Barriers in the Workplace: An Analysis of Engineering Workplace Culture and Climate

Engineering workplace culture and climate have been cited as a reason for attrition in the field.In order to meet the complex needs of the future, we need to retain the population of current engineers and create an inclusive and supportive culture.Therefore, this pilot study investigates barriers to inclusive climate and culture in the engineering workplace through a quantitative survey.This study aims to provide insight into common elements of engineering workplace culture by examining demographic differences in survey responses.The survey was specifically designed based on extant qualitative research studying obstacles faced by millennial engineers in the workplace.Through exploratory factor analysis, we found four factors representing harmful corporate culture aspects that may cause engineers to leave the field.These barriers include Limited Innovation and Growth, Unproductive and Isolated Work, Discriminatory Work Environment, and Imbalanced Workload.The analysis reveals that gender and department age accounts for 11.8% of the output in perceptions of the Discriminatory Work Environment factor, underscoring the influence of these factors on workplace experiences.Further, a third of women reported experiencing harassment or discrimination in their current role, indicating this is a persistent issue in the engineering and technology workplace.Our analysis has identified professional stagnation, isolation, and overwork as harmful elements of workplace climate in addition to harassment and discrimination.Future work should investigate these areas and support efforts to improve workplace culture and climate.