Research suggests that men and women have different communicative styles that contribute to women's lack of acceptance in male-dominated fields. However, this perspective can lead to stereotypes that limit the range of interactional strategies open to individuals. This article profiles two women from student engineering teams who participated in a study on collaboration and the role of gender. The study, which used a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis, showed that men and women alike displayed both gender-linked and non-gender-linked behavior. It also showed that successful collaboration was influenced less by gender and more by such factors as a strong work ethic, team commitment, and effective leadership.

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In 2005, an in-depth study was undertaken to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the career attitudes of Canadian engineers in the province of Manitoba. This paper examines the quantitative data on the relationships between prior undergraduate work experiences with their current employers and male and female respondents' career and mentor satisfaction. The results suggest that undergraduate work experience programs may play a role in enhancing engineers' perceptions of their recognized authority/ expertise within their field. Results also show that prior work experience with current employers is related to satisfaction with mentors. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect was found for both prior work experience and gender as they relate to mentor satisfaction. Female engineers with prior work experience were the most satisfied with their mentors, while those without prior work experience were the least satisfied. Findings point to the value of company-specific undergraduate work experience as a socialization tool and the role it plays in nurturing long-term career development, particularly for young women engineers.

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