Women in Industrial Engineering Leadership and Barriers to Advancement

Authors

• fiorella barney, University of Central FloridaFollow

Streaming Media

Files

Course Code

WST

Course Number

3371H

Faculty/Instructor

Dr. Anne Bubriski

Faculty/Instructor Email

Anne.Bubriski.ucf.edu

About the Author

My name is Fiorella Barney, and I am a sophomore studying Industrial Engineering at the University of Central Florida, where I am also a member of the Burnett Honors College. I was born in Venezuela and came to the United States at nine years old. Growing up watching my mother navigate this country as an immigrant woman shaped the way I see resilience, leadership, and the cost of being overlooked.

This research grew out of my Women and Leadership course, where I began to find language for experiences I had always felt but never fully named. Studying the barriers women face in engineering did not feel abstract to me, it felt personal. I want to thank my professor for creating a space where that kind of inquiry was not only welcome but encouraged.

I would also like to acknowledge the woman who generously agreed to be interviewed for this project. She is a engineer who rose from technician level roles at Lockheed Martin to director-level positions across multiple companies , all while navigating harassment, self-doubt, and a system that was not built with her in mind. She did not have to share her story, and I am grateful that she did. This research is better, and more honest because of her.

Abstract, Summary, or Creative Statement

This research investigates how organizational and cultural barriers influence the advancement of women into leadership positions within industrial engineering. Despite being one of the more gender-balanced engineering disciplines at the entry level, industrial engineering remains largely male-dominated in leadership, and this project set out to understand why that gap persists and what sustains it.

To explore this question, I conducted a review of seven peer-reviewed sources organized around five themes: the scope of underrepresentation, organizational barriers, gendered workplace culture, early career pipeline effects, and attrition. I then conducted a qualitative, semi-structured interview with a woman who began her career as a technician at Lockheed Martin, where she discovered her passion for engineering, and eventually advanced to director-level roles across multiple companies.

Two findings stood out most. First, structural push-out rather than personal choice is the primary driver of women leaving engineering. Harassment, wage inequity, and isolation are systemic, not incidental. Second, informal networks matter more than formal systems in women's advancement, which means women without access to those networks face compounding disadvantage.

This project deepened my understanding of the field I am entering and reinforced my belief that representation in industrial engineering is not symbolic , it is structural. The voices and experiences uncovered through this research made clear that this conversation is not just academic. It is necessary work.

Keywords

Women;Engineering;Leadership;Industrial Engineering

Recommended Citation

barney, fiorella, "Women in Industrial Engineering Leadership and Barriers to Advancement" (2026). High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026. 47.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2026spring/47