Women in The Built Environment Spotlight: Tiffany Dawson

Tiffany is an ex-mechanical engineer turned career coach for women in STEM. She teaches step-by-step frameworks to become confident, strategy-savvy, and influential leaders with ease and grace. Having worked at global engineering consultancies across Australia and the UK, she witnessed and experienced the many challenges women still face in male-dominated industries. After overcoming her battles with impostor syndrome and poor work-life balance, she was compelled to teach other women to do the same. You can often find Tiffany speaking at events about gender equality in STEM and sharing career advice on her podcast, How to be a STEMinist.

Why did you get into mechanical engineering?

I hear stories of others’ careers where they enter a field of work knowing exactly what they want to do. Unfortunately, I don’t have one of those stories, but maybe my story is a good one to share because lots of people can probably relate. I was good at math and physics at school, and I found them more accessible than other subjects; I quite liked that logical problem-solving aspect. My dad is an electrical engineer, and he encouraged me to go into engineering based on my subjects. So from the process of elimination, I ended up studying mechanical engineering. 

What was your experience like studying STEM at university and ultimately transitioning into the professional world? 

I went to an all-girls school for my whole life, and then during university, I was thrown into this all-male classroom for four years. At that time, I didn’t feel like it affected me much, but now that I look back, I can see that there were some struggles. One of the struggles was feeling like I had to act a little differently to fit in, which caused an extra mental strain on me to complete my studies. However, I don’t think that the effects of being one of the few females really hit me until I was a bit more senior in my career.

When you start right out of school, everyone who is a recent graduate is at the same level playing field. That field gap gets more prominent as you become more senior. I don’t think that I was fully aware of that opportunity gap for women and racial minorities until I became a mid to senior-level engineer. I had some awkward situations that many women in engineering experience as a young female engineer, for example, schmoozing with clients, which can sometimes lead to awkward situations. It feels as if women have to deal with this extra layer of social awkwardness that males don’t necessarily have to deal with.

You mentioned that opportunity gaps get larger and larger as you progress; what did that look like for you specifically?

When I was 2-3 years into my career, I realized that some of my male colleagues were getting more opportunities, such as working on more exciting projects and attending client meetings. Further, emerging male engineers often have a male mentor, who will act almost like an older brother. Women aren’t so lucky as it is quite challenging for them to find a role model they can relate to. This mentorship gap became apparent when all of my male colleagues started to go out to meetings while I didn’t get the same opportunity. At the time, I thought this was my fault; that I wasn’t good enough, technical enough, or business-minded enough and therefore wasn’t afforded the same opportunities. I now realize I wasn’t given those opportunities because I didn’t have a relatable role model who could take me under their wing. I coach many women who have gone through these situations, and it is about learning to overcome these obstacles.

What advice would you give to a woman entering a career in STEM to ensure she is successful in avoiding that gap that occurs?

The best thing that anyone can do is separate what is in their control and what is out of their control. I advise you not to ignore any discriminatory practices in the workplace but to question what they can do to promote equality. On an individual level, one can help promote women, diversity, and equality in the workplace. However, you aren’t going to be able to change your company’s culture or an entire industry’s culture in a day. You still need to focus on your own career development and progress despite what is happening in the workplace. My number one piece of advice would be to take stock of what is in your control and focus on that.

What catalyzed you to exit mechanical engineering and focus your career on Steminism and professional development?

The catalyst was a few things. Firstly, it was my battle with imposter syndrome in my professional and career development. Those of you who don’t know what imposter syndrome is when you feel like an imposter all the time. For example, you may have been given a promotion, and everyone says you’re doing a good job, but you think you are only in that position because of luck or through a mistake; this was exactly what happened to me. 

When I was relatively young for my position, I was promoted to a leadership level where I managed 30 engineers. Because this was my first management role, I spent most of my time hiding the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing. So to hide all of that, I would overwork and put in longer hours. I would make sure that everything I put out was as perfect as possible because I wasn’t good enough in my head. As you can imagine, if this goes on for a while, it grinds on you and can take a toll. 

I was fortunate as I had a great manager who sent me to a workshop on high-achieving women in the business, and I learned some straightforward yet effective tools to overcome imposter syndrome. I was excited to finally gain the tools to overcome imposter syndrome. I realized that there were probably thousands of other women in the same position who weren’t lucky enough to access the information at the workshop. I then spent months educating the people and women in my network, including men, in which whom I knew were struggling. That was when I shifted into helping other people develop their careers. 

What tools and tactics have you learned to help overcome imposter syndrome?

Understanding that other people experience imposter syndrome has been one of the most impactful things for me. Experiencing imposter syndrome can be lonely as you try to hide this part of yourself that you think isn’t good enough from everyone else. It is like this hidden disease that everyone keeps to themselves; you don’t talk about it to anyone; you just kind of keep it inside. The workshop helped me realize that other women experience imposter syndrome. That was the most impactful thing that I learned; that I wasn’t alone. 

Do you think that there are steps that firms and supervisors can take to help address imposter syndrome within the workplace?

As a manager or a leader, talking about imposter syndrome and raising people’s awareness that this is a thing that many people experience can be very powerful. Furthermore, leaders can admit to their own mistakes, which allows the people below them to know that mistakes are inevitable and that one does not need to be superhuman to get to the next level in their career. 

What advice would you give to someone who is in the workforce who wants to be an active ally and promote steminism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace?

No one knows the answers regarding gender equality in stem; no one has cracked the code. I think that many people are afraid to speak out about it or be activists, especially leaders because they are afraid to do something wrong or accidentally exclude or offend someone. This is the type of attitude that stunts the growth of diversity in workplaces. I advise others who want to help promote diversity in their workplace to understand that they won’t know all of the answers and to be open to receiving feedback.

In a more practical sense, people should always try to include others in their immediate circle. If you are doing something in a small group of co-workers and you usually wouldn’t ask others to join, or you think they may not want to come, ask them anyways, let them make that choice. Open up the social gatherings you usually have with just a few co-workers; you may even make a new friend or confidant. 

Another action to take is to give others who may not always have the place to speak up the room to speak. In the workplace, women often get spoken over in meetings; I don’t think that men do this on purpose. One of the physical reasons this occurs is that women’s voices are higher in pitch than men’s voices, thus harder to hear over men’s deeper voices. There are also societal reasons women or other minorities find it difficult to speak up in the room. So if anyone in a room sees another person who was about to comment, but they get spoken over, use your voice to help amplify someone else’s voice. 

If you could go back in time to when you were a senior mechanical engineering student, what pieces of advice would you give to yourself?

It would be to listen to your intuition. When I was a child, I could feel what was going on inside my body and act accordingly. I don’t know whether it is the way I was brought up in society or how I was taught to think as a logical, fact-driven engineer, but at some point, I lost the ability to listen to that inner voice. I probably ignored it as well; I would only stick with the facts. I would love to go back and tell myself, “listen to yourself, listen to your gut, don’t just ignore it because the facts tell you otherwise.”

Additional advice?

When I went through imposter syndrome, it never crossed my mind to talk to someone about it. If you are struggling or are finding things difficult, don’t automatically think that it is your fault and something that you have to solve by yourself. Reach out to someone and tell them how you are feeling. I can guarantee that other people have gone through precisely the same thing, and they will be able to help you overcome these challenges much quicker than if you let yourself just struggle your way through them. Whether that is a colleague or a friend, it is essential to talk to others about your experiences. People are really helpful, most people just want to share their knowledge, and you can overcome this stuff with the understanding they have. So if you are struggling, don’t stay silent about it; share it with someone. There is help out there that you can get.