forward.

I’m in the office twelve to fourteen hours a day. Eight of those are spent in meetings helping solve different problems—technical problems and career problems. During those other hours I’m committed to connecting with people to make sure obstacles and perceived obstacles are removed so they can do their jobs. I don’t feel satisfied unless I connect with people in a personal way. I think about that every day on my way home. “Did I help someone do a better job today?”

If I were to have a legacy it would be to help a group or a person take a step forward. My vision is to focus on the building blocks that will feed our aircraft much faster, investing in new technologies, leaning our processes, and getting minds around reducing development cycles in a quantum way. Twenty years ago no one thought we could put a tiltrotor aircraft in the air. It’s putting things in the air in ten or twenty years that we’re passionate about today that people don’t think is possible. When I speak to women’s groups, I encourage women who want to do something meaningful and make money to consider careers in engineering, whether in telecoms, dotcoms, or even aerospace. It’s a very challenging career but enormously rewarding. It’s not easy for women to break the glass ceiling, so I hope the work I’ve done will make it easier for my daughters to find meaningful work and get paid for it. My advice is be open to possibilities, keep a sense of humor, and always take the high road.

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